From the category archives:

New Sounds

The Alternates’ Spencer Livingston, Live @ The Pie and Tart Shoppe (Luxury Wafers Exclusive) + Listen to the new Alternates EP!

07.02.2011

Here’s a really sweet acoustic ditty from Spencer Livingston, lead singer of the Alternates. A la AA Bondy or Jeff Tweedy. Listen and melt: Now go listen to Livingston’s band. Just back in LA from a NW coast foray, Americana rockers, the Alternates, have a killer new EP out called Spiders and Webs. (Check out [...]

Sonic Snacks – A Motley Mix of Recent Favorites

05.17.2011

:: Country Mice – Festival mp3 :: This one grabbed hold of me like a stickaburr from the hill country. Rustic rock brought to you from Brooklyn via the Midwest. Look forward to their debut album, Twister, in June. :: Hunx and His Punx – Lovers Lane mp3 :: Naughty but clean here, Hunx injects [...]

Crystal Antlers: reflections, refinements, and now what?!

02.04.2011

While sorting through cyber-mountains of files during re-entry to the Luxury Wafers atmosphere, I ran across this video of one of my all-time favorite sessions: Crystal Antlers. Oh man. Awesome. Details of the session are blurry in my memory. From the calendar, I know it was late afternoon in July of 2009. I do remember [...]

New Iron and Wine … and while we’re at it, Sufjan too

01.21.2011

Iron and Wine, the band formerly aka simply Sam Beam, has expanded to Beam and friends in their latest release, Kiss Each Other Clean (which actually doesn’t drop ’till 1/25/2011 – pre-order here). You can listen to the album in its entirety on the aesthetically groovy player below, courtesy of Iron and Wine/Team Coco. (Catch [...]

New Deer Tick: The Black Dirt Sessions; 20 Miles [mp3]

04.09.2010

Deer Tick offers up the first mp3 from their upcoming June release on Partisan, The Black Dirt Sessions. This song conjures the experience of walking alone down an ungroomed dirt road under midwestern beating sun and clear skies – just you and some mosquitoes – while wearing a hundred pound backpack and tattered shoes, only [...]

Rad Chicks and Bad Dudes: Kill Rock Stars SaMpLeR!!, Mexicans With Guns, Amanda Fucking Palmer, We Are Wolves, Regrettes and Brunettes

04.07.2010

First things first, go and download the KillRockStars Best Sampler Ever. 21 songs from some of your already faves and perhaps some new ones, too. Go. Do it. HERE. Next, Amanda Fucking Palmer is up to something dramatic. What’s new. Dresden Doll and current punk cabaret queen, AFP is newly free from label, Roadrunner Records, [...]

Family of the Year: Chugjug [mp3], Chrissy [mp3] plus new tour and EP

04.06.2010

Funny thing. On yesterday’s rainy cool LA morning, I stumbled across a golden new Family of the Year track: Chugjug [mp3] from their new 5-song EP Through the Trees (Hero, Chugjug, The Barn, Stairs, and The Princess and The Pea) which even sports a reggae-flavored piece with contribution from friend and LW veteran Willy Mason. [...]

Cursive: Discovering America and Playing House of Blues in LA Friday

04.01.2010

Cursive plays LA Friday, April 2nd (that’s tomorrow) at House of Blues with Alkaline Trio.  Their recent album, Mama, I’m Swollen, came out 3/10/09 on Saddle Creek. Cursive‘s newly released single, Discovering America, benefits the American Indian College Fund. Listen below: Discovering America [mp3] We loved having the guys in for a live Luxury Wafers [...]

News and New Listening: Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs; Villagers; A Weather; Communist Daughter; Plants and Animals; The Henry Clay People

03.31.2010

Attend a haunting soiree with Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs: Forget It [mp3] The new album, Medicine County, officially emerged in the US on 3/30/10 (Transdreamer). No doubt video is an effective means for sharing a song without giving away the track. Becoming A Jackal from Irish artist, Villagers (Conor J. O’Brien, formerly of The [...]

Love Him More. Elliott Smith reissues from Kill Rock Stars: From A Basement On A Hill and Roman Candle; Twilight (mp3), Last Call (mp3) + Cecilia/Amanda (mp3)

03.02.2010

Cecilia/Amanda [mp3] Twilight [mp3] Last Call [mp3] It’s hard to listen and not well with tears. Here they are: Cecilia/Amanda (previously unreleased until the very end of 2009; recorded at Jackpot! Recording Studio in 1997 by Larry Crane); Twilight, from From A Basement On The Hill; and Last Call from Roman Candle, Elliott Smith‘s first [...]

