A brief post following a break in proceedings during our jaunt around the country watching The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. A full round up of our jaunt will follow in a week's time but it's still all go as the band play at our gig in London tonight.

If you have a facebook account you can watch some videos taken during the tour:

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Manhattan Love Suicides
The Parallelograms

Nice one Rocker!

I saw the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart last night and was simply blown away by their live performance. Simply stunning.

The band play Sheffield tonight, Nottingham on Monday, Stoke on Tuesday and Leeds on Wednesday They finish their English tour at our Lost Music Presents night on Friday. Both myself and Trev will be at everyone of those gigs so look forward to an in depth report in the next week or two. I am really looking forward to this tour as we will also be catching others bands such as Horowitz, Manhattan Love Suicides, Strawberry Story, Parallelograms, Pete Green etc as well as meeting people we "know" via Anorak but have never met.

The Parallelograms also played last night and were amazing which leads me onto the fact both bands appear on a split 7" single on Atomic Beat Records. This is very limited so pick it up now!

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Doing All the Things That Wouldn’t Make Your Parents Proud
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Orchard Of My Eye

[My Space link]

Leeds based The Lodger will be releasing a new album on 19th May 2008 via Bad Sneakers Records. Titled Life Is Sweet it is the follow up to last years Grown Ups.

Prior to that the first single taken from the album will be released. It's called The Good Old Days and will be out on 28th April 2008 in digital and limited 7" formats.

The Lodger will be headlining the first of the residency gigs we are promoting under the Lost Music banner at London's The Gramaphone on March 13th 2008. Support will be from The Argonauts and The Nightjars. Tickets for this one will be on sale shortly.

If you can't wait for any of that hopefully a track from the new album will placate you. It's called The Conversation and has that quintessentially English sound about it. Think about The Smiths, Brilliant Corners, The Housemartins etc and all those melodic and catchy songs those bands produced and that will give you some idea of how The Lodger sounds.

The Lodger - Conversation

Now here is a chance to link to some tracks from the excellent Grown Ups album!

The Lodger - Let Her Go
The Lodger - The Story's Over
The Lodger - My Advice Is On Loan
The Lodger - Kicking Sand

Buy Grown Ups

Labrador are re-releasing Club 8's first four albums for the label complete with extra tracks. The albums are:

The Friend I Once Had (1998) + 6 bonus track
S/T (2001) + 2 bonus tracks
Spring Came, Rain Fell (2002) + 5 bonus tracks
Strangely Beautiful (2003) + 5 bonus tracks

There is no indication of what the extra tracks are but I am guessing they are singles, mixes or both.

If you order before the 5th March you can pick up all four albums for 45 Euros (approx £33 or approx $66).

Club 8 - Everlasting Love
Club 8 - Love In December
Club 8 - Spring Came, Rain Fell
Club 8 - Saturday Night Engine

Buy the abums from here.

[My Space link]

Singing Bridges are an indie pop band from the States. The core members of the band were formerly in Manchester By The Sea.

The band also features the people who run the Skipping Stones Records label and who organise the annual Popfest now into it's 5th year. The Sunny Day Rainy Day EP is their début release.

The overall impression of the EP is that this is how The Breeders would sound if they played lo-fi indie pop. It's very harmonic and the shared female vocals, reminiscent of the Deal sisters, gives it a very strong focal point. As for the production you take the rough with the smooth here but I like the coarse sound of the recordings especially on the stand out track On Y Va which is sung entirely in French. At other points in the EP you hear traces of shoegaze, folk and echoes of long forgotten bands all which hopefully point towards the promise and expectation of greater things from the band.

Singing Bridges - On Y Va (acoustic version)

The EP, which is extremely limited, is out now on Skipping Stones Records to be followed by a digital release in April. You can buy it here.

[My Space link]

It's a busy busy Monday night in Hoxton's trendy Bar & Grill with a somewhat mix and match bill featuring three bands.

