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Band of the Month (for download ONLY):

The Snowdroppers (Difrnt Music), from New South Wales, Australia. Influenced by dirt, The Snowdroppers are an old style good time family fun band, whose feel good tunes harken from a more innocent era. From the days when jitterbugging, speak easys and contracting cholera was all the rage. They tackle issues such as substance dependancy, spousal abuse, homocide and good old fashioned misogyny. We hope you enjoy - The Snowdroppers! Single, "Do The Stomp" is available through the month of July. You can learn more here.
Right-click here and select "Save Target As" to download "Do The Stomp".

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Faded Paper Figures (Shorthand), from Los Angeles, CA and New Haven, CT. Faded Paper Figures began, like all great endeavors, as a side-project. Writing songs between dissertation chapters and frenetic bouts of southern California traffic, John (vocals/guitars) and Kael (guitars/keys/machines) were simply looking for an aesthetic and rigorous diversion. Two or three songs into the process, however, things started sounding incredible--much too good to have come from Kael's apartment bedroom. Eventually Heather (additional vocals/keys) began adding some beautiful harmonies, and FPF became the brilliant blend of indie-tronica that dazzles and sizzles on every track. The second release, New Medium shows the band taking what made them amazing in the first place, and taking it to a transcendent space where most bands can only dream of ending up. Lead single, "invent It All Again"impacts Specialty Friday, June 25. You can learn more here. 

Fen (Ripple), from Vancouver, Canada. In January of 1998, in the mountain shadows of Nelson, British Columbia, a creatorship was formed between two recluses. One had long hair, strange tattoos, and rode a motorbike and played guitar. The other was a tall, pale, librarian-type figure, with a voice that as easily terrified as soothed. For more than a decade the pair has been at work, assembling songs of a dark nature, giving refuge to the melancholy, the wanting, and at times, the disturbed. Lead single, "Find The One" from new release Trails Out Of Gloom impacts July 23, 2010. You can learn more here.



Mobile Wash Unit (Astraea), from Brooklyn. Clear the way, that's what they do: the subway. The name "Mobile Wash Unit" comes from the NYC patriots that clean the subways. Their trucks were always passing by the late night practice sessions at Andy's house in Greenpoint, so he thought it fitting to name the band after them. The task at hand for this Mobile Wash Unit, though, is to clean your head: going from just Me to a group of We to a collective Us. Andy got his first guitar when he left Emory to attend University of Chicago Divinity School. He had played bass in several Atlanta bands between his time in the physics lab and traveling to debate tournaments. Yet, he expected a life of solitude in his new theological world. Indeed, after he got a four track, he disappeared for hours after the daily 8am greek class. Still, he managed to get through--even though he spent more time talking to his advisor about Bob Dylan than his thesis. He moved to New York to start a philosophy PhD program and work in a church on Park Ave. He teaches philosophy at the City University of New York.  Lead single, "Second Glance" from debut album Tent impacts Specialty 4th of July weekend. You can learn more here.

Sky Parade (Custom Made Music), from Los Angeles. Intoxicated is the new release from Sky Parade. Already in regular rotation on KEXP and on Rodney on the ROQ for the past three months straight, following up no less than a Top 15 from each of their 4 releases to Specialty. Simply put, there is SOMETHING about this band. Dennis the Menace of KUSF San Francisco says of the new album, "... not only radio-ready – it’s a nugget of well-produced psycho-pop-hook-laden-genious, you can dance to." I'd have to agree. I'm proud of Sky Parade. And I know single, "I Wanna Feel Alive" will make YOU proud as well. I can't say much more, but PLEASE support them this time around. There are big things in the works. "I Wanna Feel Alive" impacts Specialty Friday, July 30. You can learn more here.