BEACH HOUSE - Norway

"Norway", the gorgeous new track from Baltimore duo Beach House, gives fans a taste of their third LP Teen Dream, due January 26th via Sub Pop. The dreamy track, which showcases Victoria Legrand's bittersweet vocals alongside the band's ever-evolving reverb laden sound, is available for free via rcrdlbl.com.

Introducing RYE RYE

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New CELEBRATION Tracks

Celebration, the Baltimore band that regularly share company with TV on the Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, are making the bold step of walking away from their record label and releasing all of their new music for free. Good for them for taking risks. The explanation is best described by the band themselves. You can read their statement here.

Here are the first two tracks to emerge.

Celebration - I Will Not Fall (mp3)
Celebration - What's This Magical (mp3)

PONYTAIL - Ice Cream Spiritual

Baltimore's Ponytail are prepping the release of their second LP Ice Cream Spiritual, set for June 17th via We Are Free. The experimental art rock band has been building quite a buzz lately, having shared marquees with Yeasayer, Dan Deacon, and Japanther to name a few. Tomorrow night, Ponytail opens for Black Kids and Cut Copy at Sonar in Baltimore. These guys are definitely worth keeping your eye on.

Ponytail - Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From An Angel) (mp3)

Ponytail - New Album Teaser

BEACH HOUSE - "Devotion" 89%

Beach House are the Baltimore girl/boy duo of vocalist/organist Victoria Legrand and guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally. With their 2006 eponymous debut, the duo found themselves warmly embraced by bloggers, drawing critical comparisons to Mazzy Star, Slowdive and Galaxie 500. Now, with their follow-up LP Devotion, Beach House take their concept one step further, offering eleven new tracks that display a more assured confidence and an overall fuller sound.

Scally and Legrand are devout collectors of organs. In fact, on Devotion they used six different organs alone. The instrument has a unique and perfect relation to Legrand’s voice, which together can create a beauty so rich your heart nearly melts. The duo also have a deep affection for vinyl, recommending that you seek out the double-LP edition of the album for the best experience of the new release.

Devotion opens with the wistful “Wedding Bell”, which uses a harpsichord and Scally’s slide guitar to dance alongside Legrand’s blue-tone sing-song voice. By Beach House standards, this track is about as fun as they get. The sepia, slow-motion of “You Came To Me” follows, where it becomes clear that Legrand’s hushed and dreamy vocal style is nuanced and rich with character in a way that recalls Georgia Hubley and, at times, Nico. “Gila” is the most reminiscent track of the debut album, following a drum loop with the faithful organ, as Legrand’s echoed vocals meander along with the mystical charm of a skilled snake, before letting loose a restrained desperation by track’s end.

What’s most impressive about the work here, is the deeply layered variation of influence, which in very subtle ways utilizes such novelty sounds as 60’s Motown, 50’s country, and 90’s noise rock, only to create eerily warm, late night soothing lullabies.

Devotion also features a short and sweet cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last A Long Time”, another sepia-drenched dreamlike moment that almost serves as an interlude between two deeper tracks. Among the eleven tracks, “Turtle Island” and “D.A.R.L.I.N.G” are highlights, songs wherein the style that is Beach House hits a crucial height. These tracks walk a beautiful fine line between dazed melancholy and minimalist pop.

All in all, the album as a whole is best experienced after multiple listens, when the deep layers of instrumentation and hidden melodies can finally seep through. Devotion is released on February 26 via Carpark Records.

-Originally published at Kevchino.com

CELEBRATION - "The Modern Tribe"

Baltimore's CELEBRATION will release their second LP "The Modern Tribe" via 4AD on October 9th. I'm all about this. If you haven't heard Celebration's debut album, most notably the 2006 single 'War', make it happen. It's easy. Just check out the video below.

The new single, 'Evergreen', explores the band's gentler side - in other words, this could be their breakthrough. Gorilla Vs. Bear goes as far as to say the album track 'Heartbreak' could be Celebration's 'Maps' (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Wow! I can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

STREAM - Celebration - Evergreen

Celebration - War (music video)

DAN DEACON - 'The Crystal Cat'

Not one for feeling left out, I couldn't resist joining the hoopla surrounding DAN DEACON right now. In a matter of two weeks, this guy has become a bonified blog star.

Deacon is from Baltimore, where he is part of the artist collective WHAM CITY. His latest album "Spiderman of the Rings" was released last week and is taking the world by storm. Well, at least the world that is Pitchfork Media. It is pretty f-ing brilliant, I must say.

Dan Deacon - 'The Crystal Cat' (video)