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Belles Will Ring – 'Park Benches' (Shoot The Player video)

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Belles Will Ring: Park Benches from Shoot The Player on Vimeo.

Shoot The Player is a video blog similarly styled to the famous La Blogotheque. They shoot musicians performing acoustically in unusual locations ranging from toilets to taxis. This time Belles Will Ring did a live take of Park Benches in an abandoned house. Go to the Shoot The Player site to check out An Horse, Laura Jean and Jack Ladder amongst others to do their own versions.

shoottheplayer.com

www.myspace.com/belleswillring

MAP November

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AMERICA: I Guess I’m Floating
City Center – Summer School

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Brooklyn’s City Center is the solo work of Fred Thomas from Saturday Looks Good To Me, focusing on ornamental, experimental pop songs created from found sounds, manipulated samples and Thomas’s own guitar and vocals. While there’s no official debut yet, he has released a handful of 7”s and there are over 30 free MP3s up for grabs at his blog (http://citycenternyc.blogspot.com). Look for a debut sometime in 2009.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Sync Filmico – El Polvo De Tus Sentimientos

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With heavy influences from alt. rockers like Radiohead and Jaime Sin Tierra, this song is from Sync Filmico’s second album, El Mar. It was released this year on CD and as free MP3 download from their website (http://www.el-mar.com.ar/elMar/). Their first record was published under a Creative Commons license and can also be downloaded for free.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition

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There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the new material from Melbourne’s The Temper Trap and no wonder, because the first taste of their 2009-due album, Sweet Disposition, is a delay-driven melody fest. Recalling the sounds of ’80s U2, Sweet Disposition was recorded in the UK with famed producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with some little-known acts like Arctic Monkeys, DJ Shadow, Bjork and Massive Attack.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Ketch Harbour Wolves – So Long To The Ground

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Even by the standards of Canadian indie rock, Ketch Harbour Wolves are pretty under the radar. Dead Calm Horizon is one of the best albums of the year – and free for download on the band’s site (http://www.ketchharbourwolves.com) no less. Imagine that The National were transported to the Canadian wilderness and started writing songs about rural living and you’d have a good idea of where Ketch Harbour Wolves are coming from. The results are, simply put, hauntingly gorgeous.

DENMARK: Pastries, Peppers And Canals
Heidi Mortenson – It’s True

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Highly regarded as the queen of experimental, unpredictable music, Heidi’s website says that she “makes colorful and textured songs with a nerdy and dazed approach; her sound grows from playful experiments and inventive production. Add emotional drive, a mentalist flavor and soul of old cartoon” – and who are we to argue?

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone

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Here’s some new folky goodness for you. Not folky as in the beardy sense, mainly because the kids in Mumford & Sons are probably too young to grow beards. Led by Marcus Mumford, this west London band peddle a sparkly, breezy, bluegrass-infused folk-pop, and given that they’ve been together for less than a year, they’ve arrived remarkably fully-formed.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
Hellvar – Nowhere

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Together the two boys and two girls of Hellvar stir up a cocktail from electronica to new wave with a twist of lime. Debut album Bat Out Of Hellvar was released at the end of 2007 and was the first release on new Icelandic label Kimi Records. The band have toured in the USA, Germany and China.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Cap Pas Cap – We Are Men (Thatboytim remix)

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Cap Pas Cap are heavily inspired by rock music on the fringes – no wave, punk and Krautrock. As a taster for a debut in 2009, the band will release the We Are Men 12″ in December with one original track and three hi-grade remixes from Decal, Jape and this from Thatboytim. As well as playing in Cap Pas Cap, members of the band run the Skinny Wolves label which releases stuff from the likes of Indian Jewelry, Telepathe and Effie Briest.

ITALY: Polaroid
Did – Ask U2

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If I could have Foals playing at my house tonight, I would surely call Did as opening band. Four young guys from Turin who play “yellow punk-funk” with pop melodies. They have a free download debut EP out now on Kirsten’s Postcard label (http://www.kirstenspostcard.com). Dance!

NORWAY: Eardrums
My Little Pony – I Don’t Know Pt.1

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“The band, not the brand” seems to be a statement that will follow Norwegian indiepop orchestra My Little Pony forever. They recently released their debut album Think Too Much to great critical acclaim and new fans include one of Norway’s biggest pop stars, Marit Larsen. My Little Pony are a pure pop band, where strong melodies and interesting lyrics make the framework of their music, but they also mix in several other genres in their indiepop universe, from bluegrass and Afro-jazz to reggae and more folk-oriented elements.

