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Tag: Music Alliance Pact

  • Music Alliance Pact June 2012

    Sorry guys for the lateness. but don’t worry we’re back with 35 track from around the world and we have SemakBelukar as Indonesian ambassador right now. enjoy
    INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
    Semakbelukar – Be(ren)cana
    Palembang-based Semakbelukar add some attitude to this local, melancholy Malayan tune and push the boundaries of folk music. The title of this song about fate is a wordplay of Berencana (‘planning’) and Bencana (‘disaster’).

    Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 35-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

    ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
    Valle De Muñecas – Dos
    Dos is our favorite track from Valle De Muñecas’ third album, La Autopista Corre Del Océano Hasta El Amanecer. This is their best work to date, with 10 songs that leave behind the folk-rock vibe of their 2007 effort, Folk, and return to their original rock and ballad-driven sound. You can listen to and download the whole album for free from Bandcamp.

    AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
    Seven Year Itch – Ern Champion
    This young Melbourne quartet have their obvious musical heroes done right up to the top polo button. Ern Champion takes the popular concept of four white guys making calypso and throws in some restless treble guitars, counter-beat drums and echoed vocals, all in the Surfer Blood/Vampire Weekend vein. Clean, twee surf pop at its best. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, make sure you drop this on your summer playlist.

    AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
    Likewise – Hope Upon My Heels
    There must be something in the water in Upper Austria’s Kremstal region. Part of a collective of remarkably talented young bands, five-piece Likewise released their full-length debut Prometheus Run earlier this month. Covering topics ranging from Greek mythology to wanderlust to romance (obviously), the 12 songs on the album oscillate between folk and Americana.

    BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
    Os Skrotes – Estupro Dos Cisnes
    They look like three surfers from the city of Florianópolis, south Brazil, but when you listen to the sound of Skrotes (a deliberate wordplay on Strokes) you could get a real surprise. Their music goes through influences of progressive rock, 70s funk, dub, jazz, classical music and even punk rock. Estupro Dos Cisnes shows their progressive rock approach and some virtuosity in the use of synths.

    CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
    PS I Love You – Sentimental Dishes
    The thing that sets PS I Love You apart from other guitar-and-drum-based duos is the combination of Paul Saulnier and Benjamin Nelson. There is an instinctive interchange between Saulnier’s fretwork and Nelson’s taut rhythms that doesn’t come from drill and practice. Theirs is a natural partnership that works to serve the song. And they play with such fervency on Sentimental Dishes that I’m overcome with the desire to air-drum every time I hear it.

    CHILE: Super 45
    La Golden Acapulco – Da La Beleza Dab
    Ervalizer, Poli Jah and Dr Leinad make up the trio La Golden Acapulco. Through the use of machines and sound effects, the band have been experimenting with dub and Jamaican music, starting with the sonic expansion of reggae and its processed and remixed forms. Da La Beleza Dab is taken from their album Encuentra Las Joias Del Dub, available for free download here.

    COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
    Resina Lala – Mi Salto Mortal
    When you hear the sound of Resina Lala there is little option but to move your feet and feel this contagious, addictive music. Their first release is called Influjos Plásticos, a six-track journey through experimentation in a genre they call post-nuclear visual punk. But better than their music is the live show, where lead singer Cristina is quite the performer.

    DENMARK: All Scandinavian
    Penny Police – As Long As You Watch My Heart
    The purchase of an electric autoharp in 2009 was the beginning of what was to become Penny Police – the alias of singer and songwriter Marie Fjeldsted – and a lauded first album titled The Broken, The Beggar, The Thief (released in Denmark earlier this year), from which the excellent As Long As You Watch My Heart is offered here as a MAP exclusive download.

    ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
    Alt-J – Fitzpleasure
    This Cambridge four-piece have just released a debut album called An Awesome Wave that has received an awesome wave of glowing reviews for the band’s superb musicianship, excellent quirky songwriting and generally off-kilter approach to pop. Fitzpleasure – based on a chapter from Hubert Selby Jr’s book Last Exit To Brooklyn, so you already know this is going to be a notch or two above standard indie fare – is a typical example of what they do, in that it’s utterly unclassifiable, seemingly belonging as much to the world of dubstep as it does to folk.

    FINLAND: Glue
    Big Wave Riders – Waiting In The Wings
    There’s no better summer song than this one. Big Wave Riders will deliver their long-awaited debut album at the end of the summer, but before that we can enjoy the refreshing first taste of it. Waiting In The Wings is two-and-a-half minutes of modern-day surf pop.

    FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
    sHEPARD electrosoft in public garden – A Tribute
    sHEPARD electrosoft in public garden studied classical music and played organ before he decided to break free from classical rules while making his first album, Chroma, to compose electronic tunes. Influenced by the likes of Air, The Chemical Brothers, Björk and Aphex Twin, sHEPARD makes dark, ambient tracks that slowly build up to a peak that makes you eager to hear the sequel, like a movement in a piece of classical music would do. A Tribute is an excerpt from his latest album of the same name, released this month.

    GERMANY: Blogpartei
    Ursprung – Kalte Eiche
    German artists are finding nature again. Lots of bands have started to include organic sounds and noises in their acoustic or electronic music – you may call this ‘new kraut’, pun intended. The newest and perhaps most elaborate piece comes from Ursprung. The self-titled debut of Hendrik Weber, aka Pantha du Prince, and Stephan Abry, a member of Workshop, was released in May via Dial Records.

    GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
    Psychedelic Trips To Death – Within My Head
    With moments of breathing room and stripped melodies, Psychedelic Trips To Death delve into their psychedelic wall-of-sound identity and explore the conflict between noise and harmony. For all its familiarity and formula, debut single Within My Head sounds great. Here’s hoping they carve their own unique sound out more in the future. Their upcoming release, Malibou, is definitely something to mark on your calendar.

    ICELAND: Rjóminn
    Múgsefjun – Sendlingur Og Sandlóa
    Sendlingur Og Sandlóa is a song about relationships in which one partner spends long periods of time away from home. The lyrics paint a fairytale picture of a sedentary bird (the sendlingur) who’s in love with a migratory bird (the sandlóa) and the cyclic shift of emotions he goes through each year as the couple is reunited and then separated again. This song is from the highly-anticipated sophomore album from Reykjavík-based Múgsefjun.

    IRELAND: Nialler9
    Faws – Whitney
    Another to add to the growing ranks of talented Irish electronic producers, Faws has wisely chosen to remain anonymous so that the local scene would judge his music on its own merit first. But the wider world has also noticed and sites like XLR8R, Truants and Disco Naïveté have posted about his music since appearing with the downtempo Antonym EP in December 2011. New track Whitney seals the deal, slowing down Whitney Houston’s It’s Not Right But It’s Okay and shrouding the R&B track in an industrial cloud.

    ITALY: Polaroid
    The Tunas – The Autumn Stoned
    The Tunas started as a garage rock band, and a damn good one. With their self-titled third album, out now on the excellent Wild Honey Records, their songwriting has become more open to psychedelia, 60s beat and folk. But they still sound as powerful as ever. Rock in its purest form.

    JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
    LLLL – Because Of My Eyes
    Tokyo project LLLL exists in a Japanese scene crawling with bedroom-based acts making shadowy electronic music. What makes LLLL stand out, though, is their refusal to shy away from pop sounds. Because Of My Eyes features skittery drum programming and swirling electronics, but also puts pop-worthy singing high up in the mix, making this inward-looking song very accessible.

    MALTA: Stagedive Malta
    Monobrow MP – William
    After relative success as guitarist and vocalist in now-disbanded local band The Imagery, Lukas Grech and Jorje Bosios continued writing together. Having invested in some home studio equipment, they recorded the songs that had been written up to that point and released them individually – each with a video – over the course of a few months (2010-2011). This is the project that became Monobrow Musical Produce (MMP). The band has just released their debut album, Carpet Clown.

    MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
    Mexican Institute Of Sound – Es-toy
    Mexico is living election-time turmoil. On July 1, a new president will be elected for a six-year term. Students have risen to stop an imposed candidate, from the party that ruled a smooth dictatorship from 1929-2000, and now has plans to strike back. The so called ‘Mexican Spring’ couldn’t be a better time for Camilo Lara’s Mexican Institute Of Sound to release his fourth studio album, appropriately titled Político. It’s a work full of ironic cumbia, rockabilly and tropical-tronica tunes, with a straightforward commentary on the zeitgeist of our beautiful but convulsive country.

    NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
    Nouveau Vélo – What To Do
    “I wanna be like Marvin Gaye, sexual healing every day.” The words of What To Do don’t just call out some of this band’s more and less obvious influences (Morrissey, Josef K), they might also give you some clue as to why these boys from Helmond describe their sound as ‘healing pop’. One thing you can be sure of, though, is that you’re bound to feel better after hearing Nouveau Vélo’s sunny, reverb-heavy tunes.

