Blonds - Kite (Acoustic)

Last Semester, as finals rapidly approached things got a bit hazy around here. I found myself constantly writing up quick drafts of blogs posts and never finding the time to actually publish them. This seems to be the case with Miami's indie pop duo Blonds. Their blown out retro pop, (specifically the ear worm Kites) was more than deserving of a write-up the first time through. Fortunately, this acoustic session refreshed my memory and I can finally rest easy. Watching the duo at their most playful, laid back on the beach is the happy antithesis to our not so pleasant January weather. Perfect timing, or at least better late than never!

Blonds' debut EP is available for free on their bandcamp.

Carrousel - Darling EP

Last week Tallahassee's Carrousel released their debut EP, with an LP to follow in February. With sonic cues coming from the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Beach House, The Darling EP falls squarely in the intersect between Folk and Dream Pop. The album's warmth and accessibility is no accident however. Wisely, the band (originally a duo) decided to hole up in their home studio, focusing entirely on recording and honing their vision for the album without the complications of playing live. Two years in the making, the sense of dedication is palpable on the EP as it glows with a homemade sweetness, intimately crafted in a world all its own.

Introducing: Traveling

I found myself pleasantly surprised last week when Traveling made their way through Tallahassee. Even though it was only their fourth show together, Traveling (fronted by one of the members of Good Luck) ripped through a painfully short set of no frills Indie Rock. No frills certainly isn't a slight though. Who needs frills when you've got great vocals, perfect guitar tones and insanely catchy melodies? Traveling are still hanging out in the Sunshine state, and will be playing two shows at Fest this weekend in Gainseville. Even if you can't make it to a show, check out their four song demo below, and be ready to smile.

Wise Blood Remixed

These Wings has been streaming on the fader for a minute now, but tomorrow it finally comes out! To mark the occasion, Wise Blood is releasing a remix EP on facebook in exchange for a "like."

Pretty much all the takes here work pretty well, but the two stand outs by Hooray for Earth and Evan Voytas work as polar opposites. Each takes one half of Chris's conflicted nature: the wanna be saint, and the total party monster and amplify it to the logical extreme.

Loud Mouths (Hooray for Earth Remix) - Wise Blood

Darlin You're Sweet (Evan Voytas Remix) - Wise Blood

Download Wise Blood Remixed

Music Video: TV Girl - Baby you were there

Download TV Girl's deservedly buzzed about EP "Benny and the Jetts" below. It sounds like memories of the summer, unless you hate the summer.

Regret, Love, Guilt, Dreams - The Bilinda Butchers

San Francisco Dreampop/sort of chillwave duo release their second(?) EP. Of course there's the strikingly obvious MBV reference band name that I could talk about, but I don't think I'm going to.

Coma Cinema - Abandoned Lands

Mat Cothran is too good for Birthday presents. In fact, he gives YOU presents on his birthday.

Asura - Unreleasables

Ghibli mastermind Thomas Michael tipped me onto a musical peer of his today, and I've pretty much been foaming at the mouth ever sense. Sure, chopping up vaguely familiar diva wails is far from groundbreaking in 2011, but on "He Sees Through Her" Asura manages to mangle his vocal sources until they're pushed outside the realm of western music. Similarly, tracks like "This Chain" and "Kissing On a Rose" push the line between sonic revelations and straight up heart attacks with their hyperactivity. The album is rounded out by a few remixes of R&B/Rap classics that aren't entirely kosher by copyright standards, including the second remix* of Drake's Over I've heard in the past two days. I'm still not sure what Asura was thinking when he labeled these tracks unreleasable, but I'm certainly glad that he changed his mind.

*Bonus: Here's the first remix Drake's Over I've heard in the past two days:

Over (Drake Vs Starkey) - Midnighter Mashup

Pepepiano - Pepepiano

Sometimes I forget how left field certain artists really are. I suggest them to a few friends, they check them out and tell me that they are "uhh definitely different." Sadly, I think Pepepiano may be one of these artists. I want to suggest this album to anyone who's ever told me how much they enjoyed Merriwether Post Pavillion, but I'm sure more than a few of them would be confused. Throw hip-hop, glitch and sometimes Passion Pit, sometimes Atlas Sound vocals into the mix and you might understand why Pepepiano can seem so unwieldy.

