OH BOY!

World Atlas

Good morning! While doing my daily MySpace check-in this morning before class I decided to see what World Atlas, whom I've mentioned a couple times in the past, were up to these days. To my extreme delight, it turns out they're up to a lot! They have apparently got a record to be released by Magic Marker at some point — hopefully soon! The more immediate and exciting news however, is that they will be playing the NYC Popfest this year!!! with a string section!!! I couldn't say yay enough to times to truly justify how great I think this will be.

Go Listen to some of their sweet pop tunes on MySpace!

In other almost-equally-exciting news, the new Sad Day For Puppets 7" on Cloudberry is almost out!!! It'll be available February 10th and you're definitely going to want to be grabbing one. I've been listening to "Again" since Roque first put it up and it still sounds like gold!

[MP3]: Sad Day For Puppets :: Again (Hiiighly Recommended!!!)

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Something's wrong, but you don't know

The Artisans (photo stolen from Roque)

Today is a great day! Why, you ask? Because about a week after posting a new mix featuring a song by the fantastic band The Artisans, whom I've fallen in love with over the past month (only hearing just two songs!), I come to find out that Roque will be releasing a 3" CDr compiling their entire career output. Now, "entire career output" here only means six songs, but that's four more than I'd ever heard before, so I'm pleased as punch! More pleased than punch, to be honest!

[MP3]: The Artisans :: Jazz Serenade (Sooooo Rec'd!!!)

My first exposure to The Artisans came via Slumberland's Why Popstars Can't Dance, which included their songs "Start Again" and "Tolerance" which, for me, are still perfect pop songs. The Artisans sound more than a bit like The Popguns or Velocity Girl, to me, which is in no way a bad a thing, but they've also got a softer side, reminding at times of perhaps The Shapiros or The Castaway Stones. Either way, if you're still looking for a better point of reference, I feel like these guys should have totally been on Sunday Records and released a lot more stuff, because I want more.

The compilation CDr is out now on Cloudberry Records as part of the new Cloudberry Classics series – which may I add, is an amazing idea. Especially in this case, because I imagine it would've been a while before I tracked down a copy of The Artisans one and only record self-released "Jazz Serenade" 7". Cloudberry's outdone itself once again!

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New Japan Air video for an old Japan Air song!

Japan Air

I first mentioned Japan Air almost 2 years ago and since then they've recorded new songs, released a single on Cloudberry Records and starting putting words in their songs. However, they've got a new video and it's for one of their older, instrumental songs – the first song of theirs I ever heard, actually – called "Crack of Dawn". Watch it!



Japan Air's 3" single is still available from Cloudberry and I would really suggest grabbing it. All three songs are perfect slices of dreamy Sarah Records-esque indiepop.

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She only wants boys with flicknives

Cloudberry 801!

I feel like it's been a while since I've mentioned Cloudberry Records around these parts, though I guess it's not like Roque is dropping new singles on us every week like before. What a fun rush that used to be! Well, in any case, there is now some new Cloudberry upon us – in 3" CD format at that! Cloudberry 801 – which was released sometime around the first of the year, I think – is Cloudberry's first venture into split singles! The single features London collective The Understudies and Chicago's Very Truly Yours – a split split by an ocean!

I knew The Understudies from MySpace a while ago and I remember quite enjoying their songs then, but their first track, "Flicknives" sounds like it could truly be a decade-old classic. These guys could bring a lonesome teenage boy to tears with such grace and ease, that even Morrissey would be proud. On the flip-side it's a different ballgame. Among Very Truly Yours' ranks we find not only pretty much most all of The Lorimer Sound, but also Lisle Fireflies. He seems to be popping up all over the place these days – but who's going to complain?! Very Truly Yours recall early 90s US indiepop at it's best – catchy, fast, and relentlessly jangling! Think perhaps Go Sailor's fanastic melodies with a touch more reverb and a dash of fuzz and you've got "Popsong '91" – hell, the title even references the 90s! I'm quite loving these songs and I'd really, really suggest picking this one up. It's even got ducks! :)

[MP3]: The Understudies :: Flicknives (Very recommended!)
[MP3]: Very Truly Yours :: Popsong '91 (Yes! This one, too!)

Another split 3", this time with Kevin McGrother and My Laundry Life (Yesssssss!) is due out January 25th! More on that one later, once I acquaint my myself a bit more with it!

