Volume 96: Cut Copy

After having been to the Sleigh Bells/CSS show last night, I have a new found respect for "dancey" music.  Yes, that isn't a word but I prefer its idea to dancing. When you're at a show you just have to let loose and have fun but sometimes the music has to have the right feel in order for that to happen and that is what "Need You Now" does.

This Australian indie pop-synth band really knows how to make great "dancey" music. The beat, the rhythm, the synths, everything just ties into a great sound and gets you in the mood to move. Their latest effort, Zonoscope, is one of the early nominees for best albums of the year and should have strong consideration when all is said and done.

Volume 95: We Landed On The Moon!

The exclamation point makes me think that this band's name is a reference to Dumb & Dumber. In which case, they have created my favorite band name ever. It's just one of those classic quotes that I quote quite often.

Anyways, this song "Boats" is just fantastic. Starting off with Melissa Eccles's vocals and then the drums and synths kick in. The synths give me a feel of an old school video game and then the powerful vocals of Melissa just really make this song all that much better. Make sure to also head over to their myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/welandedonthemoon, to listen to some other songs of theirs 

Volume 94: Okkervil River

Many won't be new to Okkervil River, but you may be new to their upcoming album, I Am Very Far, and its first single "Wake and Be Fine". The new album is due out May 10th and to get a feel for it the live Rolling Stone session is posted below.

It is what you would expect out of Okkervil, great quality music. It may seem a little "loud" upon first listen, but once you work your way through and feel the chanting and know when to expect it, the song's feel definitely changes upon more listens. This is definitely one of the more anticipated albums for me over the next couple months and I can't wait to hear what else they have in store for us fans on I Am Very Far.

Volume 93: Silver Strands

Unfortunately today's artist doesn't have any embeddable material, at least that I could find after searching for about 15 minutes. However, you can go on their site http://silverstrands.bandcamp.com/ and listen to their entire debut album for free. That seems to be a fair trade off. You can also "name your price" and download the album if you like what you hear.

Silver Strands sound is probably considered indie-folk-rock, but more of a rock folk than country folk. On first listen, the opening track "Golden Morning Light" really stuck out but by the time I got to the end of the album it was apparent it would need more listens because there are a lot of great tracks. It seems as if there are not any bad tracks on it at all. So head over to their site and check it for yourself.

Volume 92: Tahiti 80

Tahiti 80's video for "Darling" may end up being my favorite video this year. Not because that music videos are hardly ever made anymore, but because of the animation chosen by them and director Daisuke Kitayama, who also did their latest one, "Easy", with a similar concept. You can check the "Easy" video on their site http://www.tahiti80.com/

As far as the music goes, "Darlin" really has that feel of a modernized version of a 60s beachy-love song (if that makes sense). This track comes off their latest endeavor he Past, Present & The Possible which came out in February. So make sure to check that out and their "Easy" video on their site.

Volume 91: Fort Frances

The new and relatively unknown project set out by David McMillin, Fort Frances, has become one of 2011's Must Watch bands. This three piece band achieves a lot of varying sounds for having so few members. Maximizing every sound has given their music an epic/dramatic feel to it. If you head over to their site http://fortfrancesmusic.com/ you can stream their music and even get a free download.

Below is their recently released video for "Cities in the Dust", which happens to be a great example of what was mentioned above about their epic/dramatic feel. So give that a listen and then head over to their site to hear more from this 2011 Must Watch group.

Volume 90: Hellogoodbye

Hellogoodbye's latest effort "Would It Kill You?" was released back in October of 2010. Even though they've been around for quite awhile this was only their second official studio release. Although, having 5 EPs will make it seem like they've had more.

Off the aforementioned album comes the track "When We First Met". From the lyrics and the video it would seem to suggest the song is about a relationship or love through the use of hair. A point-of-view rarely ever used, so it has a fresh feel to the traditional love song.

Volume 89: Warpaint

Sitting in an airport right now and trying to access the live Coachella stream is no easy task, mainly due to the fact that the available WiFi acts like it's from 1992 (yes I realize it's because of the amount of people trying to use it). The only channel I can access right now is Warpaint so I figured why not post about them?

I've met some people who write off all female groups before even listening to them. To not give someone at least one listen is inexplicable. Warpaint puts out great music and should get more than just a courtesy listen. Below are live and studio versions of their hit "Undertow".

