If you’re not from around Western New York, it might come as a surprise that here in Rochester, we’re closer to Toronto than we are New York City. In terms of driving, it’s quickest to go down through Pennsylvania and cut across New Jersey in order to get to NYC – a total of six hours or so, depending on the severity of traffic. Toronto, on the other hand, takes about half that time, depending on how the border crossing goes.

So, while Brooklyn is an obvious hotbed of great music, our neighbors to the north in Toronto have their fair share of excellent music as well. The latest I’ve found is Indoor Voices. It’s the work of one Jonathan Relph, and recorded over the span of two years from 2009-2011, with the resulting album, Nevers, being released last fall. It’s a fantastic post-rock, shoegaze album, comprised of nine songs, none of which miss the mark. It’d be easy to pick any song from the album and have it be representative of what you’re going to get, which made it difficult for me to narrow my choice down to just one song. (And why I settled on the title track.) That said, Nevers is available for free in its entirety through Indoor Voices’ Bandcamp page, so if you like what you hear, you don’t have to make a choice. Get the whole thing.

The album is available physically as well, in an lasercut CD form which is limited to 50 copies.

Connect with Indoor Voices // Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp | web

Indoor Voices // Nevers (Loud) [mp3] from Nevers

There has to be more of Flights’ Anywhere But Where I Am than what they have on their Bandcamp page. There are only two songs available there – “Taller” and “Pillars” – but the story that those two start to tell can’t possibly be finished in the ten minutes it takes to listen to them, because once I get to the end, I start them right over. It’s like watching the first twenty minutes of a fantastic movie and then having to restart it, over and over again.

Either song would be representative of the Nashville-by-way-of-Wisconsin pair, who can sound at times like Bread (yes, that Bread) or like Bon Iver, but I’m focusing on “Taller” here where the Bread comparison holds a little more true. It reminds me of the Boyfriend and Girlfriend EPs from Virginia Beach’s We Are Trees. It’s a little more folk-centric than those two, but it has the same lo-fi, swirling minimalism to it. It’s a gorgeous song that plays out over the course of nearly five minutes, though it could undoubtedly go on much longer, and it wouldn’t feel any more weighty.

Hopefully my inability to find more information out about Anywhere But Where I Am means it’s going to be released more widely than the pair’s Bandcamp page. Check out Flights on their Bandcamp page for a free download of “Pillars” as well.

Connect with Flights // Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Bandcamp

Flights // Taller [mp3] from Anywhere But Where I Am