Matthew Friedberger

ARTIST / BAND: Matthew Friedberger
SONGS (MP3s):
The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company Resignation Letter
Do You Like Blondes?
ALBUM: Winter Women / Holy Ghost Language School.
FILE UNDER: Indie Rock
LABEL: 859 recordings
INFO: Matthew Friedberger (born October 21st, 1972 in Oak Park, Illinois) is half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces. In the band he contributes the majority of the instrumentation, writes most of the songs and lyrics and occasionally sings. His sister, Eleanor Friedberger does most of the vocals and writes some lyrics.
read more from the source...

Mtsvane Otaxi / Green Room

Mtsvane Otaxi (Green Room) has a new album coming out soon.

La Rocca

ARTIST / BAND: La Rocca
SONG (MP3): Sketches (20 Something Life)
ALBUM: The truth
FILE UNDER: Rock / Alternative
LABEL: danger birdrecords
INFO: So how do 4 Irish boys end up playing rock n' roll in Los Angeles, preparing to cut their first long-player on Sunset Blvd, far from the dirty streets of Dublin? We can tell you it's a long and winding road that brought us here. 4 devils in the city of angels. The Irish have a history with the Americans, and we want to be part of that history. Hailing from Dublin city, we are a 4 piece rock 'n roll band. We have our own thing going on, something special. Unique, fresh, exciting. Classic in a sense. But more. College friends Nick and Alan met Bjorn, and later his brother Simon, in Cardiff, and what started as a drunken jam ended up here, 3 years later. It's only apt that we took our name from a favoured watering hole, the La Rocca cocktail bar, you'll understand why once you meet us. In mid-2005 we signed our first record deal with Dangerbird Records, situated in the heart of happening Silverlake. Chrysalis Publishing USA became our close friends this year too, so it is only right that we should pack our duffle bags and set up camp in the USA. We've just recorded an album with Mr. Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air, Supergrass, Belle & Sebastian) and can't wait to be travelling the world playing it to people this year. We look forward to giving you something original and inspiring when we meet.
read more from the source...

Furvis

ARTIST / BAND: Furvis
SONG (MP3): Take Me Back
ALBUM: Master 1
FILE UNDER: Rock / Indie / Alternative
LABEL: none
INFO: Furvis are four opportunist bitches that will do anything shy of a blowjob to claw their way to the top. The will seduce you, sway you, use, fuck and leave you, and will spit on you when your down. Burning every bridge they cross and in the process writing bad checks, it’s apparent Furvis will do anything it takes… and they’re going places man!

Love Is All

ARTIST / BAND: love is all
SONG (MP3):

Talk Talk Talk Talk (mp3)

Ageing Had Never Been His Friend (mp3)

ALBUM: Nine Times That Same Song
FILE UNDER: Pop / Indie / Punk
LABEL: what’s your rupture
INFO: After the break up of Girlfriendo Josephine, Nicholaus and Markus formed Love is All, and debuted in 2005 with Nine Times That Same Song. They are currently signed to the New York-based indie label What's Your Rupture?. They also have been featured on the renowned BBC radiocast Peel Sessions 2004. Their profile was raised significantly after a string of well-received US tourdates in March 2006, culminating in a sold-out headlining spot in New York. Fans of indie rock have latched onto Love is All's songs, which alternate between lo-fi and a jumbled jangle pop augmented with throbbing basslines and skronky saxophone, which makes for a noisy yet song-driven sound powered by inspired vocals and a strong rhythmic sensibility.
read more from the source...

JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON

ARTIST / BAND: JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON
SONG (MP3): ODI ET AMO
ALBUM: Englabörn
FILE UNDER: Electronica / Psych / Prog
LABEL: 4ad
INFO: spellbinding in its beauty.
Johann founded the label / art-organisation Kitchen Motors in his native Reykjavik, and he has also performed as a member of psych / prog / minimalist / drone mavericks Apparat Organ Quartet. But developing alongside these projects was an increasing interest in music for instrumental ensembles, which has given birth to Englaborn - written for string quartet and electronics to accompany a play - and Virthulegu Forsetar, a slow-motion fanfare written for 11 brass players, percussion, organ and piano. Both these pieces were released by the Touch label.
Johann has also written a performance piece called IBM 1401 - A User's Manual for the dancer / choreographer Erna Omarsdottir. The music is inspired by the first mainframe computer to arrive in Iceland, in 1964, and together Johann and Erna have performed it all over Europe.
Johann's first release for 4AD will be an expanded version of IBM 1401 - A User's Manual. The score - rewritten for 60 piece string orchestra - was recorded at the legendary Smecky studios in Prague. It will be released in the second half of 2006.
read more from the source...

