As if I need another Swedish musician to follow, out pops Molly Nilsson. Her songs are equally simple and beautiful, creating some dreamy synth-pop tunes that are sure to put you into orbit. All of the tracks below are from her new LP, History, but you can check out some of her earlier stuff from her label Dark Skies Association (founded by Nilsson herself).

Molly Nilsson // You Always Hurt the One You Love [via]

[Directed by: Olivia Kastebring]

Carnivores is a four-piece garage rock band from Atlanta. On first listen, the spidery guitar intro and the sparse, drum-heavy arrangement of “Prom Night” reminded me of the former glory of Portland’s Explode Into Colors — a comparison that, in itself, is enough to excite. However, the resemblance fades at the bridge where the song breaks completely open courtesy of singer/keyboardist Caitlin Lang’s sprawling vocals of “Sheeeeee // she really loved the way you swore (?)…” before reverting back to the the Halloween-ish melody. Also, the jam-session at the concluding sixty seconds left a nice after taste in my mouth, urging me on to press reply at the end of each listen.

Download the track and check out the trippy vid below. You can cop the 7” via Double Phantom Records here.

Carnivores // Prom Night

Hands down, Real Estate is my favorite band of the past five years (and I seem to not be the only one). Ever since their first EP, Atlantic City Expressway, graced my ears I’ve become an insta-fan. Their new record, entitled Days, which has garnered quite the attention as of late, features the track “It’s Real” which is probably my favorite Real Estate track they have ever recorded. The band first performed this song live in Japan about a year ago, and since then I’ve compiled quite the collection of mp3s/videos of this track performed live. You can check out my favorites below:

Real Estate // It’s Real (Album Version)

Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in Shibuya)

Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in NYC) (via: NYCTaper)

I have deliberately not bought the LP yet because I knew the band was going to swing by Salt Lake City in early November (today, in fact) and I wanted to make sure that they got the maximum percentage from my buying the album. Also, I haven’t listened to any other songs that have been released from Days because, frankly, I don’t want to be disappointed. When you record something as great as “It’s Real,” I can only see it going down hill from there — but who knows, hopefully I’m wrong!

First heard these killer tunes from New Zealand’s Ghost Wave via Sally Fork via Rose Quartz (looking like a re:re: chain e-mail, I know). It’s been a while since I covered a group from the Southern Hemisphere on the blog, so I’ll forgo a bunch of “down under” puns for both your sake and mine

Call me a sucker for fuzzy guitars, monotonic vocals, and instagram visuals, so it comes as no surprise that the track + video for Ghost Wave’s “Hippy” hits all the right spots for me. With all the summer shots/sounds, it almost makes me forget that I’m freezing my ass off in Salt Lake right now. Almost…

Check out the video and download the track below. Head over to the band’s bandcamp for a couple of more tunes.

Ghost Wave // Hippy

As promised, here are my two cents in two words on the new ((sounder)) 7”, out now on Mt. Inadale Records: It’s Awesome.

Oh where to begin… I’m usually not one to judge a book by it’s cover, but opening up the sleeve and seeing the cool (both in aesthetics and temperature) baby blue record was quite the treat. What can I say, I’m a sucker for colored vinyl.

As for the record itself, it’s a beautiful recording. The A-side “We’ll Turn the Coffins Into the Gardens” features front-and-center the sweet croonings of singer Mike Aho — who has a tinge of Band of Horses’ frontman Ben Bridwell in him. The lyrics are shear poetry, with a mid-stream intro line of “Not that I really mind the silence, that’s grown around me // like the weeds around the fence post” that is pure Joycean (à la Finnegan’s Wake). The B-side, “Don’t Bring It to Life,” is a perfect compliment to the more solemn A. With brass instruments, hand claps, and some verbal interjects in the background, ((sounder)) sounds like they are having a blast recording — something you don’t really see on too many tracks!

You can watch a live version of “We’ll Turn the Coffins Into the Gardens,” shot in their hometown of Austin, as well as some B&W footage of a previous track of theirs, “A War of the Coffee Table,” that’s just as good:

If you live in Austin, go to this. If you live in the world, buy this. And if you like music, listen to this:

(full review forthcoming)

Seems after a year of no news, we’ve been hit with a slew of Veronica Falls releases/tours/tracks in a span of two weeks — and I couldn’t be happier. Most posts center around their new 7” being released on Slumberland Records (which you can cop here). Slumberland has posted a stream to the A-side title track and Steregum premiered the video — all of which you can check out below. In addition, Weekly Tape Deck shared what looks to be a fan-made video for the VF’s track “Come On Over” (a twinge of loss when hearing it’s not a Christian Aguilar cover) which is a song scheduled for their upcoming LP, also on Slumberland.

Veronica Falls – Bad Feeling by Slumberland Records

Veronica Falls – Bad Feeling from Slumberland Records on Vimeo.

Veronica Falls – Come On Over from Army Of Kids on Vimeo.