Sub Pop's recent signing Rose Windows has something of a culty feel about them--less Jim Jones and more Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies.  "Wartime Lovers" commences with a flurry of keys before the whistle-able riff locks in, but what makes this track is the blast of yawning vocals which sound like someone had locked Sam Cooke in the basement only to have him return to Seattle after listening to a ton of traditional Andean folk music.  Rose Windows is the brainchild of songwriter Chris Cheveyo, though you'd hardly guess from hearing the septet seamlessly weave "Wartime Lovers" together.

Check out a video of Rose Windows performing on KEXP below:

Rose Windows

The Sun Dogs

Label: Sub Pop Records

Release Date: June 25th, 2013

PRE-ORDER

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Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Release Date - May 21, 2013

Record Label - Columbia Records

Today is a pretty fucking stellar day.  The new Daft Punk comes out today.  Think about it like this: the first time that you spin that record, or stream it, or pop the tape in (have to make one yourself), you're probably doing the coolest thing in the world.  Yeah.  You. It's one of those awesome things that music can do--one minute you're chowing down on a meatball sandwich and maybe even spilling a little marinara on your shirt, the next, you pop in that earbud and become the coolest cat around.  I mean Willie Colon cool.  

Now, look, I know there's already been a fair amount of coverage on this album.  And when you're in a blogger's position, covering a record that everybody else is covering, there's only a couple different paths that you can take to make your review memorable.  First, you can claim to be a fan for longer  than anyone else, and thus crowbar your way into a fake über-fandom which makes your opinion unassailable.  Second, you can just be smarter than everyone else.  Third, you can come at an album a way that people hadn't thought of before.  While we pride ourselves at the WLFY offices about always bringing #2, this time, I'm going to have to admit to you that I'm not sure that there's a whole lot of smart things left to be added to the discussion of Daft Punk.  Around the year 2000, when everyone was doing these retrospectives about where human culture had been, Bob Dylan was proclaimed the artist of the century or something crazy like that and in Time, or wherever this was, they gave a pro and con argument to this position.  I forget the pro argument (it was probably something along the lines of "It's Bob-fucking-Dylan, man!"), but the con argument I remember: "there is more poetry in the opening harmonies of the Temptations, the Pointer Sisters, and every Motown group ever than there is in all the gobbledy-gook  poetry of Bob Dylan." It's still a salient argument and one that we tend to overlook (esp. those as lyric-focused as I am):  music evinces.  And, I might add, it's an argument for a record (or against one) that blogs are terrible with.  Music blogs can't hope to capture sheer musical beauty.  As the saying goes "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," or so says Martin Mull(?!?).  Thus, we tend to shy away from that inexpressible joy which seems to overtake us, which can't be formulated and recalled in pithy language.  We tend to forget, that is, the pure joy that can erupt from a particular record.

This is the joy that overtakes in Random Access Memories.  It's hard to think of a more impressive opening to an album than the opening three tracks: "Give Life to Music," "The Game of Love," and "Giorgio by Moroder."  The latter-most is a tour de force homage to the great dance producer Giorgio Moroder, complete with archival interview.  For all the styles which get referenced on the record, from the straight ahead funk of "Get Lucky" to the free jazz in "Within," Daft Punk never strays far from its blissfully retro-funk sound even while recruiting collabs from artists as disparate as Panda Bear, Julian Casablancas, and Pharrell Williams.  But, back to "Give Life to Music" the steady-building opener which sets the tone for the record.  While previous Daft Punk records would have pushed the overdrive on this track, the soaring intro to the song pops into an addictive groove.  For all the electronics and effects, this groove seems to be the thing that does what the song's title suggests.  It's the sort of track that you can't help but move to and as the intro reprises, punctuated by an impeccably placed piano line, it's the groove that you're wanting to reemerge.  

