stuck with free music

Indieful ROK - new blog!

2008-02-19T22:22:00.003+01:00

There's still a bunch of things to take care of, like writing that post on why we decided to start a blog and what purpose we aspire to serve, but after about a year of just talking about it me and orienkorean finally got our act together and started a blog dedicated to things that happen in the Korean indie music world: Indieful ROK.

Much thanks to Mark Russell, we've attracted plenty of visitors already so it should stay better updated than this one. And if you not only happen to be interested in Korean music but also are located in Seoul, you are well advised to check out said Mark's fresh Korea Gig Guide.

chimneycrow

2008-02-12T02:21:00.000+01:00

I have to get up in two hours, but for some reason I just can't sleep tonight. Instead I'm up blogging on this Chinese guy I've intended to write about for a year...

I first came across chimneycrow thanks to littleoslo, and nowadays his music turns up on my last.fm radio every now and then. A couple of days ago I was once again reminded of his music as I found a link to download "mooncake song [remix]" in net-label Muxia Records rss feed. While that remix was not what I had expected (in honor of the lunar new year, no doubt) the music of chimneycrow is usually something like post rock or casio pop. Simple and pleasant.

As it turns out, the links for all of his old releases have finally been fixed and you can find them here (see - it was a good thing that I got up again or it would've taken me longer to notice!). I quite like them all, but am particularily fond of september and october.

dandelion
when the leaves outside are turning green to gold i guess autumn is near

Oh, and I find this bio very amusing ^^

Yun Jakjun

2008-01-22T13:00:00.000+01:00

When reading Kite Operation's Korea Tour Diary over at koreanpop.org, this intriguing MySpace message I got from Yun Jakjun in early December suddenly made a lot more sense: you might already have heard of us before... ;)

I don't really keep track of my MySpace account, but I do log in every few months to see if there's anything interesting hiding among my friends requests. Upon encountering the one from Yun Jakjun I had headed over to the band page and had a listen right away - the one song there, Ichasun Dari was great! It's a cover of a trot inspired Cha Tae Hyun song, but with the fuzzy guitars and the almost desperate sentiment in the vocals I'd say this version is far better.

So what did I want to say with this? Not much really, I'm just spending time while waiting for other people so I can continue on my thesis work... But the song is good so you might very well want to hear it too. And as a lover of trot (and other corny music intended for people my parents' age) I'll hope that next time new stuff is added to Yun Jakjun's MySpace it will be another cover and not that noise stuff added recently.

Liner Guides

2008-01-15T02:13:00.000+01:00

Seeing as Tearliner was the first artist to reach 1000 plays on my last.fm overall top artist chart I felt like I should do something to celebrate. And since his second album has been pushed forward at least a year and that EP that should've come in its place has not yet been released, I figured I should compile some of his liner guides to make my own EP with unreleased tracks.

Now these songs are all samples of the tranquil Tearliner as that's what I've been in the mood for recently. They are not necessarily the best liner guides, nor are they necessarily the best liner guides in this particular category. These songs are just here because I like them, and listening to them in this particular order pleases me. Perhaps I should've made some artwork, but graphic design isn't really my area - if nothing else at least Liner has an illustration for most of these songs at his blog ^^

(click song titles to go to the blog and have a listen)

1. 너는 내게 [Guide-1]
Going out strong with my very favorite liner guide. Absolutely lovely song.

2. 상처 [Guide-1]
An instrumental with 오수경 by the piano.

3. Love Traveler [Guide-1]
The most recent guide. Lie again to me~ keeps getting stuck in my head.

4. 너를 보며 Part.2 [Inst.]
Looking At You was my very favorite Tearliner song, pre-함께라면. Of course I love part 2.

5. Red Forest [Guide-C]
Featuring "The Girl", this song is great to listen to while traveling on a cloudy day.

6. She's Lovely [Guide-1]
Instrumental with a piano and a violin. How could I not like it?

Bonus Track: Forsythia Helicopter [진달래 헬리콥터]
Because every Korean release needs a bonus track. Just looking at the title it should be pretty obvious why I chose it (though 헬리콥텔 is more like how I pronounce my misspelled sn), but that's not all there is to it: This song was written by thy, when Tearliner had yet to become a one man band (Liner's contribution is the guitar play), and it has this quality that I love in a final track; this air that just makes me want to listen to everything straight from the beginning one more time. Forsythia fly, like a helicopter, in the sky.

Enjoy listening and have fun if you decide to find some liner guide favorites of your own ^_^

Puredigitalsilence

2008-01-06T00:11:00.000+01:00

OK, so this is not what I had planned to post on next (nor is it posted as soon after my previous post as that next post should've been), but since most people seem to come here for Korean music anyway...

After reading another interesting interview over at K.O.A. Zine (this time it was Sangchul of Bulssazo, though I highly recommend also reading the earlier Cocore interview) I ended up downloading a full album over at Balloon & Needle. Now, I feel so-so about Balloon & Needle - while I highly respect them as a label, only a few of their artists actually appeal to me. That album, however, most certainly does!

In 1998 there was this four member band called Puredigitalsilence, or simply PDS. That year they released their debut album, Circumfluence, and two years later they had gotten another member and did a split CD-R with Piwacot (피와꽃). It seems they disbanded after that, but I don't really know. One of the band's members, 양용준, was also in Delispice for a while, but none of that light and cheerful music can be heard from PDS - instead this is some eerie, yet somehow relaxing, sorta experimental music. They sound kinda like Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words (who was supposed to get his own post when I returned after the summer...) in his more melodic moments.

The lightest (and shortest) track off Circumfluence is linked below. Visit Balloon & Needle's album page to grab the whole thing.

The thaw

The Invisible Fish & Birdy Bitz Alien

2007-12-09T18:16:00.000+01:00

Realizing that I hadn't made a proper post here since spring I felt really bad... There are several reasons for this hiatus, the main one being I'm only at home a few days/week drastically decreasing the time I have to discover and download new music T_T Still, there are a couple of artists I plan on making posts on in not too long. Till then, I'd like to tell you about two Korean artists that have made some wonderful music under new aliases. (And the reason why they don't get "proper" posts is that they only have streaming wma files available for sampling right now)

First up: The Invisible Fish. The solo project of sorrow/ssoro (now slowzz) of Bluedawn fame. Bluedawn fans are sure to enjoy The Invisible Fish as well - it's as lovely as 보옴이 오면, though with male vocals instead. Cosy guitar play, mellow electronics and beautiful, somewhat careful, melodies that is. Do visit his homepage to stream the wonderful 순간.

Second: Birdy Bitz Alien. The space travel project of Jelly Boy (of everybody's favorite Korean indie label Pastel Music). Under this alias he makes songs with dreamy electronics and a sweet space travel feeling. Should be suitable even for the music listener that prefers to understand whatever lyrics there are. Go visit Birdy Bitz Alien's label, Ruby Salon, to sample the title track of his recently released digital single Tomorrow where fellow Pastel colleague jinyong (of donawhale) assists with vocals.

나의머리카락뭉치 article

2007-09-04T14:37:00.000+02:00

Remember blog favorite 나의머리카락뭉치? I made my first post on him here, saying I couldn't find any info on him. Thanks to icq4ever I was able to learn some more through a 나의머리카락뭉치 interview for London Korean Links - the resulting article was posted today: A meeting with My Hair Ball.

And in case you didn't notice already, 나의머리카락뭉치 has deleted his old millim account, transferring only those songs that "fit his new hairball personality" to hairball.millim.com

MOT article

2007-08-13T10:01:00.000+02:00

Finally I'm back by my own computer in Linköping, but there'll be no updates the next couple of weeks anyway because of those pesky exams I need to take care of first...

If you haven't already read it, however, I suggest a visit to London Korean Links for the article I've written based on an e-mail interview with MOT! Fans of Radiohead and Portishead will probably find their music very interesting, as will any Nell fans out there ^^

Hiatus and Random Updates

2007-06-07T14:31:00.000+02:00

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates the past month. I'd love to say it's because I've focused on my studies for the exams I've had to take recently, but unfortunately it's just life that has come in between both blogging and studying so I'm gonna have to deal with those exams again later on...

Second, just like last year I'll be going offline over the summer. That means this will probably be my last post till mid-August, so here's some random updates on some favorite artists I've posted on before.

