Surfing the Irish Sea.

11 Jun 2010 — NFOP

Thanks to Frankie from Eden Is Neon, I've just been introduced to another promising Captured Tracks outfit: The duo Girls Names calls Belfast home, but their music sounds as if it came directly from some surfing spot in SoCal. Whatever, their self-titled debut EP is out already, and the song Don't Let Me In is a real lo-fi pop treat.


Girls Names - Don't Let Me In Read more →
Thanks to Frankie from Eden Is Neon, I've just been introduced to another promising Captured Tracks outfit: The duo Girls Names calls Belfast home, but their music sounds as if it came directly from some surfing spot in SoCal. Whatever, their self-titled debut EP is out already, and the song Don't Let Me In is a real lo-fi pop treat.


Girls Names - Don't Let Me In

Nothing left to say.

10 Jun 2010 — NFOP

This one by South Carolina's Coma Cinema is simply amazing. Thank you, Sahil.



Coma Cinema - Only Read more →
This one by South Carolina's Coma Cinema is simply amazing. Thank you, Sahil.



Coma Cinema - Only

Introducing: Hanoi Janes

10 Jun 2010 — NFOP

I'm a little embarrassed. How could this happen? The baroque royal residence of Dresden is a mere two hour drive south of Berlin, but it took the efforts of our relentlessly revered Brooklyn label Captured Tracks to sign him and thereafter a warm reception by the folks at Pitchfork to put that certain Dresden citizen named Oliver Scharf on my radar. Hm.

Anyway, as Hanoi Janes, Scharf creates unashamedly blissful and optimistic lo-fi tunes that'll make your day wherever you are, on the beach, in the park, or in the office, and you'll sure see me dancing and whistling to this all summer long. Scharf's one-man artistic endeavour was recorded on an 8-track machine, ending up with songs that rarely exceed the two minute mark while heavily leaning on Phil Spector-infused fuzzy jangle brilliance. Frankly, this is seriously perfect pop music. Infectious.


Below, listen to two of Year of Panic's tracks. Sag Sag Sag is the only one sung in German, I think, but it's more or less as audible as Dee Dee's murmuring in Dum Dum Girls' attempt Oh Mein M.

Hanoi Janes - Bad Attitude

Hanoi Janes - Sag Sag Sag

Read more →
I'm a little embarrassed. How could this happen? The baroque royal residence of Dresden is a mere two hour drive south of Berlin, but it took the efforts of our relentlessly revered Brooklyn label Captured Tracks to sign him and thereafter a warm reception by the folks at Pitchfork to put that certain Dresden citizen named Oliver Scharf on my radar. Hm.

Anyway, as Hanoi Janes, Scharf creates unashamedly blissful and optimistic lo-fi tunes that'll make your day wherever you are, on the beach, in the park, or in the office, and you'll sure see me dancing and whistling to this all summer long. Scharf's one-man artistic endeavour was recorded on an 8-track machine, ending up with songs that rarely exceed the two minute mark while heavily leaning on Phil Spector-infused fuzzy jangle brilliance. Frankly, this is seriously perfect pop music. Infectious.


Below, listen to two of Year of Panic's tracks. Sag Sag Sag is the only one sung in German, I think, but it's more or less as audible as Dee Dee's murmuring in Dum Dum Girls' attempt Oh Mein M.

Hanoi Janes - Bad Attitude

Hanoi Janes - Sag Sag Sag

Tide changes.

10 Jun 2010 — NFOP

Ross Edman is out of Dallas, Tx (not Austin as one might assume), and just like our beloved and right now much-hyped Stockholm fellow Christian Niva, he marks another example of an artist abandoning his former musical pastimes in favour of unwound and dreamy electronica. Edman used to perform as hip hop artist Objektiv One, but now he prefers the moniker Datahowler for his smooth and nice 80s synth-infused tunes that give us a welcome timeout from our daily schedule.

Datahowler's premiere single Estate b/w Black Swans has just been released. Listen to the beauties below.


Datahowler - Estate

Datahowler - Black Swans

Read more →
Ross Edman is out of Dallas, Tx (not Austin as one might assume), and just like our beloved and right now much-hyped Stockholm fellow Christian Niva, he marks another example of an artist abandoning his former musical pastimes in favour of unwound and dreamy electronica. Edman used to perform as hip hop artist Objektiv One, but now he prefers the moniker Datahowler for his smooth and nice 80s synth-infused tunes that give us a welcome timeout from our daily schedule.

Datahowler's premiere single Estate b/w Black Swans has just been released. Listen to the beauties below.


Datahowler - Estate

Datahowler - Black Swans

Songs of the Elephant Man.

10 Jun 2010 — NFOP

A deep blue ocean, long, white beaches encompassed by endless dunes, rolling hills covered with splendid vineyards, and an ever shining sun blessing the realms with never vanishing warmth. The three guys that form Alba Lua hail from the beautiful city of Bordeaux, and this fact gives us a hint to what their music sounds like: mellow and hazy dream pop with just the right amount of summery psychedelica, heavily relying on reverb and hushed vocals, and still, unless so many other bands right now, not keeping the tempi even, but rather showing a surprising deal of spontaneity in their songs. Inspired amongst others by Sergio Leone's 70s Spaghetti Western movies and equipped with a name that means "the moon of the dawn", Alba Lua are separating themselves from the bulk of emerging dream pop artists by means of creativity and imagination, thus in the best possible way.

