video: Narrow Sparrow - "Joe Meek's Dream"

Narrow Sparrow - Joe Meek's Dream (Music Video) from Richard Portillo on Vimeo.

Unrestrained "bizarro pop" from Chicago's Narrow Sparrow.  Fuzzy as a wool sweater and as angst-filled as anything on In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.  Expect this on 7" soon. 

Full disclosure: band member Ricky Portillo and this writer are good friends. Song rules either way.

new Air France - "It Feels Good To Be Around You"

Diva vocals + slightly screwed R&B crooning + steel drums = a warm bath in Balearic bliss, courtesy of Sweden's Air France, perfect for an endless summer afternoon.  MP3 from Sincerely Yours, who are hopefully preparing a physical release.

MP3: Air France - It Feels Good To Be Around You

(via Pitchfork)

new Mount Pleasant - "Slipped Era"

Alive and as well as can be expected after February's Christchurch, NZ, earthquake forced him from his family's home, Jonathan Phillips (Mount Pleasant) is back to releasing new music.  "Slipped Era" is the fourth single we've heard from upcoming full-length The Aztecs.  It may also be the best.  Where the previous singles were more forward-thinking, dance-oriented jams, "Slipped Era" belongs to the disco era.  There's definitely a DFA vibe here, too, with the monotonous, hipsters-in-arms vocal dubs.  Like the best tracks on LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening, the funkiness is fraught with an equal amount of frustration, and it eventually gives way to something larger, louder and more emotionally vulnerable.  It takes a skilled songwriter to make music that's indebted to a bygone era and simultaneously relevant to the present sound or predictive of the future.  "Slipped Era" is all that and then some.  Dig it.



Mount Pleasant on bandcamp / Blogger / Facebook / MySpace

Youth Lagoon - "Cannons"

Boise's Trevor Powers makes blissfully beautiful lo-fi pop as Youth Lagoon.  "Cannons" is only the second song we've heard from that project, and already, we know we can expect great things from it.  The song's melodic tones and jangly guitar arpeggios recall Beach House, while Powers' nasally, unrestrained vocals reminded me of Page France.  Youth Lagoon's debut full-length The Year of Hibernation is due this summer on new label Juno Beach Records. 

Youth Lagoon - Cannons

Follow Youth Lagoon on bandcamp / Facebook / SoundCloud / Twitter

(via No Modest Bear)

New Banjo Or Freakout - "Go Ahead"

The folks at The Fader just premiered a song from bedroom producer Banjo Or Freakout's debut album, due "in early 2011" on Rare Book Room Records.  On first listen, "Go Ahead" is what we've come to expect from artist Alessio Natalizia: strikingly beautiful folk-pop compositions that gradually give way to a dense haze that might coat Seattle or London on a rainy afternoon.  Repeated listens reveal the production skills of Nicolas Vernhes, who gives Natalizia's songs a tighter structure and strikes a balance between his pop-infused vocals and the copious amount of fuzzy distortion.  Banjo Or Freakout's "105" 7" is out now; more details on the self-titled full-length when they're made available.

Banjo Or Freakout - Go Ahead

Also from Banjo Or Freakout:

Banjo Or Freakout - 105
Banjo Or Freakout - Breathe Out
Banjo Or Freakout - Upside Down

Banjo Or Freakout on bandcamp / Blogger / Last.fm / MySpace / SoundCloud / Twitter

(via The Fader)

New Waskerley Way - "Hyper Hazard"

Waskerley Way is readying his full-length debut, Waterfall, for release on Wonder Beard Tapes.  In the meantime, you can make a donation to download the Ghost Cat single, which features two tracks from the upcoming album, over at his bandcamp.  I was blown away by B-side "Hyper Hazard," with its soaring, swirling synthesizers and intensely building beat pattern.  More info on the Waterfall cassette as soon as it's made available.

  Waskerley Way - Hyper Hazard by casketcrashvigil

Waskerley Way on bandcamp / Tumblr / Twitter

Flower Orgy

Lo-fi folk-pop quartet Flower Orgy made the rounds across the blogosphere with their autumn 2010 single "Boneyard," a blown-out, fuzzed-up ear-fuck of a song that's equal parts grungy and jangly.  The group has a cassette out on The Curatorial Club, which can only mean great things for them (see Twin Sister and Games).  You can grab three songs from the cassette over at the group's Bandcamp.  Sounds like a brighter Neutral Milk Hotel recorded in a field during a camping trip to the Green Mountains.  The first half of that last sentence is an opinion statement; the second half is an actual fact!  Flower Orgy's debut cassette can be yours for just $7 (or $11 international).  Order it here.

Flower Orgy- Country Side
Flower Orgy - Boneyard

(Props to McGregor)

Waskerley Way - Energy Legs EP

Pictured above is Waskerley Way, a bike path in the town of Consett in County Durham, England. It is also the musical moniker of one Mikey—formerly of Consett, now of Newcastle—who rode his bike through Waskerley Way as a child. Mikey’s nostalgia for a childhood spent cruising makes its way into his dreamy synth pop, though his music soars more than it cruises. His new Energy Legs EP is as hazy and half-remembered as it is shimmery and sparkly, like a hash pipe jaunt across fresh snow on a moon-lit path. Listening to it, I can’t help but think of a child cruising on a bicycle with Falcor flying overhead.

Grab title track “Energy Legs” and "Gâteau" below; support the artist by buying the EP for ₤3 (less than $5) here.

Waskerley Way - Energy Legs

Waskerley Way - Gâteau

(As heard on Rose Quartz, with props to Pinglewood)