So School of Seven Bells make a return and to these ears at least they continue to pickpocket from the ye olde sound of Stereolab (with a dash of Cocteau thrown in for good measure). Circa ‘Mars Audiac Quintet’ if memory serves me correctly, or stated in laymen terms about the time that Franco-Anglo act were utterly swoonsome. School of Seven Bells are headed that way and are abetted by the fact that the vocals are provided by 2 sirens. Hard to listen while making that disconnect from desire (!) but even with the aesthetics removed ‘Babelonia’ makes for a virile couple of minutes. The aforementioned sophomore is out in mid July. KD

School of Seven Bells - Babelonia

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: School of Seven Bells
Year: 2010

Sound Team’s greatest achievement was undoubtedly their ‘Work’ EP. A couple of years of bright invention like that should have seen them ride into the sunset. As it turned out that’s exactly what happened and Bill and company are probably much happier with that ongoing conclusion. The Rollercoaster Project remind me of Sound Team except that in this case it is a band of one, consisting of Johnny White from Sheffield. ‘What Happened’ is a track from his debut album and I was immediately, and quite curiously it must be said, drawn back to ‘It’s Obvious What’s Happening Here’. The experimental shenanigans mean that the song starts out ambitiously and then retreats into swirly experimentation before somewhat losing the plot in a deluge of synthesia. Entralling stuff. KD

The Rollercoaster Project - What Happened

More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: The Rollercoaster Project
Year: 2009

This is such a loose canon, an individual in a sea of replicants, something to treasure before manufactured pop kills us all. And for all its eccentricities I can’t help feeling it was put together by someone in control of his vision as opposed to a ramshackle that made its way into the studio one lazy sunny afternoon. The vision provider is one Alex Ebert, an unloved addict with a penchant for school going vehicles. ‘Home’ was a success down under and there’s no reason to suggest it couldn’t be the same up over. The Zero Magnetics play like a less rigid Polyphonic Spree and I’m sure for most of the time playing in the band is a complete blast. From a certain angle Ebert even looks like Jesus, I’m sure the band's followers already think he’s a God. KD

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Year: 2010

Day 2 of our ‘Fast Forward’ preview and this time the tune has Irish origins. Funny that too when you consider that we won’t even be competing but when did the Irish ever turn down a great party? We’ve been partial to the determinedly quirky Grand Pocket Orchestra for a couple of years now so it was such a delight when they said they would take on Nigeria as part of our World Cup compilation. And this while they were beavering away on their debut album at the same time. The results proved to an absolute delight, a carnival of exotic noises, marching band eccentricities and a vocal input that provides a central point to the madness going on all around. ‘Nigeria’ is one of 32 on ‘Fast Forward’ which is available for a fiver from the Indiecater site. Go Super Eagles. Pic above courtesy of Loreana Rushe. KD

Grand Pocket Orchestra - Nigeria

More Info: Football Comp & Grand Pocket Orchestra
Buy Songs: Fast Forward
Year: 2010

Well, you are going to have bear with me for the next couple of days as I endlessly plug the newest Indiecater release. The reason is two fold owing to its football themed matter and the fact that it contains many of the bands that make our world go round. We’ve called it ‘Fast Forward’ because it contains a corresponding entry for every country that is going to be playing in the World Cup in South Africa next month. We’ve cleared the decks and bought in the beer so that our daily feast of super football can be thoroughly enjoyed well into July. What we thought was missing was some tunes to colour the occasion so now there are 32 of them to be had on ‘Fast Forward’. And all it costs is the price of a rubbish football or 5 euro for those who don’t know how much such things cost. To get you in the mood here is a mandolin infused ditty from Italian popsters Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, it's so sweet. ‘Fast Forward’ is streaming in full on the Indiecater site so that even the poor, the tight-fisted and those put upon illegal downloaders can appreciate it. KD

Le Man Avec Les Lunettes - Don't Get Fooled By the Football Players' Summery Outfit

More Info: Football Comp & Le Man Avec Les Lunettes
Buy Songs: Fast Forward
Year: 2010

Can’t remember if it was Morrissey or Noel Gallagher (or someone similar with a poor track record in spotting new talent) who said that the Boxer Rebellion would be ones to watch. This generally reads that they are to be avoided like the plague but perhaps on the evidence of this song there is something special going on. And even then things start out so generic to the point of blandness, the song doesn’t reach old skool Radiohead neck hairs on end until well into its second minute. By then however, anything goes and ‘Flashing Red Light Means Go’ reaches for the jugular. Must have made quite the opening on the band’s second LP ‘Union’ and I shall for one shall keep my ears pricked for the follow-up which the London act are currently in the process of recording. So very special. KD

The Boxer Rebellion - Flashing Red Light Means Go

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: The Boxer Rebellion
Year: 2009

Of course it would need to be a world stops spinning type masterpiece to eclipse the original but Rozi Plain almost achieves the impossible. On this occasion ‘The Lang Toun’ might be decidedly shorter but the wide-eyed nature of Plain’s reworking is bright and skittish. No wonder our very own Maeve Higgins has used it to great effect in her new cooking programme. Could she do for food what Tommy Cooper did for magic? I hope so because she really is a gas (hob). Rozi Plain released her debut ‘Inside Over Here’ on Fence Records (the Yorkston connection) and works on a ferry by day which must make for lots of happy tea breaks on board. KD

Rozi Plain - The Lang Toun

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Rozi Plain
Year: 2008

Last year for SXSW I was able to do 5 days worth of song compendiums taken from the humongous mp3 torrents featuring the majority of the performing bands at the showcase. Volume 2 included ‘Solid Gold’ from the NY based duo the Golden Filter. This year with a nipper biting at my ankles nowhere near the same amount of attention could be afforded to the mighty mountain of newness. Slowly though the chaff is being ejected and wouldn’t you know it only this evening I happened upon this beaut, which again appeared from the loins of Stephen Hindman and Penelope Trappes. It is taken from their brand new LP ‘Voluspa’ and is resplendent in the Saint Etienne sound of yore, which we are old enough to remember, and get dewy eyed about (but maybe that’s just the new spectacles). The Golden Filter appear to be a class act that effortlessly reimagine past glories without ever sounding in the least bit unoriginal. In other words they sound really nice. KD

The Golden Filter - Hide Me

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: The Golden Filter
Year: 2010

We had this Florida duo on here before and we still know very little about them apart from the fact that every time we hear them we sit up. They specialise in a woozy style of out of focus electronica, the sort that could reveal very little behind the smokescreen. Of course, and we’re putting our money on this assumption, they could quite easily be the future of music. For now we’ll dewax and listen intently for all the interesting bits to be found strewn around ‘Jimmy Dove’, a single that appeared in January. Blind Man’s Colour have already denounced US style misspellings and as such are waiting for Europe to return the gesture with a millionish sales. KD

Blind Man's Colour - Jimmy Dove

 More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Blind Man's Colour
Year: 2010

A charity record with a difference, for one Buffet Libre’s ‘Peace’ compilation is a download only affair, secondly it comes with a not insubstantial tracklisting of 180 songs. Amazing and given some of the names – Mogwai, Malajube, the Antlers, the Spinto Band and Dan Deacon – it should be an essential purchase (from as little as 5 euro, Amnesty is the recipient charity). The song that has been doing the rounds the most on my player has been this one from Denmark’s Cartridge. The thing that struck me about ‘Black Roads’ was how close it sounded to an old JJ72 song in places, that was the sweetener and pretty soon I loved the rest of it. That’s because it achieves that perfect balance between indie anthem and electro hip swayer. Plenty of oxegen in this one then making it a paper cut above the rest. KD

Cartridge - Black Roads

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Peace: The Compilation
Year: 2010

It may come from an album called ‘Mellow Funk’ but that’s one description that won’t sit easy with Milan Jay’s ‘Avenue’. Quite simply it is a tour de force comprising Daft Punk remixing Jean Michel Jarre as they both find themselves down in Gaillimh on a wet and windy Saturday. Thankfully there’s no sign of the dreaded vocoder but Milan does call Galway home so that summation is only a partial untruth. ‘Mellow Funk’ is being given away for free on bandcamp and it is an enjoyable trip inside the insides of a korg. ‘Avenue’ is by far the nuttiest composition and all the better for it, its got legs and it sure knows how to use them. Now if Milan could only hook up with Low Sea and Nouveau Noise there’d be a very special night on the cards down shop street. Galway abu! KD

Milan Jay - Avenue

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Milan Jay
Year: 2009

Not even sure how obscure or not this song is given that the only time I'd heard it was as the intro to Gerry Ryan's night-time show of the same name. Hard to believe he is gone and even more of a tragedy that he has left us so young. His television persona was quite appalling but on the radio this man was a colossal talent. And it is the Lights Out show that I'll remember him for (Mrs hugger adored his morning show it must be said). I can still hear him lining up the 12-inch of Stephen Tintin Duffy's ‘Icing On The Cake’ for the umpteenth time and at that stage in his career he did seem to have a keen ear for new music. This may have been as a result of his days on pirate radio but as his career moved on I would smile when he was described as a DJ given that his record collection was probably growing by about 3 albums per year. I will forever be indebted to him for helping get me through what was a barren musical landscape in the west of Ireland during my youth. Rest in peace. KD

