Casiokids - UTFALL! (Video)

New track from Casiokids - Video produced and directed by Blank Blank

Burglary Years & Mans & Moonbell

Four more tracks of the day to round the week off with.
If I'm honest, I’m pretty crazy tired right now, so I’m going to be a little rude and fly through them.

The first track comes from the Boston duo Burglary Years, a shoegaze band who haven’t got nearly as much hype swarming them as they deserve. But then again their tracks did only first show up five days ago.

You Have/You Are. by BurglaryYears

The second and third comes from the very imaginatively named Mans, who come from London.

Strict Face by -MANS-

If by -MANS-

And the final track is from San Francisco’s Moonbell, the trio release their self titled and debut full length courtesy of Loglady Records (Vinyl) and Deep Space Recordings (CD).

Moonbell - Nothing Less by loglady records

Zambri - Interveiw

We first mentioned the New York based sister duo Zambri a couple of days back when we featured Hundred Hearts as one of our tracks of the day. A brilliant blend of atmospheric synth, and calming vocals it has quickly grown to be one of our most played tracks of the last few weeks, which is part of the reason we are so delighted they agreed to do a little interview with us. This interview is also a little bit extra special as it marks the first (of what we hope to be many) from new contributor Kasia who runs the amazing In Love Not Limbo. We really are so delighted she has joined us.

Zambri "Hundred Hearts" by terroreyes

For those who haven’t heard you before, how would you sum up your musical style?
I can tell you that we write with a lot of attention to melody and mood. That might fall into pop. It could be classical. We also pay a lot of attention to the sounds we use. In that way, it's sort of like creating an environment as you would for a movie.

When it comes to creating music, do you have any major influences; musical or otherwise?
I think I speak for both of us, when I say we are heavily influenced by visuals and interactions with people. Also, singular sounds can pop off a lot of ideas for us.

You’ve put together some pretty impressive remixes, is the creative process for producing a remix that different from creating your own music?
Absolutely. You'd normally experience art as a whole, but here you get to experience each element of it separately. From there, you are either inspired to create something with those elements or not. Sometimes you hear one little piece of it and you imagine an entire new thing with just that. Anyway, it's kind of like a playpen for a little kid. What's this, a mirror? Is that a rattle hanging up there? I want to stick that rattle in the mirror.

The Suburbs (Zambri Remix) by Zambri

Being sisters, have you always worked on musical projects together?
Yes, actually. We both wrote on our own as kids, but we always came together whenever we made it musical.

Are their any particular pros (or even cons) of keeping it in the family?
There are probably many levels of both we aren't fully aware of. A pro AND con is that we are extremely comfortable with one another. As Jess says, "The fights are more passionate, but there's no room for passive-aggressive behavior. It's real all the time." We understand each other's intentions even if they are not necessarily clear. There's a lot of trust, and we're intensely inspired by one another. Major pros. Oh, also, we love each other. It's always great working with someone you love. I mean that honestly. You go to deeper places.

Brooklyn is pretty famous for its music scene; would you say that living there has aided your progress so far?
If by progress, you are referring to level of acknowledgement, it's hard to say. There are definitely more opportunities where there is a scene than where there isn't, but also a lot of great music goes unnoticed because the scene is over saturated. We were in Long Island before Manhattan. We've been in Manhattan for 7+ years, and only one of us is in Brooklyn now. Theoretically, Brooklyn should have done us wonders ten years ago, if you're considering how long we've been making music together in the vicinity. Of course, there are plenty of other factors.

Unfortunately we don’t have anything quite like SXSW in Britain, how did it feel to be a part of it this year?
It's great. If you are working on new music, it's a great opportunity to really nail it, playing 6 shows in 24 hours. You meet lots of great people, and you get to see all of your musical friends doing wonderful things. We must have seen Bear in Heaven 7 times, at least. For the great show, we owe them seven beers...each.

What’s next for Zambri, do you have any plans for shows outside the U.S in 2012?
We've been over to you with Hooray For Earth (whom we love and sing with) recently, and it's amazing every time. Zambri will definitely travel within the US, and we're headed to Europe in June. Coming soon to a fancy theeaytuhr near you...ish.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I always say Richard D. James and Chris Cunningham. I guess that's getting old. Outkast, I've surely said before. Lars von Trier. I'm not sure I've written that one out before, but I mean it just as hard. Mean it hard!