Detektivbyrån should have released their new single, Lyckans undulat (~ the budgie of luck), yesterday. I have had the pleasure of seeing them live three times since I first wrote something on them and can now state that they are my favorite Swedish band. When I saw them a couple of months ago, I was told the single should be available from their site at release so let's hope that it'll show up soon. Also, let's hope that Om du möter varg too, my favorite out of their new tunes, will be available for purchase and/or download in not too long ^^

Greenwich Resident posted a demo track called Eastwards on their MySpace a few days ago and have obviously added another new track, A low Hum, since then too. In case you do not remember them, I first wrote about these guys here after loving them on Siamese Flowers.

Paper Route now offers most of their songs from last year's self titled EP (my very favorite release of 2006, all categories) as well as some songs from the A Thrill of Hope as full streamable samples on last.fm. The song that got me, City Trucks, is unfortunately not available, but if you didn't get it when I mentioned it a first time you can get it now as it seems it's still possible to download the PureVolume's Holiday Sampler.

나의머리카락뭉치 uploaded another demo to millim a week ago. If you liked what you heard last time you should get this as well.

Swimmin' Fish article

2007-06-07T14:16:00.001+02:00

My second post on Korean music on this blog featured a set of bands I had found out about through Red House Studio. Rocket Diary has gained a lot of attention since and now I'm hoping Swimmin' Fish will be next - they have already released another EP and are about to release their first full album. Today an article I wrote on them is posted at London Korean Links: Read!

Tearliner article

2007-05-09T14:04:00.000+02:00

There's a new article written by me up on London Korean Links right now. This time I subjected Liner to my questions and the result is (what I consider) my best piece yet: Check it out!

While visiting Liner's blog (click 블로그 while there to get to the actual blog) there's a few categories to have a look at if you're interested in sampling his music:
"Liner Songs" for Tearliner songs
"Liner Guide" for unreleased songs in progress
"LP[LowEnd Project]" for a Low-End Project song
"MBC'태릉선수촌'OST" for songs from Taerung National Village
"MBC'동네한바퀴'" for songs from 동네 한바퀴

Tearliner highlights includes 함께라면 (from the new EP), Watch the Star (from the first album) and this early version of Rainy Day (piano ver.).

Especially When

2007-05-05T23:25:00.000+02:00

Two weeks ago I gave one reason why I once thought that Moonrise Records was the best label around. Here's another.

Granted, Kyoungmo Kim's Especially When had moved on to Espousal Records before they came to release any of the two EPs they made prior to disbanding, but that doesn't change the fact that the best song on the Moonrise Compilations was theirs. Kyoungmo's vocals aren't perfect, but they work really well his band's fuzzy shogazeresque modern rock.

That song from the first Moonrise Compilation can be found below. If you visit Espousal's EW page you'll also find the link for the Especially When song on the second Moonrise Compilation ^^

Clare

Weltraum

2007-04-25T23:46:00.000+02:00

The other day I was going through some of the older Lona Records 3" CD-Rs that I still hadn't ripped. And I came across this great Italian band.

Five member group Weltraum's first release as Weltraum is the two track Traum/Trauma EP from Lona Records. I liked Traum right away, but Trauma struck me as incredible! It's instrumental rock of a certain power, kinda like intense post rock but not completely.

Weltraum used to go by "Visione Sinfonica" and below is a song from their self released Cuore/Amore EP. You can listen to Traum as well as the gorgeous Trauma (unfortunately split into three parts) at Weltraum's MySpace. Visit the Visione Sinfonica part of their current website to sample their older works ^^

Senza Titolo

Denci Hinji

2007-04-21T11:30:00.000+02:00

When I first got into Korean indie music I thought that Moonrise Records was the best label around. Here's one of the reasons why ^^

전자양, or Denci Hinji (Japanese for "electric sheep"), is just one guy making some dreamy pop music with electronic elements. His first and only album, Day is Far too Long, was released in 2001 and is now out of print, but... last year Taiwanese White Wabbit Records released it again! I found out about a month ago and I'm so happy since I didn't have a chance of getting it the first time ^^

Down below are two of the best songs from the album. Head over to White Wabbit's album page to sample another track. Also drop by sheepraiser's blog to have a look at a video featuring 오늘부터 장마 :)

보름 (15 days)
아스피린 소년 (Aspirin Boy)

Omega 3 article

2007-04-14T13:44:00.000+02:00

Another month, another article on London Korean Links. This time it's based on an interview I did with the drummer of my favorite band, Omega 3. Check it out!

If you haven't heard them already, drop by YouTube to have a look at the 세잎크로바 music video. And while there, check out orienkorean's channel for more great Korean indie music vids ^^

나의머리카락뭉치

2007-04-11T22:17:00.000+02:00

Here's something my dear orienkorean told me to take a listen to a couple of weeks ago. I really, really like it! ^_^

Korean artist 나의머리카락뭉치's name translates to something like "my hair ball" or "my lump of hair". The music is some kind of laid back rock with guitars that makes me think of Kent when they were still my very favorite band. And there's a touch of shoegazer in it too!

I'm thinking it's a solo project, but I really don't know since there is very little info available... So far nothing is available on CD, but a digital single called 생각만으로도 두려워 was released in October 2006 and there are currently three 나의머리카락뭉치 demos over at millim ^^

Below is one song from the most recent demo, uploaded only a week ago, as well as a couple of great tracks from the digital single. Get them all and head over to millim for more!

잊은기억 [left click]
너때문이야 [left click]
시간이지나가는공간속 [left click]

itta Article

2007-03-13T13:54:00.000+01:00

London Korean Links now has another article of mine. This time itta is the featured artist: Check it out!.

A real post here should come either tonight or some time tomorrow ^^

Cake on Cake

2007-02-13T23:28:00.000+01:00

This will be the last update for a while. I'm not sure how long exactly - just a couple of weeks or even months - but I'll be leaving town for someplace quieter, without my computer and even internet, to be able to foucs on my studies. As much as I love being a student, most of my friends have already graduated and I've come to feel like it's time for me to do the same...

I've planned to write something on Cake on Cake since December, when her Sun-Chairs EP was released on rain music, but somebody else always came in between. Today I recieved a copy of her new album, I Guess I Was Daydreaming, as a bonus (!) from the It's A Trap! Record Club, so what could be more suitable than making that post now?

In short: Cake on Cake is Swedish Helena Sundin making somewhat fuzzy, cute pop with a wide range of instruments, some electronics and the help of friends.

My favorite song off the new album was conveniently enough also available as a sample from her website, so I linked it below. Go visit her site for more and drop by rain music to get that EP along with the highly recommended O from D:ve ^^

Sparrow Parade

Bloody Cookie article

2007-02-10T13:10:00.000+01:00

London Korean Links now features a short article I wrote on Bloody Cookie: check it out!

pg.lost

2007-02-04T14:29:00.000+01:00

And the first artist to get a second post on this music blog is...

...pg.lost! I had the pleasure of catching them live yesterday and they had improved a great deal in the few months since last time. They are still unsigned (though some guy released some of their songs under his name - article in Swedish with interview here), but they just released their first EP, Yes I Am, to be sold at their gigs. A lot of work has gone into the cover art, which is handpainted, and the EP is limited to 100 numbered copies, so I'd suggest you go see them somewhere as soon as possible to grab yourself a copy. (If they don't play anywhere near you, you could always try booking them for an event at a venue closer to your location ~_^ )

Unfortunately it seems like MySpace has limited the possibilities to hotlink downloads (somebody should tell them to join last.fm :p), but if you go visit pg.lost's MySpace you'll be able to download the title track and hear two more songs off the EP. And don't miss getting the beautiful Siren while you're there if you missed my first post ^^

Bedroom

2007-01-26T23:07:00.000+01:00

More Spanish music from an artist I had the pleasure of catching live last weekend. This guy was on stage just before fårö-dokument.

For some reason I find everything about Bedroom adorable: His lo-fi modern folk/singer-songwriter music; his lyrics (all in English despite the occasional Spanish titles); his illustrations. And every now and then some of his friends help out.

