Earlier this year Pete Green released a rather good single on Atomic Beat Records. If you haven't bought it already, I suggest you do, it's a quirky slice of indiepop. And Pete himself has made available (until Christmas) a free live LP recorded by Dandelion Radio DJ Rocker at his Bristol show on November 1st 2007 at the Cornubia. It's a ten track performance that shows off Pete's song writing talents - it's all acoustic and simple. And it's really very charming. It features his single 'Everything is gonna be Sparkly' and a rather fun cover of Slade's 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now'.

You can download the whole performance here.

The Mountain Movers are from Conneticut, USA and this LP is released on Saftey Meeting Records in the USA. In Europe the release has been picked up by Fortuna Pop. 'We've Walked in Hell and There is Life After Death' is the bands debut release. It's a nice blend of alt country and indie pop. It's undeniably an American sound. But there are nice touches throughout the LP and the inclusion of brass on the record lends it a slightly different charm, maybe recalling a less wired Ryan Adams. There seems to be a theme running through the songs on the LP - with 4 songs managing to get the word 'Devil' into the title. Elsewhere we have songs called 'Afterlife' and songs referencing grave stones. Indeed the cover features all manner of gravestones. A concept LP? Lord knows - I've not paid the lyrics that much attention. Either way, this is a nice little LP.

Shifty Disco is one of those labels that is hit and miss. This time they've fired out an LP by Paperlung and it's so wide of the mark as to be wrong. Paperlung are a band that would have sounded ok in 1996 (that's no surprise as they feature Sice from The Boo Radleys - the Brit Pop come latelies). Sadly anything that made the Boo Radley's worthwhile has long since gone. This is Brit Pop being rehashed. And I was never really a fan of all that watered down guitar pop that passed for cool Britannia back in the mid 1990s. So you can imagine what a band rehashing that woeful period of music might make me feel. Do we really need a band that takes a band like, for instance, Dodgy as a blueprint? Go on, think about it. We really don't need Paperlung. If you really do want to listen to Brit Pop go back and dig out your Oasis records. Or your Bluetones records. Give this lot a miss.

I can't find any information about the band as their website seems to have expired - So all information I have on the band is taken from what CD Baby had to say on the bands history - "The Silent Boys is an indie-pop band that has been silently playing and recording music for the past two decades. Its founder and leader, Wallace Dietz, is an avid indie-pop fan who cites influences from bands such as the Chameleons, the Cure, Joy Division, Felt, Durutti Column, McCarthy, Echo & the Bunnymen, Adorable, the Go-Betweens, Sad Lovers and Giants, the Miracle Legion, the Replacements, Ride, and even jangle pop bands like the Bats, the Chills, the Sea Urchins and the Field Mice. The two other permanent members of the band include bass and lead guitarist John Suchocki and drummer John Morand."

And while I can hear some of their stated influences loud and clear - what I can't hear is anything that would make me want to return to the LP after the initial few listens. I find it hard to write a review that lacks a positive slant but The Silent Boys are just too indiepop by numbers for me. I like my indiepop with more of an edge to it than what is offered up by The Silent Boys. And when indiepop is done as meekly as this, the songs have to be absolutely stunning to hold my attention (I am thinking about The Field Mice here) and that's the crux of the problem - the songs on 'One Step Closer' are not strong enough to hold my interest. Saying all that, there are bound to be people out there that will like 'One Step Closer'. Sadly, I'm not one of them.

The High Water Marks LP 'Polar' was released on 28th October on HHBTM records. It's the bands second released and follows up 2004's 'Songs About The Ocean'. On the evidence of 'Polar' The High Water Marks are decent little power pop band. The singing is shared between Hilarie Sidney and Per Ole Bratset - that's the girl/boy vocals sorted. Elsewhere we get powerpop guitars and catchy tunes. That's good enough for me.

This is one of the releases that sounds like it was made by an American band. It's hard to explain what I mean by that, but like a lot of HHBTM records roster - there's an undeniable 1970s pop rock underbelly to the bands they release. This is evident here. I think I prefer the songs where Hilarie takes the lead vocal duties - on songs such as 'Simple', 'The Leaves' and 'Finding Clovers'. She has such a sweet voice and it's on these slightly gentler tunes where her voice really shines. All in all, this is a fairly decent little LP.

