Dirty Beaches

Dirty Beaches is Montreal resident (via California/Hawaii/China) Alex Zhang Hungtai. Dirty Beaches recalls Elvis Presley barely coming through late at night in between AM radio stations. Beautiful, haunting, and nostalgic for decades past, this is some really eerie and original music. Check out the new video for his new song, True Blue (I can't get enough of this song right now):

Here's an mp3 of the song, although it's not very good quality:

Dirty Beaches- True Blue

Here's another awesome song:

Dirty Beaches- Black Horses Take 1

And here's an EP he released last year on Night People Records. A lot less rock n roll then the latter two songs, this release is much more sparse, but equally as haunting:

Dirty Beaches- C22

Former Ghosts

Well, here's another dark, gloomy, electronic, post-punk-y supergroup featuring a Xiu Xiu member! Former Ghosts are the brainchild of Freddy Ruppert, formerly the one-man-band This Song is a Mess But So Am I. The band also consists of Xiu Xiu main man Jamie Stewart, Nika Roza of Zola Jesus, and Yasmine Kittles of witch house outfit TEARIST. Like the aforementioned acts, this stuff is dark, dense, and full of emotion.

Former Ghosts- Us and Now

Former Ghosts- Hold On

Former Ghosts- Mother

Former Ghosts- Dreams

Former Ghosts- The Bull And The Ram

Wu Lyf

Here's a Manchester band that no one seems to know too much about. All that's known is that Wu Lyf statnds for "World Unite - Lucifer Youth Foundation." Their website just adds to the mystery. They make a strange brand of soulful lo-fi music that they describe themselves as "heavy pop." They've been compared to two favorites of mine, Spiritualized and Swans, but I'm not sure I'd agree. Maybe if a young Tom Waits was the frontman. I don't really know how to put this sound to words actually- just have a listen yourselves:

Wu Lyf- Heavy Pop

Wu Lyf- Concrete Gold

Wu Lyf- Such a Sad Puppy Dog

Suicide

Suicide are a band from the late 70s who are way more influential to the music that you listen to than you know. They emerged in the punk scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side in the late 70s, and are precursors to the city's famous no wave scene. Unlike typical punk rock of the time, they made all of their music with organs, synths, and drum machines, creating a spare, minimal, and dark sound. Traces of Suicide's sound can be heard in punk, noise, electronic, and industrial music of the 80s, 90s, and today. Their first album is really amazing, so here it is:

Suicide- First Album