LISTEN: Panama - 'Always' EP

Lest you think I had completely given up on Mixtape Muse, something has, once again, brought me back to the fold. And while I'm sure there is a ton of great music I've neglected in my mess of an inbox, I've found myself scanning through Bandcamp as of late. About a week ago, I came across one particular October release that caught my attention. But of course, as it turns out, Sydney, Australia's Panama was one of those many recent submissions I've neglected -- so now I just feel foolish.

LISTEN: The Jazz/Hip Hop/Soul Sampling Magic of France's ProleteR

Toulouse, France's ProleteR, a self-described "swing-hop producer," has created something quite impressive with his latest release, the Feeding the Lions EP. Jazz, hip hop, soul, and, yes, swing, all melt together to brew something that sounds as if downtempo music became obsessed with decades old jazz and soul records. There's an understated cool and subtle grit sewn throughout the upbeat samples from those older generations, giving Feeding the Lions a classically modern, accomplished character that's undoubtedly debonair but quietly ready to get wild, as well (as the cover art above might suggest). Check out some jams below. It's all I've been listening to at work recently.





If you dug those, check out/pick up the entire Feeding the Lions EP below.

LISTEN: Aleos

Moments are, in their own way, the stitches of that fine fabric we call time. Separate they can mean nothing or everything, but together moments weave together to define a person, an era, a history. We could quantify a moment as a second, a minute, a day, or a month, because everyone seems to define time in the duration of a feeling or a memory. And let's face it, sometimes those things last more than what one could literally define as a "moment" in time. But hey, maybe I'm waxing poetic. Point is, moments have more to them than we realize -- just imagine all the ones that have passed at this stage of your life and how they've collected to define where you are right now.

LISTEN: School of Seven Bells Share "Secret Days" from New EP

School of Seven Bells have continually showed an ambition to evolve over the past five years along with a undeniable knack for creating truly engaging songs that bridge the gaps between dream pop, shoegaze, indie rock, and now electronica. Following this year's release of their third full-length, Ghostory, the duo will release a brand new EP entitled Put Your Sad Down on November 13th through Vagrant. The five-track effort includes four new original tracks as well as a cover of Silver Apples’ “Lovefingers” from that band's eponymous 1968 album. They're currently offering up a listen and free download of the EP cut "Secret Days." Spin it below.

LISTEN: Angelica's Elegy - "When You're Sleep"

Photo by Benedikte Olsen

And while you'd like to think that sleeping is the only place you are at peace, it's only a vacation from reality. So as you age, you work to find that balance between youthful bliss in innocence and optimistic maturity. Things change, and, in turn, so do you, but no one ever said you had to stop dreaming. But never forget to pause and reflect: are the dreams that entertain you in your sleeping hours an escape, or simply a reflection of what is and what could be?

LISTEN: Matty Fasano - 'Living In Armchairs' EP

Brooklyn's Matty Fasano is a versatile musician, evidenced by his solo work with ARMS and LCD System. His latest solo effort, the Living In Armchairs EP, is out this week, and it's bound to be one of the most beautiful releases you'll hear in 2012.

LISTEN: photocomfort - "My Mistake"

Heartbreak is such an unpleasant thing to endure. For a songwriter, it's an inspiration just as much as it is a painful feeling. It's been said that beauty can sprout from the darkest of places, blossoming out of something that appears so unfortunate and ugly. We could spend hours -- or rather days -- discussing all the great songs from the dawn of music to now that so eloquently and beautifully deal with such an unappealing thing like that of heartbreak.

REVIEW: Mogwai - Earth Division

Mogwai - Earth Division
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Earlier this year, Mogwai released one of this year’s finest LPs with the brilliantly titled Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will. The album featured a consistent mix of crushing, distortion-heavy moments and more serene, uplifting moments. On their latest, Earth Division, Mogwai take four tracks to experiment a bit with the guitar-focused sound that has defined much of their catalog – it’s a noticeable creative departure.