Ok. If you'd like to think of yourself as musically adventurous (and I'd hope everyone who reads my blog does!) forget anything negative I just said. Pepepiano pulls off the so called "post MPP" sound better than anyone else I can think of. "Firehands" gets heavy, almost trance inducing, while "Bruce Springsteen" mixes The Jameses' Fifth Dimension with Anco's Bluish. Millennium Wet Dream's smooth synth tones and diva-vocals form the purest example of chillwave, and its followed up by "Catapult" maybe the most hyperactive of the bunch. Overall theres just a TON of stuff going on here. Theres much more to dig into than I'm willing to write about, so I'm just going shut up and let you listen to it.

Breakfast in Fur EP

I'm not going to lie to you guys: The album art is a better indicator of Breakfast in Fur than anything I can write! Playful and folksy sure, but the little girl's facial expression is a hint at just how off-putting this EP can be. My first thought was that they are emotionally reminiscent of Headless Horseman, but with a drastically different sound. Both artists feature chilly vocals, but Headless Horseman back it up with glitch-pop, while Breakfast in Fur choose folk instead. Ultra-creepy falsetto aside, the real feat Breakfast in Fur accomplish is their ability to throw Goose Bump inducing subtleties into songs that would be wholly optimistic on paper.

Vacation - Wasted Disposer

Definitely feeling early Modest Mouse vibes on Vacation's new EP, but this song in particular stuck out to me. I can't think of a better voice to sing lines like "I'm a wasted disposer, I don't ever really wanna grow up" and "I'm the lamest of friends" (except for a younger, lisp-ier Issac Brock). They hit the astral guitar effects pretty accurately too considering how lo-fi the overall production sounds. As far as adding their own spin, Vacation have a knack for old-timey samples (not unlike Bedrooms of the Nation) and they take the spacey feel a few steps further than Modest Mouse ever did.

Download the entire EP for free over at bandcamp.

Thanks to Yvynyl (who thanks Smoke Don't Smoke) for the find!

Hips Like Cinderella - All The Girls I Know All of Them EP

Well Shoot this is good! Just stumbled upon this gem on Get Off The Coast. Yes their name is a Pixies reference, and no its not that hard to find in their sound. If you're into Dead Gaze or early Wavves you'll definitely dig this. If you've never heard of Dead Gaze or Wavves I'll just give you this warning: While listening to this EP for the first time my roommate turned on the vacuum cleaner in the other room, and it took me about 45 seconds to realize it wasn't part of the song.

Beggars in a New Land - Teething EP

"Beggars in a New Land" just released an EP with the cassette rookies Crash Symbols. I'd never heard of Beggars, but the Get Off The Coast connection was enough to peak my interest. Teething is Crash Symbol's third release to date, and they've started out almost outrageously strong. (In case you missed it, Crash Symbols opened shop with a bang in November with an incredible compilation. Check out links to the compilation and another one of their releases below) Beggars aren't afraid to classify themselves as Chillwave, and neither will I. Compared to their peers though, Beggars sounds outright enormous. Chillwave's dance influences are pulled right up front on Teeth and their kitschy synths and drum machines somehow manage to sound like they'd fill arenas.

Crash Symbols Compilation

Hear Hum - Psyche Circles (expect more from Hear Hums on ATHID in the near future!)

Swimming Trunks/BWEDGE Split EP

Tourmates and like minded tropical punks "BWEDGE" and "Swimming Trunks" recently released a free split EP of fuzzy, sample based joy. Fans of Tree Hopping (or Totally Nebular) will definitely enjoy these guys. Although both bands feel pretty tropical throughout, they aren't afraid to throw in samples and synths that break the beach mood. (I wanna Know and Small Victories respectively).

The EP has five songs from each artist and you can download it right here. Check out the track list below, along with a few individual mp3s. UPDATE: I just realized they are actually mp4s, so open them in a new tab if they aren't playing for you.