The song below is currently my favorite off the Helado de pera cdr. Olga Àbalos, saxophone player in La Orquesta de la Muerte, is providing some additional vocals. I'd recommend a visit to MySpace to hear more ^^

Concurso de Cometas (kite contest)

fårö-dokument

2007-01-25T21:10:00.000+01:00

I spent last weekend in Barcelona and took the opportunity to check out some Spanish bands. Here's one of them ^^

Named after an Ingemar Bergman movie, fårö-dokument first grabbed my attention with their Swedish name (meaning simply Fårö document). They make use of both female and male vocals for their songs in Spanish. The tag cloud on last.fm seems to agree that they're doing "slowcore", which was certainly a good description for their live sound. I don't really now what that means though, so on record I'd say they make some laidback pop ^^

Below is a song featured on both of their releases. The 2004 EP is available under a Creative Commons license from their website. To listen to some songs from their 2006 Roces EP, I'd suggest a visit to MySpace or last.fm ^^

Caligrafía

Don't Be A Stranger

2007-01-17T23:36:00.000+01:00

Fest-i-valen is coming up in a couple of weeks and there's a lot of artists playing I haven't even heard of before. Out of those "new" artists that I've checked out so far, this group is my favorite ^^

Photo by Sofia Runarsdotter

Formed three years ago as a trio, Don't Be A Stranger is now a sixtet. They released their first EP, Ho Ho, on their own label in November and according to Headstomp an album is to be expected early this year. I'm not sure how to describe their music, but it must be some kind of pop. Semi-slow, semi-cheerful pop - I like it!

This song keeps popping up in my head. Visit their homepage to grab another track and drop by their MySpace to hear a couple of songs more.

Perfect Problem

Thirty something new tales from PL.PT

2007-01-14T18:50:00.000+01:00

I'll return with a proper post on Tuesday, but for now - here's another post to check out from one of the blogs linked to the right ^^

Today, Music @ PL.PT announced the release of
Thirty something new tales. Featuring 36 artists from Poland and Portugal, this 2CD compilation has music from genres like "minimal electronic music to ambient pop, from funk to jazz, from post-punk to hip-hop, from hard beat electronica to acoustic songs." Check it out!

Hits In The Car

2007-01-11T22:54:00.000+01:00

My new favorite music blog, Hits In The Car, made a post on Danish quartet Knoxville today. I liked all three songs, so if you haven't already I'd suggest you check it out ^^

Betty Goes A Go-Go

2007-01-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

As you probably missed it: I made a post on The Banjo Consorsium on my mandolin banjo blog yesterday. Check it out for some nice, soft music ^^

Swedish band Betty Goes A Go-Go has been releasing music for a while now and they have a new album, ~~Winter Comes Here~~ Winter Begins Here, coming out this year. According to the band itself they offer "melancholic new wave/postpunk with great nerve, angstridden harmonies and mindtwisting electronic sounds". I can't say I like all of it (I don't think postpunk is a genre for me) but some of their "angstridden harmonies", and especially their "mindtwisting electronic sounds" are just beautiful.

The song below was the first to catch my attention. While quite uneven at first it gets really, really good towards the end. For more, check out their website and MySpace.

Antarctica [left click]

Ida Maria

2007-01-04T22:09:00.000+01:00

Among the Swedish "pophopps" of 2007, as listed by DN I found a new Norwegian artist to keep my eyes on!

While currently residing in Sweden, Ida Maria originally hails from a tiny place in Norway. She makes happy, upbeat, energetic and catchy pop of the same kind that made me like her fellow countrymen Harmonica so much. Right now she and her band are recording an album with Timo Räisänen (one of my favorite Swedish artists - he too does happy, upbeat, energetic and catchy pop) and I'm pretty sure it'll be great!

Down below is the song featured on Pophopp 2007. Drop by NRK Urørt do download three songs more and visit Ida Maria's MySpace to listen to a fourth ^^

Louie [left click]

Tickles

2007-01-02T22:02:00.000+01:00

Somehow I came across Japanese trio Tickles after some MySpace surfing in mid-December. I don't know much about them, but they make soft electronic music of the kind that invites you to just close your eyes and go someplace else.

Here's a song from their debut album, Cinema For Ears, released on madagascar in July 2006. Go there for a couple of samples more ^^

Humanize (sample)

The Year of The Mandolin Banjo

2007-01-02T21:52:00.000+01:00

Back from the holidays I started another, probably more personal, blog yesterday: The Year of The Mandolin Banjo. Just in case anyone's interested...

Bloody Cookie

2006-12-21T22:52:00.001+01:00

I've mentioned them earlier on this blog, but it's not until now, thanks to my favorite store owner mrkwang's connections to the band, that I am able to feature a downloadable mp3 of theirs.

The four Korean women of Bloody Cookie released their second mini album, A Curer, a couple of weeks ago. Their original gothic/grunge/nu metal style has softened a bit since their first release, The Immature Flower, but they're still awesome.

Down below is a promo mp3 for Bloody Cookie's latest release. I'm not particularily fond of promo mixes, but this one I even put on the playlist together with their real songs, so even you too don't like promo mixes I'd suggest you give this one a chance ^^ Also check out their MySpace where the three songs off their first release is available for streaming!

Bloody Cookie 2nd mini album sample version

Holiday Sampler & Paper Route

2006-12-18T13:45:00.000+01:00

In case you've missed it, PureVolume has got a pretty nice Holiday Sampler available for free download right now. Check it out for twelve cosy Christmas songs to brighten your day ^^

My favorite out of the twelve is no doubt Paper Route's City Trucks. If it's to your liking as well, I would recommend a visit to Paper Route's MySpace to hear a few songs more and download their great original christmas songs EP A Thrill of Hope. Unfortunately, those are all in m4a, but even if you (like me) need to use another media player than your ordinary to play them, they're worth it ^^

...and everyone fell asleep

2006-12-17T22:11:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I don't even know of a handful active local bands, but from what little I have heard and seen, these guys are definitly my favorites.

The four guys of ...and everyone fell asleep formed the band in 2005. With three of them having a background in jazz (they even use a double bass!), their quite melancholic songs often have a very nice jazzy feeling to them. And I really like the singer's voice.

Don't miss the song below and go visit their MySpace for more. A new song should be available there in not too long ^^

Body of Sand [left click]

If you happen to be in Linköping on Wednesday (Dec. 20), I'd suggest a visit to Passagen at 19.00 for an evening of young experimental sounds from ...and everyone fell asleep and Wildbirds & Peacedrums ^_^

The Knife

2006-12-13T13:19:00.000+01:00

Most people into quriky electronic music probably know all about The Knife already. They're sister and brother, Swedish and have so far released three full albums and one soundtrack. Though I still haven't heard a single song from their most recent (and most praised) album, Silent Shout, I claim to really like The Knife - their first album, The Knife, was extraordinary to me.

Today is Lucia and The Knife are celebrating through once again sharing their 2000 Christmas version of Reindeer - one of my favorite The Knife songs. Make sure you get it and then go visit their homepage for cover art ^^

Christmas Reindeer

Greenwich Resident

2006-12-09T00:27:00.000+01:00

Here's some people I'm really happy to be able to feature on this blog! I first heard them on Siamese Flowers and took a liking to their two songs on there instantly.

Liverpool based Greenwich Resident released their first EP, I Hid My Heroes, on Robot! Records a few weeks ago. The four members hail from Canada, Norway and England and have created a sound that, in their own words, is "distinctly un-British" and "entirely evolving". Their mellowness was one of the things that appealed to me at first, but as it turns out they're also really good with a lighter pop sound.

The song below is the title track from the EP and it'll stay up for a week or so. Make sure you visit Greenwich Resident's MySpace to hear more great songs of theirs ^^

I Hid My Heroes [no longer available]

SunRadio & Kim Doo Soo

2006-12-07T12:21:00.000+01:00

This is something of a failure, sorry. Since I haven't written about anything originating from Korea for a while I had decided to make a post on indierockers SunRadio today. They've been playing at the venues that Korea's punk scene usually frequent and have recently been in the process of finishing their debut EP, Free Robot. I guess they're done now, since in the past 36 hours all four downloadable songs have been replaced with just one streamable song. I wanted all of you to hear Before your Eyes, but Hot Stuff will have to do for now.

And here's something that took me by surprise this morning: Said the Gramophone has made a post on the foremost of Korea's singer/songwriters, Kim Doo Soo! Damon & Naomi have apparently compiled songs for this intriguing compilation album called International Sad Hits, Volume One: Altaic Language Group, and upon it four songs (보헤미안/Bohemian, 산/Mountain, 해당화/Sweet Briar, 들꽃/Wild Flower) from the artist edition of Kim Doo Soo's 4th album, 自由魂/자유혼/Free Spirit, are featured.

Go here to read what the gramophone has said and download the "one-point-stereo live recording" of 들꽃. Also make a visit to Paper Thin Walls to hear the almost two minutes shorter (and in my opinion not as good) 4th album version of 3rd album song 보헤미안.

