The summer is here, and that means it’s time for fun in the sun, a trip to the beach, maybe an Absolute and Ice or two, and it’s more dangerous than forgetting your sunblock if you don’t have the right music to narrate the experience.  Here are a few musicians that are defining the summer’s indie sound this year.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Bright Lit Blue Skies – Before Today

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made an indelible mark on the summer this week with the release of Before Today, one of the summer’s most anticipated albums within the Pitchfork crowd.  The versatility and vision of Ariel and his band is what has everyone talking– the album spans decades of stylistic influences, the twang of guitars from the 60’s, the soft, yachty 70’s-esque keys, the bubblegum and cocaine pop flavor of the 80’s, it’s all there.  A music video was just released (see bottom of the post) for this cover of the , Bright Lit Blue Skies.  Do yourself a favor and check out this record.

Foxes in Fiction – Flashing Lights Have Ended Now – Swung From the Branches (re-issue)

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is becoming a prime example of natural songwriting talent finding natural success and listenership.  Grabbing the attention of many with the release of Swung From the Branches, Toronto-based Warren Hildebrand is re-issuing it on with a few new unreleased tracks, including this one that hit the forkcast when the re-issue was announced.  Fans should keep an eye out for Orchid Tapes, another of Warren’s musical projects, the future is looking bright for FiF’s heartfelt sound that weaves hazy, slightly anxious, hopelessly romantic emotional contexts into musical gold.

Weed – Shift – To The North CS

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Speaking of Moodgadget’s summer sound, ‘s MGT debut EP DC Hope is slated for a July release.  In the meantime, front man Willy Anderson has been playing shows around Brooklyn and generating buzz for his “bedrock” sound that combines lo-fi, chillwave, and classic psychedelic rock.  He released To The North CS for free a little while back, make sure you grab that and keep an eye out for young Will Anderson’s newest outing DC Hope next month.

The Samps – Peppergood – The Samps

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In the wake of the impending Ariel Pink release, I caught wind of , one-third of whom is Haunted Graffiti’s sometimes-guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill.  The samplework here is unbelievable, you can tell that even though this was a casual side-project for a group of California musicians, the samples that get chopped up and re-combined are so expertly selected that it almost seems like it was a painstaking process.  Either way, hopefully we will get something a little more cohesive in terms of a release, since there are no plans of a live performance any time soon.  I’d gladly just take more free tunes from these fellas– keep it up!

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Bright Lit Blue Skies (music video)

Posted in Music and Music Videos Posted by Alex on Jun 09 2010 08:00 pm

Tags: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Chillwave, Foxes in Fiction, Indie, Indie Pop, Lo-fi, Moodgadget, Summer music, Surf Rock, The Samps, Weed