Every so often I find a tap into the primal flow of music and discover so many bands it's like a rennaisance. Now is one of those times and these are the best acts I've discovered this year. They may not be new bands but they are new to me.
1. Geographer
A 3 piece outfit, this band blew me away with their track "Kites" on Animal Shapes. Geographer is what you would get if M83 and Beirut had mad monkey sex, and produced an offspring that has more talent than either. This album has been around since 2010 and received almost no press, to add insult to injury they have several other full length albums which have also been overlooked by the music press. I will spare you colorful euphemisms for what my ears are telling me and leave you with this.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/gxUVNoiVdts]
2. Imagine Dragons
Dubstep basslines in an indie song? Le gasp. Yet I defy you to deny rocking out to their song Radioactive. It's crafted for radio play yet is under the radar, the band has a few youtube videos up to show you who they are, and who they are is weird people. Case in point, view the video to Radioactive below. When I heard this song I imagined a video of a couple teenagers about to have their first kiss in somebodies basement when the windows suddenly get blown out, they run outside to see mushroom clouds on the horizon and suddenly an urban war breaks out all around them and hand in hand they run to the countryside to escape it. Instead we get this oddity. At first I was like "They take themselves a little too seriously, and stop interrupting the song!" and then I was like "Wait" and finally "What?" They definitely don't take themselves too seriously. (Bonus points for white Lou Diamond Phillips)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/ktvTqknDobU]
3. Blood Orange - Champagne Coast
Finding this band, a pseudonym of mr Dev Hynes, is a bit like discovering Prince just before he exploded onto the charts and became a household name. I don't just say this because of his remarkably similar voice, but because of the laid back, one man band, approach and style of the music. You will have to listen to the song to under stand what I'm getting at. I see great things for mr Hynes.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/nO6y1-erVEw]
4. Villagers - Earthly Pleasures
Americana, Indie, beautiful, whimsical, this band reminds me a little of Tom Waits at least in their cantankerous and eccentric natures. I really enjoy the lyrics to this song, which is unusual because I usually listen to lyrics last, after several viewings. I think this song is genius and shows a unique voice in an increasingly crowded music scene. Enjoy.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/3QpXlcGNVz0]
5. Sir Sly - Ghost
I have begun to notice a trend in a lot of new bands towards using bits and pieces of the hardcore, electropop, and dubstep scenes and turning them into something different. Sir Sly manages to incorporate dubstep type bass warbles into a sound that is laid back with vocals as dry as paper. His voice reminds me at times of Wayne Coyne , tempered by the much smaller world of a young mind. I love how stripped back their sound is, there is a lot of air and they have a strong grasp of pacing and those little flourishes that separate an artful track from a demo.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/q1TbI44oRtE]
6. Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs
Yes, the same titled Arcade Fire album has been out long enough to inspire cover songs now. This is a deconstructed and more electronic interpretation of the song that evokes memories of Portishead, and early Bjork. I love the atmosphere it adds to the songs message and the images it puts in my head. This is almost a new song
[youtube=http://youtu.be/eFKYHVfD2Zw]
