The Ocean Floor
Another week, another Mercury music section that's far less nuts than the new Ginger Baker documentary. The madman drummer is currently residing in "South Africa where he lives inside a fortified compound with his 29-year-old internet bride and 39 polo ponies." He hits one of the filmmakers in the face in the trailer. Searching for Sugar Man this isn't.
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Listening to the Ocean Floor's new album Falling Star Castle is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with your ears. The Portland band's left-field approach to pop is fresh, original, and totally invigorating.
LISTEN:

The Ocean Floor - "Big Screen TV"
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Bucking the age-old wisdom that major labels always know what's best, the saga of the splendid Seattle band Deep Sea Diver shows that sometimes going your own way can actually pay off. Weird, right?
LISTEN:

Deep Sea Diver - "Ships"
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Sacramento experimental hiphop group Death Grips leaked their own album onto the internet and put a super close-up photo of a dick on the cover. For some reason, their record label got mad.
LISTEN:

Death Grips - "Whammy"
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Showing remarkable restraint and economy, Finnish symphonic metal band Wintersun only used 1,600 tracks to record their new album.
LISTEN:

Wintersun - "Time"
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Plus a bunch of Up & Comings that won't hit you in the face... hard.