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Je Suis Animal: "Painted In My Face"

Je Suis Animal are classy.

Let me just say I have done a terrible job of keeping up with Cloudberry as of late. – Odd, too, because ever since reaching 100 3" CDRs their output has slowed dramatically, you know, to that of a normally functioning record label. Every 7" Roque's released so far has been an absolute cracker and the new(ish) Je Suis Animal single is no exception! I've known about it for a little while now, but it wasn't until this morning that I actually gave it a good listen. I have yet to hear the b-side, as I haven't yet ordered the single (I will be doing so tonight!), but the a-side – which is up for download on the Cloudberry site – is fantastic! So fantastic infact, that I think I actually may be more in love with it than even my favorite of tracks from their LP. The song, "Painted In My Face," reminds me a bit of Stereolab! Just listen those hazy, beautiful vocal harmonies and that charging rhythm section – all it needs is some electric organ buzzing along in the mix and it would be... I don't know, it would be really nice. A few more listens and I could definitely see this being one of my favorite singles of the year! Get this record!

[MP3]: Je Suis Animal :: Painted In My Face (Very, Very Recommended!)

Je Suis Animal on MySpace!
Buy the 7" from Cloudberry!

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New Hari and Aino: "A Considerate Kind of Home"

Following the release of their debut LP this past Summer, Hari and Aino, are soon to deliver their second release for Cloudberry Records – and this time it's on vinyl! The single, with fantastic cover artwork from Amy Ruppel, features "A Considerate Kind of Home" b/w "Maple". "A Considerate Kind of Home" is up for free download right now over at Cloudberry HQ, and I can't stop listening to it! It's nothing too new, per se, but then – when you're Hari and Aino and you make indiepop this sweet – why change? The song's got a fun, dance-y bassline along with the usual suspects: jangly guitar, infectious melodies, and Andrea's swoonsome vocal delivery.

[MP3]: Hair and Aino :: A Considerate Kind of Home (Rec'd, Highly)

7" out soon on Cloudberry Records!
Hari and Aino on MySpace!

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Leach Me Lemonade!!

I found Leach Me Lemonade on MySpace a few days ago, only to find out today that they're actually going to be part of a new Cloudberry compilation! How fun! They're a four piece hailing from Bandung, Indonesia and they're absolutely nailing the dreamy indiepop sound that I love so much. Not surprising though, as it seems Indonesia has become the worldwide hotspot of some sort of Sarah-sound revival as of late. They've only got 81 views on MySpace right now, so you should head over and listen to "Shine of Your Smiles" and make friends with them!!!

The Cloudberry comp "I Would Hurt You for the World - The Sound of Young Java Vol.1" will be out September 1st and in addition to Leach Me Lemonade, it also features the lovely sounds of Arch of Cinema, Sunny Summer Day, and Funny Little Dream.

Leach Me Lemonade on MySpace!

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New Postal Blue EP

It's been somewhere around two years since I last mentioned Postal Blue on this blog, a little bit after their "Road to Happiness" EP was released on Humblebee. Well, after a long wait, they – well, HE – is finally back! Downsizing the band member count to just one, Postal Blue is now the work of one Adriano Ribeiro – and he's got a new EP out now on Cloudberry Records. Now partially gone are the deadpan jangly Belle and Sebastian comparisons and instead we're greeted by humming organs and synths paired with ringing guitar and speedy programmed snares. Have a listen to "You Should Keep it to Youself"!

[MP3]: Postal Blue :: You Should Keep it to Yourself

Go order the EP from Cloudberry!!
Postal Blue on MySpace!

P.S. The Tartans' Cloudberry 7" showed up a few days ago and I haven't been able to keep it off the record player or out of my ears. I would verrrrry highly recommend grabbing one up before they're gone!!!

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Oh, Lead Me To A Quiet Cell...

The first words I've uttered concerning Leicester's Mai 68s were on Anorak, and I believe it was something like "oh my god. oh my god. so good. so so so good." Yknow, something like that. I meant it, I really did – no hyperbole at all. Their new single on Cloudberry Records – and particularly the song "Lead Me To A Quiet Cell" – has been on endless repeat here since I first heard it. What The Mai 68s have got is a perfectly controlled mess of dreamy vocals and multiple waves of ringing guitars that seem to splill into a haze of feedback at all the right moments. There's also gotta be something quite great about the drums because they've been bouncing around in the back of my head for the past two days. Basically, how can anyone not love these guys(and girl)? The Mai 68s are 2008's Black Tambourine. There, I said it. Everyone else was thinking it, surely.

