Heavenly Beat

This is actually the solo project of the bassist from Beach Fossils, John Peña. His new project is called Heavenly Beat and It's bloody brilliant. The below track is Tradition, a cut from the Heavenly Beat debut set for release July 24th via Captured Tracks. It sees Peña dancing in synthpop territory, combining the hazy lo-fi he's known for in Beach Fossils with some pretty nice R&B inspired beats. I do like Beach Fossils but I have to say there's potential for enjoying this whole Heavenly Beat thing a whole lot more.

Jay Babin

This just turned up in my inbox, I can't tell you much about Jay Babin except that this is the first EP and it's actually really good. All the tracks have this distinctly folky edge but it's infused with lo-fi glitches and elements of funk that actually make a really interesting sound. There's a tag on the Bandcamp page that actually refers to it as being 'urban folk', I have to say I kind of agree with it. I'm really glad I found this. Anyway the track below is my favourite pick from the EP, you can listen to the rest here which is available on a name your price basis

Swiss Alps

I don't understand why bands like Real Estate get so hyped when you can find stuff like this, it's obviously kind of similar cause of the whole lo-fi surf-pop vibe but there's just something about it which is so much better; for a start not every song sounds the same. These Guys are called Swiss Alps, they make music that I wouldn't really associate with the Swiss Alps, although I'm not much of a skier so this could be great skiing music for all I know. Anyway, they've just put out this really nice self-titled EP which is available through Bandcamp on a name your price basis, or if you're more of a cassette person you can pick one up via Pyramid Lake. Either way this is sunny music for sunny people, enjoy:

Dead Bugs

I'm posting about music with a lot less of an electronic-y influence lately, which i'm pleased about cos it proves my love for the guitar is not yet dead. It's kind of like being reintroduced to an old friend you haven't seen for like a year and getting on as if they've never left.

So I've got to tell you about this Dead Bugs LP, its called Of a Feather and it's been available digitally since February, but it's gonna be released on vinyl towards the end of the year so it's worth a mention. I forgot how folk music can take you on this weird journey where one track can make everything seem so pretty and wonderful but a couple of minutes later you can be completely thrown off by another track which sends you into some hole to cry for a few hours - the contrast between Unbearable Weight and Full of Gold kind of shows exactly what I mean. It sounds pretty cheesy but I love folk music like this precisely because you can feel so much from something pretty simple.

The track I've chosen to stream below is my favourite, I can't get over the contrast of that girl's voice. You can stream the rest of the album here. It's a measly $1 to buy all 10 tracks; that's just 63 British pennies.

Ghost Ship

Just received a very nice email from a guy called Ben, he makes up part of a group called Ghost Ship and they make some pretty sick lo-fi shoegazey songs that make me wish I knew how to surf. I like this a lot, it's kinda heavy and meets somewhere between Wavves and Cloud Nothings.

Their most recent EP is called Golden Girls and apparently it was recorded on an old production station in a public radio station, even though it came out this January it's the perfect kind of music to see the Spring through to. You can stream my favourite track from the EP below, then go grab the whole thing on a name your price basis by clicking here. Enjoy: