Singles Club: Arts & Crafts Edition

It's not often that a record label gets love from me on its own, but there are a few. Arts & Crafts, however, has made the list. They have some of my favorite artists and, far more importantly, they're Canadian. Which clearly makes them better than most other folks out there before we even get started on anything else.

Home to such artists as Broken Social Scene, Feist, Apostle of Hustle and seemingly every other Canadian indie pop rock star, the fine folks over there have been nice enough to pump us full of free mp3 love recently. And what good is free love if you can't share it? If only start-up prostitution rings would realize this bit of marketing common sense, think where we'd all be today. STDs aside, it's something to consider.

First up, Los Campesinos! offers up “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future," a slow, somber burner that heats up as it goes along. The seven-piece from Cardiff, Wales continues to push their music in newer, dare I say deeper, directions. The band just finished a US tour, so unless you're going to find yourself in the UK during the end of October, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for a live taste.

After that, we've got The Most Serene Republic's latest B-side, "Aveern," from ...And The Ever Expanding Universe. This one has an almost laid back disco thump to it, with a bubbling bass line and airy synths. The crunchy guitars take it somewhere else completely, but it's good listening regardless. These cats are getting ready to embark on a major North American tour. Sadly for those of us in and around DC, the closest they come to us is a stop in Philly on 10/7 at Johnny Brenda's.

Finally, here's a copy of that Death Cab for Cutie cover, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," by Amy Millan, of BSS and Stars fame. Ms. Millan puts her own country spin on this track she's been covering live for some time now. Fortunately for the DC crowd, Amy is playing DC9 on 11/9/09. So we've got that going for us.

mp3: The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future (Los Campesinos!)

mp3: Aveern (The Most Serene Republic)

mp3: I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie cover by Amy Millan)