With so much great music constantly coming out week after week, it’s a little difficult to keep up with everything out there.
Lucky for you, we at FILTER love listening to everything and have compiled a list of bands we think you should be listening to right now!
Below, we have provided a list of five artists that have been taking our ears on the best summer vacation they could have possibly asked for. Tune in for a wild ride of our current favorite jams. There’s some top-notch electronic, indie pop, rock, blues — yep, it’s all in there and just waiting for you to give it a listen.
1. Boards of Canada
Churning out ambient electronic hits since the mid-'90s, electronic duo of Scottish brothers, Boards of Canada, currently has quite an impressive amount of EPs and studio albums under their belt. BoC's signature cinematic downtempo is the perfect soundtrack for moonlit drives. Or walks around your neighborhood that you think you've already explored completely, but no—Boards of Canada will put you into an eye-opening trance where you're bound to discover something fresh about the familiar. And it will be incredible. To enter the trance, play BoC's new record, "Tomorrow's Harvest." It's been eight years since the brothers' last full-length studio album, "The Campfire Headphase," but the wait has been worth it. "Tomorrow's Harvest" is an hour-long listen, but there's no telling how long the trance will last this time.
2. Camera Obscura
Along with fellow Glasgow indie darlings, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura have concocted the most delectable blend of pop over the years; the type that is sentimental though never so saccharine that you'll have to see a dentist. If anything, Camera Obscura will cause your heart to weigh a bit more than it did previously and make your eyes well up with tears—because as sweet as Tracyanne Campbell's voice appears to be, there's a bite to her lyrics. No matter how awful you think your memory is, distant events will hurt like they did the instant they happened, upon listening to Camera Obscura. But when has that ever stopped anyone from being a fan? To borrow a new phrase from the Scottish group, let's "Do It Again" by listening to "Desire Lines."
3. The Dig
Though New York indie rockers, The Dig, released two excellent LPs relatively recently—one in 2010 and the other in 2012—it's their shorter release which came out this month, "Tired Hearts EP," that we're addicted to these days.
"Tired Hearts" is solid all the way through, each of its five tracks a total winner.
The album title is definitely deceptive because there is nothing lackluster or washed-out about The Dig here. This is the band at their most catchy and confident, as they hit you with the hard truth: "how can you trust a feeling when the future isn't clear?" Just shrug it off and keep grooving.
4. Surfer Blood
With such a consistently awesome debut effort in 2010, we've been itching for more from Florida's finest indie rockers, Surfer Blood. This dream has now become a reality, in the form of a 12-track follow-up called "Pythons."
Like the preceding LP, "Astro Coast,""Pythons" is an album that begs to be heard in a live setting for the ultimate raw experience.
Until then, put on a pair of headphones or blast "Pythons" in the car, to let the pounding indie surf rock extravaganza commence, starting with the sinfully good showstopper, “Demon Dance.”
5. Hanni El Khatib
It's no surprise that garage/blues rocker, Hanni El Khatib—featured in the latest issue of FILTER—made it onto this week’s list.
Actually, he's been on repeat since April 30: the date he dropped his second full-length album, "Head in the Dirt," produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach.
Pick up a copy of "Head in the Dirt" today, to hear some innovative, lo-fi blues by this treasured LA singer/songwriter. Though he sings quite fondly of "a perfect little penny," Hanni's quality tunes are of much greater value. A Sacagawea, at least.
SEE ALSO: New music we listened to last weekend