Leaves of Green - Manhattan Ave. (download)

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest with you: I decided earlier that I wanted to get back into this music blog thing. That was about two and a half hours ago. Since then, I’ve been neurotically obsessing over what song to post, as if it’s an enormously important, life-altering decision.

And it was totally worth it. During my episode, I stumbled across an old bookmark that led tangentially to Leaves of Green, a 20-year-old NYU student who makes beautifully haunting music with guitars, ukuleles, and a voice reminiscent of Peter Silberman, Justin Vernon, or maybe Elliott Smith. I’m going to stop making comparisons now and just tell you to go download his debut album, Imago, for free(!) on Bandcamp.

Foster the People - Houdini (download)

The latest subject of my summer pop binge. I’ll defer to In Your Speakers’ glowing review for this one:

Built of achingly catchy synth riffs, exuberant choruses, tasty little samples, bouncy guitar and bass lines, and hooks to make your heart bleed, Torches is one of the neatest electro-pop albums to surface since MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular, or, more recently, Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

From their debut album, Torches.

The Royalty - Alexander (download)

For a month or two, I’ve been hungrily devouring every summery, breezy indie pop/rock album I can get my hands on. As much as I love brooding shoegaze stuff like Doves’ Lost Souls, it just doesn’t feel right with all the windows down in 90 degree weather. The Royalty’s debut(?) album fits almost too perfectly. What a fun group.

White Denim - At The Farm (download)

Uhh, I think I’m hallucinating.

From their new album, D. As a bonus, here’s track 2 from the same album—it leads nicely into At The Farm, and the two together should give you a pretty good taste of the craziness that is White Denim.

Deodato - Also Sprach Zarathustra (download)

And now for something completely different: an instrumental funk hit from the 70’s. I dare you not to dance (or at least smile) while listening to to this song.

From his 1972 album Prelude, since remastered.

Other Lives - Dust Bowl III (download)

Another beautiful, cinematic song from the band that inspired this very blog. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually stumbled across an… uh… “advance” copy of this album a couple months ago, and I’ve listened to it more times than I can count. To assuage my guilty pirate conscience, I bought a legit copy today, and I’m seeing them live next week. So there.

From their second album, Tamer Animals, released today of course. Buy it meow and help me ease my guilt.

Snowmine - The Hill (download)

I discovered Snowmine late last night, and I’ve been listening to them almost non-stop since. Of course, I immediately wanted to post about them here. Thing is, this album explores so many different sounds and genres that there isn’t really one song that I can pick to “introduce” people to the band… So, for your listening pleasure, here’s one that I picked pretty much at random.

From their debut album Laminate Pet Animal (yay, palindromes!), available on Bandcamp for whatever you want to pay.

Magenta Skycode - Red Eyes (download) 

Apparently, Finland has a freakishly diverse indie music scene. Magenta Skycode’s one excellent example.

From their debut album, IIIII.

Fleet Foxes - Sim Sala Bim (download)

When I first listened to this song earlier today, I was struck by how familiar it felt—it would’ve seemed perfectly at home on their self-titled debut album. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Obscure Sound’s review sums it up more succinctly than I can:

Fleet Foxes have created a nearly flawless second album that sounds largely the same while still managing to be a completely new experience.

Helplessness Blues is out May 3, 2011 on Sub Pop.

O’Death - Bugs (download)

One part Simon and Garfunkel, two parts Spaghetti Western, and three parts I-discovered-this-band-five-minutes-ago-and-now-I’m-downloading-the-album.

From their third album, Outside, released today.

(Source: hearya.com)