Sweden’s Moto Boy a.k.a. Oskar Humlebo will release a new mini album called “For Martha” on December 3. The release contains 4 classical/traditional songs plus a new Moto Boy song called “A Room Without You”. Not a typical pop record, but I guess Moto Boy is not what you can call a typical pop artist either. The release is out on Songs I wish I had written, and can be bought from their web shop.

Tracklist:
1. Pie Jesu (Andrew Lloyd Webber), 2. Cigánské Melodie (Antonín Dvorák),
3. A Room Without You (Oskar Humlebo), 4. Ave Maria (Vladimir Vavilov),
5. Suo Gân (Traditional).

Here is the video of Moto Boy performing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Pie Jesu, with sound from the mini album and pictures from the festivals in Malmö and Emmaboda this summer, recorded with a Super8 camera.

Moto Boy - Pie Jesu

Something for the holidays?

(BTW, I have published this post using another method than I usually do, so please tell me if everything looks horrible).

I’ll add my favourite song from Moto Boy’s album from last year here too:

Moto Boy - Ride My Wild Horse

“In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message.”

Have a peaceful weekend!

Desmond Reed is the man behind the first of these EPs, with his “The Window Shopping EP”. His jangly acoustic pop songs work very good in this format, and for me at least 2 of the 3 songs will be played over and over again on my stereo. If you’re interested in both indiepop and sports (like Desmond Reed is), you should listen to the songs he made for every single player on the Boston Red Sox team.

Desmond Reed - Window Shopping

“The actress trilogy” by The Pristines is the latest release by the label, and it features 3 quite rough recordings by the band. The Pristines have been in the business since the early 90s, and they have been true to their jangly c86-styled pop sound troughout their career.

The Pristines - Alimony

Both these cds can be ordered via Susy Records‘ website.

Hi there, I just haven’t got time to write a lot about this, because I need to sit down and listen! I’ve been waiting for this album to arrive for a long long time, and now it’s here! Hurrah! The third album from my ukulele favourite Jacob Borshard, “A Glow in the Dark” is here, - and it’s available for free on Jacob’s website: http://www.creebobby.com/.
On the website, you can also download the first two (brilliant) albums he has made. I’m downloading as I’m writing this, and WOW, I can’t wait to listen!!!!!!!

BTW, if you have trouble finding the link to the download, just scroll to the right to get to the songs.

Jacob is an excellent illustrator too, and the cover art is fantastic! It’s more of an “album illustration” than a cover, I guess, because it’s huge, - much more to look at than the little part of it we show here in this post. Wonderful artwork!

Here’s a random pick from the songs:

Jacob Borshard - There was a moon

Robert Vadadi is a musician from Sweden who writes and records as Vadadi, and his self-titled debut album has recently been released on his own label. Vadadi’s music is clearly shoegaze inspired, but there are a lot of different elements in here from a range of different musical genres, so it’s difficult to point at one genre only. Everything is very melodic and melancholic.  Vadadi manages to balance on the line between light and dark, - happiness and sadness, and he never crosses over to either sides, - always stays on the line.

If you’ve heard the Danish band Mew, there are some songs on this album that reminds me especially about them. Rhythm-changes, a lot of contrasts, hard elements suddenly replaced by softer sounds and vice versa, walls of sound and grand choruses. I especially like Robert Vadadi’s almost whispery, expressive vocals, and the songs he sings by himself are the best, in my opinion. There are some sharp, emo-sounding guitar riffs that I have and will always have trouble with here, but they are not the dominant elements in Vadadis music, thankfully… Melody is a dominant factor in everything Vadadi does.

Vadadi’s album is available only in a digital format, and if you buy it through cdbaby, you will get it for only 2,50$. It’s also available on iTunes for a lot more.

Here is a song from the album:

Vadadi - loveless

Those of you who downloaded our summer compilation “Summer’s Here!” may already know and love the music of Spaghetti Anywhere. This is one of the bands that really have found the way to my heart this year, with their nice little indie-folky pop tunes and their wonderful and unique lyrics. Definitely a band with a personality, - a sound of their own.

When I first contacted them in June this year, they were newly formed and had just made their first songs. Now, they have played their first gig and have several more  on their schedule. The duo consisting of Valerio from Italy and Francis from Scotland, have recently included a drummer, Lewis, from England, in their line-up. Lewis was formerly in Help She Can’t Swim, a band I believe we have written about here in Eardrums in our early days. Another HSCS-member, Tim, is also on his way into the Spaghetti Anywhere line-up, and he’s currently rehearsing with them on bass.

Francis tells us that their aim at the moment is to play live and to be a tight live band, but after that, they may record the songs again and release something officially. So far, all of their recordings have been made at home, and since Valerio has been working with music production for years, he is responsible for the sound and the recording of their music.

We have a new and brilliant Spaghetti Anywhere song for you to listen to and download here, and I’ve also added the wonderful “Loveagain” from our “Summer’s Here!” compilation. Hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I do!

Spaghetti Anywhere - Incredible Hulk

Spaghetti Anywhere - loveagain

Eardrums is now a member of the Music Alliance Pact, a monthly feature where music bloggers across the world share a track from their home country which they are excited about. 14 countries are represented in the Music Alliance Pact (MAP), and we will all post a list of all the MAP-songs on the 15th of each month. The MAP project is originally the idea of Jason from the Pop Cop blog, and he’s also the one who is organizing the whole team. Thanks to him for the great work he’s done!

Here are the songs that blogs from America, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Peru, Scotland, Spain and Sweden like the most at the moment. Click the song title to download, and please tell us what you think!

AMERICA: I Guess I’m Floating
City Center – Summer School
Brooklyn’s City Center is the solo work of Fred Thomas from Saturday Looks Good To Me, focusing on ornamental, experimental pop songs created from found sounds, manipulated samples and Thomas’s own guitar and vocals. While there’s no official debut yet, he has released a handful of 7”s and there are over 30 free MP3s up for grabs at his blog (http://citycenternyc.blogspot.com). Look for a debut sometime in 2009.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Sync Filmico – El Polvo De Tus Sentimientos
With heavy influences from alt. rockers like Radiohead and Jaime Sin Tierra, this song is from Sync Filmico’s second album, El Mar. It was released this year on CD and as free MP3 download from their website (http://www.el-mar.com.ar/elMar/). Their first record was published under a Creative Commons license and can also be downloaded for free.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the new material from Melbourne’s The Temper Trap and no wonder, because the first taste of their 2009-due album, Sweet Disposition, is a delay-driven melody fest. Recalling the sounds of ’80s U2, Sweet Disposition was recorded in the UK with famed producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with some little-known acts like Arctic Monkeys, DJ Shadow, Bjork and Massive Attack.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Ketch Harbour Wolves – So Long To The Ground
Even by the standards of Canadian indie rock, Ketch Harbour Wolves are pretty under the radar. Dead Calm Horizon is one of the best albums of the year - and free for download on the band’s site (http://www.ketchharbourwolves.com) no less. Imagine that The National were transported to the Canadian wilderness and started writing songs about rural living and you’d have a good idea of where Ketch Harbour Wolves are coming from. The results are, simply put, hauntingly gorgeous.

DENMARK: Pastries, Peppers And Canals
Heidi Mortenson – It’s True
Highly regarded as the queen of experimental, unpredictable music, Heidi’s website says that she “makes colorful and textured songs with a nerdy and dazed approach; her sound grows from playful experiments and inventive production. Add emotional drive, a mentalist flavor and soul of old cartoon” - and who are we to argue?

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Here’s some new folky goodness for you. Not folky as in the beardy sense, mainly because the kids in Mumford & Sons are probably too young to grow beards. Led by Marcus Mumford, this west London band peddle a sparkly, breezy, bluegrass-infused folk-pop, and given that they’ve been together for less than a year, they’ve arrived remarkably fully-formed.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
Hellvar – Nowhere
Together the two boys and two girls of Hellvar stir up a cocktail from electronica to new wave with a twist of lime. Debut album Bat Out Of Hellvar was released at the end of 2007 and was the first release on new Icelandic label Kimi Records. The band have toured in the USA, Germany and China.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Cap Pas Cap – We Are Men (Thatboytim remix)
Cap Pas Cap are heavily inspired by rock music on the fringes - no wave, punk and Krautrock. As a taster for a debut in 2009, the band will release the We Are Men 12″ in December with one original track and three hi-grade remixes from Decal, Jape and this from Thatboytim. As well as playing in Cap Pas Cap, members of the band run the Skinny Wolves label which releases stuff from the likes of Indian Jewelry, Telepathe and Effie Briest.

