Fall 2015 New Music Playlist

Here's another playlist to catch up on new releases by fave bands such as Deerhunter, YACHT, Beach House, Yo La Tengo and more. There are also songs by new configurations of musicians (EL VY) plus solo work by Martin Courtney and Chris Walla. As always, there are a few newbies to welcome to the music scene fold: Maury and Legs. Listen on Spotify via this link or as a YouTube playlist.

1. “Return to the Moon” – EL VY

The National’s Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf (Ramona Falls, Menomena) have been talking about collaborating for years, and now a debut album by their musical project EL VY is ready for a listen. This is the title track for the collection, a bouncy, fun tune with rambling lyrics and sing along chorus.

2. “Breaker” – Deerhunter

Atlanta’s indie rock quartet Deerhunter has released its seventh studio album since 2001, Fading Frontier, written by songwriter Bradford Cox after he was hit by a car and the accident became a musical turning point. The song “Breaker” finds Cox sharing lead vocals with guitarist Lockett Pundt for a lighter pop sound.

3. “I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler” – YACHT

L.A. band YACHT was formed in Portland in 2002 by musician/producer Jona Bechtolt and singer Claire L. Evans. They craft fun dance punk songs with a lyrical depth as exhibited in this title track for the band’s sixth album.

4. “61 Cygni Ave” – Neon Indian

Neon Indian is the stage name of Alan Paloma, a Mexican born musician from Denton, Texas. He recently released the third album since 2008, VEGA INTL. Night School, full of funk influences and swirling dance beats as found in “61 Cygni Ave.”

5. “Pretty Pimpin” – Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile is a former member of Philly band The War on Drugs who just released his sixth album since 2008, believe I’m going down… As a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Vile’s goal was to present songs that have a lo-fi sound, as if they're written and played on his couch.

6. “Friends” – Raury

 Raury is a young musician from Atlanta who fearlessly mixes soul, hip hop and folk. Last year he put together a mixtape and soon signed with Columbia Records. This friendly, open composition, “Friends,” is off his second album All We Need.

7. “Rickety” – Yo La Tengo

Hoboken’s Yo La Tengo has released a mix of covers along with a few originals like “Rickety” for its fourteenth full length album, Stuff Like That There. This memorizing tune showcases the band’s strength in acoustic arrangements and sweetly sung vocals.

8. “Mountain at My Gates” – Foals

Foals is an indie rock quintet from Oxford, England.  “Mountain at My Gates” is a single from the band’s fourth studio album, What Went Down, with lead guitarist and vocalist Yannis Philippaki leading the band’s driven sound.

9. “Falling” – Here We Go Magic

NYC-based band Here We Go Magic is known for its buoyant songwriting and energetic arrangements as witnessed in “Falling.” This tune is off the fourth album since 2008, Be Small.

10. “Northern Highway – Martin Courtney

Martin Courtney is a vocalist and guitarist for the New Jersey band Real Estate, now based in Brooklyn.  His solo debut Many Moons strives for a more personal level of songwriting that tilts towards pop, as achieved in the endearing tune “Northern Highway.”

11. “Jabberwocky” – Panda Bear

Noah Benjamin Lennox is the musical mastermind behind Panda Bear, releasing five solo albums since 1999 while Lennox collaborated in Animal Collective. This Baltimore native is now living in Lisbon, indulging in experimental psych pop with this lush composition, “Jabberwocky,” off the EP Crosswords.

12. “Top of the World” – Legs

Brooklyn indie quartet Legs has a tag line that it “makes music for the body” as this song fuses soul and Nu-disco for an instant dance party. “Top of the World” is off the band’s self-released debut album Altitud.

13. “Let It Grow” – Maximum Balloon, Karen O, Tunde Adebimpe

Maximum Balloon is Dave Sitek’s side project when he finds time away from being a producer/guitarist with TV on the Radio. This infectious single -- with a strummed rhythm supplementing the drums -- for an upcoming sophomore album, “Let It Grow,” enlists a charming collaboration with vocals by Karen O and TV on the Radio’s Tende Adebimpe.

14. “One Thing” – Beach House

Baltimore duo Beach House, French-born singer Victoria Legrand on keyboards and guitarist Alex Scally, released a second album this year called Thank Your Lucky Stars (the sixth full length since 2004).  The drifting tune “One Thing” is emblematic of their dream pop music, imparting an elegant wash of sound.

15. “Doll’s House” – Youth Lagoon

Youth Lagoon is the moniker of Boise, Idaho musician Trevor Powers, who has released a third album since 2010, Savage Hills Ballroom. His songs are always densely presented and deeply personal, even in this instrumental song “Doll’s House.”

16. “Kanta’s Theme” – Chris Walla

“Kanta’s Theme” is the enigmatic opening track for Field Manual, the first solo release since Chris Walla left Death Cab for Cutie. This change, along with a move with his family to Norway, found him reflective and seeking musical renewal as he started plugging in tape machines to create loops.

SXSW 2013 -- Being There By Being Online

Not everyone is heading to Austin this week for South by Southwest (SXSW) even if it sometimes feels like it.  So thankfully, there's plenty of online offerings to take advantage of just by being near a computer. After perusing my favorite new music outlets, I had to draw up a schedule similar to what I used to do in college diagramming my classes (see below).  It's going to make for a busy week!

For starters, SPIN has picked forty bands as "Must See Acts" as readers can flip through a listing of buzzed about bands even before the buzz begins.  Each group has some background info as "The Skinny" and then some props under a section called "Why You Should Care." Big names such as Vampire Weekend and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are found here, along with blog faves Foxygen and Major Lazor.  Two new bands that have recently caught my ear are also given a shout out: Parquet Courts and Chvrches.  Even The Hollywood Reporter's website is writing about "5 Buzzworthy Bands" (Alt-J, Atlas Genuis and Haim plus others) along side quirky articles such as "How to Sleep Like Oprah and Eat Like a Local" and coverage highlighting the film component.

