The Flying Change are that neatest of prospects, a band in full control of the instruments they play. As it happens only songwriter Sam Jacobs is a permanent member and his guests are carefully selected so that tunes like ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ can be given the studied treatment they deserve. And what a beautifully laconic charm it possesses beneath the lavish presentation and carefully intertwining male/female vocals. It’s taken from the Flying Change’s latest album ‘Pain Is A Reliable Signal’ which was borne out the excruciating and so far incurable back pain suffered by Jacobs' spouse. KD

The Flying Change - If You See Something, Say Something

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Year: 2009

For some reason I get the feeling that we’re gonna be hearing lots more of this particular ditty. Not sure why but it’s such a delicate creature so the more the merrier. ‘Kite’ is a particularly apt title given the woozy performances; instruments are played as if they’re tuning up for a beach bar performance while the vocals flutter like a dozen butterflies caught up in a warm sirocco breeze. The impression you get is that it fell together quite by chance but that would be to downgrade what is an ingenious ode to lazy summer days. KD

Lake - Kite

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Year: 2008

The biggest reward of this music blogging lark is the joy of discovery. The moment when you realise that the 5mb file lighting up your earphones will be a companion for years to come. If it weren’t for the nightly trawl these gems would likely never have hoved into view so the incentive to carry on never flags. Can play havoc with life beyond the blog but them's the breaks I guess. ‘123’ is what is steaming up my thick-rimmed this evening and it comes via a free last.fm download. So what if they are charging for their radio service now and at the same time dishing out precious data to record labels that want to put you in jail. I still have a soft spot for the audio compilers, sometimes I like to be able to find out what I was listening to on March 15th 2007. ‘123’ is taken from the ‘January’ EP released by Sheffield’s Little Glitches and proves to be a lo-fi gem. Could’ve been recorded on the bus such is its ruggedness but there’s no denying it’s classic bent and intention to reach beyond the stale and sticky carpet of indie ordinariness. Buy her some flowers, stick this tune on and that online affair will soon evaporate as quickly as a myspace friend. KD

Little Glitches - 123

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Year: 2009

Not really the type of 3 minutes I normally go for but it’s particularly futile to try and resist the acoustic glow contained within. The glow is in fact the title track from Andrews’ 2006 debut on Badman Recording Company (Starfucker). The best part is that Andrews doesn’t play it straight even if doing so would have been the easiest path to take. Such ingenuity shouldn’t go unnoticed and it is really nice to see how well received his self-released sophomore ‘Real Blasty’ has been. Who’d have believed that one man and his thoughts could be this much fun. KD

Kyle Andrews - Amos in Ohio

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Year: 2006

You can forgive them their Arcade Fire similarities as they do come from Canada after all. And from what I’ve heard for the most part the Most Serene Republic plough their own distinct furrow. ‘Present Of Future End’ is taken from 2007's ‘Population’ (the follow up ‘And The Ever Expanding Universe’ is due in July) and is stitched together with fantastical precision, the disparate parts forming a heart-warming whole. As you’d expect from an Arts & Crafts act there are quite a few members (seven) and while their sound can be full and flavoursome it is never overwhelming. Rather like a machine gun rapidly spilling out rainbow coloured cushions. KD

The Most Serene Republic - Present Of Future End

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Year: 2009

*** This is our song of the week (#8) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

Despite bringing pretty much the same formula to the table every time it’s hard not to be sucked into the world of the Field. This is dance music with cerebral connotations, a swirling mass of electronica that says nothing at all but still steadfastly grips the imagination. This track is taken from Alex Wilner’s (aka the Field) second LP ‘Yesterday and Today’ and includes some tinkering from maths and rocks loving Foals. The intriguing thing about the whole thing is how much our Alex is consumed with the shoegaze of yore so what initially may strike you as a colossus of noise soon ugly-ducklings itself into something altogether more architecturally sound. KD

The Field - The More That I Do (Foals Remix)

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Buy Songs: The Field
Year: 2009

