Summertime Kids - Table Manners (FLAC)

Although spring is only beginning, Nick Roberts seems to be permanently anticipating the summer. Table Manners, recently released independently under Roberts' solo project, Summertime Kids, is a deeply personal series of foggy and ethereal songs that could be just as easily written by Helios as they could by Calla, like a Fear of Fireflies-inspired adaptation of Ayres.

Table Manners, as clean and well-defined as it is, leaves much to the imagination. It is longingly sober, vaguely surfy, and powerfully intimate, not just as a soliloquy to the end of summer but as an ode to its beginning. When Roberts speaks, his words aren't just another layer of melody — they create meaning, tell a story, and engage the listener in a way that typical repetition-driven lyrical structures do not.

Roberts has released his EP through bandcamp here. It's basically free, but support him with whatever you can afford; this guy deserves to make more music.

Dada Life - Just Do The Dada (320)

You like Daft Punk? Is that a yes? Well, then, I have this awesome treat for all you lovable fans.

Serving you "Cookies With A Smile," I present to all of you: DADA LIFE!!!

I would describe Dada Life as a modern Daft Punk if they were to be a little darker with their sound. Don't believe me? Give this a listen, it's of an EP but one of their greatest songs.

Still don't believe me? Then download this album and give it a listen. I promise that you will be hooked from track one.

So if you believe me then here is the album and if you want to be awesome then buy it here.

Foxes In Fiction - Alberto EP (320)

Any regulars of 4chan's /mu/ might already be familiar with Foxes In Fiction, the Toronto-based project of Warren Hildebrand. It's a funny story, actually, as he gained his initial success through someone reposting his songs as alleged new material by Atlas Sound on, where else but 4chan. People quickly spread the songs around and he wound up getting a record deal and even a lovely pitchfork review in the process.

I can only say I'm extremely grateful for that. The man certainly knows what he's doing, and I'd honestly go as far as to say that his first LP, Swung From The Branches, was one of my most loved albums of last year. Seriously, if you like indie, shoegaze, ambient or any of that stuff you basically kind of HAVE to like Foxes In Fiction. Pitchfork described it as Warren making the follow-up to Logos that he wanted because he just couldn't wait. That's certainly a valid comparison, but it's not something he should be defined by. There's a lot more than just avid Bradford Cox fanboy-ism at play here.

So Alberto, his newest 2011 effort is his attempt at making slightly more structured, poppier songs, a direction I was kind of hoping he might take. His songs literally relieve stress for me.

So, I'm gonna dump a few links on you now.

First, download all of his music (for free) from his site. Swung From the Branches can be downloaded here.
You can get Alberto here, packaged by me.

You can listen to a personal favorite of mine, "Fifteen Ativan," here.

So when you're done gasm-ing all over, FINALLY support this man by buying his album here.

Canblaster - Master of Complication (320)

Canblaster and his buds at Club Cheval are poised to be big names this year, with releases all over the place; his XLR8R podcast, Discobelle mix, and now his techno-house fusion electronic dance concept album Master of Complication have all proven to be enormous displays of talent and creativity. Canblaster made video game music for a while and it shows through clearly here, because this guy knows how to get down.

Download.
Listen to his remix of Charlotte by French Fries.

Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence (V0)

I haven't listened to this enough yet to make a poignant analysis, but from what I've heard it's much more similar to the earlier, probably more popular Citrus than its quieter, dreamier sister, Hush. It's nice to see that these guys have made this step backwards; with all of the positive reviews given to Beach House's early release last year, Asobi Seksu have still managed not to be caught up in the hype.

Download.

Johnny Foreigner - You Thought You Saw a Shooting Star... (V0)

To begin this, the actual title of this EP is "You Thought You Saw a Shooting Star but Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears and That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With the Sky So Clear and Sea So Calm" but apparently, the Nazi regime running the blogspot website has decided that that is too many characters for the title of the post.
Fascists.

Having released one of the best albums of 2009, Johnny Foreigner returned with this short EP in 2010 including 6 wildly different interpretations of the "Tweecore" sound. The joke here being that all music sounds the same and the minor changes in sound of genres is generally in-existent (and based too much on practicality) and entirely made up in your head, just like all your friends.