This is one for the shoegazers and noisenik lovers. Insect Guide are a new band from Leeds. This is their debut LP and it is released on new label Dead Penny Records. This is one of those LPs that works best after more than a few listens and it recalls bands like Spacemen 3 on songs like 'Touch Me' which has a big bass throbbing through it's psychedelic heart. Elsewhere we have echoes of Curve, especially in Su Suttons lush vocal deliveries. The final influence I hear coming through is German band Neu! and their deep mechanical krautrock rhythm's. This Germanic influence comes to the fore on one of the stand out songs - 'The Insect'. Lovely stuff.

There's certainly enough evidence on this LP to suggest that Insect Guide have a very promising future ahead of them. The band manage to showcase their influences without ever sounding like they're mere copyists. There is a lovely balance of light and shade to this LP with the shards of guitar noise being kept for the right moments. This is an impressive debut release that hints that the band could go on to be one of the fore runners of the resurgent shoegaze scene.

The CD is available to buy for £11.99 (which gets you the LP and DVD of videos for every song) or downloadable from Northern Star Records for £5.99. I plumped for the CD and DVD combo.

Here's the video for 'Touch Me'.

The Vandelles are from Brooklyn, New York. And their blueprint is scuzzy rock'n'roll. Think The Jesus and Mary Chain. Think Skywave. Think The Raveonettes. Think The Cramps. This is less indiepop and more straight up leather jacket wearing rock'n'roll. And there is room enough for this type of band in my world. Indeed, 10 years ago I would have proclaimed The Vandelles as the brightest of the bright new things. But everyone changes. That's not to say I don't like what The Vandelles are doing. They're making some good sounds on this EP. I just think it's lacking a little something - maybe a killer song, maybe a touch of their own personality.

'Swell To Heaven' is my favourite song on here. It's very good surf punk rock'n'roll. The final proper song 'Dead Wave' is the song most drenched in feedback. It squeals nicely along without ever really threatening to catch fire. There then follows 3 minutes of silence before the hidden and unamed extra song buzzes into life. Feedback drones on for a while before another biker rock'n'roll song rears its head. Which sounds like it's got backward drums or some such samples layered all over it. And just as you waiting for it to really kick off - it all goes droney and gets progressively less song like until we're left with feedback and not a lot else.

The Vandelles are a band I will be happy to keep an eye on to see how they develop - but for now they're very much a work in progress.

It's a Scottish pop special at Fortuna pop! Despite their name Birmingham's Falling and Laughing are no Orange Juice clones. Aside from the odd jangle here and there the band bare no resemblance musically to the band from whose début single they took name. They open with their best song Lights Out Birmingham and the subsequent songs are poor re-hashes. That said they are mightily entertaining on the banter front which I guess takes the audiences attention away from the shambling performance they were witnessing. I am pretty sure that with more fine tuning they could become a very good band indeed but they do need to decide whether they are going to take the Field Mice or Sonic Youth route.

In complete contrast Wake The President do want to be like Orange Juice if only visually. The band are led by Anglo-Scot twins Bjorn and Erik whose wardrobe is circa Glasgow 1981. Bjorn even plays his guitar in a classic Collins pose. That said it is not all style over substance as they make a mighty fine noise. The songs are of a high standard although they still don't possess the killer tune that could take them onto the next level although new single Remember Fun is going in the right direction. They could do with dumping that Psycho Killer cover though.

The Wave Pictures were the band of the night for me. There is more than just the odd nod in a direction towards Hefner and the fact they used to be Darren Haymans backing band speaks volumes. Like the latter their songs are simple and effective whilst judging by the audiences reaction they have built up a large fan base already. New single We Dress Like Snowman took the honours building up into a wonderful crescendo.

Bricolage were the disappointment of the night for me. Like Wake The President before them the band are heavily influenced by Postcard Records - so much so that it hurts. I am not sure that it was because I expected so much from them - it was the first time I had seen them after all - but something was missing. Song wise it became a blur with each song blending into each other without no discerning features by the set's end. I guess I need to see them a couple of times more before deciding if they are as good live as they are on record!