Yes, this album is all over the place.  But, then again, so is Daft Punk's seminal Discovery.  And as any acute listener will hear, there's this fantastic existential dilemma which pervades the record (as it seems to do on every Daft Punk album) -- in this case it's about, you guessed it, memory.  They say that the singularity is the point where technology and human biology will meet and amass into some sort of possible liberation (or doomsday), but Daft Punk's robotic personas are more apt to be used to comment on their humanity offering huge questions in a mechanical voice as on "Within" -- "There's a world within me that I cannot comprehend." Random Access Memories is a self-described attempt to equate memory to a hard drive and the past seems to return and return in this record not only as lyrical content (the archival interview with Moroder is the best example) but as a way of understanding the future.  For all the record's retro feel, it's as much about where we are going as it is about where we have been.  Given that computers have become, in essence, personal libraries of seemingly infinite amounts of culture, Daft Punk's access  of the past 8 years (since their last record) is a jubilant, funky, and almost sentimental response to our lack of control over the past and memory.  Though funk, the modus operandi of the album's music, is about structure, it's also equally about the losing of yourself, the Dionysian urge.  As Pharrell seems to command:  "Lose yourself to dance."

How do you talk about not being in control?  How do you dance to your memory?  

We, bloggers, tend to deconstruct, to contextualize, to examine and tell you why something is good instead of saying what happens too much -- just fucking dance to it.  Marinara stain and all, just get up to dance.  Because you can spend your entire life trying to figure out why you don't know, or accept that you can't know, probably won't know, and just get on down.  And, like I said, if you listen to Daft Punk today, you're embarking on something with a giant community of us who are collected for the sole purpose of joy for the robots who are back and the humans who get down with them.

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I've always had a problem writing about bands that are just undoubtedly great.  With Cowboy Indian Bear, we have a four piece of talented musicians who craft poppy, but smart rock tunes.  A few weeks ago I caught them live and immediately knew I would have a problem communicating what just seemed to be inherent about this band...they're a solid group.  It's a cop out I know, it's my job to fill your head with imagery, context, use the word "jangly" and "sun soaked", but sometimes a band does all the work for the writer.  

Since seeing Cowboy Indian Bear live, their newest LP offering Live Old, Die Young had been a mainstay on my turntable because the immediate catchiness of their songs quickly gives way to a better understanding of how talented these musicians truly are.  It's probably to their detriment that music writers can't fill up pages about their backstory or wax poetic about their music (basically patting their own vocabulary on the back), but there are rare instances in music today where the music itself is all that matters.  The music speaks for itself and Cowboy Indian Bear needs to be heard.

Cowboy Indian Bear

Live Old, Die Young

Label: The Record Machine

Release Date: April 23rd, 2013

PURCHASE

(Vinyl limited to 250)

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If Leonard Cohen is the man with the golden voice, Daughn Gibson is the man with evil stuck in his throat.  His deep crooning vocals drip with a restrained passion that causes every syllable to swirl around with darkness and contemplation.  Gibson's music is always a force striking your speakers, a sentiment echoed by his live performance where he drives the microphone stand into the ground over and over, beating the melody home.  Now we have two new offerings as a preview of Gibson's first LP release on Sub Pop records.  Both new tracks are dynamic examples of how Gibson is a true original and not a bit complacent, as the songs demonstrate a fuller sound and signal great growth for one of the more interesting songwriters we have today.

