My fellow hackney resident and blogger Dalston Shopper has posted a NME compilation tape from 1983 titled Mad Mix II. It has tracks from the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, The Associates, Frank Chickens and The Kane Gang. Get it from here.

The Househunters were Jowe Head and friends. Head started in The Swell Maps before playing bass with the Television Personalities for ten years (1984-94). Whilst with them he had a range of side projects of which The Househunters were just one.

The band released three singles and one album. However only two were on 53rd & 3rd. These were Cuticles (1986) and Cooler Than Thou (1987).

Head also played with 53rd & 3rd founder member Stephen McRobbie on a number of Pastels records. He has a My Space page here.

Head is now an artist but is also continuing making records. His last album was the Jowe Head from a Parallel Universe released last year. You can order it here. Two tracks can be streamed here.

The Househunters - Cuticles
The Househunters - Cooler Than Thou

The Icicles from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which you might know from earlier posts on this site, are due to release their second full-length album on April 9th. They also hit a jackpot recently when their song "Sugar Sweet" was featured in a Motorola advertisment. This seemed reason enough for me to embark on an interview with the bass player, Emily.

1. How and when did the band form?

One day in 2000, Gretchen and Korrie (our original drummer), who were friends from college, decided to form a pop band. They decided that a keyboardist would be necessary and contacted their mutual friend Joleen who after deciding to join them began practicing and playing as The Icicles.
At the end of 2002, the original bass player decided to leave and I was selected as his replacement which made us an all-girl band, at least for a while. Eventually Korrie decided it was time to leave the band and Greg filled in and eventually became her replacement.
We asked Rebecca to join us for the recording of the upcoming album and we had so much fun and enjoyed the new sound that we asked her to be a full fledged member.

2. what are your influences?

We all mostly have our own individual influences, as a band we enjoy music that we can dance to, but each of us has our own idea of the ideal song.

3. what's with the mobile phone ad?

The Motorola commercial was mostly just luck. We did our own promotion for A Hundred Patterns and sent albums out to a ton of different places. In addition our label, Micorindie was actively sending all their releases to various agencies and places. Between the two sets of mailings one of our albums made it to a Music Placement company in New York which included Sugar Sweet in a pitch that was presented to Motorola. All this happened before we even knew about anything so by the time we were contacted a bunch of legwork had already been done and Motorola was already interested.

The whole thing has been a great thing for us because we were able to record the new album and work with Britt Myers again. We had been moving slowly on our record due to limited funding but we were able to finish the recording, mixing and mastering for a spring release. Also, we’ve been getting more attention so we’re hoping that the new album might be heard and bought by a lot more people.

4. new album?

We recorded the album in Grand Rapids, we originally began with 4 songs that we could use to find additional distribution, and eventually sales, since we were paying for our own recording costs. However after the Motorola deal was solidified we were able to finish the other 7 songs without waiting for additional distribution. We then sent the finished recordings to Britt Myers in NY for mixing.

The new album doesn’t go in a different direction than A Hundred Patterns, but we’ve definitely matured as a band. With the addition of Rebecca on lead guitar, we have all had a chance to try some more different things since there is more of a full sound. The album contains songs mostly written by Gretchen, but once again Joleen has a song and Greg collaborated on one too.

5. what's your own favorite icicles song, and why?

Greg: My favorite is "Ralphy Rodriguez" because it's such a fun song to play and it never fails to inspire a bouncy chair dance.

Gretchen: My favorite from the new album is "Fall Day" because it sounds so pretty recorded with a piano. However this changes daily :)

Rebecca: My favorite song is "Snappy" because I love rocking out to joleen’s crazy organ.

Emily: My favorite from the last album is "Sunday Song", but that changes all the time with my mood.

Joleen: "Margie", (from Pure Sugar E.P.) because the whole songs just makes me smile.

6. what's with the matching clothes?

It started as a way to differentiate ourselves and we’ve had so much fun with it over the years that it has become our signature, especially at live shows. It’s a lot of fun to see the reaction we get from the audience and people we meet.

