The Antlers have announced Familiars, the follow-up album to their spectacular 2011 release, Burst Apart.  With that album release has come several new singles, including the most recent, “Hotel.”  Very similar to what we’ve heard on Burst Apart, Hotel is subtle magnificence, painfully slow at times but having us crave more.  Never overdoing the production, The Antlers rely on the weight of their words and the emotions behind them.  The end of the track is injected with a (unique for The Antlers) guitar groove that gives us a sweet little reward for our patience.  Enjoy.

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With computers making millions of electronic sounds at our disposal, it’s hard to blame the majority of pop acts for using as many as possible just because they can.  That’s what makes dream pop duo, Twin Caverns, so unique.  The Aussie twosome relies on a lack of sound effects, focusing on the purity of their production and the soft, bare tones of vocalist, Louise Millar.  “Undiscover,” Twin Caverns’ most recent single, is emblematic of Twin Caverns’ musical philosophy – undiscovering all the unnecessary excess that’s implanted in our music.  With Twin Caverns’ minimalist approach, we get a calming, intoxicating track that is perfectly simple…and simply perfect.  Enjoy.

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You couldn’t really expect a band named Vancouver Sleep Clinic to create anything other than calm, trance-inducing melodies, could you?  It’s not like we were expecting  Vancouver Sleep Clinic‘s first single, “Vapour” to be an entry on the Headbanger’s Ball (does that still exist?).  The bedroom project of high school student, Tim Bettinson, VSC  looks to be a promising solo effort that exudes a depth and maturity beyond Bettinson’s teenage years.  “Vapour” is a song for those who are jonesing to fade away for just a few minutes or maybe find a cure for their insomnia.  A song that induces a little bit of shut-eye may seem like an insult, but listen to “Vapour” and Bettinson’s…well, vaporous voice, and you’ll realize it’s a compliment.  Enjoy.

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“Phantasm” is an otherworldly, atmospheric electronic track, but what else would you expect from a group called Cosmo’s Midnight?  Composed of twins, Cosmo and Patrick, Cosmo’s Midnight has taken spacious, ethereal electronic music to a new level.  With the help of chillwave vocalist, Nicole Millar, “Phantasm” borders on hypnotic, making everything around you move in slow motion.  The duo’s debut EP, Surge, released in June, proves that “Phantasm” just scratched the surface of what Cosmo’s Midnight has in store.  Enjoy.

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Scoop “Phantasm” here

If you are looking for music to make you lock the doors and hide under the covers with a flashlight,  look no further than Glass Animals.  The Oxford quartet’s take on psychedelic rock is more spiraling abyss than technicolor dreamcoat.  Their recent single, “Black Mambo,” is an ominously paced neo-soul journey with trickling electronics and the smoky, drawn out delivery of frontman and former neuroscience student, David Bayley.  Clearly, Bayley’s background is being put to good use on “Black Mambo,” which has the ability to creep into your head and mess with yo’ mind.  Enjoy.

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P.S.  If you have the urge to see Gumbi on acid, I suggest checking out their website.

Whenever a conversation about the most underrated bands is introduced, I typically go into a tirade about Radiation City, the Portland-based alt rockers who consistently release some of the strangest and addicting music you are likely to hear.  Radiation City seems like the perfect name for a band whose tracks sound like mutated indie rock – ominous harmonies, quirky, throwback melodies, and odd instruments, like the soundtrack for a haunted house in the 60s.  “Foreign Bodies,” off their recent LP, Animals in the Median, shows the band has no intention of normalizing anytime soon.  With heavy reverbed vocals, a fairyland flute opening, and the doo-wop inspired verses, “Foreign Bodies” is catchy, complex, and a perfect addition to Radiation City‘s eclectic, masterful collection.  Enjoy.

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London’s Phoria are not new to the scene.  They released their first EP, Yourself Still, in 2010, have shared a stage with the likes of Little Dragon, and three of the five members started playing together at the age of 6.  You heard right…6.  Over this long period of time, the members of Phoria have become masters of the art of understatement.  On May 2, they released their second EP, Bloodworks, containing five mood-setting tracks that surprisingly conjure up deep emotions while remaining mostly simple in construction and delivery.  “Scopes,” the second track off of the EP, is perhaps the most complex, with breathy falsettos and a dark electronic buzzing blending into the background that is contrasted by bursts of lush synths and guitars.  Enjoy.

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Side note: If you’ve been jonesing for music similar to The Antlers, then you are pretty much obligated to enjoy “Scopes.”

Still Corners released their sophomore album, Strange Pleasures, on May 7th, and to celebrate this joyous occasion, today we turn our attention to “Berlin Lovers,” the first single off the London group’s indie pop album.  Still Corners has the ability to change their sound just enough to keep it fresh, while maintaining a familiarity by keeping the band’s essence intact.  Their first album, Creatures of an Hour, had a thematic haziness that was utterly calming and intoxicating.  “Berlin Lovers,” which first hit airwaves in February, signified a bit of a sharper exploration into electronics.  Don’t get me wrong.  That dream pop aura still hovers over Strange Pleasures like a mist but every now and then a jagged little synth dagger slices through the fog.  Enjoy.

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Ducktails, which started out as the solo project of Matthew Mondanile of Real Estate, has slowly turned into a group effort over the course of four albums, with Mondanile incorporating friends and colleagues into the music making process.  Ducktails’ most recent album, the slightly soulful The Flower Lane, released in January of 2013, has a nostalgic feel with pop melodies that mimic the styles of 70s jazz and 80s synth.  The standout track is “Letter of Intent,” a smooth, lo-fi tune that lays down a funky clarinet solo and borrows the soft, angelic tones of Future Shuttles’ Jessica Farkas.   “Letter of Intent” proves that Mondanile should invite his friends over to play more often.  Enjoy.

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Side Note: Am I the only one who thinks the clarinetist is Macauley Culkin’s doppleganger?

Romanian producer Exal unites his ambiant, electronic constructs with the celestial vocals of UK’s Emily Underhill to form “Your Love,” a sedated electronic track  that emits mystery and romanticism with each synthesized blip and seductive verse.  “Your Love” will be featured on Exal’s upcoming EP, To the Stars, set for release about one year after the 19 year old first came onto the scene with his impressive, instrumental chillwave EP, Stranger in the Lights, in March of 2012.  Underhill has also been around for about a year, with two EPs filled with downtempo, soothing indie tracks.  While each artist’s EPs confirm that they have serious skills alone, “Your Love” proves that, like the Wonder Twins, their powers are much stronger when combined.  Let’s hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  Enjoy.

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