Like many great electronic acts inspired to the sound of the 80s, A&R (weird name for a band…) knows how to make a micro Korg sound sexy. If you dig FM radio music, Klaxons, Junior Boys, The Killers in their “Hot Fuss” days, A&R could move your body. Their sophomore album “Aquarium”, free here, came out in March and they play at Glasslands on July 14.
Villa Venus’s sound is slow and calm, the lyrics poetic and deliberate: “We started on our own/ The morning light keeps shining all through you/ Pretending like you’re home/ I’m dressing you in attitude.” If you dig Iron & Wine, Slumber Party, and full-on aural mellowness, download their music (for free of course) here and kick back.
New Jersey based Escape Directors play feel-good rock that expresses a deep sentimentality. In their music video for “Car Crash”, a man who has lost his love walks through crowds, where he sees hundreds of her red umbrella, her thermos, her favorite book, etc… while the one for the latest single "The Distant Past" (in this post) melancholichly recollects the lost, happy days of teenage love. Love songs for (non-hipster) best friends. Grab their album free here.- Caitlin Clive
All these bands submitted their music for review here.