The young British Gemma Ray have just released her latest album Island Fire on Bronze Rat Records. Flood And a Fire is one of the darker tracks from the album. Here's Ray's and band at rehearsal sessions in East London:
"Lit to the gills, drifting away
Stiff on a surf, in a distant place
Carrying you to somebody else
You’re flood and a fire" [Flood and a Fire]
The album moves from lavish orchestral alt-pop to bitter-sweet girl-group-sounds, to brooding psychedelia andto a sci-fi waltz. There is no doubt that Gemma Lay makes smart music. All she needs from us is just confirmation of her capabilities. Well, she got it.
French DJ and producer Simon Delacroix, better known as The Toxic Avenger, produces music that speaks to the darkest depths of the imagination, fusing a chilling mix of pulsing electronic music and crime scene noir. Following the release of two buzzed-about singles last year, The Toxic Avenger has unleashed his first full-length album, ANGST, today via Little Owl Recordings.
Cute. Simon Delacroix (The Toxic Avenger)
“3,2,1” is a thumping, ghostly track that offers a glimpse into Toxic’s dark world with a shimmering ethereal breakdown. The North American version of ANGST also features special remixes of “3,2,1” by Beat Torrent and Equateur. This track will hunt your hearing from the first moment, especially if your place is among Crystal Castles lovers.
Young Man is the project of of 23-year-old Brooklyn singer/songwriter Colin Caulfield. As for the current trend, his name is fictional character. Fate is an updated indie rock song, touched with a bit of dream pop. Let's give the pseudonyms to fly.
Note: In many cases we can't share a track for free. So, we either link to sites that can, or provide purchase links.
Felix Green and Sea Oleena
Holobody has just premiered their video for "Riverbed". The video was directed by illustrator/animators Ana Mouyis and Zachary Zezima with additional artwork by Luke Loseth to capture the songs underlying idea of "life, death, rebirth and ultimate nirvana".
Riverhood is the first release from Holobody, the sibling duo of Felix Green and Sea Oleena, who’ve together crafted a masterpiece from elements of gospel, hip-hop, and electronically-propelled folk. Riverbed is a beautiful hymn of death and rebirth with a chorus washed in reverb. Sounds seem to merge and collapse, until the listener paddles into the void and disappears. All of these pieces are drawn together on Riverhood into a whole that is lush, vibrant, and extraordinarily inviting.
Artwork
Felix Green and Sea Oleena (siblings Luke and Charlotte Loseth) combine to form the genre-spanning indie-pop group Holobody. Raised in a musical family in Saskatchewan, Canada, the two have been collaborating since childhood, making music and art together and contributing to each other’s individual recording projects. Under the pseudonym Felix Green, Luke has released bedroom pop albums on his own and also served as a producer for two albums by his sister. The two artists merge their songwriting approaches, exploring their lifelong penchant for percussive experimentation and crafting infectious indie-pop that drifts between the ethereal and concrete. If you're placing yourselves among Hipsters Music's loyal readers, you would surly love their stuff.
Note: In many cases we can't share a track for free. So, we either link to sites that can, or provide purchase links.
Oldscholled hipster. Laura Burhenn
The Mynabirds return with Body of Work, a new track from their eagerly awaited upcoming album GENERALS, out June 5th on Saddle Creek, With syncopated beats layered on top of Laura Burhenn's gospel inspired tone. Burhenn explains that the track represents our ability to constantly remodel our lives into anything we want, regardless of what the past holds; “we are living things, bodies of work to edit". Somebody said a dancer?.
GENERALS is both a protest record and concept album. It's fueled by a full decade of Burhenn's political frustration and aimed at finding a revolutionary yet pacifist way in a world where, these days, it seems warring comes quick. Musically you can hear echoes of early PJ Harvey, politically-charged Nina Simone and Low-era David Bowie. It gets down and hip hop dirty, flirts with African melodies and rhythms, goes four-on-the-floor for all out dance jams and has plenty of percussion. Burhenn even plays drums herself on a couple of songs. She sings the voice of frustration, then moves beyond that.
"I needed it to be transformative – of both the individual and the body politic. It's as much a meditation on Walt Whitman's hope for America as Gandhi's directive to 'be the change you want to see in the world.'" [Laura Burhenn]
Note: The download link supplied by the artist's PR.
