Germany Germany, the musical pseudonym of Victoria, Canada-based artist/student Drew Harris, is an independent project born out of curiosity and experimentation. His music draws influences from ambient music, electro-house, new wave and post-rock.
Germany Germany released four albums in 2010. Distorted Disco, Electrolove, and Last Summer are available for free at his website while Radiowave can be bought on iTunes. All albums received positive reviews from some of the most influential music blogs.
Adventures, his fifth and longest album (17 tracks), has been released on May 15th and can be purchased at his Bandcamp page.
With an ear for Brian Wilson-esque harmony, the irreverently named Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. swirl indie pop, folk, and electronic elements into one breezy package.
Based in Detroit, the duo of Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott came together in 2009. Working out of a basement studio, the pair worked to create a sound that is danceable without sacrificing anything in the songwriting department, merging intricate and airy melodies with solid programmed beats and synth atmospherics. The band garnered some praise for their first release (2010′s Horsepower EP) and their cover of the Beach Boys’God Only Knows.
Morning Thought is the first track off their anticipated full-length debut album, It's A Corporate World, set for a June 7 release.
Labyrinth Ear (Emily Jacobs and Tom Evans) formed in the summer of 2010 in New Cross, South East London. Their most recent album, the Oak EP (available as a free download from their website), features songs that range from great '80s retro to straight-up dance. It earned them incredible critical praise, and saw Labyrinth Ear become one of the “most blogged” artists on Hype Machine.
The duo has recently reworked the late Arthur Russell's This is How We Walk On the Moon which they have shortened to Walk on the Moon. The entirety of the 1994 cello- and horn-driven original remains, including the strings and Russell's vocals. Labyrinth Ear added soft female vocals, a steady-but-not-overpowering beat, and some playful keys.
The duo of Handsome Furs, comprising Montreal residents Dan Boeckner (frontman of Wolf Parade) and his wife Alexei Perry, began as an idea in the winter of 2005. Dark and minimal while noisy and earnest, the point was to be as sparse and repetitive as possible with the help of little more than vocals, guitars and a new drum machine. The band’s name comes from the title of a short story that Alexei was writing at the time of band’s conception.
The husband-and-wife team released the atmospheric debut album, Plague Park, in 2007, utilizing drum machines and world-weary melodies to distinguish the band's debut from Wolf Parade's own output. The growing buzz prompted Handsome Furs' return to the studio in late 2007. Despite initially planning to cut an EP, the duo recorded an entire album instead. The resulting Face Control was issued in March 2009.
On June 28 the Handsome Furs will return with their third album, Sound Kapital, which is written exclusively on keyboards.
Gang Gang Dance is an American experimental music band based in New York City. Members were previously seen in The Cranium, Angel Blood, Actress and Ssab Songs. The group has become well known within the New York experimental/art scene for its distinctive sound which features synthesized electronics and percussion, plus the varied vocal styles of singer Lizzi Bougatsos.
While Gang Gang Dance is generally associated with fellow space cases (Animal Collective, Black Dice), their sound is wholly unique. Their earlier sound was much more chaotic and sprawling, but the latest material is a combination of skewed pop music with the unpredictability of experimental/noise performances. The band belts out Arabian synth lines mixed with delayed out shimmer guitar, over dark poly-rhythms. And yes, you can dance to it.
MindKilla is taken from their fifth album, Eye Contact, released on May 10.
Fredrik is a melodic, experimental folk three-piece consisting of a songsmith, a sound-painter and a conceptual artist. All three of them mostly live and work in Malmö, Sweden and they create captivating melodies, rich layered arrangements and complicated charming instrumentation somewhat in the vein of Sigur Ros and Efterklang. Without overloading the compositions, Fredrik builds layer upon layer of atmospheric, melodically overpowering and somewhat mystical soundscapes.
Some people call their music surreal. A lot of people call the music soothing. Almost everyone says it makes them think of trees.
Chrome Cavities is the new single of their 3rd album Flora, released last month.
