The Neighbourhood Mixtape: Wild Beasts

The Neighbourhood Mixtape is a collection of newly-released songs by Toronto musicians. The mixtape is meant to celebrate Toronto's music culture and provide a forum to listen to and discover new local music.

Every Sunday, I post a five-track mixtape (along with my own mini-reflections for each track) that you can download or stream as a soundtrack for the week.

Track #1: Heartbeat Hotel, "Danglin' in the Aether"

The feel-good track "Danglin' in the Aether" opens Heartbeat Hotel's new LP Intae Woe - a shoegaze-boogie that runs wild on piano jingles, handclaps and a vocal sprint that recalls Animal Collective.

Track #2: Sexy Merlin, "Shannon"

"Shannon" echoes with pendulum percussion loops and funk beats that seem never-ending, engulfing you into its slalom rhythm and clouds of ambient haze.

Track #3: Lowlands, "First Kill"

There's a sense of unexpected possibilities when you listen to "First Kill", as low-bending strings in the beginning stretch until drums, ukulele and that opening lyric - "Put the knife in" - breaks the song wide open. Watch Lowlands perform "First Kill" in a perfect setting on Southern Souls: during the dark hours in an old barn attic.

Track #4: Volcano Playground, "A Cold, Weary October Dreary"

Volcano Playground stirs static and electro to give you a track that produces paranoia and heebie-jeebies. So, if you're looking for a song to go along with that chase scene in the woods you filmed for art class, this is it.

Track #5: Tearjerker, "So Dead"

Tearjerker's "So Dead" brings bliss and colour as bright as autumn leaves drenched in the sun with heart-racing, psychedelic rhythms and wondrous choruses that blow in the wind.

If you wish to be a part of The Neighbourhood Mixtape, you can contact Aldrin at aldrin [at] blogto [dotcom]