Are there any new artists you’d recommend to us?
Autre Ne Veut. Jess has been telling me about how Death Grips is giving her a "mind-fuck of a time". So, I recommend we both check that out.

Tonight We Fly by Zambri

Ghost Loft & Kins & Alice Jemima

Three more tracks of the day, oh and this is our 101th post of the year. Feel free to check out the other 100 if you find yourself with an abundance of free time...

The first track up today comes from Ghost Loft, the brain child of the incredibly promising LA based producer Danny Choi. To this date there are only two tracks available by him, but both are seriously worth checking out.

Ghost Loft - Blow by GHOST LOFT

The second track for today comes from Kins. The Brighton based band have already started to gain a slow traction of hype around them, and it's instantly pretty quick to spot why with this latest demo offering.

Break Ties (Demo) by Kins

And the final track is from Alice Jemima, as the name would suggest a singer songwriter from Devon. What you may not have guessed is that she is disgustingly young for someone with so much talent and potential, at an incredibly tender eighteen.

Alice Jemima - Taking It Out by Alice Jemima

Songs From Another Room

A.P. Witomski, "In A Sense Of Conformity" from Cat(s)fight on Vimeo.

A couple of months back a French video/art collective going by the name of Cat(s)Fight along with production company Microcultures began a working on a incredibly exciting new project called Songs From Another Room. The aim was to bring together a world spanning collection of independent musicians and directors from both Europe and the North Americas with the aim of recording new material, to be accompanied with original video, with the end goal being its release in CD/DVD boxset, the most exciting element of the project that it was all to be done through the power of crowdfundng.
The first song from the project appeared a couple of days back; it comes from A.P. Witomski, and is an incredible testament to incredibly high quality result innovative projects like these can create.

Oh and bellow is a video explaining the project infinitely better than my words did.

Introducing “Songs From Another Room” from Cat(s)fight on Vimeo.

TOY - Motoring (Video)

Video for the amazing new single Motoring from TOY - Directed and edited by Joe Morris.
Fun fact three members of the band where once in Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jongs.

Splashh & Dead Mellotron & Zambri

Three more tracks of the day.

The first comes from the London based band Splashh, and is their latest single which came out just under a month ago over on their bandcamp, where you can also check out their other two singles.

Feels Like You by splashh.band

The second track comes from Dead Mellotron and is the debut single of new album Glitter, which is released via Sonic Cathedral Recordings on May 7, 2012.

Dead Mellotron 'Stranger' by Sonic Cathedral

And the final track for today comes from Zambri, a New York industrial pop duo made up of sisters, Jessica and Cristi Zambri. Who are releasing their debut LP House of Basaa on April 10th through Kanine Records.

Zambri "Hundred Hearts" by terroreyes

White Hex & Slowwkid & Ides

Three more tracks of the day.

The first comes from Berlin based duo (originally from Australia) White Hex, who create a rich gloomy pop sound along the lines of Joy Division. It's a very clichéd, lazy and obvious comparison to make, but it does fit ever so nicely.

Holiday by WHITE HEX

The second comes from Slowwkid an act based out of London, and we even after a little bit of digging I really could find nothing much about them. If I’m honest I quite like that.

Slowwkid - Spin by Slowwkid

And the final track comes from Ides who share similarities with Slowwkid, in that they to hail from the capital, and I found almost no trace of their existence outside of their soundcloud.

Four Months by ides

iamamiwhoami - Play (Video)

Latest video from Swedish iamamiwhoami

Oliver Tank - Dreams (EP)

This is more of a catch up and apology post than anything really. I just wanted to say sorry, I have no idea how, but in mid November Oliver Tank released his stunning debut EP Dreams and I somehow managed to completely miss it up until now.

It's a phenomenal record that gripped me from the second I first put it on until the moment it concluded, I can quite safely say I have fallen in love with the six tracks contained on it. This would have sat comfortably among out EPs of the year if we had only known about it sooner.

Best Friends & Play Lounge & North Bay

Another installment of our three tracks of the day.

The first comes from Best Friends, a four piece surf rock outfit from sunny Sheffield. The track bellow is the title track from the EP Throwing Up that hit soundcloud about a month ago. You can also head over to their bandcamp to grab yourself a copy of their EP named EP from last summer, and some earlier demos.

04 Throwing Up by BEST FRIENDS

The second track comes from London based duo Play Lounge.

The Turtle, The Balloon And The Whale by Playlounge

And the final track comes from good friend of the blog North Bay, it's the follow up to the stunning couple of tracks he unleashed on us a month back, not quite as good as the two earlier tracks (in my humble opinion), it's still a shining example of what I like my ambient music to sound, very few artists out there are able to create something quite this emotional without the use of lyrics.

Thorough Masterminds by North Bay

Summer Of Glaciers - Elevators (Video)

New video from the amazing Summer Of Glaciers

Dems & Married in Berdichev & World's Most

Three more tracks of the day to round off what has been a truly lovely week.

The first track of the day comes from London based artist Dems, its set for an April 2nd release on Bad Life Recordings. It's a blissfully peaceful track that immediately captured a place in my heart, the perfect soundtrack to the summery weekend ahead.

Inner O by dems

The second track comes from Denver’s Married in Berdichev, an act I'm ashamed to say I know nothing about. This is however a stunning record.

Light Comes by Married in Berdichev

And the final track is from World's Most, a Pasadena based act who unleashed two stunners, including this one, onto the world a fortnight ago.

Tall Shadows by World's Most

Labelled Independent – Episode 14

And now for something completely different, we hand you over once again to the brilliant Labelled Independent's Steve to give you a run down of what he has been vibing since last time.


Another new episode of Labelled Independent brings, as ever, a great collection of new independent tracks from around the UK, as well as a top panel comprising solo artist Jake Morley and Christina Liessem of indie label Palawan Productions . There’s also a discussion of our host’s credentials as a ‘dreamboat’ and being haunted by Kate Bush.

It’s all free, and you can get involved by going to Labelled Independent or searching for ‘Labelled Independent’ on iTunes and subscribing. You can also subscribe -HERE- subscribers receive every episode automatically and can enjoy Labelled Independent exclusives too!

Here are the top 3 tracks:

‘Feet Don’t Fail Me Now’ by Jake Morley (Sandwich Emporium Records, single out now)
From the handclapping opening to the gospel style backing vocals, this is an excellent upbeat slice of acoustic style. Jake Morley is gathering a rabid following with his relatable lyrics and great live shows and this would have been track of the podcast if Jake hadn’t been our guest…



‘March Winds’ by Thomas Truax (Blang Records, single out now)
A beautiful, spare folk track which blends a host of simple elements to make a song much more than the sum of its parts. Rustic acoustic guitar, dry vocals and an old fashioned piano part combine to underlay the vocal with a haunting quality, adjoined by intermittent, string based sections. Track of the episode.

March Winds by Thomas Truax

‘Real Life’ by Alonestar (Reel Me Records, single)
A hip hop track from Alonestar, aka. Jethro Sheeran , this sits in a comfortable mid-tempo groove throughout and moves between rapped verses and choruses featuring man of the moment Ed Sheeran. There’s a funk element added with a trumpet line that makes a big difference to the overall feel.



To hear all these tracks now, subscribe to Labelled Independent, our partner podcast free - in doing so, you’ll make sure you’re always among the first to receive our new music to your device of choice.
Alternatively, you can hear individual podcast episodes where you can also keep up to date with plenty news & views from the UK independent music scene.

By
Steve Boniface

Art Imperial - Cult Of Love (Video)

The new video to title and opening track from the upcoming Art Imperial debut full length set for release on the 1st of May but you can head over to his bandcamp now to get a little listen. And trust us it’s pretty freaking amazing. A definite early contender for best album for the upcoming summer.

A Gap Between & Mafia Lights & Ellie Rowsell

Three more tracks of the day today.

The first comes from Portland’s A Gap Between, and has already started to pick up bits and bobs of hypes since it dropped a couple or so weeks back. He is currently working on his debut Ep, with no firmed up release date confirmed as of yet.

Summer Nightrunner by A Gap Between

The second is one we are coming slightly late to the game on, this track from Surrey based Mafia Lights first turned up at the very tail end of last month.

Spiriting (7" Vinyl Version) by Mafia Lights

And the final track comes from fellow Brits Wolf Alice.

Every Cloud by Ellie Rowsell

Natureboy & Fierce Creatures & The Magnetic North

The three tracks today work as an almost an anti-theises to those posted yesterday, as all of them broadly speaking can be slotted in to the(apologies for the lazy pigeon holing) Indie bracket.

