John's New Music Blog

Today's featured band is another one of Portland, Oregon's contributions to indie music, Blouse. The featured track, "Into Black", is a gothic inspired indie pop track that oozes early Cure and Depeche Mode influences and is quite possibly one of the best tracks of the young year. The video is from a Portland based video collective that combines the song with clips from a film with Juliette Binoche titled les amants du Pont-Neuf.

Today's Fresh New Music featured band is Manchester's Stella Marconi, a three piece band consisting of James Bagshaw on guitar and lead vocals, Andrew Smith on bass and backing vocals and Sophia Hardman on drums.


Stella Marconi have three tracks up on Soundcloud, the  first one I'm featuring is "One Off Free," a driving track that evokes the Manchester punk scene of the late 1970's and brings it forward to the 21st Century. There are elements of The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Ramones audible in "One Off Free" and I highly recommend it as an example of the pre-Joy Division punk sound that was taking shape in Manchester. If I didn't know any better, I would think these guys were at The Gig to End All Gigs.

Stella Marconi is unsigned and is currently posting their tracks on Soundcloud. They are performing in the Manchester area in February and March (Click here for gigs and dates).

Today's Fresh New Music is from Nashville's The Shakespeares, a collaboration of Merry Ellen Kirk (a Fresh New Music alumnae) and Aaron Krause that's produced some of the most charming indie folk-pop that I've heard in a long time. The Shakespeares released their first EP on February 1 and I've been enjoying it very much. Merry Ellen has a bit of Sarah McLaughlin in her voice and Aaron reminds me Glen Hansard from The Frames and The Swell Season (you know him better as "Guy" from the film Once).


I can't give you a single track that stands out from the others because they're all excellent. Each is a just a little bit different and all five complement each other. If I had to pick two that I would call favorites, I'd pick Tonight and The Catchers of Time (this one will be big at weddings and anniversary parties).

Here's a streaming version of the EP from their Bandcamp site.


The Shakespeares will be appearing on Vanderbilt University's WRVU-FM on February 9 at 8pm Central. If you're in the Nashville area, they will be playing The Listening Room on February 12 as the opening act for GreeneLight (Click here for details).

The EP is available for download from iTunes and directly from the band via Bandcamp (buy it from the band, they get a bigger cut and it's cheaper) and the CD will be shipping on March 1. These are two very talented individuals who've released a gem of an EP and I'm looking forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Today's featured band is Boston-based, indie folk singer Marissa Nadler. She's released several albums and she's currently in the studio working on her fan-financed new album. Her most recent album, 2009's Little Hells, is an excellent introduction to her haunting voice.


The video for the song "Rosary," from the Little Kills album, is the perfect accompaniment to Marissa's stark lyrics and melody. The song is crisp like a cold winter's day and the visuals reinforce that theme: trees devoid of leaves, ice flows on a lake against an overcast sky. It's not to say that the song is cold and dark, but the images do make the viewer want to turn up the heat and put on a sweater.

You know Portland, Oregon, the breeding ground for such bands as The Dandy Warhols and Mackintosh Braun. Well Portland has produced another excellent band that calls itself Anne, and they're the Fresh New Music featured band of the day. The band exemplifies the fuzzy sound of lo-fi shoegaze and is best listened to as loud as you (or your neighbors/roommates/passengers) can stand.


The five tracks from the Demo EP are all excellent and I highly recommend "Punk Bike" for its retro-modern  Joy Division influenced guitar and bass hooks. Take a listen, listen takers:




Both the Demo and Mixtape are available for download from the band's website. Click here to download the Demo and here for the Mixtape. If you like them, tell your friends and if you're up in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to catch them in a club near you. They will be releasing a split 7" with American Gods on Austin, Texas' Withdrawal Records. No release date yet, but check back for updates.

Thanks to the good people over at Beachtapes, I stumbled across World Tour, a new band from Cascine Records. Their first single, "Sparks," is an indie dreamscape gem. I wish I could find out more about the band, but I think that the quote from the band sums up the song:

“We would like to show you some pictures, a few notes and some visions. ‘Sparks’ is a story about dreaming, defying death and fighting the darkness. About the belief of beginning something new and a reliance on your origin.”




Here is the video for "Sparks"

World Tour - Sparks from World Tour on Vimeo.

"Sparks" is available as a free download from Cascine.

(h/t: Beachtapes)

Today's Fresh New Music artist is the 20 year old Mongolian raised and current Nashville resident Merry Ellen Kirk. Merry Ellen is putting out some of the freshest indie pop I've heard recently and I think she's certainly worthy a listen. Her current project, The Firefly Garden, is filled with indie pop goodness that you should certainly give a listen to and support: Merry Ellen is raising money to release the album and for a small (or large) donation, you can help make her project a reality.



Here's a video of Merry Ellen performing her song Mosaic on a local Nashville music program:

I encourage you to check out Merry Ellen's music and if you like her songs, help support the release of the Firefly Garden and tell your friends. She'll be touring around Tennessee and the Southeast (and SXSW) in March, so if you get chance, check her out live and in the flesh (click here for tour dates). I'm looking forward to hearing more from her in the coming years.

I came across the latest from Southern California indie summer rockers and cat lovers Best Coast over at Pitchfork. It's titled "Sunny Adventure," a fuzzed out retro '60's track that's warmer than a summer day at the beach. The track is available as split 7" with JEFF The Brotherhood from Volcom.

Today is another first for John's New Music Blog, an album review. Not just any album, but the new EP from Riverside, California's Joy Division/New Order influenced The New Division. The Manchester sound is alive and well and residing in Riverside as The New Division have made a record that wouldn't sound out of place on Ian Curtis' record player. Some have called it retro-New Wave, but I would describe it as a worthy successor to Closer and Movement. If you only buy one new record this year, make it The Rookie by The New Division.


The Rookie is out now at iTunes, Amazon and from the Band.

Today's Fresh New Music is from Stockton, California's Craft Spells, a summer indie pop band that will be releasing their first LP, Idle Labor, on March 1 on Captured Tracks. The first single is "After the Moment," a song as warm as a San Joaquin Valley summer's day and melts the snow of winter with its infectious lyrics and sound.




Idle Labor will be out on March 1 from Captured Tracks. No sales information yet, but check back by March 1st for details.

(H/T: Beachtapes)