Mellowdrone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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