Admittedly, this next installment of the Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008 contains more songs from so-called 'mainstream indie' artists. Some are indie and alternative music artists that broke through in 2008, like The Dodos and Firewater, and others, such as The Stills and The Black Keys are no strangers to the 'scene', if you will.

Even more, including Wolf Parade and Secret Machines, have gained a solid following in the more mainstream indie channels. So far, we've featured dozens of artists and bands in this series, from Ra Ra Riot and Radiohead to Hospital Ships and Fleet Foxes, to name a few.

Of course, not everyone will always like our music picks, but we try to keep it as eclectic as possible, picking up on the 'blogger buzz' as well as being uniquely independent in featuring great indie artists that are so good it's hard to believe we are one of the few indie-focused blogs that strive to be a conduit between the artist and the indie/alternative music fans. As we like to say, "awesome music rarely heard".

It's awesome when you all participate and say what you think about the choices and ones we should have included. There's still time to influence what is spun on these playlists :)

To leave any kind of feedback, click on the Comments link below (doesn't require logging in to anything and has fields to put in a name or mark anonymous).

Today's installment of the year in indie rock music features Wolf Parade, Firewater, The Stills, Secret Machines, The Dodos and The Black Keys. Enjoy.

"Soldier's Grin" - Wolf Parade from At Mount Zoomer

"Some Kind of Kindness" - Firewater from The Golden Hour

"Being Here" - The Stills from Oceans Will Rise

"Strange Times" - The Black Keys (photo, middle right) from Attack & Release

"Now You're Gone" - Secret Machines from Secret Machines

"Jodi" - The Dodos from Visiter

Most Popular Posts on IRC:

- Best Indie Rock Songs 2008 - Full series

- Indie and Alternative Christmas Songs

- Shearwater Releases New EP, Snow Leopard

- Artist of the Month: Goh Nakamura

Note: To everyone who has sent music to us recently, we do our best to listen to it all, especially when it is sent meeting the guidelines/requirements. :)

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Best Music 2008, Secret Machines, The Black Keys, The Dodos, Wolf Parade

The video above features Wolf Parade performing "This Heart's on Fire"

There's always too many indie rock articles and items of news and never enough time to write about them. So, as an antidote, IRC has come up with the 'linkstorm' concept to deliver to you the best in what's happening in the indie music world. Enjoy.

Akron, Ohio's The Black Keys cover 70's icon Captain Beefheart in the song "I'm Glad" (via Stereogum). Get the MP3 while you can because it could expire at any time.

Vampire Weekend: Fresh blood on campus - UK Telegraph - See more Vampire Weekend on IRC including special performance from San Francisco's Easter Sunday show.

Adaline transcends singer-songwriter label - The Vancouver Sun

Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic with fresh taste of success - Melbourne Herald Sun

Bands to Watch For - Spaces For Morning - Princeton Record Exchange Blog - View Spaces For Morning's MySpace page.

Son Lux's Ryan Lott - Remember Me—But, ah, Forget My Fate - The Brooklyn Rail

Broken Social Scene - Canadian Indie Rock Army on Stage - Turkish Daily News


Bonus: BSS's Brendan Canning will release his first solo effort on July 22, 2008.

Labels: Broken Social Scene, Vampire Weekend, Wolf Parade

The song of the week is one that is well deserving of the honor. If you like edgy, experimental indie pop, check out the quirky Montreal indie band Island's single "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby".

The single is on Island's under-rated and brilliant debut album Return to the Sea, which surprisingly was overlooked by many rock critics, and even many of the indie rock bloggers. It didn't even make most of the top album of the year lists you see everywhere in December and January.

- Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby [mp3]
- Bonus: Volcanoes [mp3]

Buy the album or these tracks individually at iTunes, Amazon or anywhere they sell the group's music!

Islands is a band that is in a perpetual state of flux, formed by Unicorn members Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur. The album is described by Nick as having "some dancehall [sic] influences, some calypso...diverse and sprawling and ambitious...a bit more mature than The Unicorns... more of a Neil Young/Brian Wilson vibe running through it." (quoted from Wikipedia)

The collaboration on the Return to the Sea project included contributions from members of The Arcade Fire and The Wolf Parade.

Following the release of the album, the band went on a series of U.S. and Canadian tours during 2006. Earlier in 2005 they had opened for Beck from time to time and Metric. The critics and fans love the group's live shows. They even played some concerts where they had the concert-goers follow them out of the venue and into the streets in the spirit of the Pipe Piper of Hamelin.

After fans complained enough on blogs and fan sites, the group launched a fairly cool Flash powered official website back in late summer of 2006. The site may be a bit difficult for some (roll the mouse over the name of the band for the sections of the site), but it is a creative and refreshing approach.

No question that official band sites are getting better all the time. They just need to offer more free downloads, videos, interviews and add-ons like alerts when a concert date is added or changed.

Since 2006 wasn't that long ago, we have named Return to The Sea one of IRC's Top 20 albums of the year, and the single "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby," one of the best songs of the year.

You'd think that a song with such a title would be quirky, angry, mocking or what have you. But it's a true indie gem - oozing with waves of melodies, catchy riffs and memorable chorus harmonies. You may even find yourself tapping your foot. It's a great song to play when stuck in rush hour traffic or you need a picker-upper.

Warning: If you are a total hard-core indie punk or monster rocker, then you'd probably want to smash this CD if it was in front of you, but chill out my friend, we have plenty on damn good indie rock and punk on this site for you too.

Labels: Beck, Islands, The Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Wolf Parade

Each week, IRC posts the Top 20 Indie Countdown (aka "the weekly play"), highlighting great songs from indie bands from today and yesterday. Please support your indie bands by also visiting their websites.


Top 20 Indie Rock Countdown: Week of Dec. 17

1. "Chariot" - Page France from Hello, Dear Wind (2006) - Suicide Records
2. "The Night Will Go As Follows" - The Spill Canvas from Sunsets And Car Crashes - One Eleven Records
3. "No Complaints" - Beck from The Information
4. "Space Travel Is Boring" - Sun Kil Moon from Ghosts of the Great Highway
5. "She's So Cold" - The Golden Republic from The Golden Republic

6. "The Start of Something" - Voxtrot from Raised By Wolves EP
7. "Shine The Light" - Wolf Parade from Apologies to Queen Mary
8. "We Both Go Together" - The Decemberists from Picaresque
9. "Sand" - Pokett from Your Picture Here
10. "Sun A.M." - Moonbabies from The Orange Billboard
11. "Cathie Cline" - R. Stevie Moore from I Killed The Monster
12. "Los Feliz Arms" - Sunday's Best from The Californian
13. "Boardline Creep" - The Matches from E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals
14. "Black Tongue" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs from Fever To Tell
15. "Song For The Angels" - Great Lake Swimmers from Bodies and Minds
16. "Grey Machine" - Pinback from Offcell
17. "On/Off" - Snow Patrol from When It's All Over We Have To Clear Up
18. "The Art of Losing" - American Hi-Fi from The Art of Losing
19. "I Saw Three Ships" - Sufjan Stevens from The Christmas Songs
20. "Honey I Sure Miss You" - Lumberob from I Killed The Monster

Labels: American Hi-Fi, Pinback, Snow Patrol, Wolf Parade, Yeah Yeah Yeahs