Dec 30, 2015

Various Artists - Christmas Benefit Compilation - 2015



This year we wanted to do something special for Christmas and give something back to people that need help. We created this Christmas compilation to support a small, but amazing Slovakian organization running a shelter for battered women and helping kids without proper families in a small town, not far away from the place where I grew up. I met them this summer, and from that point on I wanted to help them financially. They need a lot of money. Therefore all profits from this compilation will go towards their honest work. Please help this organization build a better home for people in need. 

The Washboard Abs - whateverland - 2015



"I would pay money to nod my head spastically at a [Washboard Abs] show and have strangers look at me weird." -Olivia Klutse

"It's like upbeat, but sad on the DL." -Quinn Makela

"alternative and relevant." -man who runs a pool hall

Dec 27, 2015

The Wandering Lake - From James' Garden - 2015



HERE is my latest set of songs, FROM JAMES’ GARDEN, only uniformed by the urgency I had to record and release them after what felt like a long drought of spirit. It’s been a while since I’ve captured songs that I’ve felt this connected to. I hope you enjoy them and that they give you some sort of peace, or perhaps stir you into action, which ever you need more right now. Thank you for ever giving your time to me. 

If you like the music, I hope you’ll consider following me and sharing the songs with loved ones. 

Project Múkk - A Sigur Rós tribute - 2015


About a year ago, we formed this tribute project by Israeli musicians to honor the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, and their 20-year legacy of inspiring music. This endeavor, which later received the name "Project Múkk", is also a tool for the Israeli fan community to leverage the idea of a first Sigur Rós concert in Israel. To this end, we asked indie Israeli artists, inspired by the band in their musical career, to join us in this exciting project. All songs in this album are sung in the same language as the source (Icelandic / Hopelandic or just instrumental). All staff behind this project, artists, producers and designers alike, were fueled solely with the passion for music and a feeling of gratitude to Sigur Rós. 

Best of Daytrotter Sessions 2015


2015 was another big year over here at the Horseshack. Across the seven choice studios, across the world, that we invite the best musicians in the world to, we recorded and posted just under 1000 new sessions. We are happy to present the 100 sessions that stood out most from the crowd, for whatever reason. Go ahead and find your own 100. There's plenty to choose from. Here's to another 1000 sessions in 2016! -- Mr. Daytrotter


Various Artists - 50​,​000​,​000 Elves Fans Can't Be Wrong - 2015


prairie empire - Sad Winter Songs -- Outtakes and Demos - 2015



"The nights that Brittain Ashford sings about with her Prairie Empire project are ones that take you on walks that will last the duration of the evening. You'll hear the night birds. You'll feel the yellow eyes of the nocturnal creatures coming alive, impatiently waiting for you to get off their lawns so they can find some breakfast and something warm to chase. You'll feel yourself slow down to a point where you can sense everything that's occurring inside and out. You begin to speak and it sounds like an explosion so you stay quiet and just listen more closely. She's escorting you through the twilight."
- Daytrotter

Dec 24, 2015

Web-based Drum Machine



Marina Muun




Born in Bulgaria, Munn says that she “grew up all over the place” and now is currently based in the UK. To me, her work feels quite mystical. Her acrylic paintings and digital illustrations mix the unnatural and the supernatural to create characters and illustrations that feel somewhat spiritual or ritualistic.

My 2015 : Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight



Legend has it that when Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis first saw Indiana quartet Houndmouth at the SXSW festival, he offered them a deal on the spot. It’s easy to hear why: their songs are instantly euphoric. Exuberant opener Sedona sets the tone for this second album, matching the giddy, ethereal atmosphere of early Fleet Foxes with a killer Strokes riff and an invitation to “hop on in, in a stagecoach, baby, gonna take you for a spin”. Often and not unreasonably compared to the Band, they have a palette that stretches from rambunctious rock’n’roll to bruised country balladry. They’re blessed with two great singers in the Dylanesque Matt Meyers and the more classically country-styled Katie Toupin, and when the members’ four voices combine, they really sound like they are breaking loose from their moorings. At best – on the rollicking 15 Years or the shoutalong Say It – it’s classic Americana delivered with the raucous spirit and energy of the Faces or Slade. They may suddenly find their stagecoach getting rather full. guardian


Quite a bit of Houndmouth's reputation has been built on exuberant live shows and the Greek chorus effect of all four voices joining in hale and hearty harmony during nearly every refrain. They tap those sensibilities in even more vital ways on Little Neon Limelight, with a youthful devotion to shaggy, swinging, big-screen storytelling that distinguishes their work from many of their more confessional, serious-minded peers. npr


My 2015 - Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?


