So Many Wizards - "Best Friends"

The two tracks on So Many Wizards' new 7" respectively mirror the chaos and unease of spending time in a new city ("Inner City") and the ensuing moments of calmness and beauty experienced after finding comfort in a new home ("Best Friends"). The bumps of bass guitar, splashy cymbals, and falsetto-drenched vocals on the serene B-side "Best Friends" prove especially rewarding here, setting the listener down in an otherworldly and intoxicating Neverland—and you won't want to leave.

The vinyl, out now via the Seven Inch Project, is pressed to clear vinyl and limited to 500 copies.

So Many Wizards - "Best Friends" (from Inner City/Best Friends 7")

Oregon Bike Trails - "High School Lover"

Back in March, I wrote about Oregon Bike Trails: the sunny bedroom pop project of Santa Monica musician Zach Yudin. It's beautifully transportive summertime music: the kind that makes you think you can feel the sand between your toes, the sun on your back, and a cool breeze combing the air. Now, thanks to San Francisco's consistently great Father Daughter Records, Oregon Bike Trails will be releasing its first 7". The single features a remastered version of the jangly harmony-soaked "High School Lover" on the A-side and unreleased track "Cayucas" on the flip side. If you want your summer to creep into fall, this piece of vinyl is your ticket.

Pre-order the 7" at Father / Daughter Records.

Oregon Bike Trails - "High School Lover" (from High School Lover 7")

Dum Dum Girls - "Bedroom Eyes"

The Dum Dum Girls have released a second song from their forthcoming LP Only In Dreams. While "Bedroom Eyes" doesn't have the knock-out-of-the-park classic pop feel of "Coming Down," it's a damn fine track that again finds frontwoman Dee Dee Penny nailing that signature Chrissie Hynde vibrato and deep resonance. I've never been an enormous Dum Dum Girls fan, but these two tracks have easily made Only In Dreams one of my most anticipated LPs in 2011.

Pre-order the vinyl, out on September 27th, over at Sub Pop.

Dum Dum Girls - "Bedroom Eyes" (from Only In Dreams)
Dum Dum Girls - "Coming Down" (from Only In Dreams)

Woods - "Skull"

Releasing one of the year's best LPs in Sun & Shade apparently isn't enough for the ever-prolific Woods. Jeremy Earl and company also put out a 7" in July featuring the single "Find Them Empty" and now have a second 7" available on tour: a 5-song split with Kurt Vile. Check out one of Woods' contributions below: the fuzzy and psychedelic "Skull." If you're a fan of Woods, The Fader ran a great piece on the band's and the Woodsist label's current home-base in Warwick, New York. (via)

Dent May - "Fun" / "Wedding Day" 7"

I've slept on Dent May for a while now, but after watching this stellar acoustic performance of "That Feeling" (man, what a great bass line!), I'm 100% on this Mississippi cat's bandwagon. May's newest release is a 7" off Paw Tracks. "Fun" may be the A-side, but it's the sweet retro cheese of the B-side "Wedding Day" that has me hitting play over and over again.

Pre-order the 7", due out September 13th, via Insound.

Fun by Dent May
Wedding Day by Dent May

Luke Temple - "How Could I Lie"

Luke Temple previously hinted at his affinity for 1970s rock, specifically Harry Nilsson, in tracks like "Everything's Big" off his Here We Go Magic debut. On Temple's latest offering, his "country record" Don't Act Like You Don't Care (which I raved about back in June), those influences are brought out even more into the forefront in a batch of rootsy and raw-flavored folk. Replacing the sparkle and sheen of his effect- and samply-heavy Here We Go Magic project, Don't Act Like You Don't Care instead embraces the live and casual setting of friends sitting around an apartment making music together. And tracks like "How Could I Lie" are all the more rich for it: a lightly played piano and organ, the patter of a brush dancing on a snare, and Temple's dynamic set of pipes nailing notes both low and high in an emotive yet playfully loose performance that again recalls Nilsson. As far as Temple's records go, Don't Act Like You Don't Care might just contain his strongest and most consistent batch of songwriting to date.

Don't Act Like You Don't Care is out now on Western Vinyl.

Luke Temple - "How Could I Lie" (from Don't Act Like You Don't Care)

Paraf: Croatian Post-Punk

Yesterday, I caught a portion of the Handsome Furs' 'Global Indie Mixtape' on Sirius XMU, and along with a couple heavy club bangers from across the pond, they played a track by Croatian post-punk band Paraf. I'm a sucker for foreign language sung songs—mostly because I dig the mystery of not knowing what a song is about—and I was particularly struck here by the androgynous almost Nico-like vocals of Pavica Mijatović. According to the group's Myspace, Paraf began as a punk band in 1977 and then in 1980 veered into post-punk territory after bringing on Pavica—who apparently performed under the moniker Vim Cola—to replace the band's male lead singer. Check out two killer tracks from Paraf below: the 1981 7" single "Fini Dečko" and "Odlazak" from the 1984 album Zastave. The instrumentation here, especially the drumming and bass play, is impassioned and vibrant, which contrasts neatly with Pavica's deep and even-tempered vocal delivery. You can thank the Handsome Furs for this discovery by nabbing their new album Sound Kapital via iTunes below.

Paraf - "Fini Dečko" (from Fini Dečko / Tužne Uši 7")
Paraf - "Odlazak" (from Zastave)

Video: White Life - "Time Is Wasting"

Baltimore's White Life—who've put out one of the best albums of 2011 in their self-titled debut—recently released a video for the single "Time Is Wasting." The track, which cherry picks from some of the more fun, danceable, and cheesy tones of the late 1980s and early 1990s R&B and pop scenes, is paired perfectly here with a silly and low-key video of frontman Jon Ehrens dancing his way through a breakfast of cereal and an afternoon of one-man tennis. Ehrens' sister Emily, who provides the track's backup vocals, appears as well, lackadaisically singing-along while reading the morning paper and later dancing spirit-like in a white glowing cloak. If there's a message here, it's that the Ehrens know how to make fun of themselves—and they have a great time while doing it.

Nurses - "Trying To Reach You"

Portland avant-pop weirdos Nurses have released another single from their forthcoming Dracula LP, out September 20th via Dead Oceans. A funky syncopated bass line and a few lightly played piano chords form the basic foundation for "Trying To Reach You," a near Prince-like R&B turn colored with a psychedelic tapestry of erratic percussion, polyphonic vocal harmony, and innumerable other chirps and burps of effect-driven wizardry. The track also happens to be one of Nurses' more straightforward concoctions to date—a pop number that takes its hooks as seriously as its experimentation.

Pre-order Nurses' Dracula on vinyl and get instant access to the MP3s.

Nurses - "Trying To Reach You" (from Dracula)
Nurses - "Fever Dreams" (from Dracula)

Mikal Cronin - "Give It To Me" (Troggs cover)

Mikal Cronin's been a big hit over here of late, from his colossally heavy David Bowie covers with Ty Segall to the blistering tracks from his self-titled psych-rock debut. Over on Cronin's Bandcamp, you can now download his "Gone" 7" released back in January of 2010 via Goodbye Boozy Records. That 7" features an excellent lo-fi and toothache sweet cover of The Troggs' 1967 single "Give It To Me" as its B-Side. Check out the cover and original below, then head to Cronin's Bandcamp for more jams from this up-and-coming talent.

Mikal Cronin - "Give It To Me" (Troggs cover)
Troggs - "Give It To Me"

Stream: Girls - "Honey Bunny"

Girls' frontman Christopher Owens wrote "Honey Bunny" on his birthday back in 2008. According to NPR, it was the 19th song he'd ever written—and it's a pretty damn good one. The track features two contrasting sections and themes: an uptempo surf riff infused main section, where Owens laments about his girl trouble:

I’ve been messing with so many girls / Who could give a damn about who I am / They don’t like my boney body / They don’t like my dirty hair / Or the stuff that I say / Or the stuff that I’m on.

Then the tempo slows and the slide guitar is brought out for a bridge of sorts at 1:30, where Owens changes the topic to his mother:

Mamma / She really loved me / Even when I was bad / She'd hold my little hand / And kiss me on the cheek. / And when I cried she would hold me closer / And tell me everything will be alright. / That woman loved me.