Black Prairie (Decemberists project) – Feast of the Hunter’s Moon – Red Rocking Chair (mp3)

02.24.2010

Red Rocking Chair [mp3] Decemberists’ Chris Funk on dobro, Nate Query on bass and Jenny Conlee on accordian are joined by Portland musicians Jon Neufeld on guitar and Annalisa Tornfelt on violin and baleful vocals (on a handful of tracks) to form Black Prairie, an instrumentally focused, bluegrass/olde-tyme influenced group spiked by klezmer and gypsy [...]

(Big Dad) Jeff Turmes: five horses, four riders; jack-A-Hammer (mp3)

02.21.2010

Jack-A-Hammer [mp3] Jeff Turmes, expert multi-instrumentalist and old-school bluesman, is back with a new solo album – mostly acoustic – clear and brimming with humid southern sweat and cotton fields, stark summer deserts, swaggering dreamy moonlit nights, gritty smarmful back alleys, quirky hole-in-the-wall Italian diners and even a Baroque blackbird sitting room. Turmes, who wrote, [...]

Økapi’s ode to Aldo Kapi – Love Him out on Illegal Art, Aldo Kapi [mp3]

02.19.2010

Aldo Kapi [mp3] This stuff’s tingly fun. From your squeaky bathtub rubber duck to the ballroom dancefloor to Disney and beyond, Filippo Paolini aka Økapi (like the giraffe-zebra hybrid rainforest mammal), directs an engaging journey through bits and pieces of audio masterfully spliced together, perfectly rhythmic with not a second of lagtime in Aldo Kapi. [...]

Pop Lock n Drop it, Norweigan Singer/Songwriter Style

02.12.2010

Search the mighty You Tube for Huey‘s Pop Lock and Drop It and you’ll find renditions by everyone from Sponge Bob and The Chipmunks to little kids and pregnant ladies. Here’s the Huey video: And a radically different version from Norweigan singer/songwriter, Egil Olsen, who’s currently hanging out in LA, writing, recording and taking in [...]

New Thermals, Canada (mp3); tour; plus not so older Thermals, Now We Can See (mp3)

02.09.2010

Here’s a fun new anthem from Portland crew, The Thermals, who play LA this Thursday, Feb 11th. Their newest LP, Personal Life, comes out 9/7/10 on Kill Rock Stars. Buy the song, Canada, on iTunes HERE. Check tour dates HERE. Canada [mp3] For even more fun, and to get you ready for the show, here’s [...]

Adam Green – What Makes Him Act So Bad (mp3)

01.05.2010

What Makes Him Act So Bad [mp3] Formerly a Moldy Peach, Adam Green is now out with his 6th solo album, Minor Love (Fat Possum, 2/16/10). We dig his NYC/Lou Reed-y character and we’re stoked to have him in the studio for a session today! Check out his tour schedule HERE. Green plays a few [...]

Good Weekend listening discoveries: The Holloys, Dignan, Sun Cut Flat, Acrylics ++ Go download a bunch of albums free.

12.12.2009

Lake Land [mp3] – The Holloys You’re My Witness [mp3] – Dignan *McAllen, TX band, Dignan, has made their 7-track album, Cheaters & Thieves (6/09) available for free download HERE. No Good Man [mp3] – Sun Cut Flat *Boston based and brand spanking newbies with a warm and already seasoned sound, Sun Cut Flat offers [...]

Virgin Galactic?! Whether or not the eagle actually landed, check out this rad video with music from Above and Beyond

12.11.2009

Thinking of ways to spend your extra dough? How about a little space tourism? Virgin Galactic is at the ready to accomodate. Cool footage from NASA in the video below with trance electronica from Above and Beyond.

“Do you EAR what I EAR?,” a holiday album for the Association to Benefit Children; If You Hear A Knock [mp3] by Sean Bones

12.11.2009

If You Hear A Knock [mp3] – Sean Bones EAR FARM and LET ‘EM IN STUDIOS present Do you EAR what I EAR? a holiday album for the Association to Benefit Children. Featuring original and classic holiday songs from Tom Tom Club, Asobi Seksu, Sean Bones, Julie Doiron, Sharon Van Etten, and more, All of [...]

An oddly collection from space to pop to funky rocks ++ plus treats: ted leo, the soft pack, grizzly bear

12.08.2009

Deep Sea Diver [mp3] – Grizzly Bear a nice one. This and a eleven other goodies came from the Kanine Records Sampler. Follow them on Twitter and they send it your way. Even Heroes Have To Die [mp3] – Ted Leo and The Pharmacists whoop, now on Matador Pigeon Toes [mp3] – Absofacto Tweetie Bird [...]

