Artist: Toro Y Moi

Hails From: Columbia, South Carolina

Musical Style: Indie Pop, Electronic

for fans of: MGMT, Neon Indian, Animal Collective

Blessa

why you should check them out:

At the forefront of the chillwave scene, Chazwick Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi, is poised to have a promising 2010 and beyond while helping to turn the lo-fi sound into a reason to stop staring at your drink and get on the dancefloor. With one well-layered track after another, his music eschews worry, and practically begs you to relax and have a good time.

Background check:

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Chaz formed the indie-rock outfit, The Heist and The Accomplice, in 2004. After the release of their album, Connections Work, he started his own project, Toro Y Moi. Along with friend and contemporary, Ernest Greene (better known as Washed Out), Chaz helped usher in the chillwave, or glo-fi movement. With the release of his album, Causers of This, in January, 2010, and remixes of songs by Washed Out and Tegan & Sara, his style of filtered vocals over highly-textured production has earned him some growing critical acclaim. With the upcoming release of the 7″ “Leave Everywhere” on Carpark Records, and a summer tour of Europe set to get underway, the future looks bright for Toro Y Moi.

–Dylan Macturk

where you can find them in cyberspace:

Website

Myspace

on tour:

Jambase

Artist: Real Estate

Hails From: Brooklyn, NY

Musical Style: Indie, Pop, Surf

For Fans Of: Yo La Tengo, Velvet Underground, Animal Collective

Beach Comber

Why You Should Check them out:

It goes without saying that any band even remotely influenced by the surf rock genre can’t help but conjure up images of sunny trips to the beach, and for the Brooklyn quartet Real Estate such associations fit their bright, water themed songs perfectly. Drenched in reverb and carefree atmospherics, Real Estate may not follow too closely behind many of the old school surf greats, but they’ve definitely got the summer feeling right.

Background Check:

Playing together since high school, New Jersey natives Martin Courtney, Matthew Mondanile,
Etienne Duguay, and Alex Bleeker played in a number of projects before Real Estate fully materialized in the summer of 2008. With a tour alongside fellow lo-fi pop artists Girls later that year in support of their debut 7″ Suburban Beverage, Real Estate gathered momentum culminating in their 2009 self-titled full-length. It was these ten tracks that awarded Real Estate widespread attention, situating the band on countless best of ‘09 lists and earning them a place among the top 50 albums of 2009 by Pitchfork Media.

And while seaside pop has been making the headlines recently with the like of Best Coast and Surfer Blood, Real Estate’s songs are set apart with their fluid and dream-like quality at once buoyant and carefree and yet somber enough to tread in dark waters. While jangly leads segue into slide guitar backgrounds, it’s the echoing vocals from singer Martin Courtney that offer a comforting subtly to the quartet’s surf backed dynamics, further pronounced on their five song followup Reality, released in November ‘09. With summer now in full swing, what better way to enjoy the long sunny days than with the bright and breezy harmonics of Brooklyn’s Real Estate–with a full catalog of songs sure to tide you over until their highly anticipated next release.

–Anne Ostrowski

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

myspace
wikipedia

on tour:

jambase

Artist: The Futureheads

Hails From: Sunderland, England

Musical Style: Indie, Rock, Pop

For Fans of: Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The Clash
Stuck Dumb

Why you should check them out:

The frenetic beats coming out of England’s The Futureheads push through the murk of even the thickest London fog in an exhilarating whirlwind of Brit pop. Perfecting their sound over the course of a decade, the group’s latest album may be their most accomplished yet.

Background Check:

Has it really been six years since The Futureheads released their debut self-titled album? Man, I remember driving around in college blasting their infectiously simple and straight-for-the-throat brand of indie rock from the car speakers.  Ever since that debut, this quartet from across the pond have been steadily whipping out hits like they were hot cakes. Composed of frontman Barry Hyde, drummer (and brother) David Hyde, guitarist Ross Millard and bassist David Craig, the band actually formed in 2000 and survived on a diet of free practice spaces and positive word of mouth before their breakthrough success in 2004.

After their 2005 sophomore release, News And Tributes, The Futureheads founded their own label, Nul Records, and broke free of the constraints they were up against before. This Is Not The World, released in 2008, saw the group edging closer to the punk rock and new wave sounds they grew up with. A mainstay of the British music scene and European festivals alike, it seems The Futureheads don’t quite get the recognition in the U.S. that they do at home.

No matter, with the darkly angular songs that make up The Futureheads’ latest album, Chaos, the band makes a sure fire return without ever missing a beat. Each track is a mini mine field of sharp, plaintive indie rock; from the pop punk graces of ‘Heartbeat Song’ to the stop-start synergy of “Struck Dumb.’ In the six years between their debut and today, the Futureheads have not lost a single ounce of energy, and they don’t seem likely to any time soon.

–Charlie Swanson

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

thefutureheads.com

myspace

On Tour:

jambase