It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Guelph, Ontario dream-pop duo Memoryhouse. Having just self-releasing their digital EP The Years the year before (2010), Sub Pop quickly snatched them up in them in 2011, remastered the EP, added a couple of new tracks, and re-released it–this time with a full-fledged physical release (cd and vinyl).

Their debut full-length, entitled The Slideshow Effect, is due out February 28. “Walk With Me,” the second single from the album, dropped today and is available for the price of an email address (so basically, it’s free)! The cuts that we’ve heard from the new LP thus far are little more uptempo than their predecessors, slightly more sonically optimistic, and much easier to sing along to–which is actually quite fitting since it’s still relatively early into new year and we’re (maybe) still stickin’ to our resolutions and laughably idealistic notions.

The lead single “The Kids Were Wrong” is also available below for less than a penny. With all the controversy surrounding SOPA and PIPA, you really begin to appreciate the exchange of an email address for a track. Commodity exchange for the new age. Oh the beauty of free (or is it “free”?) legal downloads!

[MP3]: Memoryhouse – “The Kids Were Wrong” [via]

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The recent couple years have seen an uprising of lo-fi bedroom musicians (see: Youth Lagoon, Coma Cinema) and when Brad Oberhofer appeared on the scene in 2010 unsigned and with a free EP for download, he was no different.

“Heart,” the first single from Oberhofer’s debut LP Time Capsules II (out March 27), is a departure from the reverb-laden fuzz-filled soundscape that we’ve come to identify with him. From the crisp and clear opening notes of a solitude piano to the addition of orchestral strings towards the end, it’s immediately clear that Oberhofer (now signed to Glassnote) is heading in a new, bigger direction. I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first upon hearing that he was going polish up his sound for his full-length, because I worried that it might lose the youthful fervor and frenetic energy of the o0Oo0Oo EP that really caught my attention.

Everything’s a little more pristine and little more calculated and thought out, but the youthful energy (albeit a little more mature) is still there bubbling under the surface, so I think I’m coming around to it. After all, we all have to grow up some time, right? Besides, that signature throaty Oberhofer yelp embedded in mix at the 30-second mark of “Heart” gave me my sigh of relief and kind of sort of won me over.

[MP3]: Oberhofer – “HEART”

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Ever been to a drag show? (Yes/No.)

If yes, have you ever wanted to enjoy a drag show in the comfort of your own home? (Duh.) If no, you’ve secretly (or not-so-secretly) wanted to but never had the opportunity–correct? (Maybe.)

Would you like to enjoy a drag show right now in the form of a character-based musicalesque ditty? (Uhhh…)

It’s free. (Okay yes.) Click play.

[LISTEN]: Peter and the Wolf – “New Shooz”

Traffique is the closeted lesbian alter ego of out gay man, Edward Miller, a musical project of Redding Hunter who performs under the moniker, Peter and the Wolf.

Did you catch that?

The man behind the music is Austin, Texas’s Redding Hunter. And yes, he dresses in drag when he performs as Traffique. “New Shooz” is a delightfully lighthearted electro-pop track that’s a bit psychedelic. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine a not-so-closeted Traffique emerging slowly from a behind a blanket of pink smoke, vogue-ing montage-style amid cutaways and quick flashes.

The whole story, according to the official site:

traffique’s endless weekend mixtape is the story of a well-adjusted gay man, Edwin Miller, who discovers he’s leading a second life late at night, sleepwalking down dark alleyways in drag, looking for intrigue. His other self, Traffique, is a closeted lesbian, a sexually repressed librarian-type, who sneaks out into the underworld each night self-actualizing all the way down her own vortex of trouble.

Hurray for breaking gender norms and conventions!

In my second life I’m a genderqueer pansexual criminal lawyer come go-go dancer who goes by the name of Kikki Cola, and this my anthem. Holla!

————-

[DOWNLOAD]: P.S. I just realized that traffique’s endless weekend mixtape is actually up for download at the sweet price of “name your price” aka. pay-what-you-want, meaning you can grab it on the spectrum of free to $5 billion. The important part is to spread the music: play it obnoxiously loud through your headphones on the subway until people stare, force/beg/bribe friends to let you be the dj at the next party, announce that you’d like one of the tracks on the album (preferably “almost free” or “get weird”–and then pull out the hat trick “koala hat”–to be played at your funeral alongside Kylie Minogue’s “Come Into My World”),  etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. Share with your friends.