Top two most notable albums we should have reviewed earlier: Chll Pll – Agressively Humble; Talk Normal – Sugarland. With Mp3s and Videos.

12.06.2009

In mid-October, we at Luxury Wafers closed our former studio hub, Chessvolt Studios. It was a case of eminent domain: our local government opted to build an elementary school at that site and we didn’t have a choice in the matter. So, reluctantly, sadly, we packed up and said goodbye. The effects have been immense [...]

Little Dragon, Feather (mp3) and Blinking Pigs (mp3); Jim Hanft; Fink; Girls

12.04.2009

Feather [mp3] Blinking Pigs [mp3] Tonight at El Rey in LA, Little Dragon, delightful electro-pop quartet from Gothenburg, Sweden led vocally by Swedish-Japanese Yukimi Nagano. I highly recommend you check out their newest album, Machine Dreams (Peacefrog with Caroline/EMI, 11/3), featuring Nagano’s silky vocals plus a good mix of spacey-strange, cool effects. Bonus -the Swedes [...]

Deer Tick: Baltimore Blues No. 1 – Live (mp3)

12.04.2009

Deer Tick offered this live recording up to military folks in honor of Veterans Day. Baltimore Blues No. 1 (mp3) The site, Military.com, hosted the track in its entertainment section, stating: “Unlike some other bands who’ve offered free downloads to us, Deer Tick make great music and the song’s lyrics aren’t insulting to people who’ve died [...]

New Capgun Coup: Sitting on the Sidewalk [mp3] from Maudlin; Tour with Cursive

11.18.2009

Sitting On The Sidewalk [mp3] – Capgun Coup This second single up from Maudlin (Team Love, 11/2/09) conjures old school country/rockabilly the likes of Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. I’ve been trying to catch up with Sam for an interview for a few days now. After a couple of missed calls, I decided he’s [...]

Monday Mish Mash: Music for the Muddy Mind and More … mp3s

11.16.2009

Polka Dot Dot Dot I’m up in the mornings but not well known for a cheery demeanor or much in the department of cognizance till noonish approaches. Monday morning especially. I offer you a bizarre collection of tunes below to help shake the weekend dust. Work your way down. Stiff coffee helps too. The super [...]

New, repeat, remix: A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Ernesto Gonzales, Max Tundra, Passion Pit mp3s.

11.13.2009

Shy (Ernesto Gonzales remix) [mp3] – A Sunny Day In Glasgow Failure [mp3] – A Sunny Day In Glasgow …upbeat ambient with thumping, writhing rhythm. The voices beckon so sweetly, “Fall forward, feel failure,” it seems like the most natural option to jump. Which Song [mp3] – Max Tundra Which Song (Passion Pit remix) [mp3] [...]

New Atlas Sound Virtual 7″ (Check out The Deerhunter Blog): Screens and Doctor (Five Discs Cover) mp3s

11.11.2009

The Screens [mp3] Doctor (The Five Discs Cover) [mp3] Bradford Cox continues to pacify with Atlas Sound’s spare, dream-flecked, ambient seranades. Doctor‘s an upbeat, golden cover of original mid-50′s doo-wop from The Five Discs. Nice. Check out The Deerhunter Blog where Cox rolls out mixtapes and whatnot for download.

Phenomenal new Grizzly Bear Video for Ready, Able by Allison Schulnik

11.06.2009

A melty, pulsating, mesmerizing rainbow claymation goodie from director Allison Schulnik. Ready, Able comes from Grizzly Bear‘s Veckatimest (5/26/09, Warp).

I think I want to be God. J Tillman, Though I Have Wronged You Video from Year In The Kingdom

11.05.2009

One of my favorite albums this year, chillingly beautiful and clear, is J Tillman‘s Year in the Kingdom (9/22/09, Western Vinyl). Here’s Earthly Bodies [mp3] again. Click HERE for the whole album review. And HERE‘s our interview with the somber artist. Now put your reading glasses on and check out the video for Though I [...]

A little bit of trance for late saturday night: West Indian Girl, Tape Deck Mountain, Bexar Bexar, Dengue Fever, Field Music

10.25.2009

If you’re still up, check ‘em out. Otherwise, fear not. These songs are gentle enough for morning after Saturday night and probably go along just fine with your cuppa joe, greasy fare and twin advils. Beach [mp3] – West Indian Girl Super groovy churning vibe. Great late night. From their We Believe (7/09, Origami). kt [...]

