holaTUBE: Brian Cook - "Playground Love" (Air cover) [indie folk / singer-songwriter / acoustic]

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San Diego-via-Colorado singer-songwriter Brian Cook, who also records music as beardream, leads us slowly into the sunset in beautiful Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California with his dreamy, acoustic cover of Air's "Playground Love", which was co-written and sung by Thomas Mars (aka Gordon Tracks) of the French indie rock band Phoenix. Check out the video above, which was produced by holaOLA's Sean Lewis.

Artist Making Waves: Szymon [indie rock / folktronica]

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Szymon Borzestowski was a talented young singer/songwriter/musician from Newcastle, Australia who lost his battle with depression at age 23. When he was 19 years old he struck a deal with EMI but never got to release his music, so following his tragic passing his family got together with some record industry people to see that the music he had recorded in his home studio got released. More often than not, tragic backstories such as this one tend to be what carries posthumous works of art to a certain level of success or notoriety, but Szymon's debut LP Tigersapp speaks for itself, seeing as I was hooked on the album before ever hearing anything about the artist.

Drawing from the indie rock, folk, and electronica genres, Szymon employs his smooth vocal harmonies, intricate guitar melodies, ambient electronics, and catchy songwriting to make Tigersapp a truly unique album that is sure to live on, both as a celebration of an artist's life and talents, and as an extraordinary record in and of itself.

Listen to two of Tigersapp's singles below, the upbeat "Medusa" and dreamy "Golden", and order the full album here.

Just Rolled In: Darwin Deez - "Kill Your Attitude" [indie pop / indie rock]

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Two years have passed since Brooklyn's charismatic indie-pop mastermind Darwin Deez released his sophomore effort Songs For Imaginative People. A few weeks ago, the first song since that album, "Kill Your Attitude", was featured on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show and not long after, Deez sent out a blast email to his mailing list fans announcing that his band's third LP Double Down was finished and that it would be available September 18th via Lucky Number Music. A good month for Darwin Deez fans!

We are yanked back into the bittersweet world of Darwin Deez with "Kill Your Attitude", an upbeat indie pop song about the not-so-cheery issue of "interpersonal squabbling". It's immediately recognizable as a Deez tune for its bare-bones introduction with nothing more than a punchy guitar, pulsing snare hits, and Darwin's heartfelt vocals which eventually evolves into a bouncy, hook-heavy jam (complete with a rad half-minute guitar solo) that you can't help but imagine singing and bobbing along to live.

Stream Darwin Deez's new single "Kill Your Attitude" and/or watch the creative official music video below, and check out the classic "Radar Detector" from his 2010 self-titled debut. Pre-order your digital copy of Double Down here and for the physical copy click here.

holaTUBE: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Multi-Love" [psych pop / indie rock / soul]

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Five years have passed since Ruban Nielson's first song as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "Ffunny Ffrends", first infiltrated and spread like wildfire throughout the interwebs. After living up to the first adjective of his moniker by actually remaining anonymous for some time, forming a band, and gaining a huge following for their first two full-lengths of lo-fi polychromatic psych pop (the second of which made holaOLA's list of the best albums of 2013), the Portland-based Kiwi is back with a third, Multi-Love, which hits shelves May 26 via Jagjaguwar and, interestingly enough, was influenced by his recent experience with a polyamorous relationship.

UMO's first two singles (the lead-off title track and "Can't Keep Checking My Phone") set the bar high for the new album, not straying too far from the feel of their previous recordings but enriching their unique sound with noticeably higher fidelity production and the addition of other instruments and sounds that give their songs new depth and texture (especially on the latter track).

Hear it for yourself in the psychedelic music video for "Multi-Love" below and stream their funky second single "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" below that.

Purchase a physical copy of Multi-Love here or download it on iTunes.

holaTUBE: Sylvan Esso - "Hey Mami" (live on Brooklyn rooftop) [electropop / indie pop / experimental]

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I just came across a really cool video of Durham, NC electropop duo Sylvan Esso performing their single "Hey Mami" (from their eponymous debut album, which made #46 on our 2014 end-of-the-year list) live on a rooftop on a sunny day in Brooklyn, as part of the "Noisey Acoustics" video series. The lack of electronics makes for a unique version of the song, a version that somehow doesn't stray far from the original thanks to the brass musicians and percussionists backing singer Amelia Meath for the video. She's got some pretty sweet dance moves (and platform shoes) too.

After the video, check out my favorite song from their debut, "Coffee".

holaTUBE: Pepa Knight - "Coyote Choir" [world / indie pop] ***FREE EP STREAM***

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Previously featured on holaOLA twice in mid-2014 following the releases of his enrapturing singles "Rahh!" and "Clams", sitar-wielding Pepa Knight, from Central Coast, New South Wales (and of Jinfa Safari fame), is back with an official video for the vibrant third single, "Coyote Choir", from his six-song debut EP Hypnotized Vol. I, which was released this past November.

This psychedelic music video was shot on 8mm film over a period of two weeks in Australia and New Zealand by filmmaker Sam Kristofski, with extra footage recorded by Pepa Knight percussionist Jozef Oldfield and trippy watercolor animations provided by Daniel Foothead. After the video, stream the entire EP for free before buying it here.

holaTUBE: Mac DeMarco - "Passing Out Pieces" [jizz jazz / indie rock / experimental]

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During an interview with Exclaim! Magazine around the time of the release of his sophomore effort entitled 2, Mac DeMarco, Canada's most interesting export, was asked how dedicated he was to making 'jizz jazz' a legitimate subgenre, to which he replies, "I'm going to pump the world's ass full of jizz jazz." Much like that record, his third release Salad Days is filled with sleazy minimal lo-fi rock'n'roll gems that could be more easily labeled as 'jizz jazz'. Wondering what the hell is going on in DeMarco's new video for the synth-ridden "Passing Out Pieces"? Well, I think he made it perfectly clear: He's pumping your ass full of jizz jazz. Enjoy!

If you found that interesting in any way and want to see more of Mr. DeMarco, I recommend you check out "Pepperoni Playboy" below. If you have half an hour to kill, that is.