Another great preview is NPR Music's The Austin 100: A SXSW Mix, available as a download through April 5.  There is over six hours of songs here, with many proud moments as I spotted blog faves Caveman, Youth Lagoon, and Foxygen on the list.  Nothing new really struck me, but my musical tastes were certainly reinforced towards the indie tilt (no need for Killer Mike or Skeletonwitch, thankyouverymuch). NPR will also live broadcast a showcase on Wednesday, March 13 at approximately 8 pm EST, featuring theYeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Youth Lagoon and others.  And on Thursday, March 14 at 12 noon, NPR will broadcast Dave Grohl's Keynote Speech, surely an entertaining listening session. 

LA's KCRW brags how it was one of the first radio stations to broadcast remotely from the festival and this year "Morning Becomes Eclectic" will be there Monday through Friday (12 pm to 3 pm EST).  Musical Director Jason Bentley will be interviewing Depeche Mode and the station will host an official showcase Wednesday night with Ra Ra Riot, Wild Belle, Atlas Genius and Toro Y Moi.


KEXP plans to be broadcasting live Wednesday through Friday (12:30 pm to 9 pm EST) as well as Saturday (3 pm to 9 pm EST).  Among the bands for exclusive live sets are Iron and Wine, Parquet Courts and Billy Bragg.  A full schedule is available on their blog at the link at the beginning of the paragraph.

Five public radio stations are presenting a showcase on Friday called "Public Radio Rocks" (including a local, WFUV's The Alternate Side).  From 1 pm to 7 pm, a full lineup from Divine Fits to Iron & Wine and Vampire Weekend will be broadcast live on those stations.  It'll be a proud day both online and over the airwaves.

Daytrotter's Coachella 2013 Playlist

Mr Daytrotter has also rolled out a Coachella 2013 Playlist, with the entire lineup represented in past Daytrotter sessions.  The festival is planned over two weekends to capitalize on the crowds, April 12 - 14 and April 19 - 21 (info at Coachella.com).


There's recent blog mentions Youth Lagoon and Beach House, along with established faves such as Vampire Weekend and Portugal. The Man.  Of course, some groups overlap with Daytrotter's Bonnaroo 2013 Playlist, reflecting the busy touring schedules of Grizzly Bear, Wild Nothing, The Lumineers, Tame Impala and others. Check out the sleepy sounds of the already buzzed about Jake Bugg and an alarmingly stripped down version of Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work."  As always, there's plenty more where all this comes from by visiting individual artists' sessions in the archives -- just pony up that $2 a month subscription fee.

Link to listen here.

Youth Lagoon's New Album on NPR's "First Listen," NYC Tour Date March 6

Trevor Powers (Photo: Josh Darr)

One of the previews available on NPR Music this week is Youth Lagoon's sophomore album, Wondrous Bughouse, due March 5 worldwide via Fat Possum.  While it may be easy to dismiss Youth Lagoon as another guy in a studio full of tricks, especially with the flattened-by-fuzz compositions found in the 2010's The Year of Hibernation, this collection of songs transcends that notion by embracing sonic structures and soaring melodic builds.  

Trevor Powers is the wunderkind who uses Youth Lagoon as a stage name as well as an outlet for his wandering mind.  The first album was based around the idea of psychological dysphoria, documenting the trails of his mind with songs of minimalism and hypnotic ambience.  He described writing music as "my mind communicating with me, not the other way around... it can take me to scary places but I've realized those bizarre thoughts don't define me." 

Wondrous Bughouse focuses on the human psyche again, but this time it expands to include spiritual yearnings. Powers became intrigued with the metaphysical universe blending with pop music, and it shows.  "A lot of this record was influenced by a fear of mortality but embracing it at the same time," he says.  "Realizing that human life is only great because it is temporary... I'm not a gifted speaker, so explaining things is difficult for me.  But music always makes sense."

The first track, "Through Mind and Back" introduces Powers as the solo musician manipulating sounds for his own amusement.  But then he launches into tuneful layers of instrumentation for "Mute" and allows a simple melody with vocals (doubled and yes, blurred) in "Attic Doctor."  My favorite song is "Dropla," which is embedded at the bottom of this post and already picked for my next playlist.  Its repeating chorus of "You'll never die," is at once hopeless and optimistic. There's a grandeur in "Third Dystopia" and a majestic simplicity in "Raspberry Cane" before "Daisyphobia" brings on a next generation St. Pepper approach for the end, leaving the listener instantly ready for another visit.  

Link to listen here and check out the tour dates below.

YOUTH LAGOON

02/28 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court

03/01 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge

03/06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

03/13 - 03/16 Austin, TX - SXSW

03/22 Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest

04/12 Indio, CA - Coachella

04/19 Indio, CA - Coachella

04/21 Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom

04/22 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress

04/24 Austin, TX - Mohawk

04/25 Dallas, TX - The Loft

04/26 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's

04/27 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks

04/28 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree

04/30 Orlando, FL - The Social

05/01 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West

05/02 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge

05/03 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle

05/04 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle

05/07 Northampton, MA - Pearl St.

05/10 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer

05/11 Columbia, MD - Sweet Life Festival

05/13 Toronto, ON - Great Hall

05/14 Columbus, OH - A&R Bar

05/15 Chicago, IL - Metro

05/16 Madison, WI - Majestic Theater

05/17 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line

05/22 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom

05/23 Vancouver, BC - Venue  

05/24 Gorge, WA Sasquatch! Fest

06/05 Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center *   

* = w/ The National