Valentine’s day is just around the corner, and I’m sure all you would-be Casanovas and Casanovettes are looking for some tips to step up your game as you hit the bars and discotheques in search of love. So here’s the best I’ve got:

Introducing Waskerly Way a ambient chillwave project from Mikey Waskerly of newcastle. The lofi glaze over this freshly baked little number, leaves a warm fuzzy feeling. This is music you seize the day to, Harmonic and distant. Simple tracks like these make such widespread feel good vibes for all involved, its like a childs laughter. Alot of vibes similar to Animal Collective with a certain poppy dissonance. This Chilled out muse creates ambient soundscapes similar to acts like Wild Nothing, How To Dress Well, and Twin Shadow. Check out his track below and give the laid back smooth vibes a listen.

I really like Wet Hair. I would actually say that I was describing the ideal kind of music I wanted to hear the other day to a friend. I want to listen to haunted house songs, but not witch house because witch house is just like…chill wave for the fall, and I was like…I just want it to sound like a combination of Peter Steele, and Ladytron remixes and Death From Above, and although I haven’t found anything to EXACTLY fit that mold, Wet Hair at least fulfills my longing for some of those components.

Neon Indian is a chill wave genre monster, garnering one of the largest following for a chill wave artist. The retro productions, seamless samples and 80s synth are arranged beautifully on the gems this artist pumps out. This track shows their revival of the stadium 80s rock drum kit, backed with psychedelic pop melodies. The visuals on this piece are actually done by Multimedia artist Lars Larsen. Using a newly develop Visual synthesizer (take that in for a minute) called the LZX Visionary, this video showcases some very innovative uses of technology. Neon Indian and Larsen’s intermingling of pre-digital technologies and modern technology creates quite the visual wonderland. check out the video above and see the technological magic yourself.

Raw Thrills-Making Love on a Piano

Maybe its the Nagel portrait in the background of this artists face shot, or the ode to classic rock n roll standards that make this act stand out personally. The chill yet noisy ambiance brought on through lo-fi production create a catchy droned pop aesthetic. Raw Thrills is out of New York, with albums released from Olde English Spelling Bee Records. Zak Mering is the man behind this dreamy nostalgic machine, with a slew of synth goodies, and raw tendencies outside of the typical hipster realm of expectation. 

Wild Nothing-Your Rabbit Feet

2010 proved an excellent year for newcomer Wild Nothing with the release of the critically hailed debut Gemini and judging by the recent released EP Golden Haze, 2011 is looking bright as well. Wild Nothing, the brainchild of Jack Tatum hails from lower Virginia but his dreamy, swirling sound places him in a more other worldly locale. Golden Haze follows Gemini its chill wave flavoring, but Tatum keeps himself from being one-note with thoughtful and well-crafted lyrics and beats.

Slow Loris – Julie Don’t Know

Download Slow Loris’s album “Extra Colors” HERE

Where do i start with the pompadour bearing musical being George Lewis Jr. Aka Twin Shadow Born In Dominican Republic, Now Based In Brooklyn New York, the purity in these tracks is undeniable. These dream pop serenades are a breath of fresh air straight from the 80s. Kind of a cross between Morrissey and the nu shoegaze acts How To Dress Well or Glasser. Brilliant guitar rifts carrying along the crooning of Lewis’ silk voice, these are bound to have you humming the melodies throughout the day. Seeming to have originated from a cultural time vault, the sound if a mixture of modern and new age production techniques.

Timmys Organism-Give It To Me Babe

Hurt Valley – Your Arms

Hurt Valley – Places In The Shade

Photo by Asher Fritz

The last year or so the indie scene has been taken over by two factors: Brooklyn and the shoegaze, chillwave, lo-fi sound. With any music movement there is a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. One band that clearly falls into “the good” category is Brooklyn’s Beach Fossils. They manage to capture a laid-back sound, but don’t allow that slacker vibe to overpower it (et tu Wavves?).

Beggars In A New Land – The Barnyard

Techno beats have a way of really changing music. This is of course how remixes are so much more renowned than covers, and comes under how style is about instrumentation rather than lyrics.

After a few false starts and a change of location, I had Light Pollution singer/guitarist/keyboardist James Cicero and drummer Matthew Evert interview ready. Standing next to their van outside of Washington D.C.’s The Rock and Roll Hotel before their October 18th show, we discussed (amidst the sounds of city buses and drunk patrons), the evolution of Light Pollution’s sound, the recording process of Apparitions, and the benefits and downfalls of warehouse living.

As Light Pollution began their October 18th performance at The Rock and Roll Hotel with the swirling dream-like “Good Feelings”, I was pleasantly surprised at the transformation occurring before me. Singer, James Cicero, (who projected a welcoming, but low-key and slightly introverted persona when I interviewed him earlier) had morphed into an absorbing performer the moment the first note was struck. As he switched back and forth between his electric keyboard and guitar, Cicero’s eyes displayed an intensity which mixed both joy and a creative mania. Along with a tendency to quickly jut his arm up in an almost praise like manner, his performance was proving quite captivating to watch.

Psychic Handbook- Dodger Stadium- 10/3/10

Though relatively new to the scene, New Zealand’s Jon Lemmon just dropped an EP, seemingly from out of nowhere, that sounds unusually accomplished and complex. That is, it’s hard to believe that Kindling, released independently, is his debut solo release. I suppose the formula is simple enough: lots of electronic beats, glowing synths, 80s-inspired guitars, and earnest and atmospheric vocals. via Things As They Are

More Jon Lemmon Albums HERE

Exact Index – Swimming Shark

Download Exact Index’s Swimming Shark HERE

Lyrics:

All there is to do tonight
is kiss and touch and end it right.
Cause all we need for us to know
are simple things that never show.

So dance with my heart,
round and round you never stop.
Between you and me,
the simple things won’t mean a thing.

Joy and Revolution – Money fame glitz glamour

Joy and Revolution – Champagne and wet bars

Download Joy and Revolution songs via their bandcamp HERE