The first tack from Natureboy, aka Sara Kermanshahi, a Brooklyn based first generation American of Iranian descent. It's being released off Paper Garden Records, who are already setting a blazing trail or amazing tracks in the short months we have already had of 2012.

Natureboy - Blow to the Head by Paper Garden Records

The second track comes from Natureboys label buddies Fierce Creatures, a band hailing from California, and one who has already started to generate their own small storm of hype. The track bellow Catacomb Party acts as the perfect partnership to the fast approaching sunnier months.

Fierce Creatures - Catacomb Party by Paper Garden Records

And the final track today comes from The Magnetic North a band biased out of Calgary Canada, and who's latest single (bellow) Bay Of Skaill is being released on London based independent label Full Time Hobby ahead of their debut full lengths release on the 7th of May.

The Magnetic North - Bay Of Skaill by fulltimehobby

Comodo & Maundrie Fox & Tonights Entertainment

It's a pretty electronic trio of tracks today.

The first comes from Comodo, a British producer based out Nottingham, and the track bellow is one half of his free double A-side single Havana/Float.

Comodo - Havana by Comodo.

The second comes from Maundrie Fox, an artist I know very little about, but mentioned back at the start of the month, but I thought I would highlight another track from this stunning South Korean artist.

maundrie fox - 03 one year sun shine by maundrie fox

And the final track comes from Tonight’s Entertainment, who is based out of Louisville. I don’t normally tend to like their stuff as it usually leans towards the more 'jump up' element of electronica, which is no dig just a personal preference, I do however love their latest, and far more mellow number bellow.

Talking In My Sleep by Tonights Entertainment

SHLOHMO - wen uuu (Unofficial Video)

It may not be legit, but I love the track, and the cut too much not to share.

Foool & Team Morale : Mixtapes

Couple of mixtapes to kick of today’s musical installments, and they both come from bands we have interviewed in the past (Foool & Team Morale).

The first comes from the band we never shut up about Foool, and follows up from their incredible debut mixtape from five or so months back. This is a lesson in how to compile a stunning ensemble of mellow music. I'm addicted.

'dust and crackle' by FooolMixtapes

The second, is a three track mini Ep of sorts from another band we have spoken about a couple of times, and interviewed at the tail end of last month; Team Morale. It is also pretty darn addictive.

Sisterland & HOUNDSds & Hotel Mexico

Sorry for the silence over the last couple of days, like the rest of the musical world we were down in Texas for the unbelievable SXSW. We are going to try to review it in the next couple of days, although I honestly have no idea how to even start to describe it.

But anyway, here are today's top three tracks, and as always I'm in a bit of a rush so it's going to be a bit of a lightning fast run through.


The first comes from Sisiterland, who we first mentioned on here back in mid January. I think I'm right in saying they are originally from Leister, but now hang their hat with Oxford's Blessing Force.

Milk & Honey by sisterland


The second comes from HOUNDSds who like so many good things come from Brooklyn.

The Sleeping King by HOUNDSds

And the final comes from Hotel Mexico, who have been gaining a lot of notoriety over the last couple of months, and hail from the always exciting Japan. This is the A-side to their latest single released on London's Double Denim Records.

DD011 - Hotel Mexico - A Space in the Loveless Field by Double Denim Records

SXSW - Preview - Part 5

The fifth and potentially final installment of our preview of SXSW, there are a lot more bands we really want to highlight, but there is a very good chance we will not be able to make it to a computer again until the festival kicks off.

Shlohmo kicks of the fifth part of the preview, and whilst he may be a bit obvious a choice, he is also clearly going to kill it.

Seriously (Live mix) by shlohmo

The second is a bit of an oldie and a band I’ve been hoping to catch live for years The Spinto Band.

Brown Boxes by SpintoBand

The third would probably signal the completion of my musical life if i get to see him, Lionel Richie I’m counting down the seconds...

Lionel Richie - Hello by Ianjb

And the fourth is another bit of an obvious one really. I first caught Tennis live when they played Madame JoJo's in London's Soho, and in all honestly they really left me a little underwhelmed, however I have been inundated with so many friends singing the duo's praises I can’t help but looking forward to having my opinion reversed.

Tennis - Origins by garrettsorrels

We also really want to take the chance to say thank you so much to Oxford Games, who have been more than generous in helping getting us to here.

