(image courtesy Altsounds)
Here's a selection of tracks that I've been singing along to for the past few days.
This past Thursday, Victoria's Vincat killed a small house show in front of a dozen people. I showed up expecting the sounds of a space-folk band. Vincat's show turned out to be an inebriating psychedelic experience, with their own lighting and all. It appears that Vincat have a alter-ego in the form an experimental prog rock three-piece, whose music is made up of echoing lyrics and noise jams. This music can be found on the first of their alter-ego trilogy Inner Space.
Their most recent release, hoi polloi is a great collection of acoustic and electric campfire tracks. With chanting choruses and whispered verses, Vincat have perfected their sound, whatever it is. There is a certain element of the surreal that Vincat bring to everything they do. It's ultimately impressive that a band can entertain these two very different styles successfully. This is great stuff.
As of late, Make Your Exit's Remind Me the Reason I Came is getting a lot of play on my Zune. MYE's successful use of varied tempos and multiple instruments keep ears tuned-in. What stands out is MYE's beautiful harmonies, check out 'Kids'. Most of MYE's tracks tend to build steadily into a very subtle, yet conscious climax. All this makes for great listening. 
It's a week into the release of Vapours and things are looking up for Islands. Last year's Arm's Way left something to be desired and the loss of founding member Jamie Thompson soon after its release appeared to handicap Islands' potential. Darker than Return to the Sea, Arm's Way lacked the fun that for which Islands are known. 
San Francisco's Girls are poised to release their debut album tomorrow. These boys rock a simple sound that straddles garage, psychedelic, and surf. What I like about Girls is their straight-forward approach to their music. When a lot of groups are wrapped-up in doing something new and cool, Girls have looked back on their influences and taken them as their own. Girls have themselves to thank for building a serious buzz at SXSW resulting in an extensive European and North American tour. I'll be sure to check them out when they swing by.
I’ve had a bit of a BTA hiatus this summer whilst working in the fjords of Norway. With an interweb connection that works depending on the weather in a house that pretty much used to be a brothel. So I’m going to try to make up for some lost time. Seems like I’m a little behind on this one, but I’m sure Chiddy Bang would have been part of my summer playlist if I had heard them earlier. Just when you thought you couldn’t stand to hear any more re-works of MGMT, these hip-hop hipsters from Philly drop a mixtape beat sampled from ‘Kids’ to get you bobbing. Lyrically, this track I find is hit and miss. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the beat. I don’t know much about these guys but they seem to be making the rounds lately due to their new era indie rock sampling. Along with this track they also put their own spin on Passion Pit’s “Truth” and have taken a little something from the book of Radiohead in their live performances. These precision cut samples are largely credited to producer Xaphoon Jones, who along with working with the Chiddy Bang boys also dropped his own mixtape this summer. I’m looking forward to some more hipster beats from both these camps as well as seeing what else these guys have to offer besides chopping up indie favorites.
Chiddy Bang – Kids (Feat. MGMT)
Chiddy Bang – Truth (Feat. Passion Pit)
If I had to pick five songs that marked my summer, these come as no-brainers to me.
The Cribs - Cheat On Me
This past weekend featured a collection of some of the greatest live music I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, I missed the first day which featured Sadie Hell, Still Life Still, Parlovr, and Converters. Word is that Still Life Still and Parlovr killed it in front of a less than sizable crowd. 
Long has it been since I've been so excited for an album release. Ever since I was introduced to the musical magic of The Balconies by BTA's own bbbykmbrly a year ago, I 've been waiting to get my hands on this.
The Dodos are set to follow up last year's spectacular Visiter with Time to Die. It's apparent they took a slightly more fine-tuned approach with getting the production and mixing exactly on point, a very subtle improvement (or simply a difference) in that department compared to Visiter which was a bit rougher around the edges. It's definitely not a massive departure from Visiter, if you loved that record you should enjoy this one about the same. At least that's my first impression. See for yourself:
The spastic opening riff off Sunset Rubdown's Random Spirit Lover will forever be one of the greatest album intros. That, coupled with the deeply experimental-pop that Spencer Krug conjures in every track has cemented Sunset Rubdown as one of my favourite groups.
As seen in Poole Park, Dorset.
Several BTA contributors have been anticipating Montreal's Think About Life's follow-up to their erratic infectious self-titled release.
The Sounds are known for gigantic guitars amplified by synths and danceable beats. The new album, Crossing the Rubicon was crafted on these foundations, dare I say, taken up a notch. There's no getting around it, this group is solid and I always look forward to a new release. whether you've enjoyed The Sounds in the past or just discovering them, you'll love this.