First up there's Gold Sounds and their melodic pop which needs plenty more work before I investigate any further. Whilst I am all for experimentalism I am not sure banging a wooden spoon on a box counts and in the end I was worn down by Fireworks Night folky, acid tinged tunes. However to be fair I was getting impatient (and slowly sozzled on the over priced organic bitter) whilst waiting for My Sad Captains which, lets face it, the majority of us were here to see.

The bands constant gigging on the London circuit over the past six months have seen them turn into a well oiled machine when it comes to their live appearances and does it show. Initially they seem to be a bit shy in their approach but as the set wears on their confidence comes on in leaps and bounds. Whilst Cathy claps, smiles and sings front man Ed has some nice poses with his guitar as he stares towards the audience. The rest of the band seem comfortable in their surroundings resulting in songs that sound oh so good.

And the songs themselves? The band play a mean mix of jangle pop (Triffids, Go Betweens) coupled with country leanings. The recent single Bad Decisions sounds so much better live as does it's flip side Here and Elsewhere which could, and should have been, a single in it's own right. Delayed new single, the infectious All Hat and No Plans, is the stand out track with it's catchy melodies and rockier riffs. Suddenly it was over but reflecting on the way home I feel that I can safely add My Sad Captains to the select list of bands on the current London indie pop circuit that I would happily pay to see time and time again.

My Sad Captains - Bad Decisions

[My Space link]

Pocketbooks have announced details of their new single which is titled as the Waking Up EP. It's due for release on March 17th 2008 on the new London label Make Do And Mend Records although it will be released on Valiant Records in the States. The track listing is:

Waking Up
Falling Leaves
Love Is The Stick You Throw
Don't Stop

Don't Stop is available as a free download from the band whilst Waking Up can be streamed via My Space.

Pocketbooks - Don't Stop

The band play London's Betsy Trotwood on 23rd February 2008 supporting The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart at an Atomic Beat Records special.

[My Space link]

The Subliminal Girls are in fact 5 chaps that are based in and around London. The band caused a mini stir last year with their infectious 'Burn Koko' single - which seemed to suggest that arson would be good thing for the London venue of the same name. Although Camden was on fire last week - rumours of Subliminal Girls involvement seem to be unfounded.

That's all well and good - but all this has nothing to do with this EP. The 'Hungry Like The Wolf' EP which came out in January this year on Weekender Records. It's a curious EP - but it's hardly got anything to get me excited on it. The lead song is a cover of the Duran Duran favourite from the early 80s. It's nice enough - but hardly a magical reinvention of the song and if you're going to cover a song that is that well known - a twist to make your own wouldn't go a miss. It's got more guitars and less synths than the original and I'd wager the video is lower budget - but that hardly counts as a sweeping remake. Elsewhere we get 'Wltm' which comes over like The Jam -but replacing the grit with glitter. Again - it's not bad - but it certainly not good, either. And the EP limps off quietly with 'Self Obsession' the lightest piece of light weight 80s inspired pop of the three. I didn't hate the EP - I just couldn't find much here to get excited about. I am sure it will go down a storm at 'Student Discos'.

I had the pleasure of seeing Ollie Byrd and the Trees playing in a small venue the size of my living room here in Reykjavik on saturday. They were bloody brilliant, and accompanied by the foxy vixens of Vicky Pollard and metalheads Cliff Clavin. Ollie Byrd is the brains behind the band, most of the songs he wrote and released on a solo EP in 2006 and now he's gathered together a full band and is touring UK and France as we speak.

Tonight they're playing at The Dublin Castle in Camden (I'm a little late with this for Londoners I'm afraid). Other dates are as follows:

Feb 19 - Le Paris Paris, Paris
Feb 20 - The Cavern, Paris
Feb 21 - Head of Steam, Newcastle
Feb 22 - Snooty Fox, West Yorkshire
Feb 23 - The Castle, Manchester

Ollie Byrd and The Trees - Arrives a Girl

[Ollie Byrd and The Trees on Myspace]

I caught The Bent Moustache live at The Windmill in Brixton last week. I was suitably impressed by their noise pop tunes to pick up their CD - 'Forst'. The LP came out last year on Transformed Dreams.

I've finally given the LP a bit of attention and it's a very fine piece of noisepop - recalling the poppier end of bands like Sonic Youth, Swervedriver and The Fall. The LP has it's shoegaze moments - on songs like 'The Deadroom' but overall the LP offers a curious take on the past 30 years of musical heritage with some more idiosyncratic pop moments - with 'Organ Fascination' being a prime example that has a very Mark E. Smith feel.

The band also throw in the odd curve ball and the odd dub rhythm does the job on a few occasions - most notably on 'Killa Dub'. All in all this is a varied and pleasing listen - a worthwhile investigation for anyone who likes their guitars a little frazzled but, importantly still keen on killer tunes. The Bent Moustache deliver both without ever sounding ponderous.

Whilst in the UK the band also recorded a session for for the XFM John Kennedy program X-posure. This will be broadcast Thursday, February 21 from 10pm.

The Left Outsides are a duo from South London and they feature one time Saloon member Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas. They were both in short lived psych-folk band The Eighteenth Day of May. A band that I liked a lot. I once caught The Left Outsides live and liked their gentle folk sound.

This home made LP continues in a similar vein to their previous release - 'Leaving The Frozen Butterflies Behind'. That EP won a place in my heart and on first evidence this LP could well do the same thing. The duo rarely put a foot wrong and the ten songs showcased here marry the folk sound with a slight penchant for 60s Psychedelia - this 60s feel comes over stronger when Mark handles the lead vocals. All in all this is a very decent début LP - I can recommend it to those that like the folky end of the pop spectrum. The LP is released on 19th February as a limited (250) handmade CDr release and it is available to order for just £6 including postage and packaging. I'd call that a bargain.

They are also playing at the next Sounds XP night at Bar Monsta on the 5th March. Where they are on a bill that includes Esiotrot, Foxes and Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee.

Sea Lion is the second album from New Zealand’s The Ruby Suns, a band of disparate influences. After an inauspicious start, the album finally gets going with the third track, Tane Mahuta, which is as African sounding as it’s possible to get. It has a lovely light rhythm and will put a smile on your face.

Mwangi In Front Of Me is rather ghostly and dreamy, like the aftermath of an electrical storm and Remember is like a slowed down Ride, shoegazing for the daydream generation and quite beautiful. This Adventure Tour is chirrupy, like Beirut without the Eastern European influence.

However it seems that too often large segments of the album can pass by in a non descript haze, the ideas few and far between.

So, it seems that while Field Music are technically no more, they have at least been moved upstairs to a director of football role, to use sporting parlance. Hopefully this will mean even more output from the three members as they pursue their separate adventures.

First out the traps is David Brewis with his School of Language project. Bookending the album are the Rockist pieces, a collection of daydreams about words. Of these Part 1 is quite electronic and repetitive, Part 2 wilder and almost shock rock, with military drums and wailing guitars. After this most interesting start the album settles down into a sound much like Field Music, but with a tad more seventies AOR to it.

It’s not a bad thing per se, you just feel like Brewis is treading water somewhat rather than stretching himself and striving for something I believe he’s capable of. And again, it’s tracks like Extended Holiday that have a bit more life, bounce and twist to them that prove to be more successful.

We then return to the Rockist tracks to see out the album. Part 3 passes by rather un-noticed, but Part 4 is rather lovely and possible the best thing here even despite it’s more than passing resemblance to Part 1.

Twig were one of the many bands to release a delicious 3" CDr single on Cloudberry Records last year and it's no surprise that they hail from Sweden as a lot of the Cloudberry releases have come from bands based in the land of indiepop. Their 3 track EP was a nice affair (but a long way from my favourite Cloudberry release) and it had now led to this 7" single. Which is the first ever vinyl release on Cloudberry Records.

I love what Cloudberry Records have been doing by putting out so many wonderful little EPs and to see the label come of age with a 7" is wonderful. And I have to say this single by Twig is a great release - surpassing my expectations as it really is a step up from their CDr release. As it's a 7" single we are only treated to two songs. But what songs they are. 'Wentworth' sounds like a haunting cross between Orange Juice and The Smiths. It's a cracking little song and sure to feature on my stereo a lot over the coming weeks. 'Ciao Ciao Bomb' is just as a thrilling a pop song. Guitars chime and the Orange Juice/Smiths comparison still rings true. This is a lovely little 7" record. Twig have made a record that is worth cherishing.