Photos courtesy of Bob Stuart, Underexposed.

West Londoners Friends Of The Bride swing their way through possibly their finest moment to date.

On So, You Think You Can Dance Bobby Grindrod sings with apparent ease, his sentimental style voice wittily taking apart his target who gets their rightful comeuppance. Flip side I've Had My Moments sees Grindrod crooning along in the style of the Rat Pack updated for the 21st century. In both songs Grindrod's vocals are ably supported by the guitar, bass and drums but for the most part the listeners focus will be on him. What a dapper of a chap!

Whether Friends Of The Bride are indie pop enough to be accepted by most remains to be seen but I like their take on things. Like the brewery in their part of London they certainly take pride.

The single is out now on the Young And Lost Club label. You can buy digitally from here.

[My Space link]

Back in September we at Lost Music were very happy to put on Sarandon and Keith John Adams at the Buffalo Bar. I have just found these two videos from the show on You Tube.

Keith John Adams - Looking Around The Planet


The Sarandon clip is the song Sarandon opened with and it features the 'Kill Twee Pop' mantra that the band used as their intro (recorded by John Robb). The band for this gig featured alan brown of bIG fLAME.

Sarandon - Meet Warren

I meant to write about the God Is In The TV download label a few weeks ago. When I learnt of their release by noisy band Time.Space.Repeat. At the second ever Lost Music gig we put on a 7 band bill at The Windmill in Brixton. Time.Space.Repeat were one of the bands we had on. They had all sorts of sound gremlins and technical glitches with their equipment - but they still did enough to make me want to hear more by the band.

Thanks to GIITTV download label - you now can download a two track single. There are two songs for downloand 'The End of the World' and 'No Laces'. The lead track is brash and brooding slab of shoegaze rock'n'roll. It's rather good. 'No Laces' is a slower affair - showcasing the bands subtler side (and it's a little bit too Radiohead for my tastes) - but as the song builds so does the expectation of noise and it kind of kicks in towards the end. I prefer the lead song.


Time.Space.Repeat - The End of the World

The 2nd release from the GIITTV label is again a download only release. This time we have The Sailplanes. In a strange twist of fate the Sailplanes also played our 7 band extravaganza back in May of this year. They are loud. Their early recordings showed a penchant for Sonic Youth tinged noisepop. They have progressed a way since then forging a sound away from their influences. Both these songs feature on the bands debut LP and as a taster these songs work well.


The Sailplanes - Strangers

Link - God Is In The TV Singles Club

Digital Cloud on My Space

Tom and I have both written about Gothenberg duo Tillmanns before. I finally got a copy of the bands debut LP 'A Careless Lifestyle' over the weekend. Their single 'Run' was one of the better indiepop moments from last year. So their debut LP released on Fraction Discs is a welcome release. There are gently chiming guitars and New Order style synths galore all over the record - all helped along by some simple electronic beats. The overall feel is that the band are a long lost relative of the bands that were released on Sarah Records. This is a desolate but beautiful pop record.

Tillmanns have an uncanny knack for snapping together rather wonderful pop songs. 'Twist' being a particular favourite. The vocals are one tone and they sit fairly deeply in the mix. This all adds to the other worldly sound the band are so good at. Tillmanns are bedroom pop and they are the reason that doing reviews on Indie-MP3 will always be a pleasure. For every band that get to sit in the mountain of mediocrity you get the odd gem. And this is one of those gems. Treasure it.

Keith John Adams new CD 'Unclever', which I have already previewed here is due for release on Jan 29th, 2008 on Happy Happy Birthday To Me records. It seems he has a madcap idea to write a song for each person that is in the first 40 people to pre-order the CD. Here's what Keith said on his My Space:

The Keith John Adams is gonna write a special individual song for EACH of the first 40 to take up an extra special pre-order for the new album Unclever, from HHBTM records in the USA.

A song just for you! Check it out:

http://hhbtm.com/kjapreorder.html

Be part of the dream!

From A Labrador Press Release:

Labrador proudly presents the solo début from Johan Hedberg of Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. »5-spårs EP« (means »Five track EP« in Swedish) is nothing less than brilliant - a splendid mix of electronica, world music and pop. Welcome to the sound of a true pop genius.

