Here's three new tracks from San Marcos indiepoppers Typical Girls who, despite the name, are a pack of dudes who make some very pretty pared down guitar rock with a quite unique sound. The new EP is the second the group has put out this year and is thus appropriately and simply titled "EP 2," and it contains three very well constructed tracks of feel-good, deeply pretty pop rock. There's a good bit of sunny-day synth, the reverb is turned up nicely and the vocals are subdued for a beautiful effect that gives them a bit of a Constellation Records from the early 2000s sound (particularly Broken Social Scene and The Dears). It's music that focuses on building moods and just being quite lovely, letting the lyrical content just be one element in a soft, but big and dynamic production. That member Mich D. White is also responsible for some of the lovelier electronic music in the area with his other act Kinder makes perfect sense when you hear "EP 2," with its many pleasing layers and nice, airy sounds. It's pretty fuckin' gorgeous music Typical Girls have put out here, most especially opener "How We Spent It," and it bodes well for this young band's future. Check it below, y'all.

Back in April, Providence electronic act Bellerophon shared two elegantly sensual songs, "Face The Sun" and "Cowboy Without A Horse" (both streaming below). While the first track has project mastermind Mauricio Ossa pondering the unreachable over skipping effects, the second one has him elusively singing about possible confusion above ambling guitars. Listening to these songs, one may recall both the plush shoegaze of Big Troubles and the chilled electronica of The xx while eagerly wanting more songs from this undeniably intriguing project. Bellerophon plays at The Middle East-Corner in Cambridge, MA on 11.16 and at Aurora in Providence, RI on 11.17.- Zach Weg 

It is finally here! Tricycle Records has released the 5th installment of their local music compilation entitled, Friends of Tricycle Records 5! We really like how TR extended their submission invitation to local artists who are not on their official roster, featuring great artists like Lemme Adams, Brasil, The New Up and Analog Dream.

Enjoy this free compilation. It is a celebration of local music and such a great contribution during a time where record labels are all about profit.

Track Listing

The Union Trade, In The Empire of Giants
NRVS LVRS, City Lights
n. Lannon, Another Love
Bobbi Rohs, That’s Bae
Halou, Lean Into The Gravity
The New Up, Future Is Now
Rich Girls, Total Control (Motels cover)
Lemme Adams, Hella
Everyone Is Dirty, Out Of The Blue (Roxy Music cover)
Kitten Grenade, Eighteen
El Terrible, We Know Your Name
Annie Girl and The Flight, Swans
Unconditional Arms, Fever Basin
Analog Dream, Lion’s Share
Garlands, Hallucination Healer
Brasil, Molly
Jordannah Elizabeth, A Prayer for Black America

Compiled by Julie Schuchard
Compilation Mastered by Christopher Reese Daddio at Donut Time Audio
Artwork by Adrian Landon Brooks
See more at: http://www.tricyclerecords.com/friends5/

We don't know all too much about what the debut album from duo Rikroshi (formerly Bells and Parks) will be like outside of the info on their Indiegogo page (the campaign wrapped up in June), but if the one available single "Watercolor" is anything to go by, winter 2015 is gonna bring us one hell of a dark, beautifully sulky album. This track is a bit gothy/new wave gloom and a bit of a melody that sounds somewhat folk-Asian inspired, and yet it isn't afraid to really slam on some heavy-ass, big-chord guitar work. The high-pitched wandering voice of singer Tessa Bennecht and said slamming guitar noise complement each other very nicely in "Watercolors," which, as the season changes to something darker and more introspective, feels very apropos to this time of year. It even has a bit of the bittersweetness of the upcoming season that isn't all shadows and cold, but sometimes is bright and cheery as well, when at the end of the track it goes major for just a few fleeting seconds to fade out on a positive note. It's intriguing stuff from an artist pair in the midst of transition, and it feels just right as our world too transitions in these dusky months. Listen below, and get in the darkmonth mood.

Here’s a bit of a fun (and odd) one for you strangeness-loving musicheads out there in Austin-town this Halloween: quirky experimental musician and Zorch-member Shmu has just put out a quite fun album of his layered, colorful music called Shhhh! (which we’ll get to reviewing in full sometime soon), and alongside it he’s released a free compuoter game of the same name to accompany the album proper! This kind-of welcome cross-platform, multi-sensual experience seems to be a bit of a trend with the more boundary-pushing musicians of the day (one of our favorite rappers Malik did something similar not long ago), and it’s one we welcome with gamin’ fingers and music-eatin’ ears at the ready.

In the case of Shmu’s digital package (heh…heh), a quick jaunt through the game appears to say that it’s a kind-of psychedelic post-modern walkabout through a bizarre garden that looks like it was created by shoving the internet in the 90s, the old exploration/puzzle game Myst, a whole lot of high-quality drugs and the music of Shmu together into a digital blender. This game would be what popped out the other end of that imaginary machine, and the gameplay in my experience so far is of the first-person “explore this weird, but peaceful world,” art-piece-style genre (but which has shooter controls in its settings, so presumably at some point there be somethin’ to shoot at).

Shhhh! the game is utterly the perfect atmosphere within which to experience the deep dream pop music of Shmu, and it’s free for both Mac and PC here, so if gettin’ a bit weird with your music-listening appeals to you, this is right up your oddball alley. Also, give one of excellent tracks from the album below to getcha in the weirdness-explorin' mindset while the game download settles its strange self right on into your 'puterin machine.