I thought it had been a while since we last talked about Blackbird Blackbird, but as it turns out, we mentioned his track “Euphoria” at the end of May.  This, in terms of the blog world, could undoubtedly be referred to as “a while,” but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that long ago.

Regardless, one of the things that Mike Maramang does best is keep himself on people’s lips.  He doesn’t allow himself time to fade out of the stream of consciousness, releasing tracks on an almost constant basis – none of which suffer from any lack of quality despite the feverish nature with which they are unleashed.  Whether he’s remixing or working on his original tracks, Maramang is a steady stream of shiny electro-pop.

Just yesterday he put his new track – “Passions” – up for the world on his Bandcamp and Tumblr pages, and the cycle of chatter was renewed.  This one sounds like it’d be right at home at a Summer of Love sit in along with Scott McKenzie’s ode to Maramang’s home base.  Get it below, and be on the lookout for Maramang’s debut album under the Blackbird Blackbird moniker.  It’s supposedly due out in the fall, but I’m not certain if that’s changed.

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Blackbird Blackbird // Passions [mp3]

On our way up to Toronto for NxNE this year, the four of us talked about the great year of music that was 2009.  Our Top 4 albums of that year were Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, White Denim and the debut album from San Francisco’s Girls.  Back then, everyone discussed the fact that lead singer Christopher Owen had spent time in a cult when he was younger.  It was a sort of breathless admiration for what he had experienced and how his limited access had affected his art.  At this point, however, it’s safe to say that his scope has increased exponentially.

Owen & Co. released an EP late in 2010, and they are back this year with another full length release – Father, Son, Holy Ghost – that will be unveiled in September.  The band gave away the first track from the album earlier this week – the brooding “Vomit.”  (With that kind of a title, I don’t think anyone was expecting another “Lust for Life.”)  The song starts out simply enough, building into the whole band while Owen repeats “lookin’ for love.”  And then, about two-and-a-half minutes through the song’s 6+ minutes, the song descends into a sort of sonic maelstrom before repeating the whole process over again.

It’s a formidably simple formula, leading some to call it ‘boring.’  It’s really anything but.  “Vomit” is the darker parts of Album; it’s not as hopeful or cheerful, but when the gospel choir kicks in toward the end while Owen repeats “come in to my heart,” it’s hard to tell whether its him who has found redemption or if he’s become something messianic for us, the listeners.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is available for pre-ordering now through InSound.

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Girls // Vomit [mp3] from the forthcoming Father, Son, Holy Ghost