BWEDGE:

1. Restless
2. Golden Gloves
3. Phantom
4. I wanna Know
5. Simple Dreams

Swimming Trunks:

1. Small Victories
2. Past/Future
3. Necessary Evils
4. Ripe (Ft BWEDGE)
5. Wisdom

Star Slinger - "ROGUE CHO PA" EP

Star Slinger has been getting a lot of buzz lately, and until recently I wasn't entirely sure I could get behind it. I knew I dug his remixes, but his originals never really stood out. That all changed pretty recently when his contribution to the Amdiscs compilation overcame my cynicism with pure bliss. I wasn't planning on posting anything else though because I already linked to that song in the Amdiscs post. Conveniently though, Star Slinger released an EP "full of beats" that he "had lying around". If this is what he has lying around to release on a whim I clearly need to be listening to more of his stuff. If you're in Tally you'll get to do just that early next month at Club Down Under. If Star Slinger wasn't good enough the February 8th show also has Braids and Baths on the bill.

Grab Rouge Cho Pa on Soundcloud or as a zip

Everyday Dance - Star Slinger

If you're digging it, grab one more free release from Star Slinger called Volume One here.

Merry Christmas! Klaxons, JJ, Gorillaz give away free music

Merry Christmas everyone! I know I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I've been either catching up with friends or sleeping my entire break! Anyways, a few bands have Christmas presents available that I want you to take full advantage of!

Stream the Gorillaz Ipad-made album, The Fall in exchange for an email at their website. At the moment only fan club members can download the album.

Download JJ's new mixtape from Sincerely Yours

Stream and Download the Klaxon's new EP "Landmarks of Lunacy" also at the band's website.

Update: Yeasayer is jumping in the holiday madness, asking fans to pay what they want for a live album recorded earlier this year also from their website. (thanks p4k!)

New Releases: Foxes in Fiction - Alberto

Warren of Foxes in Fiction is offering up a phenomenal new EP today for free on his very own Orchid Tapes label. Check out the track list below.

Track List

1. Bathurst
2. School Night
3. Sadiya
4. Borders (Galleries and Foxes in Fiction)
5. Fifteen Ativan (Alternate Version)
6. To Josef, in Texas
7. OCAD Flu

My favorite at the moment are Borders and OCAD Flu, both of which show a more psychedelic side of Foxes in Fiction than I'm used to.

2010 Recap: Top 15 EPs

Its that time of year! This week I'm going to be rolling out my year end favorites, along with a few friend's favorites. Today its EPs, I've got a list of Remixes/Covers, Albums, and Songs to come, and who knows what my friends will have to say. If you're a TL;DR kind of person expect a recap once everything has been posted

1. `+` - Wise Blood
2. The Years - Memoryhouse
3. All Delighted People - Sufjan Stevens
4. Guards - Guards
5. Boat Boat - Totally Nebular
6. What Happens in Hingham stays in Hingham - Mean Winds
7. Lamp Lighter - MoonLasso
8. Boy - Young Man
9. Adelyn Rose - Adelyn Rose
10. Daytrotter Session - Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
11. Beach Dreams - Teen Daze
12. Fade Cave - Yellow Ostrich
13. Dynazty - Nazcar Nation
14. Sometimes the Blues is just a Passing Bird - Tallest Man on Earth
15. Coal Mine Canary - The Dundies

Just a few things worth noting: All the EPs with links are free(with the artist's approval of course) and you can stream most of the other ones without too much trouble. Boat Boat actually came out in 2009 (Edit: and its not even an EP!), but I didn't get it until this year (and its short enough to feel like an EP!), so I'm going to count it. I only included the Daytrotter session because it has all the same songs as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr's Horsepower EP, but it has a warmer feel to it and I always find myself listening to it over the actual EP. And finally, The Tallest Man on Earth's EP would be much higher on this list if his LP didn't overshadow it, you really need to check both out if you haven't yet!!

Mean Cat - The Pumpkin Cup EP

Yikes. Remember when Weezer was actually good? I was 2 years when the Blue Album came out....

Anyways, Mean Cat trade in a similar Sing-A-Long Powerpop, and they don't have any lil Wayne or Kenny G cameos. Rock n Roll ya'll.

Mean Wind - The Guests Are The Guests Are Gone Gone

More melancholic and subdued than their first EP, "The Guests are the Guests are Gone Gone" is still a work of joyously peculiar folk best experienced as a whole.