The Ocean Blue • Denmark • 2023

https://www.theoceanblue.com/

The new music video for “Denmark”, the lead single from The Ocean Blue’s first independently released album, DAVY JONES’ LOCKER, newly remastered and available on all streaming platforms, as well as on color or black vinyl and CD from The Ocean Blue:

 

https://www.theoceanblue.com/shop

 

"Denmark" is a classic Ocean Blue song, and the beautiful, intellectual and sophisticated video by Zeke Anders captures it brilliantly. The first line of the song "Like mist or a daydream, made of substance can you feel it?” begins a lyrical trip into musings on the past, the present moment, and the future direction of the band. The setting is the band’s tour of Denmark, with all that country’s timeless Nordic beauty, at a time which marked a turning point for the band and its members. The video by Anders does an amazing job of capturing all of these themes and moods. Better to see it than explain it.

With the release of their self-titled debut, The Ocean Blue quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay with top 10 Modern Rock/College Radio hits like "Between Something and Nothing", "Drifting, Falling", and "Vanity Fair". Followed by Cerulean, Beneath the Rhythm and Sound , and See The Ocean Blue, the band's fanbase grew with each release.

Amanda Palmer, The Righteous Babes • The Last Day of our Acquaintance • 2023

amandapalmer.net

Woods • Little Black Flowers • 2023

https://woodsist.com/woods/

“It's wild to think that Woods are coming up on their 20th anniversary as a band and […] they have a sound that ages especially well.” — Brooklyn Vegan
 
“Woods’ dreamy, pastoral soundscapes continue to mature as they approach 20 years as a band, and ‘Between the Past’ and ‘White Winter Melody’ unfold a feeling of continual growth.” — Paste
 
"Perennial moves aptly between the pastoral and the cinematic and brims with the quiet emotion of a well-travelled set of music makers still discovering new truths about themselves." — Shindig! (****)

Zooey Celeste • Restless Thoughts • 2023

Restless Thoughts takes its title from a song inspired by a particularly dramatic scene in Zooey’s novel, a metaphysical thriller narrated by the character of Zooey Celeste. “It’s a scene where the father of the protagonist has destroyed his marriage and left his daughter behind, and he’s going to meet his mistress and driving in a very suicidal headspace,” he explains. “He gets into a car accident, and two-thirds of the way into the song he’s floating above his body and watching as they’re trying to resuscitate him.”

Lutalo • Push Back Baby • 2023

https://lnk.to/lutalo-again?mc_cid=082428fc7c&mc_eid=dc8e6e9fea

"Lo-fi, unassuming, and hard-hitting - all at once."
- DIY Magazine

 

"A powerful indie rock offering."
- Wonderland

 

"An accomplished, lively and fuzz-drenched body of work fuelled by a curious disposition."
- Rough Trade

"A meditation on the impossible knots of our socioeconomic reality, greyed out and tired with a rebellious kick."
- Paste

 

"A penchant for surreal lyricism coupled with a baritone register that could wake the dead…an innate talent for dazzling production"
- The Hard Times

supergloom • Glass Ajar • 2023

Instagram

In tandem with the release of their sophomore EP, Immaterial (out now), LA psych-gazers supergloom have shared a hand-crafted lyric video of the project's belligerently psychedelic final single and focus track, "Glass Ajar." 

Explosions in the Sky • "Moving On” • 2023

Texas post-rockers Explosions in the Sky are releasing a new album, End, on September 15 via Temporary Residence. Now they have shared its second single, “Moving On.” Listen below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/

Izzy Heltai • Bad Time • 2023

Website

“‘Bad Time’ is about three things: dating someone new, and coming to terms with the fact that if reaching out to them is seen as an inconvenience, they probably aren’t that into you, and realizing you only care because you don’t have that much else going on,” says Izzy. “I’ve been recovering from a broken hip for the better part of this year. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been fundamentally stripped of the ability to do almost everything I love. I couldn’t play shows, I couldn’t bike, I couldn’t even walk for two months. Basically, overnight, I lost the majority of the healthy coping mechanisms to keep my acute anxiety and depression at bay. I was left to sit and stew on my many inadequacies, getting stoned and fixating on all the parts of my life that aren’t going as planned.” 

Cara Hammond • America • 2023

Influenced by Lana Del Reyand Fleetwood Mac, America is a summer anthem about what happens after theAmerican dream. Country guitar slides, gospel organ and 60s girl group harmonies blend together in creating a classic Americana sound that slowly disintegrates via harmonic shifts.

