GUI BORATTO

ARTIST / BAND: GUI BORATTO

MP3s: Take My Breath Away

ALBUM: Take My Breath Away

FILE UNDER: Electronic / Techno

LABEL: Kompakt

INFO: Budding techno heavyweight and creative polymath Gui Boratto has come a long way from his roots in the advertising sector of his Brazilian home town of São Paolo.A student of architecture and design, Gui's earliest musical work came in the studio producing many commercial pop and rock acts. It wasn't until Gui's self released 2004 debut album 'Royal House', when he drew attention for it's juxtaposition of latin percussive elements with classic French House.After sending a two track demo to Kompakt in 2005, Gui shot to prominence with the release of 12 inch 'Arquipélago' on K2, catalyzing a number of well received singles on labels such as Audiomatique, Plastic City and Kompakt's Pop imprint.Infusing a much needed dose of colour amidst the monochrome minimal landscape, his 2007 debut album 'Chromophobia' drew unanimous critical praise and sparked an avalanche of distinct productions and remixes.

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K’Naan

ARTIST / BAND: K’Naan

MP3s: Somalia

ALBUM: Troubadour

FILE UNDER: Hip Hop / Folk / Afro-beat

LABEL: A&M/Octone Records

INFO: Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in the district of Wardhiigleey ("The Lake of Blood") during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most famous singers. K'naan's grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet. K'naan is also a Muslim. His name, K'naan, means "traveller" in the Somali language.

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The Decemberists

ARTIST / BAND: The Decemberists

MP3s: "The Rake's Song"

ALBUM: The Hazards Of Love

FILE UNDER: Folk Rock /Indie

LABEL: Capitol

INFO: The relationship between American alt-rock and the British folk revival of the 60s is a surprising one. You might think an impassable cultural and aesthetic gulf lay between the two genres, but there's evidence of an intermittent transatlantic love affair. The blanched, taut solos of Television were indebted to Richard Thompson's attempts to develop a blues-free language for the electric guitar. REM worked with British folk-rock's premier producer Joe Boyd in the 80s. More recently, erstwhile Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus coaxed Vashti Bunyan back on stage for the first time in 30 years.

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Loop 2.4.3

ARTIST / BAND: Loop 2.4.3

MP3s: Zodiac Dus

ALBUM: Zodiac Dust

FILE UNDER: Alternative / Classical / Electroacoustic

LABEL: Music Starts From Silence/Analog Arts

INFO: Loop 2.4.3 employs the gamut of percussion instruments, from marimba and steel drum to tom-toms, bongos and snare drums, temple bowls and wood blocks, opera gongs and electronics.  Their music has been described as "transportive percussion odysseys," (The Boston Phoenix) "taut compositions with a stunning improvisational sense," (Time Out Chicago) and as containing of both "action adventures and reveries...  all sound[ing] like part of a well-thought-out tradition, only the tradition has never existed until now." (NPR Fresh Air)

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Neïmo

ARTIST / BAND: Neïmo

MP3s: Poison The Chalice

ALBUM: Moderne Incidental

FILE UNDER: Indie / Rock / New Wave

LABEL: Le Village Vert

INFO: "Moderne Incidental" is her debut with them in their home already made for itself. Not just because they like their amps loud pressure or fine dress, but also because it is based on the nationally prescribed "mother language radio quota" in English replied. The response at home and gave them the lead right now on international table.

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MALAJUBE

ARTIST / BAND: MALAJUBE

MP3s: Porte Disparu REMIX

ALBUM: Labyrinthes

FILE UNDER: Experimental / Powerpop / Pop

LABEL: Cityslang

INFO: Malajube returns with an even more idiosyncratic, off-kilter pop masterpiece after 2006’s Trompe L’Oeil proved that Montreal’s francophone rock community was just as capable of cracking the worldwide marketplace as its anglo counterpart. Opening track "Ursuline" is a difficult-to-penetrate six-minute epic with sparse vocals.

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The Dø

ARTIST / BAND: The Dø 

MP3s: On My Shoulders (Radio Mix by Alexis Mauri & Philipp Jung)

FILE UNDER: Indie / Electronic

LABEL: ministryofsound.de / Get Døwn!

INFO: The Dø is a French rock duo formed by musician and soundtrack composer Dan Levy and French/Finnish singer Olivia Merilahti.

They met while recording the music for the film Empire of the Wolves, and continued to collaborate for the films The Passenger andCamping Sauvage.

