"Floating Vibes" by Surfer Blood: Thanks @SurferBlood!

There's more ‘surfer’ than ‘blood’ in Surfer Blood's new album and that's probably a good thing. Surf music is the quintessential pop genre: the perfect mix of sugary hooks, sunny lyrics, and go-go breakdowns to let your inner Gidget run wild.  The foursome from Florida have taken the best of this genre - Dick Dale, the Beach Boys, and nouveau-surf, from the Pixies (QRO live review) to Weezer (QRO live review) - and repackaged it into the pleasing little gem Astro Coast.

Check out "Floating Vibes" below, download here, and enjoy! Thanks to Fingertips for the track!

"Hands Up (The Race)" by Susu: Thanks @susuband!

Susu is an aggressive artcore machine out of Brooklyn with one setting (loud) and no off switch. Eschewing standard verse-chorus-verse formats, their latest release R and R and R is a provocative musical statement that will command you to attention with all the authority of a drill sergeant on acid. Most of the sonic vocabulary, the raw guitars and the howling vocals, are reminiscent of the textures of the New York underground scene of the 80s. Intense, experimental, a little bit dangerous. Susu takes this sound and reconfigures the elements into often exhilarating inventions of proggy, punky chutzpah.

Check out the song below (from a previous release), download here, enjoy, and thanks to the old Gimme Tinnitus blog for the track!

To hear a track from R and R and R, check out the QRO review, and look up Susu at their site!

"The Motorist" by Arms and Sleepers: Thanks @armsandsleepers!

On Matador, Arms and Sleepers combine live sounds and samples to craft lush dreamscapes of Portishead-like eeriness and ambient beauty. Pianos, synths, and the occasional melodica provide the melodies on Matador, but the drums keep the ear invested.  Arms and Sleepers has a knack for blending the ‘crunch' of live drums with the ‘click' of electronic beats. Go ahead and let the waves of trance and transcendence wash over you.

Check out the track below (from an earlier album), download here, and look them up on their European tour (schedule here). Thanks to Lifting Faces for the track!

"Always Wanting More" in memory of Jay Reatard: RIP #jayreatard

In tribute to Jay Reatard who was confirmed dead by Goner Records as of last night. Thank you for the music and memories. RIP.

Check out "Always Wanting More" below and download here. Thanks to Spinner for the track.

"Dry Hump" by Twin Sister: Thanks @twinsistermusic!

Wait for about a minute as the acoustic strum and  "aquatic whale moans" rise like the morning sun, then watch the band kick in and the vocals turn on as Twin Sister brings it on home. Spare and sweet- this song is a keeper.

Check it out below, download here, and download the whole 4 song EP at their site. Thanks Twin Sister for the music and thanks Zambri for the tip!

"Inca Orange" by Pollination: Thanks @turquoiseOD!

Hey, we usually don't send people offsite to download music, but we'll make an exception for the "Inca Orange" album by Pollination. Why? Because it's so damn good and it's so damn free. Let's call it medium-fi industrial ambient. Mix the in-your-ear trebly psychadelia of Neon Indian, with the engimatic electronic hooks of Aphex Twin (Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II especially), and the 21st century feel good undertones of Animal Collective, and you're getting closer to the musical territory that Pollination is mapping out. That's damn good company.

Great stuff, whether you think of yourself as someone who likes electronic music or not. Download for free here and enjoy- thanks Pollination (aka @turquoiseOD on twitter)!

"Architekt" by Arms and Sleepers: Thanks @armsandsleepers!

On Matador, Arms and Sleepers combine live sounds and samples to craft lush dreamscapes of Portishead-like eeriness and ambient beauty. Collaboration was a significant part of Matador.  Notable invites include Philip Caspian of Caspian (QRO interview), as well as Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham of Uzi & Ari.  The latter pair combine for a vocal duet on "Architekt" that might be the star of the album.  Arms and Sleepers is less about pop hooks and more about the gradual layering of sonic textures, but you'll be hard-pressed to forget the simple and seductive piano motif on "Architekt" anytime soon.

Check it out below, download here, and enjoy- thanks to FensePost for the track!

"Creatures" by You Can Be A Wesley: Thanks @YouCanBeAWesley!

You Can Be A Wesley conjures up a mélange of clean, crisp Telecaster licks, precision downstrokes, and naked walking bass lines on their new release Heard Like Us. "Creatures" is a quiet xx-esque (QRO live review) bass line-led song that absolutely explodes towards the end. This is the sort of album that rewards re-listening, but if there is one element that will grab you right away, it's the standout vocals of Ms. Untracht-Oakner.  She's concocted a strange alchemy in her delivery, impressive in its range and depth.  There are the pixy strains of Joanna Newsom in "Kiddie Pool", the folk banshee-isms of Margaret Darling (of Seedy Seeds - QRO album review) on "Wildlife", and occasionally she hits an old skool riot grrrl howl à la Kathleen Hanna.

Check it out below, download here and enjoy!

"Of Foam and Wave" by Caspian: Thanks @Caspian_!

When you first hear the reversed synth sample in "Of Foam and Wave", you know something big is headed your way.  The feel is like that of climbing the first peak of a rollercoaster: excitement, anxiety, terror.  Caspian has a habit of luring you in with soft sounds, tropes of quiet beauty, before dropping you straight off a very steep cliff.  But the album is not all about sheer thrills.  There's a story being told that is too big for lyrics. In broad strokes, Tertia is a story about conflict, confrontation, conflagration, wherein the listener is drawn through a crucible of intense yearning the size of a needle's eye, spit out, and reborn. 

Listen to "Of Foam and Wave" below, download here, and check out Caspian on their current US tour. Thanks Bradley's Almanac for the track!

"Weak For Me" by Nite Jewel: Thanks @NiteJewel + @stonesthrow!

I can't describe this. West coast feel good 2020 club funk? A little Passion Pit, a little Neon Indian, a little Dam Funk. But, as John Donne said, comparisons are odious. Nite Jewel is all her own. Sample the song below, check out her site, download here, and enjoy! Thanks Stones Throw for the track, and check out their awesome Nite Jewel write up here!