Peter Wolf - Lights Out

Stephen Tintin Duffy - Icing On The Cake (12-inch Remix)

More Info: Peter Wolf / Stephen Tintin Duffy
Buy Songs: Peter Wolf / Stephen Tintin Duffy
Year: 1984 & 1985

The first thing that sprang to mind was Phoenix meets hip hop central and given I know little about the former and less about the latter I could be way off the mark with that assessment. I guess all that matters is that ‘Losing The Signal’ is a pretty delicious tune, crossing genres with consummate ease and sparking delightfully between bridge and chorus. It comes from XV, a 23 artist from Kansas who’s latest ‘The Kid With The Green Backpack’ sees him take his passions and turn them into a fantastical soundtrack. This is really wonderful, something that even hip-hop luddites like me can call their own. KD

XV - Losing The Signal

More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: XV
Year: 2010

Quite how much nouveau noise will be appearing on this blog remains to be seen given how those in higher positions are starting to rattle the change box in front of music bloggers from round these parts. Darragh, Nialler and Jim have all explained the situation clearly so check out the reaction and watch this space (empty though it may be very soon) for tearful shutdown notices (on the eve of our 5th birthday too, boo hoo). Blimey, if having to anxiously wait for blogger to delete auld hugger wasn’t bad enough we now have the spectre of a court appearance because we’ve spent too much time writing about the bands we love. Wonder if Seanie or Fingers had had a music blog whether they’d have had to endure the same appreciation, nah I’m sure they’d have called in a few favours and just posted a high bitrate version of the new Band of Horses album instead. And to make matters worse beautiful Barca were dumped out tonight too. Makes for a load of cinnte, as supplied by this really fine electronic act from Galway called Nouveaunoise. KD

Nouveaunoise - Cinnte

More Info: Official & Myspace
Free Songs: Nouveaunoise
Year: 2010

Forget the fact that the first thing that pops into your head is the Divine Comedy for these lads are in a different league altogether. A leave of extraordinary pale young gentlemen (and the odd fine lady) one could say but then such ridiculous asides shouldn’t detract from what is a prospect that is surely a gonna be. The Wisconsin troupe have 2 albums to their name and are currently working on the follow-up to ‘Black Forest (tra la la)’ from which this piece of delicious quirk is taken. Not often you find a band worth spending more than 5 minutes with but PYG are certainly worth the pause. Something for the weekend and beyond then. KD

Pale Young Gentlemen - Kettle Drum (I Left A Note)

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Pale Young Gentlemen
Year: 2008

Crikey, can it really be 4 years since Mojave 3’s sweet popsicle of love ‘Puzzles Like You’, the album that showed us that Slowdive was well and truly buried and in its place was a fully-fledged powerpop machine. Took me by surprise I must say given what had preceded it, with Mojave 3 normally content with peddling pleasant if hardly life changing country twang. ‘Kill The Lights’ and its brethren (‘Breaking The Ice’ my heart is still yours) were straight out of the handbook on how to craft perfect melodies. Since then there has a been a solo album or 2 but nothing in the way of new material from the collective. It’ll need to be something special to eclipse its predecessor but you’d hardly bet against them because when the sun shines they’ll be playing in the background. KD

Mojave 3 - Kill The Lights

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Mojave 3
Year: 2006

This recording is all of 2 decades old. Yep, information like that really puts the wind up auld hugger since its emergence from the stacks across a smoky room still seems like yesterday. It is the work of Leeds outfit the Pale Saints who were an utterly dreamy prospect, made a remarkable album in 1990’s ‘The Comfort of Madness’ and released a slew of luminous singles (chief among them ‘Throwing Back The Apple’). This song signalled the arrival of ex-lush player Meriel Barham to the fold and she and singer Ian Masters would strike up a winning, if short lived, partnership. While this not strictly shoegaze it has all the tell tell signs of a time when bands like Ride, the Boo Radleys and Slowdive were in full swing. KD

The Pale Saints - Half-Life, Remembered

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: The Pale Saints
Year: 1990

I’m through with indie rock for one night. In need of a refreshing sonic sorbet, I’ll plump for a blazing star that’s loud, gregarious and which doesn’t feel the need to supply a clean riff to instigate wholesale nodding. This is taken from German DJ Timo Maas’s 2002 album ‘Loud’, a glorious juggernaut of cinematic beats that peaks imperiously during ‘O.C.B.’ and ‘Manga’. This hurtles like the millennium falcon, coma's like Vader’s diaphragm before storm trooping into the distance with the accuracy of a lightsaber. Ewok's the walk. KD

