Alternative

Laura Stevenson and the Cans: A Record

Listening to Laura Stevenson and the Cans is like lying in a hammock under the shade and drifting away to dreamland. This amazing indie folk/rock artist beautifully mixes relaxing rhythms and melodies beautifully, making it look effortless. This album came about after Laura took several years steering clear from creating a compilation. Hence, when she finally decided to drop the sabbatical, "A Record," was born. In this one, you'll find a great variety of textures, instruments and simply gorgeous vocals from the singer and her crew. Most of her albums are available for purchase, but these are definitely worth it. However, for this record you can enjoy this one free. It's certainly worth the download and so much more.

Sweet Mother Logic

Sweet Mother Logic is an experimental indie instrumental quartet hailing from Montreal. The crew is made up of Justin Wright, Eric Kaplin, Jack D. Kelly and Adrian Aitken. Their instrumental sound leaps across genres creating a rich combination of instruments and sounds. With this self-titled album they explore the fields generating, pop, rock, electronic, ambient (even a hint of dance) in the thick layers of their music. So far, the group has been around for four years, creating a sound that is unique, intriguing and certainly entertaining. Give their album a go and check out their previous EP as well.

The Arbiters: Wake Up Dragons

The Arbiters create cool indie alternative rock music with a touch of electronica. The recording is slightly raw but filled very intense energy that you could almost feel as if it's bouncing around the walls. The group sings songs in both English and Russian and they borrow elements from other genres other than indie rock. Wake Up Dragons is the first full length debut for the group. They did release a single titled 'Solo" and made it available for sale on both iTunes and Amazon. For this complete compilation, listeners have the option to buy it from the same iTunes, Amazon or simply download it for free right here or on Jamendo. Give this group a listen.

Rei Teytum: Viajeros

A wonderful fusion of rock, funk, folk, jazz, brass with some great sounding guitar, percussion, violin, viola, keyboards, trumpet, sax, bagpipes!?, and yes, even harmonica. It seems that Rei Teytum have it all, except of course for an English version of their bio anywhere on the Internet. So it is times like this that I wish I spoke more languages to bring you important information about the artists. But since that will simply not happen lets focus on their fantastic album, "Viajeros""Travelers", and the tiny bits of band history I was able to get (courtesy of my friend Google Translate).

Flat People: Flat People

Even though they call themselves the Flat People, it doesn't exactly mean that their music is "flat." In fact, it's quite the opposite. The group creates lovely upbeat, indie pop rock that's reminiscent of a more indie infused Beach Boys. Spearheaded by Dallas native, Bob Guittard; the group was first setup back in 2002. After several lineup changes and quite a few recording session, the group finally settled on their current lineup and released this self-titled record. The compilation is equipped with 12 tracks that are worth checking out. Give this album a download. It's under creative commons and offered absolutely free.

Mercury in Summer: I Believe

Before anything else, Mercury in Summer is definitely a pop group (at least for me.) They create pop music that makes me think of The Click Five. Don't expect to hear rock and roll here. Although you might expect a mix of certain genres, they dominantly sing power pop rock tunes. Now that that's out of the way, the group's record, I Believe, is actually quite good. The production values are really professional and no doubt these guys are quite talented. Made up of Brian Jones - Bass/Vocals, Richard Wynne - Guitar/Vocals and Brendan McCusker - Drums/Vocals; these DC natives create energy filled, high quality pop music that is catchy and infused with wonderful melodies. This is the group's first compilation and it seems they found their niche. It's a cool record to check out.

Singleton: The High Seas

This catchy indie rock alternative crew from Kiev, Ukraine is certainly one to watch out for. Singleton first entered the music scene back in 2004. As they started out, they promoted their music by doing an extensive tour all over the Ukraine. However, it wasn't until 2009, when the band released their debut EP, Storms (get it here.) By 2010, the group pushed further and put together this 12 track compilation, The High Seas.

The Eclectic: Breathe EP

The Eclectic is a Dublin five piece crew that create an alt rock infused electronica sound. This EP, Breathe, has garnered comparison to top Brit band, Muse. Even though the group isn't exactly thrilled with this comparison, there's no denying that they do sound like the Matt Bellamy-led group. From the voice to the synth rock sound, it's hard not to compare. Nevertheless, The Eclectic does sound quite good. Their sound is a beautiful mix of laid back cuts to menacing synth alternative. One thing's for sure, whether they really sound like Muse or not; this five track EP is worth checking out. Give it a download.