EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Milkymee - Everyday Routine
Gonna try to steer clear of sappy but this is my last RCRD LBL blog post; I'm leaving the RCRD LBL nest to embark on a new adventure/gig in Cali (some evidence of which will be disseminated on Twitter). Bottom line - I will miss you all you folks - the readers, co-workers, interns, musicians and muses...
"Everyday Routine" is by Emilie Hanak (i.e. Milkymee) - a whimsical French chanteuse who escaped to Sweden to craft folk-based songs - each of which emanates from dolce vita, caprice, yet melancholy. "Everyday Routine" is part of the French indie label Tsunami-Addiction's eclectic compilation Let's Kiss And Make Up, which also includes tracks from Brooklyn songstress Sharon Van Etten, the idiosyncratic Tim Fite, Telepathe, electro experimenters Lemonade & Glasser,and Holyshit....In sum, it is a surprisingly bad-ass accompaniment to a kiss and make-up.
PS Even the collage of videos of featured artists is worth a thorough click-through.
Sounds Like: Sharon Van Etten, Coeur de Pirate, Constance Amiot, Wildbirds and Peacedrums
DOWNLOAD: The Sounds - Dorchester Hotel
(Photo: Birte Filmer)
It's been a while since we'd heard from The Sounds but these days, the Swede rockers are red hot and suddenly seemingly everywhere. Their third album Crossing The Rubicon, in which they collaborated with Mark Saunders, James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins, Tinted Windows) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Tinted Windows), is out on June 2nd. Their solo tour dates in the US are already mostly sold out. Did we mention later this summer they are opening for No Doubt? Right. So before they become a household name, here's a track to appreciate; "Dorchester Hotel" leads with Maja Ivarsson's intent, sexpot voice, angelic guitar plucks, and drilling drum progression before launching into a powerpop chorus.
Sounds Like: Mando Diao, Shiny Toy Guns, Garbage, Sahara Hotnights
VIDEO: The Love Language - Sparxxx
The Love Language has a breezy, hazy, lo-fi quality that's steadily addictive. Just a month or so ago, we first posted the jaunty surfpop jam "Lalita," which hooked us so bad that we decided to stream the whole album on RCRD LBL (see below), which in turn provoked us to find anything and everything else we could on this band. Hence this video "Sparxxx." Aesthetically gritty, the homespun video looks like it was shot on 35 mm film using a second-hand Super 8 Elmo or something else as beautifully ghetto. It includes a party scene with bubbles, Stu McLamb belting on a 1960's Elvis/Rocakbilly mic, brown-bagged 40s, and a cake fight. Need we say more?
*PS the streams below will only be up till the end of the week, so make the most of em.
Sounds Like: The Morning Benders, Bishop Allen, The Botticellis
The Love Language - Two Rabbits
The Love Language - Providence
The Love Languages' RCRD LBL Page
DOWNLOAD: Wheat - Raised Ranch Revolution
This track will remind you of late 1990s lo-fi indie rock. Probably because it is. Do you remember Wheat, who garnered commercial success in the late 90s, early 2000s, and toured with Liz Phair and Toad the Wet Sprocket back in the day? Well, unlike most bands of that genre that have since seemingly disappeared off of the musical periphery, Wheat recently completed their fifth studio album White Ink, Black Ink (to be released this year) and is also reissuing their albums Medeiros and Hope And Adams as part of a 3CD deluxe package. Thus, to bring back fond memories of flannel and mellow, melancholy musing, here's "Raised Ranch Revolution" off of the Hope And Adams album.
Sounds Like: The Damnwells, Lowgold, Snow Patrol, Death Cab For Cutie
Wheat - Raised Ranch Revolution
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Dragonette - Competition (Whip Vocal Remix)
I spy lasers. A sexy voice that defines pop. Glitches that define glitchy. I spy a killer Dragonette remix- which has put the Canadian new wave pop crew's beats through the grinder and spewed out electronic confetti.
And tonight? I spy people dancing up a storm in neon. Lead by Canadians including a brunette fire-starter with a voice that oozes sex appeal. Hook-heavy chords. Guiltless pop that make music purists blush for liking and not knowing why. A dark club with a disco dance floor. That would be Le Royale tonite, with Dragonette starting a dance party till the weeee hours. Put down that book, lift up that skirt, and go for it. We won't tell mom.
SOUNDS LIKE: Yelle, Scissor Sisters, Metric
Exclusive New Download: Dragonette - Competition (Whip Vocal Remix)
DOWNLOAD: Cordero - Ruleta Rusa
What do you get when you mix members of Calexico, Antibalas Afrobeat and Sparklehorse with Puerto Rican mamicita Ani Cordero? down-tempo indie rock with seductive Latin flair. Ani lets her voice snake in and out of each verse- a bit sexy, a bit melancholy. Since the rumor is she wrote most of this second album "De Donde Eres"'s songs on her mother's guitar after a string of personal crises, there's indeed added drama in each the tracks. (Psst...the album is out in stores now.)
SOUNDS LIKE: Lhasa, Juana Molina, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra (in slow mo), El Vez
Download: Cordero - Ruleta Rusa
VIDEO: Rachael Yamagata - Behind The Scenes Video
Word is Rachel Yamagata's been busy making a new album in Woodstock, NY, called "A Record In Two Parts: Elephants....Teeth Sinking Into Heart." We were sent this video that suspiciously has clips of her in the studio as well as film of a black bear on a mountain. It's gritty, rough and very Vincent Moon. Just like we like it. Bonus: there's supposed to be two more videos of this nuance coming up; keep your fingers the next one has an elephant.
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Snowblink - Rut & Nuzzle
Some songs just make you want to curl into a fetal position and crawl back into innocence. Snowblink is one of those fateful few. Somehow, through ethereal acoustic strumming, glockenspiels, sounds plucked from nature, and female vocals that lull you like a lullaby into peaceful meditation, Snowblink lets you escape from the grasp of adulthood and obligation, priority and reality. It relieves you. It makes you believe that everything is ok. This ain't AA folks. But as long as the wind blows and the sun still shines, the song Rut & Nuzzle will serve as a sweet if ephemeral escape. Enjoy and relish.
Exclusive New Download: Snowblink - Rut & Nuzzle
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