The first of two Cloudcasts I’m uploading today, #10 recaps the best songs I heard back round the beginning of June.  This one starts off with a track that encapsulates the best of that certain NYC sound circa 78-82, a healthy dose of electronic and groove based music, some classic feel indie pop, indie rock, power pop, and influences from folk, blues, shoegaze and more. As usual. I always try and link to the artists official site or somewhere you can legally download the track.

Friends ‘Home’
This is my favourite track so far from these Brooklyn hipsters. This manages to sound very now while still shamelessly tapping 30 year old influences (specifically, ESG and Tom Tom Club). Recommended if you like the former two bands or LCD Soundsystem.
[Friends]

Beat Connection ‘The Palace Garden 4am’
Neat segue! This Seattle band are presumably named after the LCD Soundsystem single. This is a nice slice of feel good electronica which should appeal to Friendly Fires fans.
[Beat Connection]
 
Matthew Dear ‘Her Fantasy’
This is the second In The Pharmacy appearance for Matthew Dear (he featured back in January with ‘In The Middle’). To these ears, this has a lot of late 80s / early 90s influences in it’s use of samples, beats and an almost Electronic Body Music / light industrial feel (esp. in the dispassionate vocals) but mainly it sounds like an Andy Weatherall production circa-Screamadelica.
[Matthew Dear]

Mozart’s Sister ‘Don’t Leave It To Me’
retro electro-pop from Montreal’s Caila Thompson-Hannant. Clearly inamoured of Prince’s 80s productions, especially ‘When Doves Cry’ (no bad thing).
[Mozart’s Sister]

Moons ‘Bloody Mouth’
Sounds very French; like a moodier, dreamier Phoenix – but actually the work of Atlanta based Patrick Canaday who I believe previously recorded as Music Mountain.
[Moons]

Family Band ‘Moonbeams’
Don’t know much about this Brooklyn-based bad but love that this dreamy tune reminds me of a folkier, Tresspassers William.
[Family Band]

Seapony ‘What You Wanted’
That’s a fairly indie name right there. Classic bright 80s influenced indie-pop from the Pacific North West
[Seapony]

Eternal Summers ‘Wonder’
Their track ‘Millions’ was featured only a couple of Cloudcasts back, but this mix of female voiced indiepop and early Cure resonates with a man of my vintage. A little bit of magic in under three minutes.
[Eternal Summers]

Young Guv and the Scuzz ‘Heal Over Time’
I’m a sucker for power pop when it’s done this well. Ben Cook of Fucked Up is the Young Guv (previously Young Governor) in question and this is just joyous.
[Young Guv]
 
Redd Kross ‘Researching The Blues’
Reunited with their Neurotica / Third Eye-era line up featuring Robert Hecker on guitar, this is the title track of the band’s forthcoming album, their first in 15 years. Crunching, post-grunge garage pop.
[Redd Kross]

Grizzly Bear ‘Sleeping Ute’
This manages to connect with so many touch points and still sound cohesive. A few hints at the the sort of primitive electronica that so many other acts on the Warp label reference but mainly post-rock with a strong current of Led Zep blues/folk (although Edward Droste’s vocal is a million miles away from Robert Plant’s). A real grower and just the right side of massively pretentious.
[Grizzly Bear]

Laetitia Sadier ‘Find Me The Pulse of The Universe’
I haven’t been following the progress of Laetitia Sadier since Stereolab went on hiatus a few years back. This though, seems to be Sadier distilled down to her essence. The instrumentation and arrangement is faultless, the vocals all warm but slightly aloof in the way only a francophone singing in English can be, and less than three minutes long.
[Laetitia Sadier]

Calexico ‘Para’
The Veteran Americana duo went from their home of Arizona to New Orleans to record their forthcoming album Algiers. This is slow bluesy number with Joey Burns vocals at their most brooding.
[Calexico]