The best 12 tracks from the last two weeks…
The Walkmen ‘Vermeer ’65’
After this year’s sublime album Heaven (tracks featured in ITP7, 8 and 9) The Walkmen return with a new 7” of two tracks not included on the album. ‘Vermeer ’65’ is the b-side and has a bit of a Tindersticks feel to it.
[The Walkmen]
First new material in forever from the indiepop / soul project of Fred Thomas and what a charmer it is. Features new vocalist Carol Gray.
[Saturday Looks Good To Me]
The Mountain Goats ‘Harlem Roulette’
From Transcendental Youth, one of my favourite albums so far this year. Musically upbeat, this is a tale about the last days of Frankie Lymon who died of a heroin overdose in 1968 at the age of 25. It ends with the utterly devastating lines “Nothing in the shadow but the shadow hands / reaching out to sad, young frightened men / The loneliest people in the whole wide world are the ones you’re never going to see again”.
[The Mountain Goats]
Alba Lua ‘When I’m Roaming Free’
French band with a lovely feel for almost psychedelic, classic pop
[Alba Lua]
Psychedelic-tinged dreampop from New Zealand. Sounds like a less stoned Autolux.
[Popstrangers] Goat ‘Goathead’
Swedish psych rockers with an afro-beat flavour. Featuring some seriously wigged out guitar and a lovely pastoral coda.
[Goat] Times New Viking ‘Sleep In’
Scrappy 90s influenced indie rock from the lo-fi Columbus, Ohio trio. From their new Over & Over EP.
[Times New Viking]
Mean Lady ‘Bop Bop’
Melting pot pop from Delaware three piece with hip hop and psychedelic infuences.
[Mean Lady]
Main Attraktionz ‘Cloud Body’
Cloud rap, like dreampop for hiphop.
[Main Attrakionz]
DFA affiliated synthpop from Brooklyn.
[Holy Ghost!]
Sam Willis ‘Foxglissandro’
Instrumental techno from forthcoming debut album Winterval.
[Sam Willis]
The Ramona Flowers ‘Dismantle and Rebuild (D/R/U/G/S Remix
)’
Glitchy Bristol band have their debut EP track turned into an epic, euphoric slice of electronic house.
[The Ramona Flowers]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 19
The 14 best songs I’ve heard in the last two weeks. International mixed genre melting pot including:
- noisy, melodic indie from Glasgow
- space disco from Pittsburgh
- retro blues / soul / rock n’ roll from Melbourne
- dreampop from Paris
- new wave from Belfast
- r n’ b from southeast London
plus cover versions of Robert Wyatt (from Sunderland) and Television (from Denver).
Paws ‘Sore Tummy’
Noisy, melodic Scottish indie in the tradition of Urusei Yatsura, Life Without Buildings etc. From their debut album Cokefloat, out next week.
[Paws]
Black Moth Super Rainbow ‘Gangs In The Garden’
Psychedelic space disco, echoes of Daft Punk in the vocoder-ed vocals, from their forthcoming album Cobra Juicy. The closing track ‘Spraypaint’ was featured on ITP #6 back in April.
[Black Moth Super Rainbow Official]
Ceremony ‘Everything Burns’
Crisp and urgent guitars on this Califronia bands split single with Titus Andronicus.
[Ceremony]
Henry Wagons ft Allison Mosshart ‘Unwelcome Wagon’
Retro swamp blues /soul/ rock n’ roll from veteran Melbourne based country and southern rock fan. Hints of Lee and Nancy, Duane Eddy, the Animals, Nick Cave and and even a bit of Antony Newley.
[Henry Wagons ]
Fryars ‘A Love So Cold’
What would the first Bon Iver record have sounded like if Justin Vernon had retired to an east London bedsit instead of a cabin in rural Wisconsin? This, maybe.
[Fryars]
Young & Old is one of this year’s most underrated albums for sheer indie pop thrills. Here Tennis take on one of the lowest profile songs fromthe Television’s classic Marquee Moon and, while not straying too far from the original, they make it their own.
[Tennis] Rhye ‘The Fall’
I find it kind of odd that Sade has become one of the touchstones of new music in 2012, being referenced by Jesse Ware, and The xx and now in relation to the somewhat mysterious Rhye. Here though, I’m hearing The Blue Nile’s ‘Tinseltown In The Rain’ meets Sebastian Tellier’s ‘La Ritournelle’ with a dash of Her Space Holiday.