Their early songs include "At Last!", "The Bridge is Broken", "Playground Hustle" and "On My Shoulders", the latter of which has been used in television commercials for Oxford Stationery. All feature on their debut album A Mouthful, released on 14 January 2008. The Dø is known to incorporate a great range of instruments in their songs, as well as being a duet completing each other member, Merilahti bringing the melody, and Levy the symphonic or jazzy structure. Most of the lyrics are written in English, the rest being in Finnish.^[1] The Dø is part of only a recent phenomenon of French pop bands choosing not to sing in French^[2].

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SMOKE

ARTIST / BAND: SMOKE

MP3s: Addicted

ALBUM: ROUTES

FILE UNDER: Reggae

LABEL: echo beach

INFO: In winter 2007 "SMOKE" (the current line-up is Alessandro Soresini on drums, vocals and production, Gianluca Pelosi on bass and production, Marco Zaghi on sax, flute and production and the South African singer Séan Daniel Martin, who became Smoke's official singer in summer 2006) entered the studio to celebrate their second album "ROUTES"…! A side project, a collaboration with Europe's most reputable soundsystem, POW POW MOVEMENT from Cologne, spawned a 7-inch release of "Save All The Kids" on the POW POW label.

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ULTRACHORUS

ARTIST / BAND: ULTRACHORUS

MP3s: “WORDS KEPT TALKING“  | “PLANETMAN“| “PHOENIX - ‘1901’ (ULTRACHORUS REMIX)“

ALBUM: Words Kept Talking / Planetman” 7-Inch

FILE UNDER: Electro / Indie / Breakbeat

INFO: Now they bring you the debut single, "Words Kept Talking", available only on 7" vinyl and digital download. Chris' background is in cut and paste indie rock while Jeff is a product of late nineties Hip-Hop and R&B.  The sound is electronic, but within each song there is something analog and organic that makes it feel familiar.

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The Shortwave Set!

ARTIST / BAND: The Shortwave Set!

MP3s: "No Social"

ALBUM: Replica Sun Machine

FILE UNDER: Acoustic / Electronica / Down-tempo

LABEL: Wall of Sound

INFO: From South East London to California on borrowed air miles, self-belief and the ton of goodwill generated by their much-loved debut The Debt Collection to record their self-financed second album with Danger Mouse. There they availed themselves of the string arranging talents of the legendary Van Dyke Parks (Beach Boys legendary collaborator on Smile) and the distinctive viola playing of John Cale (Velvet Underground).

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Faunts

ARTIST / BAND: Faunts

MP3s: Feel.Love.Thinking.Of (Villa Remix)

FILE UNDER: INDIE / ELECTR

LABEL: Friendly Fire

INFO: Fresh off the release of their recently released and acclaimed Feel.Love.Thinking.Of, icy Canadian shoegaze, synth-poppers Faunts release new remixes from Mexicans with Guns, Leaf & Giraffe, and more on iTunes. Free remix available by Villa, key members of Belgium's Eskimo Records scene, which has spawned hugely acclaimed artists such as Lindstrom, Aeroplane, and Low Motion Disco.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

ARTIST / BAND: Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

MP3s: Old Panda Days

ALBUM: Advance Base Battery Life

FILE UNDER: Indie Pop

LABEL: Tomlab

INFO: From Kraftwerk to Leonard Cohen, The Smiths to Suicide, and Pet Shop Boys to Smog, Chicago’s one-man musical army Owen Ashworth – a.k.a Casiotone for the Painfully Alone- has been bracketed with all manner of illustrious names in the course of his eleven year career. But in collecting the 7-inch split-singles and compilation tracks he released from 2004-7 (all but two of them on CD for the first time), Advance Base Battery Life provides compelling evidence of the singular nature of this industrious film-school dropout’s talent.

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Embarrassing Fruits

 

ARTIST / BAND: Embarrassing Fruits

MP3s: "Corner"

ALBUM: Community / Exploitation LP

FILE UNDER: Rock / Indie /

LABEL: Trekky Records

INFO: In the early months of 2006 Embarrassing Fruits began playing stripped down, song-based music in an unheated living room in Greensboro, NC. Swilling cans of PBR, listening to early 90’s indie-rock and eating spicy foods helped fuel the band early on, setting the groundwork for honest, unpolished and unpretentious indie rock that recalls what the genre was about in the first place. After moving back to Chapel Hill, NC, Lee Shaw, a talented songwriter in his own right, joined the band on bass in early 2008. Joe Norkus, Lee Shaw, and John Neville now make up “The Fruits.”

