CATEGORY: MP3

Those upbeat, jangly guitars!  That odd, addictive voice!  It can only be Houseguest!

A surprising gem in a sea of twee pop, messy garage rock, and electronic promo albums laying on my desk, Houseguest’s High Strangeness was one of my favorite albums that I received in 2007.  Quick, short, and to the point, High Strangeness is a high-energy pop record whose most interesting feature, its skewed, subversive tone, is carried strongly by singer Ted Mallison’s unique voice.  Upon first listen, I remember thinking, “Wow, these guys…actually know how to write a good song.  Awesome!”

Here are two tracks from High Strangeness, blazing album opener ‘Fashionable Living Room’ and the equally delightful ‘On Waldon Software’.  To listen to some new cuts from their up coming 2008 release, visit the band’s Myspace page.

Houseguest - Fashionable Living Room

Houseguest - On Walden Software

Purchase Houseguest’s High Strangeness on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

Yet another friend of mine has a band that is quickly gaining popularity, at least around Chicago.  Empires is a soulful “indie-rock” band that is getting a lot of attention lately.  They just released a full-length, for free mind you, and had their record release show which went excellent.  They vocals are easily my favorite part of this band because there is a lot of emotion behind them.  Some songs may sound like The Spill Canvas and I’m not going to say whether that’s a good or bad thing.  Take it as it is.  If you don’t like the rest of the album, I know you’ll like the intro track because it’s hard not to.

Empires - Spit The Dark

Download Empires Entire Full-Length “Howl” Free at Weareempires.com

CATEGORY: MP3

Wow. This is embarrassing. You know how I’m a really important music blogger and I always find out about cool bands before anyone else does? You know? Well, turns out I’ve totally been sleeping on this Fleet Foxes cd that SubPop sent me. Check out all this good stuff people have been saying about it weeks before I even took it out of it’s effin’ digipack sleeve:

“A stunning debut then, and one that will make Fleet Foxes one of the most sought after bands of the year.” - musicOMH

“It all adds up to a landmark in American music, an instant classic.” - The Guardian

“At its best, Fleet Foxes is warm and cathartic, with all the hopefulness of a balmy summer night.” - SPIN Magazine

SON OF A BITCH! Spin stole my ‘balmy summer night’ line. I was saving that for the next Beirut full length. Oh well, I guess that’s what I get for falling asleep at the wheel on this one. But no seriously, this new Fleet Foxes record is a landmark in American music, an instant- wait. SON OF A BITCH! Those assholes at the Guardian used my other line too. DAMMIT. This is what happens when you celebrate getting 200 hits in one day by drinking a lot of Red Stripe (I saw a pic of the guy from Rilo Kiley drinking Red Stripe) and fall asleep on the rooftop garden you always wished you had because you’re biggest wish in life is to live in a New York apartment that has a rooftop garden where you invite all your friends to party and watch your singer songwriter friend play his original accoustic songs to a starry eyed, cocaine-fueled crowd.

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

Purchase Fleet Foxes’ self titled full length on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: Editor's Pick - MP3

All it took was finding an amazing wallpaper on Google images to look up Grand Island on myspace, and I thank God that I did.  After hearing one song I was immediately hooked and had to hear their other songs.  I guess you could group them with that garage rock genre filled with the Raconteurs and the Strokes and such.  But this band has some serious pop.  Every song has such energy in it.  The vocals are phenomenal and random horns and keys just jump out.  I can’t say enough awesome stuff about these fellows from Oslo.  The song I have posted is from their older album “Say No To Sin”, but they just released a new full-length a few months ago.

Grand Island - Us Annexed

Purchase Grand Island’s New Album Boys & Brutes on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

With a brand new release off Better Looking Records, Meho Plaza delivers a unique sound creating noisy 8-bit synth patterns with echoing vocals.  They are really a tough band to compare to others, but I’ll give it a shot and say this is for fans of Q & Not U and The Dismemberment Plan.  Some songs have great structure and grooving choruses and others are heavy, noisy bits.  They just released their album on May 6th, so take a listen.

Meho Plaza - The Beach

Purchase Meho Plaza’s Self-Titled Full-Length on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

I apologize for this, the second Wolf Parade post in a week. I know I should be out with my ear to the wind, trying to find the next big experimental solo artist, but I can’t help myself. I’ve spent more time with these Wolf Parade teaser mp3s and the more I listen to them, the more I realize I love them. I hate to diss such a recent incarnation of myself but what was I thinking 4 days ago?