November 10th 2007, Paddy’s day 2008 and 20th January just gone are all important dates in the annals of this blog because they precisely mark the occasions when we’ve posted tracks by Slushco. The Atlanta act is one of a handful that can be relied upon to bring a smile to our ears. And things got a whole lot when ‘The Silver Surface Demos’ proved to be absolutely faultless. ‘Astronaut’ made the inaugural indiecater comp and is probably the purest exponent of indie pop on the record. But there is so much more to enjoy over the 7 dollops of ingenuity. Brian Slusher has become adept at those awkward shifts in momentum that characterise his songs but despite the skewed dynamics pure melody remains the vital ingredient. Fail to be wowed by ‘Security System’ and you’ve no right darkening our door again. 23rd May 2009, not just another day in huggerland. KD

Slushco - Security System

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Year: 2009

It took everyone by surprise when SEBP scooped the Choice Music Prize last year. Must say I was delighted to see such an eclectic set of monkeys take the laurels especially since in ‘Softly’, ‘Propeller’ and ‘Mushie Shake’ they had created a trio of genuine nuggets. Seems the victory poked fingers in several influential eyes however and the SEBP backlash wasn’t long in coming. Nor was the follow up as it happens and in keeping with the current trend for including night in Irish album titles (‘The Nightsaver’ / ‘Nightcycles’) ‘Night Horses’ duly arrived earlier this month. ‘Night Horses’ may be an altogether more even album than it’s predecessor but it fails to land as many highlights. Both ‘Sonoro’ and ‘Comets’ have flashes of brilliance (interestingly both are fronted by up and coming female Irish artists) but only ‘Mark Hughes Top Corner’ has the wherewithal to be still notching up plays at the final whistle. So SEBP have managed to hit the crossbar twice and only time will tell whether their third effort will come packaged with that vital spark(y). KD

Super Extra Bonus Party - Mark Hughes Top Corner

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Year: 2009

Two Pittsburgh bands in as many days and with the Van Allen Belt threatening world domination could it be that the city is about to announce itself on the rock atlas? Hope so because we may get to hear acts as jumpy and chaotic as Ball of Flame Shoot Fire. Now the vocals may approximate the first practise session of the serengeti hyena barber quartet but they gel so seamlessly with the instrumental skidadle all you gotta do is thank the heavens they were ever conceived. ‘Mugs’ is daft and very loveable so all that's really left to do is drink it in. Ball of Flame Shoot Fire’s debut album ‘Jokeland’ is out now. KD

Ball of Flame Shoot Fire - Mugs

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Buy Songs: Ball of Flame Shoot Fire
Year: 2008

I likes me chirpy indie pop and right now I’m bathing in a whole album of the stuff courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Meeting of Important People (their self-titled debut). ‘Hanky Church’ is especially noteworthy even if I have avoided delving into the dark lyrics too heavily for fear of hating myself for enjoying the melodies so much. I keep hearing the Shins, but ones that have been kicked until they’re bruised and slightly angry at the world despite their outwardly shiny disposition. Look around this album and you’ll hear potential college radio hits everywhere, and in their path there will be scores of undergrads pouring over the lyric sheet trying to make sense of their lives. KD

Meeting of Important People - Hanky Church

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Buy Songs: Meeting of Important People
Year: 2009

*** This is our song of the week (#7) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

The Aran Islands are situated off the coast of Clare in the west of Ireland. All 3 are rugged and spectacularly beautiful. I remember waking up on a beach on Inis Thiar many moons ago and thinking I had washed up in paradise such was the beauty all around. That realisation emerged despite a throbbing and acutely painful reminder of the previous night (the inflicting instrument of my destruction was a banned potato based liquid if you must know). If you ever visit the islands they will leave an indelible mark. Despite the undoubted development they retain a uniquely Irish sense of themselves, the fact that the locals still (mostly) speak Gaeilge merely emphasises the point. So what would you think of an English band named British Sea Power soundtracking a 1934 documentary about the islands? In theory it shouldn't work, in practise the results are devastatingly apparent. BSP are no ordinary band (they are coastal for one) so that certainly helps but they've also shorn themselves of many of their own idiosyncrasies to create a piece that not only colours the black and white images but also manages to send a shiver down the spine amid the vividly stark and primitive life of an Islander in the early part of the last century. 'Man of Aran', the soundtrack, is a moody, largely voiceless, exhilarating ride that'll sweep you off your feet like a wintry Atlantic gale. It will take 'Man of Aran' beyond its traditional base to an audience that will have a feast of the senses to gorge on. KD