[MP3]: The Mai 68s :: Lead Me To A Quiet Cell (Super Recommended!!!)

Go get the single from Cloudberry Records while the getting's good!
The Mai 68s on MySpace!

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New Summer Cats Video!!!

A new video for The Summer Cats' Cloudberry single "Lonely Planet" has just finally seen the very light of day, TODAY! I've been in love with the song since the moment I heard and the video fits it just perfectly! It's a an interesting song, actually, I think, because it feels like a bit of a slow-burner (as slow-burning as indiepop can get), yet it's totally and 100% danceable! Everyone dancing and clapping! Isn't that what every music video should be, really?



You can/should grab the single from the ever-amazing Cloudberry Records
Summer Cats on MySpace!

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The Garlands EP!

I'm back! Hopefully! I've still got a little bit of the semester left, but I really miss posting and so I'm going to do my best to get back into the regular swing of things around here! As I've clearly mentioned before, I LOVE The Garlands. For those just now being introduced (and shame on you!), The Garlands are Roger Gunnarsson and Christin Wolderth – an indiepop match made in heaven – much like any other band Roger's ever been in. As expected, their debut EP is full of super sweet vocals and gloriously jangling melodies. My favorite of all, "David," might be one of the best pop songs I've heard all year and will bring more than a smile to anyone who, like me, has been desperately clinging onto their small batch of old Free Loan songs, hoping that one day they'd feel that same way again. Like I said, totally in love.

[MP3]: The Garlands :: David (Hiiiiiiiighly Recommended!)

The EP is out on both Cosy Recordings and Cloudberry Records, so I mean, you could buy two if you wanted or you just buy one from one place I guess. In other sort of unrelated news, I have some very exciting news to share with you guys in a day-ish or so... but it's really great I swear!

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All I Find Is Wasted Time

Hello gents and gentlies. I have a spare minute this morning, so I thought I'd try to do a quick post of things before I have to go paint for four hours! First of all, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Mine was spent finishing the pile of homework that built up over spring break, so that was a blast. Alright, first item of business would be... new Bridal Shop 7" on Cloudberry! They've got the a-side "Violation" streaming on their MySpace right now and it might just be their best tune yet. I love the way it just kind of explodes into a blast of guitar and drum machine at the beginning, it's so bright and beautiful! Order it over at Cloudberry Records. New Summer cats single coming up on Cloudberry, too, but more on that later...

Next, brand new – and excellent – EPs from both Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group are out now on Matinee. Northern Portrait's The Fallen Aristocracy EP is just perfect classic jangly pop songs. The lead track "Crazy," in particular, reminds me quite of The Smiths... could be the guitars, could be the vocals, maybe both?! The Electric Pop Group's Sunrise EP treads most of the same ground as their self-titled record from last year (very late 2006, rather), but, to me, that's quite alright because it's the type of ground that would have likely secured them a spot on Sarah Records in a different time. "This Is A Town" grabs me the same way "Walk Away" did just months ago, which means it wont be letting go for a while. They're both only five bucks each! Go get 'em!

Then there's The Sound of Arrows. Don't know too much about them, but they're Swedish, and they've got an new EP on the way on Labrador, and apparently they're leading Swedish pop into the next decade... we'll see about that, bur for now, I'll definitely say that this is some pretty fun stuff! The EP's title track "Danger!" sounds like some brilliantly dancey blend of Jens Lekman and Saint Etienne... which as anyone could imagine, is an amazing combination! The EP will be out May 7th! For now, listen (and dance) to "Danger!"

[MP3]: The Sound of Arrows :: Danger! (Hiiiiighly Rec'd!!!)

Finally, in less recent news, I've been listening to "Sickening" by The Sweetest Ache almost completely on repeat since I woke up today. What an amazing song it is...

[MP3]: The Sweetest Ache :: Sickening (Very Highly Recommended!)

Have a lovely day!
xoxo

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Updates!