Volume 88: Jukebox The Ghost

If Dr Dog and Ben Folds had a baby, it would be Jukebox The Ghost. It is also fitting that JTG was able to tour with Ben Folds early a couple of years ago. With the piano and upbeat rock, it's pretty easy to see how such a conclusion can be made.

Their first single, "Empire", off of their second album, Everything Under The Sun, is a track that really encompasses their sound. This "DC-born, Philadelphia based" trio really found a great sound and pull it off well so check out "Empire" to really get a feel for what I've explained.

Volume 87: Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

If you have a dumbfounded or quirky look on your face after reading this band's name, then they achieved their goal. They recently did a live session at Wolfgang's Vault (which you can check out here Live Session) and discussed their upcoming album, It's A Corporate World, and the idea behind the name. They went on to say that they wanted a name that was so ridiculous that listeners shouldn't have any expectations when a song started which would allow them to play and try different types of music.

They also wear racing jackets to personify their name and add a bit of humor to their shows. Their music is nothing to laugh at though. On that live session you can hear some of the new stuff so you know what to expect from the album. Until then, we will have to make due with stuff off of their debut EP Horse Power (also another great pun for the Nascar theme). So here's their video for "Nothing But Our Love" where they really bring home the racing theme. Hopefully you can find it humorous and also appreciate the music at the same time.

Volume 86: Peter Bjorn & John

You have to love any band that can be abbreviated PB&J, don't you? This Swedish group is not new by any means but their latest release, Gimme Some, is. It needs to be said that the first few months of 2011 have given us some great new music, and this addition is no slouch.

The album's opening track "Tomorrow Has To Wait" really kicks off the album with an awesome marching-esque drumming forcing you to get into the beat and then the vocals kick in and really show you what this album is capable of. Also make sure to check out their site/blog, http://peterbjornandjohn.com/blog/ , because they do a great job at keeping fans in the loop of all their adventures.

Volume 85: ANR (Awesome New Republic)

This two-piece indie-rock/electronic group is starting to gain attention. It would seem appropriate for them to do so since they've been able to play with Animal Collective and Girl Talk. Their "Rational Geographic Volume 1" release also was pushed through BitTorrent, which would seem like a bad idea since that means no money is being transferred but it does help spread the word to more people.

The above is ANR's latest release, "Stay Kids", cover art in motion, which should be enough to get your interest piqued. You can find similar stuff on their site at http://anrmiami.com/. Below is the title track from said album. Make sure to also go to their site and see their current tour and try and check them out while they are making their rounds. 

Volume 84: Hugo

This song is obviously nothing new, but I completely forgot about this folk/bluegrass version until the other day when it came on while I had my itunes on shuffle. Unfortunately YouTube is kind of down right now, nothing is able to be embedded (or at least able to give the embed code) so I had to find an alternate site.

Hugo's version is just as good as Jay Z's version and maybe even better mainly because of how he's able to rearrange the song into a folk/bluegrass sound. I guess you can see for yourself which you like better.

Hugo - 99 Problems (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Hugo

Volume 83: Michael Andrews

While watching Me and You and Everyone We Know, the movie not to be confused with the band You, Me and Everyone We Know, I noticed that the score/soundtrack was very interesting. It came across as highly emotional ambient electronics. The movie itself was very good but the score just really gave it that extra bump. It was nice to find out that it was all original work by Michael Andrews, who is most famous for the collaboration with Gary Jules for "Mad World" featured in Donnie Darko.

Michael Andrews really did a number on this score. Just some really great tracks throughout the entire film. The one that stuck out the most to me was the track "Mirrors". Just for a little background and not to spoil too much, the scene it is played in is when a female character starts to feel for a male character. That's about as much as I can say without saying too much so I'll just let that be the segue into the music.

Volume 82: Stripmall Architecture

As I've discussed multiple times on here, some band names are just so out there. I was playing "Lemoncholic" over the weekend and a friend asked who it was. When I told him the name of the band he just kind of stared at me as if I were lying or made it up. My first thought was the scene at the end of The Sandlot where they talk about what everyone became in life and the two brother's ended up designing strip malls for a living.

Anyways, this song is pretty fantastic and has a great feel to it. The vocals, by Rebecca, are also very Kate Earl/Kate Nash so to say they are good would be an understatement. The band's first LP was funded through Kickstarter.com and has been split into two parts with different release dates and will later be put into one complete vinyl. Until the rest of the LP is released, this should wet the appetite just enough to have you anticipating its release.