[Rhye]
Melody’s Echo Chamber ‘Endless Shore’
In a similar vein to School of Seven Bells, this is another slice of Parisien dreampop from Melody Prochet (first featured back in #ITP ), keen ears can probably detect the hand of producer and Tame Imapla mainman Kevin Parker.
[Download] [Melody’s Echo Chamber Facebook]
Rainy Milo ‘This Thing of Ours’
R n’ b flavoured trip-hop pop from 16 year old Londoner.
[Rainy Milo]
Power pop from New Pornographers’ frontman (with Neko Case on backing vocals). From new album Shut Down the Streets out this Monday, Oct 8.
[AC Newman] Wooden Wand ‘Southern Colorado Song’
Haunting Americana/ freak folk from super prolific artist James Jackson Toth. From latest album Briarwood.
[Wooden Wand] Field Music ‘Born Again Cretin’
Sunderland’s Field Music have a Mercury Music nomination for their all originals fourth album Plumb and are about to release a set of covers called Play. We already featured their take on the Pet Shop Boys Rent back in April on ITP #7, here they take on another artist who is known both as a superior singer songwriter and a master of the cover version, Robert Wyatt.
[Field Music]
Total Control ‘Scene From A Marriage’
Melbourne punk super-group Total Control return with a split single with King Tuff on Sub Pop, a nice little nod to Ingmar Bergman in the title.
[Total Control]
Belfast band whose ‘A Troubled See’ (featured in ITP#9 back in June) was tapping into the early work of The Cure. You can still hear some of that influence here, but this seven-and a-half-minute number is a progression, with an almost motorik beat, and could be a lo-fi cousin to something like Deerhunter’s ‘Desire Lines’.
[Girls Names]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 18
The 19 best songs I’ve heard in the last two weeks and fuck me if nearly everyone isn’t still channeling the 80s in some way. Even the Grizzly Bear track sounds like they’ve been listening to Japan (no bad thing, obviously). Also:
- album highlights from Bat For Lashes and Dinosaur Jr
- angular new wave
- melodic prog-folk indie rock (better than it sounds!)
- slippery punk-funkfuzzy, lethargic glam stomp psych pop.
Bat For Lashes ‘Marilyn’
Breathy-vocaled electronic 80s power ballad. Sounds like someone’s been listening to M83. No band thing.
[Bat For Lashes]
My current favourite from their brilliant new album Shields, easily their most accessible. There’s a real taste of Japan (the band) here on the fretless bass, rhythms and synths. But also unmistakeably Grizzly Bear.
[Grizzly Bear]
Pinback ‘His Phase’
Second track to surface from forthcoming album Information Retrieved (the subtly epic ‘Proceed to Memory’ was featured on In The Pharmacy 17). After an almost prog intro (and a coupla folky inflectionst) this turns into superior melodic indie rock with an insistant groove.
[Pinback]
Dinosaur Jr ‘Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know’
Openning track from new album I Bet On Sky. Stupidly catchy riff and a lovely guitar solo over a simple piano phrase for the last 1min 45secs.
[Dinosuar Jr]
Ladyhawk ‘No Can Do’
Canadian band not to be confused with Pip ‘Ladyhawke’ Brown. This is old school indie rock that sounds like it could have come out in the alte 80s / early 90s.I can hear Husker Du, R.E.M., Gin Blossoms and a dozen other bands in here. A real grower.
[Ladyhawk]
Fuzzy-electronic-slowed-down-glam-stomp-psych-pop from the Cleveland, OH artist first featured on In The Pharmacy 3.1 way back in February.
[Gap Dream]
Punks On Mars ‘Showers of Pain’
Quirky angular new wave. From Mars.
[Punks On Mars]
Cymbals Eat Guitars ‘Hawk Highway’
Melodic indie rock from the Staten Island band’s john Agnello-produced forthcoming second album, Lenses Alien.
[Cymbals Eat Guitars]
The Coathangers ‘Merry Go Round’
Atlanta band with a taste for primal surf-garage-rock n’ roll guitars and slippery post-punk funk.
