MP3: BOARDS OF CANADA "Chromakey Dreamcoat". It seems like critics are divided on how Boards of Canada's latest album The Campfire Headphase compares to their previous albums. Some say it's more accessible, while others argue the album is more experimental. Here's a track that may help you decide. (betterPropaganda) posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: JENS LEKMAN Swedish songman Jens Lekman's debut full-length collects tracks from three pop-oriented previously-released EPs. All three EPs are now out of print, so your next chance to purchase his sweetly-sung songs comes on Nov. 22, when Oh You're So Silent Jens hits stores.(Secretly Canadian) "Maple Leaves" "You Are The Light" posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE CLIENTELE "E.M.P.T.Y.". If forgot to post this up with my review yesterday, but here's another great track from Strange Geometry available for downloading. (Toolshed) posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 | [permalink] REVIEW: THE CLIENTELE Strange Geometry (Merge) On their follow-up album to 2003's Violet Hour, The Clientele strongly recall the melodic British rock of the '60s. Yet their mellow songs of love and loss are more than just a flashback to another era. Each track is so genuinely heartfelt that it nearly wipes out all nostalgic links to bands like the Byrds and the Association. On songs like the album's somber opener "Since K Got Over Me" and the perfectly orchestrated "Impossible," The Clientele reach a level of emotion that even their influencers lacked. See also: MP3: THE CLIENTELE: "Since K Got Over Me" & "(I Can't Seem to) Make You Mine" posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: BROADCAST "Black Cat". Despite the departure of two of its band members, Broadcast has maintained their raw electro-pop core on their latest release Tender Buttons. The two remaining members, Trish Keenan and James Cargill, may have even found some extra freedom toward experimentation. (betterPropaganda) posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: ARCTIC MONKEYS British band Arctic Monkeys have already garnered enough buzz to be qualify them as best breakthrough band of 2006. Check out these two tracks from their debut album, which is estimated for release in January of next year. Their sound is similar to Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines -- incredibly catchy and riotous. (Domino) "Fake Tales of San Francisco" "From Ritz to Rubble" posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 | [permalink] STREAM: WILCO Kicking Television - Live in Chicago. Listen to four tracks from Wilco's double disc live CD Kicking Television, which arrives in stores on Nov. 15. (WilcoWorld.net) posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE MENDOZA LINE These indie rockers from Athens, Georgia have had mild success over the last few years, but none of their albums have been mind-blowing enough to gain true accollades from critics. The Mendoza Line gives it a fourth try with Full of Light and Full of Fire, which hits stores on Nov. 22. (MendozaLine.com) "Catch a Collapsing Star" "Mysterious in Black" posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: AKRON/FAMILY & ANGELS OF LIGHT "Dylan Pt. 2". Tourmates and labelmates Akron/Family and Angels of Light combine their talents on a split LP out next week. Hear what the unlikely pairing sounds like on this track from the album. (Young God) posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: ROGUE WAVE "Publish My Love". Rogue Wave releases Descended Like Vultures, their anticipated follow up to Out of the Shadow, tomorrow. Here's a second preview track that Sub Pop is offering us to download for free on their website. (Sub Pop) See also: MP3: ROGUE WAVE: "10:1" See also: MYSPACE.COM/ROGUEWAVE posted on Monday, October 24, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: PAUL KELLY & THE STORMWATER BOYS "You're Learning". Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly collaborates with The Stormwater Boys bluegrassy folk album Foggy Highway. This track from the album -- released in the U.S. last week -- features the pop-country vocals of Kasey Chambers. (Toolshed) posted on Monday, October 24, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: XIU XIU LARSEN "Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw". Hear what happens when avant-garde meets avant-garde on this track from Ciautastico!, an album that combines the sounds of experiemental indie acts Larsen and Xiu Xiu. (Audiofile) posted on Friday, October 21, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Toronto-based Great Lake Swimmers just released their sophomore album Bodies and Minds last week. Their rural, atmospheric sound can be sampled on these two songs off the album. (Misra) "Various Stages" "Bodies and Minds" posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: OKKERVIL RIVER "No Key, No Plan". Okkervil River will be releasing Black Sheep Boy Appendix, an EP of songs that didn't quite make the cut onto their dazzling full-length released earlier this year. Here's a upbeat song from the EP (out on November 22) that's quite good. (Jound) posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE RED THREAD Here are two songs to sample from The Red Thread's latest album of dreamy indie pop, ship in the attic, birds in the subway. The band may not be groundbreaking, but they create a fine, melancholy soundtrack for watching leaves fall in the park. (Badman) "Wax Museum" "A Distance" posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE TAH-DAHS "The Cute Band," a messy alternapop track from The Tah-Dah's Le Fun, which will be available in stores next month. Neither their music nor their schtick are very groundbreaking, but you may enjoy a moment of catchiness and/or cleverness here and there. (TahDahs.com) posted on Monday, October 17, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: FRUIT BATS "Silent Life," another track from The Fruit Bats' Spelled in Bones available to download on their label website. (Sub Pop) See also: MP3: FRUIT BATS: "Lives of Crime" posted on Monday, October 17, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO "Doing Something Wrong," an