Seapony & Jake Hart & The Answer Page and Red Adler

Likelihood is that this will be the last tracks of the day post for around a week. Most of the material coming off here will be SXSW related, sorry to rub salt in the wound people! However that is no reason to tune out if you’re not going to be in Texas for the foreseeable future, we will (hopefully!) be bring you new music from the latest and best acts at the festival, and we promise we won’t bang on about how much fun we are having.

So the first track today comes from Seapony, and comes out on the Seattle based label Hardly Art.

Seapony - Prove to Me by hardlyartrecords

The second track come is fresh off the press (so to speak) from London's Jake Hart, a soloist who is trully going from strength to strength, and who we mentioned a little while back.

Sometimes by jake hart

And the final track is a collaboration between The Answer Page and Red Alder (Kelsie Brown). And is pretty darn good.

The Answer Page & Red Alder - Solstice by The Answer Page

Celista & Seluah & Silence Moon

Sorry in advance but I’m in a massive hurry today, so the minimal amount we already say will be slightly reduced. The problem is that we already wrote this post and it seems to have just evaporated.... Apologies!

The first track is from the Icelandic Celista.

Brooklyn by Celista

The second track comes from Seluah

Seluah, “Sail Straight Into the Bombs” by karatebody

And the final track comes from Silence Moon, and who is also the women behind arguably the best trip hop and dark pop blog on the net.

Silence Moon - Think For Yourself (Demo) by Silence Moon

Villa Kang - Hallucinating Arkansas (Video)

New video from Villa Kang - Shot by David Kennedy

SXSW - Preview - Part 4

Another four tracks from four artist preview for the fast approaching SXSW. This continues on our little tour of what bands are making us count down the hours till we are in Austin, just over 24 if anyone was curious.

The first in today’s run down is New York based Young Magic, they have consistently been putting out great stuff for the last year or so.

Sparkly by Young Magic ☾

The second comes from a band we actually mentioned a couple of days back in the track of the day post Spectrals, this soloist from rural Yorkshire has been putting out brilliant track after brilliant track for a good few months now and looks set to kill it in Austin. He is also playing a boat load of shows.

Spectrals - Get A Grip by Spectrals

Next up is Jonquil, a band you are sure to know by now, and are sure to have heard us bang on about before. Humour us. Yet another brilliant example of how Oxford is amazing, never going to get bored of saying that. Fronted by Hugo Manuel, aka Chad Valley, it will be great to catch them since they put out their sophomore full length Point Of Go.

Jonquil -It's My Part by Jonquil

And the act for this part of the preview comes from the always amazing Willy Mason. He recently put out a new track that I can’t help but feel is his best to date. My love for him was re-inspired after I caught him play a stripped back set at the Glee Club in Oxford a few months back, and I was absolutely blown away by him, it’s going to be great to now see him with a full band in support

Willy Mason - "Restless Fugitive" by willymason

Keep Shelly in Athens - Our Own Dream

The new music video for Keep Shelly in Athens; Our Own Dream, written directed edited by Thanasis Tsimpinis.

Secret Mountains & Bon Chat, Bon Rat & Kishi Bashi

Three more tracks of the day today. Once again I’m in a bit of a hurry so going to keep this all fairly brief.

The first track is the latest release from Secret Mountains, and comes of their Winter Sessions, available on their bandcamp, and put out through Friends Records.

Secret Mountains - Golden Blue by friendsrecords

The second comes from Aussie Bon Chat, Bon Rat, and is a free download from his bandcamp.

Dust Proud (featuring Pepepiano) by Bon Chat, Bon Rat

And the final track Kishi Bashi, who will be playing the Paper Garden Records party at this year’s SXSW.

Kishi Bashi - It All Began With a Burst (SXSW 2012 Showcasing Band) by Paper Garden Records

SXSW - Preview - Part 3

Third installment in our non-linear run down of the bands that are getting us foaming with excitement as Austin's SXSW grows ever nearer.

The first act may seem slightly at odds with the music one would associate with us; however they were one of the first bands we ever spoke about on here way back in 2010. Just A Band hail from Kenya, which goes some way toward explaining my unnatural love for them. I spent a few years of my childhood growing up in Kenya, and since I moved back to the UK it is still a country that retains a immeasurable pull over me, I am simple besotted with all things coming out of that East African nation. That and Just A Band really are pretty amazing.

Just A Band - Ha-He by UpToYouToo

The second band up We Were Promised Jetpacks are label buddies (Fat Cat) with Breton who we mentioned in the Part 2 of our preview, and who will also be supporting them on their upcoming tour across the states later this year. They are another band I've been looking forward to catching having just missed out on seeing them last time they were out in New York.

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Picture of Health by grand royal

The third band in Part 3 of the run down comes from The Step Kids. I first got turned onto these guys when I caught them supporting The Horrors at the tail end of last year, and have been keeping an eye since they have gone from strength to strength since then. If they perform anything like they did last time around their live show promises to be visually phenomenal if nothing else.



The final act for this run down comes from a Texan native and blues wonder Gary Clark Jr, perhaps another act that may seem surprising for us to be highlighting. I am a huge lover of Blues music, although I admit I know nothing about it and am terrible at keeping up to date with what is going on in the scene. Gary caught my eye when a friend showed me footage of his set from last year’s SXSW and I was instantly gripped.

Gary Clark Jr. - Bright Lights - The Bright Lights EP by GaryClarkJr

Aloonaluna – Fall Like Leaves (video)

Latest video from the beautiful Aloonaluna, directed by Rachel Evans

Microplane & Paperfangs & Spectrals

Three tracks of the day on offer today, and I'm in a little bit of a hurry so may have to rush you through them.

The first comes from Porto based Mircoplane.

Fall [DEMO] by Microplane

The second comes from Finish three piece who are self described day dreamers: Paperfangs. The track bellow comes of their debut AAVVAV, which you can grab on cassette of download.

Paperfangs : I Felt The Ocean by Soliti

And the final track comes from the incredible Spectrals (who is actually on our bands to catch at SXSW) and it's his latest track about arguably one of the shitter scenarios to find yourself discarded into.

Spectrals - Friend Zone by stevefan

SXSW - Preview - Part 2

With Saturday ever nearing we continue our run down (in no particular order) of the gets getting us the hottest under the collar for this year’s SXSW.

The fifth band on our list is a bit of an obvious one, A$AP Rocky. Already blowing up around the world as the hottest thing in Hip/Hop it may seem a bit obvious to list the man everyone already knows. However one of the reasons I’m so excited is that a couple of months back I had tickets to go catch him play a show in Baltimore, however due to a bit of an emergency I was forced to rush back to Europe for a few days missing the show, since then he sat fairly secure on my list of acts I have to catch this year, and were else better than under the Texan sun.

ASAP Rocky - Wassup by beatsbaby

The next act on our list is almost as far from A$AP as you can get. Hailing from Berlin Apparat is in my humble opinion the best electronic musician releasing records at the moments; he literally embodies everything I love about the genre. I have been dyeing to see him since I first came across his material.

Ash / Black Veil by apparat

The seventh act on our list is the amazing Breton, a band from London who have seriously been turning heads over the last couple of months. I was lucky enough to catch up with Roman, the principle culprit behind the band when he was in New York mixing their debut full length Other People's Problems, however they weren’t playing shows, with all the promise of live video jockeying to accompany their music, these guys really are not one to miss.

Breton - the Commission by bretonlabs

The eighth, and final act for this part of the preview is Portland based spaced out pop act Blouse, we posted the video to their current single up a couple of days back.

Videotapes by BLOUSE

Lenticular Clouds - Supergravedad (video)

New video from Spanish chillwave perfectionist Lenticular Clouds.

Supergravedad by Lenticular Clouds

The Sinclair Sinclair & S / S / S & Is And Of The

First track of the day comes from The Sinclair Sinclair a indie electronic duo based out of Estonia, who we are currently in the process of interviewing.

Feel by thesinclairsinclair

The second is a bit of a rare one for Gruff, as it really isn’t all that often we feature Hip/Hop on these pages, for no other reason than we are terrible at keeping up with that is going on in the scene, however this track from S/S/S(Serengeti, Sufjan Stevens (!), and Son Lux)really caught our eye. It comes off the Beak & Claw EP being released by Anticon.

s / s / s - "Museum Day" by anticon

And the final track is the latest demo from long time favorites of ours Is And Of The.

Muted post horn (demo) by is and of the

SXSW - Preview - Part 1

With a week to go until the most exciting week in the musical calendar begins ( I feel like I can say that for 2012 with Glasto being a very obviously absent from the table) I thought it was high time we start our rundown of the acts who we are already getting so excited by we are foaming at the mouths. There really is no particular order to this list.

For me the most logical place to start was with a band from my home town who has been simply phenomenal in the closing months of last year and the start of this one. Chad Valley has simply gone from strength to strength over the last few months, and acted as the perfect embodiment of everything exciting about Blessing Force and the wider Oxford musical scene.

Chad Valley - Fast Challenges by Pulplab

The second band could not be more opposite from the laid back melodies of Chad Valley. Fidlar are a LA based four piece and one of the very few bands in recent months have gotten me excited about punk, or surf rock or whatever you want to call it. That and I hear very promising rumors about their live shows.

FIDLAR-Max Can't Surf by iameuanmackay

As anyone who has followed us since the close of last year will know we have taken any excuse possible to talk about the simple incredible Arrange, who's debut full length Plantation was my personal highlight of 2011. Although not officially playing the festival he is playing a few of the unofficial parties in Austin during the week.

When'd You Find Me? by arrange

And the final track comes from a band we haven’t banged on about nearly enough. We come late to the fan club for Pure X only picking them up on our radars after a friend turned us onto them, and since then their Pleasure LP has barely stopped playing on repeat.

Dry Ice by PURE X

Labelled Independent - Episode 13

We are very happy to announce and present to you a new feature we hope to be running for a long time to come. A few months back we started chatting to Steve over at Labelled Independent, this led to an interview with him a couple of weeks later, and a bit of cross promotion, and now it has evolved into him becoming a part time contributor. The theory is that after every episode of his podcast he will give you the rundown of his three favorite tracks. So without further ado I hand you over to Steve;

Labelled Independent is on location this month, the episode recorded backstage during a sound-check at a London EP launch. There’re drummers drumming, lights going out and top-half nudity in the background as we’re joined by Jack Kansas of London band Damn Vandals talking about their new EP. Also, as ever, a top selection of new independent tracks – an all around ear treat as usual, and here are the top three tracks:

‘Changes’ by These Raining Days (Ecco Artists, single out now)
A more spacious rock track with a strong building quality and an epic mid-tempo beat. Reverb laden guitar lines and vocals dominate to create a strong atmosphere. The song is the first of 3 singles leading up to a summer album from this Devon based three piece.

Changes Master by TheseReigningDays

‘Beautiful Mind’ from Damn Vandals (unsigned, ‘Beautiful Mind’ EP is out now)
An excellent example of the guitar driven rock being pushed by this London based 4 piece, this is the title track from their new EP. It has a Smiths feel to it and it’s well produced, and it’s also worth saying I’ve seen the band live and it’s even more impactful on stage.

Beautiful Mind by Damn Vandals

‘Look Around The Corner’ by Quantic & Alice Russell (Tru Thoughts, single out now)
This was named as track of the episode and also track of the month on the latest podcast, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a fabulous blend of retro sounds – think Motown, Carole King – and modern sensibilities. Beautiful stuff and a credit to all involved.

Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro - Look Around The Corner by Tru Thoughts

To hear all these tracks and more now, subscribe to Labelled Independent, our partner podcast, free by visiting -HERE- in doing so, you’ll make sure you’re always among the first to receive our new music to your device of choice, and all for free.

Alternatively, you can hear individual podcast episodes -HERE- where you can also keep up to date with plenty news & views from the UK independent music scene.
By Steve Boniface

Me And Oceans - The Pond EP

This is just a quick heads up that the follow up EP from 2010's Lakes, The Pond from Me And Oceans the Leipzig based solo project from Fab of A Forest is set to hit on the 14th of this month. As anyone who has been following us for any length of time will know we have a rather vast soft spot for bands coming off the continent, especially those with Germanic roots. And with the incredible music being put out by Me And Oceans and A Forest's label Analogsoul it becomes apparent why incredibly quickly. If there is any justice in the world this will be the year for both Me And Oceans, as well as A Forest.

Check out the Video for his latest single above, as well as a preview video for the EP bellow (it really is very good).



ME AND OCEANS / another weekend (radio edit) by analogsoul

My Kite by A Forest

Shlohmo - It Was Whatever (video)

Latest video from the ever stunning Shlohmo, directed by Monica Lek.