Classixx - Hanging Gardens

Not since the days of Babylon has the world experienced a wonder of this magnitude.  No, we're not referring to Vanilla Ice's - "Ice, Ice, Baby", but rather to the new insta-Classixx album - Hanging Gardens. With a steady stream of track releases beginning with "Holding On" in early February, Classixx have been carefully watering a garden of fans, and are ready to bear the fruits of their labor with the album release on May 14.  With a full preview here from our friends at NPR, one can take a tour through a fountain of synthesizers, disco beats, bongos, wind chimes and Nancy Whang vocals (formerly of LCD Soundsystem).  

Don't stop there though, once you've finished, continue through their immaculate selections, a 47 minute session of beautifully crafted songs dating from the 80's through today. 

Do you like bass?  we do.

Joywave - 88888

One, two, three, four, everybody hit tha floor.

Five, six, seven, eight, everybody celebrate.  

Eight... eight... eight... eight... eight...

With the release of their third album - 88888, Joywave is celebrating... and making waves.  Self-describing their music as Neon Noir, they mix hints of Hot Chip and Depeche Mode on songs like "All I Want" with Kanye-esque beats on songs like "Facility" (we're thinking 2007, The Graduation style). On "Motherless Child", the band pushes a modern political agenda through the sound of a civil war era drum, yet they still manage to bring the new gold standard of rap lyrics from Philly native STS on the heavy hitting "Ray Lewis".

Oh yeah, we almost forgot to mention the chart-topper, Tongues.  Makes us want to learn new languages.  Free classes here.

Check out their sophomore album 77777 too.

Absofacto - "Backfire"

A lot has changed for Absofacto since his interview with troysnoise last year.  Following their usual habit of spontaneously releasing a single track, "Backfire" emerged a few weeks ago after "it was almost lost forever to a hard drive crash this summer, before Brian and I resurrected it and made it better than the first time around."

Unsurprisingly, the song and its pulsing synths hit the popular charts on hypem last week.  

Absofacto - "Backfire"

Alpine - "Gasoline"

The brand new single from the Aussie six-piece Alpine, taken from their debut album A Is For Alpine, out last month.

Released by Ivy League Records

Goldroom - "Pacific"

"An amalgamation of dreamy synths, emotive vocals, and tropical disco grooves, Goldroom paints the soundscape of summertime in Los Angeles."

So go play this track on repeat and watch the Discovery channel or something.

Goldroom - "Pacific"

Penguin Prison - "Don't Fuck With My Money"

Chris Glover, known as Penguin Prison, put out this new single a few weeks ago as a preview from his self-titled album due out tomorrow.  It's the heavy synth from Chromeo and the catchy pop vocals like Prince.  Don't fuck with my money.

I saw you in a bad place / acting like a freak

The Pass [Interview]

With influences from Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, and "the 80s with some 70's and 90's and great beats," troysnoise presents The Pass.  First mentioned here last September, The Pass built quite the blogosphere buzz last year promoting their Colors (video) and Burst albums.  With their next planned release targeted for early summer, they're back on the tour grind, previewing some of their newest work.  Catch them live under the cover of darkness, fog, and lasers this Friday night in NYC at Piano's.  Peep their brand new video for "Walk Away" and check out their entire album.

The Pass - "Out of Hand"

The Pass - "Treatment Of The Sun"

In anticipation of their New York visit, troysnoise discovered a bit more about The Pass' Will Roberts, and what fans can expect next from the Kentucky synth poppers. 

TN: When/Where did you guys meet and how long did it take to crank out the first finished product?

Me and Kyle met in high school in New Jersey.  After going separate ways we met back up to start the band in Louisvile while I was finishing up school.  We got Neil and Brian together to play some shows for our friends and ended up recording the Colors EP a month later. 

TN: What's the most underrated thing about seeing The Pass play live?

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Gold Fields

These songs were recorded in their bedroom, these songs were mixed in their bedroom.  Gold Fields are a fresh new band from Ballarat Victoria, Australia planning to release a full album this year.  They bring a dancy pop sound that Australian bands continue to perfect, with the very marketable catchy bridges and lyrics that set the bar high.  Gold Fields is two words

Gold Fields - "Treehouse" (video)

Gardens & Villa

Gardens & Villa.  They're from Santa Barbara, CA and recorded the below two tracks in Cottage Grove, Oregon in the Summer of 2010. 

If you want to try to explain who Gardens & Villa sound like, "Black Hills" hints of The Shins and Kings of Leon, while "Orange Blossom" feels like what would be a down-tempo track off of Wes Miles' (of Ra Ra Riot) Discovery project.  In reality, both tracks are unique jams in their own right.  Gardens & Villa is definitely sunlight through the blinds.

