Label: Columbia
Country: United States
Release Date: 2012.01.24

“Something” is the highly anticipated second album from Brooklyn based duo, Chairlift. Songs like “Ghost Tonight” and “I Belong in Your Arms” will remind fans what initially drew them to Chairlift and kept bringing them back. The album’s general sound is one of rich reverberating harmonic textures, interesting sonic pairings and lyrical adventures. Caroline’s vocal delivery comes through in perfectly delectable cadence with displays of technical prowess and raw emotional outbursts which are still artfully controlled and not in any way abrasive.

Label: Paper Bag
Country: Canada
Release Date: 2011.05.17

Despite taking the name of the Latvian goddess of light, this Canadian trio craft dark and turbid moods. And while singer Katie Stelmanis’ roots connect to fellow Canucks Owen Pallett and Fucked Up, her band’s seedy synth pop more often recalls Kate Bush’s dramatic art songs and the Knife’s ghostly techno-pop (and more specifically, the soured vowels of frontwoman Karin Anders-son). But from surging, operatic opener “Darken Her Horse” to closing piano ballad “Lose It,” Stelmanis’ voice and vision are mostly her own. (by andy beta)

Label: Cinq 7
Country: Finland
Release Date: 2011.03.07

The first note on the standard musical scale is “do” which is the last note also, representing what’s new and what’s old, giving the musicians and artist the latitude & longitude to re-invigorate any musical genre, from blues, rhythm & blues, jazz, bebop, doowop & hip-hop, not to mention rock & roll, and eitherway to sing or play you’ve got to do it with your heart & soul. Enter the band with the note-scale name and you add a new picture to the frame, only it’s double entendre; for the “do” is the “do” who are doing a double take by rolling the rock uncovering the hole left in rock & roll after disco & pop skyrocketed to the top eclipsing all the other musical genre’s except for hip-hop. Pop then jettisoned disco like a booster and flapped it’s wings like a rooster, and crowed that it knowed all of the music and had taken the best and left the rest. Well the rest came, to put the picture back in the frame, and keep it simple like a dimple, on a teenager’sface, and are now filling the hole by popular demand spanning the space between the rock and the roll, with wholesomeness & simplicity that excite like electricity.
Dan & olivia are the “do” and are two of the freshest faces in view, and by being in between their influences span the scene, cause both the letter “n” and the sign “&” signify no end from old to new, and that’s what the “do” love to do. A veneration from the “now generation” with classical & jazz music as prime sources of their inspiration, they training & gaining by tonic application, within the non-boundairies of jazz improvisation, applied to rock ‘n roll, to let their hopes, dreams & consciousness streams come to fruition through the root’s of their influenced musical intuition. Thus, you can hear a bit of all the genre’s that you know, without having to categorize it so, because it’s been minimalized to the size befitting the sound by the “do”. Tech & live, they thrive on the balance between swing & serene, to instill a fil in a picturesque scene, of subtle melodies, and distant rhythms while lyrically identifying various “ain’ts and ism’s” do’s, don’ts, will & won’ts”. Dan call’s, olivia answers, like a groove in between dancer’s. Dan plays, olivia sways sings in stylish praise, that float with hope for the now generation to cope with “the burden on their shoulder’s, and one can feel the weight, which is also double entendre, phonetically in contrast to the word “wait” but the do will let you know it’s not yet too late. (by !ndie people)

Label: Atlantic
Country: Sweden
Release Date: 2011.02.28

“Wounded Rhymes”, is one of the most tremendous records you will hear in 2011. Channeling the demise of The Shangri-La’s Leader of the Pack, women under the influence, ladies and gentlemen of the canyon, a Kung-fu Marianne Faithful, and an armed Nancy Sinatra on peyote, Lykke Li has created an eleven song album that sounds like no other. The record is packed full of pounding, voodoo drums, girl group gang vocals, sparkling guitar lines, woozy keyboards, love unrequited, hope reignited and her own very powerful voice, sounding bigger and bolder than ever before. From the hazy 60’s organ driving opener “Youth Knows No Pain” to the sparse toe-tapsolo- guitar-swing of “Unrequited Love” to rollicking single “Get Some” to the dense drums of the propulsive “Jerome,” Wounded Rhymes is a testament to Lykke Li’s brilliant musical voice, one unlike any other.

Label: Obscura
Country: United States
Release Date: 2010.10.05

Morgan Kibby captured hearts and eardrums as the beautiful, spectral voice on M83’s LP, “Saturdays = Youth”, and she now unveils White Sea with a newly completed EP, “This Frontier”. White Sea emerges out of Kibby’s creative endeavors with French electronic-pop guru M83. Having started as a co-writer, including the runaway anthem “Kim & Jessie,” Kibby went on to contribute vocals and synthesizers on stage, stepping into a more collaborative role and soaking in all there was to learn in her rousing setting.
“While on tour with M83, I was exposed to so many new things,” Kibby explains. “When I returned home, I sat down and taught myself Pro Tools, and how to produce. I’ve really spent the last year figuring out what music I’m excited about making.”
Conceived, recorded and produced nearly entirely on her own, “This Frontier” embodies the multifaceted nature of Kibby’s cosmos, which draws inspiration from disco bass lines, ’60s spaghetti westerns and the envelope-pushing work of Ennio Morricone’s soundtracks. The five-song indie-pop EP explodes with cinematic crescendos, tinkling chimes, shining harmonies, dramatic bass lines, party beats, tempered synthesizers, all threaded by Kibby’s unmistakable, angelic voice. Fused in layered textural complexity and cascading vocals, the scope of material defies categorization other than anthemic, dancey, and rich with harmonies, proving Kibby to be entirely more than just a pretty voice.

