Olympia band Lake returns this year with a new album called Giving And Receiving. If you like what you heard from their past few releases, including the phenomenal Let’s Build A Roof from 2009, you’ll dig this one. It has a pleasant mix of upbeat pop songs and chill mellow ones. “Within/Without” finds somewhat of a middle ground, with a slightly funky beat and their nice signature male/female harmony vocals. Read More »Lake: Within/Without [Video]
As wintertime gives way to the warmer days of spring and summer I find myself craving music reflective of the change of seasons. I want to hear upbeat, energetic, light-hearted songs. Thankfully there’s the music of Garret Jones. Working under the moniker of Mister Suit, Jones creates music that just exudes sunshine. A little bit retro and deliciously uncomplicated, Mister Suit’s tracks are the perfect pick-me up. Read More »Mister Suit [Feature]
One part a spoken whisper, another a harmonically sung tune, Howe Gelb‘s vocals are near mystical in their folk simplicity. These are vocals that, despite their light playful nature, can send chills down your arms. And, being a master of his trade, Gelb backs his voice with expert performers and well-crafted lyrics. “4 Door Maverick” could be a country song for all it’s talk of the 70’s Ford, but it ends up a flamenco-influenced folk song courtesy a troupe of gypsies. Read More »Howe Gelb: 4 Door Maverick [mp3]
“Shredder” lives up to its name, but I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less from Jeff the Brotherhood. The band exudes the shred mentality with wild infectious guitar riffs epic in their near simple, slushy nature backed by heavily beat drums. And they take it to the next level with the inclusion of keyboards. “Shredder” matches the personality of everything off 2009’s Heavy Days, an album that came in at #10 on my year end list.
Read More »Jeff The Brotherhood: Shredder [mp3] 
36.1 minutes. That is the length of the new Fredrik album, Flora. Not bad, especially since the band has put together a video that spans that amount of time and covers the album in its entirety. Brilliant, I say! Flora continues what Fredrik has created on their past two releases – eerie experimental pop music that is other-worldly. Read More »Fredrik: Flora [Video]
I really fell in love with the weirdness behind Chad VanGaalen‘s last album, Soft Airplane. Many songs had strange electronic… Read More »Chad VanGaalen: Sara [mp3]
Benoît Pioulard is the project of Thomas Meluch, whose latest release, Lasted, mixes a dark, dreamy side of pop with one more experimental. “Shouting Distance” sides on the former, with more playful vocal and instrumental melodies. This is where Meluch shines, and it shows in the video for the song. “Shouting Distance” may just be footage of young kids skateboarding, but the film that’s used and the lighting give it a very cool retro feel. You can’t place it in time, but nor can you do the same with Benoît Pioulard. Meluch is mysterious like that; it’s a trait that makes his music really quite good. Read More »Benoît Pioulard: Shouting Distance [Video]
Jeremy Jay debuted on the scene in 2007 with singles for Airwalker and We Were There. I snagged both of those at the time, and I really enjoyed them. His debut LP, A Place Where We Could Go, too, was impressive. He then released a few more LPs and a few more singles, and that leads us to his fourth album, Dream Diary. Born and raised in California, Dream Diary has that state’s sound — it’s sunny, but it irks to get away from the cookie cutter nature rampant in suburbia. Read More »Jeremy Jay: Dream Diary [Album Review]
The HHBTM team has sent me two lovely little packages in the past few months, the second of which arrived just last week. I figured it was high time to give them coverage… in list form! HHBTM, if you’re not familiar with the label, is short from Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records, and they’ve released several favorites over the years; bands like Patience Please, Fishboy, The Superions, Bunnygrunt, Casper And The Cookies, Velcro Stars and Eux Autres. Their singles club even includes the likes of Apples in Stereo and Of Montreal. Not to mention, the crew plays a major part in Athens Popfest. Read More »Six new Singles by HHBTM
Somewhere deep in the forests of Homer, Alaska there must be some sort of euphoric yet catastrophic scenery. Knowing that Sergius Gregory recorded his debut album, Sounds Like People, in such desolate conditions actually brings much perspective to the organic and soothing sounds littered throughout the album. There seems to be a mixture of joy and pain that nobody but Sergius could truly explain; it has left a gaping hole in his work that allows us to make personal interpretations based on our own fears and emotions. What a swell gentleman you are Mr. Gregory! Read More »Sergius Gregory: Sounds Like People [Album Review]