HEXES AND OHS

ARTIST / BAND: HEXES AND OHS
SONG (MP3): ALIVE UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT
ALBUM: Godbye friend welcome lover
FILE UNDER: Indie / Electro / Pop
LABEL: cargo
INFO: "the duo take their experimentation even further on this release, weaving hook-laden, toe-tapping beats into pretty, ethereal sugar-pop confections without the edge of their former incarnationlight as a Sunday afternoon captured in a color-washed 70s home-movie reel, yet with enough substance to avoid stepping into the blatantly saccharine." - welovemusique.com"melding thinly layered melodic soundscapes over pulsating blips and glitches, resulting in a fluid tapestry that envelopes the reflective lyrical content with a soft embrace. Few can dislike this album, as it's an honest and inviting palette of expression." - umbrellamusic.com"A gentle and eloquent debut. Charming." - the HOUR"le discret groupe de la métropole fait fondre les coeurs. Une découverte à faire..." - ICI"Hexes & Ohs... is proof that no more people than necessary need to be involved in the making of a great record. Let the world have "Such Great Heights." "Alive Until Saturday Night" is for you." - 75orless.com
read more from the source...

JONAH MATRANGA / FRANK TURNER

ARTIST / BAND: JONAH MATRANGA / FRANK TURNER
SONG (MP3): A NEW ENGLAND
ALBUM: Jonah Matranga / Frank Turner EP
FILE UNDER: Indie
LABEL: welcome home records
INFO: With a transatlantic friendship built on mutual respect, musical influences and shared punk values, uniting Jonah and Frankfor this 12" project made perfect sense. They've both spent time, for better and for worse, in critically-acclaimed rock bands(Jonah with far, Gratitude, Onelinedrawing and New End Original and Frank with Million Dead), sold over 100,000 recordsbetween them and have ended up solo as a result. Go figure.
read more from the source...

LAMBCHOP

ARTIST / BAND: LAMBCHOP
SONG (MP3): CRACKERS
ALBUM: Damaged
FILE UNDER: Country / Rock / Americana
LABEL: city slang
INFO: From the band that bought you 1997s brilliant Thriller comes another fantastic album, DAMAGED. Lambchop is a loose musical collective of anywhere from 5 to 17 players from Nashville, TN, and they sound like no one else. For almost 20 years Lambchop has been perfecting the New Nashville Sound despite the fact that NPRs Renée Montagne once described them as a band that Nashvilles Music Row will never clutch to its bosom. Critics have long held Lambchop in high esteem and attribute their unique sound to the bizarre mélange of influences drawn on by their mastermind, Kurt Wagner, one of the most singular, and best, songwriters of our time. (Salon). read more from the source...

SWIMMER ONE

ARTIST / BAND: SWIMMER ONE
SONG (MP3): WE JUST MAKE MUSIC FOR OURSELVES
ALBUM: We Just Make Music For Ourselves
FILE UNDER: electronic pop
LABEL: Biphonic
INFO: who lives in glasgow. they spend most of their time together writing electronic pop music in a cupboard above a sex shop, using a sampler that used to belong to shakin' stevens. difficult to categorise, and not fitting into any 'scene', swimmer one's music has been compared to everyone from the pet shop boys to the who.to date swimmer one have released two limited edition singles, we just make music for ourselves and come on, let's go!, on the edinburgh label biphonic, and one mp3 single, largs hum, on london's dogbox records. djs who have championed them include rob da bank, steve lamacq, mark radcliffe, vic galloway, gill mills (all bbc radio one), jim gellatly and john kennedy (xfm) and gideon coe (bbc 6 music). all three singles have also received enthusiastic reviews at home and abroad. an album is currently being recorded.hamish is a musician, producer and committed hard-worker who, as well as having played in various bands, has written the music for films about samuel beckett and scottish ballet and recorded the score for a clown show. he has at no time been a professional photographer. he has not walked all 284 munros in one go and has not written a book about the experience.andrew is a singer-songwriter whose music, before swimmer one, found its way into one guitar band, one cabaret act, one play and one short film, but mostly into his cupboard. during the day he has a proper job as an arts journalist. he has never produced a film for michael winterbottom.
read more from the source...

