Coma League is a Charlotte indie band consisting of singer and guitarist Ben Gelnett and drummer Kevin Markie. The duo began playing together last year and the style that emerged is a metamorphosis of garage rock, blues, lo-fi, alternative and folk as evidenced by their debut EP, This Could Be The Night on Kinnikinnik Records. Bassist Blake Raynor of The Stone Figs recently joined the band to play live gigs and work on the band's first full-length album.

Coma League's sound reminds me of The Format and even Modest Mouse, which isn't much of a surprise since they list the latter as one of their main musical influences, in addition to Elliott Smith and Bug Hummer. When performing live, Gelnett likes to classify the band's genre of music as "crunk punk".

"Pros and Cons" - Coma League from This Could Be The Night EP (2009)

"Kiser Rolls" - Coma League from This Could Be The Night EP (2009)

Labels: Bands to Watch 2009, MP3s

The piles of CDs on my desk are taking on an ominous nature. How I am going to get through all of these? And all of the digital submissions that are backing up in my email box? In over my head...

There are a number of reviews and profiles in the pipeline featuring some exciting new artists and bands with some great new music that most people have never heard. So stay tuned for those in the coming weeks.

Labels: MP3s

North Carolina indie band Birds of Avalon (photo by Justin Lyons)

After taking a few days to go through a huge backlog of music submissions from hundreds of musicians, bands, promoters and labels, there was so much great music that it is going to take some time and ingenuity to present it all. This means there will be special playlist mixes and band profiles all summer based on the In Dee Mail playlist series alone.

We are really excited to share with so many people some of the best songs of 2009 from largely unknown solo musicians and bands worldwide (and who followed our pesky submission guidelines to get our attention) who sent their music to be featured IRC. Hopefully, you'll learn about some great songs and bands you never heard of before.

This first mix is a sampling of the 'various artists' concept - songs spanning an eclectic mix of 2009 independent music from hip hop/jazz to pop and alternative rock to alt country.

"Your Down Time is Up" - Birds of Avalon from Uncanny Valley

"Big City Bright Lights" - ArtOfficial from Stranger EP (2009)

"Glasses On" - Schwervon from Low Blow (2009)

Labels: In Dee Mail, MP3s

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Labrador Records, is one of my favorite overseas independent record labels. Over the years, they have assembled an impressive line up of bands, including The Radio Dept, Sambassadeur, The Mary Onettes, The Legends, Club 8 and Acid House Kings.

Fast forward to right now. Labrador has released a fresh batch of superb new songs from The Radio Dept., The Mary Onettes, Pallers, The Legends, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and The Sound of Arrows. Altogether, this is some of the best indie music out right now, thanks to the smart people with very keen ears for good music at Labrador Records.

In addition to the new releases listed below, you can download a zip file of all of Labrador's free songs, stream them on LastFM and buy the albums of your favorite Labrador bands on Labrador's website. Find the release dates for the following list of new songs. Cheers to a great indie label!

"Dare" - The Mary Onettes from Dare EP
The Mary Onettes on MySpace

"David" - The Radio Dept from upcoming David EP
The Radio Dept on MySpace


"1999" - Suburban Kids With Biblical Names from #4
SKWBN on MySpace

"Humdrum" - Pallers from Humdrum EP
Pallers on MySpace

"Always The Same" - The Legends from Over and Over
The Legends on MySpace

"M.A.G.I.C." - The Sound of Arrows from M.A.G.I.C.
The Sound of Arrows on MySpace

Get more songs from the Swedish label by downloading the Labrador Spring Sample via Pirate Bay.

Labels: Indie Record Labels, MP3s

Spring is the time of year when you want to listen to more music - walk in the park with your favorite songs humming your ears, discover new music with your girlfriend (or boyfriend) and hang out at a BBQ party with friends to catch up on the latest and greatest new releases. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of songs about spring time, or that 'sound like' spring.

This playlist features songs from Club 8, The Flaming Lips, The Boy Least Likely To and Afternoon Naps.

"Spring Came, Rain Fell" - Club 8 from Spring Came, Rain Fell (2002)

"Sun Will Shine" - Akron/Family from Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free (2009)

"Can't Stop the Spring" - The Flaming Lips from Oh My Gawd...The Flaming Lips (1987)

"Argyle Spring" - Afternoon Naps from Sunbeamed (2009)

"A Balloon On A Broken String" - The Boy Least Likely To from The Laws of the Playground (2009)

The first playlist for Songs of Spring includes songs from Annuals, Spinning Wheels, Fancy Dress Party, The Postmarks and more. The upcoming Volume III will feature Airborne Toxic Event, Peter Von Poehl, Matt Pond PA and Stan Getz.

Labels: Indie Playlists, MP3s

Originally formed in Bloomington, Indieana in 2003, Odawas is a psychedelic and ambient rock band that make infectuous music with an indie folk influences. Their first EP, Vitamin City, was self-released in 2004.

In 2005, Jagjaguwar Records released The Odawas first LP, The Aether Eater, which became an alternative favorite of that year. Their latest release, The Blue Depths, is one of the surprise alternative releases of 2009. Here's one of the album's many great songs.

"Harmless Lover's Disclosure" - Odawas from The Blue Depths (2009)
Odawas on MySpace

Ice Palace is an indie band from Minneapolis who are touring with Cloud Cult and Say Hi. Ice Palace's new album, Wonder Subtly Crushing Us, will be released this week on Earthology Records. Their sound is best compared to bands like The Donkeys and The Subjects.

"Thoughts/Facts" - Ice Palace from Wonder Subtly Crushing Us (out May 9)
Ice Palace on MySpace

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, MP3s

It's been almost two months since the first installment of the "Cover Me Playlist Series," and from looking at the numbers, many people seemed to enjoy it enough to make this an on-going playlist series. Who doesn't love a great cover song? There are thousands of them, many that a lot of people don't know about.

This playlist features just released, and recently released, cover songs from some of indie and alternative rock's most popular artists. In fact, on The Killers' new EP, Spacemen, the band covers "Four Winds" by Bright Eyes. The Chairs perform a popular Bon Iver song. The Black Keys do a take on a long lost track from The Kinks.

Also, check out Slaraffenland's cover of a classic new wave hit from the 80s and Serena Ryder's heart-felt cover of Band of Horses' "The Funeral." Ryder's music is not my kind of stuff, but she does a nice cover of one of my favorite recent songs from one of my favorite bands of this decade.

"Four Winds" (Bright Eyes) - The Killers
The Killers website

"Flume" (Bon Iver) - The Chairs
The Chairs on MySpace

"Act Nice and Gentle" (The Kinks) - The Black Keys
The Black Keys website

"Take On Me" (A-ha) - Slaraffenland
Slaraffenland on MySpace

"The Funeral" (Band of Horses) - Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder on MySpace

See the first playlist installment for this series


Popular posts this week:

New Remix from Metric
Deleted Scenes Release New Album
New Songs from Trainwreck Riders, Sonic Youth, The Von Bondies and Super Fury Animals

Labels: Cover Songs, MP3s

It's been a busy week so far with stories about, and songs from, Melpo Mene, Klum, Fearless Vampire Kills, Pope Joan, downdime, L'Avventura, Curvise and many others. During that time the queue with more new indie and alternative songs has filled up again. If you like any of the bands, check out their web sites.

Songs featured today include newbies from Texan singer-songwriter Robert Gomez, Georgia's King Khan and The Shrines, Portland's Tara Jean O'Neil and Brooklyn electronic DJ Throcke. But first up, let's start with two bands that released new music today, London's The Veils and alt-indie legends Superchunk.

"The Letter" - The Veils from Sun Gangs, out today, April 7
The Veils Website

"Misfits & Mistakes" - Superchunk from Leaves in the Gutter EP, out April 7
Superchunk Website

"On This Day" - Robert Gomez from Pine Sticks & Phosphorus, out April 14
Robert Gomez on MySpace

"Land of Freak" - King Khan and The Shrines from From What Is?!, out on April 21
King Khan and The Shrines on MySpace

"Drowning" - Tara Jane O'Neil from A Ways Away, out May 5
Tara Jane O'Neil on MySpace

"Starry" - Throcke from Sometimes Not Unpointful, out now
Throcke on MySpace

You can grab our RSS 'Feed Me Indie' so you never miss a beat, follow IRC on Twitter to get cool stuff that is sometimes not featured here or friend us on IRC's MySpace page.

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, MP3s

It's been a while since I've shared any UK-specific music with all of you. The UK is the source of so much of the music I love starting with The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and so on, up to more modern day, most notably bands like Radiohead, Interpol, The Arctic Monkeys and many others.

I like to stay up with what is coming out of the UK on the indie and alternative rock fronts. All of the bands featured in this post are from England and sent their music to me unsolicited, so it makes it a little more special to share with you.

First up is a psychedelic indie pop band from Leeds, England called downdime. Originally formed in 2004, the band has a sound based on the C86 movement of the 1980s, spurring instant comparisons to bands like The Wedding Present and My Bloody Valentine.

The band’s popular reputation for playing live scored them a number of great gigs, including opening for The Black Lips and The Clientele among others. Despite having released 7" recordings and an EP, the band just released their debut LP, titled Knowing Too Much, on Squirrel Records.

"Lessons" - downdime from Knowing Too Much
"Any Good Reason" - downdime from Knowing Too Much
downdime on MySpace

Another relatively unknown band from the big city of London is the 7-piece outfit known as L'Avventura, a band that mixes influences of T. Rex, Roxy Music and Nick Drake into their tight, layered UK pop rock sound.

UK blogger Mojophenia wrote of the band's new debut, Your Star Was Shining: "exceptional.. An audacious release, a scrumptious collection of laid back T-rextasy."

"Rocket Sue" - L'Avventura from Your Star Was Shining
L'Avventura on MySpace

Labels: In Dee Mail, MP3s

The following is a batch of new songs from current and upcoming albums from indie rockers Coltrane Motion, Ottawa folk inspiration The Acorn and Brooklyn lo-fi pop slickers The City and Horses. Enjoy.