Watch the commercial and download "Sugar Sweet".
Get a copy of A Hundred Patterns
The Icicles website
Ye Olde Icicles on Myspace

MP3:
Greg's favorite - Ralphy Rodriguez
Emily's favorite - Sunday Song

And the band will have a CD release party in Grand Rapids on March 24th, and play in PA's Lounge in Somerville, MA on April 27th.

This is from the Labrador mailing list:

Pelle Carlberg, former lead singer of Edson, is back with a brilliant new album on March 28. "In a nutshell" is full of his characteristic sharp, wry humor and heartfelt folk-pop. Equally catchy and intimate pop songs written with an ease rarely seen since Belle & Sebastian's early years.

The first single from the album is a duet with Norwegian singer Ida Maria called I Love You You Imbecile which will be released on February 28 2007. The label has made it available as a free download to mailing list subscribers. If you are not on the mailing join up for the latest news from that label.

I have shared the link because the song is that good and needs to be heard by one and all.

Pelle Carlberg - I Love You You Imbecile

Sky Larkin have posted a high quality mp3 of a track from their Marc Riley session from January 2007. It's called Molten and I will not make any puns such as "like lava, it's hot".

The band, who recently released their debut 7" single One Of Two, have also been remixed by two of their fellow My Spacers. Traits and Traitors becomes Owl & Traitors and is mixed by Mechanical Owl whilst One of Two gets a seeing too courtesy of Jonbassduels.

The band will also be contributing a track titled Summit to the new Dance To The Radio compilation called Something I Learnt Today. It's due for release on April 2nd. More details here.

I just want to know when they are going to release Keepsakes in physical form.

Sky Larkin - Molten
Sky Larkin - One of Two (via And Before The Last Kiss)

Should Indie Artists Give Their Music Away For Free - interesting reading but I disagree on what has been written. Like the record companies before him the writer demonstrates a head in the sand attitude when it comes to digital media. It wasn't like this in the old days of Elvis he moans. No mention in his article of the supposed practise of record companies paying bribes to get their records played on the radio either. What do you think of his articles? Funny enough the writer has not enabled comments meaning we just get his point of view.

God knows what the above writer thinks of Beat For Two who is using the internet to bring music that has been made no longer available by the record companies to a new auidence. The tracks are in m4a format. The site reminds me of Sideroom Singles blog but it has a nicer balance compared to the former which reached saturation point for me some time ago. A once a week posting is enough mate!

The Sunny Street have a rather sparkling cover of New Order's All The Way available for streaming on their My Space page. The track is not available on their mini album They Hurt You Everyday which is out on Lavender Recordings. I will get off my backside and order my copy soon.

The excellent Soda Fountain Rag have a single due on My Honey Records. It's titled Sometimes I Wonder If You Have A Heart and a track from the EP can be downloaded. It's called Don't Kill The Clowns. Ragnhild makes some pretty special songs and this one doesn't let her down either. Her My Space page is here. If you have not downloaded this albums worth of songs yet then I suggest you do so - now!

AVO-8 are a band from the past and I last wrote about them here. George, who used to be in the band, has put together an extensive website about them and there are now new additions to the said site.

Firstly he has added four videos from the band. More impressively however he has added two mp3 collections of the bands work covering most, if not all, the bands output.

Well worth investigating.

To celebrate their mini-tour of Italy, which starts on 28/02/2007 and follows the tours recently taken by Soda Fountain Rag & Pelle Carlberg, Mutt Ramon have put new MP3 samples from their forthcoming 7-track Lasten Musiikki EP on the Italian label My Honey Records on their site.

One is called Vouchsafe, and one is a new, faster version of one of my favourites, the very New Order-ish influenced, Physically Corrupted.

You can also hear their song Just My Honey from the Let It Bee compilation on their My Space page, and watch 3 videos - The Dog Song/Unwind Live, Physically Corrupted In Ramonia and The Adjust-o-tron which they describe as a silly short film.