At some point last year I got a set of demos from Candy Panic Attack. I fell in love with their lo-fi charm and their loud, fast shouty indiepop. It seems I had already heard one of their songs in a different form on a Squirrel Records compilation called 'Nut Boppin' Whoppers'.

Fast forward to this week and I was out record shopping and I was chuffed to find that Candy Panic Attack have only gone and released a 6 track 7" EP on Cherryade Records. On pink vinyl no less. Lead song 'What's He Got That I Haven't' is simply a stunning piece of shambling noise pop. A bass rumbles, guitars crunch and the singer gets right in your face. Lovely stuff. The rest of the EP is equally thrilling. It's nice to see that the bands sound has remained rough and ready. I really love this band. All of their songs are under 2 minutes long. This is near enough perfect punk pop to these ears.

Lovvers are a new band to me and this 7" single is their third single. I've not stumbled upon their earlier singles - all of which have been released on Johnson Family Records. The band are a four piece from Nottingham and they're living proof that taking your influences from the 80s indie scene - isn't all about tweepop and jangly guitars. This lot are cut from a far darker cloth. The hand (and sound) of the 80s American underground bands is never far from the surface and I can hear echoes of Big Black and the Minutemen to name just two. The art work even looks a little Big Black-ish in it's make up.

This is a harder edge sound than isn't as often covered on Indie-mp3 but it doesn't stop it from being very good indeed. The two songs on this 7" are heavy and very organic sounding. Again I am drawn to this sound as I have always been a big fan of Big Black, 80s Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers etc and I'd say that if you've ever had a passing interest in any of those bands and a lot of the stuff released on the Blast First imprint you'll do a lot worse than checking out Lovvers in 2008. I like.

I have been listening to The Middle Ones quite a bit this past day and a half after they were announced as one of the bands for the indietracks festival. Out of all those bands announced so far they were the first band I have never come across before.

The band, who are based in Norwich if I have tread their bio right, have four songs for streaming on their My Space page. The recordings are a bit rough round the edges but these are lovely, gentle acoustic pop songs straight out of the top drawer. Of the four Riversong is my favourite because it is slightly lovelier than the others!

The band should be listened to by all but I am guessing they will appeal to those who like Monkey Swallows The Universe or other lo-fi acoustic indie pop acts such as The 10p Mixes. I am also guessing that The Middle Ones DIY ethos will also appeal to fans of The Deidres and the like. They will be on my list to catch at indietracks for sure!

[My Space link]

If you were one of the first 40 people who pre-ordered Keith John Adams new album Unclever (Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records) you got a personal song written and produced by Adams as part of the deal.

HHBTM have now posted some of the songs on their blog and have asked indie mp3 to do the same especially as myself and Trev were one of the first 40 who ordered.

Evil Bus Depot
Daddy Tom
Lost In Korea
Marry Me In London
Minus The Cat

You can download five more songs at The Happy Birthday To Me Records blog. Others will be appearing at 24 Hour Party Pooper, Three Imaginary Girls, Skatterbrain, Indiepages, You Ain't No Picasso and Cable & Tweed over the next few weeks.

Pre-order Unclever

[My Space link]

Well bugger me if I didn't just discover a band that most of you probably knew already. Club 8 is a duo consisting of Johan Angergård of Acid House Kings and The Legends, and Karolina Komstedt, and I can't stop listening to their songs. They're about to tour Spain with a quick stopover in Japan on the way. I can only hope they decide to stop by in Iceland while they're at it. The retro artwork is also quite a dish. Check them out, they're luverly!

