Music

The Please & Thank Yous: Mind Yr P’s & Q’s

Valerie
These Chicago natives describe their journey on their Facebook as "a bunch of wimps started practicing in a basement. Some left, others joined, and a couple managed to remain constant. They are playing shows, touring, and recording their sophomore slump." Well, those basement practices sure did pay off. The Please & Thank Yous sound is jolly punk pop, reminiscent of Goldfinger from the 90s and the many punk bands that never took themselves too seriously. It's this carefree and honesty that makes them interesting to listen to. Mind Yr P's & Q's is the band's full length debut. It's a mix of both old and new songs; narrating the bands personal take on the various happenings of life.
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Emily Baker: House of Cards

Valerie
Emily Baker might just be the next acoustic country folk singer to watch out for. After winning the 2009 Arts Foundation Fellowship in Songwriting award, Emily's star has been shining more than ever. House of Cards is the debut album for the singer and with the amount of attention it has received, there's bound to be plenty more to follow. The album itself is simple in delivery yet it comes armed with solid songwriting. Emily plays much of the instruments as well including the acoustic guitar, ukulele, glockenspiel, percussion and of course, her melodic vocals.
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Night Reports: You’re All Out

Valerie
Another band that you wouldn't think is composed of only two people at the helm; Night Reports create beautiful indie rock music with a touch of soul. Long time friends, Derrick Brown and Beau Jennings, have both collaborated in various projects before. However, they've never tackled anything similar to Night Reports. Although the collaboration started out slowly, with both of them passing MP3s and recorded files via email and voice message; they eventually compiled what has become You're All Out. The record is a concept album of sorts, as it revolves around an athlete who is down in the dumps and living (and reliving) his life in his glory days.
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Awake! Awake!: We’ve Been Strangers

Valerie
Even though this debut record from the band is a few years old; We've Been Strangers is still a great album to check out. It's a fast paced record that's packed with plenty of indie pop rock goodness. Made up of David Johnson on lead vocals; Andrew Goodwin on guitar; Taylor Powell on drums; and Chad Turner on bass; Awake! Awake! hails from Murfreesboro, TN. Inspired by bands like Jimmy Eat World, Switchfoot, MuteMath and classic artists like U2 and The Police; their sound is a nice compilation of feel-good indie rock and melodic power pop.
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She Makes War: Disarm

Valerie
One of the most interesting indie female pop rock compilations I've heard in a long time, Disarm from She Makes War both enchants and captivates upon first listen. The lady behind this musical project is multi-instrumentalist Laura Kidd. Apart from music, she's dabbled in other interests like film making and photography among others. She also does session work for various musicians including Alex Parks, I Blame Coco and Tricky. This is her debut compilation and it comes with 13 tracks that hover between indie rock, slight grunge and pop.
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Nightlife: Radio

Monica
After their self-titled debut EP, Nightlife fans didn't have to wait long for a new album. Released last October 2011, the musical duo offers Radio, a collection of six glowing synthpop tracks. Meeting in early 2010 at a Michigan show house, Caroline Myrick and Darin Rajabian shared a mutual love for dance and pop-music. The duo soon produced songs that blended Caroline's soft vocals with Darin's classic electro tracks.
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Fiction Fight: I Am a Thief

Monica
Bursting onto the sky with all the subtlety like a crashing comet, I Am a Thief by Fiction Fight offers a one-of-a-kind astral experience. Hailing from Coventry, the once solo project has now bloomed into a full-pledged band composed of Christopher Donald, Josiah Gillespie, Rachel Louise Challis, Tim Pitt, Nathan Daniel Leigh and Matthew Donald. They have already shared stages with Newton Faukner, Enter Shikari and rap artist Example.
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Moongardening Inc.: A Sky Full Of Killer Whales

Valerie
Moongardening Inc. might have an unusual band name as well as an album title, but their music manages to stand out and impress. Creating a solid fusion of pop, jazz, blues and a whole lot in between; A Sky Full of Killer Whales exudes a certain charm. Only downside is that there's hardly anything about the band online except what's written on their BandCamp page and sparse reviews here and there. Nevertheless, their music can easily take front and center without much background info about them.
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One Lick Less: We Could be Quiet

Valerie
One Lick Less proves that you can do so much with just drum & bass and the occasional vocals. We Could Be Quiet contains music that hovers around free-ranging blues, progressive improv and even "spectral math rock." When you listen, it's not hard to see all this. The album is an intense, sometimes instrumental, compilation full of eclectic bits and pieces all cohesively working together. The result is impressive, in terms of range and style. It's also something difficult to describe since it's rare to hear such a unique sound.
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