Islands - Creeper
Why We like it: This album is complete. How many times do you listen to an album and hear the same song 8 times? It doesn’t happen w/ the Montreal based indie lo-fi ‘Islands.’ From beautiful backing violins, to grungy guitars, it’s what I’ve been praying some indie band would do. And it’s very different from their freshman record, ‘Return to Sea.’ (which is still a good thing)

Why We don’t: They’re from Montreal. And I think there’s just too much damn good music coming out of Canada right now. The states have a few good artists, but our upstairs neighbor is just kicking our ass and laughing about it at this point. Seriously.

Like Artists: Of Montreal, Wolf Parade, Tapes N Tapes

Genre: Indie Rock, Lo-Fi, Canadian

Free Islands tunes @ Daytrotter.

Why we like it: Walk It Off breathes fury. It’s like The Shins all adopted distortion, and a drug habit that they couldn’t stop. While the band would like to classify themselves as ’style-defying,’ I say it’s your average record coming out about now, and you guys have nothing stellar to offer. That being said, I really want to go see them live and get drunk.
Why we don’t: Nothing stands out. I can’t pick out a favorite song, a single, or a given song that I’d like to recommend to you. The same is true of Of Montreal, so if you love them, you’ll get into Tapes N Tapes. The lo-fi production, while stellar, doesn’t leave any room for greatness here. Highly disappointed, but hell, you might dig it.
Like Artist: Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Of Montreal
Genre: Indie, Rock, Lo-Fi

Pitchfork Media, a site I frequent for up to date music news on some of my favorite artists, has released ‘most’ of their lineup for the Chicago festival on July 29th and 30th. An indie music lovers dream, this event offers a lineup to please a specific crowd, and its not for everyone. If you’re one of those people like me, that love going to concerts early to see the opening bands because they might be great, or if you were at your latest festival before the doors opened, you can be guaranteed to love what Pitchfork is offering. Tickets are $20 for a day, or $30 for both days, which makes me think the $300 plane ticket to Chicago might be worth it. Why not spend a couple days in one of Americas biggest, most beautiful cities, (with my sister and brother in law), and also get a wooden spoon serving of some up and coming bands. The lineup is not fully released, but here are some acts that Pitchfork has put on the table so far that should have your attention.

*Aesop Rock *Spoon *Yo La Tengo *Jens Lekman *Tapes ‘N Tapes *Band of Horses *Matmos and *Ada