Club 8 - Heaven
Club 8 - Whatever you want
Club 8 - Spring came, rain fell
Club 8 - What shall we do next

[Larryhag's interview with Johan]
[Larryhag's interview with Karolina]
[Club 8 on Myspace]

Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee are a Bluegrass band consisting of Darren Hayman (Hefner, The French) on bass/vocals, Dan Mayfield (Enderby, Ellis Island Sound, The Secondary Modern) on violin, Dave Tattersall (The Wave Pictures) on guitar/vocals and Dave Watkins (Pete and the Egg, The Secondary Modern) on banjo.

What is bluegrass I hear you cry. According to Wikipedia it is a form of American roots music which has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music.

The band have their début album release scheduled for May 2008 on Fortuna Pop. Here is a taster from the album which has been made freely available by the band.

Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee - Dirty Tube Train

The gigging arm of Sounds XP (of which I am part) are pleased to be putting the band on early next month at Bar Monsta in Camden on 05/03/2008.

More details about the gig, with support from Esiotrot, The Left Outsides and Foxes can be found here whilst advance tickets can be purchased from here.

And onto some Hefner related news. Darren Hayman will be joined by Jack Payter and playing London's Luminaire on 13th June 2008. This date is to coincide with the 2CD reissue of Hefner's classic album, The Fidelity Wars,where they will be playing an evening of Hefner music. This will be the first time since Hefner's final show in December 2001 that Darren has played a full set of Hefner songs!

Hefner - Don't Flake Out On Me (Demo)

Tickets are for sale here.

[My Space link]

The Crimea, whose track Lottery Winners On Acid came 2nd in the 2005 Festive 50, pre-empted the likes of Radiohead and The Charlatans by giving their Secrets Of The Witching Hour album away for free in March 2007.

The band are now releasing a single from the album entitled Loop A Loop. But as they are pioneers when it comes to releasing music for free (eat your heart out Prince) they are going to do it in style with 16 mixes available. One of each mix will be exclusive to to one music blog including indie mp3.

The version available here is the Richard Autobahn Vocal Remix (he of the Cuban Boys fame) and mighty fine it is too.

The Crimea - Loop A Loop (Richard Autobahn Vocal Remix)

Head to the bands site to find the list of the other tracks and blogs participating in this release. Give it a while to update though as blogs over the world are updated! EDIT The list has appeared here.

The band will be playing London's Borderline on the 22nd February 2008 in support of the release. The album mentioned above is available to download from here.

To those new visitors to indie mp3 welcome to our humble abode. This site is a music review blog covering singles, albums, gigs, demos etc mainly of the indie pop persuasion but we also like shoegazing, indie rock and a bit of noise too.

It's also the partner site of Lost Music which is the gig promoting and record label arm of the enterprise. Both sites are run by us in our spare time for the sheer love of the music we love with contributors from England, Scotland, Iceland, Sweden, Germany and the States Have a nose round and enjoy your stay!

[My Space link]

Eux Autres is made up of Portland-based siblings Nicholas and Heather Larimer, and Cold City is their second album, out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. With ten tracks coming in at just over half an hour, the name of the game here is punchy pop songs (with a few slow ones thrown in to mix it up a bit).

The album opens with one of the strongest tracks, The Deadball Era. Somewhat strangely for an American band with a French-Canadian name, it's a song about football (sorry, soccer), a subject that is revisited later on. It starts with a simple drumbeat that's very reminiscent of Beat Happening, but by the time the chorus kicks in it's clear that Eux Autres are a more polished-sounding outfit than their Northwestern neighbours. Vocals flit effortlessly between Nicholas and Heather, a pattern that is repeated throughout the album, and the whole thing sounds immensely summery for a record released in the dead of winter. It's a joyous opening to the album, and a good marker of what's to come - jangly (verging on angular) guitars, sweet melodies and slightly unusual subject matter. The song reaches a peak when Heather sings, "I'm coming home/I'm coming home/I'm always coming home unless I'm leaving home/No-one to say goodnight to". The themes of travelling, touring and the pull of the road reappear throughout the album.

The second song is mostly sung by Heather and is a fairly pleasant, if hard to decipher, ode to the eponymous Molly, whomever she may be. The band's debut, Hell is Eux Autres, featured several songs sung in French but this time around only one, Gratte-Ciel, has that distinction. I can't claim to have any idea what's it's about, but it does sound very authentically French with a 60s vibe in places. Heather's voice is sweet but she pounds the drums hard, and this song is full of attitude.

