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Music Alliance Pact November 2013

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This month’s edition of the Music Alliance Pact is out now! Among the 30-plus acts from around the world on display below, we’ve highlighted Nagano’s Boe Oakner and her barely-there wonder “Cherenkov.” Check it and everything else in MAP below!



Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 27-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Boe Oakner – Cherenkov
In a very short amount of time, Nagano-based Boe Oakner has been making great strides in her musical development. The 17-year-old started this year making lovely instrumentals and now she is working her voice into her songs as well. Cherenkov is an ennui-tinged waltz, featuring kitchen-sink percussion, pretty bell chimes and natural sounds like a rainstorm.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Onda Vaga – Tataralí
Since their inception in 2008, Onda Vaga have avoided the steps that independent artists usually take in order to be a part of the music industry. It was a wise call. Thanks to word of mouth from a public that follows them whenever they perform, this folk-rock band have become a huge success, both locally and internationally (they made quite an impression at last year’s Fuji Rock Festival in Japan). Tataralí is the first single from their recently released third album, Magma Elemental.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
La Mancha Negra – Belango Twist
It’s easy to imagine that Belango Twist might have been found inside a dusty shoebox containing a mix of rhythm and blues cassettes somewhere in the Deep South. Surprisingly that’s far from the case. Sydney swamp-rockers La Mancha Negra (which loosely translates from Spanish to “The Black Stain”) recently delivered their second album. Packed with blues ooze and reverberated hollers, Belango Twist is a tune that’s ideal for cruising… and smashing out a few letterboxes on the way.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Robotra – Morninglight 2
Don’t let the noisy, distorted lo-fi shell of Robotra songs trick you. This three-piece band from Graz and their pop melodies will catch your attention and make you want to sing along immediately. Morninglight 2 is taken from their full-length debut Tinker, which was mixed and mastered by Wolfgang Möstl (Mile Me Deaf, Sex Jams, Killed By 9V Batteries).

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Marcelo Jeneci – De Graça
In Marcelo Jeneci’s new psychedelic/pop-influenced album, the single De Graça is one of the weirdest and greatest songs. Strong influences of the earliest works of Caetano Veloso and Arnaldo Antunes (with whom Jeneci still plays keyboard) can be easily heard, as well as Jeneci’s talent for making catchy melodies that create the kind of feeling when everything is just fine and you don’t worry about anything.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
The Dirty Nil – Nicotine
The Dirty Nil want to be your dealer, and Nicotine is their gateway drug of choice. Their brand of rock and roll knows no fear, takes no prisoners and shows no mercy. They’re brash, they’re crass and they’re gonna make you love them or die trying.

CHILE: Super 45
Fármacos – Despegarte De Mí
Among the new breed of bands helping to renew the Chilean music scene, Fármacos stand out just as much for the many nuances of their sound – in which nods to electronica and pop are present – as their innate ability to create dramatic melodies that are hard to get out of your head. Despegarte De Mí is taken from their 2013 debut album Los Días Más Largos, released through Beast Discos.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
The Liquid – Hang On, To You. Stop!
A lauded and prize-winning poet, Nicolaj Stochholm chose poetry over punk back in the 1980s. In 2002 he again acquired a guitar, in 2010 he formed The Liquid, and on November 27 the trio debuts with the great post-punk album Atlas Interplan. It opens with Hang On, To You. Stop!, coming to you here as a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Charles Lavaigne – The Endless Traveller Song
What happens when a folk singer makes a merengue song? The answer can be heard on The Endless Traveller Song, extracted from Charles Lavaigne’s latest album The Birdfish. Amidst all the psychedelia and freak folk, this fun, melodious tune stands because it reaffirms Charles’ Dominican roots, often lost in translation and his own peculiar identity. Dance off, then hear the rest of the album if you’re into crazy musical rides.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Mundos – Gorriones
The joining of two leading voices of two important local bands (Mamá Vudú and Can Can) gives life to this project that combines music and illustration. Mundos is the epicenter of talented musicians who bring their creativity and imagination into an album of 12 songs. Núcleos Activos Imaginarios is a good example of the evolution of Ecuadorian independent music, with Gorriones closing the album in a sublime way.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Kali Briis – Wolfman
Kali Briis released new album Say Whaat? this month via the Eesti Pops label. From soul, funk and hip hop to blues, electro and pop, this 24-year-old producer feels comfortable in a wide range of genres and masters his instruments, all recorded in his own home. His 2012 album The Moon Ghost can be downloaded for free on Bandcamp.

FINLAND: Glue
Ritual Smoker – Wars (single edit)
Guided by blasting bass lines and rock-solid drumming, Helsinki-based band Ritual Smoker experiment with abrasive soundscapes of hypnotic effect. Wars is included in the band’s debut album Not To Dominate, But To Serve, out this month.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Belle Arché Lou – Lumières Du Littoral
Belle Arché Lou is one of those bands that surprises you while digging through vinyl crates in a record store. An unknown but pretty name, an almost poetic feel running through your body while staring at the artwork, and the assurance that this record can be nothing but great. A three-man band hailing from Paris and Geneva, Belle Arché Lou write almost orchestral pieces with unusual instruments: a vibraphone, chimes and a glockenspiel, paired most of the time with an acoustic guitar. Their songs are gorgeous, delicate, happiness-inducing instrumentals.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Michalis Moschoutis – ActI
Primarily concerned with contrast, Michalis Moschoutis creates works that lie on the fringes of several genres: heavy processing and live electronics; restrained, unadorned improvisation that brings out the inherent primitivism and ritualism of music; cathartic dark metal; the plainness and intimacy of 16th-17th century lute works; and the subtle fluctuations of minimal drone music. His latest single was recorded inside old churches. Listen to the repetitive yet haunting acoustic melody of ActI and sink away into a dreamy cloud of harmonic beauty.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Tamankota – Cerita Pagi Hari Ini
Tamankota (which means “City Park”) is a band from Bandung influenced by the British indie-pop scenes of the 80s and 90s. Cerita Pagi Hari Ini (“Story From This Morning”) is filled with raw sunshine power.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Crayonsmith – Chrysalis
Chrysalis was released with a video ahead of Crayonsmith’s new album Milk Teeth and the title was a hint at the changes in sound. Previously a solo artist working with synths, samples and guitar, Crayonsmith are now a three-piece band. Simple in construction, it’s pinned to a driving, purposeful rhythm, as Ciaran Smith’s vocal beseeches the listener with endearing fragility. The pattern of melody that colours the wings as this track pulls itself free and beats away is mesmerising; light yet pensive, its transformative powers hint at the unfolding darkness still to come.

ITALY: Polaroid
Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! – Golden Age
A gigantic electric shock: this is the music of Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! on their second album Forever Young. Fast songs, loud noises, dramatic melodies. You could easily point out names like Sonic Youth or Wavves or Male Bonding or No Age. It doesn’t matter. It’s the sound of electricity that becomes art and poetry. Read the titles in the playlist: Forever Young, Golden Age, Whirlwind Weekend, Fearless Youth, Rage… this is all we need right now.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Aarón Bautista – Iguana
Aarón Bautista has enjoyed a long career as a musician in some important bands from Mexico City’s underground scene. Now he’s going his own way with a solo project. His album doesn’t sound very similar to stuff we are used to hearing from Mexico City nowadays. Or maybe it does, but in a very twisted and personal way. The record has a precious, yet punk, attitude, filled with psychedelia, gloomy folk and beautiful production. It almost sounds like something to sing along to while feeling drunk and declining in the middle of whatever scene you might find sophisticated.

PERU: SoTB
Piettro – Confesiones
Arequipa is a small town in southern Peru, a place where fate strove to unite Gabriel Alvarez, Saul Piettro and Juan Arce, friends who then became Piettro. Their style is a coalescence of trova and crossover rock, and with each of their songs they want to convey a message of love, peace and respect. Piettro is preparing its first album to be released as soon as possible.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
XXANAXX – Got U Under
XXANAXX is a good example of how to bring together ambitious tunes and not-so-far-away-from-mainstream recognition. Although the band only formed in 2012, this year they have supported Austra and Hurts and played the Selector Festival, amassing a large number of fans in the process. No matter how you describe their music – nu beats or future chillout – one thing is certain, Got U Under is one of the greatest Polish tracks of 2013.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
The Glockenwise – Leeches
One of the coolest new Portuguese rock bands, The Glockenwise released their second album in May, which has the same name as this month’s track (check out this fun video for it). They won’t disappoint those looking for energy and lots of jumping around, and you can tell they have listened to the fathers of this sound, from The Stooges to the Ramones.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
AJ Dávila y Terror Amor – Ohhh (No Te Encantes)
Puerto Rico’s best-known garage-rock export Dávila 666 called it quits last year after touring the world in support of their second full-length. Founding member AJ Dávila spent little time mourning the band, instead focusing on his solo debut. The project’s guest list quickly ballooned to Supernatural-era Santana levels, and Terror Amor became a who’s who of Latin American indie-pop. The album, out in January on Nacional Records, will include collaborations with Mexico’s Juan Cirerol and Chile’s Alex Anwandter among many others. Ohhh (No Te Encantes) features one of Puerto Rico’s most beloved singers and fellow MAP alumni Fofé Abreu on backing vocals, as well as Mexico’s Jinmy Vitte (of Los Negretes fame) on acoustic guitar.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Tony Baboon – Pinecones River
Tony Baboon is a tropical one man pop band, with jazz and trip hop influences. The music is made up of a diverse spectrum of carefully thought-out sounds and word combinations that deal with themes such as nature, animals, plants, philosophy, surrealism and utopia.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Call To Mind – A Family Sketch
Call To Mind are based in Glasgow but originally from Ardersier, a former fishing village near Inverness with a population of barely 1,000. The influence of the group’s upbringing is keenly felt in their music – song titles are sprinkled with Highland reference points, while their lush, smartly-crafted ambient pop paints truly idyllic imagery. At their majestic best, such as A Family Sketch, they give French darlings M83 a run for their money when it comes to atmospheric euphoria. Debut album The Winter Is White is due out in early 2014 through Olive Grove Records.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Vassline – Overture To Recomposition
Vassline has been one of the finest acts in Korea’s hardcore scene since it started. Six years after their third full-length, the band finally returned with Black Silence. It was well worth the wait, showing everyone that Vassline is still at the very top. The instrumental piece Overture To Recomposition features MAP alumni Jambinai with their unique use of traditional Korean instruments in part 1, before Vassline bring out the heavy guns in part 2.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Astro One Deep – Sinapsis
Astro One Deep is a young Galician, now resident in Barcelona. Taking in influences from hip hop and electronic music, he has spent a long time shut away in his bedroom preparing new offerings. Like the emotions he portrays, his style is dynamic and varied; it draws on multiple genres such as funk, jazz, urban and electronica.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
KO – Golden Gal
KO is the brainchild of Indianapolis singer/guitarist Kristin Newborn. She made a splash in early 2011 as frontwoman on the lone, underappreciated LP from indie-pop outfit Slothpop. Golden Gal finds her working within KO’s minimalist, two-piece framework, adding depth through layers of vocal loops. Newborn’s vocal prowess has earned her opportunities alongside professional symphonies, but the singular intimacy of KO proves equally intoxicating.

Music Alliance Pact October 2013

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New month, new MAP! This month, our Japanese pick hails from Tochigi prefecture….bedroom producer Hisamokuden-kow and his disjointed pop number “Our Song.” Enjoy that and more than two dozen other songs below.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 29-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Hisamokuden-Kow. – Our Song
Hisamokuden-Kow. calls the relatively relaxed prefecture of Tochigi, a few hours north of Tokyo, home. It is not a place one expects a busy track like Our Song to emerge from, all skittery beats and manipulated vocals tumbling over one another in an almost cartoon fashion. Yet despite how crowded it can get, it retains a catchiness throughout. Not bad, Tochigi.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Juani – Déjame Entrar
Juani’s involvement with music began during his teenage years and it hasn’t stopped since. Songwriter, singer, musician, producer, cultural manager… you name it. In between his multiple projects (one of them being involved with Rosario’s biggest independent label Planeta X), Juani managed to pull out a new solo album called La Paz Ciencia (a pun between the words “peace” and “science”), with songs that range from Argentine folk to pop and acoustic rock. Déjame Entrar is our favorite track but you can download the whole thing from the website.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
White Caves – I’ve Lost
White Caves is the new venture from Melbourne songwriter Darren Cordeux. The former Kisschasy frontman has completely left behind the acoustic teen psyche of 2006 for a much looser sound. I’ve Lost carves a completely uplifting vibe out of sombre song content. Thanks to some clear-cut production, soaring vocals and a vibe that sounds like MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden fronting a slacker-pop band, White Caves is lending a new dimension of fun to typical ‘pop-jams’ right here.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Amere Meander – Something I Am Not
Three kindergarten friends form a band and make pop music. Viennese Amere Meander appeared out of nowhere with songs that are sometimes dreamy and sweet, sometimes mysterious and noisy, drawing inspiration from anything from shoegaze to Fleetwood Mac. Always catchy but never unpredictable, Something I Am Not is taken from their debut album To Lead Astray.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Karol Conka – Boa Noite
Karol Conka, an artist on the rise in the Brazilian hip hop scene, caught the media’s attention with her first singles and this year she released her debut album. Boa Noite is one of its best tracks, with a strong beat and African vocal melodies. This song is also included in the FIFA 2014 game, alongside the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Portugal. The Man and Disclosure.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Twin Library – There’s Always An End
Edmonton, Alberta’s Twin Library are chemists, experimenting and tweaking the formula that results in their incredibly sophisticated and sonically rich songs. They are prolific recorders and their latest release, They Were Marked As Targets, is their finest collection of unconventional pop yet.

CHILE: Super 45
Bronko Yotte – Bruma
After a three-year break, MC and producer Bronko Yotte (Felipe Berríos) gets back on track with a new album, Con Eso Te Digo Todo, released through Dilema Industria. On its 22 tracks, Bronko Yotte offers profound considerations about the system’s incongruities, social relations and working life, without losing his sharpness and sense of humor. Bruma features Jamez Manuel (Zonora Point).

