Music Discovery Podcast 10/4/11

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October is off to a great start here on the Music Discovery Podcast: we’re highlighting 6 more killer releases this week. Also, be sure to check out the new Metal Discovery Podcast from Brad and Bill here at CD Baby.

Spanish Prisoners / “Downtown Chicagoland” from Gold Fools (Buy at CD Baby)
Brooklyn’s Spanish Prisoners say they make “tremolo-haze headphone symphonies” but it would be cruel to rob your neighbors of these sounds. No, these songs should be played loud, on big speakers turned up so you can hear it on the porch.

Slim Moore and the Mar-Kays / “Riverside Drive” from Introducing (Buy at CD Baby, or Buy Vinyl)
You could close your eyes and drop the needle on this debut album from Ottawa’s Slim Moore and the Mar-Kays and imagine that you’d dug it out of some dusty bin in the back of some second-hand record shop. But what a find! Slim himself sings like the soul of Otis Redding and James Brown are fighting for control of his vocal cords. And he’s backed up by one of the premier Afrobeat bands in the world — the Souljazz Orchestra, AKA for this project, the Mar-Kays. This was recorded entirely analog to an eight track tape machine, so grab the Vinyl version for audiophile, all-analog bliss.

The Good Hunters / “Jane & Avery” from Love You Baby (Buy at CD Baby)
The second of our duo of impressive Canadian releases this week comes from Ontario’s The Good Hunters. Studied instrumentation and flawless harmonies underscore a lyrical maturity one rarely hears on a debut release. Another win for Other Songs Music Co., quickly becoming a go-to label for the Music Discovery Podcast.

The Shortcoats / “Morning, Shipwreck” from This Time Last Year (Buy at CD Baby)
I say “star-studded” in the podcast, but I’m hesitant to reveal much more about this Los Angeles three piece for fear that the knowledge might overshadow what is most important about a genuinely powerful, if too-short, debut release — the music. It’s good, the music is, hearkening back to the power trios of the 90s, with songwriting chops and pop hooks for years. So maybe let’s just say that all three members have extensive IMDB profiles and leave it at that.

Jesse Payne / “Symphony” from Buffalo (Buy at CD Baby)
To many, Bon Iver’s hauntingly sweet debut album came out of nowhere. But Justin Vernon had been making music and releasing albums for years before – two solo efforts, and the criminally under-heard DeYarmond Edison album (available here). But it seems like on For Emma Forever Ago, Vernon stepped away from folk convention and approached the songs from a new place, allowing them to grow on their own, and letting his voice inhabit the corners of them where there was room for it. On Buffalo, it seems Jesse Payne has found a similar faith in his own ability. His past efforts are strong, but Buffalo’s 5 short songs show a maturity and confidence that signal great things to come from this Alabaman.

Secret Secrets / “Threshold Consciousness” from Chiromagica (Buy at CD Baby)
Something about this song, and this album, grabs me. It’s difficult, difficult music. I can’t tell you much about it, because there doesn’t seem to be much to tell. Their name is completely un-googleable. They don’t seem to have a website, Facebook page, or Twitter. But somewhere in these squawks and clatters is something genuine and weird and wild. I dig it.

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