Take a listen to ‘Language City’, the second legally released mp3 from At Mount Zoomer. It doesn’t sound too different from ‘Call It a Ritual’. It doesn’t really pop. Or grab you. What it does is sink into your head like a brain worm and carve a home for itself, deep in your sub-conscious. Eventually you will go brain dead and die, but until then you can enjoy the refined indie-pop coming out of your lobes. Speaking of which, I’ll be damned if ‘indie-pop’ isn’t the least descriptive label ever. I wish I knew fancier words, or even how to write. That’d be useful.

Wolf Parade - Language City

Pre-order Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

Formerly of the great No Knife, Ryan Ferguson is now working on some solo work.  It’s great news because No Knife was awesome and hearing his voice on top of some nice acoustic song is great.  It’s a nice change of pace for him, too.  His first release was back in 2005 with a EP that gave him immediate recognition and included a song as a lead track for EA Sport’s The Sims 2. For Ryan, it’s almost a flawless transition going from aggressive, fast-paced music to acoustic, feel-good pop music.  Take a listen.

Ryan Ferguson - Kill My Confidence

Buy Ryan Ferguson’s Debut Full-Length Only Trying To Help on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

Apologies to the Queen Mary was a solid little record. Perhaps not as great as the initial buzz promised but I know the first time I heard ‘You Are a Runner and I am My Father’s Son’ it put a smile on my face. I still listen to the album every once in a while. It’s still solid. I still smile.

I’m not sure about Wolf Parade’s new mp3, however. ‘Call It a Ritual’ isn’t a bad song- it’s actually pretty ’solid’- but it doesn’t make me smile. Nor does it get me too excited for the band’s up coming sophomore album At Mount Zoomer (out June 17th). The track actually reminds me of the first time I heard the Arcade Fire’s ‘Black Mirror’, a few weeks before Neon Bible was released. It was a darker song, undeniably well put together, but despite hitting all the regular marks for the band, I just ‘wasn’t feeling it’. That didn’t stop Neon Bible from being great though so I’m still holding out hope for this record. The Amazon product description calls At Mount Zoomer ‘this generation’s Marquee Moon‘ so at least we know the hype wheels are spinning.

Wolf Parade - Call It a Ritual

Pre-order Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer on Amazon.com

BONUS! UNRELEASED MP3S FROM UP COMING SUB POP ALBUMS:

CSS - Rat is Dead
Appearing on the up-coming Sub Pop album Donkey (release date TBA)

Purchase CSS’s debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy on Amazon.com

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Appearing on the up coming Sub Pop album Fleet Foxes (out June 3rd)

Pre-order Fleet Foxes’ self titled album on Amazon.com

CATEGORY: MP3

For a four piece band Bodies of Water sure sound busy on record. The Los Angeles band’s self-released debut Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink is a swirling storm of melodramatic pop, harmonized vocals and jangly percussion. Of course, much of the magic was added in the studio but the band does often recruit an expanded lineup for hometown shows to help re-create their frantic pop sound. When I saw them open up for John Vanderslice last year in LA, I was treated to an army of musicians hitting, blowing, & strumming whatever they could fit on stage with them, and shouting- I remember there was lots of group shouting. Despite all the activity, however, the music is never very chaotic; a little over-indulgent perhaps but never offensive.

‘Under the Pines’ is the first mp3 released off the group’s up coming sophomore record- and Secretly Canadian debut- A Certain Feeling (out July 22nd). Despite the better production, the song still carries much of the feeling of their debut- group melodies, long instrumental stretches, lots and lots of percussion. The theatrical ‘flair’ is here too, which seems to be becoming one of the band’s distinguishing trademarks.

Bodies of Water - Under the Pines

Pre-order Bodies of Water’s A Certain Feeling on Amazon.com

BONUS FUN FACT:

Lead singer and organ player Meredith Metcalf supposedly doubles as a commercial actress (see the following Domino’s Oreo pizza beard commercial).

CATEGORY: MP3

Out of all the bands I have found out about through random myspace profile hopping, I think that This Will Destroy You is the one I’m most happy I found. They have an incredibly goofy name, but in the midst of this giant post-rock craze, they really stand out to me. What they are able to do is find some really great melodies and allow them to progress so well. Sure, to a lot of you they may just sound like another Explosions In The Sky copycat, but give ‘em a chance. They stand out on their own in my mind.

p.s. - I’ve watched a view YouTube videos and I would LOVE to see these guys play live.

This Will Destroy You - They Move On Never Ending Tracks Of Light

Purchase This Will Destroy You’s self-titled sophomore album on Amazon.com