Hem

2006-12-03T15:23:00.000+01:00

I don't know what to tell you about Hem, except that they're American and make really cosy music. And that they released their latest album, Funnel Cloud, in September. Their bio on last.fm mentions "chamber-folk" and "countrypolitan" as some descriptions of their music.

It's really a little too early for Christmas imo, but after all it is the first Sunday of Advent today and with all the Advent lights showing up in the windows of my neighbours I can't help but feel some Christmas spirit anyway - so here's a cosy Christmas tune. Since I like it so much, here's also a live recording of a song from their Eveningland album. Check out their MySpace to listen to more cosy music ^^

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Carry Me Home (live radio broadcast)

Sleeping States

2006-11-22T13:38:00.000+01:00

The past weekend, Grizzly Bear posted a bulletin on MySpace with the subject "3 bands/musicians I am LOVING right now & want peeps to hear". This is my favorite out of the 3 ^_^

British guy Sleeping States has this singer/songwriter thing going. There's a guitar, perhaps a keyboard and maybe a few sounds picked up by a vocal sampler. What I like the most, however, is the soft sound. Very calming.

Down below is my favorite among the songs I've found freely available. Check out Sleeping State's website and MySpace for more. If after visiting his MySpace you find yourself liking the beautiful Rivers, you should check out Grizzly Bear's blog too ^^

London Fields

Benoît Pioulard

2006-11-16T15:33:00.000+01:00

Somehow, every profile I checked out on last.fm late yesterday evening seemed to have the same guy on the recently played chart. Of course I had to check him out!

American guy Benoît Pioulard (has been releasing his own music since 2001. However, his first "real" release, Précis, came out on kranky just one month ago and it seems things are going great for him. While using plenty of instruments with the guitar in focus, his bells and overall style makes me think of Shugo Tokumaru. Not exactly the same, but it gives me the same feeling. And it's all in English too :)

The first song below is a nice piece from the new album. The other one is a beautiful song from the 2005 vinyl EP Enge. Get them both. And make a visit to betterPropaganda for another song from the new album ^^

Palimend
Kids Are Getting Younger

New beta and comments

2006-11-08T11:12:00.000+01:00

I just switched to the new blogger beta, since philly said it was good and I've been wanting the tag feature since I first came here. In the process I noticed I had somehow turned the comments moderation on and that there were plenty of comments awaiting my approval... Everybody that did comment, I really appreciate it and I'm so sorry for not getting back to you! Comments moderation is now gone and I'm happy to know that so many people come here. Thanks all of you!

Mono

2006-11-07T23:49:00.000+01:00

I assume most people that find their way here already know Mono, but just in case: they're one of the best Japanese post rock bands there is. So far they've released four full albums, the lastest one, You Are There, in March/April this year. A vinyl 10" EP, Memorie dal Futuro, was released on Vinyl Films November 1st and they're currently touring Europe.

Here's the title track from the new EP. It's only a sample, but it's still 4:25 and nothing short of awesome so you can still get a good idea on what they sound like from it. Visit the "sound" section of their site for more ^^

Memorie dal Futuro (sample)

treqie

2006-10-29T23:37:00.000+01:00

It doesn't happen often, but every time I find out that somebody I know is making music I get somewhat uncomfortable. By now though I should've learnt not to worry about not liking their music since they're all doing just fine. This last time I even had a good laugh because of the funny lyrics ^^

treqie is this Swedish guy making his own kind of retro style synthpop. It reminds me of the kind of instrumental electronic music I liked so much as a child, only now there's vocals. To be honest his vocals aren't that good (they're just charming *_^), but the lyrics are all simple and entertaining so if you can understand Swedish they're definitly worth your attention. Check out the entire album Ett at last.fm if you've got an account ^^

The song below is my favorite by far - an italo inspired track with lyrics in Swedish about hairlessness: "We're hairless, no more hair. We're hairless, no more threads on our bodies" - I just love it!

Hairless (feat. Dasse)
Hairless (instrumental)

aniDa =^.^=

2006-10-18T14:35:00.000+02:00

Hongkong longtime "internet musician" aniDa finally took her music into the world of collectable plastic discs when releasing demo vol.1 and demo vol.2 on Iseed Entertainment this summer. Usually accompanied by nothing but an acoustic guitar, aniDa has a cute singer/songwriter style going. And every now and then she makes a pretty good rock song ^^

Plenty of free music is available on the music part of aniDa's site (don't miss the "Live Music" section!), though you might have to change part of the address to "www.anida.hk/..." to make them download. Since there's so much to choose from I couldn't select just one or two songs as I usually do... Here's my favorite song of hers, a live rock version of a song from the demos and an early version of one of my favorites from the demos, in that order :p

Nobody
3人煩 (demo version) (3 people are annoyed)
和你一起的幸福 (Be With U) (wma)

Vega4

2006-10-04T13:02:00.000+02:00

I've been getting some e-mails from labels to promote their artists on this blog for a while now, but either they've come when I've been inactive or I just didn't like the artist. Today I got another one, but this time I do like the artist. A lot.

Four guys from various English speaking countries met in London and formed a band by the name of Vega4. Albeit rockier they remind me of Coldplay, in a good way (that is before they snatched best new act of the year or something from Muse, leading me do dislike them since). A bunch of EPs and an album were released some years ago by Taste Media. Now they're signed to Columbia and have a new album, You & Others, coming out on October 30.

Below is the song I was provided for posting on here - I've been playing it on repeat for the past hour so it was definitly a clever choice of theirs. Do get it you too. Also, you can listen to clips from every song on the upcoming album here or just go visit their MySpace for some (non-downloadable) full samples.

Bullets

Kite Operations

2006-09-28T11:14:00.000+02:00

I've been too lazy again.. Sorry. From now on I'll promise just one post/week. Though on occasion I'll probably post more. Yeah... Anyway, here's band I was introduced to through the Pastel Music 3th Anniversary Sampler of my favorite label.

While getting their album, Dandelion Day, distributed by Pastel Music in Korea, Kite Operations actually hail from New York and belong to the small K.O.A. Records label. They're playing some American style indie rock that sounds really good most of the time. The debut came out in 2005 so with three new songs not featured on it available on their MySpace perhaps a new album isn't too far away?

The song below is slow paced and beautiful with a shoegazer-guitar towards the end - I really like it. More downloadable mp3s available from their site and from their MySpace ^^

Effervescence

We vs. Death

2006-09-16T15:34:00.000+02:00

Today I suddenly felt a really strong urge to hear Hey Frank of Marybell Katastrophy (that I wrote about here). Visiting her site for the first time in months I found that she has now released another demo, 5 Songs (check it out!), and I also managed to surf my way to today's best discovery of mine.

Despite releasing music since 2001, the Dutch guys that form We vs. Death did not release a full album of their own till May this year. We Too Are Concerned | We Are Too Concerned is the title and Zabel Muziek is the label. I'd like to describe their music as post rock with a trumpet, but then I'm not to good on genres. At least it's instrumental music. And the guy on trumpet gets to play a lot.

This song, the first track from their album, became a favorite as soon as I heard it. Many more songs are available to listen to or download from the band's "Songs" section - all released under a Creative Commons license ^^

And How To Translate It

Addio Dodo

2006-09-13T00:27:00.000+02:00

"Oggi doveva iniziare

e invece...

Ti Amo Tanto

Addio Dodo"

Autumn's Grey Solace

2006-09-12T23:19:00.001+02:00

I can't help but like the name of American duo Autumn's Grey Solace. I keep seeing their name together with words like "etheral" and "shoegazer". The dreamy female vocals definitly adds to the etheral feeling of their music, but to me the shoegazer part is more in the distance somewhere in the dark backgrounds. Three albums are released so far and a fourth, Shades of Grey, will be released on Projekt on September 19.

The song below is from their 2005 album, Riverine. More songs are available on their MySpace, where you should not miss getting the song Falling Sky, and excerpts from songs from the new album are available at the Projekt audio page.

The Unshakeable Demon

Itta

2006-09-10T11:32:00.000+02:00

And that's how it goes when I think everything will work on out it's own... At least two times this week is better than no times at all, but I did say I would to 3-4/week. Anyway, here's more stuff from my favorite Korean site, millim.com

Korean Itta is another millim artist picked up by my favorite label, Pastel Music. Her first EP, 나는…있다, was released in 2002 and in mid-August this year her first full album, 11, was released. Itta's music is somewhat experimental and I've even seen some describe her as an avantgardist.

