Perhaps the only song in the world that I know all the words to. You see when you are 7 and your record collections consists of five pieces of vinyl you tend to focus on the intricacies. The Wombles were cuddly creatures from a TV show from the distant past and apart from delighting youngsters they also came complete with a wonderful songwriter in the shape of Mike Batt. Batt has never really shook his association with the Wombles even though he has written songs as captivating as Art Garfunkel’s ‘Bright Eyes’ (from Watership Down) and the perennial Christmas standard ‘A Winters Tale’ (David Essex). More recently he has been working with Katie Melua. Of course ‘Superwomble’ is juvenile but it boasts some marvellous harmonies, a honky tonk rhythm and the best slapdash harmonica you’ll hear this side of the swamps. KD

The Wombles - Superwomble

Watch The Wombles Remember You're A Womble

More Info: Mike Batt
Buy Album: [UK] The Very Best of the Wombles [US] Best of Wombles
Year: 1975

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Geez, I need to clear my head of all memories from the last couple of footballing hours. Yep, the aristocracy has been slain by a master class in organisation and mental strength. Ah well, I guess in 4 years time Lionel Messi won’t have to sit on the sidelines waiting for his chance. Ok, here’s Times New Viking, a band who released a few cassettes and were promptly forgotten about until the owner of a defunct label heard some of the tracks. He promptly reconvened his project for the sole purpose of releasing the unloved music. Cue, universal acclaim for the ramshackle audio with a bulging heart. ‘We Got Rocket’ probably won’t be many people’s soup yet the way it discards it functions about the place is the perfect two fingered salute to an industry sold on pristine knob twiddling. Here’s to not playing it by the rules, where heart finally gets a look in over a level head. KD

Times New Viking - We Got Rocket

More Info: Times New Viking
Buy Album: [UK] Dig Yourself [US] Dig Yourself
Year: 2005

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There’s a band from Australia called Gerling who have a unique take on quirky melody. They have to date passed under the radar, which is a shame because they’ve given zany pop a credible champion. Melbourne’s Architecture in Helsinki (yeah!) plough a similar furrow but seem destined for greater things. ‘Maybe You Can Owe Me’ is one of the standout tracks from their current album ‘In Case We Die’. The cymbal interplay that opens the song blends perfectly with a light piano riff and beautifully hushed vocals. Topping these events though is a free flowing montage of effervescent noise that periodically pokes its head around the corner. Add in a one-sided love story and the result is Belgium chocolate for your eardrums. KD

Architecture In Helsinki - Maybe You Can Owe Me

Watch The Video For Do The Whirlwind

More Info: Architecture In Helsinki
Buy Album: [UK] In Case We Die [US] In Case We Die
Year: 2005

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Mclusky was the name of a trio of musicians from Cardiff who broke up sometime last year. Much was made of their Pixiesque sound, a fact that was hardly alleviated by the presence of Steve Albini on many of their releases. The anger coarsing through their material even rivalled the notoriously fuming Nottingham act Six By Seven. Take ‘Alan Is A Cowboy Killer’ for example; a contemporary classic if ever there was one. Lifted from the bands most venerated album ‘Mclusky Do Dallas’ the song veers between brooding menace to venomous meltdown. Andy Falkous is deranged as he delivers his lines at full pelt while the guitars screech like shuttle tyres breaching the runway for the first time. Stick this on for the crowd who can’t contain themselves after several minutes of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. This is magical escapism that'll affect even the sedate amongst you. Mclusky’s best moments can be found on ‘Mcluskyism’, out now. KD

Mclusky - Alan Is A Cowboy Killer

More Info: Mclusky
Buy Album: [UK] Mcluskyism [US] Mcluskyism
Year: 2006

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Rotary Ten proclaim that ‘Lincoln is our heart, Sheffield is our limbs, and the A57 is our pulmonary artery’. As James Trafford is their singer does that mean that Manchester is their vocal chords? Enough with such idle speculation and on with the incendiary music that Rotary Ten produce. Well it certainly has its eye trained on U2 circa ‘Boy’ (at least musically) with the inevitable Joy Division nod also drifting through on occasion. ‘Advancing’ is a rip-roaring effort, jammed full of bubbly guitar lines, punishing percussion and Trafford’s full-blooded delivery. Along the way you’ll find chords that twinkle like stars and even the odd glockenspiel intermission. Rotary Ten’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed either with the German based Firestation Records already including them on a compilation of British artists which also includes the Lodger and the Pipettes. KD