PERU: SoTB
Cementerio Club – Stereoman

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Cemeterio Club’s history can be summed up in numbers – a 10-year career, four studio albums, three acoustic albums, one lengua MTV. Led by Jose Arbulú, they are a clear example that good rock sung in Spanish exists. Here’s Stereoman from their latest album, released last year.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Beerjacket – Drum

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Beerjacket is a young man with an acoustic guitar whose backing band comprises a tambourine and a drum machine. Stylistic comparisons to Elliott Smith or Jose Gonzalez wouldn’t be far off, while his prolific output of albums offer an endearing lo-fi sound that lets the quality of his songs and the calibre of his songwriting steal the show.

SPAIN: El Blog De La Nadadora
Espanto – Profesora De Primaria

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Espanto are a duo formed by Luis and Teresa, who come from a small city in the north of Spain. After releasing a series of extraordinary demos, their first CD, Cantando En Tu Siesta – on the Spanish label Birra y Perdiz (http://www.birrayperdiz.com) – compiled their best songs up till 2007. Their music is basically pop, with references that range from Television Personalities to The Magnetic Fields.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Hajen – Sharks

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Hajen has a very limited repertoire (three MySpace demos to be exact), but she’s just the type of artist that deserves the wider recognition the web can provide. She may not be completely ready for primetime but her uniquely Swedish take on the piano pop of Tori Amos and Regina Spektor is impressive. Hajen means shark in Swedish so it seems appropriate to highlight her theme song. With its warning of “sharks in the water, sharks up on land” you can bet this is not simply a tale of danger in the ocean.

Bridezilla: ‘Forth and Fine’

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Bridezilla – ‘Forth and Fine’

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Arguably the most promising young band in the land, Bridezilla made a name for themselves with their serene debut EP which touched upon melancholic PJ Harvey and cinematic Dirty Three and pulled it together into pop form. ‘Forth and Fine’ is the latest single from the Sydney quintet which will be released in January on 10″ vinyl; a split release with The Tren Brothers (Mick Turner and Jim White from The Dirty Three no less).

I saw the ladies – and gentleman – perform ‘Forth and Fine’ as an encore last year at the Annandale Hotel. It was a little loose then, but recorded it comes across as a beautifully paced tune, pushing and pulling with the ebb-and-flow dynamics that Bridezilla are so adept at. They make an atypical combination of guitar, saxophone and violin work so well.

Its release will coincide with Bridezilla’s appearance at the inaugural Australian All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in January ’09 curated by none other than Mr Nick Cave.

http://www.myspace.com/bridezillaa

Belles Will Ring – ‘Priest Coats’

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Belles Will Ring – ‘Priest Coats’

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Hailing from the Blue Mountains, Belles Will Ring are Australia’s foremost exponents of nostalgic, psychedelic rock at the moment. With its distillation of their surroundings and influences into a fresh, sprawling and jangling aesthetic, their debut LP, Mood Patterns, was probably my favourite Australian album of 2007. Now, we are presented with a mini-LP, Broader Than Broadway, to hold us over until they regroup for a sophomore effort.

First single Priest Coats has already hit radio and extends their whimsical, folkadelic digressions into rougher, rock territory. Lush and upbeat vocal harmonies weave their way through equal parts chiming and distorting guitars until ultimately ending with a sigh. It’s the kind of song that you know took a lot of effort to produce and orchestrate but is never weighed down by it’s subtle complexity.

Fantastic stuff that showcases the dynamic combination of great production and a fine-tuned pop sensibility. Keep an ear out for these guys and let them soundtrack your summer.

www.myspace.com/belleswillring

Dead Letter Circus: ‘Next In Line’

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Dead Letter Circus – ‘Next In Line’

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I was pretty excited when I first heard Dead Letter Circus because here was an alternative rock band not concerned with aping either Cog or The Butterfly Effect but instead were interested in forging their own sound – a rock onslaught that brought together a multitude of influences.

They quickly found an identity, and one that appealed to people – lots of people. They found a large fanbase fast, despite years of slogging it out in the rehearsal studio, honing their sound. But since their eponymous debut EP, they’ve become stagnent, merely twisting their chosen formula into different contortions and not looking to evolve their sound. ‘Next In Line’ is disappointing not only because it demonstrates a paucity of ideas coming out of the Queensland four piece, but it’s a fairly pedenstrian effort. It’s heavily over-produced, clinically polished courtesy of ProTools.The chorus, which doesn’t rear its head until about half-way through, lacks the infectiousness of previous tunes as well.

But I’m not just lambasting DLC for the sake of it and there are positive aspects to ‘Next In Line’. The addition of synths are a nice inclusion, and Kim is keeping his vocals in check nowadays and not reaching for notes that he can’t hit live. Still, for all the potential DLC showed from the outset, it’s disappointing that they’re yet to completely capitalise on their success.

http://www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus