High Highs
"Flowers Bloom"
Self-released 2011

 Listen to "Flowers Bloom" MP3

 
Originally from Australia and now living in Brooklyn, Jack Milas and Oli Chang are High Highs (the name taken from a song from Viva Voce).  Wrapped in his warm songwriting, Jack's often falsetto vocals blend with Oli's subtle electro production. Yet unsigned, the young band is taking a measured DIY approach for the moment, assembling the right team and working on releasing an EP joined by drummer Zach Lipkins.
 
The track "Flowers Bloom," along with the tracks "Horses" and "Open Season" can be downloaded for free from the band's website.
 
Be sure to catch High Highs at Bowery Ballroom (NYC) on 19 May.
 
Official | MySpace 

Listen to “Fighting Smiles” MP3


Jonquil was formed in Oxford, UK by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Hugo Manuel. The band has since released two albums including Sunny Casinos and Lions.

On their most recent EP release, One Hundred Suns, one can find the lovely, sunny pop track “Fighting Smiles.” The song is filled with warm, willing melodies that fuse an off-beat percussion track with bright, effervescent vocals reminiscent of Vampire Weekend.

Myspace

Listen to “Boxer” MP3


Lovers are the Portland, OR band fronted by the wistful and glossy throated voice and lyrics of Carolyn “Cubby” Berk. On their new release Dark Lights the three-piece show a smart, full sound of melancholy that rises above the shallow platitudes of most of the moribund set of today.

On the fine track “Boxers”, Berk and company echoes the voice of Hope Sandoval at her finest with a modern, rhythmic beat replete with wondrous star shots and sample effects that bring a perfect balance to the vocals.

MySpace | Official

Listen to “Let’s Go Down” MP3


With the track "Let's Go Down", Family of the Year highlight their debut full-length with an unabashedly bright sing-a-long, plain and simple. From Silverlake, California, Family of the Year delivers a particularly well-timed, toe-tapping call to come together on that perfect summer evening.

Be sure to catch Family of the Year in Paris on 11 February at La Maroquinerie.

Official | Myspace | Volvox  

Listen to “Soak It Up” MP3


We generally never get so lazy as to let an artist explain their album but in the case of Houses effort All Night the effort and the story is worth the pass.

“I got laid off from my job at the end of last year and decided I needed a change. My girlfriend put in her two weeks and we moved out to a little cabin in Papaikou, Hawaii. It’s a pretty remote place outside of Hilo (i.e no plumbing/electricity/gas). We worked for meals during the day cultivating indigenous micro-organisms and learning the basics of sustainable living. We drank showered and cooked with rain water. It was a beautifully simple experience. In our downtime, she would paint and I would record. We’d have to light candles in an effort to save solar power to keep my computer running. We inspired each other a lot out there, and I think it shows on the album. She sings on a lot of the tracks on All Night. The music comes from a place of love and ease.”

It’s cold out there and we know that this song might be a dream world. The track “Soak It Up” is a simple, emotional, sound architecture based track that embodies the story of the songwriter. There is no loneliness or blues in the song nor craving for love; it exists plainly and fluidly as a moment on a beach or in front of a fire filled cabin. The sounds are the idealism and comfort of humanity.

MySpace | Lefse Records

Listen to “Babylon is Burning” MP3


After years recording and touring with Pela, Nate Martinez (aka Thieving Irons) has completed his first solo album. This Midnight Hum is a collection of songs written and produced by Martinez with Mike Brown co-producing.

On “Babylon Is Burning” Martinez explores the joining of instruments into one sound. The track begins with a lightly picked guitar, a slide electric guitar that is joined by a tinkling to chord piano riff followed by a walking tom-tom drum, a slow pulling accordion and ultimately united by the joyous meanderings of a folk banjo.

The song exults in a convergence of sounds that builds to an anthemic and deep crescendo in which all the instruments (including vocals) meet and swoon together in a long, languid stretch to sweetness and harmony.

MySpace | Official

Listen to "Skull Cakin’" MP3


Having released two albums in two years (2008’s Everything Is Alive and 2009’s Everybody, Come Outside!), Cincinnati band Pomegranates have finally hit pay dirt with their latest LP One of Us.

Led by founders Jacob Merritt (drums) and Isaac Karns (vocals, guitars, keyboards) the art-punk band has found the midway between experimental psych-rock and anthemic punk.

Their sound works especially well on the standout track “Skull Cakin’” which stands as an exemplar to pure, pounding garage rock in all its glory.

MySpace | Afternoon Records

Small Black
"Photojournalist"
From New Chain
Jagjaguwar 2010

Listen to "Photojournalist" MP3


Brooklyn based synth quartet Small Black’s debut album New Chain shows an impressive progression from their self-titled EP. The band kept the melodic but refreshingly experimental sounds from standout track “Despicable Dogs” and built a solid freshman output.

From New Chain comes the quirky, chillwave track “Photojournalist.” Filled with deftly created chiming and wriggling percussion and oddball sample sounds the song flows over you like a wave of echoes. The group’s effort on the track really shows upon repeated listening when you break down the intricacies within.

Check the video for “Despicable Dogs” featuring a fantastic surf van and killer gray fu-manchu moustache.

MySpace | Official | Jagjaguwar

Clock Opera
"Once And For All"
From Kitsuné Maison Compilation 10
2010
 
Listen to "Once And For All" MP3

 
The latest single from London's Clock Opera is "Once And For All", an uplifting electro "chop pop" (self-described) charge coupled with Guy Connelly's imploring vocals. 
 
Word has it that the track is inspired by a play from the Belgian performance company Ontroerend Goed entitled Once and for all we're gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen, exploring what its like to be teenagers who feel like teenagers.
 