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
La Chiva Gantiva – Para Arriba
The story of La Chiva Gantiva began in Brussels with a group of young Colombians who started playing percussion together. Driven by a desire to assert their roots, they started to blend Colombian rhythms with other styles of music such as rock, Afrobeat and funk. Today they are preparing their second album Vivo and we can enjoy, in advance, Para Arriba, a song about inspiration.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Charlie Campari – Bass Vampires
Music is good for much, but in the case of Charlie Campari it’s a lifesaver. It’s what keeps him off the needle and his first solo release, Moon Cricket EP, tackles his demons and past life on the streets of Copenhagen and several overdoses – three of them fatal – on a backdrop of acidic blues reminiscing Lou Reed, early Beck and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Check out MAP exclusive download Bass Vampires and the cool video for single Monkey King.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Carolina Camacho – Ninfa De Las Aguas
Carolina Camacho’s voice is truly one of a kind, but she leaves nothing to chance. After many years of intense lyrical training, she’s been a part of various local musical acts such as SonAbril and Camacho. Recently she’s gone solo, dedicating herself to exploring the worlds of vocal jazz, roots music and feminine empowerment on her newest single Ninfa De Las Aguas. Her first album Atabey is out on October 16.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Mamá Soy Demente – Salsa De Marte
Mamá Soy Demente, a Guayaquilean duo formed by Dennis Darquea and Carlos Bohórquez, present their new single Salsa De Marte. The track, which plays with the idea of making a rock song with salsa influence, is part of their live album Mamá Soy Demente (En Vivo).

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
Annie Eve – Elvis (Live at Sofar Birmingham)
Sometimes the ache drips down the side of a song. Annie Eve is from north London and has quietly begun building a fanbase. DiS recently saw this impressive young lady headline a sold-out church venue for those pulse-fingering folksters Communion Records. She takes a dab of influence from Bon Iver but casts her own shadow over these gentle sad-songs whilst her voice wows. If you fell under Daughter’s spell in 2012/13 then you’ll likely be obsessed with Annie Eve in 2014.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Imandra Lake – Metsatants
Imandra Lake is the new project of Rein Fuks and Eve Komp of Tallinn band Pia Fraus, and follows a similar indie-shoegaze line but it’s all fresh and they sing in Estonian. Imandra Lake’s sound is noisy and reverberant but less pop and quite tranquil and deep, reaching even the boundaries of the darker side of folk. Metsatants is a new track from their forthcoming second album which continues the same warm sound.

FINLAND: Glue
Gim Kordon – Ei Ole Helppoo (early demo version)
If J Mascis knew Finnish he would probably sound like the guys in Gim Kordon. This punk-rock trio, the first Finnish-language signing to hip label Soliti, is readying a debut album for next spring. As a first taste here’s a raw and noisy early demo of Ei Ole Helppoo. The chorus is very catchy, so don’t fear the language and sing along.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Dalot – Ancestors
Dalot is the creative alias of Maria Papadomanolaki. Ancestors EP, which was inspired by her grandfather’s old photographs, is a reconstruction of fragments, not concerned with the accuracy of images and moments but with opening up the flood of memory mechanics to imagination and transformation. The songs of the EP reveal a cascade of emotions and offer an exploration of texture and atmosphere, as physical instruments merge with subtle electro-acoustic ambience and ethereal turbulences. The haunting title track features Izumi Suzuki’s angelic vocals.

INDIA: NH7
Hoirong – Bajrang Bali
Guitarist Kamal Singh of erstwhile Bangalore post-rock act Lounge Piranha has struck gold with his newest side-project Hoirong. His debut album, The Resurrection Of The Princess Of Woe And Her Vampire Hound Posse, is not only a mouthful of a title but a grungy, raw record recorded wholly on a laptop mic, spanning from disco-punk to noise-rock, with lo-fi production and a dark sense of humor. The album is Singh’s ode to the 90s alternative music scene and definitely wins over fans of dirtier, lo-fi music.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Puti Chitara – Sarsaparilla Dream
Jakarta singer-songwriter Puti Chitara makes beautiful pop songs with sweet arrangements. She recently won a contest at A Exchange to support the recording of her debut album.

ITALY: Polaroid
Green Like July – Moving To The City
Produced by A.J. Mogis (Saddle Creek Records) and recorded in the Arc Studios in Omaha, Nebraska, Build A Fire is the third album by Green Like July. Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova, among others, collaborated on various songs. Green Like July have their roots in American tradition but they can evoke the magic of classic Beatles melodies.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
FellowFish – The Outlaw
Hailing from Valletta, Lyon and New York, FellowFish find themselves on the tiny Mediterranean island of Gozo (Malta’s sister island). FellowFish is made up of lead singer and writer Keith Anthony, Christophe Ladret on percussion/drums and Kristian Vella on guitars. Their self-titled debut album, released earlier this year, has a mix of influences, ranging from Al Jarreau’s smooth groove to Jeff Buckley’s melancholic melodies.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Caloncho – Palmar
Pop-folk flavoured with coconut milk, composed using flip-flops and lying on a hammock by the palm trees. Caloncho comes from the sun-drenched city of Guadalajara and is known for wearing flowery Hawaiian shirts on stage and throwing bananas to the front rows. His debut Fruta EP has some juicy, fruity tunes that combine a vintage Tex-Mex rock ‘n’ roll from the likes of Ritchie Valens but also squeezes a hint of reggae on the mix. Palmar, first single and video, is an invitation to lay by a topless brunette on a Mexican beach and sway oblivious from the real world.