REVIEW: Braid - Closer to Closed

Braid - Closer to Closed
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It’s been over a decade since seminal ‘90s emo/post-hardcore quartet Braid released Frame and Canvas, their last studio album of all new material. Not only has a great deal of time passed, but a great deal has changed in the musical landscape that they were once a part of and helped define, as well. Many bands of the emo/post-hardcore classification have risen and faded in this time, bands that have cited Braid as an influence. Outside of a short reunion in 2004, the Champaign, IL band has remained inactive, but they certainly have not been forgotten.

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD: Art Imperial - Surf Suburban EP

Art Imperial - "When I'm With You (I Feel Dumb)"


Art Imperial - "The Inbetweener"


The title Surf Suburban evokes the sound you'd expect: surf rock straight from the suburbs. It's the kind of music that kids who weren't anywhere near a beach back in the '50s would make in their garages, eliminating the miles that separated them from the nearest coastal town. In much the same way, Art Imperial crafted this 6-song EP in the basement of his mother's house, tucked away in the suburbs. What's more, Imperial not only crafted these songs in the suburbs, he worked on them during a long winter in Toronto, which, let's face it, could not be farther from the beach or summertime.

Download Free Twilight Sad Acoustic EP

Shoegazers The Twilight Sad have released a free acoustic EP for download. Among the eight tracks are a number of songs from the band's most recent album, 2009's Forget the Night Ahead, as well as a cover of The Wedding Present's "Suck." They're known for their massive sound, with James Graham's lyrics taking on added weight and sincerity against the wall of sound constructed by guitarist Andy MacFarlane. A band characterized by such an electric sound might lose some of that power when their music is translated acoustically, but that could not be farther from the truth on this EP. If anything, these acoustic renditions give the song's both new life and meaning -- and sound just as effective. With just a voice and an acoustic guitar, these eight songs come together to make this sound less like a collection -- less like a mix -- and more like a focused, well-rounded mini LP.

Download The Twilight Sad's Acoustic EP below.

REVIEW: Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods (Remixed/Remastered)

Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP
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Back in 2009, a lot of people on the internet went ballistic about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (debut album from band of the same name). The record is a gift-wrapped collection of indie pop-rock tunes, ready and waiting to wriggle their way into your brain...they did, but for most, only for a short time.

It's one thing to write a hook that catches the ear at first listen, and another to write one that sticks with a person for the entire day. Dom, a happy little rock outfit from Worcester, MA, have figured out how to do the former, but they're a long ways a way from the latter. Of the seven songs on the EP (re-released on Astralwerks/Burning Mill this past week), "Burn Bridges" comes the closest to a sing-a-long anthemic pop tune.

REVIEW: Frontier Myth EP

Frontier Myth are not your average dorm room foursome. Joel Pickford (vocals/guitar), David Karpay (vocals/guitar), Max Levenson (vocals/bass), and Dave Goldman (percussion) may have started out practicing in Goldman's tiny single dorm room at Goucher College, but they've come a long way since.

They're a quartet of myriad talents: dueling vocals that make ghostly allusions to the work of Dave Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), mathy guitar leads that smack of bands like Q and Not U, which both amount to distinct sound all their own.

It's tunes like "Spiders" that set a palatable, yet challenging tone for the record as we are carried into subtly complex verses and the song's rather anthemic chorus. While at first it seems like you can sing along, time signature changes and precise guitar work catch our tongues and suspend our ears. And while the lovesick lyrics do grace some familiar topics, there's no doubting the unique approach - "Did you get my message/nothing shows concern like texting/aha haha it's all such bullshit/I don't know what I'm confessing" sings guitarist Joel Pickford on "La La La". Love, while it is often present in their lyrics is reticent and skeptic, or even at times sarcastic out of some sort of desperation. Showing our true emotions can feel liberating, but often leave us, and the band, vulnerable.

Make the jump for more review, and a link to the new EP.