David Baldwin (Guitar/Vocals) Emile Mosseri (Bass/Vocals) Erick Eiser (Keyboards/Guitar) Mark Demiglio (Drums)
New York City’s rock band The Dig will release their new album Midnight Flowers on May 29th via Buffalo Jump Records. In celebration, they’re hosting three record release shows in DC, NYC, and Chicago. In July they will move to LA by popular demand and return for a residency at Silverlake Lounge after playing their shows with Ben Kweller last month.
The Dig's sound has been developing ever since the band's two singers Emile Mosseri and David Baldwin started making music together when they were eleven years old. After meeting California native Erick Eiser, the three songwriters have been writing tunes and playing in different bands since they were 16 years old.
Midnight Flowers's Artwork
Leading up to the release of Midnight Flowers, The Dig have pressed a limited number of cassette tapes containing the album's first two singles, "Red Rose In The Cold Winter Ground" and "I Already Forgot Everything You Said." (The Dig)
"Even though it takes us about 15 minutes to make each individual cassette, which is done using an old boom box in the back of our van between shows, we like the idea of having the songs that we recorded using analog tape machines available on cassette. For any of our fans that have moved on from 1995, each cassette comes with a digital download." (Emile Mosseri)
Cute monsters! Daniel Sternbaum and Marty Larson .
Baby Monster is preparing to release a brand new organically grown collection of tracks by duo Daniel Sternbaum and Marty Larson Xu. Written simultaneously from different cities, the grinding beats and airy vocals of the City of Lovers EP produce a summer-ready ethereal atmosphere which reflects the tension between the duo’s varying perceptions of both the metropolitan and natural environments.
Opening their record is title track “City of Lovers”, a summery track with layered vocals over booming synths. We find it really good. give them a try.
Download MP3 Note: Download links has been provided by the artist.
Rotem Or is an interesting new artist from Tel-Aviv, Israel. This is the first official single from her debut album, coming out on May 24 this year. "This Is What You All Came For" was written on Or's trip to NYC a little while ago, and features voice samples from TED's lecturer Barry Schwartz ("Paradox of Choice"). An interesting choice, no doubt.
"I think it captures the spirit of the upcoming album - a feel of acoustic sound, mixed with an electronic vibe, creating a future-folk track. " (Rotem Or)
Jesse Sarr is a fresh electronic singer/songwriter, "trying to keep things on the light side", as he told us. "I like to tell stories backed by synths and beats. The result can be heard in my new dub inspired track "Step". I'm a little bit of folk and a little bit of dance and a little bit more of a lot of things".
Bethan is the creative offspring of Dallas, TX native, Jessi James. Although Jessi has been playing in various bands and projects around the Dallas music scene for quite some time, it was her visit to SXSW in 2010 that put her on producer, Roger Greenawalt's radar (Ben Kweller, The Pierces). The two began collaborating and recording (at Shabby Road Studios in Brooklyn, NY) new music that would later became Chapter 1. The result was a 7 track minimalistic, melodrama with Jessi's vocals front and center.
Lookin' good. Jessi James.
After recording in New York, Jessi returned to Texas to assemble a 5 piece band which has since opened for bands like Purity Ring, Eisley, Juliana Barwick, ANR and Daniel Hart.
Note: In many cases we can't share a track for free. So, we either link to sites that can, or provide purchase links.
Artwork. MS MR.
New York's lovely duo MS MR are revealing their first single, “Hurricane” (free download below). MS MR are going on summer tour with Marina & The Diamonds in July-August through America.
Tour Dates: * with Marina & The Diamonds. 6/1 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands Gallery 7/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre* 7/11 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore* 7/13 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre* 7/14 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market* 7/15 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom* 7/18 - Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall* 7/21 - Chicago, IL @ Park West* 8/14 - Washington D.C. @ 9:30 Club* 8/16 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall* 8/17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts*
Note: In many cases we can't share a track for free. So, we either link to sites that can, or provide purchase links.
Onuinu’s (real name Dorian Duvall) first album, Mirror Gazer, released on April 12 via Bladen County. With influences like Brian Eno, Michael Jackson and Yellow Magic Orchestra, Onuinu has really good vibes.
Note: In many cases we can't share a track for free. So, we either link to sites that can, or provide purchase links.
Hipsters. CocoRosie.
CocoRosie's about to release a new single, produced by TV On The Radio's man: Dave Sitek. Here's a stream of the A-side “We Are On Fire”, an evocative lope that moves the duo somewhere into the vibes of trip-hop.
