MP3: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE "Attar" (Drag City) From the upcoming album The Sun Awakens, this track plays like the soundtrack to a modern sci-fi western. The experimental rock band releases the album on June 13. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE "Cold Word" (Insound) "Kick in the Teeth" (Better Looking) With the same kind of bright attitude as Ben Folds Five, The Electric Soft Parade crafts piano pop songs for the indie crowd on these two tracks from their recently released The Human Body EP. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | indie pop posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: ONEIDA "Up with People" (Jagjaguwar) Brooklyn's Oneida releases their new album Happy New Year on July 11. Their unpredictableness continues to be one of the band's glowing attributes on this track from the CD. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE LONG WINTERS "Pushover" (Barsuk) From the Seattle band's upcoming third full-length, this opening track embodies The Long Winters' dive bar indie pop sound. Their harmonic hooks go quite well with a dark ale. See also: MP3: THE LONG WINTERS: "Ultimatum" tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | indie pop posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF MAY "Hide + Seek" (Toolshed) This London band is getting some strong reviews for their debut self-titled CD. Their new-folk sound leans on the traditional side, but shows solid strength in the familiar. tags: music | mp3 | folk posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND "Something of an End" (Asthmatic Kitty) Shara Worden reminds me a little bit of Feist combined with Tori Amos and some playful theatrics on this track from her upcoming album Bring Me the Workhorse. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: JAMES FIGURINE "55566688833" (Plug Research) Here's a new minimalist indie dance track from James Tamborello of Dntel and Postal Service. It's from his upcoming solo CD Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake, which hits stores on July 11. tags: music | mp3 | indie dance posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE WALKMEN "Louisiana" (Insound) If you listen to this track from The Walkmen's May 24 release A Hundred Miles Off, your ears will not be deceiving you when hear that they suddenly sound a lot like Bob Dylan. In recent interviews, frontman Hamilton Leithauser has mentioned the rock legend as an inspiration for their latest CD. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: DANKO JONES "Baby Hates Me" "First Date" (DankoJones.com) Toronto hard rock revivalists Danko Jones release Sleep is the Enemy on Tuesday. These two tracks show off their propensity for fun punk metal hooks. tags: music | mp3 | rock posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: HOME "Bubble" (Jagjaguwar) According to the Jagjaguwar website, Home's first CD in a decade Sexteen is "a concept record about fucking." Check out this funny little song from the album that figures a phone sex conservation about hand jobs. It's lovely. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | indie pop posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: STARLIGHT MINTS "Seventeen Devils" (Audiofile) Another track from indie pop band Starlight Mints' recently released album Drowaton. See also: MP3: STARLIGHT MINTS: "Inside of Me" tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | indie pop posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE CHARLATANS UK "Blackened Blue Eyes" (Toolshed) On this track, The Charlatans UK return to the sound that gave them their greatest success, an even blend of '80s alternative and '90s brit pop. Their newest album Simpatico. was released on Tuesday on Sanctuary Records. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: CAMERA OBSCURA "I Need All the Friends I Can Get" (Insound) Another track from the band's June 6 release Let's Get Out of This Country. See also: MP3: CAMERA OBSCURA: "Let's Get Out of This Country" tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | indie pop posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE TWILIGHT SINGERS "Andiamo" (emusic) Greg Dulli and his band release their latest album Powder Burns on May 16. Like most of his previous work of recent years, Dulli attempts to experiment a bit with the indie rock formula. However, even though this track may be spacy and staticky, he can't fully distract us from its bland alt-rock core. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: THE COUP "My Favorite Mutiny" "We are The Ones" (Anti-) Pick a Bigger Weapon is the first album in nearly five years from politically-charged hip-hop duo The Coup. Judging from these two tracks, their lyrics are still as smart as previous albums, but the music's actually gotten a little more funky. Hey, it's got a message and you can dance to it! What more can you ask for? tags: music | mp3 | hip-hop posted on Thursday, May 04, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: MARITIME "Calm" (Flameshovel) "Tearing Up the Oxygen" (Insound) "Parade of Punk Rock T-Shirts" (Flameshovel) Featuring former members of The Promise Ring and Dismemberment Plan, Maritime combine their indie rock forces to melt us with their masterful melancholy. Their recently released CD We, The Vehicles features three tracks which are equal parts pop hooks and oppressive gloom. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Wednesday, May 03, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: SUFJAN STEVENS "The Henney Buggy Band" (Toolshed) By now, most fans of Sufjan Steven's universally acclaimed Illinois know that The Avalache (out this July) will be an album of outtakes and extras that didn't make the Illinois cut. Here's one fun leftover that I'm glad wasn't just tossed to the dogs. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: BAND OF HORSES "The Great Salt Lake" (Sub Pop) Another highlight from Band of Horses' debut album Everything All the Time. See also: MP3: BAND OF HORSES: "The Funeral" tags: music | mp3 | indie rock posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 | [permalink] MP3: TOKYO POLICE CLUB "Cheer It On" "Nature of the Experiment" (Paper Bag) Here are two raucous pleasures from Toronto indie garage band Tokyo Police Club, whose A Lesson in Crime is out this week. tags: music | mp3 | indie rock | garage rock posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 | [permalink] STREAM: NAPSTER'S NEW FREE SERVICE napster.com Starting today, Napster is now offering its entire 2 million song catalog to stream for free. The new ad-supported feature allows users to listen to any song up to five times. After that, you have to pay to play. tags: music | stream | internet radio | Napster posted on Monday, May 01, 2006 | [permalink]