[The Coathangers]
Egyptian Hip Hop ‘Yoro Diallo’
Manchester electronic band with catchy poly-rhythmic afropop (the song takes its name form the respected Malian musician). Recommended if you like Yeasayer / Sinkane etc.
[Egyptian Hip Hop]
Rudi Zygadlo ‘Russian Dolls’
Heavy on the autotune with hints of Hot Chip from the Glasgow-based German producer.
[Rudi Zygadlo]
Nosaj Thing featuring Kazu Makino
Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino brings dreamy vocals to the Californian electronic producer’s glitchy electronica.
[Nosaj Thing]
Fear of Men ‘Mosaic’
Female fronted indiepop from Brighton.
[Mosaic]
Teen Daze featuring Frankie Rose ‘Union’
Canadian dreampop featuring vocals from the indiepop Zelig, Frankie Rose.
[Teen Daze]
Black Marble ‘Static’
Featured way back in January’s first In The Pharmacy Cloudcast with ‘Pretender’, this is another slice of Cure-indebted synth-goth-post-punk from the Brooklyn band.
[Black Marble]
More Cure-influenced cold wave (and a bit of Clan of Xymox), this time from the west coast (San Francisco).
[The Soft Moon]
Eraas ‘At Heart’
Atmospheric, gothy post-punk from Brooklyn (their ‘Briar Path’ was featured on In The Pharmacy #15).
[Eraas]
Metz ‘Wet Blanket’
Superb noisy Canadian indie rock on Sub Pop.
[Metz]
FIDLAR ‘Cheap Beer’
Garage punk from Los Angeles.
[FIDLAR]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 17
R.Ring ‘Fallout & Fire’
The Breeders’ Kelley Deal has time on her hands while sister Kim is busy doing Pixies stuff. This is the first single and unsurprisingly sounds like her other band but stripped right down.
[R.Ring]
Helio Sequence ‘When The Shadow Falls’
One of my favourite tracks from the new album Negotiations, out next week. You can still pre-order it from Sub Pop with the ltd edition quadrophonic CD.
[Helio Sequence]
Cat Power ‘Peace and Love’
The closing track from the new album Sun, easily her best since Moon Pix.
[Cat Power]
El Movimiento (Teenhäze Edit)
Latino garage punk from Stockholm. What more do you need to know?
[Sudakistan]
I’m a little bit obsessed with Wye Oak. This is frontwoman Jenn Wasner’s solo project and this is a more ethereal affair, although you can still see the relation to songs such as ‘Two Small Deaths’.
[Flock of Dimes] [Soundcloud] Unnatural Helpers ‘Toil’
Noisy indie rock from Seattle.
[Unnatural Helpers] Toxie ‘Newgate’
Female fronted indie pop from Memphis.
[Toxie] Stars ‘Walls’
Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell share vocals on the closing track from the new Stars album, The North.
[Stars] Departures ‘Pillars’
Canadians with a taste for layered guitars, repeptition and subtle variation.
[Departures] Pinback ‘Proceed to Memory’
Subtle but epic indie rock from the San Diego band, this is from their first album since 2007’s Autumn of the Seraphs.
[Pinback] OMBRE ‘Tormentas’
Baroque chill out with a latin feel from Asthmatic Kitty labelmates Julianna Barwick and Helado Negro.
[OMBRE] Generationals ‘Lucky Numbers’
Catchy, slightly twee electro indiepop from New Orleans. Builds nicely but it’s the hook that comes in at 3:15 (right after the chiming guitars) that’ll get stuck in your head.
[Generationals] Pure Bathing Culture ‘Gainesville’
Delicious sunshine pop with a vintage feel from Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman of Vetiver.
[Pure Bathing Culture]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 16
The 13 best songs I’ve heard in the last fortnight. Includes both the best pop song I’ve heard all year* AND the most beautiful song I’ve heard all year**.
Recommended if you like:• Handclaps, cheerleaders, hip hop (that’s just the first track from The Coup)
•80s Depeche Mode meets The Cure (on the best track off the new Yeasayer album)
•Classic singer-songwriter stylings (from AC Newman and Bill Fay)
•The idea of Broken Social Scene gone dreampop (The Sea and Cake)
•Grizzly Bear meets Dirty Projectors (Buke and Gase)
plus the usual psych rock, indie rock, indiepop, art rock, dreampop mix. *from AlunaGeorge
**from Dark Dark Dark
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 15
Lots of indie and electronica with influences from krautrock, tropicalia, post punk, goth, baroque pop, psychedelia, punk and more.