Unlike most millim artists that has released a "real" album, most of what Itta's had on millim is still on the site. The song below is the one I think is her most accessible, but don't be afraid to check out her other stuff - it just needs some getting used to. To hear what she sounds like nowadays - go check out the video for the title track off her new album at YouTube ^^

바람 (wind) [left click]

Slumber Party

2006-09-05T23:31:00.000+02:00

Slumber Party is an all-girl band from Detroit. I can not describe their style myself, but it's some kind of pop/rock with keyboards. Actually I didn't like them much at the first listen, but the more I play those songs I can't help but like Aliccia's singing and this almost strange music. Three full albums have been released so far and a fourth, Musik, will be released September 12 on kill rock stars.

The song below is the first track on the new album - I really like the rythmics of it! Also check out the kill rock stars factsheet to hear what they used to sound like ^^

10-9-8-7-6-5-4

Dive

2006-09-02T23:47:00.000+02:00

Towards the end of 2005, alok's label Lona Records began releasing stuff in it's 3" cdr series exploring "the literary aspects of experimental sound". I've been buying them all and this is one of my favorites ^_^

There's plenty of people making music and calling themselves Dive at the same time. This particular one used to spell it "D:ve", works from the US and was born in Hong Kong. Unfortunately his own homepage (cliveleung.hk.st) is gone as is his MySpace. And my memory fails me, so unfortunately I can't tell you about his other works (although I think he had released some music stuff before, and perhaps there was some art/design too?). At least what was on that 3" release, Deconstructed Piano, were simple and enthralling electronic pieces.

Deconstructed Piano is sold out by now, but Lona Records still offers the first, though not the best, track as a full mp3 sample. It sounds pretty much like what the title says :p

Drop

Languis

2006-09-01T22:36:00.000+02:00

Already when I read their description in this week's Monitor Records newsletter, I knew I would like these guys.

Californian Languis has since the start in 1992 evolved from a duo to a quartet. "Psychedelically-tinged shoegazing pop" - now how awesome does that sound? Their latest EP, Other Desert Cities, was released on Pehr in April this year and an experimental&ambient album, Monobloc vol.1, is scheduled for release on the same label in 2006-2007.

The song below is the first track on the Other Desert Cities EP and it's really nice. They've got some older stuff up on MySpace that you might wanna check out too, but though it's good I like this more :)

In the Field of (Lonely Fences)

BEIT

2006-08-31T21:39:00.000+02:00

And here's another millim oldie, before I move onto something newer tomorrow ^^

While I know next to nothing about yesterday's artist, I know even less about BEIT. I think they aspire to make power metal. They have male vocals in Korean. I assume the few songs available on millim are from 2001. That's about it.

Well, I do like power metal, which their song The Murder is a pretty good sample of. And I love rock ballads like the song below. They too should've made it by now. I'm gonna have to ask mrkwang to see if he knows what happened...

비 (Rain) [left click]

Protein Puppet

2006-08-30T23:31:00.000+02:00

Here's another old millim favorite of mine. I don't think anybody that asked me for recommendations on Korean music a couple of years ago got away without hearing them :p

Sadly, I know next to nothing about Protein Puppet or 단백질인형, which is the actual name in Korean. They've been on millim since at least 2002 and late 2004/early 2005 they were still active as the original "demo" suddenly was replaced by two "demos". What I like the best about Protein Puppet is their amazing shoegazer influenced rock songs, but their modern rock and trip hop stuff too is incredibly good for a band unsigned this long.

Unfortunately, again, my favorite song is no longer available at millim. In fact, Raining isn't even listed on the site anymore. Well, the songs below aren't that bad either. The first song is a great example of the Protein Puppet rock style while the second represents their more electronic side ^^

Cry [left click]
To heaven(추모곡) [left click]

Incubator

2006-08-29T23:40:00.000+02:00

Whenever I should be studying for exams I get ideas on various projects I'd like to do. More often than not those are related to the more alternative side of Korean music, and usually nothing happens once exams are over. The last such idea I will, however, try a little harder to realize as it's not as time consuming as those ideas usually are - making notes on any good artist I come across on millim.com. Here's an old favorite of mine ^^

Kim Min Hyuk, aka Incubator, has been in various Korean indie bands since 1998. He makes som really nice rock songs and has good vocals - Picture an early Korean Hideki. I'm really surprised that despite having his material up on millim since 2001, he still hasn't gotten a record deal for this alias.

Unfortunately the link for my favorite, Good Day, isn't working anymore, but here's one of his newer songs that I also like a lot. And an interesting cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, which isn't really representative for his other works :p

자유의감옥 (prison of freedom) [left click]
Billie Jean [left click]

Serenaide

2006-08-28T23:44:00.000+02:00

Though they haven't released anything for a couple of years, five member band Serenaide of Singapore are still active playing live every now and then. Their first and so far only actual album, The Other End of the Reciever, was released by Fruit Action in 2004. Male vocals and a poppy sound - after listening to their songs a few times I was not surprised to learn that one of the members' main influence is Pulp ^^

Furry Animal Fury

Detektivbyrån

2006-08-27T20:06:00.000+02:00

Sorry about not sticking to my write-every-day-for-a-couple-of-weeks plan, but I was not in any state to even sit up when I got home yesterday so it was probably for the better...

Swedish Detektivbyrån (lit. The Detective Bureau) are just about to release their second EP, Hemvägen EP, and like Hedvika I am already completely in love with their music. Last year I was all about Yann Tiersen. This is the same kind of instrumental music, only with plenty of electronic instruments - how could it not be love?

Go check out Hedvika's first blogpost on Detektivbyrån for more download links and go visit their MySpace to hear a few songs more. The song below will be featured on the new EP ^^

E18

adultchild

2006-08-25T22:59:00.000+02:00

While writing reviews for every CD I buy hasn't kept me from buying too many CDs, at least it's made me learn more about them. Here's what I found a couple of weeks ago when researching for a review I should have done in March..

The Korean trio adultchild has been around since 2004, but it wasn't till this year that they first appeared on album. Being signed by Pastel Music (my favorite Korean label right now ^^) they participated with their song Sad Thing on the Cracker soundtrack - one of my favorite releases so far this year. Their music is nice and mellow whith female vocals making it all sound beautiful.

Down below are two of my favorite songs of adultchild. I believe 상실 is a live recording with just kkasi, so make sure you also get Star to hear what they'll sound like when they release an album ^^ Go check them out on millim.com for more!

Star [left click]
상실 (loss) [left click]

gruppa.fm

2006-08-24T23:13:00.000+02:00

And here's something else I decided to check out after reading some random journal at last.fm ^^

Since my Russian is limited to just reading, there's not much I can tell you about gruppa.fm. However, after surfing their site I've reached the conclusion that gruppa.fm is a duo. And since the site is only available in Russian, I'm pretty sure they hail from Russia and not one of the former Soviet republics. Anyway, they're making some pretty catchy pop/rock with occasional electronic elements and the woman is the one providing the vocals, kinda like a poppier Zemfira. I like this a lot!

Check under "музыка" at their homepage to download all of their Made in Russia album, track by track. You should definitly get them all if you like the song below ^_^

Караоке (karaoke)

Bettlare & lösfolk

2006-08-23T17:57:00.000+02:00

Since I'll be heading to school for some beer & music in less than an hour, I decided to check out one the bands I hadn't heard of before ^^

Bettlare & lösfolk are five people making ballads from the poems of Swedish poet Nils Ferlin. I think the best expression in English to describe their music would be singer/songwriter, but it's really a "trubadur" singing "visor" (something like Swedish folk pop) accompanied by a band. The singer's voice is not perfect, but this goes pretty well with the "vistradition".

Check out their pages at YouSeekMusic (Swedish) and MySpace to learn more about them and listen to more of their works.

I stolta städer (in proud cities)

Panda & Angel

2006-08-22T19:24:00.000+02:00

Panda & Angel is a Seattle based five member band. They play some kind of gloomy alternative rock with interesting female vocals that is very appealing to me. Their self titled EP was released on Jade Tree about a month ago.

Their homepage is under constuction right now, but you can check them out on MySpace where you should make sure to also get Ohio December 24th. If you have a last.fm account you could also listen to full samples of every song from their EP on it's last.fm page ^^

Dangerous

Tigarah

2006-08-21T23:24:00.000+02:00

It seems she's already gotten a lot of attention on blogs all over, but I didn't hear about her till last week, when I was wasting time reading journals at last.fm.