It's a sincere and sweet sentiment—never once feeling contrived—with Owens concluding that he needs "a woman who loves me," much like his mother. How often do we hear rock songs where narrators conclude that rather than sleep around with pretty girls, they need to find a woman like their mother? It's not easy to pull a topic like that off in a rock song—nor is it necessarily hip—but Owens and company absolutely nail "Honey Bunny." Maybe next time, Girls will record a track about how kids need to stop messing around with fried food, and eat their vegetables. I'd buy it.

Girls - "Honey Bunny" (from Father, Son, Holy Ghost)

My Morning Jacket w/ Neko Case - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was Stevie Nicks' first single as a solo artist back in 1981. The track was written by Tom Petty and Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell and featured the entire Heartbreakers crew as Nicks' backing band. Although Nicks and Petty would collaborate on a number of songs—"The Insider," "The Apartment Song," "Needles & Pins"—"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" would be their most successful, charting at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The classic duet has been dug up this summer as an encore for My Morning Jacket's current tour with Neko Case, pairing the fiery red head with Jim James. As various Youtube clips show, they absolutely nail the cover. Now all we need is Case to join MMJ in the studio and inject one of the world's greatest live rock bands with some fresh creative juice. If the rather meandering and flat Circuital is any proof, they could use a little fire. (via)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers w/ Stevie Nicks - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

My Morning Jacket w/ Neko Case - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

Youth Lagoon :: The Year of Hibernation

At first, "Montana"doesn't sound like anything special. A reverberating and resonant piano, hushed vocals—it's reminiscent of a live recorded studio outtake or a private home recording. Sweet and intimate, but not necessarily all that captivating. But then "Montana" becomes something else entirely. From the first chime of the track's synth delivered motif to builds of tambourine, bass drum, and electric guitar, a vast wall of sound forms arming that cathartic and introverted singing voice with a sledgehammer of crushing force. The song is by 22-year-old Trevor Powers, who records under the name Youth Lagoon. Powers' M.O. on his debut LP The Year of Hibernation—out September 27th on Fat Possum—is constructing these simple keyboard-driven confessionals and coloring them with sonic goodies that are both colossal in size and grand in scope. It's sort of like bringing a tank to a knife fight: you're expecting mopey-eyed balladry, but what you get instead is a shot of adrenaline right in your ear drum.

Pre-order The Year of Hibernation on vinyl, tape, or CD via Fat Possum.

Youth Lagoon - "Montana" (from The Year of Hibernation)
Youth Lagoon - "Cannons" (from The Year of Hibernation)

Future Islands - "Balance"

Since discovering their anthemic jam "Before The Bridge" via a Friends Records penned article, I've been digging through Future Islands' rich back catalogue of releases like a kid in a candy store. The combination of Samuel T. Herring's ravenous and throaty vocals with William Cashion's pulsating bass, and synth phenom Gerrit Welmers' arsenal of exotic goodies is a fiery and intoxicatingly mixed beverage. The type that when imbibed heavily will leave you in a hot sweaty mess of flailing limbs. The band's latest offering, "Balance," is no exception. Taken from the forthcoming On The Water LP—due out on October 11th via Thrill Jockey—"Balance" finds the Future Islands hitting their stride with a signature blast of dance-friendly percussion, soulful vocals, and Welmers' ominous and darkly-tinted synth tones.

Future Islands - "Balance" (from On The Water)

Video: Fidlar - "Wait For The Man"

Welcome to Fidlar's music video for "Wait For The Man": a frenetic, frantic, and frenzied mash of hand-drawn graffiti, superimposed faces, a pulsating and explosive cartoon vagina, band mottos streaked across the screen like "fuck it dog, life's a risk," and some ace headbanging by the lip-syncing brunette to your left. The video's a chaotic mess—and it's just what the doctor ordered.

