30.05.2023-SIMIAN GHOST Simian Ghost (Heist Or Hit,2017)

 

INDIE / ELECTRONIC

     This album showcases the funky, dance laden side of Simian Ghost and has already spawned three singles, 'Last Night', 'When You're Ready' and 'Fun', which puts them firmly in the Euro-disco market, Vocally it is a bit on the sweet side for me. It's been described as "genre-hopping" which is a fair comment because I can't pigeon hole this at all. The music is, however, so free it deserves to be unlabeled and has very much a sound of its own.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rdfhit

29.05.2023-EMILY LOIZEAU Mona (Fiction France,2016)

 

CHANSON

     Emily Loizeau is the latest offshoot of the French chanson new wave that sprung up in the mid-2000s. The singer’s dreamlike universe, characterised by her gravelly voice, combines folk with humour in a clear display of her Anglo-French double culture.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/pk2xoe

27.05.3023-MINA TINDLE Taranta (Believe,2012)

 

POP,FOLK

     Following in the line of artful leftfield pop from the likes of Feist, Taranta is a lovely confident 14 track record. Made with the help of JP Nataf, the former lead singer of French band The Innocents, Tindle flits effortlessly from French to English lyrics, from sparse folk songs on a single guitar to expansive pop songs with jazzy inflections. There’s much to admire.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/17em52

26.05.2023-ANTJE DUVEKOT Little Peppermints (Not On Label,2002)

 

FOLK

      Little Peppermints is her debut and it is brilliant in exactly the way that a girl strumming her guitar and singing from her heart and soul can be. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/b6antg

24.05.2023-PSYCHIC DANCEHALL Dreamers (Art Fag,2011)

 

ELECTRONIC/ART ROCK

     Psychic Dancehall is not a rock band. They are not two people who set out to make music for people to hear. Psychic Dancehall is a look into the lives of two people making sense of the world they inhabit-sharing the dark and seedy world they live in with a sonic honesty and emotion that can only be expressed through whispered lyrics; slow, smooth drum beats; pulsing keyboards and the back and forth of a man and a woman in love.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/oww19g

22.05.2023-BIG DEAL Say Yes (Fat Cat,2016)

 

INDIE POP/ROCK

   Two of Big Deal’s original members departed for other projects leaving just Alice Costelloe and Kacey Underwood as the principal partners, the duo’s laptop was stolen in December 2014 that contained concepts and songs for a new album, Costelloe’s apartment was broken into, and the band separated from its previous label. The duo could have called it quits, but instead they have rewarded people’s patience – not to mention their own resilience – with a new album, Say Yes.

   While Say Yes does meander between multiple sounds and influences, overall it is a strong and assured album with moments of brilliance, some of which would easily rival some of the best music of the year. And to think they could have packed it in and moved on; instead, they have offered a terrific album that sets the stage for something possibly even more anthemic and stupendous. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/eq7c9s

21.05.2023-NIVE & The DEER CHILDREN Feet First (Glitterhouse,2015)

 

INDIE FOLK

     'Feet First' , the album by Greenlandic folk pop singer Nive & The Deer Children was recorded between 2012 and 2015 all over the world: Greenland, Denmark, Belgium and England. Also all over the United States in Tucson Arizona, Athens Georgia, Lexington Kentucky, Nashville Tennessee and Asheville North Carolina.

"The first track on the album "Still the Same" for example would have never had that cumbiarhythm at the end without going to southern Arizona and playing with Howe Gelb and his Tucson crew in the comfort of their own homes. Also, the same goes for songs like "Tulugaq", track four. Nivé wrote that song along with a set of twelve year old twin girls from a foster care far up north in Uummannaq, Greenland. It was the very last song recorded for the album and would have never happened if she recorded this album traditionally in one place. A song that one should notice is the song"Ole", which is a new recording of Ole Kristiansen's "Oqaqqusaajunnaaruma", which is a very respected song in Greenland.
     Also, appearing on Feet First are artist and friends such as Howe Gelb, Ralph Carney, Teitur, and John Parish.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/me9bou

20.05.2023-DARCYS Centerfold (Arts&Crafts,2016)

 

ART POP / SYNTHPOP

     This kind of pop succeeds when the artist is really having fun (see: Bruno Mars), and really revels in the sounds of the time. As such, "Arizona Hwy," a song that is literally about driving down the Arizona Highway, is so funny and shiny that it's probably the best song on the record. It's goofy, sure, with its high, breathy vocals paired with adorable synth riffs, but it's really, really catchy. Elsewhere though, the slow, plodding "San Diego, 1988" is just a bit too on the nose with the '80s nostalgia, and is hampered by dragging synth.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/s9b08d