Karina Rykman • "Joyride” • 2023

WEBSITE

Acclaimed psych indie rocker Karina Rykman is proud to announce today’s arrival of her debut album, JOYRIDE, available everywhere now via AWAL. JOYRIDE expertly captures Rykman’s jubilant brand of sonic exploration, bridging an array of genres to arrive at her own compelling and original take on psychedelic indie rock. Highlights include the yearning new single, “All That You Wanted,” which features vocal accompaniment from Veronica Stewart-Frommer of Melt, as well as guitars from Melt guitarist Marlo Shankweiler and Phish’s Trey Anastasio. JOYRIDE also features such recently premiered standouts as the widescreen anthem, “Beacon,” and the first single and title track, “Joyride,” the latter featuring signature lead guitar from co-producer Trey Anastasio and joined by a charming companion video streaming now at Rykman’s official YouTube channel.

🎙️ ifitbeyourwill Ep. 1 : Lily & Madeleine

Welcome back music listeners of the world to Season 2. Today marks the start of a new season @ifitbeyourwill podcasts with a sweet line up coming down the pipe this Fall & Winter. No better way to start a new season off with a bang than having on indie folk sister duo Lily & Madeleine out of Indiana. The sister’s are on the eve of releasing their 5th full length album Nite Swim, coming out October 6th, 2023. It was a great pleasure to talk about their music, their journey and what the future holds with these wonderfully artistic women. Be sure to listen at the end of the episode to their latest single off of the up and coming record, entitled Rolling Rock. Enjoy… 🎵 

https://www.lilandmad.com/

 

Lily & Madeleine create candid music with deep emotional and personal resonance. Born and raised in Indiana, the sisters came from a music-loving family and explored their individual musical tastes in adolescence. They began their own songwriting journey in 2012 at the age of 15 and 17 respectively. They have released four full-length albums: Lily & Madeleine (2013) and Fumes (2014) on Asthmatic Kitty Records, and Keep It Together (2016) and Canterbury Girls (2019) on New West Records. Lily & Madeleine's music has chronicled their coming-of-age as modern women and artists, and the sisters' early folk-pop sound has evolved, with a mature rock edge and their trademark “blood harmony" at the core. Inspired by alternative artists such as Feist, Beck, Lykke Li, and others, Lily & Madeleine are poised to share new music with a new sound later this year.

MONOWHALES • Hear Me Out • 2023

https://www.monowhales.com/tour

We’re rediscovering ourselves. We came together years ago over a love of performance, but with very little idea of who we were, and who we were about to become. With “Hear Me Out,” we wanted to bring the passion of our live shows into the studio and make something purely ourselves. No outside producers, no industry “best practices” - just the music we wanted to make and the words we felt needed to be said. We’re grown a lot by making this, and we understand each other quite a bit more because of it.

INSTAGRAM

Vines • main street • 2023

On Birthday Party, Brooklyn-based composer Cassie Wieland (aka Vines) braids poignant, rich instrumentals with sparing lyrics. It’s a new, deeply personal direction for the composer, whose previous music was primarily written for others to play. Here, her own voice, diffused by the feathery touch of a vocoder, is front and center; her economical words stem from the loneliness you might feel on your birthday, where long gone memories and nostalgia feel their most acute. From these thoughts, Wieland weaves lush, contemplative tapestries, finding catharsis in fuzzed-out melodies.

https://cassiewieland.com/

BRITTA PHILLIPS & KRAMER • "DREAM #3” • 2023

Earlier this year, Shimmy-Disc shared a brand new release entitled Rings of Saturn — a collaborative vinyl series featuring six 7" EPs (@33rpm), packaged in an ornate wooden box. Each record (with cover photography by William Coupon) is a unique "mini-album" collaboration between Kramer and an amazing group of artists: Britta Phillips (Luna, Dean & Britta), Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers), Jad Fair & Danielson, Eerie Wanda, David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol), and Rob Crow (Pinback, etc.).

In continued celebration of the new series, today, Britta Phillips and Kramer share a brand new video to accompany their collaboration, "Dream #3." This new video, created by Kramer (with use of footage from Jean Renoir's The Little Match Girl, 1928), serves as a follow-up to the visuals forKramer's other collaboration tracks, one with Jad Fair & Danielson ("In A Lonely Place"), one with Rob Crow ("Kerosene"), and another with Britta Phillips ("Nocturne”).

