There’s not a whole lot more I can say about Thao & the Get Down Stay Down than I have already.  The vocals are whimsically charming while the music just grabs on to my ears and doesn’t let go.  ”Holy Roller” is off their critically acclaimed and most recent album We The Common.

“Philadelphia” is a rocking tune that immediately reminds me of a harder version of a Death Cab or Dawes tune.  You can find it on Paper Lions’ forthcoming album My Friends on the band’s own label Fountain Pop Records. It is due out on August 20th. It’s available for free download over on their Soundcloud page.

We’re back with another mystery playlist for you and another chance to win yourself an MTIB t-shirt.  So give this playlist a listen and guess away in the comments below.  You can guess as many times as you want but please, if you have won in the past, give some other folks a chance before put in your two cents. Good luck!

With the Nektones’ newest tune, “The Wait and See”, think Mayer Hawthorne but with a little more smooth jazz.  The group brings in the talents of fellow Vermonter (yes, I had to Google that) Wombaticus Rex to break it down and add some hip-hop flare to the single.  I had no clue what to expect when I hit play but the end result was satisfaction to the max.  The track can be found on their forthcoming album Proof of Concept.

Kids are cute. Occasionally they have extremely ambitious and logically impossible goals like growing up to be a dinosaur or living off of Lunchables and Sunny D forever. That being said, Sufjan Stevens’ has company. His ambitious musical map of the US of A project, had he continued, would have came to a close around 2053 with Stevens sitting at the ripe age of 78. Seems unlikely. Of course, I would have loved to see it happen. The man can write damn good music, which is why I’m here writing about how you should listen to his album Illinoise before you die.

Illinoise, the second and last album of the state project, is an impressive collection of moving, tender-hearted narratives chronicling the history of Illinois. Alongside his mini-orchestra, Stevens strings together (no pun intended) quietly passionate songs like “Casimir Pulaski Day” and road-trip ready tunes like “Chicago”. It’s progressive folk. It’s indie pop. It’s classic-rock inspired. It’s spiritual. It’s informational. It’s completely improbable that you wouldn’t find at least one song to love on this record. Enjoy.

As Kanye has slowly gone off the deep end (just my opinion), Lupe Fiasco has quietly slipped into his spot atop my favorite rappers list.  Lyrically he has always been great and besides Lasers, his production has always been crisp and original.  Check the new release “Animal Pharm” from Lupe below.  Can you figure out how many animals he names throughout the song?

This album, Ark 2 by Flaming Youth sounds like a conglomeration of every album I have posted so far, minus the heavy stuff.  Found in the dimly lit shelves in the basement of Strictly Discs in Madison, WI, the album provides you with the unexpected. It is extremely theatrical with a space theme inspired by the 1969 moon landing. Its third song, “The Planets,” could be an album in itself. Stretching out to almost 13 minutes in length, the song is meant to give character to all of the planets, like Mars, The Bringer of War. The album is largely unheard of, but to make matters strange the band’s drummer was Phil Collins. Ark 2 was the only album released by Flaming Youth, and the following year Collins would audition for Genesis. If you aren’t going to buy it for the fact that it is freaking awesome, maybe its because you are a huge Phil Collins fan and this is his first major recording at age 18! Sweet.

Minneapolis local and Doomtree member, Dessa, has outdone herself with her newest single “Call Off Your Ghost”.  It’s a very personal song written about running into an ex-lover and revisiting  past feelings that you may not have thought were still there.  It’s the latest track off her forthcoming album Parts of Speech and it’s due out June 25th.  It will be accompanied by a nationwide tour with of course the first two stops being in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  Unfortunately both of them are already sold out.  You may want to start your Craigslist search for tickets sooner rather than later.

Sometimes last minute additions are the only way to go, especially when it involves adding Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Pierre into the mix.  A Great Big Pile of Leaves’ latest single “Pet Mouse” was supposed to be like any other track until less than 24 hours before its recording.  The group sent Justin the lyrics the night before and the next day he came in for a short studio session and boom goes the dynamite (sorry, it felt necessary to say).  ”Pet Mouse” is the latest track off the group’s forthcoming  second full-length release You’re Always On My Mind.  Ed Ackerson produced it (he’s also worked with Motion City) and it’s set to drop July 2nd.  Give the single a listen below and let us know what you think.

If you haven’t heard it yet, stream the entire album below! Then head over to Daft Punk’s website HERE and pick it up. You know you want to.