Timo Maas - Manga

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Timo Mass
Year: 2002

If I was half as patient as I wish I could be I am sure I would be twice as much in love with Boards of Canada. I tend to love my painfully obscure acts but then there are certain bodies that exist in outer galaxies beyond obscuria. BOC frequent this far-flung part of space, grinding the patience of the majority while soothing critical forces and those with plenty of time on their hands. A realignment of sorts happened on 2005’s ‘The Campfire Headphase’ when our 2 moons suddenly began to orbit, specifically when the warm sunlight of ‘Dayvan Cowboy’ and ‘Peacock Tail’ rose in the dawn sky. The more adventurous, if still quite direct by BOC standards, is ‘Dayvan Cowboy’, a Death In Vegas type dreamscape that rattles about with a beautifully melodic guiding plinky synth. ‘Peacock Tail’ is slightly more arresting because it settles on the neatest of riffs early doors to sell its grand intergalactic message. As chapter 2 of the bible of music bloggerism so aptly puts it - seek and ye shall find. KD

Boards of Canada - Peacock Tail

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Boards of Canada
Year: 2005

Not much music makes me tear up but then I listen to a lot of the stuff so can on any given day be in floods. Today’s droplets are as a result of our very own Dying Seconds (Dave Cantan and a few others) who as well as making the best electronic music in the land also feel the need to give it away for free. Noble gesture or just a grand plan to rope us in and then extract lorry loads of dosh when the next Dying Seconds opus is unfurled, who knows. ‘Goodnight Satelight’ is a dramatic effort, a coiled spring that slowly leaks its kinetic energy until its inevitable demise. Levity is somewhat restored by the young fella’s wanton disregard for melodrama towards the end. A double middle finger up Ian Dempsey’s nose. KD

The Dying Seconds - Goodnight Satelight

More Info: Official & Myspace
D/L Songs: The Dying Seconds
Year: 2008

Despite all the hollow chest thumping from many quarters of the Irish media there ain’t so much appealing emerging from the musical quarters of our little isle at the moment. Villagers look capable of achieving something, only time will tell. Another band that appear fully-fledged and capable of ruffling feathers are the Brothers Movement who have a curiously low profile back in their hometown of Dublin. They lost their keyboard player to Sweet Jane just last week but that should hardly shake them from their path given that there are a couple of siblings on board to steady the ship. Songs like ‘We Shall Lift Our Heads’, the closer on their eponymous debut speak volumes. Quite literally in fact because it is big and beautiful, like an early Verve psychedelic monster when Ashcroft’s drug taking actually augmented his song writing. A storm in heaven, a volcano much closer to home. KD

The Brothers Movement - We Shall Lift Our Heads

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: The Brothers Movement
Year: 2009

Here is a band it seems that really deserve all the slavish critical adulation that is currently being bestowed on them. And funny then when you hear their music that you probably think you’ve heard it all before. That’s because they’ve got the classic indie rock template down to a T. So the spangly guitar chords are central to proceedings, without them there would be an aching chasm, not that John Paul Pitts vocals aren’t pretty because they are but they need the rich melodic lines to maximise their impact. ‘Catholic Pagans’ is close to faultless, something the Shins might concoct on a good day trying their hardest to sound like Pavement. The dynamics are expertly constructed, the ebb and flow helping to push this into the realm of greatness. With this on the speakers you might just swing your nose just like you just don't care and no one could blame you. KD

Surfer Blood - Catholic Pagans

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Surfer Blood
Year: 2010

I’m sure there are a hundred better exponents of alt country but since it’s not a genre I seek out I’ve gotta say that at this moment in time Hayden Desser is the best. He’s been around for a bit has auld Hayden, going back to a time when releasing something on cassette wasn’t deemed a cold attempt at fostering nostalgia. The Toronto artist’s most recent album came out last year but this track is from the one that preceeded it ‘Elk-Lake Serenade’. This is a slow tumble, built around the simplest of vocal turns but I’m finding it strangely hypnotic. Could be down to the fact that this is the first track out of 58 that hugger junior hasn’t screamed her objection at. She also prefers to chew tapes over memory drives. KD

