John Maus "Love is Real"

John Maus started playing keyboards along with Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. However, he later decided to begin a solo career. He showed to Panda Bear [Noah Lennox, who's also in Animal Collective) his music and he enjoyed it. Later, Maus started producing albums and his label is currently Upset the Rhythm (mostly psychedelic pop music, I'd say). He also works at the University of Hawai at Manoa as a political philosophy and theory instructor.
You can say his music is experimental or some sort of psychedelic pop, with influences from DIY techniques. He has released countless underground cd's (I have a CD-R he released when he went to play here at Galeria Zé dos Bois, in Lisbon).
This album entitled "Love is Real" was released in 2007 and is his second album. I love its overall mood and how John's deep voice fits along with his synths and other digital touches. He knows hot to give his music purity and wisdom: his lyrics show us a melancholic side that simultaneously describes a serious caring and love for other persons. It is as John Maus brings us a nostalgic 80s music, with reverb and echoing sounds, that can be compared in some ways to Joy Division's ethereal "Closer".
Pitchfork only gave this album 6.4 out of 10.0. Rate your music gave it 3.68 out of 5.00, I think (112 reviews were made to obtain this single result). Drowned in sound has also given them a good review (I think they don't have numerical reviews).
So, if you want to hear this philosopher's music simply click right here. Hope you like it.

I'll leave here a video of "Tenebrae" a soft mellow song from this album:

And I'll also deposit a short lousy video of him playing in Z.D.B. (Galeria Zé dos Bois, in Lisbon):

High Places "High Places"

High Places released their debut album in 2008, self-titled "High Places". It's good, even Pitchfork reviewed it as one of the best new albums of that year. I totally advise you to hear it, if you're into more soft indie pop or/and psychedelic pop genres. Synths, nice feminine vocals and some sort of bongos that seem to fit always well with their music.
They were formed in Brooklyn, NY (in Williamsburg, I think, the epicentre of all these new indie artists... MGMT, Gang Gang Dance, Das Racist, Chairlift, Telepathe, etc.).
Recently, this duo has relocated to Los Angeles and its label is named Thrill Jockey.
Like many bands who are similar in some ways to High Places, this band also features their own blog. Of course they also have a myspace page.
The album's lenght is only 30 minutes, however one of the tracks, "From Stardust to Sentience", was listed as the 417th best song of the 2000's by Pitchfork.It was released September 23, 2008.
You can get this album right here. By the way, they've also released a compilation.

One of my favourite songs of them can be heard along with an unnoficial videoclip right below: