Glasgow’s Lean Tales is another band we have been following since our ears were graced by their The Displaced Persons demos last year although that said this summers Flesh and Paper EP passed us by – until now!

The bands sound is a mix of jangle pop, agit-pop plus hints of the classic sound of 60’s girl groups. However it’s lead singer Imogen’s vocals that stand out. Rather than dominate the music, as say D. Lucille Campbell’s voice does with Help Stamp Out Loneliness, they supplement the music to a tee. It’s on Penny On The Floor where this is best demonstrated and the song has come on leaps and bounds since it first appeared in demo form. That said it’s  not the only stand out track here. Taste Of Superglue is a jangle feast that would be worthy of  filling the dancefloor at indiepop discos up and down the country whilst Money Smile and Days Are Quick are more than worthy substitutes.

A thoroughly enjoyable indiepop EP that is worthy of your ears attention!

Lean Tales – Money Smile

Lean Tales – Days are Quick

You can stream the whole EP at Last.fm which is out now on Bubblegum Records.

My Space

Here’s that Juho Kosunen again, that rascal from the Finnish band Ultrasport. He’s been releasing songs online for the past year or so under the moniker Future Gravity. I always enjoy hearing a new track from Juho, he’s just released his latest, entitled “Zombie Lover“. I think some of his former bandmates from Ultrasport also play on this track, at least drummer Olli and bass player Samuli. Read a previously posted interview with Juho over here and listen to a few delicious Ultrasport tracks too.

Future Gravity – Zombie Lover

Official page | Facebook

Camp Out is a two piece band from San Francisco consisting of Maddy Hanks and Jackie Law. Their debut album will be coming out in January followed by a tour to support it. This band is a good example of a quality band that’s unknown simply because they’re too new. The band will start getting attention once their album is released. Take a listen to them now so you can say you knew them back when.

Camp Out – Flying Back

Myspace

I’m a little behind when it comes to blogging. I’ve been sitting on this for a couple of weeks now and only getting to the post now. Shame on me, I know. So this is Casey Chandler’s project called, Galapaghost. This guy will break out an ukulele and creates indie pop songs with it. I don’t know if I’m surprised to find out Casey’s from Queens, New York or not. The New York scene tends to be more experimental so I guess I’m not too surprised. But I’ll tell you, I had my doubts on what these songs would be like until I went to his myspace and heard them for myself. Who knew the ukulele is a great instrument for indie pop songs?

Galapaghost – Lost Generation
Galagaghost – You’re All I Need

Myspace

Allo, Darlin’ have just released their new single The Polaroid Song on Fortuna Pop. It comes as a limited edition 7″ single. However you can download it for free in exchange for your e-mail address at the label’s website. Whilst it’s not as catchy as the brilliant Henry Rollin’s Don’t Dance it is a fine slab of indie pop indeed. And at that price who can argue with that!

My Space | Homepage

More cuteness from up north. Pascal Pinon are four 15 year old girls hailing from sunny Iceland. They formed the band about a year ago and have already garnered attention for their simple, low-key and sincere live shows. Some people complain that they don’t move enough or smile when performing, but I’ve never understood this obsession with stage appearance, they’re not Beyonce you know. It’s that darn MTV’s fault I bet! But I digress … They’ve just released their first album, which they recorded and released themselves despite being offered some tempting record deals. Personally I’d like a bit more distortion and feedback (duh), but one can’t help thinking these girls will be prolific in the future and well worth watching. Speaking of which, watch them play “Djöflasnaran” (Devil’s Snare) over here. Harry Potter fans will know what that is.

This song is about about contaminating the atmosphere with carbon monoxide, mind you:

Pascal Pinon – Ósonlagið

Myspace | Facebook

I am not usually keen on that sentimental type of indiepop, you know what I mean, those skinny youngsters with pianos, violins and xylophones, inspired by Björk, Sigurrós and Múm. Not that keen on those either really. This guy is an exception though. Hailing from Sandvika, near Oslo, Einar Stray is an artist you should be taking notice of. Why is that? you might ask. Can’t quite say, but the song “Arrows” features one nifty bassline ,and I’m very fond of the clock-like ticking that sometimes occurs. In fact it’s a great song all around. He is quite obviously influenced by Sigurrós and you can tell from this song, and possibly there is a hint in the picture above.

Einar is quite young, internet sources claim that he’s just 19, but these sources don’t really specify when that was. I’m guessing it’s written around the time of his debut release, an EP called Favors and Fields, split with his friend Moddi. This was released in 2008 so that might make him … somewhere around twenty-ish now. He’s really taking his time with the next release, which is scheduled for release in 2011. Until then he’ll be playing live with Therese Aune next month. I, for one, look forward to hearing more from this artist.

