New York – The biggest news this past week was the announcement of our 2nd Annual Newbie Awards, where we (and you) vote on your top picks in four categories for the artists who made the sounds and put on the shows that grabbed your attention the most. If you haven’t voted yet, there’s just a little over a week left – you have until December 6th, so please throw in if you haven’t already by voting for your favorites here.
Aside from that, there were several fresh tracks that are on our radar now going into 2014:
Post punk power pop trio Slonk Donkerson are really getting strong on the Brooklyn music scene, worming their way in with vocals somewhere between Paul Westerberg and Jim Adkins, and plenty of hard rock riffs you can bang your head to. They’re trying to turn the local scene up to 11.
A fixture of Boston’s current underground experimental rock scene, Grass is Green has released a new track, “Vacation 2.0,” and a tour with Speedy Ortiz.
Psych rockers Holy Wave have announced a new album, and judging by first single “Star Stamp” they’ve taken a few notes from Iron Butterfly and had themselves a field day.
“Over Me” is a great grunge punk tune, which is the latest from Brooklyn 3 piece Dead Waves, off their forthcoming EP December 10.
Back with more great 60s psych vibes is Temples, with fresh track “Mesmerise.”
This past summer we talked with Sean St. Charles of Pity Sex, and they’ve released more guitar-driven 90s pop with “Wind Up”
Little Racer has also hit on the kind of pop sound that draws you in, with sparkly guitar lines in single “Vanessa.”
Abram Shook is a multi-instrumentalist from Austin, who has been involved in a number of projects, including Shearwater. Lead single “Coastal” is a perfect example of the “sweet new-tropical, bedroom-soul, slow jams” that are reportedly on his debut solo release Sun Marquee.
“Bullet Train” is Gardens and Villa’s lead single of new album Dunes, due out in February. They’ve got a groove on this one.
Say Yes Dog is an electronic duo currently based in The Hague, Netherlands, who merge danceable synth melodies with bouncing beats that fans of Royksopp would dig. They’ve got a new EP streaming for free.
Francis And The Lights have a music video for “Like A Dream,” where vocalist Francis Farewell Starlite shows off his two-stepping stamina, and it’s actually pretty easy to pace yourself with this track.
Multi-instrumentalist Jaakko Eino Kalevi has been driving trams and creating chilled out electronic music in his native Finland, and is now gearing up to release his Dreamzone EP December 2. “No End” is the alluring first single off that, with gently bobbing bass, soft psych punctuated with sax, and a synth solo that won’t quit.
Tracklist
Slonk Donkerson – “Watching Every Channel At Once”
Grass Is Green – “Vacation 2.0″
Holy Wave – “Star Stamp”
Dead Waves – “Over Me”
Temples – “Mesmerize”
Pity Sex – “Wind-Up”
Little Racer – “Vanessa”
Abram Shook – “Coastal”
Gardens & Villa – “Bullet Train”
Say Yes Dog – “Around My Neck”
Francis & The Lights – “Like A Dream”
Jaakko Eino Kalevi – “No End”
Bonus Video: Baby Alpaca does it again with the beautiful visuals on their new video for “Wild Child”
