This week’s artist of the week makes intimate, lo-ish fi dream-pop. I somehow stumbled onto him several months ago and knew he was awesome, but wasn’t sure if other people were going to catch on. But now it looks like they’re starting to. The artist of the week is…

PORCELAIN RAFT!!!

Porcelain Raft is Mauro Remiddi, a 37-year-old musical artist living in London, England. He used to be part of a band called Sunny Day Sets Fire but he left because he felt like he was “faking it”, retreating to his bedroom to make his current stuff. And amazingly, things appear to be working out – he’s currently playing festivals, opening for bands like Blonde Redhead and Tennis, and getting written up about in Pitchfork.

So why is Porcelain Raft awesome? Well, the guy knows his way around a beautiful melody and a good line, and his songs have depth to them, they’re not just pop ditties. The song I blogged about before, “Strange Feeling”, is so strange and otherwordly in its depiction of such simple things: “I knew a man/who was shaking some hands/I tell everybody, oh what a man/I met tonight/He was smart and very kind.” The leading track of the recent Gone Blind EP, “Tip Of Your Tongue” has such a pretty little refrain, it’s amazing no one’s ever taken advantage of that idiomatic saying before for a song. And also, it just feels like a great, simple pop song. ‘Nuff said.

He’s also got a great little website where he posts videos and songs and stuff all the time.

So yeah…it’s good music.

I think I just orgasmed in my ear. These trippy Danes are seriously good. (Via No Fear Of Pop)

Treefight For Sunlight – What Became Of You And I?

This reading week may kill me. Only one day left till it’s over but daymmm, I’ve just been going to sleep later and later cuz those fuckers downstairs have been pumping dubstep till like 5 am every day since Wednesday. And the amazing thing is that last night it wasn’t even the usual fuckers, but the ones on the floor below them! Though admittedly they were really nice when I told them to just turn it off completely after two attempts at “just turn it down,” which didn’t seem to do the trick. But fuck, these guys are like double teaming us. Every fucking night man.

I got out of bed today at around 12, now I’m just of just woozing right through this Saturday. Indiana band Triptides is helping me kind of get on with my day. Their smudged, surreal lo-fi surfy-garage is just dreamy/pretty enough to jive with my headspace, and the speed of things isn’t too fast, but just enough to get my gears turning today. Check out their new album, available PWYC off their bandcamp. (Via Aurora Vibes)

Triptides – Shadows

This beautifully weird, stumbling little track by Richmond, Virginia artist Boas (Tyler Newbold) caught my ear. You can download the album it’s off for free at his bandcamp. (Via Don’t Die Wondering)

Pop hooks + lots of reverb + PASSION = Gold Soundz-approved stuff. Good job, Man/Miracle.

Man/Miracle – Don’t Waste It

Great bands are formed when insanely talented people congregate in the same practice space. Sometimes these people are so insanely talented that they can toss off sideproject work that’s better than most of the overhyped shit out there and they don’t even bother to publicize it much cuz, oh, it’s just like a little something they managed in their spare time. Loko, the lead guitarist in the excellent Toronto-based folk and RnB-inflected indie-pop band First Rate People is apparently one of these people. His astoundingly good three-song debut EP is available for free off his bandcamp, which you should get to via Bedroomer, a really awesome First Rate People-family tumblr site I would recommend following.

Ok. I like Burial as much as the next guy, and the stuff James Blake is doing is pretty cool, but otherwise, I just totally don’t get dubstep. And the fact that everyone who seems to like dubstep is either sketch or a bro-tard doesn’t encourage me to try to figure it out either. Also our downstairs neighbour is always blasting dubstep till 4 am and my roommate and I are about ready to bring a jihad down on his ass. So here’s a little bit of revenge on him, this little quiz we wrote, which is hopefully going to rack up a million hits.

1. What aspect of music do you consider most important:

a) Melody

b) Rhythm

c) Lyrics

d) Wub wub wub wub wub wub

2. What is your ideal live music experience?

a) Moshing in a pit with a bunch of other amped up dudes

b) Dancing at the club with hot chicks

c) Chillin’ at the bar and watching the band

d) Who cares as long as there are plenty of trendy, designer drugs around?

3. How would you rate your hearing ability?

a) I can hear just fine

b) What?

c) Did you say something?

d) “Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”

4. What kind of words would you use to describe the music you like?

a) Tight, solid, phat

b) Wicked, awesome

c) Groovy, trippy

d) Dirty, filthy, disgusting, SHIT ON MY FACE

5. What is your favourite dance move?

a) Fist pump

b) Um…actual dancing?

c) Macarena

d) Whatever the fuck this chick is doing (see below)

If you answered “d” alot, then, uh, yeah…

Really guys? You felt weird toxic ghost-y things were the best fit?

Toronto-based 90′s alternative-style indie-crashers The Two Koreas recently released their third album, Science Island, and it’s prettyyyyy badass. Dealing in luminous, noisy guitars and spearheaded (I mean that in the least figurative sense) by frontman/Pitchfork writer/Eye Weekly online editor/This Book Is Broken author Stuart Berman‘s sly, whooping vocals, the entire ten-song set feels like one long shot of adrenaline to whatever part of the human brain recognizes awesomeness.

Do you ever listen to an album and get angry that nobody knows how incredible it is other than you? It happens to me all the fucking time. Today I heard the debut album from The Soft Province - the project started by Besnard Lakes frontman Jace Lasek and Michael Gardiner (who apparently was a co-founder of the Besnards as well) - and it is seriously amazing. Probably as good as anything The Besnard Lakes have ever done, so it’s basically like, “Hey, here’s another Besnard Lakes album we didn’t bother to tell anyone we were making.” Buy this fucking album here or on iTunes. Tell your friends about it. Blog about it. It isn’t morally right that music this good should go unheard.

The Soft Province – One Was A Lie