Hey! I mentioned I would be getting busiert lately, with less time to devote to the blog and that's exactly what's been happening. It's been about a week, so I've got a bit of housekeeping to do. First up, there's a few new Cloudberry releases to get excited about – well, at least that I'm excited about... though you should be, too. I'm speaking of Cloudberry 79 and 80, of course, both available March 1st. 79 is a single from The Vermont Sugar House, featuring ex-Desert Wolves David and Martin. One of the b-sides on the single, "Braveheart," comes from a 7" the band released on Firestation in 1999 and is an impecable slice of pop. In short, that song alone is worth buying th whole single. 80 comes from The Flowerbeds, who are totally new to me. The preview track on the Cloudberry site, "You Mean To Me," is completely fantastic – I never would have guessed these guys were from Chicago though, that caught me off guard. Not that there's anything wrong with Chicago... I just have never associated the city with pop music. Secondly, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and Parallelograms split is finally available to order from Atomic Beat Records! Even if you don't like splits – and how could you? – this is still going to be a awesome awesome awesome piece of vinyl. So go order yours!! oh and plus there's a lovingly cheesy blurb in the insert by yours truly! So thats neat! Thirdly – and lastly for now because I've gotta get back to screenprinting – I got Slumberland's Searching For The Now One and Two in the mail on Monday and I've been playing the crap out of them. I do prefer number two a bit more than one, but that's probably just because I love everything Archie Moore does... and Bye! is no exception. Also, I was never a big fan of The Happy Couple, but their side of the split has been getting just as many spins as Bye!'s... so it would seem I'm now in love! If you have yet to, you should definitely go order One and Two before they're gone!!

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New Song from The Garlands!

For those of you already deeply smitten with The Garlands, you'll be just as excited as I was to know they've got a new song on their MySpace today! For those not as familiar, prepare to fall in love. The Garlands are Christin Wolderth and Roger Gunnarsson; yes, the same Roger from Free Loan Investments, Nixon, and The Happy Birthdays. So, yeah, The Garlands come from a long bloodline of P!O!P perfection, and so it's only fitting that they happen to be amazing. The new song, "Why Did I Trust You?" will be on forthcoming EP that will be co-released by Cosy Recordings and Cloudberry Records, so hopefully we'll be seeing a new download on Roque's site sometime soooon! For now, though, I'd highly recommend heading over to The Garlands' MySpace and listening to this over and over again!

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All I Ever Wanted Was A Happy Happy Heart

*EDIT: THE PERSON CLAIMING TO BE DAVID NEWFELD
IS INFACT AN IMPOSTER–BUT STILL A JERK*

You might recognize the title of this post from the current "subtitle" of this blog, which can probably be seen right up there at the top of your browser window! Well, as some of you may be aware of, that line comes from the song "Popkids of the World Unite!" by Horowitz – surely one of the finest pop songs of the past year. The song appeared on the band's Tracyanne single on Cloudberry in early 2007, which has long been sold out. So, the band have decided to reissue "Tracyanne" b/w "Popkids of the World Unite!" (the two best songs from the Cloudberry single) on a nice thick slab of transparent yellow 7" vinyl! You should probably make very sure that you own this immediately, because Horowitz are amazing amazing amazing! And, yknow, since they are so amazing, if you're just not into 7" records you can just download both songs on their MySpace. However, if you do like 7" records, then their MySpace is also where you want to be, because thats where you can order it! Did I mention there's only 200 of them?

If you never have, now's a good time:
[MP3]: Horowitz :: Popkids of the World Unite (Most Surely Recommended!)

Horowitz have also just put together a virtual box set available for download, through Thee SPC. Apart from I Need a Blanket and It's Better To Eat Twinkies...(both from the Frosty Cat Songs LP) there is Animal Soup from the sold out Cloudberry single. There's also the video for "Blanket", which is completely fantastic, virtual badges, a postcard and an online Humbug Special zine, containing interviews by Kieron from In Love With These Times and Roque from Cloudberry Records. And it's all FREE!!

You can get it all HERE!

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Sunny Summer Day: "Emma's House" (Field Mice cover)

I found this earlier tonight – this morning, I suppose – and I loved it so much that I just had to share it. Looks like Roque Cloudberry put it on YouTube back in September... don't know how it's taken me this long to find it! Anyway, Sunny Summer Day are a fantastic band from Indonesia and this cover is excellent!



They also put out a nice EP on Cloudberry Records earlier this year, which I believe is still available if you find yourself interested!

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I think he's good at friends, I think he has got the knack

The Deirdres are the cutest!

