5 Years of NFOP

Come celebrate with us: Urban Spree, May 24, 4pm

Listen to the NFOP Radio Show on Berlin Community Radio

Every Friday at 4pm CET

Tree Huggers.

11 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Just another Woodsist outfit: Woods, the band that is actually fronted by the label's founder Jeremy Earl, has a new album coming up. At Echo Lake will be released 11 May.

Listen to one of the new songs below:


Woods - I Was Gone

Read more →
Just another Woodsist outfit: Woods, the band that is actually fronted by the label's founder Jeremy Earl, has a new album coming up. At Echo Lake will be released 11 May.

Listen to one of the new songs below:


Woods - I Was Gone

The NFOP Radio Show #2

10 Mar 2010 — NFOP

I hope you'll enjoy the second edition of my little NFOP radio show (which is, admittedly, rather a simple mix). Anyway, you can listen to it either via the embedded player on top of this page (recommended) or here.

Listening note: The show is streamed via 8tracks. Their license requires a mix to be shuffled the second time someone listens to it. Moreover, the number of tracks the user can skip while listening to a mix is limited.


Tracklisting:

1. The Art Museums - Oh Modern Girls: I really think we should listen to them more often.
2. Dum Dum Girls - Heart of Stone (Raveonettes Cover): Debut album I Will Be, out 30 March, on Sup Pop.
3. Broken Social Scene - World Sick: It's been five long years, but finally the much-acclaimed Canadian indie rockers have announced that their new album Forgiveness Rock Record will be released on 3 May.
4. Florence + The Machine - You Got The Love (The xx remix/The Very Best rework): What happens if one of England's current pop darlings covers an old classic that gets remixed by the most hyped young band of the moment, and in the end an equally celebrated world music project adds some African flavours? This.
5. Foals - Spanish Sahara: The British math rockers have announced the follow-up to their debut Antidotes. Total Life Forever will be released May 10, and if this song allows any conclusions, it will be, well, different.
6. The Morning Benders - Excuses: New album Big Echo out now.
7. Liars - Here Comes All the People: LA's noisy experimentalists have blessed us with a challenging new piece, Sisterworld, out now.
8. Coyote Clean Up - Bad Blackberry: I hope I'll find the time to post about him soon.
9. Gonjasufi - Advice: His new album A Sufi and a Killer has received universal acclaim, and rightly so.
10. Glasser - Apply: See #8.
11. Trouble Books - Houseplants: Great, I'ver already posted about them. The album is wonderful, by the way.
12. Joanna Newsom - No Provenance: Everything has been written about her and the new album Have One On Me. Without doubt already one of the best in 2010.
Read more →
I hope you'll enjoy the second edition of my little NFOP radio show (which is, admittedly, rather a simple mix). Anyway, you can listen to it either via the embedded player on top of this page (recommended) or here.

Listening note: The show is streamed via 8tracks. Their license requires a mix to be shuffled the second time someone listens to it. Moreover, the number of tracks the user can skip while listening to a mix is limited.


Tracklisting:

1. The Art Museums - Oh Modern Girls: I really think we should listen to them more often.
2. Dum Dum Girls - Heart of Stone (Raveonettes Cover): Debut album I Will Be, out 30 March, on Sup Pop.
3. Broken Social Scene - World Sick: It's been five long years, but finally the much-acclaimed Canadian indie rockers have announced that their new album Forgiveness Rock Record will be released on 3 May.
4. Florence + The Machine - You Got The Love (The xx remix/The Very Best rework): What happens if one of England's current pop darlings covers an old classic that gets remixed by the most hyped young band of the moment, and in the end an equally celebrated world music project adds some African flavours? This.
5. Foals - Spanish Sahara: The British math rockers have announced the follow-up to their debut Antidotes. Total Life Forever will be released May 10, and if this song allows any conclusions, it will be, well, different.
6. The Morning Benders - Excuses: New album Big Echo out now.
7. Liars - Here Comes All the People: LA's noisy experimentalists have blessed us with a challenging new piece, Sisterworld, out now.
8. Coyote Clean Up - Bad Blackberry: I hope I'll find the time to post about him soon.
9. Gonjasufi - Advice: His new album A Sufi and a Killer has received universal acclaim, and rightly so.
10. Glasser - Apply: See #8.
11. Trouble Books - Houseplants: Great, I'ver already posted about them. The album is wonderful, by the way.
12. Joanna Newsom - No Provenance: Everything has been written about her and the new album Have One On Me. Without doubt already one of the best in 2010.

Now this could be interesting.