Majical Cloudz: 
“This album is more about generating positive energy.”



The band's new album, Are You Alone?, picks up where Impersonator left off: Stark, ethereal instrumentals buoyed by Welsh's unflinching voice. Musically, their roots are in English romantics like Depeche Mode, themselves a moody electronic gloss on the lieder that composers like Franz Schubert were writing 150 years earlier. Philosophically, they chart a junction of new age and hardcore punk, both of which prize a radical scraping away of excess in their search for truth. Majical Cloudz want empathy and they want it now. pF



There is nothing in the world like a great fall album. The fall album is a hard thing to define or quantify. You can mostly hear it for what it isn’t. Great summer albums are flush with joy and life and romance and the promise of new possibilities. They’re charged-up, and they have places to go. Fall albums aren’t that. A great winter album is bleak and contemplative and often laced with a sort of omnidirectional acid rage. It’s not a coincidence that black metal albums tend to sound amazing when you’re Christmas shopping in jammed clothing stores, with headphones on. (Seriously, try it this year. It’ll help you focus your discomfort.) Fall albums aren’t that, either. A great fall album doesn’t necessarily have to come out during the season, though that helps. It crosses genre lines. Bill Withers made great fall albums. So did Leonard Cohen — at least early on, before he moved on to winter albums. Belle And Sebastian made truly amazing fall music before they got all musical theater with it. OutKast’s Aquemini may be the best fall album of all time. Even a gleaming, bulletproff arena-pop album can be a fall album; I’d argue that Lorde’s Pure Heroine qualifies. It’s the sort of album that works in the exact moment when you start putting on warmer clothes — not because it’s cold enough that you need it quite yet, but because it feels good after months of summer. A fall album is about contemplation, about small comforts, about taking stock of your life and the world around you. These albums can be solitary, but they’re contentedly solitary. They can be disappointed with the world around them, but they’re not exactly angry. They play like sighs. And this is all a way-too-long way of saying that Majical Cloudz’ new one Are You Alone? is a beautiful little fall album, that it’s arriving at the exact right time. stereogum

traces - ep 2015


Montreal psych-pop, shoegaze band releases a compact EP… 

Jay Som - Untitled - 2015


Sometimes I stumble across music that really makes my heart beat faster, and that is what this blog really is for – to share those moments with you. Today, I found this release in my Bandcamp feed, “Untitled” by Jay Som, and for some reason, I decided to press play and was completely stunned by the beauty of it.
Jay Som is Melina Duterte from Brentwood, California, and although she states that this album is a collection of finished and unfinished songs – and that an official release will come in the future – this feels both finished and official enough for me.
It starts really strong with the lovely “Peach Boy”, where her slightly distorted vocals sings out a perfect melody, while layered fuzzy guitars embraces her voice. It continues as stong, with “Ghost”, a song that impresses me with its arrangement and wonderful chorus. There’s still a lot of lo-fi goodness here, and it may be that she refers to as unfinished, but I think it adds so much feeling to the songs.
So many good songs on this album! eardrum music

The Green Pajamas - Strung Behind The Sun - 2015


"With its Art Tatum shuffle, ghostly imagery and Middle East-meets-Middle England vibe, it's as fleeting and special as a dream about the most magical hippie summer you never had." One of the "Top 10 neglected American classics" - Tom Cox, The Guardian Unlimited 

From the Camera Obscura website, 1997: 
'The first new full-length CD of the Green Pajamas' 60s influenced psych-pop since Green Monkey/Bomp released the truly excellent "Ghost of Love" in 1990. Main songwriter Jeff Kelly has always been one of the US’s finest practitioners of the psychedelic pop song, and over the last few years his songwriting has reached dazzling maturity and depth, as showcased in his most recent solo album "Ash Wednesday Rain". Believing that "Ghosts of Love" was the Green Pajamas "Rubber Soul" and that Kelly and Co still had a "Revolver" in them waiting to be drawn out, Camera Obscura approached Green Pajamas to coax them out of their semi-retirement. The result is "Strung Behind the Sun".

Dumbo Gets Mad - Thank You Neil - 2015


Italian male/female psych duo Dumbo Gets Mad started in the summer of 2010 in a basement; soon after the duo started working on first album Elephants At The Door (2011), enlightening brains producing weird and trippy sounds. Two years later there was Quantum Leap, and now, with third album Thank You Neil, Dumbo Gets Mad explores different worlds and influences such as Italian library music, 70s experimental American soul music (Shuggie Otis above all) and current influences such as Connan Mockasin and Stones Throw. Thank You Neil is a concept album inspired by "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey", the 2014 American Science documentary television series and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (hence the title of the album: Thank You Neil). 