Mixtape #17: Snacking On The 7-inch

The latest installment of our mixtape series highlights the 7" vinyl single—a format that was introduced in 1949 by RCA and is still alive and thriving today. The tracklist below features 21 different 7"s put out by some of our favorite artists and labels.*

Nick Waterhouse :: Is That Clear EP

Nick Waterhouse is a vintage R&B and rock enthusiast who, under the guise of his own Pres Records imprint in San Francisco, has recorded and released two killer 45s: the Allah-Las' "Catamaran" and his own "Some Place." It's not just the sound that's vintage, it's also the analog equipment Waterhouse uses, from the 60 year-old microphones to open-reel tape machines. His newest release is a digital four-song EP comprised of the "Some Place" 7" and the forthcoming "Is That Clear" 7"— due out September 15th. The EP, released yesterday, works like a time machine: the combination of Waterhouse's husky vocal delivery and fiery guitar play paired with bursts of brass from his backing band the Turn-Keys transport the listener to a smokey and crowded club in the 1950s where the house band is one fire and everyone's on the dance floor shaking hips and burning rubber. Vinyl fans: the sold out "Some Place" 7" is already fetching top dollar on Ebay, so don't sleep on this next release. (via)

Is That Clear by Nick Waterhouse
I Can Only Give You Everything by Nick Waterhouse

TV Torso - "My Fair Baby's Coming For Me"

When not recording sessions for Daytrotter in his Big Orange studio in Austin, Matt Oliver cuts his own material with his band TV Torso. Since last writing about the group in March, they've become a favorite around here with their small but rich vinyl catalogue—a 12" EP and two 7"s—now staples on the Everybody Taste turntable. TV Torso is currently at work on their debut full-length, and while we haven't heard a peep from those recordings, the band recently posted a killer cover to their Twitter account: "My Fair Baby's Coming For Me," a deep and long-forgotten cut by Paul Kane and legendary English producer Joe Meek. The cover was recorded on 4-track cassette during the Austin quartet's Wednesday night rehearsal. (via Rollo Grady)

Connect with TV Torso and download the stellar Status Quo Vadis EP right here.

TV Torso - "My Fair Baby's Coming For Me"
Paul Kane - "My Fair Baby's Coming For Me"

Willie Wright - "Nantucket Island"

Willie Wright's music combined elements of soul with folk music—a loose, intuitive, and free-spirited style of play that didn't fit in any one particular pre-fitted mold. Unfortunately, major labels in the 1960s weren't interested in—nor did they know to market—a forward-thinking, genre-hopping artist like Wright. So, despite his obvious talents, Wright's music remained obscure. In 1975, after years of extensive touring along the East coast and a stint running a 24-hour incense, oil, and record shop dubbed The Cellar, Wright began traveling regularly to Nantucket to perform for the Massachusetts island's restaurant and yachting clientele. Wright quickly took to the island's natural beauty and developed a small but supportive fan base. In 1976, he made the island his home.

Mikal Cronin - "Get Along" & "Apathy"

Mikal Cronin, a longtime Ty Segall collaborator and the bassist for west coast punk rockers Moonhearts, is set to venture out on his own on September 20th with his self-titled psych-rock debut via Trouble In Mind Records. Last Friday, we heard Cronin and Segall tear into a David Bowie classic with some rip-roaring guitar work. Here, Cronin is again joined by Segall—this time on drums—along with friends Charlie Moonheart and Thee Oh Sees' John Dwyer, who contributes flute to album opener "Is It Alright." But as heavy and guitar-dominated as the mix is on tracks like "Get Along" and "Apathy," it's Cronin's vocal melodies and delivery that really shine and sink their hooks into the listener as they cut their way through walls of fuzz. Two listens deep and I promise you'll be singing along.