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Getting to know an artist is like making a new friend.

There are some people that seem standoffish in the beginning (maybe because they’re shy or because they’ve eaten a crap sandwich and it’s ruined their entire day–sandwiches have that kind of effect on people, y’know), so it takes a couple of visits or run-ins for them to get comfortable around you and for you to warm up to them; then there are those people you take an instant liking to (perhaps you both find great pleasure in watching/making fun of what has become of America’s Top Model over the years).

It’s the same with music. There are some musicians that require a couple listens to get into (Joanna Newsom, anyone?) and others where the connection is undeniable and instantaneous. For me, Youth Lagoon was the latter.

Even better, it was like revisiting an old friend. That’s the kind of nostalgia-tinged feeling The Year of Hibernation is wrought with.

“Five years ago, in my backyard I sang love away. Little did I know that real love had not quite yet found me.”

[MP3]: Youth Lagoon – “July”

Raw vocals with a sort of youthful reverie, crackling and hazy with reverb, beg for a closer listen, for a more concentrated ear. With synths, organ, guitar, and some heavy beats layered on–usually starting off quietly and then building up to thicker, fuller sound (think wall-of-sound)–Youth Lagoon crafts introspective bedroom anthems.

Also, I cannot lie. During my first listen of the entire album, I thought it was a girl singing. (Sorry, Trevor.) Alas, Youth Lagoon is Boise, Idaho’s awesomely named Trevor Powers. (Yes, that’s his real name.) And with a name like that and a penchant for bedroom music and introspection, you’d think that Powers might be walking around with a superhero costume hidden underneath his button-ups.

However even amidst the quiet introspection, Powers references the past only as a way to look to the future. Like the experiences and memories that make us who we are today, The Year of Hibernation is a memento of sorts, to the past.

[MP3]: Youth Lagoon – “Cannons”

From the opening track (“Posters”), I could immediately feel a quiet sense of understanding between Powers and I, like a quiet nod. Like, a musical ‘hey, I feel ya!’ What started as a bedroom project (where the whole LP was recorded) has found resonance beyond his four-walls.

You make real friends quickly. You make real friends quickly. But not me.

I get him. I feel where he’s coming from; from his lyrics, to his delivery, to the entire atmosphere that’s created when everything comes together perfectly. And for me, that’s the beautiful thing.

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“…But where is her face?”

I’m sure this was the first thought to cross the mind of every single longtime St. Vincent fan when they saw the album art for her forthcoming album, Strange Mercy (out Sept. 13 via 4AD).

When it was first released, I was pretty stunned not to see Annie Clark‘s pale skin and wide, bewildered eyes front and centre among a bed of bouncy curls. I, for one, will admit that I was looking forward to another (for lack of a better word) headshot [classic St. Vincent!], so I was not particularly captivated by the mute tones of the cover and the lack of, well, face.

I was crossing my fingers for some Top Model-worthy, Tyra-sponsored “smizing” this time around! (Smizing is ‘smiling with your eyes’ for those you who aren’t familiar with the term, even though I have no idea why you wouldn’t be since Tyra invented it and mentions it every single time she can get a word in.)

But considering the entirety of the album and the theme of a strange mercy, it’s quite fitting. Whereas Clark’s first two albums were more “people-focused,” Strange Mercy seems to run on a unifying theme, and I can’t wait to see where she takes it and how she weaves it into her lyrics and sounds.

[MP3]: St. Vincent – “Surgeon” (via)

Fans had to unlock this free track by tweeting with the hashtag #strangemercy, so it was all pretty interactive and ingenious on the promotions front.

“I spent the summer on my back…”

“Surgeon” is different from previous material in that it is a bit synth heavy and more electronic-based–lacking the harsh, thrashing guitar sounds (save for build up of screeching synths at the end). However, it’s still classic St. Vincent:  wispy and slightly reverbed vocals atop layers of eerie, orchestral, and score-like instrumental tracks. I can dig it.