Fourth song, When I'm Up, is the most dancefloor/radio-friendly on show here. With more shared vocals and jangly guitars, it's probably the high point of the album. The tempo slows somewhat with the fifth song, Anne Boleyn. It's nice enough with good harmonies and a bit of violin thrown in for good measure, but it's debatable whether Nicholas' voice is good enough to carry a slow, measured song like this.

Sixth song, The Town That Never Was, is probably the most angular-sounding of the album and sounds almost out of place here with its eerie feel. The City All To Himself starts with a very Beat Happening-esque guitar, and it launches into another upbeat back-and-forth between brother and sister. With its handclaps and harmonies, it's definitely one of the best songs here. It ends with the pair singing, "I'm bits and pieces/And bits and pieces don't equal the whole" over and over; one of the album's most touching, bittersweet moments.

Graceful Exit is a mournful number sung by Heather, sounding like Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley (which is no bad thing in my book). It's a pleasant enough listen, but feels like something of a downer given the positive feel of the rest of the album. Collision Theory sees a return of the football theme with the lines, "This is a collision/We're never surviving this fall/It's lower division/Lower division/Lower division for all". It edges close to 'nice but nothing special' territory, but it's far from bad. Park Bench Vacation is the last and longest song, but also one of the more upbeat. The theme is travel once again, and it does a good job of capturing the giddy excitement of being on the road.

The best songs on Cold City all tend to have the same elements - both band members singing together or in turn, quicker tempo and poppier sound. When the pace slows the album becomes a bit less enjoyable, although never a chore.
You'll notice that I've used the word 'pleasant' to describe several of the songs, which may seem like damning them with faint praise. That's how I could best sum up the album though - pleasant, in places brilliant, enjoyable more or less throughout, but not life-changing. If you like summery-sounding records, harmonies and Francophile pop sensibilities with a bit of an edge, you could do far worse than this.

Eux Autres - When I'm Up

[My Space link]

Back in September 2006 I wrote about See See Rider a band that existed in the late 80s and early 90s. The band were very much a cross between indie and shoegaze and I always considered them one of the real lost bands of my generation. I've treasured the few songs that the band had made available for years. So I was delighted in July last year when what appeared to be an official See See Rider web page appeared. This site gathered up the songs from their only released EPs 'See See Rider' and 'Stolen Heart'. The site also contained 4 or 5 songs from the never released LP. They were wonderful.

It seemed the remaining 5 songs would forever remain a mystery. Until today, that is. The site has been updated today with all of the songs from the LP made available to download for free. Click here to download the songs. At last we get the chance to hear this lost gem in it's entirity. I have to say the newer songs have a late 60s/early 70s Rolling Stones feel in places. But either way it's great to at last be able to play the whole LP.

See See Rider - Do Rider
See See Rider - Easy Love

I have also managed to track down the video for 'She Sings Alone'. This is the video I saw back in the early 90s that turned me onto the band. I believe this video was directed by Douglas Hart (once of The Jesus and Mary Chain).

You want shouty, shambolic and simply great punk-pop? Look no further than Manchester's Hotpants Romance - an all female three piece that tip the nod to Riot Grrrl and original 70s punk in equal measure. They're a heart on sleeve kinda band and the DIY spirit that they show off on their My Space songs bodes well for their just released debut LP 'It's A Heatwave' (I've just ordered it and I can not wait to get my hands on a copy).

They've also got a video that was shot entirely on camera phone. If that's not punk, I don't know what is. Musically, I can hear a dash of Huggy Bear, a less refined Bis and Thee Headcoates straight ahead punk leanings. All in all a rather fine mess of noise. It seems all three members are not adverse to wearing Hotpants, either. A concept pop-punk band, no less.

The debut LP is available for £7 pounds plus 50p postage. All you have to do is message them on myspace and they'll send you instructions and total costs to paypal them.