Rotary Ten - Advancing

More Info: Rotary Ten
Year: 2006

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If you’ve fallen for the earthy graces of the Clientele/My Bloody Valentine (I know!) you’ll probably also be a sucker for Philadelphia’s Mazarin. Led by the exotically named Quentin Stoltzfus, Mazarin have just returned from a 10 month tour promoting their 3rd LP ‘We’re Already There’. Heralded as a vessel for transporting squeezable tunes to your ears it seems to have been lost in the cattle crush of material that the internet habitually turns out 24/7. Sometimes it is better to step back and absorb and with ‘We’re Already There’ you better make like a human sponge. ‘Another One Goes Boy’ is a choice cut with its hazy vocals and dreamy holiday time instrumentation. You can almost picture the band recording this as they slowly swayed in time dressed only in hula skirts, not concerned with choosing the wrong chords just playing music to suit their sunny dispositions. KD

Mazarin - Another One Goes By

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] We're Already There [US] We're Already There
Year: 2005

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Imagine Gemma Hayes with a hint of urgency, less preoccupied with production values and wigging it until her whole body creaks and you get an insight into Nina Hynes' ‘Mono Prix’. Yeah, it’s pretty special, not least because it is a loose canon with enough ammunition to shoot down all your prejudices against broody young female singers. Having a backing band called the Husbands probably adds some balance I guess and if only Ms Hynes could be a bit more prolific she could certainly break new territories. As it is, she remains one of Dublin’s best kept secrets, a Celtic Tigress take on Rilo Kiley. Shimmering guitar lines, bouncy sundayesque vocals and an eye for off-kilter arrangements always win the day round these parts. She's even supplied backing vocals to the much underrated Michael Knight at the appropriately named Sugar Club recently. Personality is an important commodity and Hynes music displays one that is vivacious. Signed to Reverb records this is magic stuff, so much so that she decided to write a song about it (which includes an ace Troggs entrance and wonderful Wonka moment at the end). KD

Nina Hynes - Mono Prix

Nina Hynes - This Magic Stuff

More Info: Nina Hynes
Buy Nina Hynes': [UK] Creation [US] Staros
Year: 1999 & 2002

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This is so out there it could have been conceived by alien remixers taking shelter on earth from a comet shower. ‘Overnight Star’ lifts the idea of the mash to a new level and is the product of 2 DJ’s (Curt Cameruci and Josh Young) from Chicago who are collectively known as Flosstradamus. You’ll know one half of ‘Overnight Star’ as Sigur Ros’ spectral ‘Staralfur’. The other ingredient is Twista’s ‘Overnight Celebrity’. This is in the same ballpark as what the Klaxons are coming up with, namely it casts an admiring glance back at the early daze of acid house with its trip heavy beats. The marriage is instantly agreeable with the rapper spraying words about like confetti while the Icelandic strings provide a ready antidote. KD

Flosstradamus - Overnight Star

More Info: Flosstradamus
Year: 2006

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When a beat up promo arrived from faraway I was not necessarily filled with wide-eyed anticipation. It had a crude print of an animal on its front and words that seemed to say the Ugson. Once immersed in the stereo, however, ‘The Pig Sun’ played the coolest slackers hand I’ve been dealt since the last Stephen Malkmus full-length. The Ghosts Of Pasha are relative unknowns, signed to a small label and on the go since 2003. ‘The Pig Sun’ is their second LP and if it gets the proper airing it could likely become a cult sensation. Over 17 short lo-fi blasts the band take Pavement’s blueprint and turn it into an appropriate shade of corduroy. The production is hands off and the loose playing suggests that many of the takes were spontaneous. ‘This Is E Boozler’ is so convinced of its own carefree ways that the subtle melodies drift about without supervision, in fact if this were vinyl you’d be searching for the warp. Told another way it is the sequel to the almost forgotten majesty of ‘Kennel District’ (go seek). There are 16 more desirables where this came from and when Chris Partyka hits J Mascis form you can’t help but be enchanted. ‘The Pig Sun’ is one of the most rewarding albums to be released in 2006. The band are already working on the follow-up, with a working title of ‘Way To Go, Glove’ it promises to be 60 songs over 2 discs. My my, Ryan Adams will have to watch his back. KD

