Indie Music Blog

Video: Abadabad - "Park Slope" (I'm Sorry)

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:16:01 PST

Park Slope (I'm Sorry), one of my absolute favorite songs of 2011 from one of my absolute favorite new acts in the form of Abadabad just got a beautiful, sessioned video treatment courtesy of MMXII.

There isn't much more I can say about this jangle-pop gem. It's just so fucking good that it hurts.

Peep it down below. These guys can seriously do no wrong.

ABADABAD - Park Slope (I'm Sorry) from MMXII on Vimeo.

Ouisa Hound - "The Joy Eclectic"

matteliah85@live.com (Zach Fiore) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:18:27 PST

From the depths of a dorm in rural Ohio, Ouisa Hound has made something quite special.

Being self-described as “born of a brain pregnant with good and sober sadness,” just begins to portray the depths of the artist. This bedroom intellect lives in a paradox that is hauntingly inviting, happily melancholy, and filled with screeching calm. I couldn’t be happier to introduce someone that has made music to fit such a setting. Ouisa Hound is at his best in his first single, Gloom Roaming, which you can view the video for below. The debut album, The Joy Eclectic, is rumored to hit Bandcamp this coming Tuesday so be sure to check it out as well.

The Joy Eclectic by Ouisa Hound

Written by Zach Fiore

Fort Lean - "Sunsick"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:33:26 PST

It seems like forever ago when we were dropped a much-welcome little tidbit from Fareed Sajan of Headless Horseman about Fort Lean and their then new self-titled EP. It was one of those instantaneous moments of a love being birthed between creator and listener. Sprawled out across only 4 tracks were the new soundtrack to the start of my summer.

Well, a fairly large chunk of time has passed since then but that love and excitement for their next move certainly hasn't disipated. That's why we're super stoked to see news that the guys have just dropped Sunsick --- their newest single from the upcoming 7'' out February 28th on Neon Gold.

Sunsick applies the same can't-miss lacquer of frontman Keenan Mitchell's commanding vocals to their always stunning ability to reign in an absolute unmeasurable amount of energy --- examplified this time by the sudden bursts of raucous and raw instrumentals intertwining with the chorus.

Stream Sunsick down below along with the slowburning b-side The Precinct. Keep an eye for the 7'' physical version out February 28th and, f you haven't already, get yourself acclimated with the Fort Lean beginnings and pick up the aforementioned self-titled EP for free at their bandcamp.

Sunsick - 7" Single by Fort Lean

WEREPOSSUM/Ben Varian's "Surrounded by Beards"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:06:14 PST

Really excited to be able to share two wonderful and special pieces of intersecting art with you all here today.

I think it's wise to begin at the root which, in this occasion, is the newly launched website WEREPOSSUM. In this digital age, we're more prone to a certain globalization of the music industry. One could make the arguement that it has a hand a strong hand in the deceleration of the localized scene and the various offshoots and benefits that come with it. On the other hand, like in the case of WEREPOSSUM, it's helping bring an individual scene to everyone else.

The site --- built and designed by their own multi-talented Jake Tobin aka Fruit Flesh --- is centered around a collective of artists based out of Tallahassee, Florida. It's essentially a voyeuristic window of sorts into an ever-expanding and concentrated movement centered around a handful of artists. The allure of such a cooperative is understandable; we've long been trumpeting the ridiculous amount of DIY and independent talent flowing out of the Sunshine State. Taking queues from similar sites, WEREPOSSUM is a sprawling effort to help shine a much-deserved light on a scene that is bursting at the seems with prospective talent.

Featuring a series of interviews, videos, and au-courant happenings on their latest releases, the site acts like a portal that allows the global community to live vicariously through.

In conjunction with the newly-launched site, we've also been afforded the opportunity to premiere a new song from Ben Varian; one of the main contributors to WEREPOSSUM and an artist we've had the chance to feature and fall in love with last year.

A part of his upcoming LP Potassium (due out February 15th), his newest effort Surrounded By Beards is heavily reminiscent of our first encounter with his Buy The Rumour suite. While stylistically different and certainly less verbose, it's his ability to craft and inject tier upon tier of instrumental and vocal subtext into his material that helps stretch it out over a canvas and demand replay after replay. In just over 2 minutes of time, Varian is able to load each floor with shimmering high-life and afro-pop subtleties that all wrap around his brilliant overlapping, hushed vocals.

Listen to/download Surrounded By Beards down below and, in the meantime, do yourself a favor by heading on over to WEREPOSSUM and diving into all the content up there currently. As a bonus, check out a recently-released video for Fruit Flesh's Cocaine (featuring both Tobin and Varian exploiting the insane amounts of fun that comes with simply owning animal masks) shot by the gifted Xander Robin.

"Surrounded by Beards" - Ben Varian from single release (2012)

Fruit Flesh - Cocaine from Werepossum Collective on Vimeo.

Video: The Shins - "September"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:01:03 PST

Here's the video for The Shin's September --- an apparent b-side from their Record Store Day 7'' release of the previously heard Simple Song.

Cool...I guess?

New Animal - "The Sound it Makes"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:45:29 PST

The Sound It Makes is the new tune that dropped in our mailbox this weekend courtesy of one of our favorites in Atlanta's psych-pop duo New Animal.

Keeping in line with their past material --- The Sound It Makes is another beautiful piece of organic and lush dreampop that has become a mainstay with these guys.

Listen to the track down below and, if you haven't yet, be sure to check out their interview they did with our own Matthew Sherling earlier on this month.

XXYYXX - "Eclipse feat. Ruddy P"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:29:19 PST

So...what were you doing when you were 16?

We've become dedicated subscribers to the glistening beats and sterling production that Marcel Everett aka XXYYXX has been pumping out over the last half year. A quick look back on our past playlists and posts and I'm somewhat embarrassed we have yet to shine some light on the prodigous 16-year-old.

Perfect timing and all, XXYYXX just released Eclipse --- a new taste of his upcoming split with track collaborator Ruddy P due out in late February. It's all the glitter and gold you expect from someone who coined the micro-genre 'fro-fi' --- an apparent subsidiary of the chillwave movement.

Check out the unapologetically blissful Eclipse down below and make sure to head on over to Florida upstart label Relief in Abstract Records' bandcamp or XXYYXX's soundcloud to peep more of what this young man has to offer.

<a href="http://music.reliefinabstract.com/track/eclipse-ft-ruddyp" mce_href="http://music.reliefinabstract.com/track/eclipse-ft-ruddyp">Eclipse (ft. RuddyP) by XXYYXX</a>

Beat Radio's "Hard Times Go (Part 1)"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:01:02 PST

We're always happy any time there are new offerings from Brian Sendrowitz --- the New York-based singer-songwriter that has been shaping infectious, DIY-infused indie-pop gems un the Beat Radio namesake for the last 7+ years.

That is why seeing word of his new EP Hard Times Go (Part 1) dropping today was a welcome addition to an already stunning year of new music.

Hard Times Go is the first official follow-up to 2010's highly underrated Golden Age; a fantastic piece of sentimental, hand-crafted pop that soundtracked a lot of my life around the time of its release.

The new EP is a welcome-back of sorts for any fans of his past material. There aren't any radical changes that jetison their sound in to foreign territory. It's another stunning portrait of an artist able to marry the bedroom-musician intimacy with a classic pop sensibility. Perhaps that marriage is nowhere more evident than on their cover of Robyn's With Every Heartbeat --- an unfeigned, unapologetic love-letter to one of the most appealing pop songs in recent memory. And, like The Rest's version that we fell in love with back in 2010, Sendrowitz does the track its due justice (and then some).

Hard Times Go (Part 1) is available now over at the Beat Radio bandcamp for a pay-what-you-can pricetag. If this is only the beginning, we can't wait to hear Part 2. Stream the EP down below.

<a href="http://beatradio.bandcamp.com/album/hard-times-go-part-1" mce_href="http://beatradio.bandcamp.com/album/hard-times-go-part-1">hard times go, part 1 by beat radio</a>

Absofacto - "Lies"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:25:01 PST

We're always loyal to the ones we love.

One of those people happen to be Jonathan Visger, the man who makes it so easy to love by crafting aural gems on the reg as Absofacto.

The Ann Arbor native has been a pillar of consistency over the last couple of years. Whether it's full-fledged albums or an ongoing collection of digital singles, Visger has yet to hit anything but the absolute bullseye with his sincere and genuine pop perfection under the Absofacto moniker.

The latest in this ever-expanding resume of audile delights is the single Lies; perhaps one of his most complete works to date. Ringing in at just over 6 and a half minutes, Lies is a proclamation of dishonesty and everything that crumbles in its maligned path. It's an all-too-relatable and familiar journey that Visger soundtracks with his uncanny ability to find medium inbetween organic and synthetic soundscapes. It's there, at that center-point, where he wraps it all around a marked lament that percolates throughout both the instrumentals and the booming vocals.

Check out Lies down below or download it over at his bandcamp. If you haven't already, do your favor and take some time off today sink into all things Absofacto.

<a href="http://music.absofacto.com/track/lies" mce_href="http://music.absofacto.com/track/lies">Lies by Absofacto</a>

Total Warr - "Pleasure is the Death of Desire (Voodoo Friends remix)"

matteliah85@live.com (Matt Adler) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:30:38 PST

It seems that, despite being released last spring, Total Warr's Please Never Come Back Again is the EP that keeps on giving. Last week we dropped the new video for the standout track Sexual and now we're elated to be able to help premiere an unreleased remix for Pleasure is the Death of Desire from Buffalo's Voodoo Friends --- the moniker for solo artist and self-described 'arranger' that we've been trying to find more from since hearing his take on Pleasure.

The remix is a beautiful variation on an already fantastic track --- a task that always seems daunting to me as an outside spectator and listener. There always seems to be a fine line of maintaining the source material and presenting a new and refreshing take on it --- a line that Voodoo Friends tip-toes on ever so perfectly with this take.

The end result is an outstanding electronic expansion on one of my favorite tracks from last year. Listen to and download the remix down below. Be sure to also check out Voodoo Friend's collection of demos he compiled early last year over at his bandcamp.

"Pleasure is the Death of Desire (Voodoo Friends remix)" - Total Warr from single release (2011)