Japanese Tigarah mixes Brazilian baile funk music with hip hop in a way that makes me wanna hit a dance floor - Even though I could never dance to this kind of music... Her rhymes are supposedly clever, so if you (unlike me) are knowledgeable in Japanese, checking the lyrics out could perhaps be interesting. So far she has released one EP and an album should come out this fall.

Go visit her homepage to listen to all of the songs from her EP and download all remixes made by MR.D. You could also take a look at her MySpace for a few downloadable tracks from her EP, including my favorite below ^^

Girl Fight! (Left click)

And I'm back!

2006-08-21T23:21:00.000+02:00

After an awesome summer and some exams (last one today!), I'm finally back online for real! Now the plan is to make a new post here every day for a couple of weeks or so and then I'll try to keep it at 3-4 posts/week. Also I'll be a lot more active writing reviews in my last.fm journal since I happened to spend too much of my salary on CDs when I got back...

Absence note

2006-05-29T10:40:00.000+02:00

Sorry about the long, unexpected hiatus. I got stuck working most of my awake time on a big project for a couple of weeks and then I had to spend the rest of the time catching up in all other courses. Now exams are here and I should try to focus on them so no finding new music for me...

And things won't get better. I'll be spending all of summer working in Dalarna, most likely without any internet access, and won't be back till some time in August. So no updates for quite some time... Sorry 'bout that too.

So, no updates till mid-August. But if I (for once) can succeed in transforming into a better person this summer, I shall return as a better blogger with plenty of kick ass music to promote ^_^

Christian Kiefer & Sharron Kraus

2006-04-25T22:45:00.000+02:00

The collaboration between American singer/songwriter Christian Kiefer and British folk singer Sharron Kraus resulted in an album called The Black Dove, released in March. It was released on Tompkins Square Records and on the album page it says: "In creating The Black Dove, the two worked on songs and instrumentals based on the idea of love letters between two people, one the pursuer and one the pursued, one flesh and blood, the other a ghost."

The first song below is sung by Christian Kiefer while the second is sung by Sharron Kraus. Both are of the kind of mellowish alt-country music that I just want to hear more of.

Dearest
On The Chase

Dimbodius

2006-04-23T23:12:00.000+02:00

Busy again, sorry. But I'll try not to let it affect my music listening as much this time.

I'm generally against just having samples up for listen on artist homepages. Ordinarily I'm no longer interested in an artist I've decided to look up when I find that there are no non-live, full versions of songs available for free download. The artist I decided to look up today was different.

Swedish guy Dimbodius has been compared to both New Order and The Cure. Apparently he's been around for a while and the first full length album, When We Fall, was released in 2004. Synthish and great.

The song below has a pretty piano in the background, all the way through. Unfortunately Dimbodius' voice doesn't sound as good as on record, but it's still a nice song. This is important though: Do not forget to go to his homepage and listen to the samples in the little player at the bottom! It is good music. The kind that makes you very glad there is something as wonderful as music.

Hands Let Go (acoustic) (live at off the record, Oct. 2005)

Red Carpet

2006-04-18T23:55:00.000+02:00

Yes, it seems so many has already written about them, but I didn't even know these guys existed till I read the newsletter from my favorite alternative music store yesterday. So I wanted to make a post about them, in case anybody else has missed out as well :p

Finnish Red Carpet appears to have recieved plenty of praise since releasing their second album, The Noise of Red Carpet, in autumn last year. These four guys make some nice pop, more specificly "harmony pop" if one is to agree with Rumba Music Magazine. And while I'm not overly excited I still like it. A lot.

When You Sing is taken from their latest album, while Model, which reminds me of Nada Surf's Let Go that I liked so much, is taken from their 2003 debut, Halfway. Apart from those two songs, Red Carpet has plenty of short as well as a couple of full mp3 samples more available from their homepage. You can also visit their MySpace to hear some nice, though unfortunately non-downloadable, tracks more ^^

When You Sing
Model

Marybell Katastrophy

2006-04-17T23:09:00.000+02:00

And here's something I heard from for the eardrums the day before leaving for Easter.

Danish Marybell Katastrophy, aka Marie Højlund, used to be a member of Tiger Tunes but now that they're on a hiatus, she's gone solo. I do hope she'll continue with this project long enough to release at least one album, if not more. I find it hard (more so than I usually do) to label her music, but I don't think I'm all wrong if I describe it as some kind of darkish electropop. I like it!

You can get all songs on her 4 Songs demo from her MySpace or just listen to them directly from her homepage. I like them all, but the song below has become my favorite :p

Hey Frank (left click)

pg.lost

2006-04-13T02:09:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me a message that consisted of three elements: the word "listen" in Swedish, a set of (quite many) exclamation marks and a MySpace address. It took me a while, but eventually I got there and now I can totally understand why he used all of those exclamation marks.

Swedish four member band pg.lost makes some pretty awesome post rock. As influences, they mention Sigur Rós, Mogwai and Mono and I'm more than happy to say that they don't disappoint. Admittedly, it takes a while before the magic kicks in, but when it does it is oh so wonderful.

Siren (left click)
The Kind Heart of Lanigon (left click)

Bobby Baby

2006-04-12T01:40:00.000+02:00

Yay! Not only does Bobby Baby have a new awesome song up for download, but she's also coming to where I live to play in a couple of weeks ^_^ Bobby Baby is the most recent alias of Swedish girl Ella under which she make some great pop music. She shares all her music for free on the internet so do not miss going to her homepage for more, should you enjoy the song below.

Lucky Moments

Munck//Johnson

2006-04-11T23:14:00.000+02:00

And now for some more Danish music ^^

After collaborating as a duo for five years, Munck//Johnson debuted on PonyRec in summer 2005. From what I've heard their music is cautious, simple and beautiful. As it says on the label biography page: "By the third time through a song, you'll be in love."

The first song below is available on the new CD/LP, Count Your Blessings, while the second comes from the debut, Unlike You.

Ellis of Davenport (wma)
Ease Me

Under Byen

2006-04-10T20:45:00.000+02:00

I've been meaning to write about Under Byen since they released their third album, Samme stof som stof, a month ago, but I wanted to wait till I could link to some samples from it first. It took me a while, but a couple of days ago I finally noticed they had relaunched their site with a fresh new look and two new songs.

Under Byen is a Danish octet formed already in 1995. Their music is generally speaking beautiful, even though their style varies from classical to mellowish alternative rock. One remarkable thing about Under Byen is that despite the eight people they have no guitarist! If you liked Lampshade you should definitly check these people out.

The song below is taken from the new album and it's a pretty good summary of everything that makes me like Under Byen. The title of it means "This songs is about getting the best out of it".

Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det

Dorothy Band

2006-04-10T20:21:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm a bad person. I'll try to shape up and update more often again, though I doubt I'll be back to posting every day anytime soon...

Sadly, Dorothy Band is no more, but as I learnt that they have a MySpace page not too long ago and I really liked their only album, Dorothy in Wonderland, I wanted to make a short post about them anyway... Dorothy Band, or just Dorothy, was a Seoul based band playing some sweet and happy 60s influenced pop. While the four members are of different nationality as well as ethnicity, lyrics is mostly in Korean. They have four songs on their MySpace of which two are downloadable:

소풍 (Picnic) (left click)
Darling (left click)

And while you're at MySpace, listening to those Dorothy tracks not available for download, make sure to also visit Bloody Cookie's MySpace for some awesome goth rockish chick action.

Strawberry Sadness

2006-03-16T12:43:00.000+01:00

I just noticed the name of these people on last.fm today ^^

Wihtout ever hearing their music you can tell already from their name that Strawberry Sadness makes sweet pop music. They started out as a duo but are now a quintet. No own releases available yet, but if you happen to be in China you could try locating the recently released Bergen Rock City vol.2 to hear more from Strawberry Sadness as well as other interesting Norwegian artists.

The song below is my favorite and it came second in last year's Urørt finale, but there's a couple of songs more on the Strawberry Sadness Urørt page

Taking My Breath Away (left click)

Lampshade

2006-03-05T17:47:00.000+01:00

And so it happened again... Sorry to make anybody that still come here wait for another entry. I've been kind of busy lately, and I will be a while longer. But I'm slacking today. And on Thursday I'm gonna take the evening of and go see these people ^_^

Danish/Swedish group Lampshade released their second album, Let's Away, on February 24. Their style is soft rock, sometimes mellow and often pretty. At times they're even reminiscent of Efterklang. Lampshade are currently on tour in Sweden and will soon head for Germany.

