fun water

ANDREW AND THE SAFARI RANGERS FUN WATER (independent, 2012)

The other day I received an email from Andrew telling me about his music project. It happens that the Safari Rangers are the adventurous - and imaginary - band mates of his.
Andrew is a high school senior from Rhode Island and makes super fun keyboard/ukelele based indiepop on the family computer in the dining room.
The whole aesthetic is lo-fi and evokes those restaurants with live music where a guy plays throughout the night various classic songs armed only with a keyboard. I don't mean that in a bad way... actually, in Andrew's case, it fits perfectly to the super fun and playful lyrics. The result is extremely endearing and captivating. Take 'Together In Lisbon' for example... I doubt the doo-doo-doos  won't get stuck in your head.



The album has 9 songs and barely hits the 18 minutes and it's a pleasant indiepop experience. You can get it for free on Bandcamp.



facebook     bandcamp

INTERVIEW 56. jonas börjesson (pool sessions)

In the past years, a number of musical projects following the sessions format took over the internet.
But the summer of 2011 gave us the first season of a video project that - we hope - will become a summer tradition for indie lovers throughout the world.
The Pool Sessions, created by Jonas Börjesson from Halmstad (Sweden), features artists playing live music around - and inside - the swimming pool of Jonas' parents house.
Throughout the summer, 18 artists - Marble Hill, De Montevert, Summer Heart, Slutet, among others -  spent some time there giving fun, adorable and amusing performances.

Now, with the summer approaching in the northern hemisphere, the second year of the sessions is coming back with some exciting news: under the name 'Pool Sessions: On Tour", they'll live the pool behind and take a road trip through the Halland region, featuring artists playing nice tunes surrounded by beautiful swedish summery sceneries.

                  site     facebook     vimeo     twitter

I talked with Jonas about the origins of the project, the logistics involved and what can we expect for this year's edition. You can read it below.

ballads of the cliché

BALLADS OF THE CLICHE OLD FRIEND EP (sea indie, 2011)

Ballads of the Cliché are an 8 piece collective from Jakarta, Indonesia. As it happens with every indiepop act coming from that part of the world, their music is adorable as hell (or heaven), sweet and inherits an effortless ability for rich melodies.
                                                                                         site      bandcamp     twitter  

Old Friend ep was released last year by SEA Indie (Southeast Asia Indie), a label first created to release compilations promoting bands from Asia that developed into a must visit net label for indiepop enthusiasts across the world.
download ep

OTHER RELEASES
Released in 2007, 'Snapshot of Serenity' is, as the title says, an ode to serenity, summer breeze and folk pop relaxations... the first accords remind me of 'Blues Run the Game' from Simon and Garfunkel; but don't let the comparison fool you into thinking it is a sad song. It has a subtle, uplifting and warm atmosphere.



On their website, you can find what's probably their latest single - Ini Waktunya - their first song in Indonesian.
download Ini Waktunya

VIDEO. crocodiles for the DIY Sessions

VIDEO. crocodiles for the diy sessions

The once California duo Crocodiles (now a quintet), will release their 3rd album Endless Flowers on June, 4th via their new record label: the german Souterrain Transmissions (also via French Kiss, on the US).
Earlier this year, the first single 'Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)' was made available for download on Soundcloud.

site     facebook     interview (december.2010)



Here's an 'Infomercial Teaser' for the album release. A preview of all the 10 songs from the new album can be heard throughout the almost 2 minutes of the video. For what we can hear, expect a more melodic and still noisy sound.



Yesterday, an intimate session for This is Fake DIY revealed two new tracks of the upcoming album and a revisit on 'Stone to Death' from their awesome 2nd album Sleep Forever (2010).
(bear with the 30 seconds ad before the actual session. It's worth the wait).


01. Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)
02. Stone To Death
03. My Surfing Lucifer

chasing my mind

HOLOGRAMS CHASING MY MIND (single, 2012)

Yes, Sweden has been the house of indiepop for the past decade or so... but every now and then, an energetic wave of jangly guitars takes the swedes by surprise and make them (and the rest of us) rock our bodies as if there was no tomorrow.
That's the case of Holograms, a quartet from Stockholm taking punk melodies and clashing it with synths and frenetic guitars. 'Chasing My Mind' is the first single of their debut self titled album that'll be out next July via Captured Tracks.

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'Chasing my Mind' reminds me of 'Flaming Dread', from fellow swedish band My Darling YOU!

alfonso el pintor

ALFONSO EL PINTOR LA CASA ROSADA DE ALFONSO EL PINTOR (independent, 2009)

Alfonso el Pintor is a band from Buenos Aires and is a celebration of colorful, bubblegum-ish, romantic and naive indiepop.
It all started in 2004 with Emiliano Sánchez and soon the solo project became a band. The guitar driven music with moments of electronic percussions is often adorable and in songs like 'Nuestra Canción' and 'Te Gusta el Rock' you wish they were somehow solid so you could eat them. I bet they'd taste sweet as a pink marshmallow.

You can get their debut CDR Buen Día Te Quiero Mucho (Good morning I want you so bad) -from 2005- and their latest (and only) LP La Casa Rosada de Alfonso el Pintor (The pink house of Alfonso el Pintor) - 2009 - at their website for free.
A new album is set to be released later this year.




site     facebook     bandcamp     soundcloud

INTERVIEW 55. tear talk

photo by Rosie Woods

Tear Talk is a band from Liverpool formed by 4 boys in their early 20's. They met in school and spend a lot of time together listening to Black Tambourine and all the C86/Sarah Records movement.
Beat Happening changed the perspective a bit and from music lovers they became music makers thinking that "if they [Beat Happening] can make it, why can't we?"

In January, Port Sunlight was released via Bleeding Gold Records. Six songs filled with reverbs, some distortion and indiepop gentleness (and sadness). Pop melodies soaked into a background of noise but also sparse elements. An atmosphere of fog and dust that suddenly let's the sun come out between melodic changes and pure, pure fragility.

Quoting them: "...awkward, introverted and melancholic". 'Broken English', the closing track, is a great example and an outstanding ode to melancholic times and the sad ones.


     facebook     bandcamp     soundcloud    

Below's our interview. Time to Tear Talk talk....