Public Universal Friend • Horrorscope • live at Quantum Cavern

once or twice, a million times

afraid of losing you, like everything in the end

i was looking for a sign, but you just told me your birthday, 

choking on your own spit, just got in the habit of not calling it early

temporal oscillation, we’re saying the same thing

but meaning different things entirely

suddenly you walked in and nothing else existed and you, 

suddenly you didn’t exist

Flat Mary Road • "This Summer” • 2023

Land of Talk • Your Beautiful Self • 2023

Land of Talk announce their new album Performances will be released on October 13th, 2023, via Next Door Records / Saddle Creek (outside Canada). Defying expectations, the influential Montreal-based outfit led by Lizzie Powell reinvents themself on their fifth LP. Though it trades muscular guitar rock for understated piano, the self-produced album is still the most urgent and personal of Powell’s to date. The swooning lead single “Your Beautiful Self” is a stunning showcase of the album’s illuminated self-belief and effortless poeticism, as piano and drums steadily build to a gentle chorus (“Take a deep breath / Let it out / Show the love in”) and an electric guitar riff punctures through, allowing for tangible catharsis to seep in. Performances is now available for PRE -ORDER.

Jay Wood • Oh Well • 2023

Following the release of ‘Oh Well’ and ‘Initial Pulse’, dynamic and resilient alt-indie acoustic singer-songwriter, Jay Wood, will release her much-anticipated EP, 'Respire' on 1st September 2023. Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, Jay Wood's alternative indie acoustic sound has been likened to the lyrical prowess of artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Missy Higgins, creating a unique and captivating musical experience.

 

https://linktr.ee/jaywoodmusicofficial

"Respire" is a celebration of human resilience and choice. Jay Wood was living her best life when, at age 24, her life took an unexpected turn following an accident caused by a drunk driver, leaving her with a catastrophic traumatic brain injury that threatened to limit her singing, playing and writing musical ability. Instead of succumbing to circumstances she refused to allow herself to be defined by them and continued performing her musical career regardless.

Lily & Madeleine • "Windowless Bedroom” • 2023

"On their melancholy song "Self Care,"...Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz harmonize over a dreamy piano waltz, surveying the disconnect between a lover’s “beautiful eyes” and “blank stare." "The thing that flags them as extraordinary is their sibling vocal blend, deep and seamless and relaxed."  "Their music — a restrained, homespun mix of folk and pop with undeniably sweet harmonies — certainly ranks among the loveliest we've heard." "Cinematic, swirling, joyous"

https://www.lilandmad.com/ 

Lily & Madeleine's music has chronicled their coming-of-age as modern women and artists, and the sisters' early folk-pop sound has evolved, with a mature rock edge and their trademark “blood harmony" at the core. Inspired by alternative artists such as Feist, Beck, Lykke Li, and others, Lily & Madeleine are poised to share new music with a new sound later this year.

🎙️ If It Be Your Will Podcast • Season Two • 2023 🎙️

Preparations for season two are underway… Coming September 2023

https://ifitbeyourwill.buzzsprout.com/

POSTDATA • Try • 2023

"While it begins with the simple plinking of piano keys, it grows to a grandiose orchestral post piece, lushly arranged with a variety of instrumentation as Murphy’s vocal delivery grows more passionate with each line’s delivery." – mxdwn

"POSTDATA SHINES ON GRACEFULLY ANTHEMIC 'INSIDE OUT'...Catchy alt-rock anthem that shimmers with the glittery shades of The Head and The Heart, Lord Huron and Vance Joy." – Glide

"Intricate sounds, soft things ruffling on the edges, emerging in the choruses, rising in the quiet and the subdued spaces." – Psychedelic Baby Mag

"Proof that inventive, envelope-pushing indie rock hasn't disappeared off the map just yet" ****
– MOJO

POSTDATA, is the solo music project of Wintersleep's lead singer and songwriter, Paul Murphy. Today POSTDATA shares the official video for their just released single, “Try.” Directed by Griffin O'Toole, it features Nova Scotia-based actors/artists and real life couple Bailey Maughan and Avery Irene who find themselves in the middle of a UFO abduction drama.

