With one eye on their shoes and the other trained on the stars, Asobi Seksu blissfully revive their genre of choice through cloudbursts of fuzzed-out guitars juxtaposed against sometimes hopeful, sometimes forlorn (and sometimes Japanese) vocals.
Midsummer
Midsummer are just that, midsummer. Fun, refreshed, probably sunburned, a little sweaty, a little lazy, with just a touch of apprehension cause school starts in six weeks.
Lomax
Unfortunate for us Yanks, this gem hasn’t dropped on our side of the pond. Post-punk on its second time around. It’s not necessarily evident from these tracks, but this band’s politics are as sharp as their grooves. Gang of Four float your boat? Start downloading…
The Briefs
Meet The Briefs, the punk rock band that kept me sane (and awake) during a recent 36-hour work marathon. Catchy as heck and dripping with snotty wit (promise me you’ll listen to “Silver Bullet”), The Briefs wear their influences — The Dickies, Undertones, Devo — like, well, tighty-whites pulled over their pants for all to enjoy. So, enjoy…
Fridge
UK post-rock trio, not unlike Tortoise, prone to toy with electronic and sometimes jazzy improvisations. Although Fridge can sometimes resort to experimentation for experimentation’s sake, these tracks are a fine sampling of their more accessible work. FYI: Fridge has spawned two solo projects, Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) and Adem (Adem Ilhan).
Greg Davis
Reluctant beats rinsed in rippling, melancholic guitars — perfect for after hours listening (assuming you’re driving home after getting dumped).
Spiraling
“Nostalgia” has always been the phrase at the heart of what could be called the entertainment equivalent of conservatism, i.e., it’s a dangerous reaffirmation of not just the status quo but of “the way things used to be.” Yet I just can’t fight that good ol’ feeling Spiraling gives me: classic keyboard melodics, arena-rocking riffs and cymbals — heck, there’s even an organ in there. Tom Brislin knows his history, that’s for sure, but I’m ready to throw down with anyone who tries to call these tracks, as much as they’ll make you think of the glory days of new wave, anything but the new new thing.
Mar-Tie the Avant Garde Grandpa
Imagine Wesley Willis, but old, white, thin, and into country. Casio-inspired riffs and wisdom from someone else fighting demons (many of the female persuasion).
DJ Zeph
Raashan Ahmad unleashes a brief history lesson of dance moves whilst Zeph moves the crowd with his disco flash production.
FLIN FLON
This is what drum ‘n’ bass should be. Yet another offering from Mr. Teenbeat himself, Mark Robinson. Nothing new to the viewers of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” where “Floods” serves as the opening music. (Not to be confused with Flin Flon, the sixth largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba.)