A handful of artists more known for fronting bands have returned with solo or ‘other’ band tracks as good as anything from their more famous alma maters. Plus, the return of Dum Dum Girls and Animal Collective and more new tracks from forthcoming releases by Stars and The xx.
Eraas ‘Briar Path’
Gothy post-punk from Brooklyn.
[Eraas]
The only good thing about Sleater-Kinney splitting up is we get two great bands instead of one, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss in Wild Flag and Corin Tucker in The CTB. This is from the forthcoming second album Kill My Blues.
[The Corin Tucker Band]
Animal Collective ‘Today’s Supernatural’
For those of us who prefer the Avey Tare sung songs in Animal Collective to the somewhat whinier vocals of Panda Bear.
[Animal Collective]
Jason Lytle ‘Dept. of Disappearances’
Charming, wistful but dark. This is good enough to be a Sophtware Slump-era song from the sometime Grandaddy frontman. Can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.
[Jason Lytle]
I’m very excited about the release of the new Stars album The North and the prospect of the band coming to Australia for live dates. So far we’ve heard two tracks from the album (featured on In The Pharmacy cloudcasts #12 and #14) both featuring lead vocals from Torquil Campbell. This one puts Amy Millan front and centre.
[Stars] The Sea and Cake ‘Harps’
Sparkling, glitchy dreampop from the veteran Chicago band.
[The Sea and Cake] Moon Duo ‘Sleepwalker’
Hints of Krautrock and a poppier take on Suicide in this San Franciscan electropop project that features Wooden Shjips’ Erik Johnson.
[Moon Duo] Deerhoof ‘The Trouble with Candyhands’
Tropicalia influences and a catchy melody find this San Franciscan band a long way from their noise origins.
[Deerhoof]
Levek ‘French Lessons’
Another slice of 60s influenced slightly baroque psych-pop from Levek, whose ‘Black Mold Grow’ featured in ITP #11 back in June.
[Levek]
The Luyas ‘Fifty Fifty’
Lush 60s influenced pop from Canadian band who share personnel with Bell Orchestre and Miracle Fortress
.
[The Luyas]
Dum Dum Girls ‘Lord Knows’
Although steeped in the pop classicism of 60s girl groups and early punk, each Dum Dum Girls release has been a step forward. This is the first track to surface from the forthcoming End of Daze EP, produced by The Raveonettes Sune Rose Wagner
[Dum Dum Girls]
‘Caller No.99’ was featured back in ITP #12, here’s another track of slightly whimsical psych pop from the sometime Deerhoof multi-instrumentalist and serial indie-collaborator.
[Chris Cohen]
Seapony ‘Prove to Me’
Jangling indie-pop from the Pacific Northwest types who were featured back in June (ITP #10)with ‘What You Wanted’.
http://www.hardlyart.com/shop/seapony.html
Bleeding Rainbow ‘Pink Ruff’
Noisy, female-fronted garage pop from Philadelphia.
[Bleeding Rainbow]
Bob Mould ‘The Descent’
Blistering new song from the former Husker Du and Sugar hardcore legend. This could easily have been on Sugar’s 20 year-old recently re-issued debut Copper Blue.
[Bob Mould]
Swearin’ ‘Hear to Hear’
Ridiculoulsy catchy, melodic alt rock in a Built to Spill / Superchunk / early-Lemonheads kind way.
[Swearin’]
The Deadly Syndrome ‘Whatever Comes Our Way’
From the Los Angeles band’s forthcoming third album All In.
[The Deadly Syndrome]
Paul Banks ‘The Base’
A track better than anything on the last two Interpol albums or on his ‘Julian Plenti’ solo debut.
[Paul Banks]
The xx ‘Chained’
Second track to appear from the band’s forthcomning second album Coexist.
[The xx]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 14
Nearly a week late because of a) the Olympics; b) man flu; c) we got kittens (see pic); d) my new hi-fi equipment and vinyl arrived from the UK!
But it’s worth the wait: some great garage rock, new wave, and post-punk influenced tracks plus the return of: The XX, The Mountain Goats, Menomena and more from The Afghan Whigs, Stars, Tame Impala, Bat For Lashes. Comes with a no filler guarantee.
