One of my favorite albums from 2008 was Harlem's Free Drugs. Now after having been picked up by Matador they'll be releasing their follow up, Hippies, on April 6 of next year. Peep the awesome album art above. Matador has been kind enough to hook it up with the first peak at the album. It may or may not be a song about Casper.
Minneapolis natives We Are The Willows is actually just one fellow by the name of Peter Michael Miller. Miller has an unusual knack for high range vocals that definitely sound a bit like an eleven-year old boy and lyrics that play nostalgia like few others can. His first full-length, A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like The Plague, just dropped on Amble Down and it's pretty damn fantastic. Grab it here and check out the second track from the album below.
This track from Conncet9 actually brings me back to the rainy day, but in a way that is more relaxing than frustrating. The tranquility throughout the song just draws you into a trance, almost like a lullaby of sorts, while subtly slipping in glitched out whirs and false stops here and there to let you know that while everything is alright, it can't be that way forever. Reality in music can actually be refreshing at times, and this track certainly proves it.
This brilliant pop gem from Hocus Tocus is currently acting as part of my cure for a crappy rainy day, which seems to be hitting everyone everywhere. The Brighton-based band has only been around a few months but so far their jams are proving their chops easily. Check out more at their myspace.
It's been a while since we caught with our friend Jeff Walls, aka Campfires. Instant favorite "Stormy Late Fall" is seeing a pretty 7" release on Mexican Summer, available here now. Here's a refresher of that first track.
Julian Lynch posted this jamming new track on his blog earlier today, and holy shit it is good. I am consistently amazed at how beatiful the music this man makes is. Stream the track below, and let's hope this is a precursor to an amazing new album.
In perfect time for the holiday season Holy Holy Hollywood has sent over these delicate, dreamy tracks that take you back to a mid-60's Christmas. Beautiful vocals that are almost fragile at times carry these sentimentally tragic gems and manage to captivate in a way that is often impossible.
A while back Radiant Dragon remixed a Banjo or Freakout track that I absolutely loved. Now Radiant Dragon has hit me up with a couple of his own tracks that are absolutely brilliant. He creates a psychedelic vibe that has a definite danceability to it. Check out the tracks below, and let's hope for a full album worth of beautifully crafted jams like this sometime soon.
