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MAP February 2013

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You, reader. Stuck in the throes of your dull room in suburbia? Need some enlightenment from your work square? Here’s an audio vacation.

In case you’re 52 editions late to the party, MAP is an initiative we’re part of where 39 countries around the globe pick their best new artists for your leisurely listening. We like to think it’s the more inclusive, all-encompassing little brother to Eurovision; a little less spandex, thrusting and voting bigotry in exchange for the best happenings in music around the globe.

Them Swoops are our contenders for Oz this month, but also notable are Finland’s ‘psych-doom’, as well as India and Chile’s artists for this month.

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 39-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

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ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The OmelettesPerfect Wave
The Omelettes’ sophomore album seeks to part from the 60s British sound of their first work and the result is something much more psychedelic and introspective. Perfect Wave is one of our favorite tracks from the new record, The Drawing & The Traveller. You can also watch a video of their song Mondays here.

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AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Them SwoopsToo Fast For Love
Never trust a happy song, right? While Tame Impala are still trumping the globe with Lonerism and Gotye’s break-up song is STILL stalking us everywhere, we do make mood-lifting songs here in Australia. Indie-pop ain’t a dirty word, especially when bands like Them Swoops make tracks like this. Too Fast For Love will probably sound like the first time you heard The Shins. Felt good, hey? We’re not such a sombre bunch after all.

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AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Sex JamsShark Vs Apple
The alternate girl/boy singing on Shark Vs Apple and its saucy, playful lyrics make it an instant favourite. Basically, the first single from the new Sex Jams album Trouble, Honey is what Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta would have sounded like had Grease been a noise-rock musical. Half of Sex Jams also play in May 2012’s MAP band and this year’s Eurosonic favourites Mile Me Deaf.

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BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
SambanzoXangô
Sambanzo is one of the projects of saxophonist Thiago França, also a member of Metá Metá and collaborator of artists such as Gui Amabis and Romulo Froes. Xangô is taken from the album Etiópia, which features some experimental music with strong influences of jazz, Candomblé, Afrobeat and rock.

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CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
BarbarosaSinking West
The title track of Barbarosa’s debut EP calls up images of the Wild West – rugged, romantic, ruthless and without rules. Sinking West’s menacing undertone is brightened by modern pop sensibilities, and the playing is fast and fierce. The full EP is available now on the band’s website.

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CHILE: Super 45
PerroskyA Mil Millas
Perrosky, a duet formed by brothers Álvaro and Alejandro Gómez, offer a local interpretation of the music styles that gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll in the USA. Their fifth album Vivos is swarmed by distorted guitars, vocal effects and, of course, a great set of songs. Our highlight is the touching blues ballad A Mil Millas (“A Thousand Miles Away”), which depicts a man searching for himself but whose possibilities seem blocked to him.

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CHINA: Wooozy
Tengger CavalryWar Horse
Deeply influenced by the nomadic culture of north Asia, Tengger Cavalry’s music evokes ancient times when wandering warriors, steeds and wolves danced across the great grasslands. The melody of horse-head fiddle, the rhythm of heavy drum, the echo of Mongolian throat singing and the distortion of guitar all create an expressive scene of pagan culture.

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COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
La PulpafonicCamelia
Jam for the ears, that’s how we can describe the sound of La Pulpafonic. A project born in Bogotá, it aims to present Colombian folklore within a new context and a new flavor: the taste of the fruit pulp. Electronic sounds literally extracted from fruits, mixed with an eclectic explosion of dance rhythms from this century. From their first work released in 2012, we squeeze out the song Camelia.

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DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Freja LoebW.O.M.D.
Earlier this month Freja Loeb followed up her 2011 debut album Odyssey with the release of a new EP titled W.O.M.D. Where the album stood on the shoulders of the 1980s pop scene, the EP finds its sources of inspiration in the same decade’s rock scenes. Here’s the title track as a MAP exclusive.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Las AcevedoCena En La Terraza
Love is still in the air, after a Valentine’s Day full of fresh romantic tunes brought by several Ibero-American bands. Las Acevedo, the hippie twin sisters of folk, present this breezy love song about dining in terraces, chasing fireflies and packing away your significant other inside a trunk with flowers in their hair.

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ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Marley Muerto Dorado Salmon Violeta (featuring Frances Possieri)
Marley Muerto is led by Daniel Pasquel, a musician and producer who was born on the same day that Bob Marley died. This project sees him play with a range of electronic sounds and collaborate with some important local artists. Pararmar is his debut album released while his band, Can Can, takes a break.

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ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
GNODVisions Of Load
Taken from GNOD’s forthcoming album Chaudelande (released on February 25 by Rocket Recordings), Visions Of Load captures neatly – that is to say, powerfully and sprawlingly – the krautrockin’, shoegazin’, prog-metallic sludginess of this Salford band at their most freakily magnificent. “It recalls Can’s ga-ga go-go music while the singer yelps like Alan Vega doused in even more echo,” said our New Band of the Day writer, who nevertheless promised that, notwithstanding the far-out sonics and instrumental melee, you could still dance to it. He just didn’t specify what type of shoes you might need.