In the spring of 2007 Johan Hedberg bought a computer with an instalment plan. This new gear gave him inspiration to do some productions on his own with the motto "fast production and no turning back".

Johan Hedberg - Var dig själv

It's out on December 5th 2007. You can pre-order from here.

Christmas Twee
Saturday 1st December, 2007
Midland Railway, Butterley near Ripley, Derbyshire

Do you fancy a bit of indiepop action before Christmas? Would you like to combine a weekend away to the country (sort of) with some top notch live bands, stylish DJ sets and more than a smattering of festive fun! And - most importantly - do you want to ride a choo choo steam train to your heart's content? If so, then Christmas Twee might just be the jobbie for you!

The lovely Indietracks gang have got together again to put on a Christmas pop show at the Midland Railway in Ripley, Derbyshire, and it all looks set to be rather fab and very Christmassy. There's a wonderful line-up of bands - The Icicles, The Deirdres and The Poppycocks - playing in a heated marquee at the station, and there's also going to be DJ sets from Gavin Dunbar from Camera Obscura, Emma and Dan from Pocketbooks and DJs from the Don't Start Feeling All Romantic club night. There'll be steam train rides in between sets and - if it's anything like the previous two Indietracks events - I'm sure it's going to be ACE. And all for just 15 quid too - what a bargain!

The timetable for the evening looks a bit like this:
18:45 Doors Open at Butterley Station
19:15 The Deirdres
19:50 Steam train ride with Gavin Dunbar (Camera Obscura) DJing on board
20:30 The Poppycocks
21:15 Steam train ride. Don't Start Feeling All Romantic DJing on board
22:00 The Icicles
23:00 Dan and Emma from Pocketbooks DJing in the marquee
00:00 Ends

Tickets can be bought by contacting 01773 747674 (open 7 days a week, 9am til 5pm).

Darren and his band the Secondary Modern have just released a new self-titled album and, fresh back from a brief six-date tour across England and Scotland, Darren talks to Indie Mp3 about the new record, ukeleles, musical highlights from the past year and his fondness for Girls Aloud..........

Why did you decide to call the band Secondary Modern? There's quite a lot of school references in some of your songs...

Secondary Modern was the originally the title of the song Art and Design. It works on a few levels. I like the Table for One and Secondary Modern link. It fits the songs about school and it also fits the theme of the next Secondary modern album, Pram Town.

Will you continue to make music with The French and, if so, what do you have planned?

No, I think The French is over, although we do have a lot of unreleased material. The French re-issue, which is coming out in late 2008 or 2009, will have a whole CD of unreleased songs on it. There is also a second album which remains unreleased, although some of those songs have appeared re-recorded on Table For One and Secondary Modern.

You have three very different music projects now- how do you fit it all in?! And did you make a conscious decision to move towards a more folky sound again?

Decisions like that are never entirely conscious or unconscious. I’m surrounded by more acoustic musicians and so I find myself naturally drifting towards that. However there was a conscious acknowledgement that people who like my music tend to like the more organic sounds.

How was the recent Secondary Modern tour? And are there plans for any more gigs soon?

It went well, people came to the shows - we rocked - but in general I’m looking forward to a long break from playing live.

You still play a lot of Hefner songs at your gigs- have you got any plans to reform at all?

No, none at all. And people make the mistake of thinking this is my decision alone. There are other members of Hefner who would also prefer not to reform.

Do you feel like you've moved away from Hefner lyric territory now?

I think the lyrics I write now have some connection to the words on We Love the City and Dead Media, but I feel quite removed now from the lyrics on Breaking God's Heart and Fidelity Wars.

What have been your personal musical highlights this year?

Well, I never feel a compulsion to listen to what’s current. In fact, I often find it easier to judge something a few years after the hype. For instance, I‘ve only just started listening to the Strokes. However, I have loved becoming a friend and a fan of the Wave Pictures this year, and - if the music press and public can stomach something truly unfashionable - then they may have some success. I also like to listen to things outside my genre so I really like the production and writing on things like Girls Aloud. I really like Kate Nash, but the song Dickhead is so bad it almost puts you off her completely.

