This was a strange week, in that a lot happened but it feels like nothing happened at the same time. It’s like when you take a vacation, and a lot happens, but when you get back and your friends ask you what you did, you can’t really remember right away and you don’t know what to tell them. I’ll have a good story when I remember it.
In featured artist news, Earl Sweatshirt was the main highlight for our Coachella preview.
Danish band Pinkunoizu are about to release their second EP, and songwriter Andreas Pallisgaard had this to say about their musical philosophy: “Listening to our music on record should be more of a fictionalized space rather than an attempt to present something as being real and happening in front of the listener when it in fact is not.” Listen to track Tin Can Valley and imagine your own fictionalized space. Now let’s really experiment and see if it/how much it changes through the course of this mixtape
The Men released a new jam called “B Minor” and also kicked off an almost three month long tour, which will end in NYC at the 4 Knots Festival on June 29.
Tape Deck Mountain released a video for the track “Kellies,” off the Slow Salvation EP released last month. It successfully makes old film footage look macabre, and the karaoke-style lyric subtitles make sure the words don’t drown in the blown-out bass.
Northampton’s tied to the nineties 4-piece, Speedy Ortiz, are set to release their debut 7 inch, featuring lead single “Ka-Prow,” complete with lyrics ringing of arsonist tendencies.
Touché is the dancey electronic disco duo of Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore, who premiered their newest single “Bad Dreams” off debut due out May 1. In many ways, this song feels like it could be both from the 80s and from the future. The production quality has this feeling of it being more of an unpolished mix, and there’s something fun and raw about dancing to a demo that makes you feel like the only one who has it.
I’ll admit I’m a total sucker for Jen Wassner’s (Wye Oak) nuanced alto vocals, and I feel like she makes any collaboration with another artist way better than it would have been without her, which is probably why ‘The Great Fire” is one of my favorite Future Islands tracks. Anyway, Dungeonesse is her project with Jon Ehrens of White Life, and “Nightlight” is their just released slow jam form the forthcoming self-titled debut.
Sydney dance music magicians Canyons just got their tune “When I See You Again” remixed by Duke Dumont, and it’s definitely one for the clubs. I’m hearing a little bit of Destroyer’s Kaputt in those synth lines and vocals.
Brooklyn’s own Brazos has just announced a month-long residency in the hood at Cameo Gallery, and after hearing their new tune “How the Ranks Was Won,” I may have to check out at least one of their performances.
Ola Podrida is back with a new album and a new tour, and the first listen is “Staying In,” which is exactly what you would imagine – a calming tune about what usually needs to happen after that vacation you can’t remember, in order to clear your mind so you can remember later. Maybe write stuff down just in case.
BestNewBands.com Mixtape #20 by BestNewBands.com
BONUS: I hope you guys aren’t tired of Iceage yet, because I’m not. I will concede that this band is not for everyone, but the tension they harness just keeps doing it for me. The band recently filmed a live video for “Morals,” and is it just me or is singer Elias Rønnenfelt completely channeling Ian Curtis with his wardrobe choice?
Special mention: Columbus, OH rapper Copywrite has released a free album, Carbon Copy’s Phony Art Pub Scam, which is an entire play on the Beatles’ Sargent Pepper, and it’s pretty clever.
Photo Of The Men By Angel Ceballos