Mikal Cronin - "Get Along" (from Mikal Cronin)
Mikal Cronin - "Apathy" (from Mikal Cronin)

Must-Have Vinyl: Castle Face Records :: Group Flex

Castle Face Records—the label headed by Thee Oh Sees' frontman John Dwyer—recently put out a 5x7 inch flexi disc book featuring exclusive tracks by Bay Area heavy hitters Thee Oh Sees, Bare Wires, the Fresh & Onlys, Blasted Canyons, and Ty Segall partnered with Mikal Cronin. Flexi discs are phonographic records pressed onto a thin and flexible vinyl sheet. Here, the flexi discs are multi-colored, adorned with holographic images, and interspersed with artwork by resident Castle Face artist William Keihn. Keihn's fusion of retro action figure packaging and comic book-style art here is brilliant, placing the compilation's 10 tracks in their own distinctively time-warped and mind-altered universe. It's truly a one-of-a-kind work of art, and I haven't even mentioned the music: a rip-roaring lineup of fiery rock gems, including two colossally fuzzed-out David Bowie covers by Segall and Cronin.

You can purchase Group Flex now via Midheaven mailorder.

Bare Wires - "Wanna Fight" (from Castle Face Group Flex)
Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin - "Fame" (from Castle Face Group Flex)


After the jump, take a look at the stunning visuals and holographic discs produced by the folks at Pirate Press in San Francisco.

Review: Bill Baird :: Goodbye Vibrations

After Sound Team’s Capitol Records debut Movie Monster was panned by Pitchfork in 2006, founding member Bill Baird hilariously reenacted the review with homemade footage of a dummy being literally stabbed with a pitchfork, thrown off a cliff, and lit on fire. The video is a surprisingly accurate snapshot of Baird as an artist, with its do-it-yourself approach and aesthetic, dead-pan humor, and eye for detail, like the comically dramatic piano score he composed for the video. After Sound Team's breakup in 2007, that DIY mentality became Baird's M.O.: he founded his own studio in Austin out of an old blues bar and Fish R Us called Baby Blue, where he now hosts shows, has recorded bands like Jesse Woods and Generationals, and records and releases his own material, including a string of releases by his band Sunset.

The Drums - "Money"

When I first posted about The Drums back in July of 2009, there were only one or two other blogs digging on the band. That didn't last long. Thousands of fans gained and records sold later—not to mention a few magazine covers—The Drums have worked to become one for the more popular and successful acts in the current independent rock universe. Sure, the whistle in the overplayed "Let's Go Surfing" now makes me visibly cringe, but that's no fault of the band. In fact, they may have already found their next soon-to-be-overplayed single in "Money," a track off the forthcoming Portamento LP, dropping September 12th. "Money" finds The Drums at their tightest and catchiest to date with furiously picked bass and guitar lines matched with a completely unexpected falsetto from singer Jonathan Pierce—a laugh-out-loud yet wholly addictive vocal turn that cements this band's bright pop future.

The Drums - "Money" (from Portamento)

North Highlands - "Benefit"

From the furious rhythmic riff in "Sugar Lips" to the arpeggiated mandolin in "Steady Steady," Brooklyn outfit North Highlands have demonstrated themselves to be a fantastic guitar band. Never settling for the simple chord, the group's play is instead a dynamic tapestry of overlapping riffs and motifs. However, in new single "Benefit" off the band's forthcoming Wild One LP, the show belongs to singer Brenda Melvi. Sure, there are tornadoes of guitars dancing around at every opportunity, but it's Melvi that's in the driver's seat here. Steady and clear-eyed, she deeply intones as fact in the verse, "I want more than I need." That sentiment is then contrasted in the chorus with the line "Take what you want / Take it, take it off," sung in a higher register with an emotive vulnerability. Yes, the song appears to be about sex, and yes, it's a beautiful one. Look out for Wild One this Fall.

North Highlands - "Benefit"

North Highlands - "Steady Steady"
North Highlands - "Sugar Lips"

Sat. Nite Duets: "Dig the furs. May I touch?"

Thanks to Muzzle of Bees and an article by CNN (they write about music?), I've stumbled into the world of Milwaukee band Sat. Nite Duets. There's a chewed up and spit out mess of influences here with hints of everyone from Pavement and Weezer to Jonathan Richman, but the Sat. Nite Duets' style is undoubtedly an original one: comprised of a handful of lead singers, conversational verses, ramshackle instrumentation that switches from heavy to sweet on a dime, and recordings that are both exceptionally performed and distinctly DIY. It can be to difficult to discern whether the Sat. Nite Duets' (an anagram for 'United States') musical decisions are born of wit and brilliance or spliffs and cases of Pabst (my guess is a healthy combination), but either way, what's clear is the music's great. Going back to their 2009 debut, the band's catalogue of releases are a treasure trove of feisty rock and roll gems as creative and ingenuitive as they are addictive and fun.