ASTROPOP 3

ARTIST / BAND: ASTROPOP 3
SONG (MP3): ALL IN YOUR HEAD
ALBUM: Life
FILE UNDER: Indie / Pop / Rock
LABEL: planting seeds records
INFO: Hailing from the same suburban trenches of Virginia Beach, VA that nestles todays top producers and performers in the hip-hop industry, smaller area rock acts in the area such as the Astropop 3 have always been overlooked by the mainstream music industry. Persistently trudging through the dingy dive bars of the underground music scene in Hampton Roads, performing their own mixed bag of original music, and relentlessly promoting themselves, only goes to show the tenacity of the Astropop 3.

read more from the source...

Moloko

ARTIST / BAND: Moloko
SONG (MP3): Familiar feelings
ALBUM: Catalogue
FILE UNDER: Alternative / Trip Hop / Electronica
LABEL: Echo UK
INFO: The Sheffield-based dance-pop duo Moloko is the end result of Irish-born singer Roisin Murphy's attempt to pick up mixer/producer Mark Brydon at a 1994 party with the come-on, "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body." Brydon saw musical potential in her attitude, and the two formed a creative and romantic partnership. Murphy, who never sang outside of the shower before, was a newcomer to the music business. However, Brydon had many years of experience with U.K. house music acts House Arrest and Cloud 9, helped found Sheffield's Fon studios, and remixed artists like Eric B & Rakim and Psychic TV. Soon after forming Moloko, they released their debut single, "Where Is the What If the What Is in the Why?," and signed to Echo Records.
read more from the source...
http://myspace-110.vo.llnwd.net/00363/01/13/363823110_l.jpg

LUXURY CAR

ARTIST / BAND: LUXURY CAR
SONG (MP3): THE HEART OF THE MATTER
ALBUM: The Heart of the Matter
FILE UNDER: Electro / Alternative / Pop
LABEL: biphonic
INFO: Me (the geek) and John (number 1 son) have been in bands together since we were at school. When our last band spilt up we decided to make electronic music instead of forming another guitar band. The main aim of the band was to make electronic music based around melodies and songs written on guitar. But we don't use guitars any more. But saying that we might start again soon.
Been on the go since 2001 and did our first EP last year. Got to do a Radio 1 session too. Played all over Scotland and had loads of radioplay on Radio1, Radio Scotland, Beat 106, XFM & Radio Magnetic. Our album is finished and will be coming out late March.

read more from the source...

JOHN RALSTON

ARTIST / BAND: JOHN RALSTON
SONG (MP3): GONE, GONE, GONE
ALBUM: singer-songwriter
FILE UNDER: Indie
LABEL: Vagrant
INFO: Accidents do happen. Just ask Florida-based singer-songwriter John Ralston. Or better yet, listen to Needle Bed, his debut album for Vagrant Records, and a stark collection of 11 honest, deeply personal songs, that—to hear Ralston tell it—came about almost entirely by accident. The unlikely story begins with a chance meeting between the artist and Needle Bed collaborator Michael Seaman in Ralston’s hometown of Lake Worth, Florida. “I met him completely randomly,” remembers Ralston. “I don’t think I have ever met such a good friend just out of the blue.” Over the next few weeks, the two would record some rough demos together.

read more from the source...

ADAM GREEN

ARTIST / BAND: ADAM GREEN
SONG (MP3): NOVOTEL
ALBUM: Jacket Full of Danger
FILE UNDER: Rock / Folk / Alternative
LABEL: Rough Trade Records
INFO: Shit fuck piss! I thought I could toss Adam Green, erstwhile of early '00s anti-folkers Moldy Peaches, following the stiff shock-value yucks and self-satisfied cabaret smirks of his 2005 full-length Gemstones. But on his latest solo album, Jacket Full of Danger, the New York eccentric at last fully immerses himself in vulgarity-- in the scummy bilge water of language and culture. Like the hapless beer-run guy trapped in "express" checkout behind some 69-items-or-more Daddy's girl, I can't help but enjoy perusing the headlines, even if I wouldn't quite take the thing home.
read more from the source...