"The Year Without A Summer" - Coltrane Motion from The Year Without A Summer
"Blue Maya" - Coltrane Motion from The Year Without A Summer
Coltrane Motion's Official Website

Ottawa's The Acorn are an indie folk band that have a sound similar to Fleet Foxes. Their new release, Heron Act, features a collection of songs from live recordings and demos. Heron Act is a must-have for fans of The Acorn and a good place to get to know the band for newbies to their sound.

"Crooked Legs" - The Acorn from Heron Act
The Acorn on MySpace

While it's nothing new in recent years to say there's another interesting and talented band based in Brooklyn, The City and Horses is one of the bands to watch in 2009.

"I Love The Girls" - The City and Horses from I Don't Want to Dream
The City and Horses on MySpace

Labels: Coltrane Motion, MP3s, The Acorn, The Flying Change

We have a new musical journey to embark on. A common refrain on this blog is the fact there is a ton of amazing music out there that most people have never heard, or will never hear, if not for the miracles of the Internet. Sometimes it’s just one song by an obscure band. Other times it is an entire album full of amazing music that somehow slips under the radar.

In this new playlist series, "The Great Unknowns", you'll learn about musicians, bands, songs and albums that have gone largely unnoticed for whatever unfortunate reason 0r combination thereof - poor timing, bad management, band problems, lousy marketing, lack of focus and the list goes on.

During the past couple of decades, indie and alternative music have gained a wider audience. Much of this can be credited to the promotion of music by music lovers via music via the Internet. Songs featured in this series do not reflect new indie or alternative music (check the New Releases or MP3s sections of this site for those) but instead music released generally between the years 1990 to 2008.

One of the main purposes for this blog for more than two years has been to bring unknown or under appreciated music to the ears of more people, and to highlight the best of the best known indie and alternative artists and bands as well. If you know more than a couple songs on this list, then you must be a real indie die-hard. Enjoy the first installment of The Great Unknowns.

"Man 'O War" - Eric Bachman from To The Races (2006)

"Rain Parade" - Bill Ricchini from Ordinary Time (2002)


"Suggestion Box" - Aqueduct from I Sold Gold (2005)

"Alison" - Slowdive from Souvlaki (1993)

"Punk as Fuck" - American Analog Set from Know By Heart (2001)

Check back, grab the Feed Me Indie feed or follow IRC on Twitter to get the latest on new indie rock releases, bands and songs, plus the best of classic indie and alternative rock.

Labels: Best Indie Songs, Bill Richinni, Eric Bachmann, MP3s, Rare Classic Indie Songs, The Great Unknowns

Today's batch of new songs from current and up-coming releases includes a fresh pop tune from Portland's The Thermals, Stockholm's indie pop duo The Sweet Serenades, Edmonton's five-piece shoegaze Faunts, Finnish pop couple Burning Hearts and a hard-edge blaze from Akron's Dan Auerbach.

"Now We Can See" - The Thermals from Now We Can See
The Thermals on MySpace

"Mona Lee" - The Sweet Serenades from Balcony Cigarettes
The Sweet Serenades on MySpace

"Explain" - Faunts from Feel Love Thinking Of
Faunts on MySpace

"I Lost My Colour Vision" - Burning Hearts from Aboa Sleeping
Burning Hearts on MySpace

"I Want Some More" - Dan Auerbach from Keep It Hid
Dan Auerbach on MySpace

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, Dan Auerbach, Faunts, MP3s, The Thermals

Seattle's Throw Me the Statue are back with a new EP on Secretly Canadian Records, the same label that is home to the wildly popular Anthony and The Johnsons (I don't care for his music; so kill me).

But, TMTS's new single "Ship" from the Purple Face EP is definitely worth a listen. It gets better with each listen, in my opinion. The entire album is worth a listen, but this is the stand-out track.

"Ship" - Throw Me The Statue from Purple Face
"Lolita" - Throw Me The Statue from Moonbeams, one of 2008's best surprise albums of the year.

"Future Primitive" - Papercuts from new release You Can Have What You Want

This is an excellent pop rock song, one of the best songs of 2009 so far, and perhaps one of the best albums of the new year as well from San Francisco's very own, Papercuts. Enjoy.

A new split single from pop master Cloudberry Records features London collective The Understudies and Chicago's Very Truly Yours delivers ambitious, rapid jangle pop.

"Flic Knives" - The Understudies
"Pop Song 91" - Very Truly Yours

More indie releases from 2009, including Beirut, Weird Owl, Appleseed Cast, Diplo, Loney Dear and more!

Labels: Best Indie Songs 2009, Cloudberry Records, MP3s, Papercuts, Throw Me The Statue

Today's playlist of new songs include Here We Go Magic, Plus Minus, Ancient Crux, Of Montreal and It Hugs Back.

It Hugs Back will release their debut album, Inside Your Guitar, in early April on Beggars Group Records.

"Work Day" - It Hugs Back from the upcoming debut Inside Your Guitar

"First Time High Reconstructionist (Remix of An Eluardian Instance)" - Of Montreal from the new EP Jon Brion Remix

"In Teen Dreams" - Ancient Crux from Interracial Coupling EP Limited on Family Time Records.

