Chicago twee act Very Truly Yours have just joined Bandcamp, making their 2009 “1 2 3 4″ single b/w “Popsong ’91″ available digitally in hi-fi audio for the first time (I think? Don’t quote me). Their debut album, which I reviewed here, is also really nice, but this single is as close to perfect as this stuff gets — stream it below and make the $2 investment.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults’ 2009 self-titled release plops itself down quietly between the Postal Service and the Radio Dept. Like Dntel, the band produces pleasingly Tinkertoy-simple beats, promptly submerged in Radio Dept.-like shimmering dream-pop fuzz. The songs are spotless and beautiful, polished to a bright sheen. Too bright, in fact — perhaps less confident in his voice than his laptop, frontman Michael Lee sings in a dispassionate Elliott Smith-on-Xanax whisper, and the songs lack the cartoonish punch of the Postal Service or the Radio Dept.’s unrequited angst. Letting Up Despite Great Faults has crafted the sound of surrender; it’s an admirable effort, but one can’t help wanting to hear him fight back when the bell rings for the next round.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults – “Folding Under Stories Told”: mp3

You may remember Gabe Hascall’s voice, if not his name, as part of early ’00s duo Slowreader — a sort of King of Convenience for Figure 8 fans. Now based in Portland, the singer’s had a rough time these last few years — from the dissolution of his band (and prior outfit The Impossibles) to kicking a meth addiction. “Just Dust” and a handful of other fresh songs are the product of getting clean and getting inspired. He’s still double-tracking, still sincere and, unlike the late, lamented Elliott Smith, still here if you want him.

Gabe Hascall – “Just Dust”: mp3

(Hascall’s Just Dust EP is out now)

While A Mystic’s Robe showcased Ghosty’s songwriting talents and ‘60s pop devotion, the O Foolish Pride finds the Lawrence, Kansas, band revealing their range. “Rose Colored Glasses” opens in traditional indie-pop fashion – open chords, melodic lead guitar line, the sort of thing straight off a Field Mice single. But the song opens up, adding backing harmonies and concluding with suddenly fiery guitar lines and frantic drumming. “Foolish Pride” comes on a borderline-funky Sea and Cake kick, an extra-chunky can of Jazz Noodle Soup. “Heybill,” the brief collection’s third and final song, with its springy slide guitars and shuffling drums, evokes Beulah’s lighter moments. As with the magic Mystic’s, it’s all essential.

Ghosty – “Rose-Colored Glasses”: mp3

(O Foolish Pride is available now on the band’s Bandcamp)

The only thing scary about Ghosty is how long they’ve flown under my radar. The Lawrence, Kansas, band has been recording since 2001’s Five Short Minutes, with only scattered output over the years until joining More Famouser records for a trio of new EPs. Last year’s A Mystic’s Robe was the first of them, three tracks of semi-sweet pop with a craving for melody. Singer Andrew Connor’s sincere tenor ambles through turns of phrase reminiscent of the Zombies or the Beach Boys even as the music opts for a gently minimal indie-pop arrangement approach. He earns his membership in the Droll, Conflicted Singer Club (President: 1996 Rivers Cuomo; Vice-Chair: 2007 Jens Lekman) on the pro-female “My Girl Is Strong,” singing “I don’t want a sleazy sex thing.” Judging by the music, what Connor wants is beauty, best showcased in the spectacularly Brian Wilson-esque “Secret Language.” So nope, nothing scary here – except the thought that you, too, haven’t heard Ghosty yet.

Ghosty – “Secret Language”: mp3

(Buy direct from Ghosty)

More: New Music | 2009 Album Release Calendar

International Waters at SXSW 2010 / Photo by David Greenwald

SXSW’s biggest surprise, for me at least, was the discovery of International Waters — a Texas indie-pop act whose glistening major 7th chords pulled me off the street and into Plush for the remainder of their set. The band does have some pedigree — two members once played in Voxtrot — but the new act is very much its own nerdy, bossa nova-loving animal. Here are two of their 2009-released jams; keep an eye out for a 10″ release as soon as April.

International Waters – “Salt and Sea”: mp3
International Waters – “Flashes”: mp3

(Hear more on the International Waters Web site)

More: New Music | 2010 Album Release Calendar

I wonder if it ever dawned on Andy Warhol that someday, everyone would have their 15 minute of fame… simultaneously. Indie rock’s greatest problem at the moment, whether one’s in a band trying to signal through the noise or a listener trying to sort through the muck, is the sheer glut of material: in any given day, Pitchfork (just for instance) reviews five albums, three tracks and drops another half-dozen MP3s on Forkcast. And they’re supposed to be the filter! No wonder Best New Music bands become such lightning rods for sales and attention: it’s too much fucking work to listen to the rest. Read the rest of this entry »

To call Jim O’Rourke’s The Visitor much anticipated would be akin to wondering if people are still looking forward to the second coming of Christ. O’Rourke fans are less multitudinous, and arguably less devoted, but nevertheless, after almost a decade of nothing but scattered vocal tracks on Loose Fur records since 2001′s Insignificance, we’ve been dyin’ over here.

But The Visitor is a maddening arrival. Read the rest of this entry »