    PERU: SoTB
    The Basurers – La Desdicha Del Perro Salchicha
    It’s time to show off one of 2012’s best new bands, The Basurers, a quartet who define their music as rock-blues, although this doesn’t do justice to the energy of their songs and their exceptional lyrics. La Desdicha Del Perro Salchicha is taken from debut EP, Váyanse Al Tacho, which you can download for free here.

    PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
    Wraygunn – Don’t You Wanna Dance?
    Wraygunn (named after legendary guitarist Link Wray and the Blake Edwards character Peter Gunn) are a band formed in Coimbra who mix rock ‘n’ roll, blues and soul. MAP exclusive download Don’t You Wanna Dance? is taken from their just-released fourth album, L’Art Brut.

    PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
    Tachdé – Lotus Eaters
    Tachdé is an experimental ensemble that delights in exploring the juxtaposition of psychedelic sounds with ambient and noise. Formed in 2006, the group has earned a reputation as one of the best sounding live groups in Puerto Rico. Lotus Eaters is a track from their sophomore effort, Deluge. This track showcases their ability to create a strong sense of beautiful longing.

    ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
    Cycler – Broken Mirror
    Cycler’s Polymath is an outstanding example of the glitch genre: beautifully layered, glitching and clicking in all the right places, flowing well and topped off with some very crisp production. There’s chaos and structure, chill and energy.

    RUSSIA: Big Echo
    Everything Is Made In China – Brittle Crystal
    Being one of the most popular indietronica bands in Russia, Everything Is Made In China never stops looking for new sounds. Brittle Crystal is a broad musical canvas with complex patterns and contrasts, and has a surprisingly good video which makes fun of Pitchfork, Stereogum and Gorilla vs. Bear, showing the usual path of a consumer from iBorn to Cool Cool Death.

    SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
    Olympic Swimmers – Father Said
    Olympic Swimmers’ debut album No Flags Will Fly triumphs in every path it treads, pushing exquisite, dreamy melodies through genres not typically associated with pop accessibility such as slowcore and post-rock. Star of the show is frontwoman Susie Smillie, who makes every lyric feel indispensable in her thick Scottish brogue. Here’s an exclusive free download of album opener Father Said – let it seep into your soul as it bubbles to the surface in a procession of searing crescendos.

    SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
    Basement In My Loft – Just Desserts
    Basement In My Loft’s second album, Subject To Change, features some of the most heartfelt and emotive rock music we’ve heard in a while. Maybe it’s got something to do with frontman Adrian Jones leaving Singapore and returning to Wales, or that urgency from recording and producing the entire album in five days. The band sounds exceptionally tight, with guitar lines and intense riffing shearing through the mixes with white-hot clarity, and Jones providing the purest and most painfully honest of vocal deliveries.

    SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
    Tristan Waterkeyn – To The Hills
    Tristan Waterkeyn has been around. He was born in Tanzania, moved to Kenya, then on to Zimbabwe and finally South Africa. It was here that he learned to play guitar, resulting in his debut solo album, Hay Day. His music has been described as “a combination of languid lyrics, effortless acoustic guitar, jazzy rhythms and gentle vocals”, which perfectly sums up To The Hills. This mellow song makes for easy listening.

    SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
    MukimukiManmansu – Andromeda
    MukimukiManmansu is one of the most interesting acts in Korea right now. The two young girls dub their unique acoustic sound “supranational intelligent punk” and they scream and shout according to temper. Their debut album, 2012, came out recently and it opens with Andromeda, a perfect introduction to the awesomeness of MukimukiManmansu. The title is Korean slang for something weird, crazy or stupid – and that’s exactly what this song is in the very best way possible.

    SPAIN: Musikorner
    Reina Republicana – Que Cunda El Pánico
    Reina Republicana are a a five-piece band from Pamplona and, together with Kokoshca (with whom they even used to share a member, Maite), they are Navarran noise-pop flagship bands. Formed in 2009 by Israel Medina, Reina Republicana are taking off in Spain’s indie scene, playing all around the country and becoming the talk of the town. Clearly influenced by noise acts such as The Jesus And Mary Chain, their lyrics can be romantic as well as melancholic and very dark. Que Cunda El Pánico is a love song set at when the world comes to an end.

    SWITZERLAND: 78s
    The Drops – Eleanor
    Up-and-coming indie act The Drops, from Basle, are a safe bet when it comes to a Swiss contribution to a playlist with summer hits. Their first single Fire On Your Feet (see video) was already a catchy tune, and now they drop their second haunting melody with Eleanor.

    TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
    She Past Away – Sanrı
    She Past Away is a new wave / post-punk band from Bursa, the opposite shore of Istanbul. Gothic lyrics with buzzsaw guitars, allegedly broken vocals and sensory drum effects, the band evokes the cavernous experiments of the darkwave era with the likes of The Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and Suicide. The band recently released their debut album, Belirdi Gece.

    UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
    Tropic Of Pisces – Symmetry
    Brooklyn’s Oberhofer affiliate Tropic Of Pisces make Graceland-inspired hi-life, complete with lushly plotted atmospherics, bubbly harmonies and buoyant, summery melodies. They’ve released a few songs so far, all of which could easily wind up on a best-of-summer playlist, and all taken from an upcoming EP out soon.

    VENEZUELA: Música y Más
    Melancólicos Anónimos – Tonto
    Melancólicos Anónimos is a collective formed in Caracas in early 2011 who describe their music as “angry rock for gentle people”. Earlier this year they released their first album, Inscripciones Abiertas, which comes with four music videos that can be viewed on the band’s website. They are currently working on their second album.

  • Music Alliance Pact February 2012

    Bulan ini kita mengirimkan band yang masih baru Spring/Summer ke Music Alliance Pact. 🙂
    selamat menikmati.

    Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

    ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
    Cosmo – Cazador
    Cosmo is an indie-pop band which features members or former members of other groups that are well-known to the Buenos Aires independent music scene (Pablo de Caro from Mataplantas, Ayar Sava from Interama, Pablo Font from Les Mentettes and Andrés Ravioli from Mompox and Brian Storming, among others). A couple of months ago they released their self-titled first album, with songs that combine vintage synthesized sounds and beats with acoustic instruments and fine arrangements. You can download the whole album for free.

    AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
    Squalloscope – Domino
    Anna Kohlweis has released three albums as Paper Bird, however these days she prefers her new alias Squalloscope. Goodbyes in bus terminals, long train rides, sitting on planes and bottles of wine have influenced her upcoming album Soft Invasions. Domino is a singer-songwriter take on R’n’B combined with postmodern lyrics: “I’m a copy of a copy of a copy of a woman, you’re the copy of a copy of a copy of a guy.”

    BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
    Graveola e o Lixo Polifônico – Insensatez: A Mulher Que Fez
    Graveola e o Lixo Polifônico is a creative band that experiments with MPB (mainstream Brazilian pop music) and makes organic mashups, appropriating themes of bands from various genres to create new works. Their new record is available for download from their website.

    CANADA: I(Heart)Music
    Amity Beach – Jake’s Version Of Paradise
    Seeing as Amity Beach a) only have a three-song EP to their name and b) look like they’re probably still in high school, I might be jumping the gun on praising them. Still, listening to this track (along with the other two), it’s hard not to be excited. They’ve got a great ear for catchy pop and I’d be surprised – not to mention a little disappointed – if this doesn’t lead to some great things.

    CHILE: Super 45
    Survey Team – Valdivia De Viña
    A couple of years ago, Survey Team was just a frail bedroom duo with singer Carla Bolgeri adding colorful and sweet melodies to folk-guitar patterns created by her bandmate, Francisco Marín. They’ve certainly changed. Today, they are a powerful quintet with sounds that shock and hit with electric sensuality. Valdivia De Viña is a summer première, soon to be included in their debut album Suriname, which validates Survey Team as a pop delicacy from the current Chilean pop wave and a highly versatile band by successfully flirting with reggae.

    CHINA: Wooozy
    Mr. Graceless – Mr. Li
    Mr. Graceless is a Beijing-based indie-rock trio. They try to keep a low profile, moving forward step by step. They are tepid and unassuming, and have a clear-cut stand on what to love and what to hate. The love, pain, fantasy and fervor of youth are the best tags for their music. They prefer beautiful melodies and independent attitude. Mr. Graceless is touring around China with their debut release The Tree Ever Green.

    COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
    Julián Mayorga – ¿Cómo Llorar Al Revés o Regresar Al Asfalto o…?
    ¿Cómo Llorar Al Revés o Regresar Al Asfalto o Espantar Mi Propio Cuerpo Inerte o Desaparecer y Volver a Aparecer? – this is the complete title of this piece by singer-songwriter Julián Mayorga, born in Ibagué. It’s an interesting, poetic union between pop and folk that hides, in what he calls La Pequeña Orquesta Sintética (synths and computers), the deep and very personal landscapes that his soft voice creates.

    DENMARK: All Scandinavian
    Spleen United – Bright Cities Keep Me Awake
    “We are still wild animals,” Spleen United proclaim on Bright Cities Keep Me Awake, from their long-awaited and impressive third full-length, School Of Euphoria. It’s a sentiment carrying truth and one somewhat defining for principal songwriter and frontman Bjarke Niemann’s lyrical appendage to the dark, synthesized rock reminiscing 90s electro, house and (euro)dance. It makes School Of Euphoria a rather despondent, while immensely awesome, listen.

    ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
    Wild Combination – Great Expectations
    Wild Combination’s sound itches and twists in an effort to etch itself across indie’s sonic history. It shouldn’t worry so much. The Essex trio responsible know how to channel the best of recent backbeat melancholia (Foals, The Postal Service) and that’s more than enough. This demo version of Great Expectations – mixed specially for MAP – clips along, the addition of a swarth of dreamy synths tying it just to the right side of funky.

    FINLAND: Glue
    Black Twig – Lake Song
    Noise, pop, fuzz, sound experiments. Black Twig is one of the hottest bands in the Finnish indie scene at the moment with their just-released debut album, Paper Trees. In their own words, Black Twig’s sound has echoes of modern fuzzed-out pop experiments as well as of 60s garage-rock gems, sometimes developing a sensibility for hypnotic, repetitive drones.

    FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
    Cracbooms – @soleil
    Cracbooms are more than a band. They are a group of friends who sing about how sweet and simple life is when surrounded by your loved ones, when there are pretty girls around and the sun shines above your head. Their lyrics are filled with humor and casualness, and are written with an unsettling easiness. As for their sound, it’s a mix between the guitars of Two Door Cinema Club and pop à la Young Michelin. I think they’ve found the perfect combination.

    GERMANY: Blogpartei
    Wooden Peak – Pills Start Work
    The two guys behind Wooden Peak are getting famous for their gigs where they occupy a whole stage while just sitting on their stools, carefully watching each other. Although their set-up with guitar and drums seems quite like a garage band, their singing and acoustic play triggers very different emotions – calm and dizziness, homeliness and wanderlust. Pills Start Work is a great MAP exclusive which slightly resembles early Whitest Boy Alive. The album Lumen has just been released on the lovely label Analogsoul.

    GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
    Bokomolech – Talk About Fires
    Nine years is a long time to wait, but new album Mass Vulture finds Bokomolech embracing and sifting through the finer moments of their past over the course of 10 outstanding songs. The record is once again exceptionally crafted and gorgeously composed, richly textured and potently rhythmic, instilled with instrumental mastery and consistent music ideas, powerfully expressive vocals, remarkable melodic turns, lovely harmonic noises, sleek and slippery riffs. They have created a sparse and thrilling work of strikingly expansive ambition with the arresting delicacy of the quieter, dreamier tunes capable of ripping up your emotions.

    ICELAND: Rjóminn
    Vigri – Animals
    Animals is from Vigri’s debut album Pink Boats. The band decided to travel around many of the small churches in Iceland’s countryside to record the song, but the end result is from what they recorded in the Flatey island church.

    INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
    Spring/Summer – Tonight
    Spring/Summer come from Bandung and are the freshest breed of (what we Indonesians call) Britpop revivalism. With a twist of The Smiths, Joy Division and Blueboy and a bit of attitude, they make tasty, raw music. They probably won’t be the next big thing, but their music provides enjoyable reminiscing of teenage years spent looking for second-hand Smiths CDs at the local thrift store.

    IRELAND: Nialler9
    Redahan – Ru In Daejeon
    If I could, I would pick the entire Loud Mouth collective as Ireland’s MAP representatives this month. They are a coterie of producers, rappers, musicians and DJs who have released three volumes of freely downloadable new music taking in electronica, rap and post-dubstep. Redahan is one producer at the heart of the collective and his evocative and expansive Ru In Daejeon is indicative of the collective’s scope and vision.

    ITALY: Polaroid
    Heike Has The Giggles – Breakfast
    On their sophomore album, Crowd Surfing, the young Heike Has The Giggles pin down even more precisely the range of their influences – from the lighter Nineties pop-punk full of fun to the stronger Noughties punk funk à la Gossip. And damn, they are very good at mixing these. Breakfast is the new album’s first single.

    JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
    Cloudy Busey – Up To You (If You Love Me)
    Cloudy Busey takes many cues from house music on Up To You (If You Love Me), yet this long-burning song never feels exuberant. Rather, the Osaka-based Busey inverts the sounds of a club into something apt for a shadowy alleyway. The beat pounds on relentlessly, but the spacey synths and singing evoke the loneliness of long, solitary walks home early in the morning set against neon lights. If nights out tend to bring you down, here is the jam for you.

    MALTA: Stagedive Malta
    Danjeli – Midnight Carpet Ride
    Besides being a maverick club DJ and an accomplished musician in his own right, Danjeli is also a member of the renegade Maltese folk band Brikkuni. This year he released another solo album, KontroNatura, available for free download from Complex Sound Sagacity.

    MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
    Uvilov – De Tantos Universos Paralelos
    “Playing dreampop since 2005,” is the slogan of this pioneering band. De Tantos Universos Paralelos is the gigantic overture to their new album El Desprendimiento, which promises to be an overload of feedback and chaos restrained under a structure. Uvilov might be intending to picture a party where the mankind of tomorrow is invited only if its conscience allows it to.

    NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
    Wooden Constructions – Full Brother
    There’s been a buzz brewing for Amsterdam’s Wooden Constructions for a year or two already, their edgy live performances stealing the limelight from a host of international indie wannabes along the way. Well, it’s all set to reach boiling point when they finally unleash their debut album People Now People in spring. A barrage of taut dance grooves, minimalistic riffage and unsettling narratives, they provide a contemporary glimpse of post-punk at its maniacal best. Check out first single Full Brother for a taster of their danceable gloom, making the bold promise that the intensity of their live shows will carry over onto tape.

    NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
    Grass Cannons – Wendy’s
    If hissing noise and warm melodies are your buzz then Auckland four-piece Grass Cannons should be on your radar. They’ve just released their debut EP Vet Dream, containing five darting guitar songs that each take a different path but ultimately lead to the same satisfactory conclusion. While a noisy mess rides heavy throughout their music and kidnaps a bit of their style, within each song there are several minutes of genius song structure that highlights their ability to write amazing pop-influenced punk music. Deerhunter, The Clean and Grooms come to mind when describing their sound, but Grass Cannons seem good enough to leave those influences out of the equation.

    NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
    Storm The Bastille – Circle Robotics
    You never know quite what to expect when listening to a song by Storm The Bastille. Their schizophrenic and mildly cacophonic music is unpredictable, strange and full of surprising twists. The only constant is the great energy the band possess. It’s fast, energetic, melodic and a bit dark with a sense of impending doom that creeps up close.

    PERU: SoTB
    Los Zapping – Cine Mudo
    Los Zapping began toying with music when they were still in school, but their garage-rock soon won a place in Lima nights and an authentic touch of freshness was about to be born. Their first EP, released in 2007, was considered the best of that year. Teoría De La Televisión y La Radio was released in 2011, an album that reaffirms the strength and talent of this band.

    PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
    Sun Glitters – They Don’t Want To Let You Know (Sumsun Remix)
    Victor Ferreira aka Sun Glitters, born to Portuguese parents in Luxembourg, has been praised by The Guardian, FADER and Pitchfork. For this reason, his newest release, High EP, which came out on January 30, was highly anticipated. On it, Victor continues his voyage through a dreamy electronic world. This track is a remix of one of the songs on the EP.

    ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
    Methadone Skies – Vs. Evil
    Methadone Skies are a bunch of young guys from Timisoara playing the music they themselves like to listen to – psychedelic, progressive, stoner, post-rock, ambient or just noise – most of the time jamming in the studio with excellent results. Keep your ears opened for them as they’re about to release their new album, Enter The Void.

    RUSSIA: Big Echo
    Brodsky – Death Note
    Brodsky plays beautifully-orchestrated romantic folk with flowery melodies, youthful vocals and sad eyes that might remind you of Beirut or Jens Lekman. Nowadays, it’s truly a blessing to find such an artist in Russia.

    SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
    Craig_FS – Grass Stain (feat. Rachel Tesfaye)
    Grass Stain is a musical head-turner – an 8.5-minute electro/house fusion with an outstanding soulful female guest vocal that takes you on a trip of a lifetime labelled bliss-euphoria-bliss. Craig_FS has been been making and uploading songs to Soundcloud for the past year, and the potential is certainly there for him to follow in the mainstream footsteps of compatriot Calvin Harris.

    SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
    Obedient Wives Club – Fragments
    The first release by 60s indie-pop distributors Happy Teardrop Music is the debut self-titled EP by Obedient Wives Club, and what a hit it’s been with all physical copies selling out within a month. The band, cheekily named after a controversial Muslim organisation of the same name, plays a delightful blend of girly noise-pop – or what they helpfully term “Spectorgaze”. Fragments indulges its Jesus And Mary Chain obsession with generous doses of saccharine melodies and interstellar fuzz.

    SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
    MDS – Insomnia
    DJ duo MDS released their first album in July last year, full of remixes of songs from some of the best artists in Seoul’s indie scene. In January, they released a digital single with a couple of songs of their own, showing that they’re also capable of crafting great pieces of music themselves. Insomnia is a smooth electronica track that lends itself very well as a soundtrack to a walk just about anywhere.