Ratboys - AOID - 2015


When Brooklyn Vegan premiered Ratboys‘ single “Tixis,” I was instantly intrigued. Never hearing of the band before, with “Tixis,” and an upcoming release via Topshelf Records, I knew Ratboys would be a band to watch. That upcoming LP, AOID, is now streaming via Culture Collide.

The band creates a wonderful medley of acoustic inspired indie rock layered with fuzz, melodic narrations, and hauntingly catchy melodies. While the band is catchy throughout, it’s moments like midway through “Charlie Bernstein” that truly show the band’s sonic chops. Guiding the listener through the incredibly catchy groove, halfway through the track the band releases an atmosphere like spilled nerves, going off on tangents from the original tightly-woven beginning. UTG

Dec 23, 2015

NoiseTrade Holiday Mixtape 2015


‘Tis the season! To help everyone get into the spirit of things, we’re excited to bring you our annual NoiseTrade Holiday Mixtape, presented by our friends at FanBridge. Feast on 20 wonderfully warm and festive tunes from some of our favorite artists, including Sleeping At Last, Drew & Ellie Holcomb, Jars of Clay, Angel Snow, The Mastersons and others. Enjoy this perfect soundtrack as you trim your tree, sip on some eggnog, and cuddle around the fireplace.

Sleeping at Last - Christmas Collection 2015


Each year at the Holidays, I record a Christmas song and give it away for free (my version of a holiday card!) This tradition has snowballed over the years into a full-length Christmas album. I'm thrilled to tell you that the entire 15-song album, "Christmas Collection 2015" is available right now for FREE!! Only available on Noisetrade! Though it's free, I'm hoping you'll consider helping me support the life-giving work that Restore International is doing by leaving a "Tip" when you download! 100% of tips we receive on Noisetrade (now through Jan. 1st) will go directly to Restore International to help continue the beautiful and important work they are doing for women and children in need. Founded by my dear friend Bob Goff, Restore is changing countless lives for the better, fighting for freedom and human rights, building schools and so much more. Please take a moment to learn more, and consider giving them your support!

flatsound - four songs for losing you - 2015


kriebelvisje such a beautiful and sad album. it helps me getting through a difficult period. wonderfull and lot of emotions in these songs, thnx for sharing them.

Various Artists - boy tears - school's out, boys drool by boy tears - 2015


♡ boy tears puts out compilations and zines created and crafted by women / girls / non-binary folks / & anyone who is not cis male ♡

spookyghostboy - Memories Worth Keeping - 2015


Steven Shook Death Cab meets Night Beds meets Kanye West. Then Kanye leaves. 
That's the high calibre / sweet style this album is characterized by…

malojian - Southlands - 2015



Malojian have been through various incarnations, firstly as a duo called Cat Malojian, then briefly as a trio. At the heart of every manifestation, Belfast’s Stevie Scullion – the softly-sung songwriter with a knack for crafting wee-hours folk tunes – has steered the ship safely to port.
Scullion’s second “solo” album is a fuller-sounding affair than its predecessor, thanks to session players who give songs such as Communion Girls and No Alibi an enjoyably idiosyncratic indiepop buzz, and It Ain’t Easy a dreamy alt.country flavour.
The skeletal folk tunes are less engaging, with Scullion’s breathy, secretive vocals too slight to command attention in any serious way.
Still, despite a lack of purpose, there is imaginative songcraft lurking in some unexpected places. IT



Dec 22, 2015

My 2015 - 25 Songs from 2015


25 songs that I listened to more than a couple of times… No real order just a collection of songs that made me happy and glad that music is apart of my life! 
Hope you enjoy my sounds.


My 2015 - Ostrea Lake - Rippling Waters Ep


A dynamic three piece indie folk band from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ostrea Lake's music gently rises and swells, sometimes rippling, often calm. Centering strongly around the rich vocal abilities of lead singer and baritone ukulele player Elias Abi Daoud, Ostrea Lake builds powerful and enchanting songs. Rippling Waters EP brings forward their most melodically driven and carefully crafted music to date.




Creature Speak - SHADOW SONGS - 2015


CREATURE SPEAK will sing you lullabies with haunting vocals and shimmering banjo. Crooning stories of ghosts and imagined memories, with a nostalgic sound. 

