EAR CANDY | [MP3] Memoryhouse – “Walk With Me”
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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]
EAR CANDY | [MP3] Memoryhouse – “Modern, Normal”
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[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!
EAR CANDY | [MP3] Fleet Foxes – “Grown Ocean”
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Fleet Foxes’ highly regarded sophomore album, Helplessness Blues, was released May 3, but that isn’t stopping Sub Pop from giving away another freebie: “Grown Ocean.“
[MP3]: Fleet Foxes – “Grown Ocean” (right-click, save as)
If you haven’t already, you can also grab the lead single and title track that was given away as a teaser to the band’s second LP.
Fleet Foxes’ frontman Robin Pecknold also took to twitter a while ago to showcase 3 tracks he’d previously recorded in California while on a break, one of which features Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste.
EAR CANDY | [MP3] Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
“I was raised up believing I was some how unique. Like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you could see. And now after some thinking, I’d say I’d rather be a functioning cog in some great machinery, serving something beyond but me.”
Looks like a 3-year hiatus is common for bands (but just 3 years–no longer, no shorter), because like the Kills, Fleet Foxes are now back out of the woodwork with a new track. “Helplessness Blues,” the first single off their sophomore LP of the same name (due out May 3 via Sub Pop/Bella Union), is up for free download, and you will not be disappointed.
On their latest track, Robin Pecknold and his beard-loving Seattle folk-rock band are back to making the tight, sweet-sounding harmonies they’ve come to be known for, which makes it even harder to accept the fact that we’ve all been missing out on their beautiful music for 3 years. Cascading with harmonies crafted to be sung on some mountain in the wilderness, it sounds as though production is little sharper and clearer than on their critically-lauded self-titled debut, and I’m gladly taking it all in.
Really, this couldn’t get any more perfect unless they sang this high atop some mountain so their voices echoed while I closed my eyes and spun around a la Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. Yup. Sophomore slump? What sophomore slump? Enjoy! (And I’m sure you will.)
[MP3]: Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
*To download, click on the arrow on the right hand side of the player.
ON THE VERGE | The Head and the Heart
THE HEAD & THE HEART
Folk/Pop/Rock/Indie
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WHO: Charity Rose Thielen (vocals, violin, percussion), Chris Zasche (bass), Josiah Johnson (vocals, guitar, percussion), Jonathan Russell (vocals, guitar, percussion), Kenny Hensley (piano), Tyler Williams (drums)
WHERE: Seattle, Washington
CONNECT THE DOTS: Toured with Dr. Dog, Dave Matthews, Vampire Weekend
CLAIM TO FAME: They’re just really good. (Plus they just got signed to Sub Pop!)
YOU WILL LIKE THEM IF YOU LIKE: Husky male vocals, collectives, bearded men in plaid, log cabins
[MP3]: The Head and the Heart – “Sounds Like Hallelujah”
Seattle is a very luck state. Composed largely of Seattle transplants, The Head and the Heart was certainly the state’s best kept secret (up until now that is). I, myself, only discovered them this past summer (after finding their eponymous self-released full-length debut); but now that they’ve just been signed to Sub Pop Records, these guys are about definitely about to, for lack of better terms, “make it big.”
Crafting beautiful songs out of the heartache, they remind us not to dwell on the pains of sadness and instead focus on the beauty of it all. Just a bunch of friends singing around a proverbial bonfire, they’ve etched out a special little niche for themselves in a genre that seems overflowing. With a focus on instrumentation, their music is a seamless meshing of rustic harmonies, piano, percussion, acoustic guitar, violin, and yes–shakers. It’s a good ‘ol foot-stompin time.
Though I honestly don’t know too much about them as a band, but what I do know is that you should give them a listen. I guarantee you will like them. “Sounds like Hallelujah” was the first track of theirs that I heard, and damn, that transition to “Momma, don’t put no gun in my hand” really hooked me. “Down in the Valley” is another stunner, and you can now download it HERE, along with a new song, for the price of FREE (a.k.a. an email address), so there isn’t really a good reason not to check them out.
[MP3]: The Head and the Heart – “Winter Song” [via]
[MP3]: The Head and the Heart – “Lost in My Mind” [via]
EAR CANDY: Beach House – “White Moon”
Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House (Victoria Legrand + Alex Scally) have just released 5-song iTunes Sessions EP, which includes hits off their third full-length Teen Dream (that’s right–Katy Perry copied them) released early this year and 2008′s Devotion. Re-imagined on the EP are “Walk in the Park,” “Norway,” “Silver Soul,” “Gila” and “Real Love,”as well as one completely new track, called “White Moon.”
In true Beach House fashion, “White Moon” is a laid-back and mellow affair carried by Legrand’s signature smoky vocals. Take a listen below!
Beach House – “White Moon”
