'Mo Music: Chilly Dreamy Dreamsicle

White Hinterland

When on a music binge, I usually go off into one music tangent and dive deep. After being hypnotized by one of my new favorite bands, Casey Dienel's White Hinterland, I decided to recap the best in recent, female fronted dreamy indie rock.

White Hinterland's "Icarus" has been on repeat for days in my place. Think Summer Sun-era Yo La Tengo combined with subtle dubstep and R&B influence, and you have this hypnotic track, off her second album Kairos, one of the year's best.

Recent discovery Memoryhouse have just released a video for a lovely piano-based live performance of their sonic forebearers, My Bloody Valentine's "When You Sleep."

If that doesn't win you over instantly, check out Memoryhouse's Lately, which samples the beautiful, bubbly, but brief "Phone Call" by Jon Brion, off the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. Watch the video and download the song at Stereogum. All this Ontario duo have to their name is one EP. We have a lot to look forward to.

Tamaryn is heavily influenced by MBV (that twangy, heavily processed guitar on Sandstone is unmistakable), but their lush, noisy pop is both jizz and coma-inducing, so it doesn't really matter. Try not to feel like you've had a bit too much Nyquil when listening to "Love Fade."

A Sunny Day in Glasgow are another excellent noisy dream pop band, with more electronic elements than the aforementioned bands. I saw them during SXSW, and I'm sorry to say they we're terrible. They had terrible sound, and stripped down to just guitars the songs we're unrecognizable. I don't know who booked this, but wrong move sticking them before Andrew WK. Anyway, on record they are amazing. Last year's Ashes Grammer was a sprawling, electropop epic, and their new album Autumn Again, continues right where they left off. The band are offering the album completely free on a special website for the album.

School of Seven Bells returned with their turbulent second album Disconnect From Desire earlier this year. Of all the bands I've mentioned they have the darkest sound, a dense, beat heavy sound more indebted to Curve than My Bloody Valentine. Check out the video for the aptly named "Windstorm."

My friend Chase introduced me to this great new band called Warpaint. The all female quartet recently played ACL and opened for Sonic Youth at an ACL after show. They sound a bit like prettier Sonic Youth, with a dusky, bluesy vibe. If you like to trip out more guitar heavy stuff, check out their debut album The Fool, currently streaming at The Hype Machine. I for one am sorry I missed seeing them live.

Finally, we'll end with Beach House who I was lucky enough to see at ACL. Despite seeing my idols, Sonic Youth, it was the memory of Beach House's beautiful show that really stuck with me.

They're third album, Teen Dream, totally upped the ante for Beach House. Where their former albums we're sparse and subtle, Teen Dream took their narcoleptic sound and made it bigger and bolder. All this really translated to their live show which was more powerful than I could have imagined. If you haven't heard it yet, make sure to listen to Teen Dream, one of the best albums of the year.

'Til next time this is Fauxrrissey keeping a queer ear to the underground.