British Sea Power - No Man Is An Archipelago

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Year: 2009

These New Zealanders have been around for the longest time (25 years) but continue to remind us why they are one of the finest exponents of jangle pop. ‘Castle Lights’ is their latest single and is taken from their 7th album ‘The Guilty Office’. To say this fits into mp3hugger’s description of what a good song should sound like is akin to saying that a koala doesn’t half like dozing in the summer shade. Yep, we’re entranced and more than a little disappointed that the band have decided to leave Dublin off their current European tour. So difficult to resist a band that can produce such memorable laidback melodies. Some day soon they will be rightly hailed for the geniuses that they are. KD

The Bats - Castle Light

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Year: 2009

Prepare to be swept off your feet by this track from the latest Indiecater release ‘Everyone All At Once’. It comes from a relatively new Canadian band called the Rest who we think are pretty special. You can read all about the album over here but for the purposes of this post we are going to concentrate on the overwhelming persuasion of ‘Walk On Water’. This’ll put the wind in your hair on the calmest of days, it’ll have you seeking out the nearest revolution such will be the emotions stirred within and allowing for adequate volume levels it could quite likely dust your house from top to bottom. Given that bands from Canada used to come up with the goods on a regular basis it is somewhat reassuring that they can still manage to eclipse the competition to such devastating effect. KD

The Rest - Walk On Water (Auspicious Beginnings)

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Year: 2009

My head and bod are like lead after a weekend of excess so while they both sort themselves out this evening I am concentrating on getting fingers back into vigorous tapping action. And this song from Chicago’s Office will do just fine. Lead by what seems to have been the only Office constant Scott Masson the band has had a fairly prolific output since their inception in 2001 releasing 6 albums, the latest of which ‘Mecca’ can be downloaded for free. ‘Dominos’ is taken from 2007’s ‘A Night At The Ritz’ and boasts a cosy familiarity in its delightfully ripe melodies. In many ways it could single-handedly turn thoughts of the Noah troubling monsoon outside into convincing motivation to trawl the net for faraway summer escapes. KD

Office - Dominoes

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Buy Songs: Office
Year: 2007

The best thing about writing about the old stuff is that I can rely on memory instead of badly constructed myspace pages and misdiagnosed wiki’s. For the most of my late teens and twenties I was a heavy music magazine reader you see. Back then we had to rely on the odd Fanning discovery for our audio kicks. There was probably just as much music around then as there is now but it was presented through a sieve that left most of the interesting stuff in playlist makers dustbins. For a time in the mid nineties I thought I knew everything about alternative music, the truth of course was that I knew everything that was being fed to us through a straw. Thank god for the internet is what I say, at long last we can use our own rationale to decipher what is good and what will be on the nearest FM. That said given the throbbing intensity of modern supply I’m sure I’d never have fallen so deeply for bands like Stereolab and their obscure album tracks like ‘Transporte Sans Bouche’ which to this day still gives me butterflies. If I sound confused, it’s not intentional, I'm just getting old. KD

Stereolab - Transporte Sans Bouche

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Buy Songs: Stereolab
Year: 1994

In many ways the title of the song says it all. And ‘Sunday’ certainly deserves its moment in the moonlight, at the end of a hectic week when all that matters is that you slow to a standstill. Aindriú Conroy is from Kildare and you know that place has form when it comes to single men and their acoustic dilemmas. With such able competition it’s to Conroy’s credit that his music sounds so fresh when wrapped in such understated decoration. The voice and the acoustic accompaniment get a bad rap in Ireland and for good reason but when it’s done like this it becomes the most important sound around. Which means that Ain’s ‘Close To Cotton’ EP is a rich tapestry well worth clothing your ears in. KD

Ain - Sunday

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Buy Songs: Ain
Year: 2008

Written about the jazz singer rather than the northern holiday this is a remarkable effort from the still unsigned L.A. girl (mostly) band Warpaint. Their ‘Exquisite Corpse’ EP slipped by almost unnoticed but on this form it will be a once only aberration. ‘Billie Holiday’ is a hauntingly beautiful effort, similar to Cat Power in its simplicity and allure it could yet make dragging on a cigarette sexy all over again. The music while certainly taking second place provides the perfect adornment for the barely spoken lyrics. Nearly 6 minutes of utter wonder. KD