And here's that Camera phone video:

I wrote about Epo-555's 'Mafia' LP back in October of last year. At the time I said "This isn't quite pop music. But then neither is it full on shoegaze. It kinda floats by in a netherworld, somewhere in between. As the pop band within fights to get out, a more dreamy shoegaze band is allowed to gently envelope the songs with a layer of hum and fuzz". And having recently played the LP I am still struck all these months on that the LP continues to yield more and more with each listen. So I am delighted that the band will be in London next week for a couple of rare live appearances. Those being:

Tuesday 19th at 93 Feet East, Brick Lane.

Wednesday 20th at Industry, Shoreditch.

I shall be going along to the gig on Tuesday. It is also the first gig to be put on by The Pastry Club. One of the people organising the Danish invasion is non other than Tinkerbell who used to contribute reviews to my old Lostmusic zine. Also playing on the night are The Brian Jacket Letdown with their twisted psychedelic folk pop and also from Denmark they have Jong Pang playing their quirky pop/rock sounds.

One of my favourite bands to emerge last year were Gothenberg's Electric Pop Group. Their chiming guitars were a highlight of one of the early Lostmusic gigs at the Luminaire. They were also one of my favourite bands from last year's Indietracks festival. Since self releasing their self titled debut LP the band have gone onto to sign for Matinée Recordings.

The first fruits of their recordings for Matinée are due to see the light on or around March 1st. The EP is called 'Sunrise' and the band have made 'I Could See The Lights' available for streaming on their My Space page. Go over and take a listen - It picks up from where their debut LP left off - if anything the songs shimmers and glistens even more than their early recordings - recalling the very best of Sarah Records.

I'd love to see back in the UK for some more live shows. Let's keep our fingers cross that they manage to return to our shores in 2008.

Tom wrote about Polish band Iowa Super Soccer back in March 2007 and he described the band as 'classy stuff'. I have to agree that Iowa Super Soccer are a very good new band. They flirt with an Alt country meets indie pop sound - maybe with shades of Galaxie 500 thrown in for good measures. Their debut LP is set for release in March 2008, and it's going to be called "Lullabies To Keep Your Eyes Closed". The band have a few songs from this forthcoming LP up for streaming on their My Space page. If the LP sounds as good as these songs I think we're in for a small treat - eastern European treat. The band are still based in Poland but maybe with a little encouragement they'll manage to find their way over to the UK.

I heard The Argonauts for the first time yesterday whilst checking out their My Space page. I don't know how, but I found myself beguiled by their song 'We've Got A Fire' - the trumpet lending the song a pop edge just when you've got it pinned as a dreamy alt country tune. I digress. Who are these Argonauts? They are a three piece band from that London that played their first gig at the tail end of 2006. 'Sixes and Sevens' was released in November 2007. That's a pretty fast turn around from taking your first steps on stage to getting an LP released. But having already heard a few songs on their my space I knew there was no chance that this would be a half finished or rushed affair. The sound the Argonauts have managed to craft is the finished article.

By the wonders of the royal mail - their CD arrived this morning and I've already played it a couple of times today and it's becoming one of those records that could well become to the soundtrack to my spring. It sounds like sunshine pop music and the tunes are just so damn catchy. The Argonauts manage to marry beautiful melodies, pop sensibilities and just a hint of that 60s West Coast American sound - recalling The Tyde at their most pop to these ears. There is that definite late 60s feel to some of the songs that make up 'Sixes and Sevens' without being at all retro in it's sound. If you haven't guessed this is fast becoming something of an instant hit with me. Wonderful stuff.

You can buy the LP from digital download stores and also on Amazon.

Mojo, one of the better music magazines in the UK, has just published what it considers to be the 50 greatest UK indie records of all time. Despite having a few entries from major labels it's not a bad list. But no Fizzbombs, Bubblegum Splash or Rosehips - you're having a laugh!

Any way here is the list from 50 to 1.