So Kanye and Jay-Z have released the appropriately titled, “Otis,” (it features a sampling of Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness”) the first track off their highly anticipated collab album, Watch the Throne.

Cue a million pre-teens professing that they have always loved Otis Redding before it was “cool” and before this song even came out and then cue their parents eye-rolling the hell out of their eyes because they actually were fans. Yeah, no.

Look at it this way, at least a whole generation is being introduced to the “King of Soul”–right?

[MP3]: Memoryhouse – “Modern, Normal” (via)

I have so much love for Memoryhouse that it’s seeping out of my every pore.

But it is summer, so it could just be the heat. I don’t know. Regardless, here is the just released “Modern, Normal”–one of two new tracks that will be added to the re-recorded/remixed/remastered version of The Years EP  to be released via Sub Pop. (It will the band’s debut on the label!)

So much Canadian pride going on here. Who needs hockey, anyway!? (Too soon? Not soon enough? Whatever.)

P.S. Apologies for the lack of updates. Life sort of took over unexpectedly, and a person can’t really argue with life right? I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, so expect to see more posts soon!

I have always and will always be a fan of good pop music.

And Robyn‘s “Call Your Girlfriend” is a prime example of what I would personally call ‘good’ pop music.

It’s got everything going for it: a message that is quite relatable for many with the whole meeting-someone-new-when-you’re-still-in-a-relationship-and-having-to-break-it-off thing; it’s emotional but not dissolve-into-tears-worthy (simply because it is quite upbeat) unless you’re a melodramatic Pisces (hey, that’s me!) so it’s still something you can sing along to for fun at the right moments.

Or if you’ve just broken up and you are looking for something to cry to, it’s also good for belting along to while the tears stream down your face as you contemplate the sad state of your life post break-up. (It’s okay, you’ll get over it eventually.)

Or if you just want to feel good about the sorry excuse for moves you call dancing, then the video is your solution. Robyn makes awkward dancing cool (again?)! So the next time you go out to the club (or wherever you get your groove on), you’ll have people thinking “Daaaaaaamn, girl” instead of the usual slow backing away accompanied by looks of horror.

You can thank Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” music video for that.

“I thought about you, because I always think about you.”

[MP3]: Widowspeak – “Harsh Realm”

Languid, hazy, lilting and lulling are few adjectives that can be used to describe the music Molly Hamilton, Michael Stasiak, and Robert Thomas craft on Harsh Realm / Burnout 7″ (released on Captured Tracks); however, they’d still be insufficient. For me, it’s the solemn and somewhat cinematic feeling “Harsh Realm” evokes. You can easily imagine it being played in the background of a film scene where a heartbroken is lover is walking lonesome the midnight streets with quick cuts to car headlights and stumbling feet and dirty streets.

“It can wait. Everything else can wait. We sleep in. We sleep in late.”

Perfect for those humid summer nights in college kid housing with no AC, “Burnout” is a slow burn with Molly’s breathy vocals whispering the lethargy the lyrics speak of. It’s all about those lazy days when lying in bed is the best option, because nothing really matters in that moment but the feel of your head on the pillow and your legs between the sheets. Sounds like my theme song.

[WATCH]: Widowspeak – “Burnout” (made with scenes from Jack Cardiff’s The Girl On A Motorcycle)

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Eargasm.

I’ve been waiting for an eternity for some new Bon Iver, and finally, we get our first taste of new material with the release of the first single off the band’s doubly self-titled sophomore LP–Bon Iver, Bon Iver (due out June 21 via Jagjaguwar).

[MP3]: Bon Iver – “Calgary” (via)

As usual, the lyrics are cryptic as all hell, but Justin Vernon’s vocals weave themselves into a harmonic tapestry that I want to envelop myself in for days. It’s still the barebones Bon Iver we’ve all come to love, but this time the soundscape is fuller, more vast, and eclectic. The addition of synthesizers and electronic elements embedded into the the backdrop create a heavier, rounded experience.

Sure it’s supposed to be spring, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a “good winter,” right? I mean, the weather isn’t exactly warm and sunny, and my hands are effectively ice blocks as I type this.

Plus it doesn’t hurt that it’s about a Canadian city, either. Canadian pride and wintery wonderland both check off!

Bon Iver, warm me up.

*Tour dates after the jump!