"Unsung" - Plus Minus from X's On Your Eyes on Absolutely Kosher Records

"Tunnelvision" - Here We Go Magic (the moniker for Brooklyn musician Luke Temple and his band) will be available February 24 on West Vinyl Records.

Download a new song from The Doves by email.

Check back tomorrow for more bands, labels and music from IRC or get the feed

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, Ancient Crux, Here We Go Magic, It Hugs Back, MP3s, Of Montreal, Plus Minus

Hard-core Deerhunter fans know about the band and it's many other projects, incarnations and collaborations.

Fewer know what kind of music the current and former band mates of this indie collective listen to. So, in summarizing a huge number of posts at their blog, here is series of personal playlist mixes from Deerhunter, Atlas Sound and Panda Bear.

First up, is Bradford Cox's playlist "mixed by Atlas Sound" titled Micromix 16: Bus Ambience, posted on May 25, 2008. Overall, most of the playlist is simply not really our kind of music (compared to all the great music out there); but hey, who's to say others won't enjoy it more.

Personally, I skipped over most of the songs, hoping for a jem within and found just about nada.

1. Animal Collective - Chocolate Girl (Live on BBC) - Predictable, but good.
2. The Dovers - What Am I Going to Do - OK, they have better stuff.
3. The Chills - Pink Frost - Good, like The Chills for some time.
4. The Avatars - Coil - SOK.
5. Jet Harris and Tony Meehan - Some People (around 19 minutes in) - Not.
6. B-52's - Theme From A Nude Beach - Umm, no thanks.
7. Birigwa - Okusosola Mukule - Nice world music until the baby starts crying at the end (around 31 minutes in); seriously, in a 'mellowed out' song, the last thing you want to hear is a crying baby. Hello?!
8. Black Sabbath - Solitude - Good. Classic and rarely mellow Black Sabbath from the 1970s.
9. Growing - Disconfirm - Spaceship keyboards with drum band backgrounds. Crap?
10. Beach Boys - He Gives Speeches - This is the freaking Beach Boys?!? OK, well this is the Beach Boys at their worst. With all the possible songs to pick from The Beach Boys!? Is this mix a joke?
11. White Magic - Day - Not so much. I mean yes if you're on acid. How many of you are on acid right now? This track would be better without the awkward choruses/chanting and some more note progressions.

Alright, not digging Bradford's mix all that much. Sorry man, nothing personal. Your own music is better.

Download it via MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/?tfregezuyyf

Total Time: 46:13

Next up, Panda Bear's Bookie Pad mix

Stay tuned for more plus our playlist challenge to the Deerhunter and Friends' Personal Playlists series.

Labels: Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox, Deerhunter, Indie Playlists, Mixes, MP3s, Panda Bear

New Indie and Alternative Rock

The usual flurry of indie and alternative rock album and single releases for return to school and pre-Christmas season is in full swing.

This week IRC has assembled another eclectic collection of new MP3 releases from already released and forthcoming releases of some of the best indie rock albums and songs of 2008.

Featured artists and bands include Ed Laurie, Jeremy, The Harvey Girls, The Trophy Fire, The Doleful Lions, Awesome Color, The New Up and others.

Labels: 2008 Indie Rock, Best Indie Songs, MP3s

The following is an indie mixed tape of new songs and releases that came out this summer. Since they have already been released this summer, it seems right to call this tape the Tarty Party mix.

Just click the button on the cassette image below to start the stream featuring songs from Amazing Baby, Ratatat, Beaujolais, Hacienda, Sam Champion, Kings of Leon, I Heart Hiroshima, Awesome Color, Rainbow Arabia and The French Semester.

Here are some free MP3s from the mixed tape above. Others are available from the MP3 tab above.

MP3: "Headdress" by Amazing Baby from Infinite Fking Cross EP released on August 29, 2008

MP3: "Mirando" by Ratatat (via Pitchfork Media)

MP3: "Friday, The Thirteenth: The Loft" by Beaujolais from the Parasol Records Release Love at Thirty

MP3: "Be Mine Everyone" by Sam Champion

Labels: Indie MP3s, Indie Rock Songs, MP3s

There is no shortage of exciting indie releases this September and the stack is already growing high for October.

Among the most talked about, and triumphant indie releases this September is Austin's indie sensations Okkervil River's The Stand Ins.

MP3: "Los Coastlines" from Okkervil River's newest release

Rock critic Will Sheff called The Stand Ins and its 2007 counterpart The Stage Names "essentially a fat-free double album. They're also striking in-progress documents of a band that continues to sharpen its bookish but brutally honest indie rock with every disc."

Other artists and bands releasing new work this month include The Broken West, Kings of Leon, Woodlands, I Heart Hiroshama, Broadfield Marchers and Mason Proper, among many others. (Check back as this page will be updated as new music arrives).

SEPTEMBER'S NEW INDIE RELEASES

MP3: "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon from the forthcoming September 23, 2008 release Only By The Night

MP3: "Auctioneer" by Broken West from the forthcoming album Now or Heaven, released on September 9, 2008 via Merge Records.

MP3: "I Wasn't Made For Fighting" by Woodlands from their album Heart Attack on Paper Bag Records. This is a great song for those of you who enjoy trip-hop trance mixed with rock-like interludes and vocals.

