The XX - "Crystalised"

As cliche as it may be to say, The XX is a subtle band - subtle in a couple ways. The XX's music is sparse in the most literal sense. It is lousy with space. Also, their music may not bowl you over on the first listen. It'll creep up on you. It is also sexy (but not in a creepy way). This London quartet is peddling a relatively unique amalgam: needly, serpentine guitar lines and sensual, languid grooves all wrapped in goth-y ambiance. Their songs nod as much to dubstep as they do to post-punk. The band even lists modern R&B icons Aaliyah, Rihanna and Missy Elliott as influences next to indie stalwarts like Young Marble Giants, Pixies and The Cure. Their debut single,"Crystalised," is exactly what the title suggests: a sleek crystallization of The XX's aesthetic. The dual lead vocals of Romy Madley Croft (lead guitar) and Oliver Sim (bass) - hushed and beautifully intertwined like they are seducing one another - are the focal point of any XX song, but there is something especially transfixing about the way they sing "So don't think that I'm pushing you away/When you're the one that I've kept closest" in hushed harmony.

XX is out 8/17 on Rough Trade.

Download MP3: "Crystalised"

Yo La Tengo - "Here To Fall"

I have to admit that the first single, "Periodically Double or Triple," from YLT's forthcoming album, Popular Songs, was severely underwhelming (to put it kindly). I am pleased to report, with much relief, that the second single, "Here To Fall," is truly great and sorta surprising - even for a band as eclectic as YLT. It begins with a swampy, sonar echo and quickly gives way to a wave of organ drone, thudding fuzz bass and strings. Oddly enough, it wouldn't have sounded out of place on the semi-dud Summer Sun, but it also would have been the most upbeat and jaw-dropping song on the whole album. If the Beatles could have hunkered down in Iceland to record with Sigur Ros (via some inexplicable time warp), it might have sounded something like this.

Popular Songs is out 9/8 on Matador.

Download MP3: "Here To Fall"

Throw Me The Statue - "Hi-Fi Goon"

With "Hi-Fi Goon," TMTS is now two-for-two on the singles from its forthcoming album, Creaturesque. Where the first single "Ancestors" was shimmering, rhythmic thrust, "Hi-Fi Goon" is punchy, Pacific NW rawk. This makes sense as that very region's de facto house producer, Phil Ek, manned the boards for Creaturesque. As Stereogum already noted, "Hi-Fi Goon" is a throwback to Built To Spill's glory days. Now, if we could just get Doug & Co. to reunite with Mr. Ek and reclaim some of that magic.

Creaturesque is out 8/4 on Secretly Canadian.

Download MP3: "Hi-Fi Goon"

Rain Machine - "Give Blood"

As you can probably tell from the above picture, Rain Machine is TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone. "Give Blood," the first single from his forthcoming solo debut, is about what you'd expect. By that, I mean the track wouldn't sound totally out of place on a TVOTR album. I have no idea if this is indicative of how the rest of Rain Machine will sound, but I'm hoping the album will be something more eclectic or, at least, something that justifies a solo project away from his day job.

Rain Machine is out 9/22 via Anti-.

Download MP3: "Give Blood"

Atlas Sound - "Walkabout (w/ Panda Bear)"

"What did you want to see/What did you want to be when you grew up?" These are the lines that open and close "Walkabout," the spectacular new single from Atlas Sound (the solo project of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox). As the above quoted lyrics atest, Mr. Cox is channeling both the kaleidoscopic pop AND the hazy recollections of his collaborator's instant classic Person Pitch. Easy comparisons aside, "Walkabout" shows Cox moving away from the sedate bedroom pop of Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel and towards a more lively and interesting direction. As prolific as he has been, I've never felt like he's thrown a true curveball at us, and "Walkabout" is the closest he's come to one so far.

Logos is out 10/20 via Kranky.

Download MP3: "Walkabout (w/ Panda Bear)"

Off to Pitchfork Fest!

I'll be back next week with a recap of some sort. I promise lots of pictures and, hopefully, videos as well.

Girls - "Solitude"

So, obviously, I'm still obsessively listening to Girls. "Solitude" is actually the b-side of the Hellhole Ratrace 7", and it couldn't sound less like a b-side. By that, I mean it's a top-notch tune - lilting, hazy folk-rock much like the a-side. It also bears a passing resemblance to Bob Dylan's "Every Grain of Sand" (with or without the harmonica).

Album is out 9/22 on True Panther/Matador.

Download MP3: "Solitude"

Toro Y Moi - "Blessa"

I don't know if it's just what I'm gravitating towards lately or if it's simply a case of what's on the market, but I've got another perfect summer jam for you. Mr. Chaz Bundick (a.k.a. Toro Y Moi) is clearly inspired by two of this decade's most ebullient producers of summer sounds: The Avalanches and Panda Bear, and "Blessa" sounds like a fever dream collaboration between the two. Toro Y Moi has two full-length albums due in 2010 on Carpark Records, but there will be a "preview" 7" out in the fall featuring "Blessa" as the A-side.

The Blessa 7" is out 10/6 via Carpark.

Download MP3: "Blessa"

Pearl Harbour - "Sunburn"

According to Pearl Harbour's myspace page, their music sounds like "a date with a mermaid." Pluralize that last word and the description is pretty damn accurate. This L.A. duo, comprised of Skylar and Piper K., concoct a nebulous brand of pop that is equal parts surf, drone and shoegaze. Due to their vocals and instruments all being awash in reverb and effects, their songs are imbued with a woozy, hypnotic feel. Naturally, this makes for supremely excellent summertime music. "Sunburn" is gorgeous pop adrift at sea and swimming in a narcotic haze - in the best possible way. If it doesn't make you yearn for the beach, you might be an agoraphobe.

Download MP3: "Sunburn"

Yim Yames - "Behind That Locked Door" (George Harrison cover)

As you probably guessed, "Yim Yames" is the pseudonym of My Morning Jacket's Jim James. He is preparing two solo releases under this name. There is a full-length solo album "coming soon," but the more pressing issue is the Tribute To EP. Reportedly, he recorded this six-song EP of George Harrison covers just a few days after Harrison's death in 2001. For whatever reason, it has been sitting on the shelf until now. It features two Beatles' songs that Harrison penned as well as four songs from Harrison's solo debut All Things Must Pass. As this EP is a eulogy of sorts, it's fitting that Mr. James doesn't cover so much as haunt these songs. All alone in the studio with an acoustic guitar, banjo, his angelic, drawling howl and the requisite amount of reverb, his grief is palpable on each track. Suffice to say, the EP is a gorgeous testament to the emotive power of both George Harrison and Jim James.

The Tribute To EP is available now as a digital download for only $6, and, as extra incentive, a portion of the proceeds from sales of Tribute To will go to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Download MP3: "Behind That Locked Door"

Screaming Females - "Bell"

Marissa Paternoster, the lead singer/guitarist (and only female) of the Screaming Females, is a wee thing but you'd never know it from the unholy racket she wrenches from her throat and guitar. Screaming Females tow the line between Sleater-Kinney's brash punk and Black Sabbath's cavernous stomp. If Corin Tucker and Tony Iommi somehow had a lovechild, it would most definitely be Ms. Paternoster. "Bell" takes only seconds to ingratiate itself with its meaty, incessant hook. It could almost pass for a killer pop song if it weren't for the thunderous breakdown and quicksilver guitar solo. I have no doubt that Screaming Females will be able to hold their own when they open for both Dinosaur Jr. and The Dead Weather this summer.

Power Move is out now via Don Giovanni.

Download MP3: "Bell"

Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace"

Perhaps due partially to my current life situation, I have been listening to "Hellhole Ratrace" pretty much obsessively all weekend. It possesses that magical element that makes it feel instantly timeless - like it was written decades ago and you already know it by heart. Hell, it's probably a clever reprise of some eternally beloved song that I can't place, but who gives a fuck? What matters is that Girls (Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White, by the way) have tapped into the twilit, hypnotic beauty of The Velvet Underground and J. Spaceman's astral hymns to create an undeniable classic. Not to mention, lyrics don't get much more poignant and universal than these:

I'm sick and tired of the way that I feel,
I'm always dreaming and its never for real.
I'm all alone with my deep thoughts.
I'm all alone with my heartache and my good intentions.

I work to eat and drink and sleep just to live,
Feels like I'm never getting back what I give.
I've got a sad song in my sweet heart.
And all I really am is needing some love and attention.

"Hellhole Ratrace" clocks in at 7 minutes, but I swear to god you'll wish it went on for another seven. It doesn't seem to have discernible verses and choruses - it simply unfolds in the manner it seems fit. Around the song's halfway point, the guitar switches from gentle echo to a low-register wave of white noise and the sleigh bells kick in a little harder. The transition effectively takes the song from being purely melancholic to pretty damn life-affirming. Again, Mr. Owens' lyrics knock the whole thing home:

And I don't want to cry my whole life through.
I want to do some laughing too.
So come on, come on, come on, come on, laugh with me.
And I don't want to die without shaking up a thing or two.
Yeah, I want to do some dancing too.
So come on, come on, come on, come on, dance with me.

Album is out 9/22 on Matador.

Download MP3: "Hellhole Ratrace"

JJ - "From Africa To Málaga"

I don't know much about these mysterious Swedes beyond the fact that they are label mates of Air France and The Tough Alliance, but they just released my new favorite summer album. To put it in overly simplistic terms, jj makes African-influenced dream-pop. The group's singer (whose name I cannot find) is blessed with a silky, sensual voice much like Beach House's Victoria Legrand or Hope Sandoval. I've had their debut LP, No. 2, on repeat all week, but the lead single "From Africa To Málaga" has sunk its claws in the deepest. It's so exceedingly breezy/woozy that you can practically feel sunbeams. Even more impressive is the fact that jj achieves this effect without ever becoming saccharine. Of course, the deceptively dark lyrics help: "It's too easy to cry when everything eventually dies." (Big thanks to GvsB for the recommendation.)

No. 2 is out now on Sincerely Yours

Download MP3: "From Africa To Málaga"

Heavy Rotation: Choir of Young Believers

This Danish chamber-rock ensemble is the brainchild of Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. He possesses a voice not unlike Jim James - a plains-sweeping falsetto laden in cavernous echo (although, I don't think COYB records in a barn silo too). As you probably guessed from the word "choir" being in the band's name, COYB's music does contain many voices, but Jannis is always at the eye of the storm - somehow sounding utterly alone despite the 8 person band brewing around him. I must clarify that if COYB evokes My Morning Jacket in any way (outside of the vocals), it's the melancholic, reverb-soaked MMJ of At Dawn. The other band that I can't help mentioning in regards to COYB is The Besnard Lakes. Both the Besnard Lakes and COYB have an endearing propensity for projecting Roy Orbison tragedies through a space-rock filter. "Action/Reaction," the lead single from the band's debut, could be described as symphonic trip-hop - like a fusion of the tundra-trotting beat 'n' strings of Björk's "Jóga" and the polyphonic majesty of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations."

This Is For The White In Your Eyes is out 8/18 on Ghostly International

Download MP3: "Action/Reaction"