Indie Music Filter: Best of May 2012 (playlists)

mixes

Whether you’re a Rdio or Grooveshark user, here’s what I thought rocked in May (featuring songs by Here We Go Magic, Modern Superstitions, The Maccabees and many more).

Indie Music Filter May Mix (Rdio)

Indie Music Filter May Mix (Grooveshark)

On Repeat: Emily Wells (Laundromatinee Session)

laundomatinee

I’ve obviously got a thing for female musicians who know a thing or two about loop pedals.

from the laundromatinee:

“In “Mama’s Gonna Give You Love,” a track off her most recent release, Mama, she reinvents the southern spiritual, fusing a digital drum beat with live drums and creating a multi-voice chorus all her own. The song’s slow, dirge-like rhythm keeps the listener grounded as she seamlessly switches back and forth between the hip-hop influenced verses and traditional chorus, leaving no note untouched as she moves about her generous vocal range.”

Head to the Laundromatinee to download the track.

Just found out about Australia’s Hunting Grounds, nice find in song/video “Flaws” (by huntinggroundsmusic)

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9,667 plays

I do like it. 

rac:

New remix for my friends from LA, Princeton! 

I really wanted to take a much more laid back approach with this. Reinforce the vocal without any distractions. 

I hope you like it!

Cruiser

cruiser

Here come the summer albums!

Todays’ great find was at We All Want Someone with Will’s post about Philadelphia-based beach-pop project Cruiser.  The band is Andy States and he just released his self-titled debut EP on Memorial Day, which was produced by Jeremy Park (Youth Lagoon).  The 6 song effort has few weak points so far, I’m thinking this will have a solid run on my summer rotation.  Maybe my Honeymoon soundtrack for sitting on the dock?   Its below, check it out.

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1,609 plays

New track from Long Walks On The Beach “We’re Growing Up”. 

yvynyl:

Long Walks on the Beach - We’re Growing Up

Fritz Kramer writes:

Mark,

Hey dude, new tune, here’s the story.



After you premiered “Literally Crazy” last summer, industry folks came
out of the woodwork. All the big markets, New York, LA, London — pr,
managers, publishers, a handful of producers. I would take these
calls, and have these conversations, and get these speeches about the
”importance of staying relevant in the industry,” and “brand
management,” and “monetization,” and etc etc etc.



And while it was extremely flattering, it gave me pause. First off, it
was clear that there was suddenly an audience listening, which,
honestly, made me self-conscious of my sonics. I care about what I put
out, and these songs are home-made, like laptop recorded/headphone
mixed/unmastered homemade, and I just wasn’t happy with how the other
cuts for the EP were sounding. I straight up shelved them, just put
them away for another time when I knew a little bit more about wave
propagation or sidechain compression or whatever was gonna allow me to
achieve the sounds in my head.



But really, more than all that, I wasn’t convinced that any of the
stragegizing would make for better tunes or a more interesting
project. I wasn’t convinced an increase in output would make Long
Walks a more sustainable creative outlet. I mean, the www presents so
much opportunity, so much inspiration. And, sure I’m cognizant of the
fact that there are now accepted modes of engaging an audience on the
web, but the scale at which I was working makes a lot of that
impractical anyway.



I’m not yelling about how much I hate money and collaboration and the
man, all that stuff is cool, it all serves a purpose. But at the end
of the day, after all the phone calls and all the pitches, nobody ever
said, I really like what you’re up to, I can help you do it better. So
I decided to just keep moving, make demos like normal, take my time
with recording, and put things out when they’re really ready, which
because of my television work has been a long long time.



So not only is this a way of saying I’m sorry — I didn’t deliver on
what I said I would, and I apologize for that — but, in as sincere a
way as possible, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you.
Without people like you and all the blogbros supporting and nurturing
new sounds, projects like Long Walks don’t exist. It’s been incredible
to have all these experiences, to meet all these people, to be put in
the position to even have the luxury to think about artistic
integrity, or the creative process, or how someone could actually find
the tunes twee (like, have they actually listened to the tunes??).



Attached you’ll find the new one, it should also be sitting in your
inbox on soundcloud. I haven’t seen many lately, but if you’re still 
into doing premiers, all yours. Ultimately, it’ll go up on bandcamp
for free dl with the others. It’s about growing up, individually and
collectively, and my little sis is on the cover with me. She’s had an
eventful last few months, so this one’s going out to her. Lyrics
below, they’re always the #1 search in my analytics.



Hope our paths cross sooner than later,

Fritz

POLICA - “Wandering Star” (Official Music Video) (by polica)

Video: “Reunion” by M83

reunion video

“Reunion” by M83, the follow up to ‘Midnight City’ (http://youtu.be/dX3k_QDnzHE).

Taken from the new album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming.

Video: “White Doves” by Young Empires

white doves

“White Doves” by Young Empires.  This video also has an interactive version, the first Facebook Connect music video actually.  My allowing the video to access your facebook profile, it pulls photos from your account, as well as from the account of whoever you name your closest friend, and superimposes them over pictures/photos in the video.

Check out the interactive version here.

Currently Listening To: Torches

torches

Torches have just released their first album called “Heads Full Of Rust”, which is already getting some spins on KROQ, KCRW, KSCN and some online buzz via RCRD LBL, Buzz Bands LA.  The record was engineered by David Newton (The Soft Pack, The Henry Clay People, Happy Hollows) and their first single is the track “I Want Something” (below).

Nice tune, looking forward to streaming this album today.

Download the track here.