PERU: SoTB
Víctor Hugo – Lima Es Nuestra
After the separation of promising band Mi Jardín Secreto, singer Víctor Hugo Vargas began to release his own singles, preparing the way for the arrival of debut album El Primer Disco De Víctor Hugo, available for free from his website. Lima Es Nuestra is about a farewell and other reflections, narrated under the same nostalgic sky of the city where he lives, Lima.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
We Draw A – Tears From The Sun
So here’s autumn again and it’s hard to imagine a better anthem for those days than Tears From The Sun. Although the electro-pop duo only appeared on the Polish scene this year, We Draw A founder Pete Levy is known from Indigo Tree, a guitar-oriented band who recorded two LPs and gathered some underground fame from 2009-2011. We Draw A are recording for the Brennnessel label.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Tape Junk – No Romance Without Finance
João Correia, an accomplished singer-songwriter, musician and also a drummer for friends’ bands, had his first entry in MAP in December 2011, but as Julie & The Carjackers. This time he visits us with another project, Tape Junk, who recently released debut album The Good & The Mean, where No Romance Without Finance comes from. The song is backed with this vídeo.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Bando – Serembé
Bando is a new collaborative effort between veteran musicians of Puerto Rico’s rock scene, including Agustín Criollo (Astrid Pröll) and Gaby Vidal (ONGO, Similar), focussed on exploring the music of the African diaspora through the classic and revolutionary Afrobeat sound. The group follows Fela Kuti into fertile territories for musical exploration such as bomba and Afro-American funk, inviting us to lose ourselves in dance without shying away from political lyrics that reflect the island’s struggles. Bando are currently recording their debut, and have graciously offered us eight-minute scorcher Serembé as a MAP exclusive download.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Fine It’s Pink – Sky Is No Limit (Intro)
Fine It’s Pink are new to the music scene but they are growing up fast. Although you can’t put a finger on one genre, you can clearly hear post-rock, indie, electronic and strong psychedelic influences. Sky Is No Limit is their statement song, the one that takes you into their world of dreams. You can hear more of this world on SoundCloud.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
There Will Be Fireworks – Roots
If anyone could be held up as a glowing example of the ‘less is more’ approach it’s There Will Be Fireworks. Four long years after the release of their acclaimed self-titled debut album, Scotland’s reclusive princes of guitar-rock reverie have finally announced details of its successor, The Dark, Dark Bright, out on November 25 through Comets & Cartwheels. The album finds the group in a masterful embrace of the grandiose and the graceful – MAP exclusive download Roots falls into the latter category as the tenderest of tender acoustic compositions.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Tearliner – Strange Intimacy
The mid-00s offered Korean indie-pop at its very finest with Tearliner as one of the key artists. Eight years after his first full-length, Tearliner returned with the Grey Garden album last month showcasing a more polished sound than the lo-fi productions he would previously offer. Strange Intimacy is a pretty, slow-paced, dreamy piece perfectly combining the best of both the old and new Tearliner.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Jared Bartman – Garden Gate
Jared Bartman crafts majestic songs that twist pop elements around a sensitive core stabilized by occasional adventurous flourishes. Bartman’s music can act as a backdrop for a smooth listen or something to be studied with the headphones fastened tight. Either way, Bartman is a must-listen for everyone.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Laura Guevara – El Constructor (live)
Laura Guevara is a young woman who has everything – she is a singer, songwriter, artist, actress and audiovisual director, besides having a melodious voice that impressed attendees of last year’s Virgen Fest. She currently has a live EP out while she puts the finishing touches to her debut album.

Music Alliance Pact September 2013

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This month for the Music Alliance Pact, Make Believe Melodies is putting the spotlight on Kobe-based electronic outfit Cosmosman and their “Unique Fun Fiction.” Listen to it…and a bunch of other great songs from around the globe…below.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 29-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Cosmosman – Unique Fun Fiction
It has gotten to the point in the Kansai region of Japan – made up of cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe – where new electronic artists pop up nearly daily. It takes a lot to jump out from that crowded scene, but Kobe outfit Cosmosman do just that with Unique Fun Fiction. It is a playful number with an Enchanted Tiki Room vibe, but made even better by the unsettling nature of the vocals. It comes from the stellar Ananga Ranga album, available via the link above.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Travesti – Beduino
Fernando Floxon and Alejandro Torres are the cosmic rockers behind Travesti, a band whose music is often associated with transgression and misunderstanding, with songs that are dense, powerful and provocative. Their lyrics, always clever, rough, usually offer a certain social criticism. Beduino is our favorite from Suicidio Latino, their fourth studio album.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Manor – Architecture
The general assumption that tormented bed friends make better musicians most of the time is true – right? In respectable ‘dream-pop duo’ tradition, we hope these two are. Architecture is timeless pop right from the first off-beat. The track is set with slingback hooks, dreamy vocals and a fledging groove that sounds too much like Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek doing a cover of Men At Work’s Land Down Under for anyone to ignore.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Beach Girls And The Monster – I Go Surfing
This band draws their inspiration from American surf rock of the 1960s. Accordingly, their rendition of The Beach Boys’ Kokomo suits them so very well, not only because of the obvious band name correlation, but also because it blends perfectly into their own sounds. The aptly titled I Go Surfing is the first song of their four-track 7″ EP of the same name that was released earlier this year.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
A Fase Rosa – Casa
Música Popular Brasileira meets alternative rock at its best. This four-piece band is one to keep our eyes and ears on.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
The Provincial Archive – Common Cards
Back in 2011, Edmonton, Alberta’s The Provincial Archives made Canadian music touring history by being the first band to actually play live in each Canadian province’s actual archive; 10 shows billed as The Provincial Archive LIVE at the Provincial Archive. Common Cards marks their recorded music return, and is the first taste of music from their forthcoming third LP.

CHILE: Super 45
Otoño – Scheider
After eight years of silence, Otoño are back with their psychedelic guitar-rock. Their atmospheric, drowsy sound grows every second until it explodes in a whirlwind of white noise, a perfect landscape for their gloomy, self-reflective lyrics. Scheider is taken from the quartet’s Páramos EP, released via LeRockPsicophonique.

CHINA: Wooozy
Worldwide Collaboration Company – Crying Launer Remix (feat Chairman Ba & MC Stone)
Nobody knows who the people behind World Collaboration Company are, but anyone in China who listens to them will find something familiar. WCC mash up cross-talk recordings, TV series samples, Chinese propaganda songs as well as rock and hip hop, and put an overwhelmingly sarcastic touch to it. While some criticize WCC’s sound collage approach as being too lighthearted, others can argue WCC are simply one of China’s best and most clever sample players. Love them or hate them, one thing you can’t deny is WCC reflect the true pop landscape of modern China.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
MULA – A. Grisales
With much pride we present MULA, a kind of supergroup formed by Santiago Botero and Mange Valencia. Armed with saxophones, bass, drums and guitars, they effortlessly incorporate anything from punk to jazz to champeta – they don’t recognize genres, but sounds. It’s a very particular and special view that takes form in the track A. Grisales, inspired by Colombian TV’s first diva, Amparo Grisales.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
SPEkTR – The Infirm
Three years on from their second album Personetics, SPEkTR release The Door Is Paint On A Rock EP on September 23. Frontman Manoj Ramdas (also The Raveonettes, The Good The Bad) calls it Soundtrack’n’Roll and there’s no good reason to argue with that description. Here’s the awesome EP’s first single, The Infirm, which also comes with this video.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Mediopicky – La Ola (feat Cristabel Acevedo)
Urban-alternative sensation Mediopicky pairs up with Cristabel, one of the twins from the folk duo Las Acevedo, to make a sweet, summery track. La Ola, from Mediopicky’s upcoming EP Cantinas, features moombahton beats specially made for Cristabel’s tender voice, conveying that feeling of saying goodbye to the last days of summer.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Rima Roja En Venus – Bendición De Ser Mujer
The impressive female rap of Rima Roja En Venus shows the strength of the fight against discrimination and violence. These two women use music and poetry to express social criticism with a positive message. Bendición De Ser Mujer is taken from their 2012 album Libre Albedrio. You can see the video here.

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
65daysofstatic – Prisms
From movie soundtracks to Japanese arena shows to a US tour with The Cure, this electronic outfit from Sheffield have had one hell of a career since forming back in 2001. The cult heroes’ fifth album Wild Light is out this month, and finds the band continuing on their mission to retro-fit the future. Mixing together a myriad of glitches and orchestral sounds they’ve created yet more of their signature brew of complex but hearty digital delights.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Thou Shell Of Death – The Night-Wind
This strongly ambient-influenced black metal band is majestically atmospheric, with mesmerizing live shows. Thou Shell Of Death has played all over the Europe, sharing stages with well-known and underground acts (Strid, Negura Bunget, Vesania, Altar Of Plagues, etc). The Night-Wind is from their new album Sepulchral Silence, released this month by Austrian label Talheim Records.