ITALY: Polaroid
Did – Ask U2
If I could have Foals playing at my house tonight, I would surely call Did as opening band. Four young guys from Turin who play “yellow punk-funk” with pop melodies. They have a free download debut EP out now on Kirsten’s Postcard label (http://www.kirstenspostcard.com). Dance!

NORWAY: Eardrums
My Little Pony – I Don’t Know Pt.1
“The band, not the brand” seems to be a statement that will follow Norwegian indiepop orchestra My Little Pony forever. They recently released their debut album Think Too Much to great critical acclaim and new fans include one of Norway’s biggest pop stars, Marit Larsen. My Little Pony are a pure pop band, where strong melodies and interesting lyrics make the framework of their music, but they also mix in several other genres in their indiepop universe, from bluegrass and Afro-jazz to reggae and more folk-oriented elements.

PERU: SoTB
Cementerio Club – Stereoman
Cemeterio Club’s history can be summed up in numbers - a 10-year career, four studio albums, three acoustic albums, one lengua MTV. Led by Jose Arbulú, they are a clear example that good rock sung in Spanish exists. Here’s Stereoman from their latest album, released last year.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Beerjacket – Drum
Beerjacket is a young man with an acoustic guitar whose backing band comprises a tambourine and a drum machine. Stylistic comparisons to Elliott Smith or Jose Gonzalez wouldn’t be far off, while his prolific output of albums offer an endearing lo-fi sound that lets the quality of his songs and the calibre of his songwriting steal the show.

SPAIN: El Blog De La Nadadora
Espanto – Profesora De Primaria
Espanto are a duo formed by Luis and Teresa, who come from a small city in the north of Spain. After releasing a series of extraordinary demos, their first CD, Cantando En Tu Siesta - on the Spanish label Birra y Perdiz (http://www.birrayperdiz.com) - compiled their best songs up till 2007. Their music is basically pop, with references that range from Television Personalities to The Magnetic Fields.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Hajen – Sharks
Hajen has a very limited repertoire (three MySpace demos to be exact), but she’s just the type of artist that deserves the wider recognition the web can provide. She may not be completely ready for primetime but her uniquely Swedish take on the piano pop of Tori Amos and Regina Spektor is impressive. Hajen means shark in Swedish so it seems appropriate to highlight her theme song. With its warning of “sharks in the water, sharks up on land” you can bet this is not simply a tale of danger in the ocean.

DOWNLOAD ALL THIS MONTHS MAP-SONGS (ZIP)

Kendall Jane Meade is the main woman behind New York’s Mascott and “head-panda” of her own label Red Panda Records, where her new album “Art Project” is released these days. Like her previous Mascott-albums, this is intimate, dreamy and gentle indie-pop with folk-influences, and I find the press-release quite precise when it says “part Joni Mitchell part Dusty Springfield and part Camera Obscura“. I would like to add a couple of my own favourites to the list, as I find her “part Innocence Mission, part The Owls and part Margo Guryan” too. The songs are quite light hearted, but also deep enough to make an impact both musically and lyrically.  Very nice, melodic pop music.

Meade is kind of a veteran in the indie-world, and she has been making and releasing music as Mascott for 10 years now. Prior to that, she fronted the indierock band Juicy and was a touring member of Helium and Spinanes.

Here is a really fine animated video for Mascott’s song “Dream another day”, where the illustrations are made by the artist WONTING NYC and the animation is made by CRAIG CHIN. A downloadable track from the album follows below the video.

…and here is a downloadable track from Mascott’s latest album “Art-project”:

Mascott - Press Play (and then repeat)

Imagine a website where you can find interesting facts about your favourite indiepop bands, find out what happened to that obscure twee pop-band you loved so much when you were 16, watch videos, listen to music… A website like wikipedia, but just for indiepop, and without all of wikipedias rules about references and so-called “importance”.
Let me introduce the website I’m talking about:
Indiepopedia - International Pop Underground Reference!

