*Featured*
1. Frightened Rabbit - A Frightened Rabbit EP
(free download with email)
This week, I've found a free EP from Frightened Rabbit, titled simply A Frightened Rabbit EP. Prior to this week, the EP was only available on their summer tour, but now with the nominal cost of signing up for their mailing list, you can get it for free. The EP, released in anticipation of a new FR album in the coming months, features three songs: ranging from up- to down-tempo (and the second song, "Fuck This Place" features vocals from Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell), but all three are equally intense and as good as we've come to expect from Frightened Rabbit.
-Contributed by Andrew McNair
2. Cameras - "I Know"
Bonus OLR points for clever album title.
Those who have followed the so-far successful career of these three Australian natives are probably very excited to know: Cameras released their debut album, In Your Room, just three days ago, and this vampiric, mellow and eerie track is right off it. Melodic but haunting, this song is a seasonally appropriate backdrop for some Halloween hauntings, driven by a dark piano, soft, wailing vocals and some Poe-esque lyrics, from what I can tell. Look for Cameras' first single from the album, "Defeatist," and follow them at http://www.camerasmusic.com/
3. Nada Surf - "When I Was Young"
(free download with email)
LP: The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy
A song to melt the heart and drench you in nostalgia, "When I Was Young" is a teaser track from Nada Surf's newest album The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, not set for release until January, 2012. Listened to in the right context, this song can really trigger the walk down memory lane, as these soft indie rockers are wont to do - the lyrics wonder at the passing of time and being grown up, hearkening back to dreams of the past. Catch the wave at http://nadasurf.com/
4. Family of the Year - "St. Croix"
(free download from SoundCloud)
If this innocent indie-pop love song doesn't give you that refreshing jolt you need at the end of a long work week, I don't know what will. With a little reverb on the guitar, a little echo on the vocals and a super catchy chorus, this is a feel-good tune that should make you smile. Family of the Year is a band gathered from all corners of the country that has been gaining popularity through their grassroots style of self-producing and old fashioned word of mouth. Check them out in more depth at http://familyoftheyear.net/
5. Red Eye Fugu - "Primanocta"
(click to stream or right click to save as)
LP: Watchers
Okay, now this one is a real nice and easy trip. Red Eye Fugu is the ambient, electro-rhythmic solo project of Enzo Tiano, and this song simply slides from one world into the next, beginning in an ambient, spherical room, moving into an underwater, kindergarten dome, then continuing on into a clear, beat-driven slow dance. And you'll just have to listen 'til the end, when the wispiest vocals join the arena. My only wish is that the dream could've lasted longer. If you have this same wish, check out the debut LP, Watchers, out now, and visit the artist's website at http://redeyefugu.tumblr.com/