As you may recall, The Deidres' Dinosaurs That Can Swim EP was one of my favorite Cloudberry releases of the last year. I just love it, the seven of them make some of funnest indiepop out there right now. Bubbly keyboards, bells, 3+ person vocal harmonies! – it's all very great stuff! Anyway, they've just put up a new song streaming on their MySpace today called "Ball In A Cup." After just a few listens, I'm already in love with it; make sure you go check it out!

Go listen to "Ball In A Cup"!

Bye!

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Cloudberry Contest Winners

Drum Roll! Thanks to everyone who entered the Cloudberry contest. Some of you who enetered didn't leave full names or actual names at all, so I'm just going to announce by first name. If you won, you should be receiving an email sometime this week from Roque. Okay, so, the five winners of the Cloudberry contest are:

Nadav (IndieMP3 winner)
David (IndieMP3 winner)
Danny (Skatterbrain winner)
Herbie (Skatterbrain winner)
Apl (Skatterbrain winner)

I wish everyone could've won, but hopefully we'll be doing something like this again sometime, and who knows, maybe you'll win then! We're still in the process of trying to think of a good name for the podcast, but I'm hoping to maybe get the first one out by February! Exciting!

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Cloudberry contest closed

Attention! Attention! The Cloudberry contest is closed now, sorry. The winners will be announced Monday or some time around that time. I hope you all have a super great weekend. Bye!

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Our Favorite Free Cloudberry MPthrees!

Check below for contest details!

As I think I've said on several occasions here, Cloudberry Records has been the biggest, strongest, and most consistant driving force for indiepop this year. What Roque did with Cloudberry was just unbelievable – over 70 singles in one year! – it's just amazing. Myself and Tom over at IndieMP3 decided to get together and make a toast to Cloudberry for everything they did this year, and to hope it only continues to get better and better in 2008!

As anyone who's visited the Cloudberry website would know, Roque's got an MP3 from every single release up for download. That means there's over 70 MP3s to listen to on that website – an indiepop dreamland! We decided we would each choose our 10 favorite and compile them into two volumes of what we consider to be the very best of Cloudberry Records. My 10 (Volume One) features some of the best pop songs of the year, with a little fuzz and distortion thrown in for good measure. Tom's picks (Volume Two) can downloaded over at IndieMP3.

BUT WAIT! Before I get to my picks – we decided, hey what's an end of the year toast without some prizes?! So, we've got a bit of a contest to go along with the posts. We will be giving away a total of FIVE copies of the Nothing Matters When We're Dancing EP (Cloud502), which will be available only at a few Pop Nights in the UK and Sweden. So, dear readers from the U.S., this might be your only chance to get a copy! Just leave a comment on this post with your name, email, and maybe your 10 favorite Cloudberry songs if you'd like, and you will be entered into the random drawing! I will be choosing THREE winners from Skatterbrain and Tom will be choosing TWO over at IndieMP3, so leave a comment here and there to increase yor chances! The contest will close on January 4th, so get entering!

Okay, so I must admit, I cheated a bit on my picks; Oh! Custer's "Your Name" and Slow Down Tallahassee's "U R Grace U R" weren't the free ones on the site, but I just HAD TO include them, they were two of my very favorite songs of the year! Okay, so anyway, these are my picks, I hope you enjoy!

Tracklist and Links:
01. Oh! Custer :: Your Name (from Cloud009)
02. Slow Down Tallahassee :: U R Grace U R (from Cloud010)
03. The Airfields :: Yr So Wonderful (from Cloud047)
04. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart :: Orchard of My Eye (from Cloud013)
05. Signed Papercuts :: Only Fools Rush In (from Cloud027)
06. Blind Terry :: The Subtle Art of How to Break A Heart (from Cloud058)
07. The Deirdres :: Hopeless Is The Venue (from Cloud055)
08. Stars In Coma :: Revanche (from Cloud008)
09. Strawberry Story :: Boys (From the Story) (from Cloud065)
10. The Manhattan Love Suicides :: Last Stand (from Cloud062)

DOWNLOAD IT! (.ZIP, 10 MP3s with cover art, 31mb)

Well, I think that's it. It's truly been an incredible year – for indiepop and otherwise – and 2008 seems to be looking even brighter! Happy New Year, everybody!!!

Also, Lost Music, the gig promotion partner of indie mp3 will be putting on a Cloudberry Records gig on at the end of February 2008. Confirmed to date are Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Strawberry Story, Manhattan Love Suicides and one more to be confirmed. DJ's will be spinning Cloudberry releases only. More details will be posted once the line up is confirmed.

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