Feb 28, 2015

Joplin Rice - Low Hum - 2015


Joplin Rice is a songwriter living in Lexington, Kentucky. 
He has released numerous other albums both under his own name and as Ezra Triste
Every band he forms dies.



Recommended by Spacerockmountain - Thanks for the find!

There is something immediately familiar about Low Hum. Especially upon getting to the third track, "know it's not," with the acoustic guitars matched against the piano and organ playing. The songs bear wonderful song structure, brilliant lyrics and sweetly soft vocals throughout, with some being lo-fi rock nearly approaching psych-pop. Switches between the more folksy numbers and the faster and more amplified rock tunes, making for an overall album that's somewhere between Elliott Smith and a band like the High Water Marks. It isn't short of charms and I wish I could do a better job at conveying that in this post. You'd imagine I'd have gotten better at this over the years but it always seems like I'm groping for the right words. So you'll just have to trust me and the Modern Folk.

Feb 27, 2015

Jake Rollins - Spend A Few, Make A Few - 2015


An awesome release out of NY... Great songwriting, killer melodies, used vocals... what's not to love!

Out March 1st.

Moses Luster and the Hollywood Lights - The Hangman's Door - 2015


With Moses Luster’s third studio album release the band has focused on honing their sound while exploring some new diversions. 

Moses Luster stays true to their first and second release however with explorations of traditional instruments mixed with electronic sound and Moses Luster’s gravely, wind beaten voice. In “The Night” the band examine the moody romanticism of synths and banjo, while “The Dirt” is a sober and haunting exploration of coming to terms with death, while “Hangman’s Door” find’s Moses accepting his fate while facing down bigger troubles. 

While the album is consistent with their previous releases, Moses Luster has been exploring their country side with the tracks” Until I’m Saved” (which was featured on the season finale of Discovery’s “Bering Sea Gold”) and the rolling, road-weary song “Sorrowtown”. 

While the album continues along the path of previous releases of exploring the drudgery of everyday lives of drunks, losers, and broken hearts, the band continues to try and explore new territory with upbeat tracks, most notably “Come Along With Us” and “I Got You”. mixed while poking at their heroes and where the world is headed in “Sold Out”, written after being floored by witnessing Bob Dylan selling cars during last year’s Super Bowl.

Rose Windows Folkadelphia Session 7​/​13​/​2014


Recorded at the WXPN Performance Studio on July 13th, 2014 by Eric Sanderson and James Clark Conner. Mixed in Pennsylvania. 

Mexican Summer - Marfa Myths Compilation - 2015


Marfa Myths Compilation includes new music from Mexican Summer, Software Recording Co. and Anthology Recordings, highlights from 2014, and unreleased music. 

Marfa Myths is a cultural program taking place from March 13-15 in Marfa, TX. The program features three days of performances, installations and artist residencies from label artists and beyond. Co-presented by Ballroom Marfa. Live performances from Iceage, Grouper, Tamaryn, Steve Gunn, Weyes Blood, Suicideyear, GABI, Co La, Thug Entrancer, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and more. Tickets available here: bit.ly/marfamyths2015



Mexican Summer is an independently owned and operated record label based out of Brooklyn, NY. Having helped launch the careers of recordings artists such as Washed Out, Kurt Vile, Best Coast and Quilt to name only a few, our focus continues to center around finding and developing new talent such as recent roster addition Connan Mockasin and rising star Weyes Blood. 

Feb 26, 2015

BEN LEE - A MIXTAPE FROM BEN LEE - 2015


a dollar well spent!

This album began as an exploration of songwriting. I decided to write songs for different voices, and invite these singers to perform them. My dear friend Sam Spiegel (Squeak E Clean) offered to produced the record I had conceptualized, and we began working on the collaboration in earnest in 1998. 

Over the next 6 or 7 years we continued to record intermittently. All kinds of wonderful musicians came by and offered their help with recording. I should have kept better notes during the sessions but I know you can hear Eric Gardner, James Valentine, Rusty Logsdon and Alfredo Ortiz amongst many others. I am grateful to everyone who played a part in these recordings, large or small, remembered or forgotten. For some years these recording just sat on my hard drive. I have always loved the recordings, but life moved me in other directions and distractions, and the release of the "Mixtape" recordings were temporarily shelved. 

In 2013 I became involved in working with a non-profit called Inkarri Cultural Organization, which aims to preserve and protect ancient cultural wisdom, inspiring a new vision for an awakened humanity. One of the projects that resonated with me deeply is the Q'ero Project - supporting the basic needs, and development, of the Q'ero people of Peru. The Q’ero people are the last living vestige of the ancestral Inca culture. They made themselves known to the world in 1949 and up until that point had remained “in hiding” in an almost inaccessible area of the Andean mountains. The conditions under which they live are incredibly difficult. Inkarri have already helped fund many basic needs of the children in Hatun Q’ero, Q’ero Totorani, Japu, Quico and Marachea, and also of the school in the community of Chrarcapata. 