    SPAIN: Musikorner
    Novedades Carminha – Pesetas
    Novedades Carminha are a garage-rock three-piece from Santiago de Compostela, and they’re starting to be the talk of the town. Their songs are energy-packed and irreverent, making fun of everyday topics but vindicating them at the same time. Their lyrics hold true punk spirit. Pesetas, taken from their first album Jódete y Baila, released in early 2011, is a true jewel of dirty Spanish rock.

    SWEDEN: Swedesplease
    Kids – My Sincerest Apologies
    Electronic pop duo Kids are shockingly good. Sure there a few cheesy moments in the single My Sincerest Apologies but it gives the song a bit of fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

    SWITZERLAND: 78s
    John Caroline – Robine
    John Caroline is a young six-piece from Baden who make playful, jittery and dreamy indie rock. Their debut EP is released as a free download on February 18.

    TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
    The Ringo Jets – Collar
    The Ringo Jets, consisting of two guitarists and a drummer, is a rock ‘n’ roll band inspired by 60s garage music and blues rock. They made a big splash in Istanbul indie circles with their Limited Lunchpack EP, which you can download for free from Bandcamp. After signing with Aisha Records, they’re planning to release their debut album by the end of the year.

    UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
    That Ghost – Morning Now
    Californian lo-fi bedroom artist That Ghost has been making music since before he could drive a car. His sound has grown and changed as much as he has from tween state to young adulthood. OK, he was never a tween but a pure artist whose latest EP Rosalind is a gem. Check out the slow-burning Morning Now, like, right now.

    VENEZUELA: Música y Más
    Mcklopedia – Guardián
    Mcklopedia is a young man who, back in 2001, identified with a genre and took it as his philosophy and way of life. He explicitly shows the reality of the world’s great cities, the everyday stories that come to a close in households every night. Superlirical, his debut album, seeks to represent a new concept in urban music, combining soul, reggae, funk and hip hop.

  • Music Alliance Pact January 2012 : feat Belkastrelka

    Bulan ini kabar bahagia menghampiri Belkastrelka yang musiknya terdistribusi ke 36 negara sekaligus, dan kamu pun bisa turut merayakannya dengan mengumpulkan 36 lagu-lagu dari band-band asoi pilihan dari 36 negara. Silahkan menikmati dan boleh juga lho disebarkan.
    Kebetulan band ini juga merilis single nya di tautan ini, download juga ya.

    Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

    ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
    Nubes En Mi Casa – Aceleremos
    Nubes En Mi Casa is an indie-pop band led by singer Josefina Mac Loughlin. Aceleremos is a preview from their upcoming second studio album, Me Suelto y Vuelvo. The song sounds like an instant hit and we’re sure it will become one of our favorite tracks of 2012, so we can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

    AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
    Sures – The Sun
    The Sun is a short burst of sunshine from Sydney duo Sures. It sounds like a Beach Boys outtake, which might sound boring given the number of bands out there paying homage to Wilson and Co. Fortunately, The Sun is just two minutes of harmonising over a dull melody – it’s a catchy tune that will have those of us in the southern hemisphere pressing repeat throughout summer.

    AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
    Diver – Illusions
    Quiet is the new loud. Diver, a folky trio from various places in Austria and Germany and now based in Vienna, play beautifully melancholic songs with three acoustic guitars and lyrics that go “everyday reality is an illusion of possibilities”. Illusions is the opener of their first full-length album Kites, which will be out later this month. In the meantime you can listen to their self-titled debut EP on Bandcamp.

    BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
    Bixiga 70 – Balboa Da Silva
    Bixiga 70 is what happens when you combine African beats, jazz and Brazilian swing in a city as hectic as São Paulo, where they’re from. Their first CD was released last year and is available to download at the band’s website.

    CANADA: I(Heart)Music
    Honheehonhee – We Only Go
    There’s more than a hint of early Arcade Fire to We Only Go but, as someone who misses early Arcade Fire, I don’t see why that’s a strike against Honheehonhee. Besides, this song (not to mention the rest of their debut, Shouts) is exuberant, unhinged fun, and the world can always use more music like that.

    CHILE: Super 45
    Los Embajadores – Peso
    From all the tips made in the Chilean music scene for this year, Los Embajadores is one of the most interesting. Romantic goth-pop songs reminiscent of Cocteau Twins as well as the darkest hours of Miguel Bosé. Faisanes is the name of their soon-to-come new album, and Peso (“Weight”) is its first single.

    CHINA: Wooozy
    Elenore – Psycho Man
    Beijing-based Elenore formed in late 2009 and have developed a sound influenced by bands such as Oasis, Kasabian and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The single Psycho Man fuses 60s swing drum loops, fuzzy guitar riffs and a Middle Eastern instrumental chorus which became a hit on China’s popular site Douban. In February, Elenore will release their first EP both on CD and the band’s own digital distribution site.

    DENMARK: All Scandinavian
    Nelson Can – Apple Pie
    Danish girl-trio Nelson Can release their eponymous debut EP this month as part of a triple EP release with The Freudian Slip and Echo Me. Punk aesthetics spoon with pop flair and hipster cool on their first single Apple Pie, which reaffirms that apples are indeed a good thing. Like the girls on Facebook and check out the video for Apple Pie on YouTube.

    ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
    Money – Who’s Going To Love You Now
    A four-piece based in Manchester, Money are part of that city’s tradition of earnest young men, “the weight on their shoulder”, as Ian Curtis once sang. They quote Austrian poet Rilke, while their Facebook features a “eulogy for the death of everything”. A recent Guardian New Band of the Day article contended that they “have a similar air of mystery and cerebral intensity to Wu Lyf, with a vocalist who can do enigmatically gruff as well as fervid and angelic”, positing them as the Mancunian Manic Street Preachers, with a shared sense of the sacred and intense.

    ESTONIA: Popop
    Zebra Island – Falling Through
    Mysterious Zebra Island rocketed into blogs and social networks at the very end of 2011 and everyone in Estonia seems to love them, although no-one knows much about the band. Zebra Island is led by Rasmus Lill from Kosmofon (featured in the March 2011 edition of MAP) and beautiful vocals are provided by Helina Risti. Falling Through, their first and only song so far, is a lovely, pulsating electro-pop masterpiece that keeps you wanting for much more Zebra Island.

    FINLAND: Glue
    Greymouth – The Boy
    Singer and songwriter Elisa Husu founded Greymouth in the summer of 2011 to recreate her folky songs with a full band. The Boy is the first taster of this project and highlights Elisa’s beautiful voice on top of epic acoustic sounds with a marked Fleet Foxes influence.

    FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
    Concrete Knives – Brand New Start
    A perfect title for the first song of the year, Brand New Start is a highly enjoyable pop song, so good it’s featured in a commercial, and so fresh with its choir and upbeat sound, I would name it song of the year. Very good proof that the French indie scene is better than ever.

    GERMANY: Blogpartei
    Apparat – Ash/Black Veil
    This month we’ve got one of the most discussed German artists of last year. Apparat’s 2011 album The Devil’s Walk took the concept of Sascha Ring, the man behind the moniker, further. The soundscapes created feels like a cairn, carefully layered and poised, yet built to last; but Ring has decided to use his falsetto, which has caused controversy with reviewers. Decide for yourself if this concept works well on Ash/Black Veil. I think it does!

    GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
    Hristos Lainas – H Thlipsi To Brady
    Hristos Lainas’ first solo album, I Agapi Tha Lampsi (“Love Will Shine”) is stuffed to the brim with alluring pop melodies, drenched in skittering 12-bit samplers, filtered vocals, warm and luscious analog synths and infused with a pleasant aura of drowsiness. Lainas assembles an array of sounds and textures, adds sporadic splashes of static atmosphere and in the process creates a magnificent listening environment of rose-tinted optimism and disenchantment. H Thlipsi To Brady (“Sadness In The Night”) submerges a sense of intense feeling within its 80s fantasy electronic ether and instantly takes hold of your ears.

    ICELAND: Rjóminn
    Toggi – Let Them Bleed
    This catchy little song, taken from the Iceland king of pop’s second album Wonderful Secrets, should be the anthem for any self-respecting Occupy movement. Feeling a need to protest? Then let Toggi’s tune occupy your mind and fire you up.

    INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
    Belkastrelka – Pujian Ekspatriat
    Belkastrelka are an eccentric electronic duo who sample sounds from various sources – windows, the library, television, nature and everything else. Combined with the tiny but wild vocals of Asa Rahmana, they create feral dance music.

    IRELAND: Nialler9
    Collie Collins & Monto – How Does?!?
    A collaboration indicative of Ireland’s growing insurgency against genre borders, Keep Her Lit is an EP which was released last year from Dublin rapper Collie Collins. Teaming up with producer Monto for four tracks of electronic-infused rap, the result is something wholly Irish yet globally progressive. It’s a free download too.