Hayden - Home By Saturday

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Hayden
Year: 2010

In the nineties we were quite the dancers, not exactly glo-stick wielding but apostles to the cause as espoused by Underworld, Orbital and, circa their debut album, the Chemical Brothers. It showed us that dance/electronic music could have a message, could be just as inventive as its guitar laden equivalent and crucially that it could be durable. Which brings us neatly to Golden Ages and their debut album 'Tradition' which has just been released on Indiecater. This is youthful vigour cascading from your speakers, a huge swathe of sound with the ability to shake even the most laboured from their slumber. Golden Ages have not only tapped into the zeitgeist they're already mapping the future with their slinky pulses of noise. We're just glad to be part of it. KD

Golden Ages - Right Season

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Golden Ages
Year: 2010

Not the Swedish nor the Finnish Charades as one might first think but the collective of the same name who come from several sunny parts of Spain. And what a sublime troupe they turn out to be, steeped in the traditions of indie pop and well versed in providing their own twist. ‘Grito Tu Nombre’ is the opening track from their current album ‘Revolución Solar (Vinilo Naranja)’ and while it may lack a memorable Camera Obscura styled hook its all round kookiness makes that assertion kinda redundant. A messi affair of the musical kind. KD

Charades - Grito Tu Nombre

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Charades
Year: 2010

The ‘Kaddish’ EP. That’s all you’ll have to say to bag the cutest girl at the party, well that’s if she knows her Wye Oak’s from her Stereophonics anyway. This is one of those rare occasions where something special appears from out of nowhere (or Baltimore to be precise). Secret Mountains are signed to Fall Records and bring to the party instruments that drift in and out of consciousness. Lucky then that Kelly Laughlin boasts such wistful vocals because even when the music enters the realm of a delightful noodle she can steady the ship to something approaching sublime. ‘Gate/Gate/Paragate’ should delight artful drunks and sober dreamers in equal measures, for the rest of us consider your imagination stoked for the foreseeable future. KD

Secret Mountains - Gate/Gate/Paragate

More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: Secret Mountains
Year: 2010

Rebekah Raa has the sort of voice that could banish a year of Sunday night blues. She is one of a gathering of folks from London town who call themselves Stricken City and a bit of investigation has revealed that they are a pretty special combo. They are planning a debut LP for the Summer but there’s a clutch of smaller recordings in their armoury to kindle an affection. This one is taken from last year’s ‘Songs About People I Know’ and reveals a multi-faceted yet easy on the senses stomper. Raa’s jumpy singing is cherisable and her band provide strong evidence that the scaffolding could soon be as precious. Soon to be activated alarm bells appear like a distant earsore. KD

Stricken City - Small Things

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Stricken City
Year: 2010

I guess they’re too wacky, too cerebral, too funny or too damn talented to have wide appeal but it constantly hurts my head when I think what might be for Pittsburgh’s the Van Allen Belt. They are quite unlike anything else, a smorgasbord of electric ideas swilling around lavish arrangements and a singer who has the personality and looks to steal the show all on her own. We’ve dallied with their releases via Indiecater but there is lots more to take in, namely their latest opus ‘Superpowerfragilis’ which takes off from where ‘Meal Ticket To Purgatory’ left off. Namely an hallucinogenic take on Motown with words that hilariously poke the eye out of this ridiculous world we live in. ‘The Way You Look’ is just ravishing, a tour de force of invention. Take them to your bosom, breastfeed if the mood takes you. KD

The Van Allen Belt - The Way You Look

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: The Van Allen Belt
Year: 2010

Baffin Island, the not so mystical isle where Boise's the Very Most and Glasgow's the Hermit Crabs decided to pitch up and record a song together via the internet is also the name the collaborating indie pop forces christened the union. It's strange hearing a jeremyless Very Most song but then if one was to think about it for a minute not many things in life are sweeter than Melanie Whistle’s voice. ‘You Make Two Weeks Two Days’ can be found on the ‘Between The Waves’ compilation put together by the Norwegian net label Eardrums Pop. For a couple of years now we've admired this label from afar and its high-time we high-fived their wonderful output (which is always free to download). On a less pleasing note plans for Baffin to launch ‘You Make Two Weeks Two Days’ in downtown Iqaluit seemed to have backfired as part of the island's ice-shelf slipped into the sea as a direct consequence of its sunny harmonies. KD

Baffin Island - You Make Two Weeks Two Days

Get Between The Waves: Compilation
Year: 2010

Unsparing Sea operate in a parallel universe. I have gleaned this from our meagre and often one-sided communications, but despite the hurt (not really) I can’t help falling for their lopsided junkets into the unknown. There no mistaking that this is indeed odd music, not the sort that occupies daytime playlisters attentions, more something Donal Dineen would pour over as he swigs from his 6th coffee of the night. It’s taken from the band’s sophomore ‘In The Diamond Caverns’ which if anything tops its awkwardly brilliant predecessor ‘A Cloud in the Cathedral’. J.R. Bennett plays the recluse who discovers the world so well and his discoveries are ably illustrated by the sumptuously textured music. Magical. KD