As someone who believes that our successful journey forward as a humanity is intimately related to our staying connected to the true wisdom of our past, The Q'ero project has become a real passion of mine. The uncontaminated psychological and spiritual information that has been passed down generation to generation by the Q'eros is at risk of being lost if we do not offer our support and protection to their process of integration with the Western world. 

In this spirit, I have decided to dig up my old "Mixtape" recordings and offer them to the world on a "donate what you want" basis, beginning at $1, with all proceeds from this download page going to The Q'ero Project. Obviously, you are free to take these recordings for $1, but please consider this opportunity to support the culture of one the last true ancient wisdom traditions in this ever-modernizing world. 

I hope you enjoy the music and can sense the joy and experimentation with which it was created by Sam and myself. I also hope you embrace the love and concern with which the opportunity to help the Q'eros arrives at your doorstop. 

From my heart to yours, 
Ben

Feb 24, 2015

5: A February Records Anniversary Compilation - 2015


February Records turned 5 in 2014 and, to celebrate, we are releasing a CD compilation featuring 14 bands spanning the length of our catalog. Most of the songs have never been released and are exclusive to this comp. We wanted to make this project special. We think we have. 

In addition to the compilation, we'll produce a limited number of the first physical edition of our zine, "…March, April, & May." The zine will include interviews with 14 bands plus much more. 



February Records is a micro-label based in New England that releases and promotes independent pop music. February Records is about bringing people together, forging connections and exposing people to great music.

wildflower - dear tracks - 2015


Two song release filled with washed out guitars, shimmering vocals and twee highlights. Very nice music, only problem, too short.

Slow Year - II - 2015


Cinematic, rich, deep, dark music from hush hush records
Worth a listen!

Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Body Electric Tour EP - 2015


Hurray for the Riff Raff is headed out on a national headline tour and put together a special compilation entitled The Body Electric EP. It features two tracks from the album Small Town Heroes as well as a Billie Holiday cover and "Everybody Knows (For Trayvon Martin).”


FOR FANS OF

First Aid Kit, Emmylou Harris, Shovels & Rope, Amos Lee, Gillian Welch

Feb 23, 2015

Will Butler – Policy - 2015




Will Butler has been a member of the band Arcade Fire for over 10 years. This is his first release under his own name.

Policy is American music—in the tradition of the Violent Femmes, The Breeders, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, The Magnetic Fields, Ghostface Killah. And John Lennon (I know, but it counts). Music where the holy fool runs afoul of the casual world.

Policy was recorded in one week in Jimi Hendrix’s old living room (upstairs at Electric Lady Studios). Jeremy Gara played drums; other musicians contributed woodwinds and backing vocals. Most everything else was played by Will. merge

Feb 21, 2015

Star Tropics - Summer Rain // Swept Away - 2015


Agent K(ahunasan) I don't know where to begin with this......
Simply Amazing Boy/Girl vocal harmonies over twee dreampop melodies.
Nikki's voice just drips honey all over these proceedings.
Both these songs could be Pop Singles on the best radio station you could imagine......One populated for fans of the Smiths, Veronica Falls, and the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for starters & name your favorite dream-pop band of yesteryear.
Terrific stuff.... Made In The USA!

Feb 20, 2015

The Airborne Toxic Event – Dope Machines - 2015





Their upcoming album Dope Machines promises to be different from all the other Airborne Toxic Event albums. When Jollett was writing and producing the songs for the album, he wanted to come up with a new musical vocabulary, and then speak with it. Jollett said that Dope Machines will have interesting vintage keyboards and a lot of really modern stuff, all thrown together with some songwriting. Extremely intense songwriting, as Jollett told me that "This is probably the most intense songwriting since the first record." As an artist, Jollett recognizes the impact that a song could have on people. "You can get more across in a three minute song than in a 10,000 word story - if you do it right," said Jollett. axs

Feb 18, 2015

DenMother - Passion Is Seldom The End - 2015


Inspired by:
warrior drums
haunting chants
distorted synths.

Matthew E. White – Fresh Blood - 2015


Terrific new album out March 10th!


