Midnight Flowers – Never You Never You is the second release in as many months from this new band comprising of in-laws Tatiana and Charles. Their music blends indie-rock and indiepop with the female vocals delicately poised over woven layers of atmospheric guitars and more. The band are working on new songs and new EP should follow earlier rather than later. Homepage 93millionmilesfromthesun – Covered … Continue reading Hit Me With Your Rhythm Six
The Umbrella Puzzles is the project of Ryan Marquez who also appears in Apple Orchard and the Golden Teardrops. Marquez’s low key indie/janglepop under The Umbrella Puzzles moniker has impressed these ears and the three tracks here are no exception. Drawing on influences from between the 1960s to the 1980s, the songs here are well-crafted indiepop tunes and The Loft/Pete Astor influences are prevalent especially … Continue reading The Umbrella Puzzles – Slip Through The Cracks
For their new single Swansea Sound will be making available a single seven-inch copy which, as the title suggests, will be sold on eBay. As they sing “I sold my soul on eBay…Bids were derisory. I need some money. Don’t need a soul. So monetising is my goal.” The auction will be announced soon but thankfully a digital version is available. And it’s a shambling … Continue reading Swansea Sound – I Sold My Soul on Ebay
Sunny Summer Day are an indiepop band from Bandung, Indonesia. They have been around for a number of years now releasing their debut single on Cloudberry Records back in 2007 and we last heard from them on 2016’s Traveled Backwards album which has just re-released digitally by the band. They will be releasing a new mini-album next year which tells the story of vocalist/guitarist Dicki … Continue reading Sunny Summer Day – 夕暮れと月 (Dusk and Moon)
Just some rambling notes……. I have never compiled as many best-of mixes as I have done this year. Given that I have been based at home since the middle of February and listened to tons of music I should not really be surprised. This has meant a record (no pun intended) number of blog posts in 2020, double the number of views and distinct visitors … Continue reading Records I Like Best of 2020 Part Three
The self-titled debut EP from the Manila’s Public Places was released last month via Catshelf Records. I am not sure how I missed it given Cinéma Lumière are labelmates but the EP has been picked up by the Shenzhen based label BoringProductions which sees the band getting released on vinyl for the first time. The label describes the band as “the new outstanding power from … Continue reading Public Places – Public Places
London based Damnably Records recently released a free compilation to celebrate their 14th birthday. The label, which is home to the likes of Otoboke Beaver, Say Sue Me, Grrrl Gang and Drinking Boys and Girls Choir to name a few, have been heavily active this year on social media despite/because of the pandemic. They actually had a marathon streaming session back in October to celebrate … Continue reading A Midweek Quintuple
Indonesian label Shiny Happy Records have just released a mammoth 78 track compilation entitled Our Secret World: Quarantine Session 2020. Due to the size I am not even going to attempt to review it so the label’s press release follows. Suffice to say it features many bands championed on these pages. Our Secret World is an indiepop gig in Jakarta, Indonesia, created by Shiny Happy … Continue reading Our Secret World: Quarantine Session 2020
The second part of Records I Like Best of 2020. To be honest I have listened to so much stuff this year that a third volume is more than likely so the words I had prepared for this volume will most probably appear when that’s published. As ever enjoy the mix. Full tracklisting: Nah… Perfect Game (Taken from the single Perfect Game) The Shop Window … Continue reading Records I Like Best of 2020 Part Two
So it’s that time of year again where I start assessing what I have listened to this year. This first mix is pretty diverse and reflects that working from home since mid-February has had an impact on my listening habits expanding far outside of this blog’s self-imposed remit. For starters, the ear crunching mix of heavy metal and electronica from Kenyan band Duma is definitely … Continue reading Records I Like Best of 2020 Part One