    ITALY: Polaroid
    Esperanza – Aliante Giallo
    Three skilled musicians and DJs put together a project devoted to an idea of music with no barriers. The sound ranges from chillwave to house, from trip-hop to psychedelia, and becomes a wide landscape. Featuring a collaboration with Banjo Or Freakout and released on the prestigious German label Gomma, this album works magic when the bpms slow down and the electronics becomes warmer and warmer.

    JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
    Praha Depart – Portrait Man
    Praha Depart demand attention, the Tokyo band mixing constantly morphing guitar with drum smashes to create mesmerizing tracks that reveal new sonic details with each new listen. All of those elements appear on Portrait Man, but the highlight of the song is lead singer Mai and her jittery voice. Over the course of Portrait Man, her vocals bring to mind Lydia Lunch before zigging towards a style reminiscent of Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings.

    MALTA: Stagedive Malta
    Dolls For Idols – Run
    Dolls For Idols are an electronic band underpinned by indie and pop sensibilities. Their music embraces 80s-inspired synthesised sounds and the 90s rave generation, all served up with an attitude that is very much rooted in the here and now.

    MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
    Los Mundos – Ni Un Segundo Más Sin Música
    Los Mundos is a long-distance collaboration that perfectly speaks about musical memory and desertic solitude. The title of this lush pop-shoegaze song means “Not a second more without music”. Indeed, it’s the urgent need of a music lover: to spend all their time in a record store (how nostalgic), living their days wearing headphones with an obsession for everything that spins – very accurate for a band whose name in Spanish translates as “The Worlds”.

    NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
    Hospital Bombers – Traditional Maori Fight Song #9
    This self-proclaimed stadium-folk outfit have been in hiding for too long, sitting on a wealth of new material that they’ve struggled to shape into that ‘difficult second album’. Thankfully, this month they’ll finally release the sequel to 2008’s Footnotes – the grandly titled At Budokan. Their lovingly lo-fi folk-pop is always rougher and rawer in the live setting, but this new collection again shows them up to be masters of careful songcraft, albeit unashamedly quirky songcraft that’s emblazoned with handclaps and violins.

    NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
    Billie Van – On My Knees
    Billie Van’s music makes me reminisce back to the 50s and the 60s, when country music was good and Nancy Sinatra was the one; when rock ‘n’ roll meant four chords and terrific songs; when guitar solos were mandatory and slapback echo came from the amps. Her music is all of this – great pop songs, tearful country ballads and hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s also new and done in a refreshing way.

    PERU: SoTB
    Chico Unicornio – Triángulo
    Once again, it is the independent scene that gives us another interesting musical proposal. Chico Unicornio is a one-man project that combines acoustic folk sounds with a nice Andean instrument called a charango. The music that this young man makes is new to our local sound, giving it a freshness and novelty.

    PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
    We Trust – Time (Better Not Stop)
    We Trust is André Tentugal’s one-man band. In 2011, Time (Better Not Stop) was one of the most-played tracks by a new independent artist on Portuguese radio. We are proud to have it here, exclusively, for download for MAP readers. You can also find it on We Trust’s debut album, These New Countries, which was released in November.

    ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
    Coughy – Precambrian
    Coughy are an experimental duo residing in Bucharest, featuring former and current band members of The Amsterdams. Therefore it is regarded as a creative playground where everything is accepted as a form of expression without the self-censorship required when playing in a regular and quite popular indie-rock band.

    RUSSIA: Big Echo
    M A Y Г L E Y – Farfour
    M A Y Г L E Y are getting ready to strike Russia’s cruel winter with an ancient God’s spell, drowned in a wall of sound. Religion, symbolism, adrenaline, isolated genres and the naked language of post-Stalin 60s influence this psychedelic shoegaze project, who have made a great record.

    SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
    Make Sparks – Your Heart’s On Fire
    Scotland’s rock scene is firmly in the spotlight thanks to the wildly successful exploits of Biffy Clyro and young pretenders Twin Atlantic. For those looking for the next band to follow in their footsteps, two contenders stand out: Make Sparks and LightGuides (featured in the July 2010 edition of MAP). Catchy choruses are fitted as standard on Make Sparks, who are making all the right noises with their relentless touring and recording ethic, slick promo videos and a vivacious pop sensibility.

    SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
    Riot !n Magenta – CTRL
    Do androids dream of electric sheep? One thinks of such things when the contrast between the organic and inorganic meld together into a primordial blur of passion. Riot !n Magenta gently slip into the stream of your thoughts with Hayashida Ken’s dark, pulsing rhythms and Eugenia Yip’s wispful and forlorn vocal delivery. There’s tension in every stem as the words haze through: “I try to take it slow, you go faster…You need control…”. Definitely hoping to hear more from this special duo.

    SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
    Jeremy Loops – The Gypsy Opera
    Jeremy Loops is not a traditional band. He creates music on the spot with his gamut of loop pedals and impromptu collaborations. With The Gypsy Opera, he brings together his delicate mix of folk, hip-hop, bluegrass funk and blues all by using his guitar, ukelele, harmonica and beatboxing skills. It is something rather magical to behold.

    SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
    Galaxy Express – As Time Passes, Always Been Good
    Galaxy Express is one of the best rock bands in Korea and have been for quite some time. During their Wild 30 project in 2010, a 30-day quest during which they recorded a piece of music for their Wild Days album every day, they showed that they put on the best of performances, even just going to karaoke. In late 2011, Galaxy Express released split EP Naughty Boy with Korean punk pioneers Crying Nut, which contained a re-recording of the somewhat atypical but gorgeous and engaging As Time Passes, Always Been Good from those wild days. Look out for more from Galaxy Express in 2012 as they’re heading for a US tour in March and playing SXSW for the second time.

    SPAIN: Musikorner
    Dolores – Volcán
    Dolores are four, they’re from Madrid and they are certainly one of the best hopes for noise-rock made in Spain. Post-punk and shoegaze are two of the genres Dolores mix for achieving their sound (which is also spiced up with a touch of good ol’ pop and loads of energy). A good bit of that power can be heard on Volcán (“Volcano”), whose stunning rhythm will invite you to dance the hell out of yourself. And you won’t be able to refuse.

    SWITZERLAND: 78s
    Blanket – Hailey Fought The Law
    Want to watch a video starring the runner-up of the figure roller-skating world championships dressed as a rabbit? Here you go. Given that Blanket’s accompanying song is a fragile and psychedelic piece of awesomeness, we obviously have a win-win situation.

    TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
    Haossaa – Holgar Godoni
    Last year, Ozan Aktuna, Enis Özbek and Tolga Güldallı, three-pieced avant garde noise band Haossaa, became legends in the indie scene of Istanbul, mostly for their extraordinary live performances. And when their debut LP came out last September, their reputation finally got crowned.

    UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
    Fantasy Island – Avenue
    One of 2012’s more promising American groups is Fantasy Island, a Los Angeles duo responsible for a pair of intriguing, soulful jams since their formation in late 2011. They’ve got a new single out on UK label Stroll On Records and a debut album on the horizon. With a song like Avenue (and the equally fantastic Breaking A Heart) it’s hard to keep wild expectations in check… guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the year cooks up.

    VENEZUELA: Música y Más
    Okills – Nube
    Okills is a band that started in mid-2010 and fuses alternative indie-rock with other genres, resulting in some fun music. In September 2011, they released their Iniciando Transmisión EP for free via the web in a pack that includes six songs, illustrations and photos of the band.

  • Music Alliance Pact November 2011

    Selamat menikmati perjalanan keliling 34 negara bersama Polka Wars; band indie rock muda asal Jakarta yang sedang naik daun.

    INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
    Polka Wars – Horse Hooves
    Horse Hooves is an echoey, spacey song made by a collective of young boys influenced by the current fuzzed and mopey music scene. You’ll love their simple interpretation of what we call humble music.

    Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 35-track compilation via MediaFire.

    ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
    Fútbol – El Asedio De River
    El Eternauta is an amazing science fiction comic created by Argentine comic strip writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published from 1957 to 1959. Los Ellos is a tribute compilation to this work and its author, one of 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983. The album contains 18 original tracks written by independent bands from La Plata and Buenos Aires. El Asedio De River is one of them, an instrumental track from alternative rock trio Fútbol.

    AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
    Feathers – Cat Burgler
    Cat Burgler is a sweet new jam from Brisbane’s Feathers, taken from their forthcoming 12″ Hunter’s Moon, out through Bon Voyage. The song showcases this all-female four-piece’s ability to intertwine whimsy and hooks into irresistible tunes suited for both Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

    BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
    Kassin – Calça De Ginástica
    Kassin is a producer who has worked with some of the most creative artists in Brazilian contemporary music. He has also played in some bands and projects and this year he released his first solo album, from which Calça De Ginástica is taken. The electronic pop is combined with funny lyrics in which a man tells of his desires with a girl he knows (such as having sex with her in a paraplegic’s bathroom while wearing his gym clothes).

    CANADA: I(Heart)Music
    First Rate People – Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art
    Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art is a dance song, but only in the way that, say, All My Friends is a dance song. It’s got incredibly catchy beats and a wonderful vocal performance, but it’s held together by a genuine emotional core. It, and the album it comes from, are currently free for download from Bandcamp, so there’s really no reason not to go get it right now.