"Once And For All" is featured on the latest compilation from Kitsuné.  You can also check out various remixes of the new single on the band's MySpace page, including a remix from Little Loud. 
 
MySpace | Kitsuné (Clock Opera Page) | Little Loud (MySpace) | Ontroerend Goed

Glasser
"Home"
From Ring
True Panther 2010

 
Listen to “Home” MP3

 
Following-up on last year's EP Apply and various appearances including opening spots for the likes of XX and Jonsi, Glasser (a/k/a Cameron Mesirow) has released her exciting debut Ring.  On the release, Cameron worked with producer Ariel Rechtshaid, experimenting with, developing and opening up many tracks which she had originally recorded herself (rather amazingly) on GarageBand.
 
An excellent example of Cameron's textured sound is the track "Home".  The song is insistent - retreating and attacking in equal measure with Cameron's melodies riding on string progressions and tribal percussion.
  
Official | True Panther
 

Listen to “Just In Case” MP3

Miles are a Brooklyn-based band that creates delicious pop soaked treats. Their new album As Fast As You Can is a testament to that notion filling the ethos with lighter than air melodic dreams.

On the track “Just In Case”, singer/songwriter Marc Plotkin shows off his high-range vocals and feather soft arrangements. It’s a hip spark that will grow on you listen after listen.

MySpace | Official | Twitter

Active Child
“She Was A Vision”
from Curtis Lane
Filter Records / Merok Records 2010

Listen to “She Was A Vision” MP3

 
Active Child is the moniker of Los Angeles based artist Pat Grossi.  This former choirboy (he is a former member of the Philadelphia Boys Choir) continues to surprise with his clean falsetto, knack with the harp and subdued 80’s synth-pop inspired electronics.  Have a listen to the woozy track “She Was A Vision” with its tribute to the chorus from Cocteau Twins’ ’84 release “Lorelei”.
 
You can find “She Was A Vision” on Curtis Lane, Active Child’s six-track debut EP released this past June on Filter Records (US) (Filter Magazine’s label) and Merok Records (UK).  A 10” white vinyl is also available directly from the official Active Child website or via Insound.
 
Watch a session online with Active Child on KCRW’s excellent Morning Becomes Eclectic.

NYC residents, you can catch Active Child on 9 September at Brooklyn Bowl.  Active Child will stay out on tour through North America through October.
 
Official | MySpace | Twitter  

Listen to “Dreamin’”


Feldberg is the laidback Reykjavik-based duo of Einar Tönsberg (a/k/a the laptop creative Eberg) and Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld. The first single ”Dreamin’” features the duo’s coy and infectious back-and-forth, with calls of “dreamin’ of you” sailing over the strains of Einar’s quirky brand of effervescent pop:

To coincide with the release of “Dreamin’” on 30 August via iTunes, a track which won Best Song in this year’s Iceland Music Awards, Feldberg will be releasing a 10-track remix album. Check out the just updated Feldberg MySpace page for additional tracks and videos.

Eberg’s new release Antidote is out now. Check out his toilet holidays video for the track “The Right Thing To Do” on his MySpace page (trust us, watch the video and it will click).

Official | MySpace

Listen to "Can We Stay” MP3

MySpace

Listen to "Tall Countryside” MP3

Wright's "Tall Countryside" from her album Honeybee Girls is a beautiful and melodic piece that combines her soft, commanding voice, a steady fingered guitar and a lonely snare drum keeping time. It feels like a walk through the woods on a distant, autumn afternoon watching the sun punch wholes through the falling orange leaves. It is an evocative tale from a powerful singer-songwriter.

Shannon Wright (Official) | MySpace

Listen to "Bicycle” MP3

Weird Tapes, Memory Cassette and Memory Tapes are all monikers of one-man-band Dayve Hawk who has recently released his first full-length Seek Magic. Liquid mercury tracks stream along on drum machine beats, detailed layered melodies and Dayve's pitched and muted vocals, creating an album of energized, but confidently chilled, electro-pop tracks.

Give a listen to the first single "Bicycle" which ebbs and flows with late 80's New Order-style electro-pop guitars, synths and sharp-edged beats. The track is also available for download at We're Tapes.

Pick up Seek Magic from Rough Trade Shops and get a bonus CD

Official | MySpace | Acephale Records | Sincerely Yours

Listen to "Boys Don't Cry” MP3

 
Along the way between Berlin, Paris and Mexico City, Norman Palm assembled a mesmerizing collection of often winsome songs, pairing each with his own artwork to create the unique release / book entitled Songs. The original run published by Ratio Records having quickly been picked up by fans, Songs as a book / CD package is now enjoying a wide re-release via Morr Music. On the album, Norman provides most of the instrumentation himself and worked with Finnish producer Jonas Verwijnen (Annie, The Whitest Boy Alive), looking to the basic structure of the songs as his musical plumb line.
 
One of Norman's oldest tracks which appears on Songs is the sympathetic cover of The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry". Norman approaches the song with a sense of melancholy and deliberate stillness. The track was first released on a limited edition vinyl together with a cover of Cindy Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". Norman told us that he gravitated to these songs "because they are both icons of the 80's, saying so much about the roles of women and men at the time. In 'Boys Don't Cry' it's about the guys who can't really show their feelings because they are not supposed to as guys. The song is really sad, but in the original version its up-beat and people dance to it…. So I wanted to give the song its meaning back by singing it in the saddest way possible, even adding this moody almost whining trombone (which was played by Sebastian Maschat from The Whitest Boy Alive)."
 
Norman celebrates the release of Songs in France with a show at the Pop In in Paris on 30 September.

Norman Palm (Official) | MySpace