Tracklist

01. Take Care My Baby
02. Rock And Roll Is Cold
03. Fruit Trees
04. Holy Moly
05. Circle ‘Round The Sun
06. Feeling Good Is Good Enough
07. Tranquility
08. Golden Robes
09. Vision
10. Love Is Deep


Feb 15, 2015

Balto - October's Road - 2011


A few years ago, Portland-based songwriter Daniel Sheron left his job and went alone into Siberia with a guitar and no change of clothes. The songs he wrote became Balto's debut album of gritty, dynamic americana. This is mercurial, psychedelic country-rock – song-driven rock’n’roll – a hair-raising live performance burning its way across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.



Balto came into being when Daniel Sheron abandoned his life in Moscow, Russia and went alone into Siberia. Against an ever shifting backdrop of railways and desolate wastes, he wrote a cycle of songs to tell the story of what had happened in that strange country, why he had exiled himself, and why he thought it mattered. In train cars and crumbling cities he encountered PEOPLE, and they inhabited the songs he was writing and the notes he was taking. In the fall, Daniel brought Balto back to America and called his friends to record an album in one day. On December 15, 2010, six people entered a basement in Brooklyn, New York and emerged that night with an album that no one had expected. October's Road. 

Nathan Amundson - Western Songs - 2015


Western Songs marks the first time Nathan Amundson (Rivulets) is releasing music under his own name. This record is his first for Silentes, and features two side-long late night instrumental guitar jams evoking the vast, arid landscape surrounding his home state of Colorado.


Aisha Badru - Vacancy - 2015


Absolutely beautiful music at its' most subtle and simple. Reminds me of why I love female vocals so much.
Highly Recommended.

H-Burns - "Nowhere to Be" - Live 2015




C à vous 
H Burns - "Nowhere to be", 
Extrait de "Night Moves"
5 février 2015
France 5 

Feb 13, 2015

Elvy - Soundtrack of my mind - 2015


Beautiful piano and accompanying vocals... 

Shortcircles X Parks Burton - Impossible Architecture EP - 2015


Run by KEXP DJ Alex Ruder, Hush Hush Records is dedicated to curating an emotional and introspective sound that's free of specific genre boundaries and ideal for headphone sessions, late-night travels and intimate encounters.

'Impossible Architecture' is a collaborative EP by Oakland-based electronic musician Shortcircles and Los Angeles-based vocalist/producer Parks Burton. 

Nodding by the Fire - The Forest Knows - 2015


Nodding by the Fire son: 
Javier Ordás (guitarra acústica) 
Carlos Puente (arreglos) 
Jacob González (percusión y vientos) 
María García (percusión y vientos) 
Israel Quintana (banjo) 

Owls - Two - 2014

Diane Cluck Folkadelphia Session - 2014


Raw and true americana recorded live

Feb 7, 2015

WAXAHATCHEE – IVY TRIPP - 2015




Excited to announce that my new album ‘Ivy Tripp’ will be released on 6th April (UK/EU) via Wichita Recordings and 7th April (North America) on Merge Records.

Waxahatchee, the solo musical project of Katie Crutchfield, is named after a creek not far from her childhood home in Alabama and seems to represent both where she came from and where she’s going. Ivy Tripp drifts confidently from its predecessors and brings forth a more informed and powerful recognition of where Crutchfield has currently found herself. The lament and grieving for her youth seem to have been replaced with control and sheer self-honesty. “My life has changed a lot in the last two years, and it’s been hard for me to process my feelings other than by writing songs,” says Crutchfield. “I think a running theme [of Ivy Tripp] is steadying yourself on shaky ground and reminding yourself that you have control in situations that seem overwhelming, or just being cognizant in moments of deep confusion or sadness, and learning to really feel emotions and to grow from that.”  merge

Waxahatchee Playlist

Purple Hill - Top 40 Radio Memory Dream (Oh Yeah​!​) - 2015


Purple Hill is difficult to define as anything but Rock and Roll. Driving, catchy, exploratory, a Rock and Roll that encompasses decades. From the roots of The Velvets and The Feelies, Big Star and beyond, the band is now a complete package and compliment to the the style, mind, and song writing of Owen Marchildon 




Mike Evin - Have You Ever Loved? - 2015




The video centres around Mike's visits with seniors in their unique surroundings, letting each personality sculpt each segment. He shares intimate moments letting the song breath life as each member interacts in their own way capturing an almost reminiscent air, drifting between attitudes of playful and reflective. 

The song is an ode to finding new love and learning to live with loves past.

Stillwave - Slow Binders - 2015



Stillwave was formed by Michaël van Putten, Marcel Jongejan and Adriaan Hogervorst in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Their sound is a mix of alternative, new wave, post-punk and shoegaze. Stillwave creates an innovative mix of guitars drenched in reverb, characteristic vocals and powerful drums, combined with electronics and synthesizers. They have played over 50 shows at renowned venues. With their live shows they quickly found an audience that shares in their experience of letting go of so many things that matter so little in order to grab a hold of the few things that matter so much.