EAGLE*SEAGULL

ARTIST / BAND: EAGLE*SEAGULL
SONG (MP3): PHOTOGRAPH
ALBUM: EAGLE*SEAGULL
FILE UNDER: Rock / Indie
LABEL: Paper Garden
INFO: The label’s first signing is Eagle*Seagull from Lincoln, Nebraska. Drawing on influences as diverse as Leonard Cohen and Pavement, the band takes the New York rock scene of recent days, packs it up, and heads west to their roots- making the sound their own with bittersweet melodies, a broken voice, and the plaintive calling of their instruments.
read more from the source...

DR. LOVE VS. TENSE

ARTIST / BAND: DR. LOVE VS. TENSE
SONG (MP3): ME ME ME
ALBUM: Me Me Me
FILE UNDER: Indie / Pop / Electro
LABEL: oval music
INFO: Alternative female duo - Nuwella & Laura - fight it out with

THE HOURLY RADIO

ARTIST / BAND: THE HOURLY RADIO
SONG (MP3): DEAF EARS
ALBUM: DEAF EARS
FILE UNDER: Rock / Indie / Pop
LABEL: kirtland records
INFO: The early success of The Hourly Radio can only be attributed to a clear, articulate sense of direction and purpose. Neither of the bands founding members, guitarist Ryan Short and vocalist Aaron Closson, site their musical abilities among the reasons the band has captured so much attention. In fact, when the two met and began writing songs they had just one electric guitar (but no amp) and neither had any previous musical training or experience. All they had was a common sense of direction and a clear idea of what they didn’t want to sound like. What some may call naive or simply blind ambition Closson and Short forged on with complete confidence. From the inception of the band things have moved very quickly and these early limitations never proved an obstacle.
read more from the source...

SECOND STORY MAN

ARTIST / BAND: SECOND STORY MAN
SONG (MP3): CATALYST
ALBUM: Red Glows Brighter
FILE UNDER: Indie / Rock / Pop
LABEL: Landmark Recordings
INFO: "If you're going to take four years between records, you better make damn sure it's worth the wait, and "Red Glows Brighter" is." -Velocity Weekly
"This record maintains the bands signature pop harmonies and quirky time changes, but it shows an incredible amount of artistic development as well. They incorporate all sorts of new influences into their bag of tricks. The album includes some familiar Second Story Man sounds (Catalyst), harder rock (Mitey Might), psychedelic surf-rock (Letter to Be), ethereal Flaming Lips-esque space pop (When Your Dreams Expire) and southwest groove a la The Cure (Cancer Dance). The highlight of the album is its hidden track, a haunting, echo-filled acoustic number that prominently showcases the bands trademark vocal harmonies." -LEO Weekly
"[Red Glows Brighter is] a rich, phenomenally engaging effort that is as imaginative and full of surprises as anything you'll hear this year from the big-shot indie record labels." -Cincinnati City Beat Weekly
read more from the source...

THE AQUABATS!

ARTIST / BAND: THE AQUABATS!
SONG (MP3): FASHION ZOMBIES!
ALBUM: CHARGE!!
FILE UNDER: Grindcore / Afro-beat / 2-step
LABEL: Nitro Records
INFO: The masked, underdog champions of nerd-core, The Aquabats, are back with their first full-length album in six years. The band’s most cohesive album to date, Charge!! blends quirky, new wave melodies with the band’s hometown signature punk rock sound, concreted with their uniquely sarcastic, Saturday morning cartoon humor. Legions of loyal fans eagerly await this next episode from their rock ‘n’ roll superheroes. In fact, those same fans are largely responsible for snapping the band’s silent streak when they flocked to last year’s national tour. After their label, Goldenvoice Records, shut its doors in early 2000, The Aquabats went underground, living the lives of their secret identities, all the while their mythology amplifying online, fueled by hungry fans, speculating of their return to form.In the beginning there were fourteen of them, all friends, each in a different band. It was the mid '90s and the Southern California punk scene had stagnated into something pointlessly drunk, violent, and way too predictable. They wanted to bring back the early punk ethos where anything goes, all bets on the table. Style of music be damned. So, to poke fun at the burgeoning ska scene, and because there were fourteen of them for crying out loud, half the band grabbed horns, and they played their first show only a week after forming.
read more from the source...