I considered condensing this list, but you know what? Screw moderation. Who even likes moderation? Not I. Excess is way better. Eat till you feel sick, read till you can't see straight, listen till your head hurts.
In the wicked words of Celine Dion, "near far, where ever you are" BELIEVE in these bands:
Marry me MTL? Yes indeed, another band from the French province of my second home. Just wait until you click onto their myspace and understand how great they are. Why are they so great you ask? Um, an electronic Faint meets Peter Bjorn and John-esque interpretation of Smells Like Teen Spirit. For real. All you Dj's are going to (mind my language) fuck shit up with this. Their originals are also fantastic, love is not even an adequate word.
A band from Calgary who take us right back to the mid nineties. Perfect for a Joshua Gordon Levitt teen film soundtrack, indie rock in a mellow upbeat form not unlike Bishop Allen and various other college pop sensations. Getting somewhere, going places.
What a name. Minimal, charming, a little romantic. If I knew how to ride a bike, this is what I'd listen to whilst riding it through a hypothetical field. By field I mean Hyde Park, but you know, you get the jist. This stuff is just barely there, breathy and dreamy. There is a theory that if you listen to classical music while you study, you are more likely to retain that which you are trying to absorb, I believe this to be the classical music of our generation. A step beyond Fleet Foxes and Bowerbirds, this is timeless.
I probably cannot name one Hungarian musician. Let alone one that interests me. WPAHP intrigue me. Their myspace makes them look totally Eurotrash. I envision them to look like "typical eastern European" baddies so often depicted in American spy films (black pleather and all) however their remixes are much more awesome than awful. They've already done Radiohead, Oasis, Coldplay and Daft Punk. The question is, who's next? "Disco House" has never sounded (this) good.
Not a spelling mistake, but a charming arts+crafts band not too many people know about. They make what they call "low-fi bedroom blues", and I can't disagree (how can you ever really disagree with arts+crafts?) Like Matt and Kim after a nap, this is a boy girl duo you can back and rely on to aurally take you to an extremely pleasant place.
You know how loads of bands wanted to channel the Stooges but ended up sounding like the Strokes? Japandroid are one of those bands, but ended up landing, albeit quite messily, between the two. I'm not sure if it's just because their recordings are purposefully awful or because the sunshine has filled me with hope and glee I'd like to think upon performance/better recording this could be something pretty visceral. Or it could be really gross and bad. Either way, an interesting bunch.
I don't know if I like this band, but Afternoon records do and that makes me want to support them. A bit twee, a bit generic, but maybe just twee and generic enough to be good? Hmm.
These guys have been around a while, and are signed to Barsuk. I wasn't aware of them until fairly recently so I thought I'd put their name out there to see if anyone else had heard of them? Or if any one else liked them? They are a band who produce music not too unlike White Stripes demos. On a side note, I hear they're one of Ms Deschanels favourite bands, and if they're good enough for her...
A really fun band from, you guessed it, Canada. We should all move there. For real. Everyday would be handclaps and high fives.
Caledonia are a little Jeff Tweedy and a TINY bit Costello. I don't love them, but I think they are good-ish. I think they're a mood band, right now I feel chipper so moving on...
EVERYONE has been wanting to have these guys babies lately. I'm not missing out on the action, if one could procreate with music, man would this be my current choice. This music is pretty out there and yet probably the most likely to succeed out of the bands mentioned in this post. Like a really sugary cocktail that looks an unnatural neon colour, has a stupid name and makes your teeth hurt, but makes you haaaaaappy, this band take a pinch of Passion Pit, a dash of Justice and a hint of Uffie to equate to the hippest band on the West coast (along with their chums
Haunted Graffiti).
Taking us back to home of the hipster (Brooklyn of course) Deleted Scenes are making things pretty exciting in the outer borough. Atmospheric and a teeny little bit like Band of Horses and the National (note: teeny) they're rough and ready for better recordings, and bigger things.
Sticking to BK and the mellow music, The Antlers are a touch early Dirty Projectors, quite pretty sounding and a tad awesome. They're signed to Frenchkiss, and if that isn't endorsement enough I don't know what I can do to plead their case of lots of promise.
I really quite like this band, and I fear this will lose me whatever cool points I have left. They're all over the place but remain decidedly a pop band at the same time. I love a hook, I love a left field approach to pop and in that sense I believe they could and probably will be a great MTV band. Also, I have been told they KILL IT live. Someone should book a UK show, I bet it'd be real sweaty, a real guilty pleasure and real great.
Pretty morbid name, pretty great band. They're currently on tour with the Dears, and unlike most bands I tend to talk about they have really great production on their tracks and sound so radio ready it pains me more people don't know about them. Standard summing up: if you like the Dears you will love Eulogies. Damn you Americans and your good shows.
Dude sounds like Wilco meets Wheat. Old school acoustic entertainment that'll depress/impress/heart warm more than David Gray does middle aged housewives. Not my thing, but doom, gloom etc resonates with some folk or else we wouldn't have David would we...
Hailing from Athens, Georgia this band are very Barsuk- mellow, sweet and purposefully out of tune at times. This stuff has a built in audience referencing Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel- Chris Walla where are you with your contracts and pen?
Their record is named after an Italo Calvino book! Awesome!
This is totally middle aged jazz-funk music. I don't care, I secretly like it. At times.
Fantastic Passion Pit-esque Brooklyn fare. They have given us some great Summer jams. Thank you Neon Indian, you are just wonderful.
Afro-Caribbean melodic beats from a sweet little nerd. Another Frenchkiss boy with pleasant summery songs that make me wish I was on holiday already. Sunshine on a cloudy day.
Like Silversun Pickups? Like the Stills? ME TOO! This is why I like Gliss.
Gliss make songs that were made to be played to HUGE venues, loud. I'm not saying they're the most unique band in the world, but I think you might like the noises they make as I sure do.
Bowerbirds+Fleet Foxes+Arcade Fire= new generation folk.
Austins Band of Horses (I know I throw that comparison around alot, but it's only because I love them) with a bit of Explosions in the Sky. Pretty special stuff.
Like the Hold Steady but raw.
They sound like a night at the Drake.
Non-denominational hymnals for all.
Cat Power pissed off and drunk on Jack Daniels. Bluesy, dirty and Glucky endorsed.
She played last night at the Boogaloo secretly and she killed it.
Holly Mirandas voice tingles sliding down your spine, hits your soul and stays there.
Can you tell the length of my attention span is that of a piece of string?
More soon...
