Lightships is the new musical project from Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub. Their debut single, the beautiful “Sweetness In Her Spark”, will be released on Tuesday the 27th of March, and the album “Electric Cables”  will be out on Tuesday the 3rd of April, both on Domino Records.

In addition to Gerard Love, a cast of his Glasgow-based friends play on the record: Dave McGowan (guitar, Teenage Fanclub), Brendan O’Hare (drums, from the first incarnation of Teenage Fanclub), Tom Crossley (flute, International Airport and The Pastels) and Bob Kildea (bass, Belle & Sebastian).

“Sweetness In Her Spark” will be available on 7″ and digitally and will be backed with a cover of Moondog’s “Do Your Thing”.

Nottingham’s Red Shoe Diaries is one of the bands that make me really excited these days. It’s definitely indiepop, but I think this band takes the genre a bit further. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is, but their music sounds “new” in some way. It’s sophisticated, with lovely, almost clean vocals, and great melodies.

The band has two brilliant vocalists, and their twangy guitar reminds me of old Italian western-films. Don’t worry, this is not anything like the western soundtracks… This is POP, Pure POP!

The band will release the first single, “Ice and Snow”, from their upcoming 10″ EP on the fine Fika Recordings. The 3-track single will be released on Monday 27th of February as a digital download, available on a pay-what-you-like basis.

The gorgeous artwork is made by Amy Blackwell http://www.amyblackwell.co.uk/

Hearts & Heartaches from eardrumspop on 8tracks.

8Tracks is a website where you can make streamable mixes by uploading music and coverart. My first mix is dedicated to love and lost love, and you can either listen to it above, or go to the mix on 8Tracks here: http://8tracks.com/eardrumspop/hearts-heartaches

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Finland’s Burning Hearts released one of my favourite albums a few years ago on one of my favourite labels, Shelflife. “Aboa Sleeping” was filled with gorgeous indiepop-songs, filtered through a thin layer of melancholy, – the same kind of melancholy you can find in some of the songs from Broadcast or Stereolab. That kind of duality between happy and melancholic  is probably why I have always found Burning Hearts’s sound more interesting and durable than all those super-happy and sugary indiepop-bands. I love many of those bands too, but I often get tired of their songs easily.
That’s not the fact with Burning Hearts.

So, can you imagine how happy I became when I heard that a new album was on its way?`I guess you can.
The new album is called “Extinctions”  and will be released on February 21, on cd, digital and a limited edition vinyl-print (500 ex).

In a press release, Shelflife writes
“Extinctions was written as a consequence of many tragic stories that in a way or another touched the band. Quite a few of the songs are dedicated to people or creatures that no longer exist. Even if human tragedies inspired the writing, and death is present in nearly all the songs, the sound remains vivid and full of hope.”

Extinctions is a co-release with another very interesting label, Solina Records in Finland.

Liechtenstein is one of my favourite bands, and it makes me so so so happy to hear that their new album, “fast forward” is out these days on Fraction Discs! I haven’t heard the full 11-track album yet, but according to the label, this album “is a pop gem filled with catchy post punk, jangly guitars, trumpets, piano and vocal harmonies, all arranged and produced with a sensitive touch. The production is crispier than before, emphasizing the vocals and putting focus on the lyrics.”

Sounds good!

Here are two videos and an mp3 from the album, and you can tell me what you think in the comments!

Liectenstein – Ambitions

Shelflife Records has a really interesting release out now, from The Holiday Crowd  Their new album “Over The Bluffs”  is a co-release between Shelflife and New Romantic, and you can order it in various physical and digital formats on shelflife.com.

You can also download a free mp3 of the song “Never speak of it again” for a limited time via Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/newromantic/the-holiday-crowd-never