Many music sites, blogs, newspapers and magazines are publishing their best albums and songs of 2008. In all, there is a pretty good consensus on what are some of the greatest indie albums of the past year. They include releases from Radiohead, Conor Oberst, Fleet Foxes, Portishead, Okkervil River, REM and Vampire Weekend, among many others.

During IRC's Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008 on-going playlist series, we've made a deliberate effort to include songs from releases by lesser known, but equally as note-worthy, bands and artists like Goh Nakamura, The Dodos, Titus Andronicus, Mates of State, Ra Ra Riot, Magnetic Fields,The Annuals, Goh Nakamura Unicycle Love You and Afternoon Naps.

Today's Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008 - volume no. 5 - features You Me & Iowa, The Very Most, Of Montreal, Afternoon Naps, Crystal Stilts and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

"Dress The Stage" - You Me & Iowa
"Good Fight Fighting" - The Very Most
"Id Engager" - Of Montreal
"Postcard" - Afternoon Naps
"Shattered Shine" - Crystal Stilts
"Think I wanna Die" - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (photo: right)

Up Next: Goh Nakamura, The War on Drugs, Hooray for Earth, Sunfold, Port O'Brien and Ra Ra Riot. Check out the complete series of The Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008.

Labels: Afternoon Naps, Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Artists, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Of Montreal, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

If you've been following this series, you know that the playlists feature an eclectic mix of artists and sounds. This next installment for our favorite indie music songs of 2008 features more 'popular' indie artists and those who remain famously yet-to-be-discovered.

You never know when you'll find you favorite new artist or song. Hopefully, you've agreed with many of our choices through this series.

"Heads Roll Off" - Frightened Rabbit from The Midnight Organ Fight

"White Winter Hymnal" - Fleet Foxes from Fleet Foxes

"Empty House" - Paper Route from Paper Route

"Lost Coastlines" - Okkervil River from The Stand Ins

"Year of the Dog" - The Lovely Sprarrows from Bury The Cynics

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Songs, Firewater, Frightened Rabbit, Okkervil River

Goh Nakamura is not only our pick for Artist of the Month, but also one of our favorite 'surprise artists' of 2008.

Nakamura, a San Francisco native born singer/songwriter, describes his music "Dreamsicle pop " as "ditties about parking tickets, impossible crushes and faraway dreamlands."

Although Nakamura has had a loyal following for a few years now, his popularity is picking up momentum in the past six months or so. Nakamura's music video for "Embarcadero Blues" has been viewed over a million times on YouTube:



Nakamura's sound is catchy, wonderfully produced acoustic pop. Music lovers who enjoy artists like Matt Pond PA, Matthew Sweet, Elliot Smith and Neil Finn are likely to have Nakamura's music playing again and again.

That said, it's fair to say that Nakamura can easily appeal to a larger segment of music lovers. His music is the kind that you will probably find yourself liking the more you listen to it.

His 2004 debut Daylight Savings was received well by the indie music press. Yet it is the release of Ulysses - not to mention the fact that it's available for free - is a contender for one of 2008's best 'under the radar' singer/songwriter releases of 2008.

Here are two MP3s from Nakamura's Ulysses:

Suitcase - Goh Nakamura
Hangman - Goh Nakamura

You can Download Ulysses for free or purchase the CD extra edition.

All downloads/purchases of Ulysses includes a specially selected collection of songs by some of Goh's favorite bands:Odessa Chen, The Invisible Cities, Scrabbel, Michelle Amador, Adam Shulman, Nyles Lannon, Grand Hallway, the Botticellis, Picture Atlantic, Annie Lin, Love is Chemicals, The Lofty Pillars, Lucien Lamotte, David Rhodes.

Labels: Goh Nakamura, Indie Artist/Group Profiles

Today's playlist featuring the best indie rock songs of 2008 arguably includes a couple of bands that are more 'mainstream'.

It's impossible not to feature Radiohead's In Rainbows. The veteran alt indie rockers' latest release has quickly become one of the most popular alternative/indie rock albums ever, and perhaps even more so because it was initially available as a free download worldwide.

Along with Radiohead, here is the latest playlist of the best indie songs of 2008 by less-known independent artists like Goh Nakamura, White Denim, Cassandra Castaway, Annuals and Love is Chemicals.

Listen to the songs by clicking on the titles. IRC supports and promotes great music by highlighting it for tens of thousands of people each month.


Please click on the link below to see IRC's MP3 policy.