Ghosts Of Pasha - This Is E Boozler

More Info: Ghosts Of Pasha
Buy Ghost of Pasha's: The Pig Sun
Year: 2006

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Just when it looked like there may be a lull in the Swedish invasion along comes Stockholm based Loney, Dear. Emil Svanangen is the main protagonist but his loneliness is partially soothed by a revolving cast of side players. Loney, Dear recently supported Belle & Sebastian, which seems like an appropriate starting point in pinpointing their sound. ‘The City, The Airport’ is taken from the latest LP ‘Sologne’ and represents a vision that is both carefree and adventurous. You can hear, whisper it, evidence of the Scissors Sisters/Bee Gees yet ‘The City, The Airport’ will never frequent a populist dancefloor. Pleasure in its locomotive nature and the times when it threatens to overflow into a shout it from the rooftops rhapsody. This is as uplifting as a particularly powerful gust of wind. KD

Loney, Dear - The City, The Airport

More Info: Loney, Dear
Buy Album: [UK] Sologne [US] Sologne
Year: 2005

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Numbers are the sound of Bis before they grew up and flung their homemade fanzines into a corner. They are rebellious, noisy, unkempt but still capable of triggering a nod of approval quite regularly. Take the best bits from their back catalogue beginning in 1999 right up to present day and condense them into a albums worth of material and you’d have a heavenly collection. Listen to ‘Beast Life’ from last years ‘We’re Animals’ for some ‘On This Home On Ice’ guitars and Indra Dunis’ virtuoso vocal performance that displays enough personalities to fill a college dorm. Numbers are from San Francisco, have a rep from partying and have been known to dip their toes in other bands so looks like they’ll be around for a bit. Career musicians I think it’s called, except in this case there is plenty of talent to back up the lifestyle choice. KD

Numbers - Beast Life

More Info: Numbers
Buy Album: [UK] We're Animals [US] We're Animals
Year: 2005

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With the first phase over and the real exciting stuff about to begin here is a group of songs based around the theme of the World Cup. KD



The Wrens - Yellow Number Three

Buy The Wrens's: [UK] The Meadowlands [US] The Meadowlands


The Spinto Band - Japan Is An Island

Buy the Spinto Band's: [UK] Nice and Nicely Done [US] Nice and Nicely Done


The Redneck Manifesto - I Am Brazil

Buy the Redneck Manifesto's: [UK] I Am Brazil [US] I Am Brazil


The Like Young - Sharp (is) Or Messi

Buy the Like Young's: [UK] Art Contest [US] Art Contest


The Ivory Coast - Traveler

Buy the Ivory Coast's: [UK] Clouds [US] Clouds


Zinedines - Twice Upon A Time

Buy Zinedines's: [UK] Take Me Take Me [US] Take Me Take Me


The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart

Buy the Go Team's: [UK] Thunder, Lightning, Strike [New Edition With Two Extra Tracks] [US] Thunder, Lightning, Strike


Ron Sexsmith - Not About To Lose

Buy Ron Sexsmith's: [UK] Time Being [US] Time Being


Sambanana - Aquarela Do Brazil


Pele - Crisis Wins

Buy Pele's: [UK] Enemies [US] Enemies


Page France - Chariot

Buy Page France's: [UK] Hello, Dear Wind [US] Hello, Dear Wind


Owen - (no) Places To Go

Buy Music By Owen: Owen


Future Kings Of Spain - Venetian Blinds

Buy the Future Kings Of Spain's: [UK] Future Kings of Spain [US] Future Kings of Spain


Rooney - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Buy Rooney's: [UK] Rooney [US] Rooney


Beirut - Postcards From Italy

Buy Beirut's: [UK] Gulag Orkestar [US] Gulag Orkestar


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