Gardens & Villa - "Black Hills"

Gardens & Villa - "Orange Blossom"

You can snag their debut album for free, by right-clicking on the songs above, or going to their Bandcamp page. 

(via)

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Geographer - Animal Shapes EP

Back Track

This is one fine EP from last year that snuck past me until recently.  The mix of cello and synth on Geographer's Animal Shapes makes for an excellent Ra Ra Riot kind of journey.

Geographer - "Original Sin"

Geographer - "Kites"

"Animal Shapes follows up "Kites" building on the synth-driven aesthetic of the single, while flirting with darker, more esoteric underpinnings. The record merges Geographer’s aptitude for crafting beautiful, haunting melodies with textural sounds and polyrhythmic energy, marking an evolution of their distinct style."

Buy the entire Animal Shapes EP here.

Cut Copy - Zonoscope

At the top of Australia's dance scene for years, Cut Copy's release of Zonoscope, their third studio album, will send their fine-tuned 80's-influenced synth-pop sounds into the ears of many new fans this year.  It wouldn't surprise me if it does for Cut Copy what Wolfgang Amadeus did for Phoenix - transform a hometown and blogosphere favorite into international stardom.

Despite the initial hesitation to post due to the high volume of press (Pitchfork gave it an 8.6), the album, officially released today, is too good to pass on (I give it a 9.2).  "Take Me Over" and "Where I'm Going" are the band's first title tracks, but the below two are playing on repeat in the troysnoise studio (picture forthcoming) this week.  Refreshingly, almost every song is longer than four minutes, with the fifteen minute, "Sun God," demanding introspection as an entrancing and ubiquitous album finale.  Modernizing all the beauty of 80's electro-pop, Cut Copy morphs their evolved sound into an addictive dance-rock masterpiece.  Support the crew and purchase Zonoscope.

Cut Copy - "Corner Of The Sky"

Update on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 by troysnoise

Part 4 of the documentary film about the making of Zonoscope.

The New Division - "The Rookie"

Now we're starting to get pompous.  Previously mentioned The New Division personally emailed us Monday with a sneak preview link to their entire EP, The Rookie, as a thanks for all of the hits they got from our original post.  As expected, the other five tracks off this EP deliver the follow up we'd hoped for.

If a trendy lounge opened up in outer space, The Rookie and its galactic-like synth would be playing there on repeat.  John Kunkel's melodic and reverbed vocals allow the beats to breath and expand as each track develops its own unique ambience and grows on you like ivy after each listen.  It's continued evidence of electro-pops' constancy and impact on the music industry as new self-taught artists continue to crawl closer to the mainstream.

Be patient with "Devotion" as it takes time to open up, hit the pavement with "No Health," and kick back for "Bucharest" / "Paper Bunnies."  As Pitchfork said in November after the "Starfield" release, "Sometimes you just have to remind yourself that the best of this stuff comes from extremely confident musicians with limited resources."  On 1/11 get the entire album from TND and decide for yourself.

Full track list after the jump.

The New Division - "No Health"

1. Starfield

2. Devotion

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Diamond Rings

The solo project of Canadian indie-rocker John O'Regan, Diamond Rings dropped his debut album, Special Affections, in October.  It's unlike anything I've heard before.  Diagnosed with Crohn's disease in late 2008, O'Regan started creating and writing these songs during his hospital stay, "It was kind of like I had my own subsidized artist residency," he continues. "I had this bed and a desk, and a guitar here, a crappy keyboard there. We couldn't bring a drum kit into the hospital, so the songs started taking on more of this singer-songwriter lyrical quality than what I had done previously. And that was it. I started writing songs just for me."

Co-founder of D'Ubervilles, O'Regan now has to balance his time between the two as Diamond Rings continues to gain popularity with his Marilyn Manson-like appearance and David Bowie-esque hooks and vocals.  With his songs jumping up the charts, the jean jacket, purple shoes, and face paint are starting to look trendy.  Be sure to check out MJ crowd surfing at the end of the "Wait & See" video.

Diamond Rings - "Wait & See"     Diamond Rings - "On Our Own"

Cut Copy - "Where I'm Going"

It's not the first post for any real reason, other than it's one of the songs I've listened to the most over the past few months. 

Along with Empire of the Sun (saw them play at Terminal 5 in August), Cut Copy is another Australian band that's been gaining popularity here in the states. This synthpop sound in "Where I'm Going" is the first release off their upcoming third album due out in January '11.  In July, 2010 the band "said" that they've been getting invites to open for other touring artists, recently rejecting a few that you might have heard of - Lady Gaga, NIN and Coldplay.  If the rest of the album keeps up with this single, they'll do just fine on their own.

Cut Copy - "Where I'm Going"

Be sure to check out the Get it fo' FREE page on the top right sidebar for a free download of this track.