The XX ‘Angels’
A masterclass in minimalism on the first single from the London band’s second album, the forthcoming Coexist.
[The xx]
The Afghan Whigs ‘Lovecrimes’
Rarely does a band excel at both songwriting and interpretation as completely as the ‘Whigs. Here they cover Frank Ocean on what has become one of the many highlights of their reformation shows. FREE DOWNLOAD
[The Afghan Whigs]
Stars ‘Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It’
Second track to surface from the Montreal band’s forthcoming album ‘The North’. Euphoric 80s influenced pop with a typically engaging lyric from Torquil Campbell.
[Stars]
Fergus & Geronimo ‘No Parties’
Keyboard and bass driven new wave from Denton, TX. probably been listening to a bit of early Wire, XTC and LCD Soundsystem.
The Babies ‘Moonlight Mile’
Garage rock jangle on the Woodsist label featuring members of Vivian Girls and Woods).
[The Babies]
The Mountain Goats ‘Cry For Judas’
I’ve never checked out the early lo-fi Mountain Goats recordings of the 90s, having only been aware of John Darnielle since 2002’s ‘Tallahassee’ and only really jumped on board with 2009’s The Life of The World to Come. So rich is that last decade that it’s akin to diving into Dylan or Neil Young’s first decade of material – you need to set aside some serious time to get an appreciation for the depth and quality of the achievement. ‘Cry For Judas’ is the first taste of the forthcoming ‘Transcendental Youth album’ and acording to Darnielle “it is about survival but that’s kind of an oversimplification, it’s also about building a vehicle from the defeated pieces of the thing you survived and piloting that vehicle through the cosmos. FREE DOWNLOAD
[The Mountain Goats]
Tame Impala ‘Elephant’
Suitably named thick thumper from psych-obsessed Western Australian’s second album Lonerism.
[Tame Impala]
Menomena ‘Heavy Is As Heavy Does’
This band passed me by until their third album, 2007’s tasty Friend and Foe. This is a mini-epic which finds them sounding not unlike Blur when Damon was at his most confessional and Graham was at his most noise obsessed.
[Menomena]
Home Blitz ‘Frozen Track’
Lo-fi rock from New York. Sounds like Steven Malkmus meets the Pooh Sticks. You know how good that is.
http://www.mexicansummer.com/shop/home-blitz-frozen-track/
Mode Moderne Foul Weather Fare
New Wave goth pop
Vancouver band with catchy new wave goth pop.
[Home Blitz]
Black Marble ‘A Great Design’
Brooklyn coldwave band with the first track to surface from their forthcoming debut album ‘A Different Arrangement’.
[Black Marble]
Bat For Lashes ‘Laura’
If you’ve previously been unmoved by the undeniably interesting records of Natasha Kahn, this could be the one to turn you into a fan. A real step up in song writing and arrangement.
[Bat For Lashes]
Eddi Front ‘Gigantic
’
Don’t know much about Eddi Front – she’s New York based but gauche enough to retweet complements on Twitter (why, do people do that? it’s the equivalent of going “hey, everyone who already likes me, this person thinks I’m great”. You’d unfriend them in real life). This though, is gorgeous.
http://soundcloud.com/eddifront
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 13
Helio Sequence ‘October’
Sounds like a cross between The Walkmen and Beach House, but with frontman Brandon Summers’ distinctive vocals.. Taken from their forthcoming fifth album Negotiations (their second on Sub Pop).
[Helio Sequence]
From forthcoming fourth album Mirage Rock.
[Band of Horses] Wye Oak ‘Spiral’
Very different from what this Baltimore duo usually play, this is weirdly prog-like and available for free as part of Adult Swim’s Singles Program.
[Adult Swim Singles Program]
[Wye Oak] TEEN ‘Electric’
All female Brooklyn indie band featuring three sisters and their friend deliver a post punk / new wave vibe.
[TEEN] Tall Ships ‘Gallop’
This song from the Falmouth band totally lives up to its name. From their forthcoming debut album Everything Touching.
[Tall Ships] Dinosaur Jr ‘Watch The Corners’
Typical indie slacker brilliance from the re-united Dinosaur Jr, taken from their forthcoming album I Bet On Sky, their third since re-uniting the original line up.