The first song below comes from their new album, it's sung in Danish and if I'm not mistaken the title means "these birds". The other one is sung in English and appeared on their first album, Because Trees Can Fly. Also linked here just because it's pretty beyond words and I don't want you to miss it ^^ Still, do not forget to check out their site for additional information and a couple of songs more!

Disse Fugle
Plakka Plakka

Mellowdrone

2006-02-12T22:15:00.000+01:00

I need to shape up... This is great stuff though. So I hope you'll think it was worth the wait...

I was told about Mellowdrone tonight from a friend. I checked out their homepage and there was this sample song from their soon-to-be-released first full length album Box. The song was awesome. Rock-ish. And absolutely awesome. I haven't found much info on them yet, but it seems some guy named Jonathan Bates is the leader :)

This song is supposedly Jonathan Bates personal favorite from the coming album and it's the only downloadable Mellowdrone song I've been able to find. Check it out! The album is released on March 7 :p

Fashionably Uninvited

Rosie Thomas

2006-01-26T01:49:00.000+01:00

Here's an artist I can't seem to get enough of tonight...

Rosie Thomas is an amazing singer/songwriter from Seattle. There's often a piano in her mellow, beautiful songs and with that voice of hers everything sounds great.

If you haven't already heard this woman - Do not miss out! This song is one of her best and it's taken from her 2002 album: When We Were Small. Some more songs are available from her homepage, so go visit and get them right away!

Wedding Day

Professor Pez

2006-01-21T23:34:00.000+01:00

Here's something that showed up among my last.fm recommendations this week ^^

Professor Pez is a five member, Norwegian indiepop band with that Scandinavian sound. Very easy to like ^^

So far they have released two albums and the song below is taken from their first, Let us follow the evil balloon. Check out their homepage for more samples from their albums as well as some demo songs!

Stealing Sneakers

Dexter's Moon

2006-01-20T22:09:00.000+01:00

Tiger Lou yesterday was awesome. Today I've checked out the music created by his sister.

photo by Sara Appelgren

Dexter's Moon is a group of Swedes making what they call "Lo-fi Country Pop". They released their debut album, Come Rain, in 2005 and from what I've heard (half of it is available for free from their homepage ^^) it's all mellow, nice and beautiful, though perhaps not that much obvious difference between songs musicalwise.

The song below is a piano version of a song from their second demo, You Can Count On Me. It's very lovely.

Promise Piano

Tiger Lou

2006-01-19T14:05:00.000+01:00

It's been longer then I thought since I last updated, but here's an entry on a guy I'm gonna go see live tonight ^_^

One of Sweden's best indie artists is no doubt Tiger Lou, aka Rasmus Kellerman. (If I'm not mistaken, he's the second guy from the left on the pic above, while the others makes up his touring band.) Indie pop? Indie rock? I'm not sure how to describe his music to make it justice, but I can agree with his German label, riptide recordings, that wrote "it is rare that a pop song has felt so important as when told by the Tiger!" He released his debut EP, Trouble and Desire, in 2003 and his second full album, The Loyal, came out in October 2005.

The song below is a single from Tiger Lou's first album, Is My Head Still On? Though released as a single I think it's far from his best song, but it was the only one for which I could find a full downloadable sample :p If you're on last.fm and want to hear more - go check out his last.fm artist page where most of his released songs are available.

Sell Out

Half Asleep

2006-01-07T23:44:00.000+01:00

Here's a discovery made because of last.fm today ^^

Belgian duo Half Asleep makes some nice, slow, calming music with a piano, acoustic guitar and occasional drums. Their music is described as "a beautiful mixture of sadcore, dream pop and folk sounds" and Another Records says that "Half Asleep brings sensual songs for late-nights listeners, reminiscent of the soundtrack from a melancholy film scene".

You can get their latest album, (we are now) seated in profile, for free from Unique Records' Half Asleep page. From just one listen I think it's a very good album so if the song below appeals to you - don't miss it!

Fill The Turkey with Your Stupid Jokes

If, when you're done listening to Half Asleep, you're in the mood for more similiar music - check out the first tracks from this month's mp3 focus at sudd., which features a compilation from anal0g ^^

Harmonica

2006-01-06T23:39:00.000+01:00

I first heard about this group from for the eardrum's no longer updated subsection norwegian eardrums. As I believe philly might still be in need of some high energetic music - here they are!

Harmonica is an eight member group hailing from Oslo, capital of Norway. Monica Johansen, featured on the pic above, writes music as well as lyrics for all of their songs and she does a great job creating happy, energetic rock'n roll/sambapop. If you like Marit Bergman (that has all of her songs up for listen at her homepage ^^), you'll love Harmonica!

The songs below is the only studio recorded material I've heard, but it was more than enough to convince me I have to hear more from them in the future.

Friday Night
Girls and Boys (They Kiss at Night)

Tias Carlson

2006-01-05T00:54:00.000+01:00

Here's a guy I first heard of from swedesplease.

There's a lot of good singer/songwriters coming out of Sweden, and Tias Carlson is one of them. He released his debut album, What I have gathered from coincidence, in 2005 and hopefully he'll have a new album out early summer 2006. I could hardly find any info on him, but here's a quite nice interview from German sweet jane music

I really like the song below, so please take a listen. And if you like it too - of course you should go to his homepage for more ^^

Setting Sun

Calexico

2006-01-04T14:54:00.000+01:00

As I was reading about DeVotchKa, I found plenty of references to these guys, so of course I had to check them out as well.

Like DeVotchKa, Calexico is a bunch of Americans blending folk with a portion of indie rock. They've been around for a decade and has released six albums so far.

They have plenty of live tracks available on their homepage, but this song is taken from their album Feast of Wire, available through Cityslang

Sunken Waltz

DeVotchKa

2006-01-04T14:02:00.000+01:00

After reading about them in em lo's blog I couldn't not check them out.

Despite their obvious Eastern European influences, DeVotchKa actually hails from Colorado, USA. Their style is a blend of folk and indie-rock, but it's the varied ethnic part of folk that makes their music so interesting.

The song below is featured on their 2004 album, How it ends, that has recieved plenty of commending reviews.

Such a Lovely Thing

my plastic JonBenet doll

2005-12-28T01:09:00.000+01:00

As I was looking for info on Veltpunch, that a friend recommended me tonight, I came across the band below.

Four member Japanese band my plastic JonBenet doll plays some nice indie rock with the two girls providing the vocals. It seems they formed in summer 2004 and begun playing live in late spring 2005, but I might be wrong as I don't really know any Japanese...

If you like the song below you should definitly hear their other songs, so go visit Veltpunch's homepage and check out the "B-side" section. There you'll also find songs from six o'minus and some highly recommended nice instrumentals from Camel Life ^_^

Summer Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Girl

Electric Eel Shock

2005-12-26T23:19:00.000+01:00

Japanese Rock'n'Roll band Electric Eel Shock has been touring the world the past couple of years and more. A friend's boyfriend interviewed them after they played in Stockholm a couple of weeks ago, so she thought I should check them out. I did. And while I think their music is ok I like the band itself a lot more. They seem like three awesome guys with a great attitude towards themselves and their music. Go learn more about them on their homepage! And of course listen to the song linked below :)

Do the Metal

Warehouse

2005-12-25T00:26:00.000+01:00

Here's something as rare as a recommendation originating from one of my sisters - she has an internet pal with a girlfriend who's brother plays in a band...

Had it not been for my sister telling me Warehouse came from Swedish town Halmstad, I would definitly have guessed that these guys were American beacuse of their alt rockish, sometimes Lifehouse reminiscent, style.

The song below is taken from Just another lastone and all songs from that album are, with one exception, available in full mp3 versions from their homepage. Go listen to them and also take the chance to hear some of the short samples for the even better songs included on Subject to change.

Bounce

Elin Sigvardsson

2005-12-23T13:41:00.000+01:00

As I mentioned her in my last post, here's one of my favorite singer/songwriters.

Elin Sigvardsson was the first artist ever produced by one of Sweden's most acknowledged artists, Lars Winnerbäck. While I prefer her first album over her second, which she produced herself, her songs are all great on album and very nice to hear live.