Daughn Gibson Me Moan Label: Sub Pop Records Release Date: July 9th, 2013 Pre-Order
Tour Dates May 24 - Barcelona, ES - Primavera Sound
May 26 - Brussels, BE - AB Box #
May 27 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso #
May 28 - London, UK - Birthdays
May 29 - Paris, FR - Point Ephemere
May 30 - Copenhagen, DK - Pumpehuset
Jun. 01 - Porto, PT - Primavera Sound
Jul. 16 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar 
Jul. 18 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick 
Jul. 19 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival 
Jul. 21 - Madison, WI - High Noon 
Jul. 22 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock ^
Jul. 23 - Fargo, ND - Aquarium 
Jul. 25 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore * 
Jul. 26 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party *
Jul. 27 - Olympia, WA - Capital Theater (Backstage) *
Jul. 28 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir 
Jul. 30 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop ** 
Aug. 02 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo ** 
Aug. 03 - San Diego, CA - Casbah ** 
Aug. 04 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room ** 
Aug. 06 - Marfa, TX - El Cosmico (FREE SHOW) 
Aug. 08 - Austin, TX - Red 7 *** 
Aug. 09 - Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds *** 
Aug. 11 - Nashville, TN - Stone Fox ^^
Aug. 12 - Atlanta, GA - Earl ^^
Aug. 13 - Charlotte, NC - Milestone ^^ 
Aug. 15 - Washington, DC - Black Cat (backstage) ^^
Aug. 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's ^^ 
Aug. 17 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands ^^ 
^ w/ Merchandise
* w/ Cairo Pythian
** w/ William Tyler
*** w/ the Young
^^ w/ Hiss Golden Messenger
# w/ Kurt Vile

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HOW TO HATE A BAND

It used to be easier.  Before the social media boom, groups of friends would sit around and share their thoughts on albums or bands and develop a sense of their own taste by defending what they enjoyed.  The only time your hate for a band or album wasn't a face-to-face endeavor was the occasional agreeing nod or angry scoff at a published review written by someone you could never interact with.

But things are different now.  Everyone has a voice, and complete strangers can hold watered down debates within character limits.  Shouldn't we then rethink how we hate bands in a critical sense?  For this piece I will be using the word "hate" as an interchangeable marker for dislike, as I know for many of you, hate is a strong word when considering that we’re talking about a piece of art.  My goal isn’t just to better understand how we treat albums we hate, but explore my own relationship to the issue and try to figure out the best course of action moving forward.

This entire exploration began a few weeks ago when I sat down with the new Vampire Weekend album and started writing a review.  Much like the two albums that came before it, I "hated" Modern Vampires Of The City.  I began crafting your typical negative review with a bombastic opening paragraph that melted into deeper analysis of the moments of the album that offended my sensibilities.  During one of my writing breaks, I went back and pulled up my review for their sophomore effort, Contra.  In the back of my head I remembered being proud of the review and that it had been met with a polarizing response from those who read it.  But here, re-reading it, I became mortified at how awful it was.

Yes, every negative feeling that I had toward Contra was expressed, but it was a piece of writing that put snark ahead of examination.  The question of “how to hate a band” became an obsession for the next few days and I took off for a quick vacation to the southern bayou to consider this thought.  My examination began with exploring why I wrote that negative review in a snarky manner in the first place.  The reason was simple; I was emulating the writers of music blogs I admired years before I even began WLFY.  The style in question was best summarized by fellow music writer Chris Ott, who referred to it as “music writer stand up comedy hour”.  The writer puts themselves and their voice front and center as the simple equivalent to “yo mama jokes” or “slams”.  While the writer’s reasoning is still communicated, it leaves me to wonder why it’s the accepted format for writing a negative review.

Which leads us to the first way we can better “hate" a band.  Music reviewers should treat negative reviews with the same insight as positive reviews.  We should accept that it’s harder to stay level-headed on any end of hyperbole, and when crafting a negative review, even more effort is required in order to successfully provide thoughtful insight.  Today, where everyone is a 140-character critic, a writer must have something to say using long form analysis to even justify such a review.  The ultimate goal for a negative review shouldn't be to elicit a resounding angry reaction from the band’s fan-base and pats on the back from their detractors.  Rather, the true struggle is to craft a piece that offers insight and puts forward a personal voice that justifies the critical reaction through explanation.  The most important note is that all art that’s put forward, regardless of the critic's take, should be approached with the same level of respect.  It sounds like a simple concept that everyone is aware of, but it’s rare to find in today’s music journalism.