50) Huggy Bear - Herjazz
49) The Delgados - The Great Eastern
48) James - Village Fire
47) Swell Maps - Read About Seymour
46) Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
45) Half Man Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots EP
44) The Wild Swans - The Revolutionary Spirit
43) The Pooh Sticks - On Tape
42) Fire Engines - Candyskin
41) McCarthy - Keep An Open Mind Or Else
40)Jane And Barton - It's A Fine Day
39) Josef K - The Missionary
38) Ride - Ride EP
37) The Bodines - Therese
36) Shop Assistants - Safety Net
35) The Primitives - Really Stupid
34) Saint Etienne - So Tough
33) The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine
32) Elastica - Line Up
31) Stereolab - Peng!
30) The Wedding Present - George Best
29) Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
28) New Order - Temptation
27) Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
26) The Libertines - What A Waster
25) The Loft - Up The Hill And Down The Slope
24) The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
23) Aztec Camera - High Land Hard Rain
22) Happy Mondays - Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)
21) The Pastels - Up For A Bit With The Pastels
20) Spacemen 3 - Revolution
19) This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
18) Lloyd Cole And The Commotions - Rattlesnakes
17) Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
16) Wire - Outdoor Miner
15) Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
14) Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
13) The House Of Love - Destroy The Heart
12) Subway Sect - Ambition
11) Felt - Forever Breathes The Lonely Word
10) Primal Scream - Crystal Crescent/Velocity Girl
9) The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
8) The La's - There She Goes
7) Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
6) Joy Division - Transmission
5) My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise
4) The Fall - How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'
3) Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
2) The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1) The Smiths - This Charming Man

The Voluntary Butler Scheme is the solo project from Rob from the School/The Boy Least Likely To.

He has a free EP available called The Vol-Au-Vent EP and states that he wrote it "on me lunch break Wednesday, recorded Thursday evening" and it's now uploaded for your listening pleasure.

It's the shortest EP I have heard by some margin and it's over just as I finishing writing this but still manages to pack more into a short space of time than some other EP's (and albums) that I have heard! Recommended.

The Voluntary Butler Scheme - Long Long Long Division

Visit the My Space page to download the rest of the EP.

[My Space link]

The Downhill EP by Gothenburg based Days has to be the most eagerly awaited EP of recent times. I first heard their Simple Thing track way back in 2006 and I have been lusting after a release ever since. This is what I thought about them back then.

Anyway the EP is finally out on Shelflife Records after what seems an aeon after it was first announced. It's the usual excellent well crafted package featuring a five track CD and a two track 7".

Days - Simple Thing

You can stream the title track from the bands My Space page.

Buy it here.

[My Space link]

Tickets for Indietracks went on sale today. The festival runs over the weekend of 26/27 July 2008 but the first 100 people to get a ticket get access to an exclusive show by MJ Hibbett to be held on the Friday night before the festival starts proper (25/07/08). It's the world premier of his show My Exciting Life in ROCK which has been written for the Edinburgh festival.

See this thread at the Anorak Forums for details of how to order by telephone - web sales will be coming soon.

Who's coming? The bands announced to date are:

Darren Hayman
The Kabeedies
White Town
Lardpony
Kategoes
Milky Wimpshake
Strawberry Story

I cannot recommend going to this festival highly enough. Read the reviews of last years Indietracks to find out why!

Saturday
Sunday
The Weekend
Photographs

[My Space link]

Firstly, thanks to those that came down to the Lostmusic Presents the Soup Kitchen night on Saturday. We had a wonderful time and all four bands were simply brilliant. As was the disco afterwards where Exeter Goes Pop! played the finest indiepop sounds. I've uploaded a whole load of photos to Flickr - here. It was one of those nights that spiralled brilliantly into drunkenness and as the night became the morning - we stumbled out of the venue at 4am in such a happy state. A truly wonderful evening. Like I said at the top - thanks to all that made it so, the venue, the bands and the people watching the bands. Top stuff.
















Smokers Die Younger
















Dyrdin
















Champion Kickboxer



























The Bridport Dagger

Sambassadeur have just released a new single on Labrador this week. It's called Final Say and is taken from the recent Migration album.

It's backed with a brand new track called Crooked Spine which sees a rare outing for guitarist Daniel on vocals.

Sambassadeur - Final Say

Buy it here.

[My Space link]