PlanningToRock is the moniker of Janine Rostron, an English artist who plays an odd blend of experimental pop and chamber music. She's probably best known for 2010's Tomorrow, In a Year, the electronic opera she co-produced with Mt. Sims and The Knife. Much like her Swedish contemporaries, Rostron's music comes with a very theatrical stage presence, complete with costumes, video projections and sometimes a custom-made helmet.
W is her new album, the follow-up to her 2006 debut Have It All, which was a full-on chamber-pop romp that established Planningtorock as anything but orthodox. She produced the album over the last three years at her studio in Berlin, then mixed it in Sweden with Christoffer Berg, who also worked on Fever Ray's album. Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem contributed some drumming. W will be released on May 24.
STARFUCKER (or STRFKR if you prefer) was founded in 2006 in Portland. Starting as a solo project for Joshua Hodges, STRFKR quickly became a three piece with the addition of former Sexton Blake bandmate Ryan Biornstad, and new friend Shawn Glassford. Hodges says that they chose the name Starfucker just based on the curiosity of how far they could get "with a stupid name like that".
As a three piece, the band released their self titled debut album in September of 2008. In January of 2009, the band brought aboard Keil Corcoran, and shortly after released EP Jupiter in May of 2009.
In late 2009 the band suffered a brief marketing nightmare that saw the band change its moniker to Pyramid, then Pyramiddd, then back to Starfucker (and when they’re trying to avoid censors, they can still be seen listed as STRFKR). The Portland quartet has narrowly escaped slipping through the cracks, and has returned with its second full-length album Reptilians.
Hodges describes the band's music as "dance music that you can actually listen to, that's good pop songs, but also you can dance to it." Passion Pit’s dance-rock is an obvious reference point, but Starfucker also references Beck, Pinback, Pet Shop Boys, and even My Bloody Valentine.
Reptilians was released on March 8, featuring single Julius.
Colourmusic, created by Ryan Hendrix and Nick Turner, began in Stillwater, Oklahoma by composing music based on Sir Isaac Newton’s theories of sound and colour.
Hendrix and Turner met in 1998 when both were attending Oklahoma State University. Turner, a British exchange student, and Hendrix struck up a quick friendship, even though neither one liked the other's musical interests or creative sound. They continued their friendship after Turner returned to the UK and began discussing their musical ideas. Eventually, after many trips to the States, Hendrix and Turner started recording in Hendrix's apartment. Both quickly realized that neither was a very good drummer, and Hendrix's roommate Cory "Cry" Suter was recruited for the job. After making a three-song EP, they started playing some local bars, usually using friends to play live, such as band members from Kunek. Nick Ley and Colin Fleishacker started joining the band for the live performances and they became full-time band members.
Colourmusic has been described as a cross of The Polyphonic Spree and The Flaming Lips but the band states that what really influences them is color. They became interested in Isaac Newton's Theory of Color and Sound and focus their musical styles on a color. That color represents each song. They have produced two EPs called Red and Yellow, each song on the EPs reminding the band of that representative color
New single You For Leaving Me is taken from their debut album My ______ Is Pink, out this month. In the video, directed by Funny or Die directors Matt and Oz, bearded butchers prepare their cutting boards for the slaughter of some very cute and cuddly teddybears. You've been warned!
Burial (William Bevan) is an electronic musician from London. His music contains elements of dubstep, 2-step garage, ambient and house music. His ghostly self-titled debut album, from 2006, and the follow-up Untrue (2007) were widely hailed in both dance and indie circles.
Although both albums have been met with much critical acclaim, Burial remained anonymous until August 2008, stating in a past interview that “only five people know I make tunes”.
Street Halo, released on March 28, is taking Burial’s traditional sound into a deeper and more up to date depth. It keeps it all in the right direction by a driven beat style that hasn’t been present in any of his previous work
Yuksek (Pierre-Alexandre Busson) is a French-born music producer, remixer and DJ who's debut album, Away From The Sea, was released on 9 February 2009.