18.05.2023-PEACE Kindness Is The New Rock'n'Roll (Ignition,2018)

 

INDIE ROCK

     Though it might be lacking in the amount of quintessential indie floorfillers that we’ve come accustomed to with Peace, ‘Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll’ shows progression. Having Peace back fills us with adolescent ecstasy.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/omyfn1

15.05.2023-PHILCO FICTION Talk/Brag (Tender,2016)

 

INDIE POP

   Among the several electropop musicians in Norway these days, Philco Fiction stands out in the way they embrace widely covered truisms of life and love in their music. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/kuqywg

14.05.2023-FRANKIE ROSE Interstellar (Slumberland,2012)

 

DREAM POP

     If you're familiar with Brooklyn's Frankie Rose at all, it's most likely through her work as a drummer for hazy pop bands Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, and Dum Dum Girls, where she most often kept a workmanlike, metronomic rhythm. She stepped out front-and-centre with 2010's Frankie Rose & The Outs, where she unveiled a soft and melodious voice buried in the same clouds of reverb as the vocalists of her other projects. Moving from Memphis Industries to indie-pop institution Slumberland, Interstellar sees Rose drop the band credit from her name and release a second album of—surprise!—tasteful dream pop.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/3effer

13.05.2023-SUSANNE SUNDFOR The Brothel (EMI Norway,2010)

 

ART FOLK

     The Norwegian singer-songwriter ups her game on her sophomore album, and presents us with such an atmospheric album that it rivals most ambient artists in creating a world in the listener's mind; and it's a world you won't want to leave.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/41a7ga

11.05.2023-EMILY JANE WHITE Dark Undercoat (Double Negative,2007)

 

NEOFOLK

     Emily Jane White sounds like a dead ringer for Cat Power/Chan Marshall on several tracks. It's frankly a bit spooky at first, especially with bluesy opener 'Bessie Smith' being the kind of tribute song found on Cat Power's album Jukebox. All that is no bad thing of course, and it may be recommendation enough for some, but perhaps subconsciously it means that EJW really needs to do something extra to make her mark and set herself apart (though maybe just being a reliable live performer would be enough).

https://www.sendspace.com/file/r5jtz5

09.05.2023-MORIARTY The Missing Room (Air Rhythmo,2011)

 

ALTERNATIVE FOLK

     A little more electric than the previous opus, this album demonstrates that nothing is fixed and immutable among these talented musicians. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/qa4k5d

07.05.2023-LITHICS Making Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars,2018)

 

POST-PUNK

     Released via Olympia, Washington, indie imprint par excellence Kill Rock Stars, Lithics’ sonic cubism consistently intrigues on their second album. From fist-clenched opener ‘Excuse Generator’ to breakneck closing blitz ‘Dancing Guy’, it’s an unfurling tapestry of interlocking DIY minimalist art-punk where precision and abandon prove uniquely compatible.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rbffaj

06.05.2023-LISA HANNIGAN Sea Sew (Hoop,2008)

 

INDIE FOLK

    Best known for her contributions to Damien Rice’s extraordinary O and its underwhelming follow-up 9, Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan finally makes her solo debut with Sea Sew. What’s most interesting about the record is the way that it reflects her collaboration with Rice: Using these songs as evidence, Hannigan either played a major role in developing the sound that has become Rice’s trademark or she has used that particular sound as the primary template for her own work. If that gives the album a level of postmodern ambiguity, what Sea Sew makes clear is that Hannigan is a serious talent in her own right. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/t2m5ub

04.05.2023-LAST DINOSAURUS Wellness (Dew Process,2015)

 

INDIE ROCK

     "Searching for meaning among the stars and back on solid ground, Wellness is waist-deep in introspection."

https://www.sendspace.com/file/7ljyac

02.05.2023-JOLIE HOLLAND Catalpa (ANTI-,2003)

 

AMERICANA

   In 2003 Jolie Holland released an album of quiet, gentle songs under the name ‘Catalpa‘, sounding like it was just a few songs being played in someone’s front room, which is exactly what it was. Despite the presence of several other players, not always clearly audible, the focus was on simple melodies supporting Holland’s distinctive voice. Comparisons were immediately made with her former band The Be Good Tanyas. Their first album ‘Blue Horse’ shared a song with ‘Catalpa’ in ‘The Littlest Birds’ .

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rj1f7s

01.05.2023-WILD BELLE Dreamland (Columbia,2016)

 

INDIE ROCK

     Vocalist Natalie has a sweet, unassuming tone reminiscent of Julia Stone or Lissie but backed by something of a soul/R & B vibe rather than a more acoustic influence. There’s something earthy and hypnotising about the pair’s overall sound that is unexpected, pleasant and utterly unique.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/mua0fg