MP3: "Punks" and "Surgery" by I Heart Hiroshama from the new album Tuff Teef

MP3: "Warchful Hill People" by Broadfield Marchers from album The Inevitable Continuing, released on September 2, 2008.

MP3: - "Lock and Key" by Mason Proper off the album Olly Oxen Free due out September 23, 2008 on Dovecote Records.

IRC actively supports aspiring, and established, indie and alternative rock musicians, bands, artists and labels that make great music worthy of highlighting.

More releases coming soon. Get the Feed Me Indie RSS or email feed.

Labels: Kings of Leon, MP3s, New Indie Songs, New Releases, Okkervil River, The Broken West

Soon summer will pass the torch to autumn, leaves will deceive nature by coming alive as they die and people will plan holidays, take out sweaters and coats and harvest the last crops before winter ushers in its long chilly nights.

But let's not say goodbye to summer too fast; it's still with us, and in that spirit, Indie Rock Cafe
kicks off it's PlayThis! MP3 Playlist Series. The first installment is, you guessed it, songs about
summer. Here's a streaming version featuring ten songs, followed by an MP3 playlist. You can PlayThis Playlist now!


1. Summertime - Miles Davis

2. A Summer Wasting - Belle & Sebastian

3. A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill - Jens Lekman

4. Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

5. Electric Music And The Summer People - Beck

6. Feel Good Hit Of The Summer - Queens of the Stone Age

7. It's Summertime - The Flaming Lips

8. Jogging Gorgeous Summer - Islands

9. My Summer Girl - The Rentals

10. Play In The Summer - Trans Am

11. Spring And By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead

12. Summer Babe [Winter Version] - Pavement

13. Summer Days - Phoenix

14. Summer Dress (Live on KCRW) - Red House Painters

15. Summer Is Coming - Matt Pond PA

16. Summer Kids Go - Moonbabie

17. Summer On The Westhill - Kings of Convenience

18. Summer Party - Breakbot

19. Summer Seen - The High Llamas

20. Summer Skin - Death Cab For Cutie

21. Summer Snow - Fahrenheit

22. Summer Songs - Barcelona

23. Summer Wind Was Always Our Son - Ataris

24. Summer's Gone - The Kinks

25. Summer...It's Gone - Grandaddy

This is the first installment of the PlayThis! MP3 Playlist Series focused almost exclusively on indie and alternative rock.

Over the years, I have been sorting my favorites songs - thousands of them - into categorical and thematical playlists. During this time, a collection of more than 50 mostly indie rock, folk, pop playlists has been produced. Little by little, each playlist, in a trimmed down version of course, will be published on this blog.

Eardrums Music has a free 24-song compilation of summer songs available for download at:

http://eardrumsmusic.com/summershere_vol1/

Forthcoming PlayThis! Playlists

Autumn Fills The Air - Featuring songs about autumn time, fall and the change of seasons

Halloween Tracks and Treats - A playlist of Halloween-related songs. Think ghosts, ghouls and goblins.

Labels: Indie Songs, MP3s, PlayThis MP3 Playlist Series

There are few things more enjoyable regarding online music experiences then to discover a great record label that you didn't already know of. This month's indie label honor goes to Dead Oceans Records.

The label is based in Austin, one of the country's top indie/alternative rock cities, where each year two of the music industry's biggest events - the South-by-Southwest Conference and the Austin City Limits Music and Arts Festival - are held. Smart place to start a record label if you don't mind the Texan heat.

Dead Oceans has a great line-up for a relatively small and new label, including indie and alternative rock bands like Explorers Club, Bishop Allen, White Hinterland, The Bower Birds and Evangelicals.

The label has just released The Explorer's Club new debut album, Freedom Wind. This is an interesting album and definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoy the following free track from the album.

MP3: Do You Love Me - Explorers Club

You can purchase Freedom Wind at from Dead Oceans

MP3: Skeleton - Evangelicals

Another recent release from the Dead Oceans indie record label worthy of checking out comes from The Bower Birds. This is a new and pleasant discovery here at IRC. Many fans are enticed by the band's Middle-Eastern influenced tracks that are adeptly mixed with a kind of indie rock that is rarely heard.

The band's song "In Our Talons" embodies this ecelectic offering of influences on The Bower Birds sound.

MP3: In Our Talons - The Bower Birds

View amazing artistic, albeit low budget, music video for "In Our Talons" featured on MTV2 and YouTube.

Canadian Director Alan Poon describes the making of the video to subterraneanblog:

"The images were created by taking individual snapshots of each animal in each position [for] approximately 5 seconds...per day...features three different nature vignettes - a crow (we think), a pair of preying mantises and a crab - and there are three members of Bowerbirds."

In a way coming upon the Dead Oceans Record label was a bit jarring and coincidental for me . Only two days earlier, I had heard a report on NPR about "dead ocean zones" increasing worldwide. The dead zones, a major concern of enviornmentalists and governments worldwide, are growing at an alarming rate worldwide.

The dead ocean zones take over when high concentrations of oxygen-sucking algae form at the mouths of major rivers. Fertilizer run-off from farms flow into streams and then major rivers where they amass in piles, choking the ocean zone's oxygen and killing marine life.

