Anyway, first up is a stellar track by a sometimes-stellar band called Aloha.
Forming in Cleveland, Aloha started out in the late 90's and put out their first (and best, if you ask me) album That's Your Fire in 2000. I didn't get into them until much later, probably 2005 or so, but their early work is fantastic and some of their more recent albums have a few great songs here and there.
The real great thing about Aloha is their sound-- floating around somewhere in between indie, post-rock, and free jazz, their songs rarely follow a straight form, always evolving, always taking an unexpected turn into something different. Oh, and did you notice in the picture up there that there's vibraphone?? Yeah, that is what really makes their sound awesome and pretty unique. Unfortunately, their more recent albums have sort of downplayed their earlier innovation and become more predictable.
Still, their vibraphone chops are brought to the foreground here in the highlight of That's Your Fire, the sprawling, 9-minute "Heading East." A looping guitar and spacey bass groove loop set the stage for some great vibraphone work and sparse, at times off-tempo drumming. Three minutes in, the song pulls itself together for some vocals, with great lines like "it's times like these I swear that inspiration is locked down in a closet," or, "I'm having dreams I shouldn't share." With three or four minutes left, the vocals cut, and the song deconstructs itself in a glorious wash of delayed piano and more vibraphone awesomeness.
Download it! Aloha - "Heading East"
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Second, OK, a lot of people LOVE Broken Social Scene, but their two most recent efforts under the guise of "Broken Social Scene Presents:" (essentially solo projects of the two most focal members of the band, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning) largely flew under the radar of a lot of fans. These are really great albums on par with, if not better than, a lot of BSS material. Particularly good was Brendan Canning's 2008 album Something for All of Us. Here I give you the very creative and enjoyable video for the track "Churches Under the Stairs:"
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