Blog: Listen Before You Buy

Soulful and homely Hollis Brown 's " Ride On The Train " is pure Americana , the likes of which have been laying practically dormant this year. This track is timeless with its all encompassing yet nearly autobiographical lyrics, there is always a place for a song like " Ride On The Train ." Much of the strength, not only with this cut but with the entire " Nothing And The Famous No One EP" , is drawn from it's live feel, it was a great move recording the album live to [...]

Listen to Two Inch Punch 's new song "Paint It Red" ft. Mikky Ekko below, from his EP "Saturn: The Slow Jams" . We've been on the Two Inch Punch tip for over a year now and he was actually the very first artist in our Ones To Watch category. Back then we were enamoured with "Love You Up" , the sprawling and sparkly electronic-RnB behemoth that ended up being strewn across music blogs the world over. A year later and he's releasing [...]

Listen below to the newest DIIV single, "Doused" , off their upcoming debut, "Oshin" . Beach Fossils ' Zachary Cole's second band returns with a new single, a new sound, and a new name. The group, formerly known as Dive has just changed their name to the more google-able DIIV , and has just released their first single under their new name, "Doused" , which will appear on their debut, "Oshin" , due for release June 26th via Captured Tracks . [...]

I've loved Fleet Foxes ever since I saw them perform at my college in 2008 after seeing their name plastered all-over Seattle, music websites, and the side of Easy Street Records in Queen Anne. When they took the stage, it was clear they had all undergone what's known as a "beard pact" and each wore a flannel woolier than the last, apart from Robin Pecknold who had lost his clothes somehow and was wearing a large red raincoat. Aside from the heartiness of their sound, I was left [...]

Watch the new video for Father John Misty song "Sally Hatchet" below, taken from the album "Fear Fun" . Mmm....yes, could I have a slice of purgatory's finger pizza with extra blood, please? Connect with Father John Misty : Facebook | Twitter | Website ( via )

Watch the new video for Phèdre song "Aphrodite" below, taken from the album " En Passant ". That's it, I've decided. I'm starting an online petition to only have Phèdre direct videos for artists from now on. None of this boring "let's all stand on a stage and strum our guitars" nonsense, we want freaky Asian parties with rock 'n' roll grannies and choreographed tribal dancing in facepaint! Connect with Phèdre: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Website

Listen to and download Chruches ' debut song "Lies" below. Mystery and wonder surround this Glasgow, Scotland three-piece Churches , other than the fact that they're comprised of two guys and a girl, and a month ago they posted this frantic, monolithic, electro-pop skitzoid to their Soundcloud account. It's the only track we have to go on right now, so it might be difficult to gauge just where their sound goes, but "Lies" is one of the most arresting and knee-jerking songs to melt the first six inches of [...]

Listen to 2:54 's new song "The March" below, taken from their debut album "2:543 . On May 28th the London sister duo 2:54 , who first came to our attention with their melodic and contagious shoegaze jam "Scarlet" back in October, will release their self0titled debut album via Fiction Records . Since then they've been one of the bands we've been keeping a close eye on, our excitement further proven with songs like [...]

This post is a "QuickPick". QuickPicks is our attempt at getting all of the music that's sent to us that we like (or just music we like but have no words for because it's so awesome!), out into the dubya dots, picked quickly. Less for you to read, more for you to hear. Artist: M83 Genre: Electronic, Indie [...]

Watch the new video for Grimes ' song "Nightmusic" below, taken from the album "Visions" . Connect with Grimes: Facebook | Twitter | Website

Listen to and download the new Stay+ track "Eyes" featuring NO CEREMONY/// below. Since NO CEREMONY/// mysteriously sauntered onto our radar and began to fuck it sideways with their brazen attacks on electronic indie music (otherwise known as "HURTLOVE" and "HEARTBREAKER" ), we've been enamoured and intrigued. When you couple them with fellow Mancunian Stay+ and some of the grimiest, most ominous, foreboding, and haunting dance [...]

Watch the new video for Bodies Of Water 's song "Rise Up, Careful" below, taken from the album "Twist Again". Job interviews are bad enough, but being stuck in one for the rest of your life would be a nightmare. Connect with Bodies Of Water : Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | Website

Listen below for Ice Choir 's latest track, "Teletrips" , from the upcoming "Afar" . Ice Choir , Kurt Feldman of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart 's solo project, just released a new single, "Teletrips" , which will appear on their debut album, "Afar" , to be released July 31st via Underwater Peoples . Although a mere drummer for the beloved Pains Of Being Pure At Heart , Feldman wrote, engineered, and produced everything for his solo project, as well as [...]

I honestly can't tell you how many times I've rocked out to "Welcome to the Monkey House" , Portland alt-rock group The Dandy Warhols' 2003 album. It's one of those albums that successfully bridges the gap between 'experimental' and 'commercial'. I distinctly remember "We Used to Be Friends" being on every mixtape I made for anyone for over two years. The Dandy Warhols have never returned to the quality of that album (or their 2000 masterpiece "Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia" ), but they've really given it their [...]

Listen to Sansa 's album "Savior" below. It seems like just a couple of weeks since we last featured Sansa , and that's because it is. There's no point looking a gift horse in the mouth, mind you, so I'm delighted to say you can now stream the entirety of her new album, "Savior" , online! I'm racking my brains to think of presents I've received from Scandinavia, and I can really only think of two: one of those was bear pâté (really); the other was [...]

Check out The Neighbourhood 's pick for their Desert Island Discs , as part of their Spotlight . For our new Spotlight feature, we wanted to do something special, so we've decided to bring back Desert Island Discs . In case you're unfamiliar with what this you can check out the original pitch (back from July 2010)! Or, if you want the condensed version, it's basically the artist - in this case The Neighbourhood - selecting eight pieces of music that they'd [...]

Watch the new video for Dent May 's song "Best Friend" below, taken from the album "Do Things". This marks the first official video from Dent since 20092s "Howard" and "Do Things" will be released via Animal Collective 's label Paw Tracks on June 12th. Connect with Dent May : Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | Website

Check out the new video from West Country-boys Saturday Sun , for their track "Borderline" . It's directed by Adam Docker , and looks suitably ethereal for the song. Also, congratulations to the lads for making it through to the final round of the Country Calling Battle of the Bands - it's easy to see how they managed it... Connect with Saturday Sun - Facebook | Last.fm | Website

Listen to Zulu Winter 's debut album "Language" below. You know that we love Zulu Winter here, right? I mean you only have to click that link there where their name is to see how often we've written about them. You could call us fanboys, but that might be a bit harsh. Regardless, their debut album "Language" is one that we've been waiting patiently for since it was announced and today the day has come for us to [...]

Listen to and download Jaill 's new song "Perfect Ten" below, from their album 'Traps" . I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty fucking pumped for the new Jaill album. As we've mentioned numerous times in the past they're a band you should all get behind, because we know what we're talking about and they know what they're doing, just listen to "Waste A Lot Of Things" if you don't believe us. I go back [...]

• Jaill - “Perfect Ten”