Unsparing Sea - Diamond Caverns

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Unsparing Sea
Year: 2009

Each year the SXSW torrent provides this blog with about a dozen fantastic tunes. To get to that point however there are about a thousand mp3s to trawl through. While this might be as tempting as a ramble on hot coals for most it really puts the pep in our step. The majority as you’d expect are excruciatingly bad but it’s the moments when gems like ‘Deaf’ appear from nowhere that makes the sieve worthwhile. The London based duo of Wendy Fowler and Richard File released their debut last year and going on the evidence of ‘Deaf’ emit multi-layered post shoegaze formations. If sound were a feeling then this would be a touching embrace. KD

We Fell To Earth - Deaf

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: We Fell To Earth
Year: 2009

This is my type of band, sporting a mildly ridiculous name, a neat turn of melody and a penchant for practising in spaces that won’t impact on the neighbours. Plus they give fuzzy guitar parts back to the people, welcome home you noisy bastards. Milks & Rectangles come from deepest Canada but their new ‘Troubleshooters’ EP (it’s freediculously good) should see lots of weblog action the world over. That’s because they peddle good old-fashioned indie, the type that those of a certain vintage will remember as being prominent in the early nineties. Opening track ‘Wink And A Gun (The Jury's Hung)’ is perhaps the highlight with its punchy playing and Malkmusesque vocals. It’s full of personality, a ditty to swell the heart and occupy the toes. KD

Milks & Rectangles - Wink And A Gun (The Jury's Hung)

More Info: Official & Myspace
Free Songs: Milks & Rectangles
Year: 2010

Times New Viking have just changed their font of choice, yep from now on they shall drink from the excellent nosebag provided by Pill Wonder. PW are a collective of many individuals who specialise in generating a grand pocket orchestra within the confines of a thimble. Yep, it’s certifiably twee and sounds like it has passed through an industrial blender several times but the collage is certainly putting the pitter in my patter this evening. Who needs working microphones, sober singers or unchewed cassettes as recording devices when Pill Wonder can make the sorry mess sound as wholesome as feeding time at the koala enclosure. KD

Pill Wonder - Gone To The Market

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Pill Wonder
Year: 2010

2 college kids from New York called Tommy and Jules explain how they’ve put off their debut 7” due to a lack of readies. Lucky for us then that the interweb stepped in to display their ravishingly languid tales. ‘Comin’ Back Again’ just spills from the speakers like a floppy fringed slacker with genius dripping from his octave writing fingertips. The harmonies are especially ear catching, the way they just hang loosely from the hunched chords prove a continual delight. And for many it probably won’t amount to a hill of beans but as everyone knows that particular protein is the eternal student’s main dietary requirement. KD

Arches - Comin' Back Again

More Info: Official
Year: 2010

Oh the thrill of hearing something fresh, hot off the press and just before the masses congregate at its door. Who knows, success might never taint Jack Budd but until then he’ll tinker with miscellaneous music making devices in the comfort of his boudoir. His tinkering has already yielded an album called ‘Color Engine’ from which ‘We Don’t Operate’ is taken. This is splendidly inventive, full of quirky subplots and about as sensible as a drunkard on a tightrope. Yes it ends much too early and yes the lyrics never truly illuminate your thirst for a good story but it still pisses on most of the competition. KD

Battle Flags - We Don't Operate

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Battle Flags
Year: 2010

This is especially for those who find the Knife too oblique for daytime consumption. And they come from Sweden too where band profiles are rare and in any case would rob an act of all mystery. So with that knowledge, or lack thereof, we push forward and analyse the music in its own right. Like most electro based nodules ‘Go Back To Your Cave’ is indebted to former glories, in this case a sweaty night down your local hard trance emporium. Not that it retains that disposability but the working parts suggest Love Is A Burning Thing like nothing better than wave their hands in the air, that is when they are not required for digitised bleep duty. This is mildly euphoric and would have proved an inspired futuristic vision had it appeared on a Visage LP all those years ago. So it glows. KD

Love Is A Burning Thing - Go Back To Your Cave

More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: Love Is A Burning Thing
Year: 2010