Warpaint - Billie Holiday

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Year: 2008

*** This is our song of the week (#6) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

Melbourne is about as cool as it gets music wise down under so it’s hardly surprising that this outfit call the place their home. ‘Sweet Disposition’ came out last year on an EP of the same name but you’ll likely be hearing lots more of it when the Temper Trap’s debut album ‘Conditions’ drops in July. The tune is indie gold, boasting a frenetic pacing and blessed with all manner of melodies. Dougy Mandag’s falsetto alone will likely have the girls in a spin. The band are about to embark on an extensive UK tour and will be briefly dropping by here in September via the Electric Picnic. KD

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

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Year: 2009

This’ll put hair on your balls. 10 minutes plus of hazy chord drone, momentum slowly building from thought processes that don’t stray too far from the initial bombardment. It’s as if some luftwaffe scrappage was melted down and recast into Richard Quirk’s guitar such is the racket that emerges. The Chasms don’t really do short blasts as most of the cuts from their debut album extend well beyond the 5 minute mark. So you’re left with buildings of noise, the walls shake but who cares when there’s a nuclear winter going on outside. The 3-piece Isle of Man outfit are not only giving their ‘Advance Paranoia, Advance’ album away as a free download but you can also pick up their CD for gratis too (donations are welcome mind). Could be the best money you never spent. KD

The Chasms - I Couldn't Walk

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Try Songs: The Chasms
Year: 2009

Put it down to some peculiar twist of character but I prefer the notion of what the Cocteau Twins sounded like to the actual evidence. I know this because I don’t have a particularly long list of their songs that I rely on during moments of nostalgia (these hankering moments occur every other day). Mention Slowdive, Ride, the Boo Radleys or the Stone Roses and I can rattle off a long list of glorious nuggets that’ll buff up my rose tinted spectacles every time. One explanation could be that my listening years just missed out on the band at their peak (in much the same way I find nothing particularly illuminating about the Smiths). But putting all that aside I can recognise brilliance when I hear it and ‘Iceblink Luck’ is most definitely a classic of its kind (from their best album 'Heaven or Las Vegas'). Liz Frazier’s vocals defined ethereal and with Robin Guthrie’s guitars they created the bands uniquely dreamy sound. KD

The Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck

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Year: 1990

I’ve only ever given the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion time when a video of theirs wandered onto one of my late night music video marathons. It was never a happy occasion it must be said, they always struck me as ridiculously noisy without the slightest sense of melody. Probably way off the mark but that’s my uncultured take. So it came as a major surprise when I found myself all over this tune from a JSBE offshoot Men Without Pants (more embarrassing than hats). Gillian Rivers could a major reason; her feisty vocals flood the tune with an intensity that not even the ductile music can match. Think Shirley Manson with added femininity and you get the drift. Really looking forward to the video. KD

Men Without Pants - My Balloon

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Year: 2009

For many this particular tune probably won’t amount to a hill of beans but for those raised on a student diet of early nineties dreampop it may be a lovely reminder of the way things used to be. You can also hear a pre-throwthekitchensinkatit Animal Collective, something I’d wish they’d return to pretty fast. Lotus Plaza is the work of Lockett Pundt, he of Deerhunter fame (why should Bradford have all the side project fun) and his debut ‘The Floodlight Collective’ was released earlier this year. ‘Whiteout’ is as melodic as the Scottish band of the same name, bedecked in simplistic swirls and circular chords. Mysticism for the common man in other words. KD

Lotus Plaza - Whiteout

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Year: 2009

I really like this band, have done since hearing the charming jangle of 'Poltis'. That said I can't help feeling a little disappointed with their debut album 'Nightcycles', especially since there is nothing really on the album to rival that first impression. There are plenty of positives, Phil Boughton's vocals are wonderfully tailored to the finely tuned instrumentation and when Subplots lift the tempo there are few Irish bands that can match them for understated passion. The problem is 'Nightcycles' rarely moves beyond a strolling pace and while this is initially enjoyable when it's spread over ¾ of an album it gets a little samey. Perhaps not finding that second gear is the whole point and there might well be a sizeable audience on the lookout for laid back dynamics and thrills masquerading as cushions. Like 'Anchors & Kites' which is really lovely, especially when it develops greater fluidity in the second half. I just can't escape the feeling that there is something much better on the way from this outfit. KD

Subplots - Anchors & Kites

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Buy Songs: Subplots
Year: 2009

