Artist: Woodhands

Album: Remorsecapade

Genre: Electronica Pop / Experiemental

Year: 2010

Label: Paper Bag records

Try / Buy / MySpace

Remorsecapade is the follow-up to their insanely fun dancey 2008 Heart Attack… Right now there are people who either like or dislike Woodhands. I totally like Woodhands not because of their music. But don’t want to take myself too seriously and just want to have fun and dance away my troubles with their music. ~ MW
“Blue Monday period New Order with the pop elements of Depeche Mode” Q Magazine, June 2009: “The 10 Best New Bands On Earth”…By far the toppest of my tips is Woodhands. Energetic synthy new wave ‘Montreal sound’, but with added bite and more than a bit of Soulwax about it, their energetic show is the highlight of an above-average programme.” NME, Live Review

read more…

Artist: Best Coast
Album: Something In The Way EP
Year: 2010
Genre: lo-fi, indie rock
Link: RS or HF
Buy: Amazon

Best Coast is Bethany Cosentino (ex Pocahaunted) with Bobb Bruno (Polar Goldie Cats). Leaving NY behind Bethany returns to Los Angeles with a different perspective on music and the world. She writes great pop songs and has a beautiful voice that sings hooks that are hard to get out of your head. Her aesthetic is semi lo-fi but you can hear the growth within. Best Coast is making headway in Los angeles and is Cramming bars left and right allover, see what all the fuss is about

read more…

Artist: Snowmobile

Album: Strangers

Genre: Instrumental Indie Pop

Label: Dedicated Records

Try / Buy / MySpace

Snowmobile can weave some pretty amazing yarns … Sure I might miss a narrative here, or a simile there, but good music is good music; end of story. What works with this, is a continuous melody they slowly build on; taking the occasional skip down a more experimental avenue at times. In the end, you get a consistent album that will have you wanting to enjoy the whole experience one more time. Reminds me of a happier Labraford, with more acoustic, more jangle, maybe a slight less intensity, but still creating some well crafted musical quilts for the masses.

Artist: Parenthetical Girls
Album: Privilege: Pt. 1 – On Death & Endearments
Year: 2010
Genre: indie, experimental
Link: RS or HF
Buy: parentheticalgirls

Portland based Parenthetical Girls have announced a new 5-part series of 12″ records to be released on Slender Means Society starting in late February. It’s not quite the proper follow-up to 2008’s underrated Entanglements but it continues the trend of indie bands moving to vinyl and digital for their releases. The first 12″ to be released will be Privilege: Pt. 1 – On Death & Endearments, out on February 23rd. Here’s the track listing for that one and the first taste of what’s to come from this band.

read more…

Artist: Balmorhea
Album: Constellations
Year: 2010
Genre: Instrumental, post rock
Link (v0): RS or HF
Buy: Amazon

Balmorhea’s previous album was intensely physical, exploring the freedom and isolation of settlers of an untamed frontier. By contrast, Constellations shifts focus to the cosmos and beyond, meditating solemnly on the mystical and metaphysical. The disarming simplicity of the tracks proves that Balmorhea doesn’t need dense arrangements full of 180-degree turns to craft deeply affecting compositions.

read more…

Artist: Autechre
Album: FACT mix 122
Year: 2010
Genre: Electronic
Link (320kb): factmagazine or RS or HF

And so here it is. Autechre’s FACT mix. Rob and Sean – who we interviewed in-depth in 2008 – have declined to talk about the mix itself, telling us that “it’s just some tunes [they] like”. No tracklist either, so spotters, please do you worst. What we can tell you is that the mix is an unpredictable, kaleidoscopic affair, rooted in sinuous leftfield hip-hop but with bursts of tremulous ambient electronics, techno, hectic breakbeats and, at one particularly memorable point, metal. We needn’t tell you how rare recorded DJ-mixes from Autechre are, so please, don’t sleep on this.

listen
try
buy

First solo album of a balladeer’s frontman Marinus de Goedren. ‘Sorry, kid.’ is a very honest, sober and somewhat dark album and contains 10 songs. This limited vinyl edition (250 copies only!*) contains a cd as well.

read more…

listen
try
buy

Singer-songwriter Blaudzun, aka Johannes Sigmond, finished his new album. The recordings, confirmed to be called Seadrift Soundmachine, will be released on February 22, 2010 and follows the high acclaimed debut from the Dutchman. According to sources, including VPRO’S 3VOOR12, this album will be a clash between turbulence and beauty. “The songs on this record were washed up on my beach after a terrible shipwreck”, Blaudzun describes.

read more…

Artist: myspace
watch: youtube
Download: RS
label: tomato head
Buy: cdjapan

This is ridiculous.

Ridiculous in a good way, of course. Ridiculous in the sense that Shonen Knife, a band that exemplifies everything fragile, innocent, and in-the-moment joyous, has nonetheless proven durable enough to be approaching its 30th anniversary. Ridiculous in the sense that main Knife Naoko Yamano doesn’t seem to be much older than 30 herself. Ridiculous in the sense that the band has managed to maintain their pure, uncynical aesthetic over sixteen albums with nary a stumble. And ridiculous in the sense that Free Time, the band’s most recent release, is, after all these years, genuinely one of their best.

read more…

Album: Keb Darge & Paul Weller Present Lost & Found – Real R&B Sound
Year: 2010
Genre: Soul
Link: RS | HT
Buy: dusty groove

A fantastic compilation of stirring soul, raw r&b, and all around amazing group and solo numbers from the first wave years of the 50s onward into the 70s — put together by impeccable taste maker Keb Darge and the unstoppable, soul reverent Paul Weller! This second Lost & Found set from BBE picks up on strains of the original set, which was compiled by Darge & Cut Chemist and focused on jump blues & rockabilly. This one touches on the former, but brings in boundless soul numbers in place of the latter, from stripped down r&b, to soaring group soul harmonies, to more arranged numbers that still carry a gritty soul spirit. 15 selections by Keb Darge and 13 selections by Paul Weller for 28 tracks in all! Darge’s choice selections include “They Call Me Big Momma” by Big Mama Thornton, “Come On Back” by Brothers Of Soul, “You Don’t Love Me” by Epitome Of Sound”, “A Dream” by The Creations, “I Want You” by The Cadets, “Don’t Forget To Remember” by The Great Experience and more. Paul Weller’s choice jams include “Hang On There” by The Intruders, “All I Do Is Think About You” by Tammi Terrell, “Wear It On Your Face” by The Dells, “Ain’t No Big Thing” by The Radiants, “The Ice-Man” by Billy Watkins, “I Got Love If You Want It” by Slim Harpo and more.