Dempsey Wins!

Niels Pederson and Adam Abildgaard have been playing music for a little over 5 years, but it was only about a year that they began to make music as Dempsey. They both went to high school together in Davis, California and until recently, both lived there (Adam moved to San Francisco about 6 months ago). After parting ways with the third member of their previous band Dempsey came into being with Niels and Adam continuing to make music but taking it in a completely different direction.

After aimlessly making a few tracks together, Adam created the beginnings of what is now “Late Night” and decided their sound had been found. Nine months and a lot of hard work later they have now released their first EP, and are already in the preliminary stages of their next. Despite the bit of distance between the two, they maintain a collaborative dynamic through constant file sharing and frequent trips up and down the PCH.

Sounding like what would have happened had the Mark Gardner out of Ride fell out of love with the Byrds and in love with synthesizers, listening to Dempsey is like listening to "Chrome Waves" through a "Time Machine."  Hazy post apocalyptic dream pop for the synthesized generation is what these guys are all about and that's something worth taking a Ride for.

Download: Late Night
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65Daysofstatic Clear Things Up

British electronic-infused post-rock faves 65Daysofstatic announce the North American release of their latest album We Were Exploding Anyway in a special deluxe edition that also features the recent Heavy Sky EP. The expanded set will only be released in North America and hits stores on 2xCD, LP and Digital Download on October 25th, 2011 via Monotreme Records.

The deluxe 2-CD edition includes bonus 7-track Heavy Sky CD EP.  The vinyl edition is heavyweight 180 gm vinyl (dark blue and white versions) and includes a free copy of the album CD, poster and digital download coupon for the Heavy Sky EP.

We Were Exploding Anyway is a game-changer from a band that has only ever followed its own rules, and now that they've broken them, they have absolutely no intention whatsoever in repairing them. That's the way it should be.

Download: Crash Tactics
Download: PX3
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The Nocturnes Rise

The Nocturnes -- the band led by Red Sparowes guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle -- announce the forthcoming release of their second album, Aokigahara.

The Nocturnes are the folkgaze brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Emma Ruth Rundle. While the band began as a duo in 2007 and built a cult following prior to her joining Red Sparowes in 2009, Aokigahara is nonetheless a dramatic rebirth for The Nocturnes. Featuring a revamped quartet lineup, the 8-song album ventures into multiple textures of style and sound that create a lush haze of melody that blends hints of folk, shoegaze, chamber pop, goth and post-rock.

The Los Angeles based quartet has set up a Kickstarter account for special pre-orders, offering original artwork created by Rundle for larger donations in addition to immediate downloads of the album.

Download: The Road (via Bandcamp)
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Back To The Future Islands

It's been a banner year for Future Islands thus far and it's only getting busier. The band spent more than two months on the road in the US (not including a couple of other smaller tours) and released their debut Thrill Jockey single In The Fall as well as their critically acclaimed second album In Evening Air. Now the band is getting ready to spend another month on the road in Europe and marking the occasion with a new EP called Undressed and by releasing another track from In Evening Air.

The songs for Undressed were recorded quickly in Baltimore's Mobtown Studios for broadcast on WYPR's "The Signal" as the band was preparing for their first ever acoustic show at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore. The sessions at Mobtown served as much as a practice as it did a recording, as Future Islands brought in three additional musicians to fill out the unplugged ensemble: Denny Bowen (Double Dagger) on drums, Kate Barutha on cello and Devlin Rice on acoustic guitar. Those performances saw Future Islands strip down rich textures and lush melodies to their core. Samuel Herring's always-affecting vocals are all the more haunting in this new setting.

Download: Walking Through That Door

Windsor For The Derby Return!

Hey guys...

Been a hell of a weekend around POP! Stereo HQ. Lots of work getting done, restoring my yard after a brutal winter (the joys of a house), replanting, re-sodding, cleaning beds, pest control. Fun times indeed.

All that work has left me in a bit of a bind. I've got a TON of email and music to sort through so there are probably going to be a ton of posts between now and the end of the week, including a Ten Tracks You Need multi-part post.

So lets get sorted shall we... Check out new Windsor for the Derby!

In a day and age when many a band must carefully plot an air of mystery around themselves, it is with much grace that Philadelphia-Austin sonic craftsmen Windsor for the Derby have maintained their particular cult mystique over eight albums of subtle, biting and exploratory post-rock. We're proud to announce the latest from WFTD, Against Love, arriving June 22 on Secretly Canadian (June 21 in the UK).

In a world of “slow” movements that rail against mindless consumption, rock survivalists Windsor for the Derby represent “slow” music. For their latest outing, they began with a set of seemingly infinite drones and loops inspired by their early beginnings as a band. As those recordings were passed back and forth, the sounds were further sculpted by Dan Matz and Jason McNeely into their own leftfield brand of pop song. This became Against Love.

While they experimented with more formalized rock structures on their past few albums, Against Love finds the balance between experimentation and rock tradition more heavily skewed toward the former. The songs are filled with tried & true conventions. Nowhere on Against Love is this better displayed than within the psych-pop anthem "Queen of the Sun," full of warm feedback and synth built around a patient acoustic guitar strum.

Lyrically the songs are about how the modern world is changing the human condition, how we decide to land when the floor is pulled out from under us, and how hope is born from loss. The songs were shaped over months in backstage rooms, hotels, vans, and wherever else Matz and McNeely found time during WFTD’s European and American tours of the past two years. Tracks were finalized in Matz’s haunted Hope Union Studio, where disengaged clock chimes, spectral taps, and mysterious footsteps are a constant cause for another take; some left in the mix.

Download: Queen of the Sun