Bird Dog is Patrick Rees ' first E.P. as a solo artist and boy has he started in style. The tracks on the e.p. are made up of sketches of old demos mostly written while traveling around South-East Asia in 2011 on a $20 dollar guitar that doubled as an umbrella in tropical storms. Returning to England at the beginning of 2012 he started to play around with the demos, making all the recordings himself on his laptop adding harmonies or extra parts without worrying about how he might perform them live. [...]

In honor of Josh Ritter ’s lovely yet heartwrenching new album , inspired by the tragic disintegration of his marriage, I’ve compiled a mix of some of my favorite breakup songs. To keep this at a reasonable number, I’ve limited it to songs from the last 15 years (apologies to Bob Dylan , Nilsson , Sam Cooke , Love , and The Cure , among others). Click here to download the mix / listen on Spotify . 01. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead [...]
Earlier today, The Daily Swarm pulled out this quote by James Lachno of the Daily Telegraph about his unashamed love of Fleetwood Mac. Apparently, it's a generational thing and a Millennial thing: Where a decade or so ago the success of New Yorkers The Strokes and British quartet The Libertines led young music fans to devour the visceral debuts released during 1977’s punk explosion – from Television to The Clash – the resurgence in hook-laden guitar-pop has led us back to Rumours. My generation, meanwhile, can enjoy the album [...]

Earlier this month we asked our readers to submit their own annual report . Now that you've seen our selections , we're pleased to share yours. Band of the Year 01. Tame Impala 02. Grizzly Bear 03. Japandroids 04. Death Grips 05. The Black Keys Artist of [...]

Grizzly Bear 's Ed Droste has spoken out against the recent Grammy nominations after his band failed to feature. The singer questioned the validity of the awards, posting a series of tweets on Twitter . The rant all started with the following: So the Grammies are literally based off sales and nothing else? #bummerzone — Edward Droste (@edwarddroste) December 6, 2012 Before he later added sarcastically: Super relieved Taylor Swift is [...]

It's surprising that someone who's been recognized and awarded by the Grammys as extensively as Bon Iver 's Justin Vernon would express such disdain toward the organization, but he's got his reasons. In response to Grizzly Bear 's Ed Droste tweeting his disappointment at not being nominated for a Grammy, Vernon went on a mini Twitter-rant. In summary, Justin Vernon hates the Grammys and compares Grizzly Bear to Michael Jordan. Maybe this is a little over the top, but maybe he has a point. Are the Grammys failing to recognize bands and artists that are worthy of nominations? [...]

Despite our compilations of the week's best videos, it's difficult to remember many of them for long. Each week brings something new to marvel at and yada yada yada your mind totally erases any memory of that Kanye West video you gasped at while eating cereal one Thursday in April. Whereas you can essentially live with a song, most videos are consumed with what amounts to a glance and a nod. Granted, that's not the case for all of them, and, hey, wouldn't you know that's why we're sitting here with 25 of them in December. So, [...]
Whether they’re headed for a college radio coronation or the PA systems of corporate coffee houses (or both), England’s Alt-J are definitely on their way.

Bon Iver @ Radio City Music Hall, 9/20/2012 (via @ itsvman ) We are on night three of Bon Iver 's four-night stand at Radio City and you can still get tickets . If you're stuck at home (or don't live in the NYC area) but want to watch, tonight's show is part of Free Music Week at Fuse who, in partnership with Bowery Presents, are streaming it live via the Bowery Presents YouTube page . The setlists from Bon Iver's first two nights with [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Thom Yorke, Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Sigur Ros Song: Low Roar - Rolling Over [download here ] What's so good? [...]

Astronauts, etc. aka Anthony Farrar, has just released a video for his latest single “You Can Yell.” The 21-year-old Berkeley student blew up the blogosphere earlier this month with the release of “Mystery Colors,” a hauntingly electronic tune with similarities to artists like Bon Iver , Beach House and Grizzly Bear . His soft vocals and wistful melodies relax your brain and melt away your tensions like a good illegal drug. The kind that should be legal. “You [...]
LA Weekly published their list of 20 Worst Hipster Bands , which is sure to be the ultimate troll blog post for the next few days. And with any well-thought-out troll comes a heated discussion on the merits of said post. I can bet at least three of these artists land on all of your iPods out there (or whatever device you use to listen to music), so I am sure just about all of you have something to say. Keep in mind the initial text that starts of this article: Who are these hipsters we see [...]

Get as many ears as you’ve got around this. This, the new track from Liverpool’s prodigal son of melodic folk/pop, Dan Croll , is also his first official single and will be released by his own Racquet Records imprint on 17th September for you to waste all your meaningless earthly money on. On “From Nowhere”, Dan is channelling some Veckatimest-era Grizzly Bear, but with his undeniable pop appeal rather than their introspection. Everything else is 100% Dan – breezy melodies which sound more effortless than breathing, the raw candour of his lyrics, an entire kaleidoscope of different hooks, and [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Bon Iver, Wild Nothing, Woods Song: Cemeteries - The Wilderness [download here ] What's so good? Here's a nice, [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Glass Vaults Song: Leaves of Green - Caving In [download here ] What's so good? [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Beirut, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear Song: Patrick Watson - Lighthouse [download here ] What's so good? Indie [...]

Here we go, the last Monday in March, which means, thankfully, that we can soon tear one more month of the calendar and be just that much closer to summer vacation. I, for one, can't have summer get here soon enough. Anyways, as per usual, your Melancholy Monday playlist, just like your ma used to make it: with love and the utmost care. 1. Cowboy Junkies: Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis) ("The Trinity Sessions," 1988) 2. Bon Iver: Lisbon, OH ("Bon Iver," 2011) 3. Miles Davis: [...]
![[Introducing] – Flights](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4152014_lg.jpg)
Laced with piano, steeped in landscapes & sugar spun with Eric Hillman & Brian Holl's perfectly complementing vocals, Anywhere But Where I Am , the debut album from the group entitled Flights is the type of music that is fits a rainy day. But it isn't completely melancholy, it just has the same soothing qualities of a deliciously grey sky and the soft pattering of rain on the window. This record is landscapes of acoustic longing and hopeful sighs, the title suggests a desire to fly from where you are, as does the [...]

Even in an age in which Spotify is (albeit justifiably) chastised for paying out pittances and peanuts to starry-eyed, if holey-jeaned artists it seems all but entirely illogical that a record of such startling beauty as Anywhere But Where I Am may be proffered by its conjurers free of charge. Said conjurers are Flights , or Eric Hillman and Brian Holl. Although the duo are now shacked up in Nashville, they hail initially from Wisconsin which, to the ignorant Brit at least sends surging thoughts recurring to Justin Vernon. Here [...]
Click image to download full album Sounds like: Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Sea and Cake "Mesita - On Through The Dark" What's so good? I really don't know much about Mesita besides that the curator's name is John Cooley and he's from Colorado. Either way, I feel like I've stumbled upon a gem of a musician and I cannot wait to share this track with you shufflers! As far as I know, this track is [...]