http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct_kfIJMBSw
http://twincabins.bandcamp.com/

Clang of the Concrete Swans
Apparently Comet Gain are a long-running British band that i have just never heard of until i got the excited press release for their new record. This song is good new-wavish pop with a singer who sounds kind of like Mick Jones. Or maybe it is just that the voice is way overproduced, layered far over the clattering guitars and soaring keys. Still, it has a fun beat and moves along nicely. I wonder if this sounds like the rest of their stuff? Maybe they should turn the vocals down just a hair…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XboolhHxu8s http://www.myspace.com/thecometgain

Dogwalkers of the New Age
This band's promo company sent us two tracks a few years back, and i have adored both of them ever since. I was unable to get the promo people to send me the full record, however, and i have had no luck ever finding any releases by this band. B.O.B. feature a male singer with a slightly gaspy voice singing lightly, accompanied by a rich female voice singing counterpoint, all over delicate picked guitar and rhythms that move along crisply, but unhurriedly. The music is minimal and beautiful in a vaguely folkish vein. These guys are up to interesting things, and i wish i could find more by this band. Really engaging stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YotPas6W3XY
http://www.g-rad.org/breatheowlbreathe/
http://breatheowlbreathe.bandcamp.com/album/magic-central

Houses
This is really lovely. An echoed beat claps slowly in the distance, over some low keys, and her voice singing quietly, hushed. Half way through an incessant hi-hat loop joins in, but that's pretty much it. The keys get just a bit louder at the end, as the song ever so slightly swells to a conclusion. Minimal electro, but well done.

Osaka
This is an odd song. It starts off like an old school trance tune with lots of keyboards, wavering drones, and a drum machine pounding away. Get out your glow sticks and dance everyone… But then, after 4 minutes of raving, a male voice comes in, spewing fast vocals like Bobby Gillespie in a Primal Scream song. Drums take over for the machine, but the keyboards continue to drone while the vocalist saunters along. It's actually pretty cool. Apparently this is the first single from the new LP by this Norwegian band. Interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0umACl8489Y
label: http://clubmod.modularpeople.com/
band: http://www.120days.no/120days.no/_.html

Sunlight
This is one for fans of Kompakt records -- it is a song of crisp Teutonic electropop that would not be out of place on that label. There is a wavering synth, a steady monotonous drum machine, and some subdued vocal harmonies. It bounces along gently, but it still fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI5wgtWnZXI
http://theoneamradio.com/

A Walk Home
This song starts with a slowly chugging guitar, with the voice echoed in that way that early Red House Painters records were echoed, like the singer has a naturally loud reverby voice and was recorded in a studio too small for that voice. At any rate, this is a good mellow tune, that grooves along unhurriedly.

Ends
Here, the echo on the voice is cranked up even further, into druggy Canadian levels a la SIANspheric, and the voice is layered over tapped drums and guitars that tinkle slowly. At the end, strings swell up as the guitars spin in layers. Another really lovely track from this act.

http://themorningclouds.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/themorningclouds