Until about a fortnight ago I was unaware of any covers of songs from the best album of all time. Then suddenly there were two rather good ones (and one really bad one which I can’t even bring myself to talk about, ‘Waterfall’ does not deserve the ignominy). These both have their weaknesses but must be applauded for not sounding completely plonk when compared to the original. Codeine Velvet Club’s version of ‘I Am The Resurrection’ is fab, that is until it loses much of the goodwill trying to approximate Squire’s finest hour with what amounts to a listless faux jazz workout. Lana Mir’s ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ fairs better in the consistency stakes even if it lacks a particularly nuanced stream of independent thinking. It is cute though and it's always rather nice to hear something so kernel to ones musical upbringing in a coat of fresh paint. KD

Codeine Velvet Club - I Am The Resurrection

Lana Mir - I Wanna Be Adored

More Info: Codeine Velvet Club & Lana Mir

Despite the bastards almost driving me into the arms of tinnitus after one the loudest gigs I’ve ever attended I still worship the ground that Mogwai’s early albums traverse. Early albums I say because recently their output has been particularly pants (at least until you travel back to the greatness that was ‘Happy Songs For Happy People’). Their zenith appeared much earlier, it was in fact an odds and ends compilation which passed under the title ‘Ten Rapid’. Now this was music with balls, brutal, honest, melodic and at times downright spiritual. None more so than ‘New Paths To Helicon Pt I’, an 8 minute opus that the band have yet to surpass. This is music that becomes a living thing, something to embrace as if it were a lovely relative. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it is also one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever recorded. Yep, I'm really happy Friday has arrived. KD

Mogwai - New Paths To Helicon Pt I

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Mogwai
Year: 1996

‘High Places vs. Mankind’ is Mary Pearson and Rob Barber’s second proper album as High Places. The duo boast a tropical sound, proposing suitable vignettes for that long summer holiday. ‘On Giving Up’ marks a slight shift in sound, affording a greater focus on the central theme rather than wrapping it under multiple layers of electronica. And it really is a winner; the riff is instantly memorable which leaves Pearson with the handy task of adding her trademark wispy vocals. High Places go about their business quietly and are making the slow transition towards greatness. Going places more like. KD

High Places - On Giving Up

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: High Places
Year: 2010

While I am a bit suss about the unflagging reverence bestowed upon this Northern act I’ve got to admit that they do have their moments. And ‘The Voiceless’ is certainly one of them; despite unashamedly playing the Explosions In The Sky card it has all the hallmarks of a post-rock classic. The guitars are chimed to within an inch of their life and the percussion is utterly sublime throughout. So much so that its 6 and a half minutes pass by in a blink. The best thing though is that there is no moment where the guitars instantly turn into supercarrier turnbines and inflict tinnitus on previously well turned out audio receptors. A colossus then, on this form we could soon be genuflecting at their altar. KD

And So I Watch You From Afar - The Voiceless

More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: And So I Watch You From Afar
Year: 2009

You’ll notice how I’ve left out the the and how this is definitely not a pair of curmudgeons from the west of Ireland. Walls is in fact the Banjo or Freakout and Allez Allez separatists working as one. This is their only piece of originality so far but its shoegaze through a digital prism certainly has us gasping for more. This would need a room full of choking fog, a pair of shining miner’s hats and several hundred adoring onlookers to achieve its intended goals. For the moment though we’ll make do with the impression it creates on lonesome earphones. This batters like a force nine gale but while injury is unlikely it might just knock the stuffing out of you. KD

Walls - Burnt Sienna

More Info: Official
Year: 2009

In what may prove a shock to those sold on Paul Archer’s quiet classic’s ‘Burning Codes 2’ highlights the Belfast man’s new tendency to freewheel. The volume has risen and a new vibrancy emerges, none more so than on the opening track ‘Speaking In Code’. This is Burning Codes playing it at breakneck speed, including a volley of tunesome chords that never let up with Archer’s vocals proving a fine riposte. The track vividly portrays a deep imagination borne out of the simplest of sounds. Elsewhere you’ll find the Burning Codes of old, all contemplative and imaginatively constructed. ‘Burning Codes 2’ deserves as much love as the love that can be found within the contours of its 11 beautiful tracks. It is available on Indiecater from today for the princely sum of €4. KD

Burning Codes - Speaking In Code

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Burning Codes
Year: 2010

Most balanced Pavement fans will probably miss the connection but I listen to ‘New Designs’ and all I hear is ‘Unfair’. Probably a bit silly anyway to compare any band to Malkmus and Co. because there can only be one loser. That said I am spending much of this evening gorging on a host of free tracks given away by the Madison act and it is providing muchos pleasure. ‘The Mighty Lunge’, their 3rd album, was released late last year and ‘New Designs’ is probably its most incandescent member. The chords are so throat grabbing you might initially choke at their bludgeoning velvet hammer directness, thankfully they are sweetly turned out and act as a perfect foil for the vocals that spill from Ricky Reimer’s mouth. Towards the end the jigsaw finally falls into place and I get lost in the foothills of my pride. KD