My thought process then shifted to how people who “hate” certain pieces of art have fallen victim to a completely fictitious and horrible piece of slang: “haters.”  This made-up phrase is how the supporters of such art try and dismissively group the negative critic with anyone else who might dislike the art, as if all of them are in cahoots, conspiring to sabotage the success of the act in question - and never mind if they all arrived at their conclusion differently.  At the most basic level, I dislike Vampire Weekend and their albums because they don’t satisfy the qualities that I deem valuable when critiquing music.  Where someone might hold catchiness as a top value, I’m more of a lyric/storytelling listener.  Whatever values you look for in music, there is no right or wrong answer, but we all have different criteria that comes into play to determine our final reaction.

Because of this, any grouping of people who like or dislike a piece of art is lazy and halts the possibility for proper artistic debate.  While this is a micro problem on social media where the casual debate can be shrugged off as “oh, another Vampire Weekend hater,” once such thinking creeps into music journalism, the integrity of the writer is compromised.  In the Pitchfork review of Modern Vampires Of The City, Ryan Dombal refers to the album as, “the record that is already forcing one-time haters of this band to rethink their entire lives...”  In this quote, Dombal links to four Twitter statuses that admit to liking the new Vampire Weekend album despite having previously hated the band. 

This sentence by Dombal is the perfect example of how journalists weaken their writing by grouping people into two camps rather than adding personal thought to criticism.  It becomes a who is winning scenario, where it’s us vs. them, when in reality, music and all art should be a me vs. art situation.  If Dombal wasn’t going to interview those four random Twitter users and surmise why they hated Vampire Weekend in the first place and what occurs on the new album that caused the change, then such a statement is plastic backing to drive home his own shoddily manufactured point.  Which leads us to the second fix concerning how to hate a band.  A critic shouldn’t group consensuses into two camps and quantify their reactions into positive or negative values. 

As the way we debate art changes, we can learn from how techniques of discussion evolve.  With Twitter, often times someone will make a statement about a band/artist and then immediately be challenged with an agree or disagree follow up from another person.  Instead of this, we need to be asking why someone likes or dislikes a piece of art.  Learning from this, the new goal for the modern music journalist becomes clear: an honest, insightful critique of the artistic document through the personal exploration of why the critic arrived at that conclusion.  If the journalist proposes favor or disapproval, the entire support should only concern itself with a justification of why without any semblance of greater right or wrong.  We all acknowledge music is subjective, but then quickly push it aside without a second thought if objectivity can strengthen our voice for or against an album. 

It’s not about winning.  It’s not about proving you’re right and someone else is wrong.  It’s not about being on the right side.  It’s only about the artistic document.  When I look back on my Contra review, everything I argue against in this piece was present.  Be it a Twitter commenter or a writer for the biggest music publication in the world, we all need to evaluate how we hate bands and reconsider the approaches we employ in communicating that hatred.  I hope I look back on my writing in five years and feel dissatisfied because that means I’m improving as a writer.  With every post, I’m still learning how to be a better music journalist and I know rethinking issues like this is the key to growth.  So, how do you hate a band?  There are many ways, but I know from experience, if your entire goal is to express your distaste and not to inform intelligently without outside implications of grouping, you might just end up hating your own critique more than the album you hated itself.

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Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 36-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

 UNITED STATES: We Listen For You Carousel Beach - Ayahuasca Carousel Beach's impressive self-titled debut runs the gambit of genres as folk bleeds into a 90s rock sensibility, which moves into piano ballads and then makes a turn with grandiose harmonies that bounce around tribal percussion lines. A satisfying listen for anyone and everyone. 

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Paula y Los Besos - Bailar Paula y Los Besos is the new musical adventure of singer, songwriter and poet Paula Trama. The band just released eight songs in the form of two EPs that range from acoustic-punk upbeat tunes to tender folk ballads. Bailar is a cover of T. Rex's Cosmic Dancer, with Spanish lyrics adapted by Paula herself. You can hear and download both EPs from their Bandcamp page. 

