A lovely new album from San Fran indie-folkers The Dodos
kicks off today's featured releases, but that's not even the half
of it. Yim
Yames (My Morning Jacket's Jim James) and
Julian
Plenti (Interpol's Paul Banks) both go solo, and the
world is richer for it.
New albums from Riceboy
Sleeps (Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson and his
boyfriend Alex Somers), Historics (a
side project of the bassists from Maroon 5 and Amazing Baby,
featuring Kool Keith), Sugar Ray (you
probably know Sugar Ray), Greg Davis (a
classically-trained Kranky Records dronemeister), and more!
"An Imaginary Country isn't purely concept-driven or a
kind of ambient-techno pop-up book. Like all worthwhile atmospheric
music, there's a sense of choose-your-own-adventure here that
allows the listener to build his own interpretations."
Today we've got two great opportunities to turn your downloads
into philanthropy: download
Rusted Root's new single for free and we'll send 10¢
to one of their favorite organizations, Grow
Pittsburgh!
Also, as part of our Download To Make A Difference campaign, 20%
of album sales for Oren Lavie
will support Magen David Adom, an organization
that provides emergency medical services in Israel. These and more
excellent albums after the break!
The creators of ubiquitous DJ software Ableton Live, Berlin
producers Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles are also responsible for
some exquisitely crafted electronic music as Monolake, with
tracks ranging from ambient field recordings to dub and techno.
Read our full spotlight after the break!
Combining The Rapture's disco-punk, Bloc Party's epic indie
rock, and Blue Öyster Cult's cowbell, the debut album from St.
Albans trio Friendly
Fires is brilliantly danceable, shimmering pop. Have a
listen, why don't you!
The British boys of The Lithium
Project shook things up with the release of their sophomore
album Many Worlds Theory, combining electronic pop and
ambient textures. Find our writeup and selected tracks after the
break!
Rainer
Maria will no doubt be remembered when people look back for
"that '90s indie sound": female/male harmonies, mellow guitars,
charmingly simple production. And hey: Stephen Malkmus loves 'em.
So check it out, in our featured albums this week!
At least for now, Chouchou is the only group
we know of that performs exclusively in Second Life. Singer
Juliet Heberle collaborates online from the States with composer
Arabesque Choche in Tokyo, and together they make elegant music
that combines electronica, ambient classical, and Japanese pop.