His & Her Vanities - New Designs

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: His & Her Vanities
Year: 2009

Ah so cute and mildly surprising that they’ve sprung from Camden. Imagine they’d have been beaten up back when Britpop was at full throttle but then they could have just as easily hung out with Blur. This is the opening track from My Sad Captains debut and sounds like a cross between Luna and Apples In Stereo. Ultimately though it should easily assumes staple status on the most pristine indie pop jukebox known to geek. Warm melodies abound, we all clap in unison at the chorus and reach for the soft spectacle cloth when we fog up rendering even timid hip shaking manoeuvres deathtrap like potentiality. KD

My Sad Captains - Great Expectations

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: My Sad Captains
Year: 2009

Ah the big bowl of shamrock arrives and I’m slightly relieved because after a week of local acts I think the well may be well and truly dry. To finish on an imperious high here is a track from In Motion’s ‘The Language of Everyday Life’. This is in our top 3 Irish albums of all time so you can imagine the goosebumps when we got to re-release in on Indiecater just last year after a decade long slumber. This is a piece of work that never fails to bring out my tearful side because it is at once so sad yet utterly redemptive. I've had this track as my ringtone since I first got a mobile that could handle such things. Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig. KD

In Motion - Until My Dreams Come True

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: In Motion
Year: 1994 & 2009

Oh how totally abstract, some Irish music for an alternative Paddy’s eve. Nope, there’s not a fiddle in sight and for much of ‘Honest’ Foamboy mainman Geoff Topley sounds like he’s up to his neck in binary theorems masquerading as alien abductors. Topley is based in Portadown and spends his time flitting between about half a dozen musical projects that are unlikely to ever trouble the charts. That said his Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra peddles fine tunes which are almost to a man partially hidden in a salmagundi of ethereal backdrops. KD

The Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra - Honestly

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: The Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra
Year: 2008

I’d imagine they couldn’t care less what I think given that we’re not talking anymore but from this chair 8ball remain one of our brightest lights especially when they wallow in sweet electronica. ‘The Big Blue’, ‘The Whoop Whoop Song’ and ‘Fear I’m Falling’ came out prior to their largely disappointing second venture of last year but the evidence points to beings of higher sonic capability. The latter presents vocals as superficial asides with clouds of wispy melodies dispersing and reforming in increasingly elegant patterns. It could almost be Death In Vegas circa their most successful album ‘The Contino Sessions’. KD

8ball - Fear I'm Falling

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: 8ball
Year: 2005

Bangor, population 50,000, sporting not one but 2 of the coolest new bands on the island. Everyone is getting to know Two Door Cinema Club but Kowalski should be running them close soon. This is as good as I’ve heard from the 4-piece; it’s taken from a 2008 compilation called the Oh Yeah Sessions, a lo-fi jangle pop affair that’ll appeal to Sarah Records aficionados. It’s pretty delightful, from the xylophone to the boy/girl vocal interactions. The band are about to release their second EP so here’s hoping something good will work out for them. KD

Kowalski - Phil Kansas

More Info: Official
Year: 2008

He’s back but travels incognito until the time is right to take off the dark shades. What went before promised much but then what is emerging could be even better. Sacred Animals discography consists of 3 demo songs (a 4th is in the offing) which can be consumed for free over here. ‘Chosen Seed’ is the pick of the bunch, a gentle piece of melancholy that belongs at the table from which the angels dine. Bolstered by a small orchestra this could be epic in its sweep. The seas may yet realign. KD

Sacred Animals - Chosen Seed

More Info: Official & Myspace
Year: 2010

Orbital remain the benchmark for thoughtful bleepages down our way. They were purveyors of albums with songs that only truly came alive in the context of their siblings. And that very thought struck me as I sat through Hunter-Gatherer’s debut long player ‘I Dreamed I Was A Footstep In The Trail Of A Murderer’. To look at it one way this could just be a collection of indistinct ambient asides but a bit of careful nurturing reveals a cerebral artist reinventing snivilisation. And the rewards are worth hanging in there for because although they never sound calculated the ideas always seem to add up. I keep returning to ‘Left For Dead’ because it was the one that initially intrigued. The kernel of the tune sports a recurring melody that softly gnaws until you relent, after which it never fails to outlast its welcome. Hunter-Gatherer is at present writing the Serbian entry for our World Cup compilation. KD

Hunter-Gatherer - Left For Dead

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Hunter-Gatherer
Year: 2009