Einar Stray – Arrows

Einar Stray – Beast

Myspace | Official site

Elíza Geirsdóttir Newman sprang onto the Icelandic music scene in 1992 when she fronted the girl band Kolrassa Krókríðandi which, under the influence of bands such as Ride and Led Zeppelin, won the local version of Battle of the Bands called Músíktilraunir (Musical Experiments). They had an album out on Bad Taste Records later that year, and as the band grew in fame changed the name to Bellatrix. The band had a minor breakthrough in the UK around the turn of the century, when the Fierce Panda label released singles such as “Jedi Wannabe” and “The Girl with the Sparkling Eyes”, and the band co-headlined a British tour with Coldplay. 

That was the end of the road for Bellatrix, but Elíza has continued making music ever since, briefly with the band Skandinavia, and now as a solo artist, releasing the album Empire Fall in 2007. She has just released her latest album, Pie in the Sky, again on the Bad Taste label. Being a versatile musician she plays ukulele, violin, piano and guitar herself on the album. It’s produced by Gísli Kristjánsson of the band Half Tiger. Here’s two songs for your listening enjoyment:

Elíza – Hopeless Case
Elíza – Ukulele Song for You

Myspace | Facebook

Post-rock is one of the more absurd musical categorisations and is essentially a means of shuffling away instrumental progressive rock, although obtusely, Wikipedia brands it “the use of rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes”. That definition is debatably inappropriate to the genre but it most certainly is for Collapse Under The Empire (C.U.T.E.), as this particular excursion is indeed rock.

The band comprises of just two individuals, Martin Grimm who plays the guitars and Chris Burda who is on keyboards, whilst they handle percussive duties as a joint venture. The staggering thing about this recording is the depth of sound that the duo have managed to create. In terms of their abilities, they are extremely accomplished, giving up virtuoso performances throughout. Also, the arrangement and structure of the pieces is exemplary, illustrating two people who crystallize well as a unit, suggesting that the addition of any others may only serve to diminish that.

It is difficult to highlight individual tracks, as the album works as a unit, but latest single ‘Crawling’ is worthy of investigation should you require a sampler. It swirls from hypnotic shoegaze to clever guitar/piano interplay, building to a breathtaking crescendo. This, as with the majority of the album, is very accessible music and there are a number of other strong melodies, all executed with great panache.

For those not into progressive rock, then there is probably little here to offer you or indeed convince you otherwise. However, those with a passion for more complex rock would do well to investigate C.U.T.E. as they will not fail to impress. This is also their second album of the year; with the self-released début ‘Systembreakdown’ having clearly impressed Sister Jack enough to encourage them to assist in giving the band a wider audience.

Find A Place To Be Safe is out now on Sister Jack Records

My Space

Today is the Icelandic Music Day. Admittedly not globally, but in Iceland it is. With me being the only Icelandic writer on this blog, I would like to take the oppportunity and promote Icelandic music a little. Since I also have to be busy at work, and pretend not to be idly posting blogs about music, I simply want to repost some of the great Icelandic music I’ve posted on indie-mp3.co.uk in the past. I personally recommend all of these songs/bands, and hope you like them too. I shall also supply a link to the original post so that you can read all about the bands. Admittedly some of these bands have passed on, in the next few weeks I hope to post about a few new and noteworthy bands as well.

Andhéri – Stundum veit ég ekki alveg hvar ég er (Sometimes I’m not quite sure where the hell I am) Andhéri – Plútó (Pluto) Original post
Singapore Sling – Guiding Light Singapore Sling – Overdriver Singapore Sling – Listen Singapore Sling – Life is killing my Rock ‘n Roll Original post
Rúnk – Friends Forever Rúnk – Klapparstígur Original post
Daisy Hill Puppy Farm – Heart of Glass Original post
Bag of Joys – Sveitasnakk (Country snack) Bag of Joys – Lovepotion Bag of Joys – Sappa Oj Bag of Joys – HA 498 Bag of Joys - Trouble Bag of Joys- Skepnur (Beasts) Original post
Morðingjarnir (The Murderers) – Ekki í Dag (Not Today) Morðingjarnir – Eiturlyfjafíklar (Drug Addicts) Morðingjarnir – Manvísa Original post
Hellvar – Nowhere Hellvar – Falsetto Original post
Texas Jesús – Picking Flowers Texas Jesús – How to succeed in the world of disco without really trying Texas Jesús – Salatbar Texas Jesús – Flower in my Veins Original post
Jan Mayen – Let it Burn Original post
Yukatan – Tunnels Yukatan – House Original post
PPPönk – Svitafita (Sweatfat) PPPönk – Últradans PPPönk – Ein á báti (On my own) Original post Additional post
Cosmic Call – Lightbulbs Original post
Dýrðin – Hvert í Hoppandi Dýrðin – Wake Up Original post (by Tom)