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Jay-Z f. Santogold

ARTIST / BAND: Jay-Z f. Santogold

MP3s: Brooklyn (Go Hard)

FILE UNDER: Hip Hop

INFO: For the last couple years, Jay-Z has watched over Brooklyn from a massive rooftop Rocawear billboard next to the Manhattan Bridge. If you're in a cab or a car on your way into the city, seeing his face right before you cross the river is like a thumbs up from Pops before heading out onto the court. It gets you a little psyched to go do your thing in a way that a sign signed by borough president Marty Markowitz cannot (Thanks for the bike lanes though, Marty.) At the same time it's like, Dude, can we get a pair of boots for under a 120 bones? Regardless, this new song off the Notorioussoundtrack lets us know that Jay also represents Williamsburg by not only sampling FADER 51 coverstar Santogold (or letting Kanye sample her) but letting her grab a verse towards the end.

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Milke

ARTIST / BAND: Milke

MP3s: Love Get Out of My Way

ALBUM: singe

FILE UNDER: Electro / Indie / Melodramatic Popular Song

LABEL: Gulp Communications

INFO: The rest is quite possibly history.   Milke is an act of two distinct worlds colliding, and the results are bigger than the sum of the parts. Ra's incredible voice mixed with Andrew's cutting edge production, together honing their skills on writing 'proper' songs, with huge choruses, solid structures, dynamic and hooky top lines. It's important to note, Milke do not place themselves amongst the current crop of haircut bands that will be forgotten within a year.

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Dish

ARTIST / BAND: Dish

MP3s: This Ain’t Livin’

ALBUM: Ma Raison De Vivre Ton Amour

FILE UNDER: Indie / Folk / Pop

LABEL: ROA Records

INFO: But more importantly, they discovered music together, and the pairing of Roberto's organic, genre-busting singing and guitar work with Nathaniel's junk-gypsy found percussion has been a decade in the making. That's exactly what Dish is, two left-of-center musical minds preternaturally in tune with each other to create a sound without peer on the current pop scene. Their debut EP Los Angeles, which has been called an impressionist dreamscape, came from a feverish three-day recording session in Los Angeles produced by drummer Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant, Beck, Ray Lamontagne) and Jen Condos (Don Henley, Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen) and engineered by Ryan Freeland (who recently helmed Aimee Mann's The Forgotten Arm).

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1984

ARTIST / BAND: 1984

MP3s: Baikal Amour Magistra

ALBUM: Cocooning

FILE UNDER: Post-Punk

LABEL: weekender records

INFO: 1984 - 3 French guys and a whole generation of sound.
The title of their album, Open Jail, announce it, they are determined to break the shackles and leave the prisons of the present rock conformism.
No compromises, just sincere sounds during 42 minutes, martial, percussive, primal, dizzying, smooth, epic! Everything you need to wake up! A healthy waking!

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St. Vincent

ARTIST / BAND: St. Vincent

MP3s: The Strangers

ALBUM: Actor

FILE UNDER: Indie / Concrete / Zouk

LABEL: 4AD

INFO: Actor, St. Vincent’s beguiling, sophisticated new record, takes that debut’s ambition as its starting point and never looks back. The arrangements are more masterful, the songwriting grander, the performances ever more confident and inspired. Clark developed an idiosyncratic writing process for Actor, immersing herself in some of her favorite films—Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, The Wizard of Oz, Stardust Memories, Sleeping Beauty—and beginning each song as a secret film score, then slowly giving it independence as its structure and lyrics came fully into focus. The resulting eleven tracks are as cinematic as pop songs can be, but the movie is a private one, revealing its storyline in hushed, cunning couplets and cascades of scathing guitar.

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Greater California

ARTIST / BAND: Greater California

MP3s: Disappearing

ALBUM: All The Colors

FILE UNDER: Indie / Folk / Psychedelic

LABEL: Subtitled Audio

INFO: The songs the asphalt sings to you as you fly across it from city to city, with that odd familiarity you might feel in different places, seeing them for the first time. It’s that crazy midnight loneliness falling upon you the further you drive on. You now have all the freedom in the world to disappear into the background and watch your front windshield like a picture show as you speed across the music conceived and inspired by the obsessive American roadtrip.

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Alligators

ARTIST / BAND: Alligators

MP3s: Where Does It Hide? (MP3 | VIDEO)

ALBUM: Piggy & Cups

FILE UNDER: Experimental / Pop

LABEL: Applehouse Records

INFO: When you think about Kitsap county and "the other side of puget sound," not much comes to mind but small towns and the naval shipyard. All the members, hailing from the greater Bremerton area, have had a long career in the local music scene and all played in some of the area's most widely known and accomplished bands like Time To Fly, Map of June, andArper.

