Smallpools - Killer Whales

You can thank a long, serpentine night of itunes browsing for this one. I love taking the rabbit hole down "artists you may like" and discovering new music. Smallpools are an indie power-pop band who specialize in fizzy, hyper-catchy rock music, and this is best evidenced by their fantastic single Killer Whales. Now, just to be clear, I personally don't like the band name or the song name, but if I forget all of that and just listen to the track, I'm brought back to some fantastic power pop of the late 70's and early 80's. That chorus is just massive, and should be a staple on modern rock radio this year (but it probably won't). It's certainly going to find its place on my 2015 Summer Beach playlist!

TimeCop 1983 - Wild Love (ft. Ollie Wride)

It's been quite awhile since we've heard from Ollie Wride. He's one of this blog's favorite indie artists, and has recorded some truly awesome tracks that I choose to believe were huge pop hits in another dimension. This week, he resurfaces as a guest vocalist for producer TimeCop 1983's new album. He features on the final track, a wistful, spacey slow burn that (unsurprisingly) screams 80's. The track has me interested in visiting TimeCop's full-length, which luckily is streaming on soundcloud for free. Ollie would do well to feature on tracks like this more often. He's a brilliant vocalist and fits electro/club music like a glove. In a perfect world, these kind of featurings would give him the fame an notoriety that he deserves and launch that long-gestating solo career so that we can all bathe in his epicness.

Giorgio Moroder - Don't Let Go (ft. Mikky Ekko)

So I haven't yet listened to this new Giorgio Moroder collaboration album, but I did manage to hear this track and instantly fall in love. The album is full of far more notable/famous guest vocalists, but from the little I've heard, this dramatic slice of string-laden pop is bound to be the biggest standout for me. Mikky Ekko is most well known for guesting on Rihanna's Stay. He's also released some solo stuff to minor success. But to be honest, I probably would've liked this track regardless of who was singing, because it's all about that production... especially when it gets very dramatic and intricate towards the end. More of this sound from Mikky's solo projects and I'd certainly be forced to pay attention!

Nine Muses - Hurt Locker

I've recently started getting into Nine Muses's back catalog. They've worked extensively with my favorite producers, Sweetune, so that was the initial impetus to check them out. But now they've gone and released the spectacular Hurt Locker and really sealed the deal for me. Hurt Locker features one of my favorite things in pop music... that wall of sound at the end of the chorus formed by layers of intense vocals. Despite this not being a Sweetune production, it's one of their hallmarks and lends an enormous amount of power to what could have otherwise been a normal (albeit extremely catchy) dance track. If you like this, seek out Action, which is one of their album tracks from two years ago. It's got a very similar, epic sound. Definitely one of the better girl group releases of the year.