FINLAND: Glue
Maglevs – Van Rijn
Indie band Maglevs play organic dream pop with strong dynamics that might draw comparisons with Okkervil River. They have just released a debut EP that you can hear and download on SoundCloud.

INDIA: NH7
Blent – Cafe Coffee Tale_Bummer
Blent is the music project of Bangalore-based Aniket, a game designer by profession and an experimental electronic music producer seemingly by way of hobby. Blent has just released his first formal set of tracks that became the Dusk EP, available for free download from Bandcamp. Blent’s music lends itself to the experimental genre but can be best described as The Postal Service meets Four Tet, coming together with the staccato pace of the garden city of Bangalore.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Bikinies – Dance Floor Mafia
All girls, all fun, all wild on stage. Influenced by the 90s alternative scene with distortion and yelling, Bikinies offer one of the rawest sounds in Jakarta.

ITALY: Polaroid
His Clancyness – Zenith Diamond
His Clancyness, once a solo project for A Classic Education’s Jonathan Clancy, now a full band, deliver an intense and psychedelic, sometimes dreamy, sometimes fuzzy sound inspired by the likes of Deerhunter, Kurt Vile and Lower Dens. Amazing new single Zenith Diamond is taken from Vicious, one of the most important Italian rock albums of the year, which gets a UK/US release on October 7/8 through FatCat Records.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Alex Alden – Just Like You
Alex Alden takes every opportunity to play live and share her lyrics and poetry through song. Having performed extensively in various venues around the islands, she is now relocating to Holland for the next few years. Alden’s music is heavily influenced by blues, pop and classic rock, and draws inspiration from jazz whilst exploring the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, often using the themes of nature, mythology and childhood to communicate her message. Earlier this year she released her debut EP The Curious Child.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Mood-Fu – Perros De Fu
Mood-Fu, formed by two brothers from southern Mexico City, have released their first album after a very successful introductory EP. Filled with bass, soul and R’n’B flavors set to angular lyrics and enjoyable rhymes, Perros De Fu is a powerful portrait of the city’s nightlife with a little bit of social critique and urban apocalypse. The release features various friends and stars from the Mexican indie music scene.

PERU: SoTB
Iván Fajardo – Me Voy Dejando
Iván Fajardo is a musical icon in Peru, his musical independence reflected in bands such as Indigo and Era. It is displayed once again in his first solo album, Vímana, the highest point of his career. This new beginning has 10 songs full of mythology, nostalgia and melancholy. In Hindu mythology Vímana is a flying machine and the album promises to be a space trip.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Furia Futrzaków – Noc Wystarczyć Ma Na Dłużej
Four years after releasing their self-titled debut LP, Warsaw electro-pop duo Furia Futrzaków are back. They have moments when they sound like Junior Boys, as you can hear in Noc Wystarczyć Ma Na Dłużej, a single from Kalejdoskop EP, but things are a little bit different here. Soulful vocals, lyrics about mainly happy (but difficult) love and a warm coating are Kinga Miśkiewicz and Andrzej Pieszak’s own contribution.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Nome Comum – Cuco
Nome Comum (“Common Name”) are a quartet led by two siblings, Bernardo and Madalena Palmeirim. Both are writers, players and singers in the band. Cuco, which is also the name of their debut album released this month, is their first single. It has a video directed by Gonçalo Soares.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Un.Real – Piloto
Gardy Pérez began experimenting with an analog tape recorder back in 1995, a direct response to the cancellation of MTV’s seminal Alternative Nation. Trying to channel all the energy of the shoegaze movement he had been exposed to through television, Pérez founded Un.Real, becoming one of the great emerging bands from Puerto Rico’s west coast underground scene. An extended hiatus and various line-up changes later, Un.Real is back and revitalized in their new EP, Épico. The song Piloto showcases the dreamy soundscapes Un.Real is so adept at while adding guest vocals by Xavier Rodríguez of local band Indigo.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Poetrip – Aşa Ceva
Described as a mixture of krautrock and Japanese psychedelia, Poetrip is a band who became popular by promoting their music as a dadaist manifesto. They make use of pop clichés to convey attention to absurd and often psychedelic musical contexts.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Blood Relatives – Fowl Mouth
Formerly known as Kitty The Lion (featured in the Music Alliance Pact’s October 2012 edition), Blood Relatives create upbeat folk-pop songs of a peerless quality, wrapping irresistible hooks around the unique talents of Anna Meldrum, whose lyrics are peppered with wordplay, double entrendres and puns, with particular fondness for animal-related content. Case in point is MAP exclusive download Fowl Mouth, the opening track of debut album Deerheart, whose release on October 28 through
Comets & Cartwheels can’t come soon enough. While you wait, check out the videos for album tracks Dead Hip and Deerheart.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Square The Circle – Bitchquito
Rock band Square The Circle has a fondness for uptempo tunes that give them a chance to show their colors. They’ve been around for a couple of years and released their 1003 EP in August. Bitchquito is a song with great energy, telling the story of a girl that sucks blood like a mosquito.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Wharfer – Architect
Brooklyn’s Wharfer is the musical project of Kyle Wall. Wall complements his gentle and emotional backing music with commanding vocals that cut through the speakers with one intention: to make the listener feel every word. With every subtle artistic choice, Wall is simply defining himself as a songwriter with the intelligence to back up his raw talent.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Da Vianda – Nómada
In late 2012, and after nearly a year as a band, Da Vianda recorded their first EP, which contains six songs written by these four young boys from Puerto La Cruz. “Our goal is to have fun and create honest music,” they say. Their self-titled EP can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

Music Alliance Pact August 2013

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This month’s Music Alliance Pact has arrived! As always, MAP finds 30-plus blogs from all over the world sharing one song from a domestic act with the rest of the bunch. Make Believe Melodies represents Japan, and this month we are putting the spotlight on ultra-pop specialist Yoshino Yoshikawa and his “I Feel You, I Love You.” Listen to it – and a bunch of other great tracks – below.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 30-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Yoshino Yoshikawa – I Feel You, I Love You
Yoshino Yoshikawa deals in high-definition pop music, the sort of stuff that does not try to engage in any subtleties. He does it very well, as evidenced on I Feel You, I Love You. The song is a bouncy electric number featuring a big, joyful chorus. Yoshikawa sings with just the slightest touch of vocal manipulation, which never distracts but rather adds to the sparking vibe this track goes for. It is joy delivered without any hint of irony.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Pablo Malaurie – Pasto En La Espalda
After psychedelic pop act Mataplantas broke up in 2009, their guitarist and singer Pablo Malaurie started a solo career by releasing a minimalist folk album called El Festival Del Beso. In 2011, he was chosen by Devendra Banhart as the opening act for his Buenos Aires concerts. Pasto En La Espalda is our favorite track from El Beat De La Cuestión, his second effort, where he shows the consolidation of a growing career, which includes extensive touring and collaborations.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Esc – Atomic Shadow
Esc are a Melbourne four-piece making music in the great Australian tradition of depraved pub-rock spliced with post-punk. The band’s latest single, Atomic Shadow, is both menacing and danceable, with a tight rhythm section and harmonies that lighten Max Sheldrake’s terse vocal.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Maur Due & Lichter – Faces
Much like Klangkarussell’s über-hit Sonnentanz, hugely successful in German-speaking countries and the Netherlands, fellow Austrians Maur Due & Lichter produce light, loungy and summery electronic music that works equally well in clubs, hotel pools and urban beach bars. This Night Was Meant To Stay, from which Faces is taken, is a concept album portraying a night out in Vienna.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
EONS – Brothers & Sisters
Arctic Radio, the debut album from Toronto-based musician Matt Cully aka EONS, is aptly named; the melodies are crisp like bitter north winds and his lyrics penetrate past even the warmest of winter gear. There is a warmth, though, a deep passion in the music that holds back the cold, as evidenced in Brothers & Sisters. Cully is joined on vocals by Misha Bower, and both are members of Bruce Peninsula, another Canadian treasure worth exploring.