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Buraka Som Sistema

ARTIST / BAND: Buraka Som Sistema

SONG (MP3): "Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)" [Hot Chip Remix]

ALBUM: Black Diamond

FILE UNDER:  Breakbeat / Club

LABEL: Fabric /http://www.enchufada.com

INFO: Though Buraka Som Sistema consist of producers Lil' John, Riot and Conductor, and MC Kalaf, they count among their ranks an extended family of dancers and MCs from around the globe. Every face is a valued part of their limb-enslaving hybrid assault of native Angolan kuduro and the roughest globe-scoured ghetto-funk riddims. In just two years the group has released a slew of breakthrough singles, torched the blogosphere with their MIA-featuring viral video “Sound Of Kuduro,” and wowed audiences in over 13 countries with the mesmerizing dance-driven spectacle at the heart of kuduro. No wonder The FADER dubbed their live show “one of the most jaw-droppingly effusive club moments we’ve experienced.”

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Shunda K & Kotchy

ARTIST / BAND: Shunda K & Kotchy

SONG (MP3): First Encounter

ALBUM: Le Passion, Yo!

FILE UNDER:  Hip Hop / Lyrical / Rap

LABEL: GMEQCA/Civil Music

INFO: As a quick talking MC, spiritual songwriter, and ambitious entrepreneur, Shunda has managed to see her Tampa-based group through to international notoriety and a record deal with Domino Records (Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Kills) all through her undeniable ability to entertain and communicate with her audience at the same time. Shunda’s sheer force of will, perseverance and patience are also vital touchstones that have played a role in her success – she’s no overnight sensation

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Western Civ!

ARTIST / BAND: Western Civ!

SONG (MP3): "Capitol Steps" / "I Am A Waterfall"

ALBUM: Shower The People You Love With Gold

FILE UNDER:  Indie / Alternative / Rock

INFO: Like most bands of the indie-rock persuasion, the members of Western Civ tend to balk at efforts to define the band's sound. "Can I just tell you what it isn't?" asks guitarist/singer Rich Henderson. And it's not that he hasn't had time to mull it over-- Henderson and his longtime pals belong squarely in the catagory of musical "lifers". "I don't think I could do anything else," Henderson says, his generally-easygoing features taking on a steely edge as he makes the admission.

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THE LAUGHING

ARTIST / BAND: THE LAUGHING

SONG (MP3): “CANOPY“ | “PARADISE“

ALBUM: JUNGLE EP

FILE UNDER:  Indie / Jungle / Tropical

LABEL: Artifact Workshop

INFO: In 2007, Austin pioneers The Laughing took the scene by storm with their Tiger Cry EP. The thematic release centered on a gang finding meaning through worshiping a mythical tiger and earned them shows with Tapes N Tapes, MGMT, Yeasayer, and Tokyo Police Club. With the new EP, Jungle, the former “boys in blue” have evolved into a darker, more sonically diverse sound that is simultaneously softer and heavier than their debut. When asked to explain the sound, the band suggests: “jungle smut core.”

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Jeniferever

ARTIST / BAND: Jeniferever

SONG (MP3): Green Meadow Island

ALBUM: Spring Tides

FILE UNDER:  Alternative / Gothic

LABEL: Monotreme Records

INFO: Jeniferever is a four-piece band from Uppsala, Sweden. They have previously released four EPs and one album since 2002, and have played over 250 live shows across Europe. Over the years, they have gained an ever-growing band of  admirers, who have bestowed descriptions such as ‘lush’, ‘melodic’, ‘swooping’, ‘glacial’, ‘beautiful’, ‘shimmering’, ‘sublime’, ‘electrifying’ and ‘atmospheric’ on their music. 

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Jar-e

ARTIST / BAND: Jar-e

MP3s: An Idea

ALBUM: Chicas Malas

FILE UNDER: Soul

LABEL: Exotic Recordings

INFO: Since he started gigging at age 12, Jar-e has played in rock bands, jazz bands and duos and performed as a solo artist. For his sophomore album, Chicas Malas, he found his pace working in the style of hip-hop producers and jazz composers, writing musical sketches for the keyboards, bass, drums, guitars and horns while assembling a crew of skilled cohorts to play the parts. When each musician brings his or her personal style to the music, Jar-e explains, “the vision changes,” and there’s fresh energy to every intense live show. What emerges with Chicas Malas is an album that represents Jar-e more intimately than ever before.