CREATURE SPEAK is Brittany Brooks


“there are ghosts sleeping in the ceiling of my room…”

The past is a simple place. We can reconstruct it as we like, bit by bit, rewriting the dialogue, changing the mood, placating our egos, surrounding ourselves with the false fronts of selective memories. Imperfection is made perfect through sheer ignorance, naivete or denial. And so it continues, sometimes for years.

Then, someone we love dies.

What follows is the sudden unraveling of the world we’ve made. Its ghosts gripping onto us, as we come to terms with our new, bare and vulnerable reality. That we survive these moments and, if we are lucky, are left feeling emptier and world-worn, is a miracle of human resilience. That someone could actually write words and music to convey this transition so personally and affectingly, is a blessing. Here is Creature Speak, Canadian folk artist Brittany Brooks, who wrote ‘Shadow Songs’ over the two years following the death of her father in 2013. She says that her family had “encounters with his spirit” in the months after his passing – something that she personally didn’t experience, so she needed to find a way to reconnect. GFP

Robin Mitchell - Another Fragile Year - 2015



For Robin Mitchell, Christmas has never meant glib cantations about jingle bells and reindeer. Robin's 'festive fireside songs' conjour up intimacy and warmth, but hold these in tension with the apocalyptic themes that pervade the Christmas story, as well as the sense of vulnerability that accompanies each new winter. 

'Another Fragile Year' explores festive themes as Robin understands them: contrasts between light and dark, cold and warmth, despair and hope, love and loss. The songs reflect upon events from the year including travels in China, Robin's marriage to Hannah, and the refugee crisis in Europe. 

At times musically haunting, at others warm and jazzy, this record reveals Robin's maturation as a composer and songwriter, with gentle touches of clarinet, reed organ and electric piano enriching an already diverse palette.

Faux Fawn - Turtle Doves - 2015



Maybe a coffee addict. Usually a distance runner. Sometimes a songwriter. Recently a Father. Always a teacher. Used to be a stegosaurus.

Pulco - Undersea Session - 2015



These songs were recorded in 2008 as my first session contribution to Shane Quentin’s legendary ‘Garden Of Earthly Delights’ radio show. 

The tracks were recorded live under water aboard the Naval research sub Nauticus 5 and include songs from Undersea Adventure & Sorepaw 

Dec 20, 2015

VA – Uncut: The Best of 2015


1. Ryley Walker – Summer Dress
2. Courtney Barnett – Depreston
3. Wilco – The Joke Explained
4. Father John Misty – When You’re Smiling and Astride Me
5. Björk – Quicksand
6. Sufjan Stevens – All of Me Wants All of You
7. New Order – Restless
8. Jason Isbell – If It Takes a Lifetime
9. Mbongwana Star – Nganshe
10. Olivia Chaney – Blessed Instant
11. Gwenno – Chwyldro
12. Robert Foster – I’m So Happy for You
13. J D McPherson – Head Over Heels
14. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Necessary Evil
15. Julia Holter – Feel You

VA – Mojo Presents: Best of 2015


1. Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian at Best
2. Sleater-Kinney – Bury Our Friends
3. New Order – Restless
4. Songhoy Blues – Soubour
5. Gaz Coombes – 20/20
6. Bill Ryder-Jones – Two to Birkenhead
7. Jim O’Rourke – Last Year
8. John Grant – Down Here
9. Matthew E. White – Rock & Roll Is Cold
10. Sufjan Stevens – Should Have Known Better
11. Father John Misty – Bored in the USA
12. Low – What Part of Me
13. Julia Holter – Feel You
14. Joanna Newsom – Leaving the City
15. Jason Isbell – If It Takes a Lifetime

Salad Boys - Scarce Tracks - 2015


Christchurch, New Zealand's Salad Boys are precisely what you'd expect from the land of Flying Nun and Xpressway: a jangly, cerebral, experimental pop group, a bit shambly, with understated vocals buried in the mix and the bright guitar work pushed to the front. They’ve performed as David Kilgour of the Clean’s backing band, and they instantly and seamlessly fit into the legacy Kilgour helped establish; their debut album, Metalmania, feels less like an homage to New Zealand’s 1980s underground and more like a lost release from that time period ready to be unearthed by the record collectors of the future.
When Metalmania is good, it's nearly transcendent, as much as a pop album can be. IPR

Woolen Men - Options EP - 2015


If you skipped over our year end list (which you shouldn’t have), then you might have missed out on the fact that one of my favorite listens was Woolen Men‘s Temporary Monument. Surprisingly, the band are already back with their brand new Options EP. The EP’s title track has the infectious post-punk meets art rock feel, showing that the group aren’t anywhere to slowing things down. Still, some of the tracks have a slower pacing, illustrating that it’ll be hard to pigeonhole the group’s sound going forward. But, one thing’s for sure, they’re always a great listen. ATH

Horsebeach - II - 2015


Trevor Rowe Horsebeach does an amazing job of capturing multiple qualities from several genres. So smooth and mellow, I can't stop listening! Favorite track: It's Alright.