In places like Florida, Japan and Europe, there have been an alarming increase in the number and size of dead ocean zones during the past four decades. Marine environmentalists and oceanographers around the globe say that dead ocean zones are the greatest threat to the world's already threatened oceans.

Hopefully bringing this issue to your attention might get a few people to write their Congressional representatives (it's our democracy if we want to take it).

Labels: Dead Oceans, Indie Record Labels, MP3s

The long-awaited solo album from Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is set to be released on August 5, 2008.

The release will mark the talented Oberst's first solo project, and because of the success of Bright Eyes in recent years, there are rather big expectations, which can often be unfair to the artist.

But that's just one of many ironies that can happen to musicians who create a buzz with a band and then go solo.

mp3: "danny callahan" by conor oberst from his self-titled debut album

mp3: "spring is a condition" by iforward, russia! from the new CD life processes

mp3: "pink squares" by i was a cub scout from the new release i want you to know that there is always hope

mp3: "footloose" by thomas bartlett off the album doveman footloose

mp3: "scene of the crime" (download only) by hot little hands from the disc dynamite in black and white

advance mp3: "soloist in the living room" by cold war kids from forthcoming yet-to-be-named album (date of release unknown, but rumored for august)

mp3: "i kissed a girl (katy perry)" by false start from self-titled debut

note: some mp3s expire or are removed and become no longer available over a period of time; irc has no control over this since they are external media files. we also fully support indie artists and ask that you do too.

Labels: Conor Oberst, Hot Little Hands, Indie Rock Songs, MP3s

There's been surprisingly few notable new indie releases so far this July. Still, there's some great music that has come out in the past two weeks, including new albums from artists like Earlimart, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall, Girl Talk, Travis and Wolf Parade.

The two remaining band members of Los Angeles band Earlimart, Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray, have released their newest album, Hymn and Her, this month, building off the success of last year's Mentor Tormentor.

"Acoustic guitars chime over drum loops, keyboards bubble in the background, and harmonies thicken the melodies,' according to Allmusic.com.

"Yet Hymn and Her still sounds intimate, as if the band mates have discovered how to funnel their densely populated songs into warm, mellow washes of sound."

MP3: "Song For" by Earlimart off Hymn and Her

Following a three-year hiatus recording solo projects, Montreal's Wolf Parade band members Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner with a new album titled At Mount Zoomer, and an impressive follow-up to their 2005 hailed debut Apologies to the Queen Mary.

MP3: "Call It A Ritual" by Wolf Parade from At Mount Zoomer
MP3: "Chief John" by The Great Northwest from the new CD The Widespread Reign - available July 29, 2008

MP3: "Pot Kettle Black" by Tilly and the Wall from O

MP3: "Cacophony" by Tilly and the Wall from O

Here's the YouTube video for "Pot Kettle Black":

Labels: Earlimart, Free Indie MP3s, Indie Rock Videos, MP3s, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall

Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones once sang "time waits for no one." Man, is that true. There have been so many indie rock releases so far in 2008 that's it's nearly impossible to keep up with it all.

Therefore, the following, free, legal MP3s feature some of this year's most popular new releases, including Nine Inch Nails, The Ruby Suns, The Helio Sequence, Band of Horses, The Gutter Twins and many others.

Free and Legal MP3s:

Nine Inch Nails - Lights in the Sky
Download for free the Nine Inch Nails EP The Slip

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

The Ruby Suns - Tane Mahuta

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Baltimore

Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands - Cody’s Dream

The Waco Brothers - Do What I Say

Jim White - Crash into the Sun

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation

Witch- 1000 MPH

Labels: 2008 Indie Songs, Indie Rock Songs, MP3s

MP3: "White Winter Hymnal" by The Fleet Foxes from Emerald City, Washington off the self-title debut album. Perhaps a strange title for a song premiering in the summer. Yet it is also odd to hear a song about winter time from a band that is so strongly influenced by The Beach Boys.

Of course, The Beach Boys are famous for creating some of the biggest summer time hit songs in rock history. Nevertheless, Fleet Foxes has carved out its own piece of the musical landscape, and were a favorite at this year's South by Southwest festival in Austin.

MP3: "Say Yes" by The Afternoons from Los Angeles, CA

MP3: "Wax Simulacra" by The Mars Volta from Los Angeles, CA from the album Bedlam in the Goliath

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Fleet Foxes, MP3s, New Releases

This year's Live 105 BFD Festival was a completely different gig than last year's fest. For one, tickets sold out fairly fast (being that they were only $10.53 base price; one-third the cost of last year's tickets), whereas in 2007, they were still available on the day of the event, and not only that, but they were giving out free tickets.

Another change to this year's BFD was the fact that the venue was slightly moved around with the stages being set up in the parking lot area. There is still no official explanation for this, but it may have limited the number of tickets sold over last year.

On top of all of that, the 2007 BFD had a better line-up than this year's show, as many fans and reviewers have pointed out (including the San Jose Mercury News): Interpol, Social Distortion, AFI, Bloc Party, The National, Kings of Leon, CSS, Queens of the Stone Age and many others.