Alba Lua's debut EP Ballad of Joseph Merrick, comprising three songs all equally worth adoring, will be released by Satellite of Love Records on June 28. A full length album is scheduled for early 2011.


Watch the psychedelic and wonderfully shot video for EP closer Valley of Abra, and download the song below:



Alba Lua - Valley of Abra Read more →
A deep blue ocean, long, white beaches encompassed by endless dunes, rolling hills covered with splendid vineyards, and an ever shining sun blessing the realms with never vanishing warmth. The three guys that form Alba Lua hail from the beautiful city of Bordeaux, and this fact gives us a hint to what their music sounds like: mellow and hazy dream pop with just the right amount of summery psychedelica, heavily relying on reverb and hushed vocals, and still, unless so many other bands right now, not keeping the tempi even, but rather showing a surprising deal of spontaneity in their songs. Inspired amongst others by Sergio Leone's 70s Spaghetti Western movies and equipped with a name that means "the moon of the dawn", Alba Lua are separating themselves from the bulk of emerging dream pop artists by means of creativity and imagination, thus in the best possible way.

Alba Lua's debut EP Ballad of Joseph Merrick, comprising three songs all equally worth adoring, will be released by Satellite of Love Records on June 28. A full length album is scheduled for early 2011.


Watch the psychedelic and wonderfully shot video for EP closer Valley of Abra, and download the song below:



Alba Lua - Valley of Abra

Drawn from memory.

09 Jun 2010 — NFOP

Sometimes, you don't even know what you've been missing. Only recently a dear friend from Florida called my attention to the wonderful Seattle band Carissa's Wierd which turned out to be the long split up predecessor of the all too well known Band Of Horses, and in fact I can't help but thinking about this as a creative step backwards. On the other hand, we don't know the probably dirty details, right?

Anyway, there must've been more folks like me, as Seattle label Hardly Art has decided to reissue Carissa's Wierd's three studio albums this year, accompanied by the compilation They'll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003, to be released July 13. The song Die, posted below, will be on it and gives an excellent first impression of the band's quiet and melancholic oeuvre. Actually, I wanted you to have the opportunity to get another song, but the label asked me not to make it available for download. But if you should stumble across So You Wanna Be a Superhero by any chance, give it a listen, it might be the saddest yet most beautiful song ever written.


Carissa's Wierd - Die Read more →
Sometimes, you don't even know what you've been missing. Only recently a dear friend from Florida called my attention to the wonderful Seattle band Carissa's Wierd which turned out to be the long split up predecessor of the all too well known Band Of Horses, and in fact I can't help but thinking about this as a creative step backwards. On the other hand, we don't know the probably dirty details, right?

Anyway, there must've been more folks like me, as Seattle label Hardly Art has decided to reissue Carissa's Wierd's three studio albums this year, accompanied by the compilation They'll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003, to be released July 13. The song Die, posted below, will be on it and gives an excellent first impression of the band's quiet and melancholic oeuvre. Actually, I wanted you to have the opportunity to get another song, but the label asked me not to make it available for download. But if you should stumble across So You Wanna Be a Superhero by any chance, give it a listen, it might be the saddest yet most beautiful song ever written.


Carissa's Wierd - Die

Modern life is rubbish.

09 Jun 2010 — NFOP

Yesterday, this exquisite little tune dropped into my inbox after it had circled half the globe. Responsible for these four minutes of sundrenched laid-back electronica are Collarbones, an Australian duo consisting of Travis Cook and Marcus Whale who live in Adelaide and Sydney, respectively, and in fact decided to start this project after they'd met on the internet. Oh, these modern times. At least the above photograph proves (correction: appears to prove - mind Photoshop!) that the two must've seen each other in person at some point of the creative process.

Anyway, Beaman Park is the first single of a forthcoming album named Iconography, due later this year. The track is an excellent teaser and an admirable soundtrack for these sunny days, actually pretty reminiscent of that certain music that people use to call chillwave these days, think Toro Y Moi in particular (before that dude went acoustic). Absolutely delicious.

You can download the whole single via Collarbones' Bandcamp site, and it would be nice if you paid at least a bit, though you don't have to.


Collarbones - Beaman Park Read more →
Yesterday, this exquisite little tune dropped into my inbox after it had circled half the globe. Responsible for these four minutes of sundrenched laid-back electronica are Collarbones, an Australian duo consisting of Travis Cook and Marcus Whale who live in Adelaide and Sydney, respectively, and in fact decided to start this project after they'd met on the internet. Oh, these modern times. At least the above photograph proves (correction: appears to prove - mind Photoshop!) that the two must've seen each other in person at some point of the creative process.

Anyway, Beaman Park is the first single of a forthcoming album named Iconography, due later this year. The track is an excellent teaser and an admirable soundtrack for these sunny days, actually pretty reminiscent of that certain music that people use to call chillwave these days, think Toro Y Moi in particular (before that dude went acoustic). Absolutely delicious.

You can download the whole single via Collarbones' Bandcamp site, and it would be nice if you paid at least a bit, though you don't have to.


Collarbones - Beaman Park