    CHILE: Super 45
    Fernando Milagros – Carnaval (feat. Christina Rosenvinge)
    San Sebastián, the third album from singer-songwriter Fernando Milagros, is, in simple terms, a masterpiece. Although in his early days as a musician Milagros pointed towards a more contemplative kind of folk (a big reference here would be Nick Drake or the calmer moments of Devendra Banhart), in his newest album he explores South American music, creating denser pieces, darker yet more powerful. Carnaval, the first single from the album, features guest Spanish musician Christina Rosenvinge.

    CHINA: Wooozy
    Tong Dang – Don’t Let Me Cry
    Tong Dang formed in 2001 in Chengdu. Their name is derived from the Chinese word meaning “Young Gang”. They started off as a melodic nu-metal band and gradually added elements of pop-punk and emo. Tong Dang are known for their explosive performances which features catchy hooks and melodies. Don’t Let Me Cry is taken from their album Far Away, released in 2007.

    DENMARK: All Scandinavian
    Echo Me – Darkest Hour
    It’s alternative pop-rock with a folksy touch. It’s Echo Me aka Jesper Madsen. It’s an eponymous debut album. And it’s great.

    ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
    WooWoos – Fizzy Lettuce
    WooWoos are Nicky, Tasie and Jess, three London girls shaping up to be the new Sugababes – only the Sugababes when they were good, when Keisha, Mutya and Siobhan were in the group, not the three ciphers they’ve got in now. They’re funny, they’re sassy, and their debut single, Fizzy Lettuce, is 90s trip-hop revisited with a solid chorus that suggests there in a substantial musical base below the fizz and pop. We still don’t know what is a Woo Woo, or indeed what is fizzy lettuce, but at least they’re getting us thinking, these sugar-babes with subversive intent.

    ESTONIA: Popop
    Ewert And The Two Dragons – Jolene
    Ewert And The Two Dragons, consisting of Evert Sundja, Erki Pärnoja, Ivo Etti and Kristjan Kallas, sky-rocketed into the Estonian music scene in autumn 2009 with their debut album The Hills Behind The Hills. 2010 was a busy year for the Dragons: they performed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including noted festivals such as Tallinn Music Week and Positivus. Their smooth sounds and melodies have been praised both at home and abroad. Their second album, Good Man Down, came out in April and has enjoyed tremendous success.

    FINLAND: Glue
    The Saturnettes – Girl Name Sue
    The Saturnettes, from Tampere, blend in a refreshing way the 70s glam rock sounds of David Bowie and T. Rex with a touch of new wave and synth-pop. Girl Named Sue is the very catchy first single off their debut album.

    FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
    1995 – La Source
    Ask someone from France if they like French rap and they will most likely answer ‘no’, but ask if they likes old-school rap and the answer is most likely to be ‘yes’. And that’s what this month’s band is all about: old-school rap, with modern lyrics. 1995 (or “un-double-neuf-cinq”/”un-neuf-neuf-cinq”) is a young rap collective (five MCs, one DJ) hailing from Paris who released an extraordinary, well-received EP, La Source, last June. The EP is a work of art for people disappointed and bored by gangsta-like music, and is almost a miracle for the purists as well, thanks to the return to basics, the flow and the instrumentals. You can buy La Source on Amazon or iTunes.

    GERMANY: Blogpartei
    Jolly Goods – If I Were A Woman
    When you listen to Jolly Goods’ second album Walrus, released recently on Staatsakt, you should be prepared for some serious disarray. Their songs, especially their lyrics, bear testament to a deep doubt in the world as it appears to these two sisters; they capture emotions like anger, trepidation and a little bit of hope in an extraordinary way.

    GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
    Sugar Factory – 440
    Sugar Factory have unleashed their luminous, lilting, lovely debut single, the double A-side 440 / Explosions. It’s an insular instrumental experience, casting intrigue in the minute details, an immersive and inevitably cinematic gem rich in fuzzy memories, nostalgia, melody and atmosphere, with woozy accordion that accentuates the underlying emotions, guitars and samples with an otherworldly quality that lingers with you. Listen to 440, a perfect mood piece as the night begins to draw in.

    IRELAND: Nialler9
    We Cut Corners – Go Easy
    Go Easy is a fine example of what to expect from Today I Realised I Could Go Backwards, the debut album from Dublin duo We Cut Corners. Restricting themselves to drums, guitar and voice doesn’t hamper John Duignan and Conall O’Breachain in the construction of their direct songs. Rather, they find new ways to create unique songs from a limited palette. They might Go Easy but they will go far.

    ITALY: Polaroid
    Horrible Present – Cloudy Talks
    Nicola Donà used to sing in the band Calorifero, now he lives in London and writes music under the moniker Horrible Present. His new songs are more lo-fi, bedroom pop-oriented, ranging from synth-driven experimental tunes to romantic acoustic guitar ballads, but always with a big shining love for melodies. And the love is returned. Expect a debut album in early 2012.

    JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
    Avec Avec – Kuzuha No Sunday
    Avec Avec is one of the most promising young artists to emerge in a burgeoning electronic scene based in the Kansai region. Kuzuha No Sunday stands as one of the best tracks from this fledgling movement, a stuttering beat-driven song reminiscent of Bibio or Cornelius that sounds like a perfect sunny Sunday. The sweetest part comes via that glitchy vocal sample, one of the most joyous sounds to come out of Japan this year.

    MALTA: Stagedive Malta
    Cable 35 – Cow Head
    Formed in 2006, Cable 35 have become known for their highly energetic performances and are arguably Malta’s tightest band. The three-piece is made up of singer and guitarist Jeffrey Zerafa, bassist Kriz Zahra and drummer Chris Mallia. Following a couple of EPs, the band released their aptly-titled debut album Louder three months ago and are currently touring Europe to promote it. Louder brings back Bleach-era Nirvana to your ears.

    MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
    Antoine Reverb – You As A Fish
    The tradition states that Guadalajara is the quintessential land for Machos and Mariachi in Mexico. But Antoine Reverb (actually a quintet, not a person) doesn’t belong to their time and place. On their splendid second album Everything Is A Foreign Language To Me, the band sets their inner clocks backwards on a swirly Victorian time-travel in a quest to reach the land of the Pet Sounds, rabbit-holing on a twee-gaze mood (reminiscent of Broadcast in the 90s), finally sliding on a spiral that leads to confusing atmospheres that resemble the soundtrack for the Czech vampire film Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders. Antoine Reverb are not only strangers in their own land, but in their own dreams.

    NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
    Moon & Sun – Hunt (Gavin Russom remix)
    Although based in Amsterdam, Moon & Sun is very much an international concept. At its core is artist/musician Monica Tormell, who’s originally from Sweden but who wrote and recorded her debut album, The Wild Things, in Curaçao, the Swedish woods and also back in Amsterdam. That original collection emerged last November, offering bouts of atmospheric and tribal folk. One year on, a number of its tracks have been reworked by a host of international collaborators. This remix by DFA artist and LCD Soundsystem collaborator Gavin Russom draws on the heavily percussive elements to create electronic patterns reminiscent of Swedish peers The Knife and jj.

    NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
    Fabulous/Arabia – The Ballad Of State Highway 1
    James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) and Mike Fabulous (The Black Seeds) unveiled their collaboration last month and surprised many fans by presenting an album of nu jazz songs – combining elements of funk, soul and jazz, while quite obviously retaining Lawrence Arabia’s indie-pop influence. Their debut album is a mixed bag, each song exploring a different path. The most obvious reference is British downtempo DJ Mr Scruff, courtesy of Fabulous’ wonderfully unusual instrumental experimentation. Their debut album Unlimited Buffet can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

    NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
    Bendik – Igjen
    Bendik is a lush, ambient electro-pop band signed to the great Trondheim-based label Riot Factory alongside the likes of Scarlet Chives, Dråpe, Angelica’s Elegy and Pelbo. It started as Silje Halstensen’s solo project but has now grown into a trio. They have played at some of the biggest festivals throughout Norway, such as Øyafestivalen, Pstereo and Slottsfjell, and their debut album will be released next year.

    PERU: SoTB
    Division Mayday – Lugar Seguro
    Division Mayday formed in 2008 and their sound ranges from post-punk to electro-pop. A mix of electronic guitars, intimate lyrics, an intense rhythmic base and electronic sequences are the raw materials of their musical proposal.

    PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
    Rose Blanket – Feel My Way Around
    Nothing Ahead Nothing Behind is the third album from Miguel Dias’ project Rose Blanket, recorded between 2008 and 2011. For this double album, he collaborated with several Portuguese musicians and two American vocalists, Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) and Dana Schechter (Bee And Flower). Feel My Way Around features Jennifer Charles.

    ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
    East Roots – S.O.S.
    East Roots is not a conventional dub/reggae band. As the cardinal points, each member comes with a new direction: drum ‘n’ bass, reggae, ska, dancehall and even trip-hop, you will find it all in their music.