Here is what the site itself says:

“Indiepop information on the web is scarce. Most of it is just plain discographies and dull three sentences long biographies. Why not rewrite the history ourselves, as it is? Show that we are a true force without needing to prove to Wikipedia that we exist. Our fanzines are as important as any book out there. We don’t need to be in the Indie Charts to know one of our songs was life defining. This is our culture and we don’t need those ‘popularity’ parameters. We are proud to be unpopular. We are proud of our music and scene. We are proud to give it all away.
Let’s all work together, Popkids of the World Unite!, and let’s make this our reference point for years to come. We can make it happen. This is for all of us. This is our time.
DON’T STOP INDIEPOP”

Like wikipedia, this website is also created by the readers. If you can’t find a story about your favourite indiepop band, then create it! At the moment, the site is in its early beginning, and there’s not much content there now, but you know what to do: start writing! This can be a wonderful resource for lovers of indiepop.

The great initiative for the start of the indiepopedia came from Rogue from Cloudberry records. Great work!

Two songs from The Lucksmiths‘ new album “First Frost” for you today. I’m still waiting for my copy of the album to arrive, so getting these two from the Matinée label was a very welcome little musical gift today. I’ll probably fill the blog with lots of words about this album and the other new Matinée-releases soon, so I’ll just give you these two today:

The Lucksmiths - A Sobering Thought

The Lucksmiths - Up With The Sun

Photo by Veronica Blomquist

I’ll start with Sally Suicide, a shoegazy, 60s-inspired dreampop-orchestra (or something like that) with musical connections to The Lionheart Brothers.

Sally Suicide - Black Pop (from NRK Urört)

We wrote about the band Maribel a year ago here on Eardrums, and we haven’t lost faith in them since then. Definitely shoegaze inspired, - very much in the veins of My Bloody Valentine/Slowdive/Pale Saints/Spacemen3, but a brilliant band on their own without the references too. Their debut-single “Taste the trash” is available via a link at their myspace. Here’s the video:

And now, let’s meet our third Norwegian band today, Harry’s Gym:

Harry’s Gym is the third band I would like to present here today. Also a band we have written about earlier. They are not as noisy as the first two, and maybe a little bit more refined in their style. Details are important, and their melancholic indiepop can make me stop doing whatever I’m doing just to listen. Sometimes very fragile and other times quite hard hitting. Their new album is definitely recommended. I don’t have any songs or videos for you from this band yet, so check out their myspace for music. http://www.myspace.com/harrysgym

Did you enjoy our little trip to Norway?

WeePop! Records gives us great news about the release of another EP from Little My. This is “Little My’s Seventh”, and the EP features four songs in the usual Little My style ( - lots of fun, lots of instruments, and handclaps, of course). The EP will be released both on 7″ coloured vinyl and on 3″ cdr’s, and as usual the WeePop!-crew has something unusual and creative for us in the packaging. This time the  cover for each copy of the cdr-ep is different, with a “guess who” game card taped to it, and it’s limited to 100 copies.
The release is November 15, but it can be preordered now from the weepop! website.

Here is the video for one of the songs on the new EP, “Sellotape my hands”:

Tikkle me is a fun Swedish duo playing some kind of innovative indie electro pop. Yesterday I found this new video on their myspace for the song “Butterflies in my tummy”. The video is produced by Tikkle Me and Carl Larsson.

Am I excited or what? One of my absolute favourite bands has a new album out these days, Would-Be-Goods. The title sound strangely familiar, “Eventyr”, which is Norwegian and Danish for “Fairy Tale”.”Eventyr” is released 20 years after their debut album “The Camera Loves Me” on él records, and it is their third album on Matinée Recordings. Most of the songs on the album is inspired by folk tales, and the inspiration for the Scandinavian title came from the title of the Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen’s classic collection of stories.

I haven’t heard more than two songs so far, but they are really good. Check them out yourself:

Would-Be-Goods - Sad Stories

Would-Be-Goods - The Ghost of Mr. Minton

Here are some older tracks from Bellman, all from his website:

Bellman - The Holy River (Prince cover)

Bellman - All that is beautiful