But again, for only $10 a pop, it's no wonder this year's BFD sold out, but it would have been a much better festival if they had anywhere near the same amazing line-ups as years past; and people would have paid the $30 or more for more headlining acts - that is pretty apparent from what so many are saying.

Based on the number of new festivals this year, it is not a stretch to conclude that BFD organizers had a hard time filling the line-up with 'top name' bands and artists for this year's event, and thus, the lower price for tickets.

Additionally, they make more money from advertising and vendors than the tickets anyways. Therefore, as one very disappointed past-BFD fan wrote, it's not like the festival-goer is really getting a break, especially if the line-up is such a drag compared to previous BFDs.

So far, there is not a very good selection of YouTube videos to show - which is amazing considering the Bay Area is a major tech and music center of the world. Perhaps, more videos of BFD 2008 will surface later on, but for now, here's the IRC picks:

Alkaline Trio - "Help Me"



Alkaline Trio was one of the best bands in the lineup for BFD 08, so here's another clip - "Radio"



Here's another view of Alkaline Trio playing "Radio"



MSTRKRFT performing with lightshow at 2008 BFD:



More from MSTRKRFT's BFD set:



MGMT serves up "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters"



Airborne Toxic Event bangs out "Sometime Around Midnight"



LoveLikeFire performing "Signs"



The Kooks performing short clip of "Naive"



PlayRadioPlay performing "I'm The Pirate, You're The Princess" at BFD 08



Magic Bullets performing "Yesterday's Seen Better Days"



Thought this was cute; little kid dancing to Cypress Hill



AntiFlag - Song title? (short clip, not best quality)



Santogold performing "You'll Find A Way"

From inside the tent: Cover version of Daft Punk's "One More Time" by (anyone know? Bueller? Bueller...)



If you have any interest in seeing the BFD trash left around after the festival, check out the After BFD video. Other videos include performances from Here, Here; Apside plays "K Vision"; short clip of Flogging Molly; PlayRadioPlay performing "Compliment Each Other Like Colors".

YouTuber OHteenhearts offers a bunch of videos from BFD, but they are fairly low quality and short. Yet if you are a crazy Kooks or MGMT fan, and you just must see no matter what, check them out.

Related reading:

Live 105 BFD - The Flobots
Folly Molly, Cypress Hill, Alexander Hamilton Highlight 2008 BFD

Labels: 2008 Music Festivals, Alkaline Trio, Festivals, Live 105 BDF, MP3s, San Francisco Concerts, The Kooks

The Dandy Warhols celebrated Cinco De Mayo yesterday with a CD release party in San Francisco; Deerhunter's lead singer Bradford Cox has released a free EP under the moniker Altas Sound; Culture Reject's debut album has hit the airwaves; the Gentlemen Auction Houses released an EP and is set to release a full feature album; and LA's duo project No Age has released their Subpop debut album.

Portland's indie trailer blazers The Dandy Warhols are back with a new album Earth to The Dandy Warhols (MySpace) which was launched yesterday at a listening party in a San Francisco art gallery.

MP3: The Dandy Warhols - "The World The People Together (Come On)" from the upcoming release Earth to the Dandy Warhols (via Stereogum) - Self Released

Michael O'Connell, the man behind the Toronto indie project, Culture Reject, has released his first official solo debut record. Read the Culture Reject review from the popular indie blog SixEyes.

MP3: Culture Reject - "Inside The Cinema" from self-titled debut on White Whale Records


Deerhunter singer Bradford Cox, known for his prolific song writing and on-stage antics, has released a new EP titled Things I'll Miss and is offering for free via his blog, containing five songs - three instrumentals and two full songs.

MP3: Atlas Sound - "My Car" from Things I'll Miss EP (via Stereogum)

Gentlemen Auction Houses' The Book of Matches EP is out today, May 6, and features two songs from the upcoming full album release, Alphabet Graveyard, via the band's new label, Columbia, Missouri's Emergency Umbrella Records.

MP3: Gentlemen Auction Houses - "The Book of Matches" from Alphabet Graveyard (Emergency Umbrella Records)


After garnering praise from The Los Angeles Times for a variety of indie releases last year, the L.A. duo No Age has completed its official debut release with Subpop Records.

MP3: No Age - "Eraser" from Nouns (Subpop Records)

Labels: Culture Reject, Hayden, MP3s, MySpace Music Pages, New Tracks Tuesday

The best indie, alternative, rock and pop new CD and MP3 releases of 2008 are pouring in at a dizzlingly pace. This week's New Tracks Tuesday features Tokyo Police Club, Tapes N Tapes, Elf Power, Sleeper Car, Sarandon and The Flight of the Conchords.

Ontario, Canada's quirky quartet Tokyo Police Club mix straight away garage rock with poeticism and post-punk overtures, accompanied by catchy guitar hooks, energy-drenched drumming and infectious melodic bass lines, in their new full-length CD, "Elephant Shell."



MP3: Tokyo Police Club - "In A Cave" from Elephant Shell
Stream: Elephant Shell from MTVU.com


Minneapolis' lo-fi, jamming indie rock outfit Tapes N' Tapes has released their first new album since 2006's widely-acclaimed "The Loon". The CD is full of spirited rock mixed with dark keyboards, experimentation and the band's signature shaky vocals.

