It has been reported that 99 percent of all music streaming activity comes from just 10 percent of all available songs, meaning that the most popular tracks are pretty much all most people listen to. Even if those reported numbers aren’t completely accurate, that still feels true. That’s great for those artists, but what about everybody else? What about the folks who don’t have as much promotional firepower in their arsenal but are still releasing terrific material that ought to be heard? Well, this is my small attempt to help level that disparity: A list of this week’s finest indie albums that you may not have heard, or even heard of.
There were some solid releases this week, like Miss Grit’s exploratory indie rock, experimental psychedelia via The Earthly Frames, and delightful dream pop courtesy of Tallies and Angelic Milk, so check it all out below.
Miss Grit — Talk Talk EP
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Miss Grit leader Margaret Sohn is only a college sophomore, but she has a creative spark of somebody beyond her years; She even makes her guitar pedals, although none were used on the new EP. She cites St. Vincent, Japanese Breakfast, Mitski, Karen O, and Little Dragon as influences, and even on just her debut EP, it’s clear that she is a worthy disciple of those talents.
The Earthly Frames — Light Reading
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Gabriel Walsh is a real indie veteran, having produced for or played in experimental groups for the past couple decades. That experience shines through on songs like “A Doorbell for Finite Beings,” a star-bound track that gives Pink Floyd psychedelia a modern day flourish. The format of the album is also worth noting, as it is “an imagined reading list,” with “a corresponding song for each obtuse-sounding book.”
Angelic Milk — Divine Biker Lover
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On their new record, this Russian group proves that there are still things to be accomplished in garage pop. “Acid & Coca-Cola” is droney in a Dilly Dally sort of way but with a more experimental pop twist, while “Celebrate” is more of a propulsive dream pop song.
You Tell Me — You Tell Me
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This new project from Field Music’s Peter Brewis is a collaboration with Admiral Fallow’s Sarah Hayes, and the two strike a variety of moods on the effort. “You Tell Me” is one of 2019’s jauntiest songs, while “Foreign Parts” is more mellow baroque pop.
Angelo De Augustine – Tomb
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The comparisons to Sufjan Stevens here are immediate and fair; The two have actually collaborated before. When it comes to gentle, sleepy folk, that’s as viable a co-sign as any, and De Augustine is adept at creating comfortable and intimate atmospheres, such as on “You Needed Love, I Needed You.”
Tallies — Tallies
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This is the first effort for this Toronto band, and if you were looking to start 2019 with some jangly indie dream pop, then welcome. Songs like “Mother” are right up the alley of Alvvays, and as far as this genre goes, that’s a terrific space to be in.