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Swimming - Triplebrie Adelaide's Swimming are sisters Katie and Angie Schilling and friend Sam Reynolds. Triplebrie is the first single from their new record Yes, Tonight. There are plenty of layered vocals and looped sounds on the album, but Swimming's simple outlook on a capella really does its best in an acoustic setting. The trio also sell tea towels as merchandise, so we can't really say anything bad about this band right now. 

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig Fijuka - Behave (From Now On) First a drum machine, then a Billie Jean-style bassline and finally synthscapes that embed the voice of Fijuka's Ankathie singing one of the weirdest declarations of love we have ever heard. Fijuka stands for DIY pop with an art school touch. Watch the music video for some Rhönrad wheel action. 

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado FAROFF - Brazilian Star Wars Can you imagine the Star Wars troopers having fun in a slum in Rio de Janeiro, listening to funk carioca in the summer and surrounded by girls? This is not a new track, but Brazilian Star Wars shows one of the best moments of DJ FAROFF, the name used by Leo Bursztyn, PHD in economics and former guitarist of Brazilian band Móveis Coloniais de Acaju. 

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts Program - Waiting Program's wall of sound is not insurmountable but it's far from an easy climb. It will challenge you to find a familiar foothold (Is it shoegaze? Is it drone-rock? Is it disco or dance?) but ultimately leaves you breathless with its brilliant audacity. It is a mountain you'll climb over and over again, never once following the same sonic route to its summit. 

CHILE: Super 45 Lainus - Montañitas Lainus is the solo project of Alfredo Ibarra who, after returning from New Zealand, has devoted himself to writing music and rediscovering his country. The Andes is the source of inspiration for his single Montañitas ("Little Mountains"), a catchy electronic pop breeze that links him telepathically to the new pop wave (Passion Pit, Phoenix), the Chilean psychedelic tradition and the now very trendy world music. It's a taster of his next album, due for release in the second half of the year. 

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo Lina Patiño - Plena Luz With roots in classical singing, Lina Patiño has been experimenting with jazz, ballads, R&B and classical music. Proof of this is the endless number of projects of different genres she has participated in. But now, in her solo guise, her range takes her a step further than usual. We invite you to listen to Plena Luz ("Full Light"), produced by Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers), in which Lina's vocals are confused and intermingled between bambuco and dark experimental pop. 

CUBA: suenacubano.com Adrian Berazaín y Mauricio Figueiral - Por Una Camarera This month we cover the association of two young artists: Adrián Berazaín and Mauricio Figueiral. Por Una Camarera ("For A Waitress") is a song in which Cuban rhythms are fused with extraordinary results and will be included in the upcoming releases of both artists separately. Follow these two songwriters closely as they are sure to surprise us with their future output. 

DENMARK: All Scandinavian Lulu Rouge - Grey Heron Man Five years on from their awesome debut Bless You, electronica legends Lulu Rouge (aka DJs and producers Buda and T.O.M.) released their second full-length, The Song Is In The Drum, at the end of April. If you're into deep, dark and excellently melancholic dub this is one not to miss. Grey Heron Man, one of three instrumentals, is a MAP exclusive download.  

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera Nelson García - La Bomba Veteran singer-songwriter Nelson García (formerly known as Nelson Poket) went solo and is now making music under his real name. La Bomba is a rock song with a classic attitude that ticks with new energy and prepares us for his new album release on June 15. 

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Guanaco - Crónico After 15 years on the road, Guanaco, one of the most important independent music icons in Ecuador, presents his most ambitious and mature album, Raíz. The record has 16 versatile tracks that blend hip hop with a wide range of urban and Latin sounds. The lyrics of Crónico provide a deep reflection on the use of drugs. 

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound Ghosting Season - Time Without Question (alternate version) Ghosting Season are a techno-loving duo from northern England. Until recently, their music was a marriage of glacial post-rock and warm late-night electronica as Worriedaboutsatan. Under their new guise, Gavin Miller and Tom Ragsdale are already readying a second LP of brooding bloops that spiral into something you could call evil party music. This track was featured on our DiS community podcast. 