CHILE: Super 45
Melié – Partir
Melié, who take their name from the French filmmaker Georges Méliès, released their first EP, Compartir, this year. Here, they deliver atmospheric, calm post-rock, highlighting their vocal harmonies and dreamlike melodies, giving birth to a complex but focused sound. Neighbouring Grizzly Bear and Local Natives’ imagery, Melié is one of the most interesting new acts in Chile’s indie-rock scene.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Schutmaat Trio – You Died In My Future
Despite their name, Schutmaat Trio is actually a quartet, led by Alvin Schutmaat, who experiment with post-rock and refresh the local scene with well-produced and elaborate sounds. You Died In My Future is taken from their album 6:15, released this year as a pay-what-you-want download.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
PRE-Be-UN – X-ray Pop
PRE-Be-UN aka Nicolai Kleinerman Koch (also of Oh No Ono, Choir Of Young Believers and Boom Clap Bachelors) releases his debut solo album Clean Spasms this month. I call it ‘bit-pop Beatles’, with first single Mysteriously In Love already grabbing online attention with its wonderful fusion of the 1960s and 1980s – not least visually. Here’s X-ray Pop, a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Chino Sing – Me Voy
Dashed hopes, tropical imagery and fresh reggae beats combine on Chino Sing’s latest song, Me Voy. Chino has made music with a host of local musicians, friends and artists, but now he’s working on his first solo album which will feature a blend of reggae, roots and various Caribbean themes and sounds.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Jodamassa – Canto Popular
From Cuenca comes Jodamassa, a trio that has made experimental rock with a strong Latin American identity during its seven-year existence. The single Canto Popular is taken from second album El Centro En El Sur, released in February 2012.

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
Pale Seas – Evil Is Always One Step Behind
Southampton is quite an unexceptional small British city, with a big port and a musical heritage which peaked with the birth of one-of-the-ones-that-isn’t-Chris-Martin from Coldplay. This could soon change with the hypnotic swash of Dandy Warholian psychedelia, Glasvegas-ish 60s-gaze and the brooding Verve-esque dark-rock of Southampton’s Pale Seas. Fans of Low, shimmering tambourines and shadowy English misery should paddle over this way.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Blood Pavilion – Purrveyor
Blood Pavilion is the electronic outfit of Jarmo Nuutre, one half of doom metal duo Talbot (a band you should already know – they have toured the world and just played at Roskilde, and they’re awesome). Purrveyor is taken from Blood Pavilion’s new album released on August 1. As you maybe already guessed from the name of the track, Jarmo does have a cat at home and it really happened to be useful to produce that sound sample used in Purrveyor.

FINLAND: Glue
Anna & Miki – Universal Mind
Anna and Miki sing beautiful acoustic songs with a little Eastern influence. The couple found much inspiration for their debut album while traveling in Nepal, soon after they start playing together. The record was released in May and Universal Mind is part of it.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Cut Off – Prisons Burned
Cut Off is a fastcore/powerviolence act from Athens. Their debut album Sick Of This Life is a relentless burst of outrage with speedy, sharp guitar riffs, schizophrenic drumming and scorching, throaty, rebellious screams and vocals.

INDIA: NH7
Far Travel Music – Not About You
Far Travel Music are a Mumbai-based, four-piece alternative rock and experimental band fronted by producer Arjun Kanungo. Their first release Not About You draws from progressive rock with a lot of meaty middle-end and then segues into a dubstep-style breakdown that takes the song into completely new sonic territory. The fusion of electronica and rock usually makes most wary, but Far Travel Music do the style justice.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Sajama Cut – These Are Wounded Things
Sajama Cut have been praised by music critics as well as Time magazine, and were handpicked by MGMT to open their concert in Jakarta. These Are Wounded Things is a downloadable bonus track from the vinyl re-release of the group’s second album, The Osaka Journals. It has a lo-fi sensibility with a simple, beautifully-arranged melody.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Idiot Songs – Jung Trickster
Idiot Songs, the collaboration between Pearse McGloughlin and Justin Grounds, is a contemporary interpretation of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot and hears the duo craft a musical concept around the Russian novel, with its tale of moral and social dilemma. Created for the most part while Grounds and McGloughlin were living in Ireland and Canada respectively, electronic beats are used to give pace and tension, while the use of classical arrangements of piano and violin give a timelessness that harks back to the chamber music of the novel’s setting. If you like Jung Trickster check out the exceptional video for Villages Of Ether.

ITALY: Polaroid
M+A – When
Young duo M+A define their music as “playful, sophisticated dance pop” and I could not imagine a better description. Maybe I would just point out that “sophisticated” does not prevent the sweat when you see them live. Phoenix glam meets Hot Chip beats. The first taster of their second album These Days (out in September on Monotreme Records) is When and it’s the perfect soundtrack for the heart of summer.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Tino El Pingüino – Lo Juro, Mi Ex Novia Era Un X-Men
Mexico City’s Tino El Pingüino has been labeled one of the most promising new voices in the country’s hip hop scene. His 2013 debut album Tu Antihéroe Favorito shows him as a master wordsmith, always witty in his rhymes, a vast palette of flows and a unique approach to universal subjects with cruel irony, never exaggerated. Lo Juro, Mi Ex Novia Era Un X-Men (“I swear it, my ex-girlfriend was an X-Men”) has a straightforward funky beat with Tino floating on top effortlessly, just oozing style.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Earth Mk. II – Together
Earth Mk. II mastermind Hugo van der Poel spent years playing in bands with childhood pal and local neopsych beacon Jacco Gardner. Now at the helms of his own project, van der Poel has enlisted Gardner to produce his Excelsior Recordings debut, Music For Mammals. Perhaps unsurprisingly, classic 1960s influences such as The Zombies and Syd Barrett form the basis of Earth Mk. II’s sound. Yet, as album cut Together reveals, van der Poel also incorporates enough non-60s influences (e.g. Nirvana, White Fence) to carve out his own niche within the world of melodic neopsychedelia.

