As the new tracks pour in, and out of our ears, we’re doing our best to keep up with them all. The amount of great music – from new bands and DIY artists to veterans and legends – is overwhelming, so being picky about what songs to post is increasingly important, and challenging. You’ll see a bunch of Fresh Tracks mixes over the next week because there is so much fantastic music to share that we want to make sure you don’t miss of it.

Today’s mix includes new music from Ponytail, Ken Seeno, Wild Beasts, Matthew Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces), Edward Sharpe, Let’s Say We Did, Antonymes & 1, 2, 3.  So, let’s do this.

Ponytail Plug New LP; Plus, Member Solo Projects

In 2008, Baltimore art-punk indie band Ponytail put itself on the indie map with the spectacular debut LP, Ice Cream Spiritual. After a long hiatus from the band to work on side projects, Ponytail recently announced an April 12th release date for their follow-up LP, Do Whatever You Want All The Time. In addition to the first single, the band also dropped the embedded video montage (below) with sample clips from the new tracks.

The first new single, “Easy Peasy,” starts out somewhat incomprehensible, and then bursts into a forward-driving, almost jubilant march characterized by splashes of pop mashed with punk – an almost fitting swirl of jubilation that beckons the approaching springtime transition.

“Easy Peasy” – Ponytail from Do Whatever You Want All The Time

As we mentioned, the band members took an extended break from spreading their Ponytail greatness around the U.S. to take on other projects. The first band member to emerge with new solo material is guitarist Ken Seeno, who offers what Pitchfork calls his “Oneohtrix Point Never-like affinity for ambient sci-fi lullabies.” Here’s a Soundcloud clip sample of the track, “Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave,” available on cassette via NNA Tapes.

NNA025: Ken Seeno “Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave” [sample] by nnatapes

Fiery Furnance’s Matthew Friedberger Goes Solo

To the delight of many fans, Matthew Friedberger of the art rock duo Fiery Furnaces – the other half is his sister Eleanor Friedberger – will release volume three of his six album subscription series, Solos, on Tuesday. Each of the albums highlights one instrument – piano, guitar, organ, double bass, drums, harp. The album track, “Meet Me in Miramas,” highlights the guitar.

“Meet Me in Miramas” - Matthew Friedberger from Solos

Wild Beasts Prep Third LP; Drop New Single

It’s hard to believe that the Mercury Prize nominated band Wild Beasts is already coming up on the release of its third album; it really doesn’t seem that long ago at all that Wild Beasts’ debut album was getting the all-important blogger-buzz. But this new track, “Albatross,” is a different spin on the band’s usual funk rock cabaret style; it’s more mellow, lush with harmonies and subtle. The LP, Smother, drops on May 9th.  Play the track below; you can also download it from Wild Beasts’ Facebook page.

“Albatross” – Wild Beasts – advanced single

Here’s a video of one of the best songs of 2009, from Wild Beasts of course.

New Emerging Swedish Pop Band, Let’s Say We Did

Swedish indie pop band Let’s Say We Did has been lurking on the periphery of Sweden’s music scene, releasing a three-track demo in 2008, and following it up with two EPs – Follow Me Down, mixed and mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500, Daniel Johnston, Low, etc) and Straight Back To You. The EPs caught the attention of some press and blogs in Sweden and Europe. The band’s upcoming release of a third EP, Lost & Found, will be followed up by a debut album later this year. Let’s Say We Did have opened previously for bands like Withered Hand, Ida Maria, Moneybrother, and Dial M For Murder.

“Let The Sky Come Down” – Let’s Say We Did from Lost & Found EP – out March 31st

Ambient Artist Antonymes Offers Free Track from Upcoming LP

Are you a fan of ambient music? Are you in the mood right now for totally chilling out? Do you feel introspective? Well, we think we have a track to fit the situation just perfectly. Actually, this track makes us think of a rainy, quiet afternoon in the springtime. The song, “Endlessly,” is from Hidden Shoal recording artist, and neo-classical/minimal ambient musician, Antonymes, from his forthcoming album The License To Interpret Dreams, due out on April 21st.  You can also watch the video to accompany the song either by letting the playlist run it automatically after it finishes streaming the audio track, or you can click the ‘play button’ and the built-in Yahoo Media Player will instantly play the video for you.

“Endlessly” – Antonymes from The License To Interpret Dreams

New Video from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, plus Fresh Tracks from Spectre Folk, Vivian Girls and & 1,2,3

“40 Day Dream” – Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros from the band’s 12-part music video series entitled, SALVO! The song is originally from the band’s 2009 self-titled debut album. Check out the video for “40 Day Dream”.

Check out this fresh track from the forthcoming EP from the Spectre Folk project of musician Pete Nolan (Magik Markers, GHQ), The Blackest Medicine, Vol. II, which drops March 29 on Woodsist.

“Blackest Medicine” – Spectre Folk from The Blackest Medicene

- Get a new and free track from the Vivian Girls‘ upcoming LP set to drop on April 14th.

1, 2, 3 is singer/songwriter Nic Snyder and drummer Josh Sickels, joined by a full band when playing live – something they’ll be doing quite a bit of in the coming weeks, as the guys are heading down to Austin for no less than seven dates at SXSW.

“Riding Coach” - 1,2,3 from TBA – date TBA

Don’t miss our upcoming schedule guide to Record Store Day releases; there are plenty of opportunities to grab limited edition, exclusive, record-store only releases of colored vinyls and much more.