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee Kannabinõid - Karistus Kannabinõid are a deafening stoner/doom band from Tallinn. Obviously there are plenty of (Nordic) metal/rock bands but these guys are particularly good. They just received some really good feedback from the international music industry delegates of showcase festival Tallinn Music Week. 

FINLAND: Glue Phenomenal Creature - Perfect Impression Phenomenal Creature play (mostly) acoustic folk with an intense bluesy feeling, creating songs that are beautifully arranged and decorated with a myriad of little instruments and harmonies. Perfect Impression is the opener of the band's recently released debut album. 

FRANCE: Yet You're Fired FAUVE - Kané FAUVE appeared from nowhere in the French music scene at the end of 2011, and after only a few months and four songs, offered for free, they became what many French critics called "the voice of our generation". With beautifully crafted instrumentals, marvellous choirs and words that touch and speak to our feelings and soul directly - putting a finger on our many life problems and crises - they deserve to be known all over the world, even if only using spoken word in Molière's language. Their first EP, Blizzard, is released on May 20. 

GERMANY: Coltran HELMUT - The Tribe Voice, guitar, loops. More and more artists focus on these instruments to make versatile songs to dream, cry or dance to. HELMUT has the talent to build up a song layer by layer, motif by motif, and then slowly start to variate and deconstruct everything. The live experience of this guy is simply amazing. 

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda No Clear Mind - Morning Rain In June No Clear Mind is an unconventional musical experiment that has been evolving constantly from 2004 till now, an open platform of expression, bringing together people who tint everyday inertia, cancelling its discreet yet lingering nature. Borrowing its name from the old neighbourhood of Athens where it was created, Mets, their second album, is a magnificent set awash with texture, atmosphere, strong autobiographical elements, past memories and emotions that provide a hypnotic, surreal soundscape suitable for both day and night dreaming. 

INDIA: NH7 Big City Harmonics - Ennio A former alt-rock band guitarist, Big City Harmonics is Rohan Hastak, a soul-infused, downtempo electronic music producer. Sampling a variety of instruments and vocals, Big City Harmonics offers a fresh take on electronica. INDONESIA: Deathrockstar Muchos Libre - Romusa On Muchos Libre's press release they declare: "In surf we trash! In stage we wrestle! Give us one show, so we'll give you the beast!" They've perhaps watched too much Mexican wrestling as the two vocalists often grapple on stage during their ferocious live shows. 

IRELAND: Harmless Noise Rachael Boyd - Aim Too High From playing in side-project math rock and pop bands to her own contemporary, improvised solo efforts, the broad strokes of Rachael Boyd's taste in music have gifted the Belfast multi-instrumentalist with a keen grasp of melody and timing. Aim Too High is the title track of a new EP, alternative neo-classical pop with enchanting, urgent piano and strings. Freely flowing with ambition, the slight underlying jitter is calmed by a reassuring vocal intercession. It feeds the need for pop sweetness yet still sounds like substantial brainfood. 

ITALY: Polaroid Wildmen - Zero Generation Wildmen are a garage rock duo from Rome. Guitar, drums and a lot of raw energy. More than a lot. Their debut album is called Haters Gonna Hate and someone wrote that it sounds like a grungier version of Black Lips. Uhm, well, OK. What if we stop talking and just dance to these marvellous and mighty songs? You will have fun, trust me. 

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Metoronori - v_v The boom in bedroom-based music makers in Japan over the past few years has produced a lot of great artists operating on a very DIY level. Tokyo-based Metoronori is one of the latest in this tradition. She makes discombobulated lo-fi pop where every element falls just into place. Her song v_v demonstrates this well - the sounds she makes seemingly out of step with one another, but the whole thing comes together to create an inviting track.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta Bletchley Park - Calendars Bletchley Park is an indie/alternative band who draw influences from post-punk and fuse them with dark rhythms and lyrics. In 2010, they released From Bletchley, With Love, a collection of their first works. Last year's debut album, My Body Fighting, resulted in three nominations at the 2013 Malta Music Awards - Best Album, Best Song for Tight Red Dress and Best Band. 

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika Apocalipsis - Jihad It's easy to behave in a nihilistic way when you are a Mexico City dweller. With no frills other than being raw as reality can get, Apocalipsis delivers a hybrid that borderlines on the ridge of post-rock, math-rock, hardcore and neocrust, without being too loyal to any of those. Grip zealously to the soundtrack of riots, burning flags and a society on the fringe of collapse... it's not the Arab spring, nor the Mexican spring. Actually, it's nothing but part of the Apocalypse.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha! Spilt Milk - Funeral Blues For an album which boasts death as its central theme, Spilt Milk's Funeral Blues is not as morbid a listen as you may think. You may recognise the lyrics as a W.H. Auden poem, used in that harrowing funeral scene from Four Weddings And A Funeral that I'm still getting over. But thanks largely to Brenda Bosma's beautiful vocals, the Amsterdam quintet does an impressive job of giving a soft yet jangly, folkish spin to what must be some of the saddest lyrics bouncing around. 

PERU: SoTB La Tornado Lost Band - Wake Up La Tornado Lost Band is a folk/rock/country duo formed by Gabriel De La Piedra and Rodrigo Melgar. Their warm voices and nostalgic guitar sounds create an atmosphere of loneliness and calm. If you like Wilco, Bon Iver or The Replacements, you will love this duo. Wake Up is taken from their debut EP, Pastores On Strike, a collection of six beautiful songs available for free download from Bandcamp. 

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog How How - Pinkery The Knight No, this isn't Animal Collective and we aren't in 2004. How How is a four-piece from Warsaw who play experimental music. Or, as they describe it, "electroacoustic free pop". Pinkery The Knight is taken from their latest EP, Knick-Knack. 

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? Dear Telephone - That Violin Lesson Sucks Dear Telephone, whose band name was inspired by a Peter Greenway movie, appeared on MAP in August 2011 with their song Providence, from their first EP. This month they released their debut album Taxi Ballad which continues their path through mildly electronic music ripe for reasoning and wonder, which will please fans of bands like The xx. Dear Telephone is releasing videos for each track on their album, such as this one for That Violin Lesson Sucks.  

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie Ikol Santiago - Tampoco Tanto Having spent his teenage years and part of his adult life living in the United States, Ikol Santiago returned to Puerto Rico in 2004 and quickly became part of the island's underground hip hop scene. His commanding vocal style - cool yet stern, clear and precise - developed through numerous collaborations with many of the island's greats. Ikol's solo debut, Iguacas, named after the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot, is a deeply personal journey through the MC's experience growing up and trying to find his footing in life. Tampoco Tanto takes a look at our increasingly desperate society, turning anger and anxiety into something closer to wisdom - and perhaps a bit of hope.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise Quantum Drive - Echoes (redone) Quantum Drive, a project from Cluj, started with two guys who found that a shoegaze/indie/60s-revival approach to music fit them very well. Later on, other friends joined them in this journey. They draw their inspiration from bands such as Deerhunter, The Horrors and Tame Impala, and are definitely an act we'll keep our ears on. 

