Download Italians Do It Better's "After Dark 2" Comp Right Now

When Johnny Jewel hits the road, he feels the love. While on a tourstop in Amsterdam earlier today, Jewel posted Italians Do It Better's new compilation After Dark 2 in its entirety for FREE download. The 15-track release contains contributions from the likes of Glass Candy, Desire, Chromatics, and more. Hear and download After Dark 2 below.

LISTEN: Trails and Ways - "Como Te Vas?"

MP3: Trails and Ways - "Como Te Vas?"

When a question becomes an answer, or when an answer becomes a question, how do you know where it all starts and where it all ends?

You may not believe it -- may not want to believe it -- but one divergent path will always find its way back to where you've been before. Life is a cyclical maze -- in many respects a result our own creation and in many respects a result of fate's will. Take for example the past: it's always going to be there even if it's in your rearview. You may never physically encounter the things you've left behind, but you'll forever carry them around in your heart and mind as experiences and influences for your future self. It's not so much about acceptance in moving on as it is about being receptive to change. And once you learn to navigate these sorts of tides, you'll come to appreciate every moment, good or bad, as something to build upon.

LISTEN: Aleos

Moments are, in their own way, the stitches of that fine fabric we call time. Separate they can mean nothing or everything, but together moments weave together to define a person, an era, a history. We could quantify a moment as a second, a minute, a day, or a month, because everyone seems to define time in the duration of a feeling or a memory. And let's face it, sometimes those things last more than what one could literally define as a "moment" in time. But hey, maybe I'm waxing poetic. Point is, moments have more to them than we realize -- just imagine all the ones that have passed at this stage of your life and how they've collected to define where you are right now.

Serfs Offer Up Debut EP "Common Feelings" for Free

Charlotte, NC quartet Serfs released their debut EP, Common Feelings, today for free download. The 5-song effort is a blend of garage rock jangle, the crushing-yet-vulnerable dynamics of shoegaze, the chaos of noise pop, the snarl of punk, and the charm of indie pop. "The songs on this record were born out of a personal crisis I went through last year," says vocalist and guitarist Phil Pucci. "The record is largely about friendship and on a bigger scale, my contradictory desires to at the same time fit in and run away from Midwood, the part of Charlotte where I live."

SEE & HEAR: Boards of Canada - "Reach For the Dead"

With a group like Boards of Canada, atmosphere is everything. The elusive, mysterious Scottish electronic duo of Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin will release their fourth studio album, Tomorrow's Harvest, on June 10th in Europe and June 11th in the U.S. via Warp. It marks the duo's first release of new music in seven years. They just shared a Neil Krug-directed music video for the album's first single "Reach for the Dead," which you can catch below. It's a sweeping journey through valleys, desert, and abandoned structures. Matched with the soothingly eerie soundtrack, it feels rather lively despite each shot capturing rather lonely, forgotten corners of the world.

The sequence that starts around 3:26 is pure magic and visually mesmerizing.

LISTEN: The Zolas - "Knot In My Heart" (Nacey Remix)

Having a music blog as a hobby is one of the many great pleasures in life, but, as it is a hobby and not my full-time gig, I miss a lot of great music. Take for example The Zolas. I've seen their name around the web a fair amount over the past few months, but I've never truly listened to them until now. And what do I have to thank for that? Well, a remix of all things. And if you've followed Mixtape Muse over the past 7 years, you know I'm not the biggest fan of remixes. But this excellent Nacey remix of the band's great single "Knot In My Heart" has turned my ears towards The Zolas. The original's avant-pop is morphed into an enrapturing electro sound that's just ever so slightly chilled around the edges.

Holy Ghost! Debut New Single "Dumb Disco Ideas"

Photo by Harry McNally

Holy Ghost!'s excellent self-titled debut album (and my #8 album of 2011) is one of the few releases of the past few years that I've continued to return to. It's got pop appeal, fantastic production, and beats to keep you dancing for days. Needless to say, their next album is highly anticipated around these parts.

The NYC duo just released their new single "Dumb Disco Ideas" from their forthcoming sophomore album, Dynamics. Accompanying the song is a time lapse video of the band's gear set up on a rooftop deck. As day turns to night and night back to day, the band's lightboxes illuminate to the beat. The song itself is an eight minute disco-funk epic that might as well soundtrack your nonstop day/night party.

Hear "Dumb Disco Ideas" below.