Finally they have reduced the price of their excellent début album Utterly Mutterly to £6.50 including p&p. I reviewed it here.

The Groovy Little Numbers were a short lived band from Glasgow who had links with Teenage Fan Club and Superstar. They released just two singles on 535d & 3rd. You Make My Head Explode was released in 1987 whilst Happy Like Yesterday followed a year later. Both singles were later compiled as a CD on Avalanche Records.

The Groovy Little Numbers - You Make My Head Explode
The Groovy Little Numbers - Happy Like Yesterday

You can buy 53rd & 3rd Releases via Avalanche Records.

586 have made their rather spiffing remix of The Schla La La track 1,2,3,4 available as a free download via Sounds eXPerience Records*

Schla La Las - 1,2,3,4 (586 Remix)

See my original post on the release

Photo by Bob at Underexposed

*I am allowed a little plug on my own blog y' know!

Rodney Allen - Circle Line


Shelleys Children - Circle Line

Here's an awesome video to The Maybellines' song "Wait for you":



Visit The Maybellines' website
The Maybellines on Myspace

MP3:
The Maybellines - Battleship

also read an old interview with their guitarist Ville Hopponen here

Magnus' post on Secret Shine reminded me I haven't listened to a "shoegaze" band for a couple of months now.

One band I have listened to quite a bit in the past is Airiel since getting hooked on their Wine & Kisses series of EPs on Claire Records a few years back.

The band were formed by Jeremy Wren as a solo project in 1997 and have progressed into a full band since then. In recent years they have played live with outfits such as The Dears and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Their last EP, the self titled Airiel EP, was released in 2005 but 2007 should see the arrival of a debut album on Highwheel Records.

If you like shoegaze you know what to expect. If you don't have a listen:

Airiel - Cinnamon
Airiel - Firefly

More tracks can be downloaded from the bands sound page. I will go and dig out the EP's and give them a listen once more.

What does a song about male prostitution by The Ramones have to do with indie or jangle pop you may well ask.

Well it was the name taken by Stephen McRobbie (The Pastels) and David Keegan (Shop Assistants) when they set up their record label in the mid 1980's and kicks start a short series of postings from that label.

The Ramones - 53rd & 3rd (1975 Demo)

I must admit the jury is still out on Rosemary. Well in my case at least because they gain plaudits with each release which I find hard to fathom. They sound like they are trying way too hard and new download only single If I Had My Way is no exception. It contains all the necessary ingredients to create a indie pop/rock mix that should find space on the airwaves but still manages to leave a nagging doubt in my mind. THis is most likely due to it being yet another painting by numbers release which seems to be a formula followed by more than one British bands these days.

On the other hand Sheffield's Slow Down Tallahassee provide three slabs of distinct tunes on their début single which should remind people how pop music should sound. So Much For Love invokes memories of indie-pop and Creation's finest moments inflicting it's infectious harmonies on anyone caught in it's wake. Candy could be a single in it's own right - just check out the unreasoning melodies on this one. UR Grace UR completes the EP with it's girl bands meets The Primitives take on jangle pop. Simple and pretty effective. Listen before you buy.

Amida also hark back to the hazy days of "C86" and the "sound of young Scotland" with their Arts & Craft EP on Peru's Plastilina Records. This is jangle pop with a capital "J". The EP features six tracks with four previously appearing on last years self released, self titled début which I described as jangle pop harking back to Postcard's golden days and I see no reason to change that opinion. If Class of 2000 doesn't get your body moving then I suggest you passed away in the night. Listen to three tracks from the single here.

The latest in the line of recent "winning" singles from The Wombats continues with this, their third release on Kids. They certainly have the knack and still haven't dropped off the pace with Backfire At The Disco complete with it's sing along lyrics and more "woo woos" than you can shake a stick at. It's fast, frantic and cheeky. It's called pop! You can stream it here.

Northern_Electrix is one Stephen Maughan and he makes some very pleasant tunes indeed. I would hesitate to use the word chill-out here but the two tracks from his second 3" CD single are blissful indeed especially on the electronica inspired Ocean Child. Close your eyes and transport yourself to another plane.