“This is really very good” -----Drunken Werewolf

“Stillwave are our Band of the Year for 2014”-----Right Chord Music

“Their reverb heavy shoegaze style, coupled with resonating drums, electronics and synthesizers making for a winningcombination” -----Little Indie Blogs

“A tantalising four-minute punch”-----Getting Near Dawn

“You can label Stillwave however you see fit –but one thing you can’t do is deny how good they sound.”-----Backseat Mafia

“A new found destination assuming quietly epic proportions” -----God Is in the TV Zine

Alvvays - Alvvays - 2014


Now on Bandcamp: Alvvays are 2 women, 3 men, a crate of C-86 tapes and a love of jingle-jangle.

Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan grew up as next-door neighbours in Cape Breton, lifting fiddles and folk-songs. Heartbreaks of different shades soon entered their lives, as did the music of Teenage Fanclub and Belle & Sebastian. Alec O'Hanley, Brian Murphy and Philip MacIsaac soon joined the fold & Alvvays was born.

Feb 5, 2015

nadia reid - Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs - 2014


Nadia Reid possesses a measured melancholia that speaks eloquently of the smoldering embers of life’s firestorms.


The Widest Smiling Faces - Sin Waves - 2014


I woke in slow sun with barely a light on my hair and a full glass of milk it would be better to wash the grime off my silly little body and then rub my way into jeans and eat my cereal making sure it gets extra soggy and sunlight so all the sugar and sweet fills the inside of the milk 



Colors dripping in my mouth and my tongue and my throat and smelling like apples and papier mache and smelling like skin and yogurt and I feel like a hundred boats and i feel like a ghost and a jellyfish in the salt water of a plastic bag 

The High Dials - In the A​.​M. Wilds - 2015


The High Dials collaborated with producer Marc Bell for this their fifth LP. The resulting work is surprising yet logical for those familiar with the band's evolution. While the trademark jangling guitars, harmonies and melodic sensibilities remain, "In The A.M. Wilds" sees the band exploring post-punk sounds and groove-based pop with palpable excitement and freedom. There is also a concept at play, with much of the lyrical content inspired by urban nightlife, a surreal setting where "the night appears as a wilderness, a world people get lost in for better or worse.”

Feb 2, 2015

a Singer of Songs - From Hello to Goodbye - 2014


A Singer of Songs comes bearing gifts. Beautifully crafted songs, recorded in his home studio. If you ever see him in the pub, ask if he would like a glass of Jack Daniels. And then bring him a Pabst Blue Ribbon. He will then blame you for blowing his chance with the pretty waitress.

Awesome Release!


Bulldog Skin - Wet Coast - 2015


After the icebergs melted, the coastal cities flooded, the governments collapsed and the bombs starting falling, I set out for the ancient forests of northern British Columbia. 

I built a small cabin and lived lightly off what little food I could find, drinking rainwater collected in buckets. 

With an old cassette recorder and some instruments I tried to make sense out of my life, the recent past, where we went so wrong as a species...perhaps to provide a first-hand historical account for those to come. Or perhaps because it was just something to do. 

Feb 1, 2015

Samantha Taggart - Swallow The Key - 2015


Charmingly sweet, dusty music - very nice melodies and a great delivery from Samantha Taggart, making these tracks extremely catchy. Very nice release.

Ô Paon - FLEUVE - 2015



Ambient drone from french Quebecer Geneviève Castrée out of the vastness of a winter landscape. Tragic and uplifting all in one. Excellent release. 
For fans of Mogwai type music.

Jason Lytle & Sea of Bees - "Won't Be Long" & "Get Up and Go" - 2012


"I fell in love with this song a few years ago. I really think Jules captured a real special feel with her recording of it. I just wanted to see if my own version of it could come anywhere near hers in capturing that same sort of feel. Of course it's naturally different, but it was a joy trying." 
-Jason Lytle on "Won't Be Long" 

"The first time I heard this song, I felt fitted with it. I related to it at this time of my life, the song was like a sweet reminder. There aren't many songs like this one, it's a simple message, a not easy to do message. I enjoyed the time spent with it. It really was an honor to give this song a go!" 
-Jules Bees on "Get Up and Go"

Wes Tirey - Gnostic Hymns of the Blue Ridge Mountains Vol. 1 - 2015


Instrumental guitar music elite... Outstanding music for a below zero Sunday.

Sandcastle - Skull Cauldron - 2015


Indie psychedelic with a relatively clean, linear delivery - 
reminds me of Foxygen mainly.