PERU: SoTB
Space Bee – Yeah Yeah
Formed in 2001, the music of Space Bee is eclectic – from Arabic scales and psychedelia to a classic rock sound that uses violins. Yeah Yeah is a powerful part of It’s Alive! Vol. 1, the rock band’s most recent album, available for free on Bandcamp.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Łagodna Pianka – Lody Huśtawkowe
What is your childhood memory? For Łagodna Pianka, it’s first love, swinging on a seesaw and eating ice creams, as you can hear in Lody Huśtawkowe. The pop-rock band from Rzeszów spent two years practising in a garage before they felt ready to play their tunes in front of an audience.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Peixe : Avião – Avesso
Peixe : Avião, first featured in August 2010’s Music Alliance Pact, have had three years of intense touring followed by the recording of their new album, due out in September. A turning point in the band’s sound is indicated by Avesso (meaning “inside out”), the first single from it which is backed with a beautiful video. Peixe : Avião is one of the most sucessful indie bands in Portugal and their intense, intricate sound has earned them a large following.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Las Abejas – Guys & Gals
Almost two years after dropping their debut EP, the members of Las Abejas have become some of Puerto Rico’s most vital musicians within the local independent scene, participating in numerous projects including ones featured in past editions of MAP. All that experience is evident in their second release, the impressive Lazy Views. Guys & Gals is an exquisite surprise of a song that gives in to the band’s most bizarre and experimental impulses. Few other tracks this year will come close to its maniacal energy.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Steaua de Mare – Doamne Ce Greșeală Am
Steaua de Mare is a Bucharest-based band whose sound is a hybrid of prog, dub, psychedelic rock and contemporary gypsy music (manele). The instrumental group released their self-titled debut album in May through Future Nuggets/Ambassador’s Reception.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Mast. – Romance
Mast. is Liam Rutherford, a young man who describes his music as “1-piece pop from Glasgow”. So hot out of the box is debut song Romance that this recording was completed five days before MAP’s publication date. The opening minute is a feat of mesmerism as the hypnotic, repetitive lyrics of “We’ve healed all of this, all of this, almost all of it” are delivered over a dreamy math-rock texture. While that genre often produces technical, abstract results, Romance instead makes an extraordinary shift in gear. An exhilarating chorus bursts into play, Liam’s singing – about the theme of change – becomes even more spirited, and the song’s emotional conclusion is strikingly tender.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Theatre8 – Yanghwa Bridge
Theatre8 offer light, charming indie rock with a remarkable ability to entertain, whether through music videos or in front of an audience. They just released their second album, featuring Yanghwa Bridge as the title track. Named after a bridge across Seoul’s Han River, the catchy song lends itself to sing-alongs and is bound to stay with you long after you’ve stopped listening.

SPAIN: Musikorner
La Presa – Todo El Amor
Formed by three friends, all originally from Madrid but now living all over Spain, La Presa are inspired by OBK, Yurena, Putilatex and Dioni (of Camela). The result is exceptionally danceable music which is both direct and simple.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Shark? – AOK
Brooklyn’s Shark? is a pure rock and roll band that brings intensity and a sharpness of craft to each of their songs. On AOK, the band displays a knack for writing catchy hooks and grooves that can push the song forward second after second. A gutsy breakdown in the middle section adds an artful element to the already interesting track and makes Shark? a band to watch closely.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Lavu Duban – Zapatero Siciliano
Lavu Duban formed in San Cristóbal, Táchira, in 2008 but it wasn’t until January 2013 that the rock and roll group managed to make their debut album, which they are promoting with shows around the country.

Music Alliance Pact July 2013

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New month, new MAP! Go on to see who we chose this month, and to hear a bunch of other great tunes from all over the globe.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 29-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
k■nie – Papapa
Vocaloid, a singing synthesizer software most popularly associated with the green-haired character Hatsune Miku, has been put to more and more experimental usage over the past few months. Here’s one of the best examples yet, in which the digi voice of character Sekka Yufu sings only syllables and become smothered in the synth blanket conjured by Tokyo producer k■nie. Would still be gorgeous without the Vocaloid, but becomes more intriguing with it.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
San Dimas – Generación Espontánea
San Dimas is an instrumental indie-rock band from Rosario, one of Argentina’s largest and most cultural cities. Generación Espontánea is one of the best tracks from their latest album, La Música y Las Cosas, and it was also part of a compilation released in 2012 by Planeta X, their label.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Kins – Aimless
Originally a solo project for frontman Thom Savage, Kins made the move from Melbourne to Brighton in the UK two years ago and have been working hard at their craft since. Kin’s new track Aimless is just that – it’s both a dreamy saunter and an angular dance. Thom’s distinct voice remains the subtle hero of this track. While this shares the unconvention of Local Natives, Alt-J, perhaps even Dappled Cities at their synth-tuned best, comparisons don’t apply to Kins. One of Australia’s best exports and most underrated bands.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
DAWA – Some Things Are Different
Singer John Dawa and the band that formed around him stand for honest and unpretentious folk music. Two voices, a cello, a cajón and an acoustic guitar are all the ingredients they need. Their frequent live performances with a hippie touch (flower garlands on mic stands, that sort of thing) have earned them a constantly growing fanbase. Some Things Are Different is the opener of their full-length debut This Should Work.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Banda Uó – O Gosto Amargo Do Perfume
Banda Uó are like a big kitsch joke, a sense of fun that is manifest through their fearless use of pop references with Brazilian technobrega (which can be translated as something like “cheesy techno”). In this song, they use Two Door Cinema Club’s Something Good Can Work as ‘inspiration’ for messing up.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Air Marshal Landing – Move With You
Air Marshal Landing are three friends who make music that sounds greater than the sum of its parts. Together since 2009, they’ve recently put the finishing touches on their first long-player, You Used To Be Me, which is ballsy enough to mix genres and is unapologetic in its catchiness.

CHILE: Super 45
Kinética – Halo
Emiliana Araya is Kinética and she’s returning this year with II, her second album, this time helped by Milton Mahan and Pablo Muñoz (De Janeiros) in the production side. In addition to her usual electronic beats, Kinética explores pop and soul from an experimental prism, adding new elements to her intimate songs. Halo is a MAP exclusive download and a preview of her new record, which features collaborations from Marcos Meza and Fakuta.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
El Ombligo – Trinidadla
El Ombligo has gone largely unnoticed in the Colombian music scene. So that’s why we want to emphasize this union of many musicians, local and abroad, from Germany to Mexico, under the command of Colombian bass player Santiago Botero. They are doing what they call a new folklore, starting from Andrés Landeros’ cumbia to 60s free jazz. The fascinating Trinidadla is taken from their 2012 album Canción Psicotropica y Jaleo.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Bodebrixen – The Wave
Following up on 2012’s acclaimed third full-length, Out Of Options, Bodebrixen aka Andreas Brixen and Aske Bode have released a great first synthpop taste of an as-yet-untitled EP which will be released later this year. The Wave is a summery MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
El Trio – Canterbule Pt. III
El Trio is a progressive rock band from Santiago who recently released their third album Las Manos. One minute is all it takes to really appreciate the magic of Canterbule Pt. III in which jazz and rock combine beautifully. You can hear and download their genre-bending songs on Bandcamp.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Los Pescados – T-Rex
The sound of Los Pescados is a mix of garage-rock, blues and grunge. The duo, Nelson Coral (guitar, vocals) and Juan Fernando Andrade (drums), from Manabí are like their albums – powerful and groundbreaking.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Barthol Lo Mejor – Patrol The Block
Barthol Lo Mejor jumpstarts your night with trash electro. This young dance god is upbeat and raw like Justice, Soulwax and Huoratron. Patrol The Block is taken from his new EP CitYearning, available from Bandcamp.

