South Carolina's twee-folk rascals Those Lavender Whales release their debut album January 17th, but decided to let us all hear it a few days early. Tomahawk is filled to the brim with songs that just make me smile, and I'd highly suggest it to everyone. Stream the entire album over at Fork and Spoon's website, and expect a full review on Athid in the very near future.
Mauro Remiddi continues to build the hype surrounding his full length debut "Strange Weekend" with the release of his second single. "Unless You Speak from the Heart" follows in the high fidelity footsteps of the album's first single, and unwinds most of the nervous tension. Centering around a bouncing, whimsical synth line, the track is the first Porcelain Raft song that's unabashedly fun. The keys and percussion bring to mind a sugar coated Walk in the Park, but (not unlike that song) the guitar part is the real joy. The soldering iron line breaks through around the half way point and reminds us that we're in outer space, not cloud nine. This is still Porcelain Raft after all! Porcelain Raft - Unless You Speak From Your Heart by DOJAGSC
Strange Weekend is out January 24th on Secretly Canadian. You can pre-order the album here.
The Surprisingly under-hyped Denver group Gauntlet Hair release their self titled debut tomorrow on Dead Oceans, but you can stream in right now. Gauntlet Hair presents massive blasts of melodic joy one after the other, and indisputably prove that indie rock can still have teeth in 2011. The obvious talking points will be Sleigh Bells and No Age, but I can't help but hear hints of Oberhofer as well in the vocals. Stream the album at Consequence of Sound, and check out a few mp3s below.
Forgoing the drone stylings of his first Elvis Depressedly release, Coma Cinema mastermind Mat Cothran returns with a second EP a bit closer to his original sound. Not unlike his most recent Coma EP, Abandoned Lands, Goner takes Mat's general singer song writer form and spins it on its head. Goner is filled with antagonistic titles, lyrics and recording techniques dead set on frustrating its audience. Don't let that scare you off though, the EP is most certainly a work of art. If nothing else, Goner highlights two of Mat's very special traits: his ability to immerse his music in emotion, and his tireless self editing under the Coma Cinema name. If these tracks weren't deemed worthy for Coma Cinema's final release, I can't wait to hear what is.
These days, just having a release on Tri-Angle is cause for buzz. Their newest release, a single from New York (via Kuwait) artist Ayshay somehow hasn't received the buzz of its peers. Maybe I just dropped the ball on this one, but even though these songs have been out since July I'm just now hearing them.
Warn U, comprised entirely of Asyshay's ("whatever" in Arabic) layered vocals, will rip any preconceived notion that songs should convey specific feelings to shreds. The end result is pulsing, foreboding, and somber yet somehow comforting. While I'd say I have a larger background knowledge on Islamic culture than the average america, not knowing whether or not what I'm listening to would offend many of my friends only adds to the song's inherent tension.
Also including on the single is the Nguzunguzu remix, which almost effortlessly turns the single into a post-dubstep banger. Any sense of calm is stripped away, leaving one of the scariest dance songs I've ever heard, and I can't stop listening to it.
I've been absolutely floored by Slumberland's output this year. They are definitely in the middle of a renaissance. Just take a quick peek at their soundcloud and youtube page if you don't know what I'm talking about. Perhaps the most buzzed about band in their rising class is Big Troubles, and they've made their debut album available for stream! No embed link at this time, so head over to Stereogum. There's not a second of filler on the album, but if you need a highlight, I'd say Minor Keys is the cream of the crop.
New James Blake played on BBC1 last night! Its the second track we've heard of from Mr Blake's soon to be released EP, "Enough Thunder" and the last two minutes will kill you (in a good way.)
Check out the first track, the much buzzed collaboration with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon.
Like any good remix, Low Sea keep the spirit of the original "Frequency" but alter the tone. It falls somewhere in between the lazy carelessness of the original and Uno's own sleek, but unnerving rework. An added sense of urgency purveys the mix, but its just enough make you want to dance, not just twitch.
With every release it becomes more and more apparent that Dead Gaze is not just "lo-fi." Cole Furlow is making pop music here, he's just using the a different set of tools. The signature "under water vocals", garish synths and syrupy guitar swirl together with pounds of angst, yet the end result still manages to sound shockingly beautiful.
The maybe sort of Witch House/Based producer Clams Casino follows up his excellent Instrumentals EP with the Rainforest EP. Clam's sound hasn't changed much, but the decision to leave the songs unattached to rappers along with the release on Tri-angle signal that Clams may be starting to consider himself in the genres he's already being lumped into by others. Of course, none this affects the actual music, which you should listen to below.
The single version of Jaime xx's "Far Nearer" is finally making the blogosphere rounds. The world first heard Far Nearer almost a year ago and at the time I wasn't a huge fan. What I remember being a rambling steel drum exploration does start out that way, but a minute or so in explodes into easily one of the most anthemic dance tracks of the year. The song revolves around the vocal line "I feel better when I have you near me" that serves as a reminder that Jaime xx is just better than everyone else at pitch shifting. If you like what you hear purchase vinyl, mp3s or .wavs from numbers.
Based House mastermind Holy Other dropped a new EP up for streaming over at the zones. Stream it below and get ready for the June 7th release on PBR&B/Based OGs Tri-angle records.
As far as Native Speaker remixes go, I'd say Teen Daze's Glass Deer still reigns supreme, but Silly Kisses' Plath Heart reinterpretation is a pretty close second. The remix was part of Kanine Records' record store day compilation, which you can stream on soundcloud.
Cults uploaded this swagged out version of their first single to their soundcloud a few hours ago. It's most definitely worth checking out, but I don't think it will be replacing the original for very many people. Even though I'm not totally sold on the remix, it is nice to see zonked out hip-hop influences becomeincreasinglyprevalent in more mainstream indie.
I've been absolutely floored by Slumberland's output this year. They are definitely in the middle of a renaissance. Just take a quick peek at their soundcloud and youtube page if you don't know what I'm talking about. Perhaps the most buzzed about band in their rising class is Big Troubles, and they've made their debut album available for stream! No embed link at this time, so head over to Stereogum. There's not a second of filler on the album, but if you need a highlight, I'd say Minor Keys is the cream of the crop. 
Just like every other indie album you've been looking forward to this year, Bon Iver's self titled sophomore album is streaming on NPR first listen.
The single version of Jaime xx's "Far Nearer" is finally making the blogosphere rounds. The world first heard Far Nearer almost a year ago and at the time I wasn't a huge fan. What I remember being a rambling steel drum exploration does start out that way, but a minute or so in explodes into easily one of the most anthemic dance tracks of the year. The song revolves around the vocal line "I feel better when I have you near me" that serves as a reminder that Jaime xx is just better than everyone else at pitch shifting. If you like what you hear purchase vinyl, mp3s or .wavs from numbers.
Cults uploaded this swagged out version of their first single to their soundcloud a few hours ago. It's most definitely worth checking out, but I don't think it will be replacing the original for very many people. Even though I'm not totally sold on the remix, it is nice to see zonked out hip-hop influences become increasingly prevalent in more mainstream indie.