At the time of the release of the album, Yuksek was a one-man act. Never an aspiring dj or clubber by nature, his shows were a live flurry of keyboards, mixing consoles, wires and drum machines. It’s this experience of solo performances to anonymous crowds, the lengthy hours and days away from spouse and child,that inspired the songs that make up for his second album Living On The Edge Of Time.
When Busson got back home in Reims, he instinctively knew these songs weren’t cut out for a one-man treatment, so he rounded up friends and fellow Reims scenesters such as The Shoes and The Bewichted Hands to participate in the studio. Also, for the first time, he took upon himself all vocal duties.
His new single On A Train is released on May 2 and features three new tracks. Album Living On The Edge Of Time is coming out on June 13th.
Introducing slutty new wave/electro duo Kids Of 88, who are Sam McCarthy and Jordan Arts. They describe their music as "a cross between a late 80s police drama intro theme and a sophisticated super hussy". With sleazy basslines and mind-numbingly catchy hooks, Kids Of 88 are all about poking tongues and making sweaty suggestive inuendos.
Arts and McCarthy have been best friends for ten years. They attended St Peter’s College in Auckland where they first formed the band Incursa and ended up winning the 2004 Smokefree Rockquest. Sharing a passion for music, they then decided to become professional musicians. Both McCarthy and Arts were in a band named Cap Gun Hero before KO88, and McCarthy was also a member of Goodnight Nurse.
Kids of 88 are best known for their 2008 single, My House. They have since signed through Dryden Street to Sony Music and released the album Sugarpills in August 2010. Just a Little Bit won 'Single of the Year' at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards.
Headphone is the musical project of Belgians Nico Steenkiste and Ian Mariën. Their sound can be described as rock with electronic beats coming straight from the 80s. When asked to describe their music, “Pop with a definite dark side” is the standard quote.
Woods is the first single of the upcoming 2nd album, due to be released in September. Download Woods for free here.
Heartbeat Hotel (formerly Mariposa) observes no boundaries when melding the popular song with psychedelic soundscapes, creating music that is at once both mesmerizing and involving. Band members Chris Lyons, Andy Smith, Dave Connolly and Matt Mitchell have spent the last 10 years together having arguments, writing music, and staying up all night in fits of laughter.
Under all of their 3 previous band names, their mission of finding a new inventiveness (both on stage and in studio) has stayed the same. The debut full-length and self-produced album Fetus Dreams was released in March 2010.
Heartbeat Hotel recently released a video for Windowsill 1, a collaboration of istoica, Mary Gerretsen and James Cooper. Their second full-length album will appear in the summer of 2011.
Arquettes are the next best thing from Belgium, and consists out of Koen Wijnant, Jan Borremans, Tine Gernaey and Mario Govaert.
They released a first single called It's A Relief in 2007, followed by an EP later that year. In the slipstream of this debut-EP they did support acts for Built To Spill, The Veils and played numerous festivals (a.o. Pukkelpop).
In March 2010, Arquettes started recording their first full length album Wave on with French topproducer Stéphane 'Alf' Briat (Air, Phoenix, Alex Gopher). The album was released in September 2010 and contains their new single Crafty.
Chicago-based indie electronic duo Walter Meego began when Colin Yarck and Justin Sconza met at the University of Illinois in 1999. Sconza played in a number of bands during college, dabbling in a number of styles. Yarck, who was influenced by Chicago's electronic music scene, became a beatmaker and DJ in 2002 while collaborating with his friend, Pat Pelligrini.
When Yarck brought some of his musical equipment to school in 2003, he and Sconza began playing together for fun. After graduation the same year, the two went their separate ways, but continued to create music separately, with Sconza making tapes and Yarck and Pelligrini continuing their partnership.
Sconza eventually joined them, and in 2004 the trio began performing as Walter Meego. Their first release, Walter Meego EP, was released in 2005 and earned praise from Rough Trade and Internet bloggers. In order to concentrate on his full-time job, Pelligrini left the group and was replaced by Jarrett Spiegel. Spiegel parted ways with Walter Meego in 2006.
Starlight is taken from their second full length album, Wondervalley, released in November 2010.
