Here’s a few new creations I recently stumbled across that I’ve yet to fully form an opinion on beyond a few words.

Bedroom – Toys EP
Noah Kittinger says of his Toys EP, “I wrote these songs in a time of depression and it really helped me get through it all.” Couple that with his bedroom style recordings, shoegaze-y nature and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a delightfully melancholy little audio journey.

Moped Sally – Cadaver
Honestly, I was initially drawn in by this bands prior release, Pretentious Garbage, a much weirder collection of sound collages and experimental electronic meanderings. However, Cadaver is more recent and shows leanings toward more traditional pop song structure but with the weirdness learned from the prior releases intermingled quite nicely.

What Up, English – The Vaughn Sessions
Remember when I told you about these guys EP Das Scuba? Well, imagine the energy level and enjoyability of those songs but recorded better. It’s a nice progression from the earlier release and I hope these guys continue to play around town with great regularity.

Ranch Ghost
“New News” 7″
7″ Vinyl

Before we even touch on the music of Ranch Ghost I would like to state the superficial observation that their band name and logo treatment are among the best in the city. Ultimately meaningless? Maybe. But still worth putting out there. The new 7″ won’t actually ship out until mid-March but you can enjoy the lo-fi garage-y surfy duo of tracks to your hearts content right now.

Uncle Skeleton
“Tomart’s Haunted Heart” single
Free Download

As a healthy reminder, here’s the full disclaimer. I’m promoting the latest single from Uncle Skeleton whom I happen to represent via my quasi-label endeavor yk records. Yes, I’m biased that I think it’s great and, of course, I want you to download it and help grow the mailing list.

With that out of the way, here’s a fun fact for you. The original vocal track featured on “Tomart’s Haunted Heart” is from a forthcoming Nahnee Bori solo record that Uncle Skeleton procured, re-arranged and used for his own purposes. Now it’s been remixed into another new form for the Nahnee Bori remix version. It’s a cycle of music life that never seems to end.

By Lightning!
Left Hand Right Hand

This weekend marked the official release of By Lightning!’s full-length album Left Hand Right Hand. I’m not sure where to procure it online – hopefully it pops up here soon – but whatever effort is involved in getting a physical version is well worth it. There’s a lot going on throughout the album but the consistent elements – the male / female vocal exchanges and Melancholy Yet Pop songwriting style – kill it every time. Much like De Novo Dahl and Dixie Dirt, it seems likely that By Lightning is poised to be embraced by a larger audience; there’s something undeniably enjoyable about the overall energy and passion in every song.

Preview it here and here while you wait for the full collection to show up here.