So, regardless of your new appreciation for your inability to create actual social connections (much like myself), you should have this and be listening to it, especially if you like Los Campesinos! (and even more so if you don't) because this is the better tweecore band.
Also, Alexei Berrow is the greatest guitarist in all of indie.

Step 1. Listen.
Step 2. Download.
Step 3. Support.
Step 4. Repeat Step 3 & 4.

Fuck those oxygen freaks and their clear heads.

Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (V0)

This is like, Music Has The Right To Children Part II. It's just a simply perfect album built on hip-hop-esque beats and ambience. I don't really have much else to say.

Listen.
Download.
Support. Some of his stuff is sold here, but I'm not entirely sure if this is his main go-to site to buy his material, but it's the link connected to his page – so whatever.

Com Truise - Cyanide Sisters EP (320)

I've been on a huge IDM kick in the past couple weeks, and I've pretty much submerged my head in this music in a way that is unusual for me. When I go through phases, usually it's like a few bands that I think are "neat" and I just obsess for a while, after which I just return to my generic taste.

But in the past couple weeks I want to say I've downloaded about two gigagbytes of new music, supplied by a healthy list of awesome blogs (RIP shoegazeralive), and I am loving it.

So.

Com Truise. Not really sure what I can compare this to. I would put them in the same boat as the band I posted a week or two ago, Houses. Mellow electronic music, affluent in danceable rhythms, funky beats and lovely synths and pads. "BASF Ace" makes me feel like I should be walking down the street completely naked, not giving a fuck.

I am/was not so familiar with the recent fad of 'chillwave' that many astute bloggers seem to have noticed. I'm not one to get caught in social trends for the wrong reasons when it comes to music, (a la Wavves/Best Coast/Girls) so I think I can say this music adequately stands out against the electronic music you'll find elsewhere. A good jumping off point if you're fresh off the Boards of Canada boat. Plant your feet on this EP, entitled Cyanide Sisters, you won't regret it.

This EP is also a reissue, as it was Com Truise's (aka Seth Haley) first release. It was released for free and I believe is still available as a free download from a number of places. (officially, of course).

Listen to the standout track "Slow Peels" here via youtube.

Download here, or pay literally 99 cents for the reissue here.

And listen to it! The King of Limbs can wait.

UPDATE: I just realized that the song "BASF Ace" is incorrectly tagged on this particular upload. It is tagged as "Basf Base," wheras it should be "BASF Ace." My apologies.

Air - Love 2 (256)

French duo.

Downtempo.

Electronic.

What?

Yes.

Exactly as I said.

Might I add that "Sing Sang Sung" will make you very happy?

Done deal.

Download it here and buy it here.

Laibach - Let It Be (V0)

So the four handsome European gentlemen featured above in this album cover, decided to create an album made up of covers from The Beatles album Let It Be. Now, before you turn away and say "fuck The Beatles (especially Let It Be, easily their worst album), fuck Pantsbandit, fuck all of his posts on the blog, they are stupid and his music sucks" – ALLOW ME TO STOP YOU RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM.

These aren't just Beatles covers, these are Beatles covers done in Nazi fashion. All the songs have been reworked to sound like German marches and German Symphonies all dated to the time of the Third Reich. Now, I KNOW you're interested in it, and you rightfully should be. Generally, things like this seem more like a novelty act than an actual album – usually some kind of ukulele cover album of a band's popular repertoire (I'm talking about you Amanda Palmer); but the only things that even seem to be familiar to the original Let It Be are the lyrics.

Once you finish this album you will never want to listen to the original again, and you will most likely delete it from your collection and be marching in the streets hailing a dead generation of monsters.

I've Got A Feeling
Download
Support Laibach, you filthy capitalist.

Funeral Party - The Golden Age of Knowhere / Live at the BBC (V0 / 320)

Every day is repost day.

So Funeral Party's debut album finally got a proper release, sometime earlier this year. Anyone with no life might remember it being posted here as a leaked album in September of last year. Apparently it wasn't even meant to be a self-titled! Go figure.

