Bear Costume

Spirit Night is a West Virginia based bedroom pop project headed by songwriter Dylan Balliet.You can download their first full length album What We Will Be over on Bandcamp, where you can also find an EP for free as well. Make sure to check out my favorite track on the album, Bear Costume, below.

Bermuda Triangle

Philly native Rebecca Huston is the woman behind Bermuda Bonnie, an unsigned psych-pop band that now operates out of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Bermuda Bonnie released her self titled debut last year which you can download on Last.fm for free or you can shell out the 8 bucks over on her Bandcamp page. While you're there grab the free remix of Invisible, and make sure to watch the vid produced by Rebecca's sister Kim Huston below. But def check my favorite track on the album, Houseboat, a slow, soft, daydream about getting away from it all.

Ride The Pine

Alpine, a six piece band out of Melbourne, Australia, recently signed to Ivy League Records, ahead of the release of their first EP, Zurich, in November 2010. The standout track on the five song debut EP is Too Safe, an upbeat, colorful pop tune which you can download for free on Last.fm. And make sure to check out the obligatory Star Slinger remix of my favorite track off the EP, Icypoles, below or download it free here.

  Alpine - Icypoles (Star Slinger Dreamix) by Star Slinger

High Five

San Francisco's Nicholas Ng has been tearing up the blog scene all year with light and spacey pop singles that he produces under the moniker, Fiveng. He recently put out a single, Easy, on Beachtapes. The title track off the single has not one, but two videos produced by famous found-footage artist Jamie Harley. The Longest version (below), features official 1972 Olympic Games footage of distance runners, while the other version, The Strongest, features weight lifters. But my favorite thing associated with Fiveng so far is the Star Slinger remix of his first single, Jonah, which you can listen to below or download here for free.


Fiveng - "Easy" (The Longest video) from Jamie Harley on Vimeo.

  STAR SLINGER - FIVENG - JONAH (STAR SLINGER REMIX) by Star Slinger

Stellar

UK beatmaker, Star Slinger, is blowing up the bedroom hip hop set in 2010. Producer Darren Williams has released an LP, a remix EP and a ton of singles this year. You can download all of this material for free here or you can purchase it over on Bandcamp, and support the artist. Williams, who uses a lot of short, choppy, soulful samples, claims J Dilla as a big influence on his stylings. And like many tracks on Dilla's last album, Donuts, Star Slinger's beats have an impalpable, vaporous quality. His single, "May I Walk With You?", is a tranquil, rainy day electronic hip-hop track.

Williams was recently featured in Pitchfork: Rising and has announced a collab effort with Candian rapper Emay and San Francisco dream pop producer Blackbird Blackbird, called Seeing Suge (as in Suge Knight). Their first track, "Breaking", samples the dream pop group, Memoryhouse, and you can check it out below.

Seeing Suge "Breaking" (Collabo project with Emay / Blackbird Blackbird) by Star Slinger

Friends Forever

Despite it being October and increasingly cold I'm still on the beach tip. This gem is from our neighbors up north. Crystal Dorval, also known as My Friend Wallis, has been warming up the B.C. area with her summery, tropical brand of beach pop. Her first EP, When the Blue Turned Yellow, was released last summer. You can actually download the EP for free from Draculahorse. She is currently working on new stuff including this track, Hiding, which is a breezy tune reminiscent of Washed Out. Peep the video below. Ghostly sights and sounds abound.

Hiding - My Friend Wallis from Kyle Surovy on Vimeo.

Paper Tiger

Finnish Indie Pop group, Paperfangs, have two tracks and a video making the rounds on the blog circuit. "Oh I Wandered" is a soft and soothing, yet slightly upbeat track that reminds me a bit of Swedish-American Electro Pop act, Thieves Like Us. The other track, "Books", has a video, produced by fellow Finns at Riite Design. These guys were featured on BIRP! in the September 2010 Playlist, yet information on them and subsequently, appreciation of them is extremely scarce so far.

The Birds and The Bees

German Electro-Folk trio, A HOME. A HEART. WHATEVER., have a track floating around teh interwebz that I have a feeling is going to lead to some wider recognition. It was actually featured on BIRP! in the July 2010 Playlist but seems to have gone largely unnoticed. This lovely cut, bugs & bees, is a charming, mellow tune.