Wait. Think. Fast. : Video Demo of ‘Trouble’ from their upcoming so-Super-New-It’s-Not-Even-Recorded-Yet album

10.24.2009

Cien Fuegos [mp3] – Wait. Think. Fast. From Echo Park, LA, Wait. Think. Fast. is Matthew Beighley, Jacqueline Santillan Beighley, Apolinar Quintero and Thomas King. Led vocally by saucy Argentinian, Jacqueline, the group concocts a surly, woozy and enchanting world of languid yearning dotted by occasional epiphany. The name’s so catchy, WTF, they’ve always reminded [...]

New Songs I Can’t Shake: Tiesto’s Tegan and Sara feature, Headlights – I Don’t Mind At All, Brilliant Colors’ debut album

10.20.2009

Photo by Chris StrongI Don’t Mind At All [mp3] – Headlights A smooth and lovely blur, gently bright, ends in ring around the rosies embellished with a chainsaw. We’re excited for Headlights’ upcoming visit us to Luxury Wafers! Previous Headlights. Feel It In My Bones (Featuring Tegan & Sara) [mp3] – Tiësto I feel ashamed [...]

Kill The Dandies! I Saw White Fields; She Walks Downtown (mp3)

10.19.2009

She Walks Downtown [mp3] – Kill The Dandies! Frankenstein surf-spaghetti-punk from Prague fronted by LP Sonja, sexy and borderline suicideal, plus 4 dapper gents. Kill The Dandies! will chew you up for fun. They’re not concerned with how their hair may appear. Generally savage, their new album, I Saw White Fields (10/25/09, Pale Music) spews tastily [...]

Mika Miko disbands – last tour date Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. Revisit their Radness with exclusive video and live mp3s

10.18.2009

Bummer to hear the news that our favorite pony funk band,  Mika Miko, is breaking up. Sounds like it’s for real, too. Mika Miko’s always had the magic to make boys and girls, men and women, go gaga. It’s in their inimitable personal distinctiveness and the unassuming clobber-whip of punk rock that comes along with [...]

New Capgun Coup: “Maudlin” out November 3rd on Team Love; Bad Bands (mp3)

10.14.2009

Bad Bands [mp3] the first track out from Capgun Coup‘s upcoming album, Maudlin (Team Love, 11/3/09). Bobby Chops and the Do-Gooders [mp3] from Capgun Coup’s previous record, Brought to You by Nebraskafish (Team Love, 9/25/07). Omaha buddies Capgun Coup dole out fun camraderie and smart, sometimes biting, imperfectly awesome, easy-to-go-along-with, garage-pop tunes. Sophisticated yet far [...]

Loney Dear, mesmerizing and sublime. Citadel Band reissue, mp3s.

10.13.2009

Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl [mp3] – Loney Dear Ahhhh. Sublime. From Loney Dear’s second album, Citadel Band (LP + MP3) , to be reissued as CD and mixed color LP by Polyvinyl 11/24/09. Emil Svanängen recorded Citadel Band in his parent’s basement and originally self-released the record in 2004. Previously only available on CD-R through Loney [...]

Land of Talk: Fun and Laughter available digitally today, May You Never (mp3)

10.13.2009

May You Never [mp3] from Fun and Laughter EP, available digitally today (Saddle Creek, 10/13/09). Some Are Lakes [mp3] from Some Are Lakes (Saddle Creek, 10/7/2008). After a much needed rest, Montreal’s Land of Talk (Lizzie Powell, also of Broken Social Scene) is up and at ‘em again, rocking along wooingly with that resoundingly beautiful [...]

Coming and Going, mp3s and videos Galore…The Soft Pack, The Wooden Birds, As Tall As Lions, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Tape Deck Mountain…

10.13.2009

The Soft Pack. Photo by Shay Peretz Fences [mp3] – Phoenix, The Soft Pack Remix this is exactly why The Soft Pack should have a small country named after them. I hope you get to see them live on Saturday (17th) at the Echoplex (with WAVVES) before they head overseas. Dig their languid, repetitive bass [...]

+++ Love on Dead Oceans: On Fillmore, Califone, Akron/Family, Nurses, John Vanderslice +++

10.11.2009

On Fillmore: Darin Gray and Glenn KotcheIt’s turned into an official day of love on Dead Oceans, the nifty Bloomington-based indie label with great taste in a variety of music, from pop to, well, not always pop. Check out some of the newest from Dead Oceans below. Ape-like [mp3] and Funeral Singers [mp3] -  Califone, [...]

