Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - "The Sound"

If you want a guy to root for, why not Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. This New York (by way of Portland and Eugene, Oregon) singer-songwriter tried his hand at several bands that ultimately failed and with only addiction left at his side, wound up homeless on Coney Island. But for this talented artist, thankfully the story doesn't end there. In 2006, with the help of close friends from bands TV On The Radio and Grizzly Bear, Miles began recording his self-titled debut in his apartment. The album was released to very strong reviews in 2008.

Here is a fitting description of his first album from Last.fm:

The album begins with the demented campfire sing-a-long, “Buriedfed” - a dirge disguised as a rave-up it sets the pace for an album filled with unrepentant confessions and takes the listener through a sardonic narrative, detailing loss, excess, and blurred memories.

Here in the present, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is set to release his follow-up album, Summer of Fear, on Oct. 20th. Amazingly, he is already hinting that he will begin recording album number three very soon.

Here are two songs to check out: "The Sound" from upcoming album Summer of Fear and "Woodfriend" from his self-titled release.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - The Sound

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Woodfriend

New Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"

One band that continues to impress me more and more is Grizzly Bear. Their last album, Yellow House was an amazing listen and continues to reward to this day. For this reason, I am really anticipating the release of their third full-length album Vectamist.




















The atmospheric nature of the songs is truly something to behold. I would highly recommend a nice set of cans (aka headphones) when listening to Grizzly Bear. Your ears will certainly thank you. Grizzly Bear's genre has been classified as many including lo-fi, anti-folk, and freak-folk. After now hearing three of the songs from Veckatimest, I anticipate this to be high on my list come the end of 2009. Oh by the way, one of the members of Grizzly Bear, Daniel Rossen (songwriting/guitar), is also a member of the excellent band Department of Eagles.

Veckatimest will be released on May 26th. Here is track number two from Veckatimest, "Two Weeks".

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks