Liz Lawrence's debut album, Bedroom Hero, is currently available as a "name your price" (including free) download on her Bandcamp page. I especially like the lovely title track ballad. Bedroom Hero by Liz Lawrence Liz Lawrence Official Site
Guest Post By: Brendan Thanks to the fine people who supported a kickstarter campaign, Kimiko Ishizak's classical album, The Open Goldberg Variations, is available as a free download here and you can also stream it on Soundcloud. If you're inclined to support the artist, the double-disc album is also available to purchase from Amazon. The [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan I haven't been this excited about an Irish artist since I imported Damien Rice's debut in 2002. Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson goes by the stage name Soak, and she has released a debut EP on Amazon and several demo recordings on Soundcloud. Soak was featured on BBC Radio 1 in November. [...]
Ivan & Alyosha were recommended to me since we here at Muruch like their labelmates, The Lumineers. Ivan & Alyosha have a similiarly buoyant, twinkling indie-folk sound. Can't wait to hear their album, All The Times We Had, which will be released February 26th. You stream and watch the video for their new song, "Running [...]
I stumbled upon Dysphemic & Miss Eliza's brilliant, beautiful and very cool EP, Synthetic Symphony, while browsing Bandcamp and it seems they've not been discovered by the world at large yet. The Australian duo are kindred spirits of Luminescent Orchestrii, playing - and apparently "pioneering" - what they deem "Classical Dub-step" music. Strings and beats, [...]
I really don't think I should like this, but I do. The Vettes' pay homage to gloriously awful 1980s educational films with their new video "Textual." The song itself isn't great, but works with the video for a fun bit of nostalgia. Buy @ Amazon The Vettes Official Site
Californian singer-songwriter Denny White emailed me his new single, "Colors," and gave me permission to share the song with you fine folks. It's a very polished, ready-for-radio pop-rock tune, so I don't think he'll be sending his own press emails for long. You can stream and/or download a free, legal mp3 of the song below. [...]
In case you missed them last month, check out Muruch's Top 10 Books and Top 25 Albums of 2012.
It's always a gamble for an artist to namedrop. Touting his relation to author William Faulkner (his second cousin) was a sure way for singer-songwriter John Murry to catch my attention, but made me approach his musical with a more skeptical ear. Fortunately, Murry has the talent to back up the fame claim. His press [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan The short-lived Paul Winter Sextet had the notable privilege of being the first Jazz group to perform at the White House. Signed to Columbia from 1961-1963, the group released six albums and were invited to play at the White House after a State Department tour of Latin America. The group disbanded [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan Among my favorite free finds this year is A Method of Symmetry by Agent Whiskers. I keep very little electronic music on my ipod, but this album is good enough to rest alongside Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers. A cinematic soundscape with a propulsive beat, it reminds me of the [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan Muruch favorite Anaïs Mitchell was featured in a recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert. The stripped down performance makes her poetry even more poignant. Featured in this performance are the songs "Shepherd," "Tailor" and the title track from her album, Young Man in America (Muruch's #1 of 2012). You can see the [...]
You can stream and download a free, legal mp3 of Rebekah Delgado's pretty cover of "Mad World" below. Like most modern singers who tackle the song, she covered Gary Jules' cover rather than the Tears for Fears original. Rebekah Delgado - Mad World (mp3 download page) Note: Mp3 hosted by & Soundcloud stream uploaded by [...]
Cathy Jordan's All The Way Home is pretty, very Irish solo collection by the former Dervish singer. Highlights include "The Bold Fenian Men," "The River Field Waltz," "In Curraghroe" and "Sliabh Gallion Braes." BUY @ AMAZON Cathy Jordan Official Site
Greylag's The Only Way to Kill You EP is an arresting mix of country and indie-folk that should appeal to fans of The Low Anthem and Lost in the Trees. A buoyant country arrangement masks eerie, murderous lyrics in the mesmeric "Into the Woods." "Goldmine" has a sparser, low-fi folk strum. Other highlights are "Black [...]
Jesse Cook's The Blue Guitar Sessions is a mostly solid collection of Cook's rhythmic guitar instrumentals and covers featuring the lovely voice of singer Emma-Lee. Some of the instrumentals blend together a bit blandly, but highlights include "I Put a Spell on You," "The Witching Hour," "Toybox" and "Ne Me Quitte Pas." BUY @ AMAZON [...]
Remember Butterfly Boucher? Her 2004 ethereal pop debut, Flutterby, seemed to have been overshadowed by similarly styled albums by Jem and Imogen Heap and I'd lost track of her since then. So when I stumbled upon Butterfly Boucher's new self-titled album during my annual promo cleanout, I was surprised to hear her music has taken [...]
Hey Anna are a NY band comprised of three sisters - including lead singer Anna Rauch-Sasseen - and two best friends. You can download a free, legal mp3 of "Blackout" from their new, self-titled EP below. Hey Anna - Blackout (mp3)* *mp3 hosted & posted w/ permission of band's PR rep Hey Anna EP by [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan Jami Attenberg has captured the zeitgeist in her heartbreaking and life-affirming novel, The Middlesteins. Edie Middlestein is eating herself to death and Attenberg shows us her sometimes sad life, and the ramifications of her decisions for herself and her family. Deftly hopping through time, we are situated not with the date [...]
Guest Post By: Brendan I expected When It Happens To You to be good... for Molly Ringwald, but thought that perhaps from another author it might be considered a disappointment. I was wrong. This is a remarkable work of fiction with glimpses of brilliance. The work is described as a collection of interlinked stories, but [...]
Muruch
Boards of Canada - Reach for the Dead (from Tomorrow's Harvest)
Julia Holter - World (Official Video)
Washed Out - Paracosm (Official Album Trailer)
She & Him- I Could've Been Your Girl
Action Bronson - "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" (Official Video)
Slaughterday Weekend: Oh, good, Korn is still kicking.
HEY ANNA-Pompette (EP)
Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