Devan Jones Very mellow, brilliant guitar work and smooth vocals

Adrian Smith a tour to OZ would not be sneezed at. Just saying'

Dec 19, 2015

VA - Psychocandy Revisited - 2015


‘VA – Psychocandy Revisited’
Released: 15th of October 2015 
Label/Website: The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
‘Fabulous’ Owner/Creator Dailiy at TBTCI: Mr. Renato Malizia

‘VA – Psychocandy Revisited’ Compilation Tracklistings

Lost Secrets – ‘Just Like Honey’ 04:33
The 0ffering – ‘The Living End’ 02:36
A Marc Train Home – ‘Taste The Floor’ 03:57
Astrobrite – ‘The Hardest Walk’ 03:21
Charlatan – ‘The Hardest Walk’ 02:57
Low Dream – ‘Cut Dead’ 02:23
93 Million Miles From The Sun’ – ‘In A Hole’ 05:13
The Tamborines – ‘Taste Of Cindy’ 02:24
Kid Foguete – ‘Never Understand’ 05:02
The Lost Rivers – ‘Inside Me’ 02:46
The PseudoSurfers – ‘Sowing Seeds’ 02:59
Justine Never Knew The Rules feat. Flavia Biggs – ‘My Little Underground’ 04:02
Wry – ‘You Trip Me Up’ 02:21
Static Daydream – ‘Something´s Wrong’ 03:54
The Cigarettes (feat. Lê Almeida & Bigú Medine) – ‘It´s So Hard’ 05:08
Pin Ups – ‘Some Candy Talking’ 03:22

VA - A Dreaded Sunny Day - A Tribute to The Smiths - 2015


Tracklist:

1. The Us - How Soon Is Now 07:04
2. Sister Mystery - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me 03:24
3. Commuted - This Charming Man 03:58
4. Low & Low - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others 02:38
5. Excusers - Well, I Wonder 04:13
6. Gravitacional - I Know It´s Over 05:11
7. Lur Lur - Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want 03:08
8. Tanks and Tears - Sweet and Tender Hooligan 03:37
9. Minuit Machine - How Soon Is Now 03:52
10. Spatial Relation - What Difference Does It Make 03:27
11. Elastic Sleep - Still Ill 03:20
12. Robsongs - Death Of A Disco Dancer 06:05
13. Great Black Night - Asleep 04:18
14. The Junkyard Liberty - Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want 02:21
15. Box and The Twins - Half a Person 04:07
16. Miami Tiger - Bigmouth Strikes Again 03:10
17. Clowder - Well, I Wonder 06:19
18. Silent Carnival - Meat is Murder 04:06

Dec 18, 2015

Courtney Barnett - Depreston Live






You said we should look out further, I guess it wouldn't hurt us
We don't have to be around all these coffee shops
Now we've got that percolator, never made a latte greater
I'm saving twenty three dollars a week

We drive to a house in Preston, we see police arrestin'
A man with his hand in a bag
How's that for first impressions? This place seems depressing
It's a Californian bungalow in a cul-de-sac

It's got a lovely garden, a garage for two cars to park in
Or a lot of room for storage if you've just got one
And it's going pretty cheap you say, well it's a deceased estate
Aren't the pressed metal ceilings great?

Then I see the handrail in the shower, a collection of those canisters for coffee tea and flour
And a photo of a young man in a van in Vietnam
And I can't think of floorboards anymore, whether the front room faces south or north
And I wonder what she bought it for

If you've got a spare half a million
You could knock it down and start rebuildin'
[x6]

Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums 2015


50. Dawn Richard
Blackheart


40. Jlin
Dark Energy

30. Deerhunter
Fading Frontier

20. Floating Points
Elaenia

10. Kamasi Washington
The Epic

1. Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly


Dec 17, 2015

Various Artists - Summer at The Grey Estates - 2014



The first of The Grey Estates' compilations. Thank you to the artists who donated their tracks to the project.

Various Artists - The Human Noise We Sat There Making - 2015



"I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.” - Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love