I'm not much of a top ten lists man, and didn't make any such list for 2006. However I can safely say that the top of the concert list for last year would be a concert I witnessed in Brooklyn, NYC, by the legendary Sarah Records band Secret Shine. And by that they're beating Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses and The Sugarcubes, all of whom were fantastic.

There weren't that many people at the concert, perhaps 40-50. What struck me as odd though was that most if not all of them had they're eyes closed for much of the time, and dreamily swayed with the crashing waves of wonderful noise that emitted from the serious looking band.

I got the band's permission to post a couple of mp3's from their latest releases, and additionally got Scott Purnell to tell me a little about what's happening with the band. At the moment of writing me back (about a month ago) Scott and Jamie, the bass player, had 8 new songs written for their forthcoming full-length album, and one of the songs planned to wind up on the album is a re-working of "Last Words" which appeared on the 1994 EP Greater than God.

The band plans to start doing UK shows in March, and head to USA in November, if all goes well. Be sure to catch them live if you can.

Here are a couple of recent songs, "Adored", which was written, recorded and mixed by Jamie Gingell in his back bedroom, and "Lost Memory", from their latest EP, Beyond Sea and Sky, which, I might add, is a limited edition of only 500 copies. Both EP's are released by the band's own label, Razorblade.

Secret Shine - Adored
Secret Shine - Lost Memory

Buy Elemental at tonevendor.com
Buy Beyond Sea and Sky
and last but not least be sure to grab the compilation CD, After Years, which includes most of their Sarah Records material, Ephermeral 7", Loveblind 7", Untouched EP and Greater than God EP.

Additionally, see Secret Shine perform "Loveblind" at Popfest! New England here.

Luisa Mandou um Beijo, that wonderful Brazilian band which we've mentioned several times on this blog, recently sent me an email whose contents I thought I'd mention here. Their Brazilian label, Midsummer Madness, has released an online EP featuring remixes of their songs, by various artists, two Brazilian and two German. The EP, as well as all of the band's releases, are available both for streaming and downloading here.

The four remixes are:

1 - You´re so far away (Bauhaus Today) - Aufa Fikri (Germany)
2 - Julia - Nha Trang (Brazil)
3 - Amarelinha - Computer (Germany)
4 - Amarelinha - Fujimo (Brazil)

These artists also have their own pages and songs available at:

Aufa Fikri - http://www.myspace.com/aufafikri
Nha Trang - http://www.tramavirtual.com.br/nha_trang
Computer - http://www.myspace.com/computerrock
Fujimo - http://www.tramavirtual.com.br/fujimo

Enjoy!

Lucky Soul will be releasing their self-released debut The Great Unwanted on April 9th 2007.

As a taster for the album you can download the title track from the album. Like all their songs to date it's a fine slab of Phil Spector inspired pop music.

Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted

You can stream the band's last two singles from their My Space page.

I last wrote about The Pello Revolvers in August 2005 - doesn't time fly?

The band have a new EP planned for release this spring. It's titled as the Hasse K EP and a track from it titled The Invisible Bird has been made available on their My Space page. There is also a track from last years unreleased Harmless Dynamite EP titled Signor Jupe which was recorded live.

For those new to this Swedish band they play a brand of alternative pop with folk influences. I recommend heading to their site and download their previous EP's including 2005's No Spare Tyres.

Those Dancing Days are an outfit who come from Stockholm, Sweden but apart from that I cannot tell you anything more about their history so if they pass by can they please fill the gaps!

They have four tracks for streaming on My Space but as My Space seems to be up the creek again today you cannot download any of them which is a crying shame.

However they are certainly worth investigating. I can hear a lot of influences in these four tracks ranging from girl bands to a bit of ska, from The Dolly Mixtures to The Pipettes. Hitten is far and away their best song based on those available and it is certainly one of the best songs I have heard in a long, long time on My Space.

I cannot wait for the site to fix it's problems so I can download the song so, as it's in my head already, I can play it repeatedly!

The Labrador compilation Labrador 100 is officially out today. It's a compilation of their finest moments over the past 10 years and includes one track each from the 100 releases so far. It's an essential release for any fan of Swedish and/or indie pop music. You can buy it here.

Labrador are pretty generous when it comes to giving away free mp3's and you could make up your own four CDR set from the mp3's and windows media files they have available for downloading.

Acid House Kings - Sunday Morning
Douglas Heart - Dream
Leslies - The Girl At Collins Ave
Sambassadeur - New Moon

Download more here.

Regular Readers of the site most probably am aware that I am also one of the people behind the fledgeling Sounds eXPerience record label which funny enough is run by contributors to the Sounds XP e-zine.

We have had a couple of releases and the second 7" single is almost upon us. It's by The Schla La Las and is called 1,2,3,4 b/w Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is. It should be in the shops in the next few weeks but pre-orders which will ship in advance are being taken on the site presently. Additionally if digital downloads is your thing it's on i-tunes and Napster right now. If you want to listen to the single full length previews are available on the Sounds eXPerience Last FM & My Space pages.

The video for the single is great!



If you are in London this Thursday night why not come down to the single launch? Support is from Duloks, Open Mouths and Wolfie. More details and how to order tickets can be found here.

Ringo Deathstarr are the latest signing to SVC Records. The band come from Texas and according to the label they make .....a glorious racket it is... Swathed in feedback and attitude.

No prizes for guessing who they sound like then. If you need any further clues then download the taster track from the forthcoming album, pretend it's 1984/85, scribble the word candy down as often as you like and then press play.

Ringo Deathstarr - Some Kind Of Sad

This is the third time I have seen Pocketbooks and like the previous time I caught them they seem to be going backwards rather than cementing their position as one of London's better indie pop acts.

Tonight they were all over the place, apologising for not rehearsing their songs and Andy's voice sounded so frail and weak but to be fair the whole band did. Whilst some bands I have seen over the years can get away with being a shambles Pocketbooks don't, failing to impose themselves onto the listener for the majority of their set.

The only time the band get pass go is on the better known songs such as the The First World Record and the forthcoming single Cross The Line. These songs show their obvious potential but on this form I wonder if they can actually fulfil it.

No such trouble for Butcher Boy though. Once you get over the fact they sound like Belle & Sebastian - the early years - you realise you could be watching something pretty special indeed.

The band are wonderfully dynamic with the string section shining, supporting John Hunt's vocals down to a tee. Already the songs are well known with the audience joining in deeper into the set. The band even surprise us with a stunning version of The Weather Prophets Almost Prayed. This is good as it gets and looking around the crowd tonight most had a glint in their eye. I can see this band becoming a Smiths like obsession for some!

I previously wrote about the band here. The Girls Make Me Sick single, with tracks not available on the forthcoming album, is out today and can be purchased from the How Does It Feel indiestore.

Pictures from HDIFTBL. And yes I missed Stars of Aviation!

Phil Lewis is a singer songwriter from Wales who has put a band together to record his latest self released album.

Generally I would run a mile anyone from anyone who cites Christianity, REM or Crowded House as influences but intrigue got the better of me and I was surprised to find a couple of really enjoyable songs on Ancient Light. For example Don't Give Up, Don't Give In is a catchy indie pop tune you could imagine Ian Broudie producing. There is even a hint of Echo and the Bunnymen on No Accident but sadly these tunes are in the minority.

The rest of the album tries to hard to keep up with Lewis's influences and the songs get bogged down, unable to move in any direction and repeated listens confirm as much. It's a shame as Lewis obviously has some great ideas which have failed to blossom here. Time will tell if future releases will bear any fruit or become as good as Don't Give Up, Don't Give In. However respect should be given to anyone who has a belief in their music that they are prepared to release it themselves.

Celestial are to release their debut album on Skipping Stones on April 24th 2007. Titled Dream On it includes re-recordings of tracks that have been previously released by Lost Music and Music is My Girlfriend and apparently sound amazing!