    RUSSIA: Big Echo
    Valotihkuu – Two Shadows
    Valotihkuu’s Flutter EP is made up of 15 tracks which collect memories and emotions of a full year, filled up with nostalgia, old vibes, cassette tapes, weird samples and a unique feel that might remind you of Madlib and Monster Rally.

    SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bats In The Attic (Unravelled)
    Rarely has the word “timeless” been more appropriate for a record. It took seven years for King Creosote and Jon Hopkins to make their first collaborative album, the Mercury Prize-nominated Diamond Mine, and it handsomely captures delicate snapshots of unhurried, everyday life in rural Fife – literally, with the sound of coffee shop chatter, running streams and chirping seagulls. Here’s an exclusive free MAP download of their reworking of album track Bats In The Attic, taken from their Honest Words EP.

    SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
    Magus – Riders On Psychedelics
    Magus is a new collaboration between Mark Dolmont and Leslie Low, the latter best known for his work with Humpback Oak and The Observatory. Their debut effort is fittingly the first release by Ujikaji Records, a new independent label and distro focusing on experimental music in the region. The album, titled Sun Worshipper, presents a dark and spiritual brew of kraut-inspired psychedelia which makes for an addictively harrowing pilgrimage through the deepest of valleys.

    SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
    Laurie Levine – Six Winters
    Six Winters is the lovely first single and title track of the third album by acclaimed Johannesburg singer-songwriter Laurie Levine. Piano and acoustic-driven, twinkling and atmospheric with an electric tinge, it all makes Laurie’s heady blend of folk coupled with her captivating vocals one that has earned her critical acclaim and a growing audience.

    SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
    Coedwig – Let Her Go
    Street folk artist Neofolk has gotten himself a band member and formed the unit Coedwig. Let Her Go is one of the indie rock numbers on the recently self-released first EP, which also contains a couple of acoustic tracks – a sound that is very popular in Korea at the moment.

    SPAIN: Musikorner
    Lasers – Solar System
    Lasers are a cosmic pop three-piece from Barcelona. Influenced by acts such as Animal Collective, Fuck Buttons, locals Delorean and label mates The Suicide Of Western Culture (featured in September’s MAP), Lasers have learnt to create extraterrestrial atmospheres using “samples, tireless cyclic sounds, breeze melodies” in their music, which can be both obscure and optimistic at a time or, as they call it, “noise and poetry”. Lasers will release their first album Juno through Irregular in December, from which Solar System is taken.

    SWEDEN: Swedesplease
    Halina Larsson – Puget Sounds
    Halina Larsson is an expat from Sweden who has lived in LA and now resides in Brooklyn. She has a diverse sound and a variety of influences including Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Feist and Elliott Smith. Halina is a trained jazz vocalist who, on her latest Fires & French Horns EP, falls somewhere between indie folk songstress and new soul chanteuse. It’s an odd combination but on certain songs and in certain styles she can pull it off.

    SWITZERLAND: 78s
    laFayette – Heavy Rain (feat. Lena Fennel)
    Since their launch in 2009, Basel boys Jascha Dormann and Simon Hauswirth have found their place in the Swiss electronica scene. Musically, laFayette boldly go into the deep end of a pool filled with electronica, hip hop and techno music. Their debut EP Sputnik was released in September.

    UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
    Saskatchewan – Skinny Dipping
    Orlando, Florida’s Saskatchewan are masters of slow-built dream pop, lush vocal harmonies and melodies that are damn near impossible to ignore. Skinny Dipping is their latest single, available for free on Bandcamp. Look out for an album sometime in early 2012.

    VENEZUELA: Música y Más
    Carlos Angola – Hasta Mañana
    I first saw Carlos Angola at a festival called VirgenFest which was being held in a public square. The atmosphere was magical, it felt like Woodstock. On stage there was this boy with glasses, an acoustic guitar and a great voice. Carlos Angola used to be part of a ska band called Skabiosis, but now he is displaying his talents as a solo artist with his album Rompecabezas which guarantees total relaxation no matter when you listen to it.

  • Music Alliance Pact July 2011 : feat Burgerkill

    Bulan ini untuk merayakan rilisnya Venomous; album terbaru dari Burgerkill, maka kita mengirimkan sebuah lagu yang berbahaya dari band metal asal Ujung Berung ini ke 34 negara sekaligus. Sementara itu untuk kalian semua, ini ada oleh-oleh dari mancanegara yang bisa didownload sekaligus. Selamat menikmati.
    To download all 32 songs in one file click here

    INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
    Burgerkill – House Of Greed
    Burgerkill are one of the biggest and longest running metal bands in Indonesia. They have just released a new album, Venomous, which is heavy as hell.
    [download id=”387″]

    ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
    Laika – Corazón
    Laika is a soft-rock band featuring Leticia Monge (vocals, guitar), Micaela Hattori (guitar), Leonardo Fucci (bass) and Roberto Fighetti (drums). They’ve just released their self-titled debut album and we think it’s great, with really funny lyrics written in an almost scientific poetry. Corazón is one of our favourite songs and it was included in the soundtrack of Plan V, a web sitcom about the lesbian scene of Buenos Aires that we also recommend.

    AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
    Guerre – Millenium Blues
    Guerre is the best thing to happen to Oz music since the Australian cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. If you’ve not heard his ghostly take on lo-fi R&B then now is the perfect time to get into it because his official debut EP, Darker My Love, and a remix companion are available for free on his label’s Bandcamp page. A good point of comparison would be blog sensation How To Dress Well, although there’s enough uniqueness and authenticity here to keep you hitting repeat (plus I actually heard of Guerre first, so points for that). Highly recommended.

    BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
    Criolo – Mariô
    Criolo is a rapper who released an acclaimed album this year, Nó Na Orelha. In this song he pushes African beats above his rhymes and shows why he is part of a new scene of creative MCs in Brazil, such as Emicida, Renegado and RAPadura.

    CANADA: I(Heart)Music
    Patrick Canning & The Suffering Mothers – The Howl
    The first influences listed on Patrick Canning’s MySpace are Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, so it should come as no surprise that his music is dark and gloomy. Still, as a song like The Howl shows, just like his influences Canning has a way of making even dark and gloomy sound surprisingly engaging.

    CHILE: Super 45
    MKRNI – Humedad
    Hailing from completely different backgrounds, ranging from experimental folk music to visual arts, the three members of MKRNI (pronounced “makaroni”) come together to produce a distinctive sound that combines Latin American rhythms and post-punk influences, whose roots can be traced back to bands like ESG. Formed in 2008, the trio released an album through independent label Madhaus Records and are currently touring America, Europe and Brazil. Their latest single, Humedad, is a sample of their forthcoming and long-awaited second album.

    CHINA: Wooozy
    Fan Shiqi – Dreamland
    Fan Shiqi is an emerging, talented singer-songwriter. Professionally trained in classical piano and influenced by jazz, Fan exhibits the peaceful urban scene with her refreshing voice and showcases the delicacy and confidence of this modern female with her smooth lyrics. Fan’s debut album Dreamland, released on the Peaceful Music label, is a collection of her jazz-flavored songs spanning four years.

    DENMARK: All Scandinavian
    Highway Child – Love Love Love (I’m Gonna Take It Out On You)
    Fueled on a combo of Fernet Branca and a profound love for rock as it was cut 40-50 years ago, Highway Child have been personal favorites since I first caught one of their always awesome live performances a few years back. Three albums in, they keep impressing with their ability to make the musical heritage their own instead of just robbing the historical cradle. Their 2011 album Highway Child, from which this track is taken, expertly fuses their classic hard rock debut On The Old Kings Road (2008) and 60s psychedelia sophomore effort Sanctuary Come (2009).

    ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
    Gross Magic – We’re Awake Tonight
    Sam McGarrigle is Gross Magic, a one-man band from Brighton who comes across like a UK Ariel Pink, all static-drenched pop with echoes of everything from glam to grunge, delivered in a fabulously fey, high, camp voice. We’re Awake Tonight manages to condense 35 years of rock and pop into three glorious minutes: T.Rex’s iridescent boogie, ELO’s Mr Blue Sky – it’s all here. As a recent Guardian New Band of the Day column put it: “It’s really hard to find actual precedents for the sound blend he’s achieved here: ELO meets glam, then fed through a hypnagogic filter. Not so much shock of the new as shock of the ‘ooh!’.”

    ESTONIA: Popop
    Laulan Sinule – Masina Sees
    Laulan Sinule is a tongue-in-cheek project by Taavi Tulev, who here leaves behind his usual deep electronics and makes pure Estonian electro-pop with analog synths. For months he managed to stay anonymous with this new project, but is now gigging around Estonia – in concerts this music really comes alive even more.

    FINLAND: Glue
    Astrid Swan – Box Elder (Pavement cover)
    Astrid Swan was meant to be the princess of Finnish pop but she always seemed to be too stubborn to accept the impositions of the music biz. With her third album, Better Than Wages, she fully embraced the indie sounds with a full album of straightforward guitar-pop. Astrid has taken another turn in her career and in August she will release a Pavement covers album with the attractive title of Hits (Pavement For Girls).

    FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
    Hold Your Horses! – We Dear Are A Desert
    Hold Your Horses! come from Paris and, like many others acts from the capital, they are into acoustic folk-pop. They may already be known to you thanks to an original video in which they reinterpret the history of art. Their first EP, Sorry! Household, (an anagram of Hold Your Horses!), released in May, can be bought on iTunes.

    GERMANY: Blogpartei
    soft.nerd – Always The Good Times
    soft.nerd really are into analogue synths. In their 80s-driven tracks and remixes it is the driving force which makes room for the guitar sounds and Christian Bachmann’s catchy vocals to float free in subtropical spheres. After rebuilding as a three-piece, soft.nerd recently released the album Sound Sound Sound, available via Bandcamp, from which Always The Good Times is taken.

    GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
    A Victim Of Society – You’re Gonna Hate Me
    A Victim Of Society delves into the darker side of human nature and delivers eerie, uncannily alluring melodies with raspy vocals buried beneath noise and distortion-drenched filters. His music is a plaintive, lo-fi mixture of nostalgia wrapped up in deeply ingrained noir sensibilities. You’re Gonna Hate Me’s rough and tumble groove coated in sheets of echo and shadow will leave you bewildered and enthralled in equal measures.

    ICELAND: Icelandic Music Maffia
    Valdimar – Undraland
    Valdimar is a fresh force within the Icelandic music scene. The band’s music spans the whole emotional spectrum, from intimate ballads to powerful, energetic rock. Valdimar colours its music with heavy brass, guitar and keyboard textures. They were nominated in the brightest hope category at the Icelandic Music Awards. Undraland is the title track of their debut album, released at the end of 2010 on the Geimsteinn label.

    IRELAND: Nialler9
    Little Green Cars – My Love Took Me Down To The River (To Silence Me)
    Having first been impressed by Little Green Cars in 2008, it’s with great pleasure that a mere three years later, the band consisting of 18-year olds have come good on that spark of promise they initially showed. Now a tight, talented and focused unit, their sound falls between Local Natives-style folk and Arcade Fire-style rock. Their debut single The John Wayne is out this month through UK label Young And Lost Club, and this separate new track showcases another impressive side to them.

    ISRAEL: Metal Israel
    Hammercult – Stealer Of Souls
    Hammercult is an extreme thrash metal band formed in late 2010 by alumni of Israel’s finest metal bands. Following their debut show in December, Hammercult stormed stages all across Israel, smashing into the local scene and garnering a tremendous amount of fans in a minimal amount of time. They also won the right to represent Israel in the 2011 international Wacken Metal Battle competition to be held this August in Germany. Late July will mark the release of their debut EP, Rise Of The Hammer, and their first full-length release is in the works.

    ITALY: Polaroid
    Giorgio Tuma – New Fabled Stories
    Sometimes, in the middle of the summer, a sweet melody that brings back memories of Brian Wilson, Stereolab and flamboyant Italian soundtracks from the 60s (think Piccioni, Rota, Umiliani) is really all you need. Add a touch of bossa nova and a smoke of jazz and you’ll have In The Morning We’ll Meet, the brilliant new album by Giorgio Tuma, out now on the legendary Spanish label Elefant Records.

    MEXICO: Red Bull PanameriKa
    Candy – El Entierro
    Coffin kids, you know them. Gloomy faces, an obscure way to dress and a strange glow of life that strains to endure all their gray and decaying surroundings. But wait a minute? Are we describing a slow and pitiful goth band? Maybe this approach to Mexico City’s Candy is erroneous and stereotypical. Candy have all the bittersweetness, frenzy and pomp that a power-goth trio could ask for. Produced by the experienced Joselo Rangel (from Mexican super-band Café Tacvba), El Entierro (“The Burial”) is the ravenous radio-friendly single that heralds a great sophomore album for Candy.

    NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
    The Black Atlantic – Walked On Wood
    The Black Atlantic is a folk-pop band based in Groningen, but they undeniably have international ambitions – no wonder given how easily their heavily melodic and lulling acoustic tracks fit in alongside the new Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes albums. The core of the project is singer-songwriter Geert van der Velde, who formed the band back in 2008 to record debut album Reverence For Fallen Trees. It has been freely available online for the past two years, although this spring it was also given a physical release in more European territories with added bonus tracks, one of which you can hear here. The band rarely takes itself off the road long enough to record new material, but a new single then EP are on the way.

    NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
    Sleepy Age – Décor
    In 2009, Christchurch’s Sleepy Age began their life as a guitar band, reworking the finer points of Britpop and 90s American indie rock. But in 2011, they’ve completely upended their sound, releasing the synth-heavy, European disco-inspired single Décor (see video). It’s a bold move, and at a time when they would be excused for making gloomy rock music, Sleepy Age has turned misery into delicious synth-pop. The band is currently escaping a string of crippling earthquakes in their home town and touring Europe and the UK – dates are available on their website.

    PERU: SoTB
    José Arbulú – Salta
    José Arbulú, a member of the well-known band Cementerio Club and considered by many people in his native country to be one of its most talented contemporary composers, returns to the music scene with his new solo production, Salta: Espíritu Azul, the first of a trilogy of records called SALTA. In this new stage, Arbulú tries to capture thoughts and feelings about all that happens to us and affects us in our tired routine of life.

    PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
    You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – Over The Sun, Under The Water
    They are six, most of them from Lisbon, who have/had other projects, such as David Santos (Noiserv), a previous MAP pick. Their debut album, Chromatic, released in May, prompted influential French magazine Les Inrocks to call their music “sublime”. If you are a fan of Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective, you will love You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown too.

    ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
    Algebra – Moloz
    Algebra come from Bucharest and just released their first album – a mix of post-rock, post-punk, noise and influences from several other genres translated into short instrumental tracks. You can find their entire album as a free download on Bandcamp.

    RUSSIA: Big Echo
    The Patience – Space Farewell
    Novosibirsk-based trio The Patience have been searching for their proper sound since 2007. They released debut EP Sun Is Always Pt.1 this year, offering a massive wall of sound based on traditions of shoegaze and pop music. Space Farewell mixes the energy of live performance with the lead singer’s beautiful voice to make it one of the best Russian tracks you’ll hear these days.

    SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
    The Barents Sea – O’ Brother Of Mine
    Every once in a while you come across a band like The Barents Sea who have an indefinable essence that makes your ears prick up. One spin of O’ Brother Of Mine will confirm how capable the Perth band are when it comes to constructing punch-the-air, epic guitar riffs… but you’ll probably play it over and over again just to make sure. Feel free to discover how they sounded before they developed into a harmonious blend of indie and post-rock by downloading their charming bedroom-recorded 2009 mini-album Bear Island for free here.

    SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
    In Each Hand A Cutlass – A Universe Made Of Strings
    Outlaws, stargazers and free riders – that’s the sense of freedom apparent in the debut album of In Each Hand A Cutlass. The masterpiece is called A Universe Made Of Strings, and while allusions to string theory and parallel dimensions are in order, no-one can deny the sprawling ambition that the group have laboured to achieve. Swirling with different time signatures, musical styles and rapturous energy, In Each Hand A Cutlass prove that genres are for the common man and that genius lies in the outliers.

    SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
    SiwaRainbow – We Are All Alone
    Siwa is a female singer-songwriter, Rainbow99 is a guitarist and electronica producer. Together they have formed the unit SiwaRainbow, creating a mellow sound where Rainbow99 provides the atmosphere and Siwa adds melody and lyrics. The duo’s second album, We Are All Alone, was released in June. The title track opens with an epic synth-heavy intro that extends into total bliss.

    SPAIN: Musikorner
    EdredóN – Bautismo
    EdredóN is a five-piece formed in the working class district of Carabanchel, Madrid. Their unique sound can be described as a cosmic mixture of psychedelia and several other genres not so easily found in Spanish indie music, such as Kraut, ambient, house or pop noir. Bizarre as it seems, this risky blend is present throughout their self-titled debut album released in 2010. Bautismo, with lyrics in French, is their particular approach to Serge Gainsbourg’s élégance.

    SWITZERLAND: 78s
    Dead Bunny – I Don’t Know You
    Dead Bunny don’t invent the wheel anew, but from time to time that’s bracing news, with hipster bands popping up all over the place. They play sweaty rock ‘n’ roll right from the heart, without frills and straight to the point.

    UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
    CSLSX – Keep Shining On
    This band, by way of Philadelphia, are plenty young with plenty of talent. CSLSX have released a handful of tracks in the past few months, slowly showcasing their music abilities. Keep Shining On is the best yet, a perfect summer jam with stunning production value.

    VENEZUELA: Música y Más
    Vel France – Galaxia
    Vel France is one of the newest talents to come out of eastern Venezuela, a region characterized by alternative rock bands, but this time bringing a more melodious voice than has been heard in recent years. Since debuting at a festival called VirgenFest, Vel France has captivated audiences with syrupy lyrics and nice guitar riffs. Galaxia, her first single, contains a lot of that and has been played on radio nationwide.