Label: AMP Music
Country: Sweden
Release Date: 2010.09.13

The Amplifetes are a brand new 4-piece band from Sweden. Being accomplished songwriters and producers on their own, the members have worked with names such as Kelis, Madonna, Grandmaster Flash and Peter Bjorn and John. While having occasionaly crossed paths during the course of their careers, they have existed as a unit for about a year. The band think of themselves as a dreamteam collaboration of their influences – listing 60s Psychadelia, The Electric Light Orchestra, The Ramones, Elvis Costello, David Bowie and Chicago Trax Records House releases.

The highly addictive result can be heard in The Amplifetes debut single “It´s my life”, a spitting image of urban life and a happy three-part marriage between garage pop, electro and punk. It was featured recently in a promo campaign for Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli, starring a lightly dressed Milla Jovovich, creating quite a stir over europe. The intriguing cajun electronica of the follow up, “Whizz Kid”, has seen the band continue to get much love from radio stations and the blogosphere. Now their third single, a feverish road-trip psychadelia called “Somebody New”, lies ready to carry the torch along.

Label: Mercury
Country: Canada
Release Date: 2010.08.30

Dandilion Wind Opaine and Marta Jaciubek-McKeever are the exotically named duo that are Fan Death. Fan Death first released ‘Veronica’s Veil’ back in 2008 on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy label. A stunning debut, it’s signature string motif lit up dancefloors and quickly marked Fan Death out as one of the most original and exciting new duos. Based in Vancouver, they’ve since released the critically-acclaimed ‘Reunited EP’, toured with Florence & The Machine and Vampire Weekend, and are now ready to release ‘Womb Of Dreams’, their debut long player. Fan Death have created their own world with ‘Womb Of Dreams’. Star-gazing, fantasy, fashion and film inspire them as much as the classic synth pop of the 80s. ‘Womb Of Dreams’ is a dramatic, cinematic album that draws on 80s synth pop, disco, Polish cinema, fantasy films and fashion. (by altsounds)

Label: Back Yard Recordings
Country: Australia
Release Date: 2010.05.24

In a short space of time Teenagersintokyo have come from nothing to quickly rising as one the bands to watch in 2010; selling out venues across the UK, bagging support from the likes of Zane Lowe and the NME; and most recently topping the Hype Machine chart with The Horrors remix of ‘Peter Pan’. Following the celebrated release of their self-titled EP in 2009 the band caught everyone’s attention, landing themselves international acclaim, support slots with CSS, The Slits & Gossip, a record deal with Backyard and a move to the other side of the world.

The result is debut album ‘Sacrifice’; an album that promises delight, thick in imagery, where landscapes and fire dominate the pastoral gloom. Album references are immaculate: ‘Isabella’ recalls prime era Siouxie & The Banshees with a serrated electro punk edge; while ‘Long Walk Home’ is awash with Joy Division synth swatches. The relative light and optimism of ‘New Day’ is outweighed by the suicidal calamity of ‘End It Tonight’, and new single ‘Peter Pan’, whips, lashes and sparks like a loose electric cable. The bass is tar thick, the drums edgy and jittering, the guitars sharp and slicing. And caught in the centre, singer Samantha Lim’s veneer of fragile innocence fractures and collapses to allow glimpses to the turmoil beneath. It’s a crooked shadow racing for the dancefloor with its knives drawn.

Teenagersintokyo are poised to take their place amongst the art-pop new wave; now sultry shimmerscapes like ‘3046′ and deviant dancefloor destroyers like ‘Talk To The Fire’ and ‘Peter Pan’ are set to draw back the curtain on a more opulent Big Picture. Prepare to be dazzled, blackened, bewitched. (by recordstore)

Label: Phazz-a-Delic
Country: Germany
Release Date: 2010.04.09

The prolific De-Phazz was a jazzy, lounge-oriented downtempo project led by German-Austrian producer Peter “Pit” Baumgartner, who surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that featured vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton, as well as drummer Oli Rubow. Albums like Detunized Gravity (1997), Godsdog (1999), Death by Chocolate (2001), Daily Lama (2002), Days of Twang (2007), and Big (2009) explored various terrains of 21st century lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of jazz, soul, easy listening, and Latin music.
“LaLa 2.0” is the 8th De-Phazz album to date, showcasing a vast amount of international vocalists stemming from the ever expanding musical universe of one of the best selling lounge outfits out there.

Label: Brille
Country: United States
Release Date: 2010.04.26

After a string of widely-circulated singles and remixes, New York-based duo The Golden Filter will release their debut album, Voluspa, in the US on June 15th, following its UK release on Brille Records (The Knife, Operator Please) in April.
On the long road home after a round-the-world tour, Penelope and Stephen returned to New York City to self-produce their debut album which casts glimpses into their unearthly world where goddesses, love, myths and mountains reign. With drum circles, string sections, field recordings, and lots of microphones, they’ve gone beyond disco to unveil where their secrets are shared and where their mystery dissolves…
Lead single “Hide Me” is currently available to download for free from the The Golden Filter’s website and will be released April 27th. It includes Peter Bjorn & John’s Hortlax Cobra, and Clock Opera remixes.