The San Marinos also have a new single out at present on the newly formed Liao Records titled Super Sexy TV Girl. Swedes Please have posted the title track from the EP.

What's with Swedish artists and small countries? Liechtenstein will be releasing a 7" single on Fraction Discs. The band sound like all the 80's girl fronted bands you can think off.

As do The Garlands who Larryhag wrote about last week. What a find and I am seconding that (e) motion.

Celestial - Dream On
Liechtenstein - Stalking Skills

Gothenburg's The Honeydrips have four songs for streaming on their My Space page. Two are pretty sweet tunes of the lo-fi variety whilst the others are dance remixes of a song called My Apologies. Ah Karolin is my favourite with some splendid words and instruments I cannot place.

Komon is the alias of Brighton based, but soon to be Berlin bound, Swede Antonia Pehrson. Her music is lo-fi with plenty of casio beats and fruity loops thrown in as and when required. On her quieter moments her voice is reminiscent of Amelia Fletchers' especially on the Talulah Gosh like Are We Friends. Sadly the downloads do not seem to work so head to Komon's My Space page to stream or have better luck than I did!

Powerpopaholic is a new, well to me anyway, blog which writes about, erm, power pop! There are reviews and recommendations which may or not, as the case may be, interest you. It's over there.

Finally Ally has posted some tracks from her old label Sombrero's archive. These include tracks from Bob and The Siddeleys. Head here to listen and/or download.

I am off to see Butcher Boy tonight and dj'ing tomorrow so have a good weekend one and all.

Over the past couple of weeks Magnus has written about a couple of Brazilian indie pop bands. I have come across a band recently who are from the other side of South America. Les Ondes Martenot are a nine piece who hail from Santiago, Chile and if it wasn't for the fact they sing in Spanish you may have thought they came from Scotland such is their sound which draws comparisons to Camera Obscura and The Hermit Crabs!

I am not sure if the band are still going as their website hasn't been updated since 2005. However there are three tracks available on their music download.com page of which Estacionaria is my favourite. If they have gone it's a shame based on these tracks. If anyone knows anything about them please drop me a line.

Les Ondes Martenot - Estacionaria

Head here to download two other songs.

Field Music – Tones Of Town (Memphis Industries)

Sometimes bands come through and surprise you. Field Music are such a band. With a myriad of odd influences they are, and I presume always will be, beautifully out of time. So they’ve only just won me over on this their second (third if you count their singles comp, Write Your Own History) album.
There are many great moments and I’m sure I’ll only grow to love this album more. But for now it’s the elasticated title track, that swings to and fro as the strings chip away, the gorgeous and featherlite Kingston and the way Working To Work descends and ascends, contracts and expands. And also the ELO meets pyschedelia of Give It Lose It Take It with its lovely breakdown and the way the chorus swoops and dips on In Context to echo the questioning nature of the lyrics.
It’s one of those albums you just know you’ll keep discovering new things with every listen, which makes it a rare delight nowadays.

The Heise Bros. – The Continuing Saga Of… (CTL Records)

The second Heise Bros album on the other hand is rather dreary. Seven Long Years is a drab drawl with some pointless cowbell, Buttons For Lisa is tuneless and lifeless country pop and Staying The Same is some odd sort of slacker grunge. Most of the rest just glides by un-noticed, apart from the absolute nadir of the album, The Revenge Of The Self-Imposed Hero, which talks about rebellion before launching into the wimpiest chorus ever.

Wiretree – Bouldin (Cobaltworks)

Wiretree is the work of one Kevin Peroni from Austin, Texas and Bouldin is his debut album after thirteen years crafting songs in his bedroom. While his songwriting craft has been honed really well, the songs on the album lack any resemblance of soul as a result. They’re wonderfully structured and rather pleasant, but you’re not getting any feel of Kevin in there. Which might be fine for the undiscerning commercial market, but for those who want something more from their music, it simply won’t do.