Darren is actually playing a few gigs before Christmas, which you can read about here.

English being my second language, nay probably third since I was forced to learn some danish before I learned english, I sometimes have a hard time making out some lyrics. I have now listened time and again to Wolfie's wonderful song, "Hey It's Finally Yay", and have now officially given up trying to make them out.

[MP3] Wolfie - Hey It's Finally Yay

For your amusement I finally typed what I think they say, and I have serious doubts it's anywhere close to reality. If anyone can supply me with the correct lyrics I'd be grateful. Or perhaps I'm right and the lyrics are totally incomprehensible!

Inhale a cat, in a zipper pack
and then you said you won't lose it
make another tape, like we made a tape
and then kathy's clothes, it's got a skeleton

You can use, shake that buoy
nanny pig, no use in that
magic wands, gifted ned
so finally now we've made a friend

Middle of the day, now the bracket's there
gotta still have time to pick up the
don't you sit around, like we sat around
and we talked about dreams that wouldn't happen

You can use, shake that buoy
nanny pig, no use in that
magic wands, gifted ned
so finally now we've made a friend

At the orange [something]
dire specs and trips too

I wrote a little on the band before here.

One of the albums that's been pretty much hogging my cd player lately is Her Life of Crime, an album released by Colin Clary and the Magogs in 2005. In particular I go back to two songs, and so, wanting to share the songs with someone, I got Colin's permission to do so, and asked him how they came about.

About "Moped rally" Colin says:

"Moped Rally, was inspired by my friend Rob Hoehn’s enthusiasm about getting and riding mopeds. One day he got a bunch of us together and we took turns going for Moped rides – it was fun – and funny, too, I guess – Mopeds are such awesome and odd transporters! So yes, there really was a moped rally afternoon – that song usually calls up good memories for me, and on a different level, I think the opening line just inspired me to write the song, too – it’s about sharing what you have – kind of like a pot luck dinner or anything where each person brings something different to the table. Also mopeds are better for there earth than cars and trucks."

[MP3] Colin Clary and the Magogs - Moped rally

The other song, a more somber and delicate one, is "I only give you bad advice 'cause I love you".

"I guess it’s a sort of humorous song that I made up about a few things that were going on at the time.... At the time I made this one up I had been in the habit of writing and recording whole albums in one day – with David [Zacharis from the Smittens] recording and me just blasting out quick songs as quick as he could hit the button to record – and I was susceptible to getting into a manic hangout phase with new friends – staying up all night talking and drinking and listening to records and stuff. Spending as much time together as possible, and sometimes getting into work later than I should."


[MP3] Colin Clary and the Magogs - I only give you bad advice 'cause I love you

Apart from this gem of an album, Colin now has a new solo release on Asaurus called "Apocalypse Yow!", and he also plays with a band called The Smittens, who will likely be releasing a new album next spring, entitled Til' The Summer's End.

Not stopping there he's recording a new album with The Magogs, and The Smittens are sharing a 7" with Tullycraft which is part of the Happy Happy Birthday To Me singles club, and to quote: "there are a couple other secret things in the pipeline...."

[Colin Clary and the Magogs on Myspace]
[The Smittens on Myspace]
[Colin Clary on Myspace]
[Apocalypse Yow! on Asaurus]

"Rock on, Yow!"

Apart from the fact that they are a Swedish singer/songwriter I know nothing else apart from Josse. Well apart from the fact that she (oh that's something else I knew) has a free download EP out on Saftkalas Recordings.

These low fi melancholic tracks are ideal listening on a very cold, London Sunday evening. Must be colder in Sweden though! Josse, who is one Josefin Lindh, has a great voice for this type of music which even works well on her cover of Stevie Wonder's He's Misstra Know-It-All.

Josse - You Had A Plan
Josse - He's Misstra Know-It-All

If El Perro Del Mar or Hello Saferide rings your bell than I can more than recommend this.

You can download the rest of the EP including artwork from here.

EDIT: I now have some more information about Josse - thanks Johan.

He writes that she is 20 years old, lives in Uppsala, Sweden.

She recently sang in the indie band Miss the Point from Falun in Sweden, who got gigs at Hultsfredsfestivalen and other big places in Sweden, but now she is now going solo. See also has a My Space page. A previous EP can be downloaded from Last FM.