Jason Diaz: Stomp Out the Sun; Pleasure in Pain (mp3) plus Aftermath on CBS’ Ghost Whisperer

10.09.2009

Photo by Kim Garcia Pleasure In Pain [mp3] Emerging artist Jason Diaz strikes big with his upcoming sophomore album, Stomp Out the Sun, due out early 2010. Loaded with grumbling guitars plus an intense blues-style raging guitar solo, Pleasure in Pain, chock full with organic bells and whistles (the good kind), features Diaz’s pristine, soul-infused [...]

Modest Mouse’s “Whale Song” Video from Bent Image Lab

10.09.2009

“Whale Song” for Modest Mouse from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo. Fantastic. Modest Mouse’s Whale Song video is a royal treatment from Portland’s Bent Image Lab and its new director/partner Nando Costa. All shot and created within their studio with close input from Modest Mouse‘s Isaac Brock.

New Castanets Remix of My Heart (mp3) by Odawas

10.09.2009

Photo by Mia Ferm My Heart – Odawas Remix [mp3]  I was just thinking about Castanets, about Ray Raposa’s latest release, Texas Rose Thaw & the Beasts, its potency and how much I like it swimming around in it, especially the captivating, My Heart. Lo and behold I got a note with this haunting remix [...]

Deer Tick, Smith Hill (mp3) from “Born On Flag Day”

10.08.2009

Smith Hill [mp3] Deer Tick‘s still out on the road, playing songs from their latest, Born On Flag Day, with some great shows ahead, including opening dates for Neko Case. A couple of Southern California shows cancelled. Check all tour dates HERE.   Previous Deer Tick (with mp3s).  

Luxury Wafers Exclusive Interview with Passion Pit’s Jeff Apruzzese plus Videos (including new “Kingdom Come” and Juan’s Basement)

10.08.2009

I just had the pleasure of talking with super-chill and very amenable Jeff Apruzzese from Passion Pit. When he answered the phone, he had only recently awakened on the road somewhere in the southeastern corner of Oregon. Passion Pit, touring heavily since January, continues to play their joy-infused, electronica-enhanced pop music to sold-out shows around [...]

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Summer of Fear, The Sound (mp3) plus Tour

10.07.2009

The Sound [mp3] Reflective yet immediate, Brooklyn’s Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson has a cumbersome name. Oh, that’s not what I meant to say, but I was thinking it. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson makes an engaging sound as big as his name in The Sound from his upcoming sophomore album, Summer of Fear (10/20/09, Saddle Creek). [...]

Curiosities: a mixed bag of mp3s and videos for venturesome listeners

09.30.2009

Hot Song [mp3]  – Talk Normal Screetching, pounding, grinding … you’ll be scared to death or whishing like hell that you’d run into these girls in a Brooklyn alley. Hot indeed. Coming to LA mid-November. Catch them at the Smell. Tour Dates. Meet Me In the Garden [mp3] – Dent May and his Magnificent Ukelele [...]

Hold out your hand and Say Please … Monsters of Folk are on their way.

09.30.2009

 The Monstors: Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, M. Ward, Jim James In case you haven’t listened yet: Say Please [mp3]   The supergroup:  Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and singer/songwriter M.Ward.   Monsters of Folk will be hitting the road together for the first time in four years this October.  For these dates, the [...]

Princeton’s Cocoon of Love unfolds with tour and a new song out: Sadie and Andy (mp3)

09.30.2009

Sadie and Andy [mp3] Track one from Princeton‘s freshly released Cocoon of Love (Kanine Records, 9/29/09) features Meredith Metcalf and sports exactly the erudite, fall collegiate feel you’d expect from a band named for an Ivy Leaguer. Cocoon of Love interestingly compiles images and feelings in eleven songs inspired by love’s fallout. Best enjoyed in [...]

Real Estate debuts LP on Woodsist; lush fall East Coast tour with Neon Indian, Vivian Girls and Girls

09.25.2009

Beachcomber [mp3] Pack some sweet, long summer rays into your travel bag for the journey to cooler months with this track from Jersey’s Real Estate. We liked these guys in the peak of the heat – and we’re stoked for their upcoming self-titled debut on Woodsist (11/17/09). Ten tracks to sustain a beachy blur – [...]

Superchunk Neopolitan Aural Delights.

09.23.2009

A Grave With No Name Forgive Me [mp3] – Le Loup. Now you can buy Le Loup’s album, Family , (Hardly Art, 9/22/09). Not only is the cover art kaleidoscopically vibrant and Magic Eye-like, but also included in the package is a darling little pin for your jean jacket or tote. You can always count [...]

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