Rickolus

You reap what you share. Here’s proof. A reader tipped me off to this prolific Floridian after encountering Radical Face on 3hive. Something’s obviously been brewing off the coast down there in Jacksonville, FL. Rickolus is one Richard Colado, who sings for the band The Julius Airwave, and he can’t seem to sit still for long. Below are songs from each of his five albums, recorded in as many years, with probably double the friends (including Ben Cooper AKA Radical Face). The recordings are inspired both thematically and sonically by everything from Colado’s children, video game music, anime, friends, to his own backyard. Winter’s Daughter is an intimate and introspective epic fable of, presumably, Colado’s children. American Backyard has a certain back-porch-folksy feel, Video Game Birthday Party’s darkly festive mood depends heavily on Casios and Korgs, and Soundtrack… predictably, but not disappointingly, sounds more cinematic. With the exception of the latter, Colado’s melancholic vocals accompany most of the songs. The quality and quantity of Rickolus’ music is worth way more than the word-of-mouth plug I’m offering here. And considering every song from every album is yours for the sharing it wouldn’t hurt donating a dime or two when you drop by for more downloads.

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Penny and Ashtray

Penny and Ashtray hail from Osaka, Japan (their real names are Momoyo Kubo and Tamotsu Ide). I could call their music a cross between minimalist techno and chip music…but I’d be more direct to say it’s straight hyp-mo-tiz-ing. Their debut album, The Secrets of Galaxy Z, spans the gamut from floor-bangers to thoughtful instrumentals—which makes the repetitive nature of their style far more durable. In addition to recording 47 minutes of original material this past year, they found time to participate in Flunk’s remix competition. May they never run out of batteries…

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Fleet Foxes

Jessica and Kat, who unlike me are both young and hip, have been talking about Fleet Foxes since there was snow on the ground. I swear I checked the band out in February and there was nothing available to share, but who knows? Maybe that’s just an excuse for being so late on highlighting a CMJ #1 band, a Rolling Stone favorite, etc. etc. So, here goes: Seattle’s Fleet Foxes offer up fuzzy, old-fashioned-sounding pop songs, vaguely reminiscent of the era depicted in the album cover. (SubPop’s got deep pockets, so I bet Bruegel got a decent commission for this one). With just one EP and one LP under their belts, Fleet Foxes have plenty of time to carve out a little musical turf of their own, and a hipster following ready to hang on faithfully (for a year or two, at least).

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Hifiklub

Hot off the French Riviera and into my suburban home, a bike ride away from a large, democratic swath of California beach, via our trusty suggestion box is Hifiklub. Their album was produced by Earl Slick, best known for his guitar work on Bowie’s Young Americans and Station to Station albums. The first single, “Babe Doll” starts off with a Blur-esque dance beat, moaning guitars lead to spoken/sung vocals, the guitars go all angular, and then they’re just Dave Allen’s deadly bass groove shy of ushering in France’s Gang of Four resurgence. The band was kind enough to offer up a second track off their album, French Accent, which we’re happy to pass along to you even though thematically it’s the antithesis to our little “sharing the sharing” project here. Yep, it’s all about stealing from your favorite bands, but in the artsy sense of the word, not in that smarmy blogging way of stealing.

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The Upsidedown

Similarities between the Upsidedown and the Dandy Warhols are to be expected. Having signed on to the Dandy’s new indie label Beat the World, they also recorded their new LP Human Destination at the Dandy’s Odditorium studio. If mockery is the sincerest form of flattery, the Upsidedown, with members hailing from Portland, Missouri, Kansas, and San Fran, flatter their Dandy mentors by their use of crisp drumming, a steady rhythm, and effects-laden guitar driving the melody. On tour now with the…you guessed it…Dandy Warhols.

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Ruby Isle

Get ready to cut the rug, because this here is a bumping dose of pure dance energy from this indie supertrio. Dan Geller and Mark Mallman grew up together in Wisconsin playing chess and trading mixtapes. After graduation Geller, whose mixtapes often included The Smiths, The Cure and New Order, moved to Athens, GA, started up Kindercore Records, and began recording pop-tronic gems under the name I Am The World Trade Center. Mallman, who had contributed bands like Pink Floyd and Velvet Underground to their mixtapes, went the art school route and began recording over the top piano pop under his own name. The two reconnected and wanted to blend their styles of music. That’s when drummer Aaron Lemay stepped in. When he heard the demos he said, “I can’t let you two fools attempt this madness alone.” Then there were three fools making foolishly fun arena dance music. I can imagine a grafting of Daft Punk and Queen producing a sound a lot like this.

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Goldcure

Goldcure is an Austin-based group that sings about love, god and other things that keep us up at night. Though you might expect such subject matter to tend toward theatrics, there’s something calm and reassuring about how the vocals and guitars shimmer and shine around each other. Goldcure is certainly not playing to Austin’s fabled bar scene with such erstwhile calming yet expansive ditties, similar to their city-mates in Shearwater. It’s enough to remind you why you’re up in the middle of the night in the first place.

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The Mojomatics

Italy’s Mojomatics automatically struck a chord with me. They amp up The Plimsouls’ folksy-punk, or Jon Spencer’s bluesy-swagger, with their hyper tempo and snarky tone. And get this: there’s only two of them!! I’m dying to see how they pull this off live. Make sure you grab all three of these tracks. I had a hell of a time deciding my favorite. Hit the banner below to stream a full album of honky-tonk-cow-punk, perfect for 100 MPH square-dancing. Giddy-up!

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