Friend Crush by Friends

Friend Crush is the debut release by Brooklyn’s Friends. Moody, poppy, glacial, it’s the kind of single New Young Pony Club would kill for. They’ve recently signed to Lucky Number (home to Darwin Deez) in the US and plans are afoot for a second single and an album later this year. Not bad for a band who’ve only been together four months. Download Friend Crush/Feelin’ Dank here.

Friends – Friend Crush by snipelondon

Bizness by Tune-yards

Listening to Tune-Yards for the first time encourages post-first-kiss sensations: awkwardness, confusion; the feeling that your world has turned ever so slightly on its axis. Trying to pigeonhole California based Merrill Garbus’ sound is nigh on impossible – Sub-Saharan African rhythms, soulful horns, R ‘n’ B vocals…imagine Everything Everything, Dexy’s and Barrington Levy marooned in the Congolese bush, writing songs in exchange for food. A touch of Dirty Projectors perhaps?

As a pre-cursor to the release of second album Who Kill (out April 18th on 4AD), you can download a new track, ‘Bizness’, for free via the Tune-Yards website. Catch Merrill and band at the Scala, June 8th.

Tune-Yards – Bizness by snipelondon

Silver Screen (Young Montana remix) by Beat Connection

Seattle duo Beat Connection release their debut single,Silver Screen, on February 28th via Tender Age/Moshi Moshi. The b-side is a glitchy, experimental re-mix by Coventry’s Young Montana – Mary Anne Hobbs’ favourite unsigned artist of 2010. Were it not for the heavily treated vocal sample, it would bear almost no resemblance to the original, which is kind of the way a re-mix should be. You can catch Young Montana at XOYO on March 19th. Beat connection will be embarking on a short tour of the UK in May, following the release of their mini-album ‘Surf Noir’ in April.

Beat Connection – Silver Screen (Young Montana Remix) by snipelondon

Hard by Stalley

Bearded Ohio hip-hopper Stalley has made his new album, ‘Lincoln Way Nights (Intelligent Trunk Music)’, available for free via his Bandcamp page. Produced by Rashad Thomas, the record was originally pencilled in for an October 2010 release. It’s a hit and miss affair (he could have done with shaving three or four tracks off the sixteen), but there are enough highlights to maintain interest, including today’s MPFree, ‘Hard’.

Stalley – Hard by snipelondon

Memory Eternal by Hourglass Sea

It’s fair to say Bradford is not exactly renowned as a hotbed of musical talent (anybody who mentions the word ‘Terrorvision’ will be taken outside and shot). Dean Bentley, a.k.a. Hourglass Sea, is doing his bit to drag the West Yorkshire town out of the shadow of near neighbours Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester. His new Live From The Crematorium EP is a mixture of video game samples (‘Memory Eternal’) and VHS or Beta style guitar licks (‘Live From The Crematorium’), over the sort of 80s/90s electro that wouldn’t sound out of place on the soundtrack of a Paul Verhoeven film from the same era.

Hourglass Sea – Memory Eternal by snipelondon

Do you really wanna know by Papercuts

Recent Sub Pop signings Papercuts release new album, Fading Parade, (their fourth overall), on February 28th. The Californians make lush, delicately constructed dream-pop, surging with the shy, methodical, intensity of main man Jason Robert Quever. Some may detect elements of beach House’s hazy, shoegaze inspired sound in Papercuts’ work – the two bands have often collaborated at Quever’s home studio in San Francisco, where ‘Fading Parade’ was partially recorded.

Papercuts will be touring the U.S. in February, March and April, before hitting the U.K. later in the spring. Download next single ‘Do you really wanna know’, plus two bonus tracks, for free, here.

Papercuts – Do You Really Wanna Know by snipelondon

Voice by Kerogen

Is there room for another contender in the world of moody, post-dubstep, atmospheric pop? Perhaps not, though Kerogen’s (pronounced ker-uh-juhn) proficiency in the field means he should slot in nicely alongside the likes of Blake, Woon, Burial, etc. His latest single, ‘Voice’, is available now through iTunes. Find out more via the Lewis Recordings website.

Kerogen – Voice by snipelondon

You gotta lose by Obits

Forget the new Strokes single for a moment and succumb to a dose of proper rock n’ roll, courtesy of Obits. Featuring members of defunct US hardcore bands Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and Pitchfork, as well as Edsel, this is simple, biting guitar music in the vain of The Stooges or The Walkmen. They release second album, ‘Moody, Standard and Poor’, via Sub Pop on March 29th. The ‘(arguably) greatest independent label in the whole wide world’ has also made today’s MPFree, ‘You gotta lose’, available as a free download – in exchange for an e-mail address.

Obits – You Gotta Lose by snipelondon

Cashier No9 remix by Keyboard Choir

Cashier No.9 return on March 28th with a new EP – Goldstar – produced by David Holmes and mixed by Hugo Nicholson (Screamadelica, In Rainbows). The title track is a lesson in panoramic, Americana-tinged indie; rolling drums set the pace as our protagonist vows to take on the world and win – ‘wage my war, intent on succeeding … tonight I will let everyone know’. Imagine Deerhunter produced by cartoon ‘loony’ producer/murderer Phil Spector.

As a special treat, Snipe readers can download an exclusive and rather excellent remix of Goldstar, by electro outfit Keyboard Choir, here.

Cashier No. 9 – Goldstar by snipelondon

Try harder by Kynan

Joel ‘Kynan’ Williams’ soulful brand of horn-embellished, bedroom psychedelia has been gaining favourable comparisons to the likes of Beirut. Nothing to be sniffed at of course, but perhaps this is doing the 18-year-old Californian a disservice? The range and scope of his work – from blissed-out, twisted electro through to delicate guitar balladry – is more reminiscent of Prince in his adventurous, mid-80s heyday. The purple one is, as Williams admits, a huge influence: check out his version of ‘Purple Rain’, recorded for the verb/re/verb ‘Youth’ mixtape ( yesterday’s MPFree ).

In between playing with his band D/Wolves, Williams is planning to release an album a month throughout 2011. Download January’s offering – ‘Try harder’ – for free, via his Bandcamp page.

Kynan – Try Harder by snipelondon