You may have noticed that the last two albums of the week have been from artists that have signed to corporations. I think you'll agree that although we share the disappointment that The Flaming Lips (long time on a corporate label) and James Blake, and indeed French electronic duo Daft Punk have elected to choose corporations to release (or own?) their labours, all deserve to be feted for what they are still achieving in music. The Flaming Lips and Daft Punk albums are up there with their best and all three artists began as independents. Indie30 detests corporations that milk music for money while not caring one bit about the actual art that is produced.
Thus, it is only in special circumstances with special artists that we will feature music released through corporations. It's clear in all three cases mentioned that the artists themselves are calling the shots. That's rare in the corporate music world where profit is all. There can be no quarter given to the four corporations that spread endless sonic misery to the world, dumbing down people and narrowing their cultures. We just needed to clarify that. We support James Blake, Daft Punk and The Flaming Lips (we hope the corporations have lost money on all of them), not the future eating distributors they have chosen.
Three new ones this week plus a big moves for Mood Rings and Saturday Looks Good To Me. The highest debutant is Dirty Beaches with his abrasive rocking ode to Lisbon, 'Casino Lisboa' in at 22. One of the masters of modern indie pop, Glasweigan sextet Camera Obscura have a new album, Desire Lines coming out early June and the gifted track 'Fifth In Line To The Throne' debuts at 24. That's a rare free download below folks. Free and legal mp3s are getting harder and harder to come by as artists and labels for some reason have got tighter with their promotion - not sure why, seems quite self-defeating really. The third new entry comes from French post new wave electronic artist AV, whom we featured on Monday. He enters the chart at 28 with 'Venus Bar'.
Atlanta's Mood Rings jumped from 8 to 2 with the sumptious 'Pathos Y Lagrimas' while Saturday Looks Good To Me is up 9 to 14 with 'Break In'. James Blake remains at 1 with 'Overgrown'. Go to the whole chart here. Stream all 30 tracks top right in the Top 30 Player.
22. Casino Lisboa
Dirty Beaches (USA)
From the album, 'Drifters/Love Is The Devil', Zoo Music
Today sees the release of the debut EP, Venus Bar from French electronic producer Adrien Viot aka AV. Firmly wedded to 80s electronic pop with a nod to new wave synth, Viot's style harks back to the pop oriented side of French cold wave acts, Taxi Girl and Suicide Romeo. The title track saunters along with heavy oscillating bass, distorted synth, metallic like melodies and effects and Viot's deep whispered vocal. Sung in French, the EP contains four tracks that evoke a nocturnal excitement, although you get the sense that all is not well with the night in question. Listen to the title track and check out the video. Venus Bar is out now on Police Records and through Desire in the UK. You can grab it on limited edition red vinyl here.
Three new entries and a new number one this week peoples! New York City's indie pop/rock darlings Vampire Weekend dropped their brand new album, their third, Modern Vampires Of The City on Tuesday. The quirky and jaunty like single 'Ya Hey' debuts in the Top 30 chart at 17. Los Angeles electronic pop duo Kisses also released a new album this week, Kids In LA. The bass heavy and ultra danceable single, 'The Hardest Part has finally debuted. It's in at 19. The new entries are rounded off by the new single from lo-fi retro pop veterans Saturday Looks Good To Me, 'Break In'. Founder Fred Thomas has enlisted two new female vocalists Carol Catherine and Amber Fellows and re-enlisted bassist Scott De Roche and drummer Ryan Howard for their fifth album to be released next week, One Kiss End It All.
James Blake takes over from Youth Lagoon at Number One with 'Overgrown' while big moves are afoot for Mood Rings, 'Pathos Y Lagrimas', 18 to 8 and Police Des Moeurs, 'Echeance' 20 to 9. Savages enter the Top 5 with 'Shut Up'. Go here for all the entries and stream the whole chart on our player to your top right.
17. Ya He
Vampire Weekend (USA)
From the album, 'Modern Vampires Of The City', XL Recordings
Dirty Beaches, the scuffed up, roughed up brainchild of Alex Zhang Hungtai releases his new record Drifters/Love Is The Devil next week, a sumptuous double album of inward looking experimental genre busting soundscapes.
The strange thing about the record is that it while it should be inpenetrable, instantly dislikeable and damn hard work, it actually isn't - far from it. While Zhang Hungtai presents it as his hard worn heart on his sleeve, he ultimately, no matter how hard he tries, is a giver of music, not a taker of time. The first cut, Drifters, even has a pop element to it, while Love Is The Devil is akin to a blurred cinematic experience.
Check out two tracks from the album released over the past few months and look out for latest share 'Casino Lisboa', probably the closest thing to Badlands here, to appear soon in the Top 30. Drifters/Love Is The Devil is out via Zoo Music on May 20.
Tracklist
Drifters
1. Night Walk
2. I Dream In Neon
3. Belgrade
4. Casino Lisboa
5. ELLI
6. Aurevoir Mon Visage
7. Mirage Hall
8. Landscapes In The Mist
Love Is The Devil
1. Greyhound At Night
2. This Is Not My City
3. Woman
4. Love Is The Devil
5. Alone At The Danube River
6. I Don't Know How To Find My Way Back To You
7. Like The Ocean We Part
8. Berlin
Love Is The Devil
Dirty Beaches (USA)
From the album, 'Drifters/Love Is The Devil', Zoo Music
Audio Stream
Landscapes In The Mist
Dirty Beaches (USA)
From the album, 'Drifters/Love Is The Devil', Zoo Music
Icelandic electronic trio Samaris has combined with One Little Indian to pull together their two Iceland only released EPs, Hljóma Þú (2011) and Stofnar falla (recorded at Sigur Rós' Sundlaugin studio with Gunnar Tynes of múm, 2012) into a single album. Better still it will be also released on double vinyl. With a album full of brand new tracks to follow later this year, it's the perfect time to give the rest of the world an introduction to their atmospherically sparse and ethereal sounds.
The self titled album immediately evokes the Nordic islands' undulating, other world like geography and certainly brings back memories of this writer's experience there a couple of years back. The excellent track below, the hypnotic 'Góða Tungl' is off the first EP. The only bad news is the compilation is not out until late July. However, you can pre-order the album in all formats here. I'm tipping the vinyl will go quickly.
Four new entries this week, three of which have been recently featured on Indie30. Mood Rings, who we featured yesterday are in at 18 with the mighty fine 'Pathos y Lagrimas', Canadian electronic trio Police Des Moeurs debut at 20 with 'Echeance' as does Australian duo This Mess with 'Love Til We're Lonely' at 28.
One new entry then that we haven't spoken off. Columbus off beat smart-pop quartet Way Yes released their excellent self released debut album, Tog Pebbles on Tuesday and first single, the dark tropicalia that is 'Colerain' debuts at 21. Grab a free download of the track below and buy the album digitally here. Recommended.
UK post punk quartet Savages smashes the top 10 with 'Shut Up', up from 19 to 7. Youth Lagoon still at 1 with 'Mute'. Go the whole chart here and Stream the whole thing to your top left (newest first)
Atlanta atmospheric pop outfit Mood Rings are set to release their debut album, 'VPI Harmony' next month. Recorded at Gary's Electric in Brooklyn (Peaking Lights, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti), their sound marks a move away and a step up from the lo-fi aethestics of their debut EP, Sweater Weather Forever, released back in 2011. Check out the swirling first single 'Pathos y Lagrimas' below, grab it on vinyl here and look out for album on June 25, out through Mexican Summer.
Tracklist
1. Dark Flow
2. Pathos y Lagrimas
3. Come Lay Down in Lined Arrangements
4. Perusha
5. Minor Slaloms
6. Promise Me Eternity
7. The Line
8. Exorcised Painting
9. Hollow Dye (Defected Crystal)
10. Get Lost
11. Charles Mansion
Pathos y Lagrimas
Mood Rings (USA)
From the forthcoming album, 'VPI Harmony', Mexican Summer. Out on July 25.
Montreal dark wave/synth pop outfit Police Des Moeurs (Police Manners) are set to release their new EP, Les Mécanismes De La Culpabilité (Mechanisms Of Guilt). Melodic and dark and sung entirely in French, there is at once a nihilistic feel about first single 'Échéance', but at the same time a little light shines through. The label describes the EP as the soundtrack for a nuclear night, aptly capturing the alienation of the Cold War in the late 1970s/early 1980s. It also features a cover of the track 'No Time To Be 21' by English punk band The Adverts. Stream 'Échéance' below, view the symmetrical desolation of its official video and pre order the EP here. It's limited to 250 copies on 180gram white vinyl.
1. Echéance (Maturity)
2. Nos tristesses se rejoignent ici (Our Sorrows Meet Here)
3. Tu as honte parfois (You're Ashamed Sometimes)
4. Encore une fois (Once Again)
5. Ce sera un temps de malheur (It Will Be An Evil Time)
6. No Time to Be 21 (The Adverts cover)
*Loose translations only.
Echéance
Police Des Moeurs (CAN)
From the forthcoming EP, 'Les Mécanismes De La Culpabilité', Atelier Ciseaux. Out May 21.
Wild Nothing is set to release a new EP to follow up last year's much heralded pop opus, Nocturne. Called Empty Estate, frontman and creator Jack Tatum quickly became musically unsatisfied with touring and playing the same tracks night after night and thus when his touring commitments ended late last year, he set about using his newly found free time to write a set of new songs. Among the seven songs penned and recorded over a ten day period is the slow burner 'A Dancing Shell' which you can stream below. Empty Estate is out on May 14 through Captured Tracks.
A Dancing Shell
Wild Nothing (USA)
From the forthcoming EP, 'Empty Estate', Captured Tracks.
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