Grab all the band's releases digitally via their Tumblr and Bandcamp. For vinyl, contribute to their Kickstarter.

Sat. Nite Duets - "All Nite Long" (from One Nite Only)
Sat. Nite Duets - "Peel Away" (from One Nite Only)

Bare Wires - "Cheap Perfume"

ET's favorite Oakland trio Bare Wires will be releasing their newest LP Cheap Perfume on September 20th via Southpaw Records. The record's ten glam-punk tracks will be pressed onto 10" vinyl with a cassette option available via Burger Records. Below, listen to frontman Matthew Melton casually croon over an assault of muted and riffing guitars on the album's title-track.

Pre-order the 10" at Southpaw Records.

Bare Wires - "Cheap Perfume" (from Cheap Perfume)

Previously: 
Video: Bare Wires - "Don't Ever Change"

Favorite Soundtracks: The Last Days of Disco

The Last Days of Disco is the third film in writer / director Whit Stillman's series of comedies depicting young urban bourgeoisie lifestyle, following the more widely acclaimed and popular Metropolitan and Barcelona. Released in 1998 and set in 1980-81, The Last Days of Disco follows a group of WASPy Ivy League grads in New York City as they navigate their first jobs and search for romance in nightly visits to 'The Club,' a disco- and dance-filled nod to Studio 54. The dialogue here is consistently rich and brilliant, from the entire scene dedicated to deconstructing Disney's Lady and The Tramp to various commentaries on sexual promiscuity and class. The influence of the erudite and dry-witted Stillman is easy to spot in films by his contemporaries Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson. And like those filmmakers, Stillman also meticulously curates his soundtracks with his own distinctive taste in pop music.

It would be easy to knock The Last Days of Disco as another shallow compilation of disco hits, but this soundtrack is sprinkled with everything from deep ska and R&B cuts to Italo disco. Sure, Chic's "Good Times" and "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross make appearances, but so does "Queen Majesty," a 1967 Curtis Mayfield cover by Jamaican rocksteady group The Techniques. Stillman cleverly uses a jukebox at the characters' favorite late-night bar, Rex's, as a vehicle to invigorate the playlist of stale disco hits. There, you hear tracks by the likes of Washington, DC girl group The Jewels, soul quartet The Chi-Lites, and "The Oogum Boogum Song" by Brenton Wood. You may not fall in love with every song on the soundtrack, but you will absolutely find a new favorite track or two. And if you haven't seen this bona fide cult classic, please, get on that already.

After the jump, listen to a couple of cuts from the soundtrack and watch the classic 'Lady and The Tramp' clip.

Hundred Visions - "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" (John Cale)

One of my favorite recent discoveries has been Austin band Hundred Visions, who earlier this summer tore through a Daytrotter session and have put out a hell of a 7" in Last Cab From Tunis. This morning I bring you the band's near note-for-note cover of the John Cale track "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend," the opener off his 1974 album Fear. All that's missing here is the dissonant and frenzied bass play at the end of Cale's original, though that's dutifully replaced here with a few crazed and ham-fisted punches of piano. Really, this cover is a blast. And if you haven't picked up Hundred Visions' digital 7" yet (with the accompanying vinyl en route), you my friend, are truly missing out.

Hundred Visions - "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" (John Cale cover)

Best Coast - "How They Want Me To Be" (demo)

Sure, Bethany Cosentino's lyrics are incredibly simple and straightforward, but then again, so are the songwriter's fiercely catchy pop hooks. According to a blog post by Cosentino, "How They Want Me To Be" is a rough studio demo that will be re-recorded for Best Coast's still-in-the-works second full-length. Personally, I really dig the bare-bones feel of this track, especially the loose and decorative tremolo lead and slow drum build.

Best Coast - "How They Want Me To Be" (demo)