CAICOS • Subsequent Footprint feat lojii • 2023

"The endearing melodies of New York-based musician Caicos make for a meticulous piece of indie-pop."
- The Line Of Best Fit

"The art of Caicos is an impressionistic representation of a whirlwind of realities that are fused into something both classical and contemporary."
- Impose Magazine

"New York based Alex Frenkel, the powerhouse behind the mesmerizing Caicos, consistently delivers magnetic and exhilarating music."
- The Wild Honey Pie

https://iamcaicos.bandcamp.com/track/little-kids-deerhunter-cover

Courtney Barnett • Different Now • 2023

Courtney's take on "Different Now," where she pulls the song from its Pacific Northwest haze, leaves it out to dry in the middle of the desert, and wrings something almost joyous from the original's ambiguity.

Winspear Volume 01 • 2023

winspear.biz

hunter & wolfe • I deserve this. • 2023

Brooklyn-based duo hunter & wolfe often wrap their vulnerable lyrics in sarcasm and loud indie-rock stylings, drawing inspiration from Elliott Smith, St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, and more disco than they’d care to admit.

https://www.hunterandwolfe.com/

ifitbeyourwill podcast from June 2023

Slaughter Beach, Dog • Summer Windows • 2023

hello there 👋🏻 we’ve got a new song out today called Summer Windows. 

this was the first song in the batch that became Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling. i was working at the studio all night on something bad. eventually i gave up and sat on the couch and this song fell in my lap. that’s my favorite kind of tune—you’re in and out before you have time to intellectualize anything. 

i love ian’s walking bass line on this one. it somehow reminds me of him as a person, as a friend. this song is a favorite of mine. it feels the way i feel most of the time. hope you like it  ☀️ 

https://lnk.to/cryinglaughingwavingsmiling?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Trevor Hall and The Great In-Between • train song • 2023

Trevor Hall is thrilled to share “train song,” the newest sampling from his forthcoming album Trevor Hall and The Great In-Between. “‘train song’ points to the invisible power within that keeps us going on our life journey despite any hurdles or setbacks we may encounter. For me personally, it celebrates all of the concerts, songs, and travels that I've had the gift of participating in and also reflects on how the power of love always brings us home,” says Trevor. 

https://www.trevorhallmusic.com/

Lofi Legs • Breakup Sex • 2023

Conceived in the waters of Arroyo Seco, forged in the Bay Area DIY scene, Lofi

Legs is an SF-based rock band/moniker created by Paris Cox-Farr. writing songs

about falling in love, dropping acid, and buying horses. Starry-eyed love ballads

share space with rampaging party songs.

Lofi Legs latest LP Tragic Magic Sex is a charming blender of twee, post punk,  and bedroom sprinkled with raw and cathartic lyrics, kissed with feedback and flutes.  Highlighted single " Breakup Sex" a swirling, gang harmonized earworm to float to after the emotional jarring ups and downs of a breakup.  

dayaway • ocean free • 2023

Website

"The track is every bit as deliciously escapist as the themes, Amber’s warm cocooning vocal inviting us into her watery world. Throughout, she’s accompanied by a dreamy backing of ebbing arpeggiated guitars and synths that break like lapping waves, bringing to mind the likes of Hazel English or Melody’s Echo Chamber."
- For The Rabbits

"Every one of dayaway’s songs is perfect for a day on the beach, but “ocean free” inspires you to connect with the ocean and send your problems out to sea. The slow track features a soft, airy vocal from Amber Renee, creating an ethereal sound that’s comparable to Men I Trust and Beach House."
- Glasse Factory

"Fittingly, 'hot blue summer' is another dose of summery indie pop, slotting easily into the band’s well-honed penchant for sun-lit love songs. Hazy surf guitars enlace with dreamy beds of synths and airy vocal melodies, crafting a sound equally indebted to Beach House as The Beach Boys"
- Under the Radar

Sloppy Heads "Try Again” 2023

I hear Sloppy Heads as situating somewhere in a brilliant constellation of spirited rock music adventurer stars like Half Japanese and The Vaselines and The  Fugs. The record features contributions from James McNew of Yo La Tengo across all tracks. This music is imbued with a sense of pure adventure and joy that is all at once familiar and totally refreshing. It's music made to be loved.

Ten Tonnes • Waiting For The Sun • 2023

https://slinky.to/dancingalone

Speaking ahead of his LP release, the songwriter explained: “The process of making this album has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. I wrote, performed and produced it myself without a label, management or external help and that was an incredibly freeing way of making music. It really looped back to how I used to make demos at home as a teenager; solely for myself and allowing the time to explore different ideas to their fruition.