Cannons - 'Bad Dream'

The dark, moody synthpop of Cannons' latest single, "Bad Dream", would have fit right in on the soundtrack to the 2011 movie Drive had it been released a decade earlier.

A continuation of the synthwave movement, Cannons hits on all the right notes that fans of retro '80s-90s culture, music and film love.  Fans of The xx, M83 and the Chromatics should find Cannons equally-appealing.

The video to "Bad Dream" feels like a mashup between Twin Peaks and Stranger Things, with a hint of Netflix true crime series and a splash of Napoleon Dynamite dance moves to boot.  Cassette boom boxes, giant cell phones, tube TVs, Ford Broncos and sequins all round out this creepy trip down nostalgia lane.

Watch the video for "Bad Dream" below, and visit the official Cannons website for more:

London Grammar - 'How Does It Feel'

Hannah Reid's soaring vocals take center stage on London Grammar's new album, Californian Soil.

The English indie-pop trio have teased new singles for the last 9 months leading up to the album's release just three days ago.

London Grammar takes sparse, dreamlike electronic and guitar arrangements and layers them with Reid's echoed, classically-trained vocals.  It's delicate, it's haunting, it's undeniably catchy.

Reid's dramatic vocals and cathartic delivery bring to mind Florence Welch, while musicians Dan Rothman and Dot Major round out the group's ambient stylings and bring elements of trip-hop and electronica/dance.

On singles, "How Does It Feel" and "Lord, It's a Feeling", the group takes their sound up a notch, complementing delicate atmospheric elements with epic waves of emotion. 

You can watch the official video for "How Does It Feel" and the official visualizer for "Lord, It's a Feeling" below, via YouTube.  

For more on London Grammar and their latest release, Californian Soil, visit londongrammar.com

Our Favorite Albums of 2009

Ah, yes. The old "Year in Review" list. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what the best records of the past 365 days were, and now, so do we. Without further ado...

The Lonely Note Presents: Our Favorite Albums of 2009 (Part I)



The Swell Season - Strict Joy

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová earned a heartfelt Academy Award in 2008 for their song, "Falling Slowly," from the film Once (in which they both starred and performed the soundtrack). Their follow-up, Strict Joy, is as cathartic, focused and intimate as the struggling musicians in Once, while allowing their success to shine through in confident, climactic swells.

Watch the video to: The Swell Season - "Low Rising"



Florence + the Machine - Lungs

When I first heard "Girl With One Eye" nearly two years ago, I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last I'd hear of F+M. Lungs is an apt title for this debut, because Florence Welch has got 'em. She croons and wails in a Kate Bush-meets-Grace Slick style. Welch's dramatic vocals are backed by delicate harp pluckings and thunderous war drums, yet always manage to soar above the fray. Florence is a machine - a voice to be reckoned with in the new decade.

Florence + the Machine - "Blinding"

Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Swoon takes the band's dreamy pop shoegaze to a new level, pushing for grandiose layers of distortion without taking away from the hooks. Waves of guitar fuzz build a wall as hypnotically steady drums crash against it. Singer/guitarist Brian Aubert's whisper-to-a-scream vocals resonate perfectly with those of bassist Nikki Monninger. Swoon is a more progressive, yet accessible side of the band.

Watch the video to: Silversun Pickups - "Panic Switch"


The xx - xx

Undoubtedly, the indie breakthrough band of the year. The xx play coy, night music for the Zoloft-popping hipster generation. It's dark and pensive, yet sweet and refreshing. The boy/girl vocal trade-offs are those of isolated romantics. Influences from The Cure to Chris Isaak can be heard swirling throughout. It's a debut with enough raw innocence to be strikingly beautiful. This is a rare effort for any band.



The xx - "Infinity"


Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Acute studio precision. Sonic craftwork. Superior artistry. Veckatimest is an almost perfect record. Shedding the lo-fi, shortform structure of many of their indie colleagues, Grizzly Bear birthed something of an acoustic dazzle in 2009. Veckatimest is so flawless, so tight, that the band’s dexterity may be rivaled only by classics Pink Floyd, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Beach Boys and, notably, contemporaries Animal Collective. Many Baby Boomers claim they can recall the exact time and place they first heard Sgt. Pepper. Where were you when you first heard Veckatimest?


Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"



Check back soon for Part II of Our Favorite Albums of 2009 list!