MP3: Tapes N’ Tapes – “Hang Them All” from Walk It Off
Stream: Walk It Off from MTVU.com

Athens, Georgia's psychedelic indie pop band Elf Power has returned from sabbatical with a new album In A Cave. The album is a collaborative effort featuring Olivia Tremor Control hero Eric Harris, the Instruments Heather McIntosh and former Of Montreal music man Derek Almstead.
MP3: Elf Power - "Paralyzed" from In A Cave

The El Paso band Sleepercar mixes Americana jingle-laden pop with swirls of alternative folk on their debut album West Texas. Jim Ward, a musician well-heeled in the indie music world for his work with At The Drive-In or Sparta, spent six years working on this album. "Even if you are a bit wary about the whole “Americana” tag, this album is worthy of your attention and may even help expand your musical horizons" says music writer Rich Duncan.

MP3: Sleepercar - "Stumble In" from West Texas

More new or upcoming releases:

MP3: Sarandon - "Welcome" from Kill Twee Pop!

MP3: The Conchords - "Ladies of the World" from Flight of the Conchords
Stream: The Flight of the Conchords

Labels: 2008 Releases, MP3s, New Tracks Tuesday, Tapes N Tapes, Tokyo Police Club

Each Tuesday, IRC features a half-dozen new indie tracks from alternative musicians and groups.

This week's featured tracks include songs from Australia's indie electronic band Cut, Copy; Prague's new indie buzz band Airfare; Seattle's newest hot indie popsters Throw Me The Statue; Oxford, England's electronic pop group Foals; Missouri's oddly named Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Louisiana's own The Breeders.

Labels: 2008 Indie Releases, Breeders, Cut Copy, Foals, Indie Playlist 2008, Legal Music Downloads, MP3s, New Tracks Tuesday, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Throw Me The Statue

This week's New Tracks Tuesday features The Annuals, Beach House, Sufjan Stevens, Kevin Drew of BSS, Matmos and Ladytron.

Labels: Beach House, BSS, Free Downloads, Free MP3s, Kevin Drew, Ladytron, MP3s, New Tracks Tuesday, Sufjan Stevens, The Annuals

http://saddlecreekrecords.com/
http://www.paw-tracks.com/

Labels: Free Indie MP3s, MP3s, New Tracks Tuesday

This week's indie music playlist features recent releases from musicians and groups that are creating buzz among the music bloggers.

The single "No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses appeared on their latest album released almost six months ago. Yet, it wasn't until yesterday (March 19, 2008) that the single was 'officially' released.

The psychedelic and Middle Eastern influences of The Ruby Suns is apparent on their latest single and The Helio Sequence returns with a new single after a four year new material drought (but the wait was worth it for HS fans).

Each of this week's songs and the artists who created them were selected not just because they are recent notable releases, but their unique talent and important contributions to the silly thing we like to call 'indie' rock, aka independent music, helps keep the spirit, freedom and creativity of music alive in an age when overly polished and marketed music dominates the mainstream media.

Check out these free and legal MP3s from Band of Horses, The Ruby Suns, The Gutter Twins, The Helio Sequence, What Made Milwaukee Famous and Steve Malkmus and the Jicks.

MP3: The Ruby Suns - Tane Mahuta

MP3: The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

MP3: Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

MP3: The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

MP3: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks -Baltimore

MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous - Resistance St.


Stay tuned for a complete band profiles of each of this week's playlist winners or subscribe to the feed to get them as they are published.

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Note: Musicians, bands, promoters and labels, please submit CDs and music to review to POB 722, RE, CA 95044. To leave a comment, please click on the Post Comment link.

Labels: 2008 Indie Releases, Free MP3s, Indie Playlist 2008, Indie Rock Songs, MP3s, New Releases, Steven Malkmus, The Helio Sequence, The Ruby Suns

With a new album out and an eclectic and exciting discography behind them - albeit it's only a few dozen songs over six years - IRC's artist of the week is Minneapolis band Vicious Vicious. (photo above: the band looking really vicious.)

Originally a solo project and moniker of musician Erik Applewick, who recorded a set of songs on a four-track 2002 self released album titled Blood and Clover, Vicious Vicious sparked a passionate reaction from their hometown Minneapolis indie community, thanks to the additions of band members Darren Jackson, Alex Oa, and Martin Dosh, who helped provide the musical talent that made Applewick's songs even more impossible to ignore.
Vicious Vicious - 2 Much Time on My Hands

Since the release of their latest album Parade in September 2007, songs like "Rain Parade", "Ho Baby" and other well-produced indie pop songs have increased the band's popularity.

According to Vicious Vicious' official website, Applewick and the others are working on new material for yet another album to possibly be released in 2008. Let's hope so, because these guys are on a serious roll.


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Labels: Darren Jackson, Erik Applewick, Indie Artist/Group Profiles, Indie Songs 2008, Martin Dosh, Minneapolis Indie Bands, MP3s, pplewick, Vicious ViciousAlex Oa