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1. Giles Corey – Guilt Is My Boyfriend
Giles Corey, AKA Dan Barrett, a musician from Middletown CT and one half of the shoegaze/industrial/metal group Have A Nice Life, has come out with a new EP entitled “Hinterkaifeck.” It’s named after the farmstead in Germany where an unknown assailant with a pickax murdered the family that lived there; the crime is still unsolved as well. If you’ve heard previous songs of Have A Nice Life or Giles Corey, you’re know what you’re getting into: really sparse arrangements of acoustic guitar, faint vocals, really sad energy and that signature Dan Barrett drop where things cut out then a distorted drone comes in making things get heavy. This song has some seriously sad vibes, but really great stuff. If you’re digging this, Have A Nice Life should be coming out with a new full-length this year and you should absolutely check out HaNL’s album “Deathconsciousness” whenever you have a chance.
http://gilescorey.bandcamp.com/track/guilt-is-my-boyfriend-2
2. The Men – I Saw Her Face
Over more and more releases, The Men have shown the music world that they should not be classified as a punk band. Maybe punk in practice, but they take their influences from bands other than noise/garage rock enthusiasts. This track shows off their affinity for Western/country-influenced sounding classic rock with guitar solos, heavy but slow guitars, and sweeping vocals. In the last minute of the song, though, the band comes together in a moment much like their last album, where it gets quick and heavy to put the song out of its misery for good. It’s a rockin’ song, check out The Men’s upcoming album New Moon out on March 5th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFbwU31NXIk
3. Phoenix – Entertainment
Phoenix’s 2010 album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” firmly established the band as a staple indie rock band that will continually gain massive public attention. Heck they won a Grammy. They have a new album coming out this year “Bankrupt!” and Entertainment is the first single off of it. It’s a seriously radio ready piece of indie rock with a unique, almost Asian sounding melody in the background with a chiming/plinking synth. The vocals sound like Phoenix, the guitars sound like Phoenix, and personally I think it’s a pretty great track. The instrumental reminds me a bit of Coldplay in terms of structure, so I’m sure we’re going to hear this song A LOT on the radio this year.
http://youtu.be/86_TqlVQscQ
4. Shlohmo – Don’t Say No ft. How To Dress Well
If you remember in the first “Hot New Tracks” on WHUS I posted about the track Shlohmo put out earlier this year, “Later” which is one of my favorite tracks of the year. This follows the same suit as the other track: snare hits, hi-hats, spaced out synths, warped vocal sample, only the RnB crooner How to Dress Well is on the track with his super emotive vocals that jive really well with Shlohmo’s laidback, spaced out instrumental. The collaboration is nothing less than perfect; it is interesting that these two artist have never collabed together previously. Put it on and just chill out, maybe in a turtleneck, cause like, 90’s.
https://soundcloud.com/shlohmo/dont-say-no-ft-how-to-dress
5. Young Galaxy – Fall For You
Young Galaxy won me over in 2011 with their album “Shapeshifting” which featured some unique synth textures and beautiful female vocals. This song, coming off of Young Galaxy’s upcoming record Ultramarine, is the perfect song to get you excited for spring and summer. It has a lighthearted synth line, deep, tropical sounding percussion, a driving melody and a catchy-as-hell chorus. In the deluge of tropical sounding synth pop from Scandinavia (and there really is a lot) this definitely sounds unique and is fun enough to stick out a lot. Put it on and picture the snow melting and palm trees sprouting behind you.
https://soundcloud.com/paper-bag-records/young-galaxy-fall-for-you-1