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MAP December 2012

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Good tidings and another round of our global playlist for the Xmas season for y’all! Sunk Junk out of Melbourne are flying the flag this month.  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 39-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

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ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
OlgaDolor De Nuevo
Before you ask, Olga is not a solo artist but a band led by Roger Delahaye with Florencia Zavadivker and Luciano Lasca. Together they deliver electronic pop songs that near perfection, so it was hard to pick just one for MAP. Olor De Nuevo is our favorite from their new album, Gracias Tonales, which you can stream and buy from Bandcamp.

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AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Sunk JunkJr
If Sunk Junk represent the calibre of young bands coming out of Oz, no-one can justify not being able to find decent new music ever again. Sunk Junk have only released one home recorded EP, but it’s definitely the most impressive thing we’ve heard all month. The elaborate percussion in Jr only feeds this assertion – weaving its labyrinthine way around intricate guitar lines and a hypnotic croon that could be easily mistaken for Jeff Buckley’s ghost. A sprawling track which teeters on the stark side of melody and mania, Jr is definitely a marker of good things to come from this band.

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AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Clara LuziaMorning Light
Morning Light contains some of my favourite lyrics: “We held hands and cried until the morning light”. Isn’t the idea of sharing one’s sadness with someone else just such a beautiful thought? After four successful records in Austria, singer-songwriter Clara Luzia recently released her international debut album The Range, a compilation of songs from her previous albums.

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BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Metá MetáMan Feriman
Ethno math-rock could be a way to try to explain the sound of Man Feriman, a song from the album MetaL MetaL from Paulistan project Metá Metá. Sung in Yoruba (a West African language), it has elements of African liturgical music, free jazz and alternative rock, with a three-verse lyric that is repeated over the song to create an experimental, dark mantra.

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CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Elephant StoneHeavy Moon
Montreal “Hindi rockers” Elephant Stone defy easy categorization. Echoes of The Stone Roses, The Kinks, Sloan and Big Star abound, but in the end the band crafts their own unique sound. Their sophomore self-titled LP is due early in 2013, but Elephant Stone have been teasing Canadian fans for the past few weeks with Heavy Moon.

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CHILE: Super 45
ProtistasGranada
In just a few years, Protistas has become one of the most active bands in the Chilean indie rock scene. They frequently perform in Santiago, with appearances on blogs’ multimedia shows and local festivals (Primavera Fauna, Pulsar), along with tours across Chile and Argentina. They have released two albums and an EP since 2009. Their melodies combine the poignancy of Sebadoh with the urgent impact of Guided By Voices, in a style they’ve named “wild pop” – bittersweet songs with an explosive, intense guitar sound.

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CHINA: Wooozy
Rainbow Danger ClubThe Gathering Of Fools
As one of Shanghai’s most talented new bands, Rainbow Danger Club has been wowing music fans since 2010. Their theatrical live shows, fantastical lyrics and lush arrangements have drawn comparisons to Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Hector Berlioz. Last month they released their new 12-track Into The Cellar EP.

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COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Lucrecia DaltConversa
Lucrecia Dalt’s musical journey has taken her from the city of Pereira to Barcelona, Spain, where she currently lives. With guitar and drum machine she makes introspective music with many layers that stirs the imagination of the listener. She has traveled the road of independence and now with Conversa, from her 2012 album Commotus, she grabs our attention again.

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DENMARK: All Scandinavian
The Woken TreesOrders
I know December is supposed to be all about lights and happy times, but here’s a MAP exclusive track and a band that is almost exactly the opposite. There are six of them, they call themselves The Woken Trees and they’ve recorded an awesomely bleak and hard-hitting post-punk debut album which is sure to make waves everywhere when released on January 28.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Juango Dávalos6PM
Juango Dávalos borrows his musical inspiration from the 80s, but the songs he composes are surprisingly fresh and modern. 6PM is part of his most recent album, Réplica, which is also available as a free download.

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ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Swing Original MonksTucán
Swing Original Monks broke into the musical scene in early 2010. The band offers a proposal that is both visual and aural, feminine and masculine, provocative and subtle. The inventiveness of these musicians extracts the essence of popular music with the picturesque landscapes and absurdities of our society. Swing Original Monks is not a fusion band, it’s an infusion band.

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ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Swiss LipsCarolyn
Swiss Lips are a five-piece from Manchester who are more Delphic than Courteeners. Carolyn is part of the city’s electronic history rather than its less illustrious trad-rock one. They use the fizzy electro-pop medium to express feelings of longing for better days. “Most of the songs we’ve written seem to be about looking back on being a teenager and that wide-eyed optimism about the world,” they say, which might explain the giddy chorus to Carolyn – “Hey, hey, Carolyn, get into my car/Keep your feet up on the dashboard” – and its memory of illicit abandon.

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