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop Prides - Out Of The Blue Prides are probably the most talked-about new band in Scotland since CHVRCHES. In fact, one listen to the fiendishly addictive Out Of The Blue - a staggering piece of dynamic pop that proclaims the arrival of a hit-ready proposition - proves the two groups share common ground, with Prides' debut single informed by current trends for 80s-leaning electro. It is also reminiscent of MGMT hit Kids, with its distorted, organy synth sound.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker! Beast - Smoke Swig Swear New supergroup Beast consists of some of the most well-known members from various bands in South Africa. The band's raw, organic sound has captivated audiences and their 'no boundaries' ethos is reflected in their honest rock 'n' roll that is best played at high volume.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie Gage - Your Night Gage is a band featuring members from heavy rock MAP alumni Apollo 18 and The Quip. A complete contrast to the music of those two groups, however, this quintet has a much more acoustic orientation, playing on current trends in Korean music while still creating an original sound. Your Night is taken from Gage's recent self-released and self-titled EP and is a new take on the sort of melodies Apollo 18's Kim Daeinn would create under the alias Jelly Boy.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT The Free Licks - Hang On The Free Licks are getting ready to share their Exit Plan EP, which is inspired by the best variations of rock music since the 70s. Although The Free Licks could be categorised as an alt-rock band, its members' varied styles and influences make it much more than that.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más Andreazulado - Alto Andreazulado is one of the most prominent rock bands in the Venezuelan indie scene. The trio have toured Argentina, Spain, Colombia and the United States and now they are preparing for the release of their fourth album, Apolo, from which first single Alto is taken.

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Do you know who have sneakily become one of the better record labels? Take a bunch of guesses, but I'll bet none of them include Williams Street. That’s right, the weird and twisted people behind Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim line of programming have come on as something of masterful curators in the music field. From proper album releases (like Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music) to terrific remix mixtapes (ATL RMX) to yearly MP3 single series, Williams Street Records have hit a hot streak. Even if you disagree with some of their more nontraditional methods - most notably the fact that they rely almost exclusively on digital methods to distribute their wares - this bizarre union is worth keeping an eye on. 

For their next trick, Williams Street gathers a bunch of garage rock slackers for Garage Swim, a collection of fifteen previously unreleased tracks. Check out Thee Oh Sees’ contribution "Devil Again," a ripping track that borrows a bit more from traditional pop than they might like to admit. Garage Swim is due May 6th and is sponsored by the refreshing taste of Dr. Pepper.

Garage Swim track list: 1. Bass Drum of Death - "Dregs" 2. Apache Dropout - "Constant Plaything" 3. Thee Oh Sees - "Devil Again" 4. King Tuff - "She's on Fire" 5. JEFF the Brotherhood - "Melting Place" 6. Black Lips - "Cruising" 7. King Khan and the Gris Gris - "Discreate Disguise" 8. Mikal Cronin - "Better Man" 9. Mind Spiders - "They Lie" 10. Cheap Time - "Kill the Light" 11. King Louie's Missing Monuments - "Covered in Ice" 12. OBN IIIs - "A Good Lover" 13. The Gories - "On the Run" 14. King Khan - "Strange Ways" 15. Weekend - "Teal Kia"

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California's Carousel Beach have crafted one of those rare albums that perfectly mixes fun without sacrificing any ounce of intelligence.  On first spin, this collection of eleven songs plays as support for the upcoming summer weather, driving around with the windows down and the album blasting.  Digging a little deeper, the listener is rewarded with a swirling mixture of sounds that smartly shift track to track.  A lazy writer would listen to the first single "Ayahuasca" and call the track a Fleet Foxes meets Animal Collective clone.  But when listening to the track in the context of the album and understanding how the entire record works from start to finish, such a comparison seems weak.  

This impressive self-titled debut runs the gambit of genres as folk bleeds into a 90's rock sensibility which moves into piano ballads and then makes a turn with grandiose harmonies that bounce around tribal percussion lines.  The band themselves cited nature, surfing, South American shamanism, the art of Pablo Amaringo, Felix Pinchi Aguirre and Anderson Debernardi as the main inspirations for the album.  While I'm not sure how each of these play into the final album, understanding that Carousel Beach has a wide spectrum of influences ultimately informs why this special debut LP sounds so diverse.  This record will serve as both a fun spin and an album I hold in high regard. I just can't wait for summer to arrive so my surroundings and these magnificent sounds can perfectly align.  

Carousel Beach

S/T

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Label: SonaBlast! Records

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Houndmouth 

"On The Road"

From The Hills Below The City

Label: Rough Trade

Release Date: June 3rd, 2013

PURCHASE

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