[Dinosaur Jr] Tame Impala ‘Apocalypse Dream’
More superior Beatles-y psychedelia from the band’s forthcoming second album Lonerism.
[Tame Imapla] The Peoples Temple ‘Looter’s Game’
Garage-blues-psych-pop from Lansing Michigan.
[Peoples Temple] Outer Minds ‘We Are All Stone’
Nearly featured this Chicago band back in April with ‘Gimmie A Reason’, but this time their retro fuzz rock nails it.
[Outer Minds] Passion Pit ‘Constant Conversations’
Another track from forthcoming album Gossamer.
[Passion Pit] Frank Ocean ‘Sweet Life’
While I was aware of FO, I hadn’t paid him much attention until I heard The Afghan Whigs cover of ‘LoveCrimes’. Polished R&B with a classic feel, a real grower.
[Frank Ocean] Lockah ‘The Sour Drink From The Ocean’
Aberdonian DJ producer with retro bleeptronica.
[Lockah] The Kills ‘Dreams’
Fleetwood Mac cover version from the tribute album Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac.
[The Kills]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 12
It almost seems like there’s been a concerted effort to squeeze out a bunch of great songs in the last week of the first half of 2012. The return of Stars, Matt & Kim, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion another new Yeasayer track plus a Cars cover version. Plus plenty of swooning, jangling, grooving indie and lazy psych pop, Norwegian space disco, folk and krautrock influences etc.
jj ‘Times’
Blissed out indie pop from Sweden. Download the whole of their ‘High Summer’ EP for free.
“Beer, Cigarettes, You and Whisky”.
[jj]
Matt & Kim ‘Lets Go’
Exuberant dance-pop from the Brooklyn based boy/girl duo.
[Matt & Kim]
Divine Fits ‘My Love Is Real’
Indie ‘supergroup’ featuring Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade / Handsome Furs) and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks). This sounds very much like a cross between Daniel and Boeckner’s other bands.
[Divine Fits]
Stars ‘The Theory of Relativity’
Literate indie with 80s electronic pop vibe from the Toronto band’s forthcoming. Download for free on their website.
[Stars]
Norwegian space disco.
[Mungolian Jetset] Alpine ‘Gasoline’
Easylistening synth-pop from Melbourne six-piece follows up the more strident ‘Hands’ (featured back on ITP #4).
[Alpine]
Yeasayer ‘Longevity’
Second track to be lifted from the band’s forthcoming third album ‘Fragrant World’. Minimal, lots of autotuned vocals, some north African flavoured strings and a few synths over an insistent rhythm.
[Yeasayer]
Dark Dark Dark ‘Tell Me’
The sound of Regina Spektor meeting Beach House from Minneapolis band who have previously blended a folky Americana sound with New Orleans Jazz.
[Dark Dark Dark]
It gladdens the heart that JSBX are still making explosive garage blues rock n’ roll records over 20 years down the line. This one is from their first new album in eight years, the forthcoming ‘Meat & Bones’
[Jon Spencer Blues Explosion] Thee Oh Sees ‘Lupine Dominus’
Here the veteran San Francisco psych pop band sound like Can playing a freeform version of ‘My Sharona’.
[Thee Oh Sees]
Foxygen ‘Waitin’ 4 U’
Remember that terrible cover of ‘Dancing In The Street’ for Live Aid? Instead, imagine that Jagger and Bowie had collaborated back in 1971 when they were both at a creative peak. It might have sounded a bit like this.
[Foxygen]
Lo-fi psych-tinged indie with a lazy vibe and some laidback acid guitar soloing .
[Dignan Porch] Chris Cohen ‘Caller No.99’
More of that 60s-refracted-through-the-80s shambling indie psych-pop from sometime Deerhoof multi-instrumentalist.
[Chris Cohen] Cold Showers ‘Double Life’
A cover of the track from The Cars’ ‘Candy-O’ album by this Los Angeles band with a fondness for the darker side of early 80s new wave.
[Double Life] Barbara Morgenstern ‘Spring Time’
Veteran Berlin-based electronic musician sings in English on this slice of electronic pop with (given the title) a suitable pastoral medieval folk motif at its heart.
[Barbara Morgenstern] The Antlers ‘Drift Drive’
Chilled out indie with mournful horns and Hawaiian guitar.