alt-country porch ballad from the band's freshly released Hard to Love a Man. (Secretly Canadian) posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: IMMACULATE MACHINE Kathryn Calder, the other sweetly-voiced female member of the New Pornographers, is also a third of the Canadian indie band Immaculate Machine. The group makes good use of harmonized authoratative chants. You can hear their nerdy college rock blend of Le Tigre and the New Pornographers on these two tracks from their recently released album Ones and Zeros. (ImmaculateMachine.com) "Broken Ship" "Phone No." posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 "Sexy Results (MSTRKRFT Edition)," from the guitarless band's upcoming album of remixes and B-sides, Romance Bloody Romance. (Insound) posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 | [permalink] STREAM: DEPECHE MODE Playing the Angel. Listen to Depeche Mode's new album in its entirety before it hits stores next week. (MySpace Music) posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: CAT POWER "The Greatest". Cat Power's new album The Greatest won't be available until the end of January 2006, but you can check out what Chan Marshall's been working on all summer on this title track. Marshall's voice lends itself quite perfectly to the piano and strings on this beautifully sweet and somber song. (Matador) posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: WHY? "Rubber Traits". Released last week, Elephant Eyelash from Why? (aka Yoni Wolf) has been receiving some great reviews. The track "Rubber Traits" doesn't inherit any of the underground hip-hop sounds of his previous work with Clouddead. Instead, it is a nerdy brand of indie pop that draws influence from Pavement and lo-fi Beck. (anticon) posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: ADULT. "In My Nerves". Check out this track from Adult.'s newly released Thrill Jockey full-length Gimmie Trouble. (Insound) posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 | [permalink] REVIEW: CASTANETS First Light's Freeze (Asthmatic Kitty) Like last year's Cathedral, Castanets' latest release First Light's Freeze is gorgeously experimental. Frontman Raymond Raposa carefully crafts each track, creating a somber and unpredictable songbook that can best be summed up as atmospheric Americana. Full of subtle sound textures as well as huge unexpected shifts in intensity, every moment of the album feels meticulously constructed. The resulting structure is one that is beautifully unified from top to bottom, but that is at the same time heartbreakingly fragile. posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: TOM VEK "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes," a neo-post-punk track from Tom Vek's upcoming album We Have Sound. (StarTime) posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE EARLIES Uncut magazine named The Earlies' album These were the Earlies the best debut of 2004. The UK band's acclaimed CD is finally getting released in North America on Oct. 25. With split homes in Texas and Northern England, The Earlies are influenced by British and American rock-n-roll pioneers like The Band and The Beatles. The resulting sound is equal parts psychedelica and roots rock. (Secretly Canadian) "Morning Wonder" "The Devil's Country" posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: EARLY MAN "Death is the Answer," another retro-metal track off of Early Man's Closing In, available in stores tomorrow. (Matador) See also: MP3: EARLY MAN: "Evil Is" posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: LIZ JANES & CREATE(!) "Lonesome Valley". Lo-fi songstress Liz Janes redoes The Carter Family's classic with help from jazz experimentalists Create(!). The song is from the collaborative EP Liz Janes & Create(!), a collection of covers that gives a unique indie twist to the American songbook. The disc hits stores tomorrow. (Asthmatic Kitty) posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: THE LONG WINTERS "Ultimatum". The Long Winters handicraft a cutesy dreamscape on this track from their upcoming album of the same name. (Barsuk) posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: LADYTRON "Destroy Everything You Touch". This track from the first ladies of electroclash pays a bit more homage to '80s club new wave than previous work. It's from their latest release Witching Hour.(Ryko) posted on Wednesday, October 05, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: BODUF SONGS Kranky is releasing Boduf Songs' self-titled debut tomorrow. These two tracks from the album are delicate pieces of avant-garde psychedelic folk that will make you realize why the label picked up the artist, whose music was previously only available on CD-R. (Baby Blue) "Puke a Pitch Black Rainbow to the Sun" "Grains" posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: MY MORNING JACKET "Off The Record". I've already had the chance to hear My Morning Jacket's album Z (which is available in stores tomorrow) and it's true that the Kentucky band has nearly expelled its rootsy core that defined 2003's It Still Moves. "Off the Record" is perhaps the most extreme example of the band's reinvention. The song is reminiscent of both early Clash records and Moon Safari-era Air with a bit of surf rock thrown in as well. An unlikely combination from an unlikely source, but for me, it works. (Amazon) posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 | [permalink] MP3: ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS "You are My Sister," another free download from the Mercury Prize winner's haunting and amazing I am a Bird Now. (betterPropaganda) posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 | [permalink] TOP 10 HOBBY BOX ARTISTS Thanks to all the people who've discovered Hobby Box in the past month. September saw the biggest surge in traffic since Hobby Box began in the spring. Here's a list of the artists that helped bring in the most visitors in the last month. 1. The Clientele 2. The Living Things 3. OOIOO 4. Castanets 5. Echo and the Bunnymen 6. Ninja High School 7. Devendra Banhart 8. Her Space Holiday 9. Explosions in the Sky 10. Metric posted on Sunday, October 02, 2005 | [permalink]