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Landmark

 

ARTIST / BAND: Landmark

MP3s: Mute My Love / A One Eyed Spider /Janey's Father
         Infected

FILE UNDER: Indie / Post punk / Shoegaze

INFO: Landmark Is A Band Formed In Georgia/Tbilisi That Consists Of 4 members. They started playing in year 2007 somewhere in the green 4 walls of the so called brutal metal master "BonEm".With no instruments aboard,by lending them from their friends or other group members they still played some gigs in small bars(rock club,london pub - the second show was canceled due to black out in the capitol).Going through the times of trouble,after some frustrations and concerts where the sound was shit or the senseless war,plus everything it broke in many particles,the band still managed to hold on to it's ideas.They spent their whole money on instruments,recorded some drafts and got into the financial crisis. So here they are,struggling to make it and fighting for the music (damn this line sounds like a monologue from rocky balboa or something).Will it be the thumping rhythm,cracking overdriven guitar or a melody that blends into space and time through delay and reverb,we'll try to expand our ideas and get even better.

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Doctors & Dealers

ARTIST / BAND: Doctors & Dealers

SONGS (MP3): "On The Dancefloor" / "Rock 'N' Roll Dream"

ALBUM: Lost Friends And Newfound Habits

FILE UNDER: Indie / Alternative / Melodramatic Popular Song

LABEL: Bluesong

INFO: Once upon a time, there was a little girl who roamed the wilderness of Sweden. She searched for beautiful wild horses in the cold and brought them back to the farm she lived on with her ballerina mother. She would tame the horses; masquerading as a woodland chanteuse; enchanting them with her spectral voice; making them believe they were capable of anything. Eventually, they grew to be champions. However, a curse would strike her when she tried to rest at night. Round and round in her head, she would hear music. Tunes so beautiful, they would make her cry. She tried hard to silence them until when tending her beloved ponies, they would whisper to her in the dusk that she was intended for majestic affairs. They whispered a prophecy and she realised that her curse was that majestic affair and so, one day she packed up her belongings, said goodbye the South and she trekked to the bright lights of Stockholm. From here, she travelled to cities far and wide and breathed in their influence. The world in her soul, she returned to Stockholm. Still her head would hurt, just like when she was a little girl, from all the words and melodies swimming by her eyes. But now she knew what to do with it. Her heartbreak, loves and losses gave shape and meaning to the words and melodies. This little girl grew to be Sparrow. Doctors & Dealers is her music. A lifetime in the making.

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Loney Dear

ARTIST / BAND: Loney Dear

SONGS (MP3): Airport Surroundings

ALBUM: Dear John

FILE UNDER: Other / Folk / Jazz

LABEL: Polyvinyl

INFO: Hailing from the small city of Jonkoping, Sweden, Loney Dear's primary member Emil Svanängen first began recording homemade, overdubbed tapes of delicate, folkish indie pop in the early 2000s. As Loney, Dear (the band has since deleted the comma from its name), Svanängen self-released three homemade CD-Rs through his website: River Fontana Redux, Citadel Band, and Sologne. As buzz developed through MP3 blogs and other new media manifestations, Sub Pop offered Svanängen a contract in 2006. The first proper Loney Dear album, Loney, Noir, was released in early 2007.  After several years touring stateside and abroad and new Loney Dear album is complete.  The band's new album, Dear John, will see release on January 27th via Polyvinyl Record Co.

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Goblin Cock

ARTIST / BAND: Goblin Cock

SONGS (MP3): We Got a Bleeder

ALBUM: Come With Me If You Want To Live

FILE UNDER: Metal / Indie / Rock

LABEL: Absolutely Kosher

INFO: Goblin Cock is a heavy metal band from San Diego, California started by Rob Crow of the band Pinback. Musically, they play a form of doom metal/drone metal with rather unusual lyrical subjects (e.g. the Snuffleupagus from the TV show Sesame Street). All members of the band have taken on stage names, two of which contain sexual euphemisms. The band is signed to the Absolutely Kosher record label, and was taken on tour for the first time in 2006. They played at the 20th annual South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX.^[1] They also performed on September 15, 2005, at the College Music Journal's annual music festival.^[2]

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Asobi Seksu

ARTIST / BAND: Asobi Seksu

SONGS (MP3): Me & Mary

ALBUM: Hush

FILE UNDER: Indie / Alternative / Experimental

LABEL: Polyvinyl

INFO:Having received winning rave reviews from such outlets as the New York Times,Nylon, Under the Radar, YRB, XLR8R, and many more, NYC’s Asobi Seksu make their stunning Polyvinyl debut with their much anticipated third album Hush.
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