Featuring tracks from Metronomy, Bombay Bicycle Club, The War On Drugs, Manchester Orchestra, Pretty Lights & ODESZA, Nightbug, The Glitch Mob, Wild Beasts and Keep Shelly In Athens.
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To download the mp3 file, right click and “save link as” here: The Breakdown with Ben Episode 69
Big ups for finding your way to the best indie music blog out there, this episode brings us another ripping collection of the best brand new and underground tunes.
Albums, albums, albums! There are that many good albums coming out, I can barely keep up! You may have noticed this episode contains 28 tracks, so I’m going slightly over the upper limit of what I like an episode to contain, but this was a pure case of not being able to leave anything out…
England’s Wild Beasts have just released their fourth studio album, Present Tense. It is a cracker. It picks up where their previous albums left off, embarking on a dark, emotional, painful and yet extremely beautiful journey. One of the songs included both on this album and on this episode is A Dog’s Life, a wistful, brooding, emotion jerker. One of my dogs recently passed away and I have found a real affinity with this song, in remembering him and dealing with missing him. Either way, it’s just a really nice song, and uses a ball as part of the percussion, something I don’t think I’ve heard before. Get this album. I have always had a soft spot for falsetto vocalists, but to find a band that has two, that tag team so perfectly, is a treat to behold.
The War On Drugs, who you might remember was Kurt Vile’s band before he went solo, have just released their latest studio album, Lost In The Dream. They seem to be doing swimmingly without him, as this album is just sensational, and is far and away my favourite release from them. It invokes strong memories of quieter Bruce Springsteen and even Mark Knopfler in a way. Highly recommended music.
Bombay Bicycle Club’s latest album So Long, See You Tomorrow, is also very worthy of a listen, containing a very original overall sound. So original in fact, that there are moments when I am reminded of one of my all time favourite bands with an original sound, Yeasayer.
Another tiny UK band I am enjoying is Racing Glaciers. Their bandcamp profile says they write songs about rivers and the night time. I like that. Their EP Ahead Of You Forever is wicked, and I’ve lifted a couple of tracks off it for this episode.
More album goodness is included from Nightbug (the Sydney 5 piece that sent me their EP Parallels – thanks again guys!), Koloto (UK solo producer in the vein of Tor and Beats Antique), Made in Heights, Metronomy and The Glitch Mob, whose album Love, Death, Immortality I will no doubt end up playing every track from.
Another exciting development in the world of glitch producers, is another release from the great man himself, Pretty Lights! He has sprung on us, out of nowhere, a 4 track B-side release of material he produced for his stunning 2013 album, A Color Map Of The Sun, that didn’t make the cut. According to the man himself, it wasn’t due to a lack of quality that these songs didn’t make it onto the record. It will be dropping on April 19, and to celebrate, he has shared one of the songs, along with a remix by none other than ODESZA, what a treat!
Among the gems of single blogged tunes I have managed to dig up over the past couple weeks, comes a brilliant cover of Yeasayer’s Ambling Alp. I love a cover when it does something completely different to an already brilliant song, yet still retains the song’s overall flavour. These artists have added dreamy vocals and a softer, more poppy sound to a dark and heavy hitting song by one of the best indie artists of all time.
Dan Croll is an up and coming English artist who I am excited to hear more from, his current single is included in here. Brisbane, Australia’s Pigeon are on an exciting upwards curve with strong releases coming in recent times from them. Duke Dumont has also grabbed me with the creative and fun use of steel drums in their tune I Got You. I was a little disappointed to learn throughout the week that the vocalist from Greek duo Keep Shelly In Athens, Sarah, is leaving the band. This news was tempered by the news that they are still going to release tunes, even announcing a new album to be released later this year. They did one final farewell song together, Old Time Glory, which is included as well.
Apologies for going so far over, this time around, but with the positive feedback I’m getting, I’m sure most of you won’t mind! Til next time music lovers…. xox
Tracklist
Artist – Track Title (Start Time)
1. Duke Dumont (ft. Jax Jones) – I Got U (00:00)
2. Bombay Bicycle Club – Carry Me (03:17)
3. Racing Glaciers – The Falls (07:41)
4. Dan Croll – From Nowhere (11:49)
5. Manchester Orchestra – Top Notch (15:06)
6. Memoryy and Brothertiger – Ambling Alp (Yeasayer Cover) (18:26)
7. Wild Beasts – Wanderlust (22:17)
8. The War On Drugs – Eyes To The Wind (27:12)
9. The Glitch Mob – Beauty of the Unhidden Heart (33:06)
10. Pretty Lights – Lost and Found (ODESZA Remix) (38:00)
11. Nightbug – Parallels (42:37)
12. The Pretty Littles – Noobie (47:31)
13. British India – Summer Forgive Me (50:00)
14. Vinyl Theatre – Breaking Up My Bones (53:54)
15. Pigeon – Climbing Trees (57:00)
16. Goodbye Chanel – Foreva (1:00:46)
17. Secret Company – Saviour (1:06:40)
18. Bombay Bicycle Club – Luna (1:09:09)
19. Waters – Got To My Head (1:12:20)
20. Nightbug – Lost At Sea (1:15:28)
21. Racing Glaciers – Moths (1:18:50)
22. Keep Shelly In Athens – Old Time Glory (1:22:45)
23. Tei Shi – Nevermind The End (Lil Sad Remix) (1:25:55)
24. Wild Beasts – A Dog’s Life (1:28:45)
25. The War On Drugs – An Ocean in Between the Waves (1:32:07)
26. Koloto – Fox Tales (1:39:18)
27. ::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: – Wildflowers (1:43:20)
28. Metronomy – Boy Racers (1:46:25)
The Indie Electro Breakdown 