FINLAND: Glue
Matti Jasu And The Close Encounters – The New Year
Just a few months after his excellent debut as a solo artist, singer-songwriter Matti Jasu gathered the band again and recorded a follow-up album, laying down seven songs in an intense one-day session. The New Year is the first single off Pin On The Map and is fun, guitar-based Americana with sweet pop melody and harmonies. You can listen to the album online or buy the CD for a very affordable price on Bandcamp.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Jim Ver – Until Dawn
Jim Ver is a classically trained musician and songwriter who works on solo instrumental projects, film scores and movie scripts. His second EP, Pictures, works as a collection of ambient, soothing sound poems. It’s clear that words are not needed to tell a story, and his tales are told in chords and cadences. For the most part, he minimally relies on piano but the effect, both subdued and majestic, creates a much more overwhelming setting and, as a result, it’s difficult not to be dragged into it.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Helmproyek – Vendetta
Inspired by Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Rob Zombie, Helmproyek sound like a demo by an obscure industrial band that has been locked and buried for a couple of decades and just recently found by an unlucky soul.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Major Grave – You Cannot Break My Heart (Major Grave Remix)
At the forefront of grime production in Ireland, Major Grave is a bright spot, having built a solid rep from scratch in the under-represented genre, recently releasing a track on the UK’s esteemed Big Dada compilation. Here he takes up’n’comer Ms Hazel’s pop ditty You Cannot Break My Heart and with her vocal pristine, transforms its dance vibe into a bass-heavy baller with a sweet electronic motif.

ITALY: Polaroid
Wolther Goes Stranger – Sixteen
Wolther Goes Stranger was originally the solo project of guitarist Luca Mazzieri, from the band A Classic Education, but has now become a trio. The title of their debut album is Love Can’t Talk. Maybe love can’t, but Wolther Goes Stranger definitely do, and their speech is full of sex and synths, buried under obssessive beats. Music to get naked to. This summer is going to be very hot.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Peklectrick – Lamppost Boogie
Peklectrick is the studio-based solo project of former Dripht guitarist Patrick Galea. It is an eclectic mix of guitar-driven music with abundant doses of reggae, some blues and a little funk. The music comes wrapped in socially conscious lyrics, a punk rock ethos and a tongue that is firmly stuck in cheek. Surreally speaking, it is the sound of The Clash meeting Beck in Jamaica to discuss the blues over some Scotch. The music is what award-winning producer David Vella referred to as “so cool it’s almost illegal”. Peklectrick is currently on an indefinite hiatus taking care of other business, contemplating his next move and drinking tea.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Apache O’Raspi – Tarde Oscilante
Apache O’Rapsi, from the northern region of Mexico, is the bass player of an important local band called Suave As Hell. With his very mature solo project, he released a couple of singles in 2012, and now he has delivered Remedios Varios, an album that includes all those songs. The powerful music and naive lyrics emotionally encompass our deep Mexican roots, landscapes and flavours. Tarde Oscilante is one of those arid, nostalgic melodies.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Those Foreign Kids – Get Eaten
You only have to listen to Those Foreign Kids to know there’s more to Haarlem than pretty tulip fields; their avant-garde noise pop is not only a ferocious aural assault but a welcomed one. The just-released track Get Eaten from debut album Zero Gravity Somersaulting Craze features vocals from Merinde Verbeek of Mineral Beings. Jump into their noisy universe.

PERU: SoTB
Gaia – Sobrepeso
Ten years of experience and four records confirm Gaia as one of the best rock bands in the country. Giroscopios, Coordenadas y La Fábrica De Nubes is the name of their most recent album, available for free download on their website. It displays a musical evolution as well as the professional maturity of each of its members. Latest single Sobrepeso boasts typically strong melodies.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Crab Invasion – Dart
When you live in a country where rockism is still strong it’s hard to find a band like Crab Invasion. Ironically, they started from (indie) rock origins and still use guitars, but in a different way. Sophisticated chord progressions, catchy melodies, vocal harmonies – it’s all in the songs of this young group led by 22-year-old Jakub Sikora. And it will be much more when their upcoming debut album is released.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Noiserv – Today Is The Same As Yesterday, But Yesterday Is Not Today
David Santos’ solo project Noiserv first appeared on MAP in 2009. Since then, Noiserv has conquered his place in the Portuguese music scene and is recognized as one of the most innovative young artists in the country. So much so that in 2010 he was asked to create the soundtrack for a documentary about José Saramago, the Nobel Prize winner. Noiserv will release his new album in October and Today Is The Same As Yesterday, But Yesterday Is Not Today (see video) will be on it.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Suturee – Skulls
When Julian Brau and Rebecca Adorno met in 2007, their lives took a turn that led directly to Suturee. Now a four-piece trying their luck in New York City, Suturee still works with delicate orchestral pop arrangements that playfully oppose Brau’s and Adorno’s voices. The band turned to crowdfunding last year in order to finance their sophomore effort, Skim The Surface. One of the rewards offered through their successful Indiegogo campaign involved recording a cover chosen by the backer, and that is how today you can hear Suturee’s unique take on The Misfits classic Skulls.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Environments – Fathom, Movement, Field
Environments are an experimental act from Bucharest. Their songs are inspired by beautiful things such as childhood memories, books and peaceful places. Stefan Panea comes up with the core arrangements, which are then disfigured, enhanced and re-recorded live with Alex ‘Para’ Ghita (drums) and Marius Costache (effects and noise). You can step into their world through Bandcamp.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Eilidh Hadden – Close To Home
Close To Home is very much the sound of now – cut ‘n’ paste vocals carried on waves of brooding electronic pop and tribal drums. It’s the colossal production that lifts Eilidh Hadden from teenage singer-songwriter hopeful to the realms of genuine contender. Comparisons to Ellie Goulding are inevitable, and apt. It’s still early days for Eilidh but if she remains on this path then her future could be dazzling.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Telefly – Meddle
Rock trio Telefly has been wowing live audiences in Seoul for a number of years. Two years after their first full-length, the band returned with the EP Avalokiteśvara earlier this month showcasing their own brand of psychedelic music. Lead track Meddle has a tough sound with great drive and energy.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Monki Valley – Tanzania
Monki Valley doesn’t like to be labeled, but we can say he’s originally from the Canary Islands and he’s got Red Bull Music Academy’s eyes on him. He’s more than just tropical electronica, and he is currently exploring, musically, the landscapes of remote countries such as Brazil and Peru.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Trails And Ways – Como Te Vas
Oakland’s Trails And Ways feels less Oakland and more Bilbao, Barcelona or Barranquilla, depending on how their first EP, aptly named Trilingual, falls. The highlight of the record for me is Como Te Vas, an infectious summer anthem guaranteed to play well in Ibiza or on the BART.