Although scattered with highlights nothing quite caught my imagination more on Capitol Jay’s debut LP ‘Strangers In My House’ than opening track ‘Prelude’. It’s one of those numbers that makes me well up, can’t say why but I know it is a happy sob. Pity it couldn’t have been longer but hey that’s the thing with preludes I guess. Capitol Jay have a lot of band members and this album has been in the making for a good few years, not surprising then that ‘Strangers In My House’ is expertly played and flush with wonderful ideas. ‘Prelude’ is instinctive, emotional and demonstrates a perfect union between voice and instrument. Swoon. KD

Capitol Jay - Prelude

More Info: Official & Myspace
Free Songs (but donate): Capitol Jay
Year: 2008

They’ve got a little more mild mannered since their last appearance here but then it is hard to recreate insanity on record every time. And no they haven’t gone and given that venerable Bruce record the A/F treatment. This is a newbie from the recently downsized threesome and will form part of their next record ‘Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free’ (due tomorrow). As ever it has tonnes of character, preferring the windy over the straight ahead but then that’s what makes Akron/Family such an interesting prospect. Their live shows have become the stuff of legend but behind the randomness there is a seam of brilliant creativity. You gotta feel sorry for all the other bands out there having to measure up to this greatness. KD

Akron/Family - River

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Akron/Family
Year: 2009

What do you look forward to the most to with the arrival of summer? Is it the stretch in the evenings, the smell of freshly cut grass, escaping the travails of work for a couple of weeks or the local summer festival wherein sleepy towns turn into downtown San Antonio? Yep, all of the above and more but this year it’s going to be even better because the Very Most have recorded a ‘Summer’ EP just for the occasion. The EP is the 2nd of 4 in 2009 for the A Year With The Very Most project between ourselves and the band. ‘Summer’ is a download only release which means we can offer it to you for the meagre outlay of €2.50. To wet your appetite here is a cloud banishing excerpt called ‘You're In Love With The Sun’. If this makes you happy imagine that feeling quadrupled, get thee to Indiecater and watch your smile bloom. KD

The Very Most - You're In Love With The Sun

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Buy Songs: The Very Most
Year: 2009

Could this be the sound of just 2 people? Seems to be that Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner are the only rudders within Wye Oak and surely the release of ‘The Knot’ (out on Merge Records this July) will be when their ship truly comes in. The album is just their second together and ‘Take It In’ is our love at first sight glance. The song is nothing short of incendiary, brooding one minute, bursting into incandescent life the next. Zidane, if he were not so Mogwai inclined. Wasner’s voice is the stuff of greatness, drawing attention to itself despite the tumultuous instrumentation that surrounds. Those bored of the perpetuating banks of indie landfill now have a brand new sonic skyscraper to gaze upon. KD

Wye Oak - Take It In

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Year: 2009

*** This is our song of the week (#5) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

Belfast FM is neither a radio station nor a group from Northern Ireland. They come from slightly more northerly in fact, Reykjavík to be precise. Last year’s ‘How To Make Friends’ made plenty of them back home in Iceland and going on the strength of ‘Underwear’ it could soon have friends in every port. Especially German ones as the song has a sort of robotic techno feel to it but thankfully one that also boasts a forgiving feminine side (due mainly to Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir’s vocals). This definitely has the legs to become an underground hit. KD

FM Belfast - Underwear

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Year: 2008

It’s often the simple things in life that are the most treasurable. The same can often be said of music and on the recent split release from Paul O’Reilly and At Last At Atlas this truth is borne out. The latter’s contribution was conceived and recorded at home by Greg O’Brien (he is also a member of Dublin band the Hollows) and is as touching as it is fragile. The music while skeletal has undeniable passion and O’Brien’s near spoken vocals are soft and precise. Don’t listen too intently for it might break. KD

At Last An Atlas - In Time

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: At Last An Atlas
Year: 2009

Been a while since we’ve discovered meaningful electronica but all that changed as soon as a double whammy of I and I mp3s arrived in our inbox. Adam Sarmiento is the whiz on the controls with a direct line to David Byrne’s vocal chords. ‘White Noise/Black Music’ is his 2nd and newest album and it has a pleasurable range of computer thrills. ‘The Bottom’ is nifty electronica, slightly deranged but still perfectly danceable to if you’re flexible. It actually starts out pretty linear but along the way manages to take lots of lopsided diversions. And thankfully none of them end up being a road to nowhere. KD

I And I - The Bottom

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Buy Songs: I And I
Year: 2009