Fortuna POP! presents The Beat Hotel

With bands…

Bricolage + The Wave Pictures + Wake The President + Falling And Laughing

plus Fortuna POP! and Soup Kitchen DJs playing indiepop, punk, 60s psych and northern soul

Friday 23rd November 8pm til late
Buffalo Bar, 259 Upper Street, London N1 1RU
Nearest tube : Highbury & Islington
Tel : 020 7359 6191
Web: http://www.buffalobar.co.uk
E-mail : info@buffalobar.co.uk

Advance: £5 from We Got Tickets/Door: £6
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/23332

BRICOLAGE
Glasgow's Bricolage are Chris (vocals, guitar), Graham (vocals, guitar), Darren (vocals, bass) and Colin (drums). Clearly influenced by their Glaswegian antecedents on the Postcard label, namely Orange Juice and Josef K, they released their first single "Footsteps" on semi-legendary Scottish label Creeping Bent, in June 2006, and a second single "Looting Takes The Wanting Out of Waiting" on Fantastic Plastic in February this year. Now signed to Memphis Industries, Bricolage are currently recording their debut album.
http://www.myspace.com/bricolagetheband

THE WAVE PICTURES
For a few years The Wave Pictures have played sporadically in the UK, France and New York, sharing shows with Herman Dune and The Jeffrey Lewis Band, as well as singing The Wave Pictures song "Dust Off Your Heart" with Herman Dune on a radio session for the great John Peel. The Wave Pictures have also served as backing band for both John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats and Darren Hayman, Hayman’s old band Hefner being a clear influence, along with the guitar playing of Tom Verlaine. Now, with the release of their brilliant new single on Moshi Moshi they’re about to become stars in their own right.
“Only occasionally does music intoxicate like this: once every decade (he says, at random) – counting backwards, early Pavement, Galaxie 500, The Pastels… I’m sure you can make up your own reference points” (Everett True, Plan B)
www.thewavepictures.com
http://www.myspace.com/thewavepictures

WAKE THE PRESIDENT
Fronted by Scottish/Swedish twins Erik and Bjorn, Glasgow’s Wake The President are shortly to release their second single on Electric Honey records, the label started by Alan Rankine of The Associates and responsible for the release of Belle and Sebastian’s first album “Tigermilk”.
“Wake The President caused quite a stir at Indietracks with a drunken, loud-mouthed, fearless and utterly magnificent set that was like watching a young Edwyn Collins, cloned, high on his own runaway talent. Set the words of Arab Strap to the music of Orange Juice and you're close to the brilliance of these newcomers.” (How Does It Feel To Be Loved)
http://www.myspace.com/wakethepresdent

FALLING AND LAUGHING
A new band out of Birmingham led by Dunc Vernon, the man behind Birmingham’s indiepop night The Autumn Store. They describe themselves as Sonic Youth on Sarah Records crossed with Jens Lekman fronting The Wedding Present or The Field Mice being slightly miffed about something but acting fine about it.
http://www.myspace.com/duncsfallingandlaughing

Tom and Trev (indie-mp3/Soup Kitchen) will be dj'ing at this one.

Funny enough Baby I'm Yours from the new EP of the same name by Math and Physics Club is not even the strongest song here and could easily be supplanted by any of the remaining three. It's short, jangly and catchy and for anyone else it could be a minor classic. However delve deeper into the EP and you will find tracks that displace the title track with ease.

Are missing The Smiths? Then try Nothing Really Happened which sounds like it was recorded in the shadows of Strangeways. This is a re-recording of a demo sent to Matinee in 2004. It's no wonder the label signed the band.

The band sound less like The Smiths these days and In This Together demonstrates this perfectly. Trumpets, violins, hand claps and a few ba ba bas takes care of that. If I ever used the word twee to describe indie pop this would be the nearest I would come. The best waits until last with Do You Keep A Diary which is driven by the keyboard heading towards the dance floor. With this EP the bar is raised just that higher.

Math and Physics Club - Baby I'm Yours

[My Space link]

Further to my review of the Matinee Hit Parade here are two tracks taken from it for your listening pleasure. Both have been made available by the label.