So now, in all of its dance-punk, raw and energetic glory is the official Funeral Party debut The Golden Age of Knowhere, complete with slightly less annoying album art.

For those of you who don't know, Funeral Party is an up & coming dance-punk band who basically kick all sorts of ass. Like I said about 4 sentences ago, it is raw and energetic dance-punk. Almost like catchy and somehow not cheesy post-hardcore, the vocals will make your neck hair stiff.

BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!

I took the liberty of including their newest effort, a live EP entitled Live at the BBC. It's 6 songs long, with three live recordings and three remixes, done respectively by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio (and more recently Jane's Addiction), Kids of 88, and Mike Relm, the Youtube DJ sensation.

All of which are awesome.

Get it here, and finally do yourself a favor and buy this new and potential-laden band's album here.

Mint Julep - Adorn (V0)

"So there's this girl singing"
Uh huh
"and dream pop and electro is going on in the background"
uh huh
"and you like it"
do I really
"yeah"
oh okay.
"and I think you want to have sex with me"
if you say so

Shine by Mint Julep.
Download.
Support the Helios side-project here.

The Glitch Mob - Drink The Sea (320)

The new era in techo. Let me introduce to all of you, glitch.

If you want more stuff comment below and I will post more of their stuff aka mixtapes and remixes and even similar artists.

If you live in Chicago and enjoy this, I hope to see you at the Congress Theater on March 19th for this show.

Hope you enjoy the awesome.

Download the new age here and support them here.

Danger - 9/14 2007 (V0)

Danger is awesome, this is his first EP.

Download.

Spor - Conquerors and Commoners (V0)

Spor has been attracting a lot of attention for his powerful blend of drum and bass, dubstep and electro house since 2005, before many big-name electronic dance music producers were even on the scene. Conquerors and Commoners is a shifting, spiraling and thumping amalgamation of virtually every great genre of EDM; if you haven't heard it yet, you need to.

Download.

Martin Solveig - C'est La Vie (V1)

Enjoy one of the best French house DJ out there, his goofiness will only make you like him more. Ladies and gentlemen, Martin Solveig.

C'est La Vie (That's Life)

(Whoo, whoo) C'est la vie! (Whoo, whoo)

You have to buy this, you will look so (Whoo)

You have to practice, never let yourself go.

What are you wearing? It's not a new (Whoo)

People are watching, what a shame if they knew!

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie!

Ah ah, ah ah, c'est la vie!

You have to break ice, buy me a drink (Whoo)

From there your seem eyes, I don't care what you think.

if you get something, don't let it show (Whoo)

People are watching, really they don't wanna know.

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, whoo! Not so easy. C'est la vie! Whoo! Hey!

Be like this, don't do that! Don't go too far (Whoo)

Give me a big smile, if she drives a better car.

Don't give me distance, you talk too much (Whoo)

People are watching, what do they think about us?

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, hey! C'est la vie! C'est la vie!

C'est la vie!

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! (Oooh)

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! (Hey)

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, whoo! (Hey) C'est la vie!

Buy it here or download it here.

Swans - Swans (V2)

Swans first release was markedly different from later works, especially in its applications of the no-wave mentality that would continue to influence them later on. Rather than generating sheets of noise, or pulsating mechanical thumps, M. Gira uses many of the same techniques popularized by Joy Division: short, punchy guitars backed by blastbeat drums and vaguely psychedelic chord progressions. Although much more experimental and tonally dissimilar to Joy Division and other landmark post-punk acts, Swans' self-titled EP seems more like an elaboration on Unknown Pleasures than Confusion Is Sex.

Download.

Toby Driver - In The L..L..Library Loft (V0)

Toby Driver is the brain behind Kayo Dot, Tartar Lamb and maudlin of the Well. He has also done work with Gregor Samsa, and in addition to having a great knack for suspense and composition, he also has a perfect voice for the type of music he plays. Although In The L..L..Library Loft does not stray far from his avant garde style, it probably resembles the long-form ambient stylings of Lichens moreso than the jazzy, often confrontational style typical of most Tzadik Records labelmates.

In The L..L..Library Loft is prophetic: timid, and searching, but also quietly brilliant and powerful.

Download.