[The Antlers]
In The Pharmacy Cloudcast 11
Today’s second cloudcast brings it up to date with the 16 best new tracks I’ve heard over the last couple of weeks. Superchunk have a killer summer anthem, Cat Power returns with the best track she’s done in years, The New Pornographers cover Fleetwood Mac and there are healthy doses of electronica, indie, dreampop, 80s influenced pop, 60s influenced pop, and more Canadians than you can shake a stick at.
Superchunk ‘This Summer’
Indie rock of the highest calibre from Chapel Hill’s finest. Although it’s pretty much winter here in Australia, there’s always time for a great summer song. And this is one of the greatest – certainly my favourite summer lyric.
[Superchunk]
This is the Cat Power that I love, idiosyncratic and not trying to be anyone but herself. Back to her Moonpix / You Are Free peak. Some great guitar playing, an insistent piano riff, driving percussion and that voice with a refrain you can’t get out of your head.
[Cat Power] The New Pornographers ‘Think About Me’
Carl Newman and co take an OK Lindsay Buckingham Fleetwood Mac song from Tusk and turn it into power pop brilliance. Can’t wait to hear the rest of this Fleetwood Mac tribte album featuring the likes of Lee Ranaldo w/ J Mascis, The Kills, St Vincent w/ Craig Wedren, Tame Impala and Best Coast
[New Pornographers] Wild Nothing ‘Shadow’
Lush pop with an 80s textural rock feel – almost like something from The Church circa Heyday.
[Wild Nothing] Heavenly Beat ‘Tradition’
John Pena from Beach Fossils side project. Very polished catchy 80s pop.
[Heavenly Beat] Weird Dreams ‘House of Secrets’
This is the other side to the split 7” with Girls Names’ A Troubled See that was featured back in In The Pharmacy #9. A much more laidback beast from this London band.
[Weird Dreams] Opossom ‘Blue Meanies’
A shuffling ‘Young Folks’-like beat on this none more 60s tune from New Zealander Kody ‘Mint Chicks / Unknown Mortal Orchestra’ Nielsen’s psych-pop outfit.
[Opossom] Levek ‘Black Mold Grow’
The 60s vibe continues with this utterly charming baroque / sunshine pop meets Mercury Rev tune from Gainesville, Florida native David Levesque.
[Levek] Dirty Projectors ‘Dance For You’
No polyphonic female vocals but plenty of handclaps, west-african influenced guitar noodling and a touch of Brian Wilson from David Longstreth and co. Understated and a real grower.
[Dirty Projectors] Matthew E White ‘One of These Days’
Hints of Bon Iver, The National and even The Beta Band, plus a definite New Orleans vibe on this track from this Richmond, Virginia based artist. You can tell it’s something special straight away, but it’s appeal grows with each listen as you begin to notice everything that is going on in this wonderfully arranged tune.
[Matthew E White] Daydream Vacation ‘Dare Seize The Fire’
Bright and shiny electro pop from Dave Einmo of Head Like a Kite and Asya formerly of Smoosh.
[Daydream Vacation] Purity Ring ‘Fineshrine’
Second In The Pharmacy appearance from the Montreal based electronic duo after April’s Obedear appeared in ITP #8. This manages to be both sweet and creepy. Their debut album is due out on 4AD in July.
[Purity Ring] LOL Boys ‘GetClose to Me’ ft Angelina Lucero
Another Montreal-based electronic artist to go with that? Certainly. Jerome Potter and Markus Garcia are the terribly named LOL Boys and this is their insanely catchy new single featuring Chicagoan chanteuse Angelina Lucero.
[LOL Boys] Eaux ‘No More Power’
Synth minimalism with a lovely bassline. This is the b-side to the London based three-piece’s debut single ‘Luther’.
[Eaux] Port St. Willow ‘Amawalk’
This is just fantastic. Dreamy, layered ambience with a little bit of The National at their most melancholy reaches from Brooklyn based Nick Principe. There’s a whole album of his stuff over on Bandcamp.
[Port St. Willow] Willits + Sakamoto ‘Completion’
Instrumental from San Franciscan guitarist/ electronic musician Christopher Willets and legendary Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto “tranquil ambience, lush piano chords and beautiful, elongated guitar tones”.
[Willits + Sakamoto]
In The Pharmacy 