Electric Pop Group - My Only Inspiration
Bubblegum Lemonade - Tyler

More on the Matinee Hit Parade here. You can order it from Matinees' shop.

[Matinee Recordings]
[Matinee Recordings on My Space]

I was going to write about the new Manhattan Love Suicides single on Cloudberry Records which is the follow up to the EP they released on our very own Lost Music Records in October.

However as Skatterbrain and Coast Is Clear got there before me I won't bother!

Manhattan Love Suicides - Last Stand

[My Space link]

It seems My Bloody Valentine are about to return. Tickets for their three comeback shows go on sale tomorrow (November 16th). The following three dates have been announced:

Friday 20th June - London - The Roundhouse
Saturday 28th June - Manchester - Apollo
Wednesday 2nd July - Glasgow - Barrowland

Tickets for all shows will be available at www.seetickets.com and venue box offices.

To celebrate 10 years of releasing music Matinee Recordings have compiled the Matinee Hit Parade. It features 13 of the artists on their impressive roster and the CD is designed to look like a vinyl single.

This is no run of the mill compilation either with each and every contribution being set to a single release standard. This means you get brand new recordings from the likes of Matinee stalwarts The Pines and Harper Lee as well as tracks from more recent artists such as The Hermit Crabs and the Math and Physics Club.

The album also sees the début of bands new to the Matinee roster being tasters to forthcoming releases. The Electric Pop Group prove that their début album was no one off with the splendid My Only Inspiration with it's underlying shimmering shoegazing currents. Two big plusses are the appearances of Scottish acts Bubblegum Lemonade and Strawberry Whiplash whose demo mp3's I have been playing to death what seems months now. Both bands manage to recreate the classic 1980's indie pop sound to great effect, both being influenced by the echoes of Glasgow musical past.

London based Slipslide are a new name on me despite forming in 2001 and their track Let Things Fall Apart is the highlight for me. Jangling guitars and melancholy vocals. It's wonderful and has me scuttling off to find out more which I suppose is the purpose of compilations like these. And what of the rest? There is not one filler or weak track here from The Lucksmiths Good Light to German newcomers Clay Hips with the lovely Failure. You would be hard pressed to come up with a better compilation if you were making your own mixtape. Don't rain on their parade and buy!

The Matinee Hit Parade is out now. More about it and Real Player previews can be found here.

Annie Barker is an American singer. She declares her love of the Cocteau Twins on her website appreciating Robin Guthrie's lush landscapes and Liz Frazers ethereal voice. She then met Guthrie by chance at a show and they decided to colloborate with Mountains and Tumult being the result. Barker provides the lyrics/vocals whilst Guthrie supplied the music, mixed and produced the album.

You must wonder what Guthrie made of Barker's voice. At times it's so close to Frazers it's uncanny. Kissed Me is a refugee from Four Calendar Cafe as Barkers voice sits comfortably with Guthrie's production. But that is as good as it gets. The rest of the album plays safe sticking to the template of the opening track and it's oh so same. More than once Barkers voice gets lost with Elliott's Song being a prime example and, even for this fan of Guthrie, listening to this album is hard work for little or no gain.

Barker has an amazing voice and it would be interesting to hear what she does in future once she sheds her obvious influences. In the meantime I am adding this to the albums I really wanted to like but ultimately didn't list.

You can listen to album clips here. It's out now and can be purchased from Barker's website.

[My Space link]

My Raining Stars are French. They say they sound like "C86 meets Creation Records meets Sarah Records!!!" There is not much else about them to be honest.

They have previews of tracks from their new album From St Saviour To Quickwell available for streaming. Sadly they are short excerpts but to be honest they are teasing us because what is available is very good indeed. However one cannot wrote a review based on snippets - that's a hint to the band.

I guess I should bookmark the webpage and check to see when the promised full previews appear. I am chomping at the bit already.

[My Space link]

I have just read that the 6th Volume in The Sound of Leamington Spa series is due out (at the end of October allegedly - but I can not as yet find anywhere to buy said release). The track listing is shaping up to look like this:

Company of Cowards – Summer Story
Rumblefish - Medicine