The song below is a Christmas themed song where she's only accompanied by acoustic guitars. To get a better chance of understanding why I like her music so much - go visit her homepage and check out some of the music vids ^^

Love Me without Heart

Hera

2005-12-19T23:53:00.000+01:00

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates... But here's something new I discovered while checking out what my last.fm neighbours were listening to ^^

Icelandic/New Zealander Hera Hjartardóttir makes folkpop that instantly had me think of Elin Sigvardsson. Her core audience seems to be in Iceland and while still in her early twenties she has already released four albums - three in English and one in Icelandic.

The song below was the one that appears to have sparked the interest in her music as it was featured in the acclaimed Icelandic movie "The Sea".

Itchy Palms

I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper

2005-12-12T00:26:00.000+01:00

Today I first listened to the music from a band with one of the most awesome band names ever...

I don't know much about I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper. I only know they're Finnish, and as my understanding of the Finnish language is extremly limited I can not understand anything of the little information I think I might have found... At least music is universal and they sing entierly in English :p

Their style of music is probably best described as electropop. It's sweet and if you like the song below you should go visit their mikseri page and get any of the other 18 songs ^_^

Surfer Rocket Girls! (left click)

Orange

2005-12-11T19:01:00.000+01:00

More Download.com findings ^^

Orange is a four member group from the Philippines. So far they have released one self titled EP under a Creative Commons license on Triad Records. Their style and female vocals makes me think of a rockier Mojofly, so check them out!

One Burgundy Place (left click)

Korean music at Download.com

2005-12-07T23:46:00.000+01:00

I have probably missed this for ages, but while searching for some Brazilian post-punk (intrigued as I hadn't heard the term "post-punk" before) I surprised found myself at download.com's music section. I've been getting programs off downloads.com for as long as I've had my own computer, but it wasn't till today that I discovered the music section. Here's three short presentations of some of the music from Korea that I found there. (click subheadings for direct links ^^)

Pop Store

Most of you have probably heard of PopStore before. They have free samples on just about every place where one can share own music for free and their 2003 demo Open Your Mind has spread over the world through various p2p applications since the release. Their style is basicly pop punk - all of PopStore's songs are recommended if you're into that kind of music ^^

Code Y

Code Y released their debut EP, Circle, in summer 2004. All songs on there are also available on Downloads.com, but as I haven't heard the actual EP I wouldn't know if there's any difference. There's a mellow touch to all of the songs and it really appeals to me ^^ They're all nice, but I'd like to recommend Star (별). Oh, and don't forget to check out their website (make sure to allow popups!) - it's really neat :p

Gomuband

Out of the Korean music available at Download.com I will most likely end up listening to Gomuband the most. It's all nice and simple instrumentals with a couple of acoustic guitars, I love this kind of music. Try any song and enjoy!

Double Fish

2005-12-04T22:50:00.000+01:00

And another artist found on Shanshui!

Zhu Jianhui aka Double Fish comes from mainland China and makes some nice electronica. His releases so far includes some EPs on Polish and Chinese labels as well as some contributions to compilation albums.

Galaxy

Covox

2005-12-04T22:39:00.000+01:00

Today I came across the Chinese record company Shanshui for the first time...

...and there I found Swedish guy Covox! He's a chiptune composer making what he describes as "melodic high-energy romantic gameboy pop". His first album, Delete the Elite, was released this summer in Sweden and, with an extra bonus track, only a week ago in China.

This song sounds very happy and the title is awesome. Check it out and go to Covox homepage for more ^_^

Summer Fruit Dance Party

My Little Airport

2005-11-30T23:29:00.000+01:00

It was only a question of time before I would write about them here, so as I was listening through their latest single for the first time I figured now would be a good time to do so ^^

Hong Kong duo My Little Airport makes indie-pop like no others. It's all sweet and simple with nicole singing and p playing the guitar and, more importantly, casio. I love it!

The first song below is the title track from their 2004 debut album with the same title while the second is a remix of another first album song available on the IS#3 compilation.

在動物園散步才是正經事
(The OK thing to do on a Sunday is to toddle in the zoo)
Victor, Fly Me to Stafford (Mike McGuire remix)

Sera Cahoone

2005-11-29T23:17:00.000+01:00

And a bonus post right away since there were no posts during the weekend ^^

A couple of days ago I was introduced to Sera Cahoone through songs:illinois. Her style of music is acoustic country/folk and though I'm no fan of country the one song I've heard still appeals to me. She hasn't released anything yet, but hopefully there'll be a full album next year.

Listen to this song a couple of times if you don't like it at first. It grows on you. And the title is cute :p

Couch Song

Maximilian Hecker

2005-11-29T23:01:00.000+01:00

As I mentioned him in the previous post, here's a guy I have not payed enough attention to till now.

Photo by Dirk Merten

Maximilian Hecker is from Germany and makes, what he calls, "melancholy pop hymns". I have been listening to some of his music through last.fm, but it wasn't till today that I realized I really like this guy's music! Most of it is quite mellow while some songs are more like electropop.

Check out his homepage for more music and lots of vids ^_^

Daylight

SIN

2005-11-27T23:37:00.000+01:00

After a short hiatus due to a visit home I'm back with an entry on a band introduced to me by For The Eardrums last week ^^

SIN is a Norwegian duo making soft electronic music. Though I don't think they had published any material till this month both members are still fairly wellknown in the Norwegian indie scene through their previous bands such as Jaqueline (Marius Drogsås Hagen) and The Wombats (Tord Øverland Knudsen).

According to For The Eardrums, German guy Maximilian Hecker will appear on their debut album next summer so keep your ears open for more awesome material from these guys in the future!

Lost in a Span

Grizzly Bear

2005-11-24T18:27:00.000+01:00

Now to the guys following Efterklang on tour through Scandinavia!

American Grizzly Bear started out as a duo, but I think they might be a quartet now... Unable to decide if they're freak-folk or new-folk they suggest the terms wood-tempo or comp-core to describe their genre of music. Their music is generarlly slow paced with an electronic touch ^^

You can listen to several songs and remixes and also find some more downloads from Grizzly Bear's debut album, Horn of Plenty, on their homepage.

Deep Sea Diver

Efterklang

2005-11-23T23:12:00.000+01:00

As I decided to check out the artists coming to that nearby student place next week I heard the interesting music of Efterklang for the first time...

Heads of cabbage by Nan Na Huass

Efterklang is a 5/6/8/3 member band hailing from Copenhagen, capital of Denmark. (5 core members, 6 if counting the guy that films, 8 or 3 live depending on stage size.) Their music is slow paced and has an electronic sound to it that makes their name very suitable. Actually "efterklang" is one of the prettiest words I know, and if it's the same in Danish as in Swedish it means something like "reverberation" (though that doesn't sound even half as pretty to me...).

Two more songs and several vids are available for download from their homepage - you should definitly check them out!

Monopolist

stuck with free music

Indieful ROK - new blog!

chimneycrow

Yun Jakjun

Liner Guides

Puredigitalsilence

The Invisible Fish & Birdy Bitz Alien

나의머리카락뭉치 article

MOT article

Hiatus and Random Updates

Swimmin' Fish article

Tearliner article

Especially When

Weltraum

Denci Hinji

Omega 3 article

나의머리카락뭉치

itta Article

Cake on Cake

Bloody Cookie article

pg.lost

Bedroom

fårö-dokument

Don't Be A Stranger

Thirty something new tales from PL.PT

Hits In The Car

Betty Goes A Go-Go

Ida Maria

Tickles

The Year of The Mandolin Banjo

Bloody Cookie

Holiday Sampler & Paper Route

...and everyone fell asleep

The Knife

Greenwich Resident

SunRadio & Kim Doo Soo

Hem

Sleeping States

Benoît Pioulard

New beta and comments

Mono

treqie

aniDa =^.^=

Vega4

Kite Operations

We vs. Death

Addio Dodo

"Oggi doveva iniziaree invece...Ti Amo TantoAddio Dodo"

Autumn's Grey Solace

Itta

Slumber Party

Dive

Languis

BEIT

Protein Puppet

Incubator

Serenaide

Detektivbyrån

adultchild

gruppa.fm

Bettlare & lösfolk

Panda & Angel

Tigarah

And I'm back!

Absence note

Christian Kiefer & Sharron Kraus

Dimbodius

Red Carpet

Marybell Katastrophy

pg.lost

Bobby Baby

Munck//Johnson

Under Byen

Dorothy Band

Strawberry Sadness

Lampshade

Mellowdrone

Rosie Thomas

Professor Pez

Dexter's Moon

"Oggi doveva iniziare

e invece...

Ti Amo Tanto

Addio Dodo"