"Tell Me Why" - Radiohead
"Suitcase" - Goh Nakamura
"Sitting" - White Denim
"Our Darkest Days and Nights" - Love is Chemicals
"Confessor" - Annuals
"Clytamnestra" - Cassandra Castaway

Check back for more playlists featuring the best indie rock songs of 2008 from now until the end of the year.

Related posts: Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008, Vol. I and Vol. II.

Labels: Albums: In Rainbows, Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Radiohead

Usually this blog is all about music. But we cannot let a transformational moment like November 4, 2008 pass without some words.

From every corner of the earth, people have reacted to the election of America's first black president, Barack Obama, with jubilation, hope and wonder. From Montreal to Beijing, Paris to Cairo, Kogelo to Baghdad and Tokyo to Buenos Aires, hundreds of millions of people know one thing today - a monumental, positive thing has happened in America that will change the course of history.

Most Americans, and people around the world, have never before witnessed such clear affirmation of the creed "all men are created equal" as the election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency.

When the elite colonists with their powdery wigs and feathered pens wrote those famous five words two centuries ago in the Declaration of Independence, they were wise to qualify their pronouncement with the words that followed; specifically, that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The election of a black man to the presidency of the United States was likely never envisioned or conceived by the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. But that is one of the great things about our imperfect, troubled and triumphant journey - we continue to work towards fulfilling the promise of America, and to a larger extent, humankind. Despite all of the barriers he, and we, knocked down along the way, Barack Obama was elected because he is exceptionally qualified for the job. Plain and simple.

Last evening before a crowd of tens of thousands of people in Chicago's Grant Park, President-elect Obama made it clear that America is the place where all dreams are possible:

"If there is anyone out there," he said, "who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

As President elect Obama made clear during his campaign, and again in his victory speech last evening, the days ahead will not be easy; "there will be setbacks and false starts," he said. Yet it is undeniable that Obama has ignited, in America and throughout the world, a new age of optimism, hope and inspiration rarely fulfilled in history.

After centuries of slavery, segregation, racism, hatred, fear and discrimination towards people of color, tens of millions of Americans said yes to a black president, and in turn, sent a clear message to the world: no matter who you are, what you look like or where you come from, if you work hard, uphold common values, do the right thing, and strive to make the world a better place, you can accomplish anything, including becoming president.

Obama's election to president is a calling to all people: live up to your potential, pursue your dreams, work together for common goals, help your neighbors, care for children and the earth, and stand up against hatred and injustice.

Like an echo from the past, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. 45 years ago, ring out more loudly now than ever before that we must not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

There is no question that President-elect Barack Obama is an extraordinary individual with a wonderful, smart wife, Michelle and two adorable young children. Anyone who has taken the time to learn about him in-depth and who has watched him over all these months can not reasonably dismiss his values and his fundamental belief that America is a great nation.

Barack Obama is a natural born leader and he has the opportunity to be a force that can change the world. Right now the world, starting with we Americans, need to change the way we do things, not just for the future of our children and the planet, but for ourselves.

Novemeber 4, 2008 and the election of Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States is a day etched into the minds of billions and a historic day that will be written into history in every language and culture on this planet for as long as there is human civilization.

It is a day that many people alive will remember for the rest of their lives. It is a time in history when we have the opportunity to come together as one world, one people for a common cause - to live in peace and prosperity without destroying our precious planet in the process.

The days that follow will test us all, and hopefully bring out the best in all of us. With so many people feeling hope again, the chances are good that great things are going to happen.

Labels: 44th U.S. President, President Barack Obama, Worldwide Reaction to Obama

Nowadays a lot of people think of indie rock as more mainstream that what it actually is. Hopefully, this blog does a good job in representing artists and bands that make great music.

Yet we're also suckers for great music from well known artists like Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie, to name a couple. But most of the time, you'll find music on IRC that reflects the 'more indie' side of indie rock music.

In featuring the 'best indie rock songs' of 2008, let's be real; this is not an actual accounting of the 'best indie songs', but instead our list of the best 'indie' and alternative rock music of 2008.
IRC seeks to be an outlet for mainly unknown music that deserves to be heard by a larger audience.

There is no methodology or ranking in these best of 2008 playlists; they are simply songs released in 2008 that we think rise above the rest of the 'indie' indie music scene.

"Cape Canaveral" - Conor Oberst
"Broken Calculator" - Royal Bangs
"Can You Tell" - Ra Ra Riot
"Hawaii!" - Unicycle Loves You
"Honor Amongst Thieves" - These United States
"Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit
"Stumble In" - Sleepercar

In case you missed it, here's volume one of the Best Indie Rock of 2008. Stayed tuned, there's much more indie and alternative songs from 2008 coming up.

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Conor Oberst