Alex Winston

ARTIST / BAND: Alex Winston
SONG (MP3): Choice Notes
ALBUM: The Basement EP
FILE UNDER: Indie / Pop
LABEL: Heavy Roc Music
INFO:While it’s a great accomplishment to play a single instrument well, it’s a truly rare gift to play many perfectly. With The Basement Covers EP, singer Alex Winston proves she is one of the exceptional few. Classically trained in opera and bred on musical Americana, the beautiful Detroit- native remarkably played each instrument—guitar, piano, drums—on the four-song EP which she recorded in her actual home basement.

Winston’s truly unique and refreshing sound navigates influential pillars as diverse as Feist, The Arcade Fire, Lykke Li and Sheryl Crow.  As the name suggests, the debut offering from Alex consists of five covers of tracks from various artists; Mumford & Sons, Teddy Bears, The Rolling Stones, Jack Penate and Francis and the Lights. She has just finished putting the finishing touches on her debut, Choice Notes, with New York's hottest new producer whizz kids - The Knocks. This taster of Alex's incredible talent is now available for free download and acts as a precursor to her debut release of Choice Notes, released on Limited Edition 7” vinyl through HeavyRoc Music on July 27th.

 

Besnard Lakes

ARTIST / BAND: Besnard Lakes
SONG (MP3): "Albatross"
ALBUM: The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
FILE UNDER: Psychedelic / Pop / Progressive
LABEL: Jagjaguwar
INFO:The Besnard Lakes are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were formed in 2003 by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, and they have released three albums.read more from the source... 

Sufjan Stevens

Spoek Mathambo

ARTIST / BAND: Spoek Mathambo
SONG (MP3): “Mshini Wam”
FILE UNDER: hip hop, world
LABEL: BBE/Boys Noize/Citinite/Pottymouth/TopBillin
INFO: Spoek Mathambo and his band Mshini Wam (trans=my machine [gun]) were on the bill of our Youth Day concert in Soweto a few weeks ago, and if you watched the video, you may have wondered what the jam was. It is this, the title song of his upcoming solo album, which—and we’re trying to stay calm here—is going to make you lose your mind it’s so good. People literally went insane at this show. One dude got choppered off the roof and rappelled directly into the chimney of President Zuma’s house and then they just sat there staring at each other for like seven hours.

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Diego Garcia

ARTIST / BAND: Diego Garcia

MP3: You Were Never There

FILE UNDER: Pop, Indie

LABEL: s/r

INFO: Diego Garcia led the indie band Elefant for a decade before the group broke up earlier this year. One thinks it must be because Garcia was itching to break out of the rock band format and explore new sounds. For his solo debut, Garcia drops the Strokesy New York rock and delves into his Latin roots with a softer, more contemplative sound that plays with South American rhythms and textures. The single we’re premiering today, “You Were Never There”, exemplifies this new artistic direction and luxuriates in rich strings and a deeper musical palatte.

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Emil & Friends

ARTIST / BAND: Emil & Friends

MP3: Passion Pit "Sleepyhead" remix by Emil & Friends

FILE UNDER: Indie / Electro /

LABEL: Cantora Records

INFO: New York's by-way-of-Boston-native Emil & Friends joins the Cantora roster. We've been keeping this guy a secret, but now the fruit is fully ripe.

Emil & Friends' "Downed Economy" EP debuts next week, on August 24th. It features 7 slammin jams and one of the most radical album covers we've seen in a while that makes you want to pack up and get stoned with the person next to you (thank you Mark Brickman!).

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THE MOANERS

ARTIST / BAND: THE MOANERS

MP3: Humid Air

ALBUM: Nocturnal

FILE UNDER: Rock / Folk / Experimental

LABEL: Holidays For Quince Records

INFO: Head south past the Mason-Dixon line and into the swamp-hot humidity of North Carolina’s summer months, and a porch-swing singalong with The Moaners starts to sound very appealing. Melissa Swingle (formerly of alt-country darlings Trailer Bride) and Laura King (formerly of Grand National) have been conjuring the spirit of the South for over five years and two records with the ambitious goal of “[capturing] the feeling of … Faulkner’s South, O’Connor’s South.” With Nocturnal, their spell is stronger than ever.

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