The Sugars – Monsters (Bad Sneakers Records)

After all that, thank heavens for the second single from The Sugars. To a primitive rockabilly beat Anna sings like she’s scared, in an odd way, halfway between assertive and childlike. With monster movie breakdowns, it’s a great single that’s thrilling and disturbing at turns. B-side Serenade is great too, sashaying like a sinister warning from some grown up Grease. The voices blend beautifully and everything’s lovely. Or is it?

and i got carried away by your beautiful eyes...

THE GARLANDS

Enjoy!

Celestial - Hope, You Know
Phil Wilson - Emma's House
Hi-Life Companion - Times Table
The Besties - Rod N Reel
A Classic Education - Stay Son
The Icicles - Sugar Sweet
Mumbly - Gold Mine
California Snow Story - Suddenly Everything Happens

Subscribe to the podcast here and copy and paste into your podcast client. Alternatively download direct (19mb)

All tracks were made freely available by the artists prior to the podcast.

Autohaze were another Melbourne based band and recorded six singles and one album for Summershine between 1991 and 1993. The band reformed for a one off gig late last year. Spanish was their last single and has an American rockier feel, for the want of better words, to it.

Autohaze - Spanish

Chris Chapple, the bands guitarist, was also in The Mime Sets for whom he played the drums. He is now a singer songwriter. He is a busy and talented man as he also plays bass for Colour TV.

By the way does anyone know of a good book on the Australian indie scene? That's if one even exists.

The info on Blindside is even rarer than that of the Tender Engines. Of course there is the obligatory Twee Net discography but that's it.

Idle Eyes was the bands last EP being released in 1993. This is the CD version which contains extra tracks.

Blindside - Idle Eyes (21mb)

There is slightly more information on Hamish Cowan who was the bands singer & guitarist. He released an EP called Time To Leave in 1996 on Rubber Records. If anyone has a copy of this EP I would love to hear it. He later formed the band Cordrazine. I cannot find any website for the band but have found an interview here.

The only information I can find on Melbourne's The Tender Engines is this brief discography on Twee Net. With Regret was the bands second single released in 1992 with the CD version following a year later with three extra tracks. And that's it. If anyone knows any better then please contact me and let me know. Suffice to say this is a pretty good indie pop record.

The Tender Engines - With Regret (27 mb)

I first heard of Sally Shapiro when one of this blogs readers nominated their cover of Nixon's Anorak Christmas to be included on the best legal download of 2006 compilation I put together. It was a great track and left me wanting to discover more which I have finally got round to doing.

Firstly Sally Shapiro is not a singer but a duo based in Gothenburg consisting of producer Johan Agebjörn and a singer who's real name is not known and is generally referred to as Sally Shapiro. It seems this singer is shy, doesn't sing live and does the vocals when no one else is in the room. Agebjörn is better known as an ambient artist.

Unlike the majority of Swedish music featured on indie mp3 this is not indie pop but is music based on the Italian Disco/House records of the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Last year saw the release of two singles (I'll Be By Your Side & Anorak Christmas) and the Disco Romance album. Some of the songs are quite dreamy and whilst parts of the music is not generally my cup of tea I really like the vocals and they remind of Bobby Baby, another fine Swedish vocalist or Bobby Baby's occasional conspirator Stetso Songs.

Anorak Christmas (Dyylan Remix)
I Will Be By Your Side (DJ Aven Remix)

Low quality mp3's and high quality snippets from all the releases so far can be found on her site.

[My Space link]

If you head to The June Brides page on My Space you can download a banjo driven cover version of The Field Mice's Emma's House by Phil Wilson.

You had better hurry as it is not intended to be available as a download for long. If you miss it you may be able to pick it up later as it will be a b-side on a forthcoming single which will be released in Japan later this year.

( from matinée recordings homepage )

This is part two of an interview with Keris Howard (Brighter, Hal, Harper Lee) Part one can be read HERE (thanks magnusk! for the correct link)

1. For a short period of time, years back, you also had a project called Hal. Could you please tell us a bit about that?

It's funny because i can't really remember how, and why