10 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden, our favourite hippie weirdos, have posted the first song from their new Album Congratulations which will be released on April 13. "Flash Delirium" is pretty much a takeoff - not exactly experimental in the strict sense, but nonetheless less obviously pop, especially towards the end, where the song comes quite close to what their friends of Montreal have done lately. In any case, it's a very promising teaser for things to come.

MGMT will play at Berlin's Columbia Club on 24 March, but the show is apparently sold out already.


MGMT - Flash Delirium

Read more →
Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden, our favourite hippie weirdos, have posted the first song from their new Album Congratulations which will be released on April 13. "Flash Delirium" is pretty much a takeoff - not exactly experimental in the strict sense, but nonetheless less obviously pop, especially towards the end, where the song comes quite close to what their friends of Montreal have done lately. In any case, it's a very promising teaser for things to come.

MGMT will play at Berlin's Columbia Club on 24 March, but the show is apparently sold out already.


MGMT - Flash Delirium

They will get us movin’.

09 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Brooklyn art rockers Suckers have announced the release of their debut album, Wild Smile, 8 June, on Frenchkiss.

This song, which will appear on the album, already about one year old now, delivers the message that we should be excited:


Suckers - It Gets Your Body Movin'

Read more →
Brooklyn art rockers Suckers have announced the release of their debut album, Wild Smile, 8 June, on Frenchkiss.

This song, which will appear on the album, already about one year old now, delivers the message that we should be excited:


Suckers - It Gets Your Body Movin'

Introducing: Julian Lynch

08 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Every great city has its very own suburbian nightmare. For New York City, that role has always been fulfilled by the Garden State (appropriately reflected in that certain movie).

Nonetheless, suburbia always had a distinctive, often even outstanding creative force. As regards New Jersey, it certainly has regained its momentum recently by being one of the focal points of the glorious lo-fi movement that came up a couple of years ago, reaching its hitherto peak in 2009.

Though most of them have moved to Brooklyn now (of course), bands and artists like Vivian Girls, Real Estate, Ducktails or Alex Bleeker and The Freaks remain connected to the realms of their childhood, the outskirts of New York. Moreover, they're not only connected to New Jersey but also share intertwined fates. The members of Vivian Girls and Real Estate went to the same high school. Matt Mondanile, the man behind Ducktails, plays guitar for Real Estate. And because being committed to two great creative projects sometimes won't complete you, he's got Predator Vision and the Parasails in addition. Alex Bleeker is Real Estate's bassist when he doesn't perform with his Freaks. Got it?

Then you're ready for Julian Lynch:


He is a member of the Freaks' original lineup. Occasionally, he supports Matt Mondanile when playing as Ducktails. And above all, he makes wonderful music under his own name. He's also from Ridgewood, NJ, but unlike his pals he didn't move to the promised city but to Madison, Wisconsin, because of "various of obligations", as he told Tiny Mix Tapes in an interview last year. Still, that relocation to the woods didn't prevent him from producing his signature tunes: Psychedelic pop, lo-fi to the extreme, with washed out lyrics somewhere in the distance. In short: beautiful music. His debut album, Orange You Glad, was released by The Olde English Spelling Bee last year.

Last week he posted the first song of the follow-up. According to the id tag, the new album will be called Mare, but we'll see.

Download or listen to his ode to home below:

Julian Lynch - In New Jersey

Read more →
Every great city has its very own suburbian nightmare. For New York City, that role has always been fulfilled by the Garden State (appropriately reflected in that certain movie).

Nonetheless, suburbia always had a distinctive, often even outstanding creative force. As regards New Jersey, it certainly has regained its momentum recently by being one of the focal points of the glorious lo-fi movement that came up a couple of years ago, reaching its hitherto peak in 2009.

Though most of them have moved to Brooklyn now (of course), bands and artists like Vivian Girls, Real Estate, Ducktails or Alex Bleeker and The Freaks remain connected to the realms of their childhood, the outskirts of New York. Moreover, they're not only connected to New Jersey but also share intertwined fates. The members of Vivian Girls and Real Estate went to the same high school. Matt Mondanile, the man behind Ducktails, plays guitar for Real Estate. And because being committed to two great creative projects sometimes won't complete you, he's got Predator Vision and the Parasails in addition. Alex Bleeker is Real Estate's bassist when he doesn't perform with his Freaks. Got it?

Then you're ready for Julian Lynch:


He is a member of the Freaks' original lineup. Occasionally, he supports Matt Mondanile when playing as Ducktails. And above all, he makes wonderful music under his own name. He's also from Ridgewood, NJ, but unlike his pals he didn't move to the promised city but to Madison, Wisconsin, because of "various of obligations", as he told Tiny Mix Tapes in an interview last year. Still, that relocation to the woods didn't prevent him from producing his signature tunes: Psychedelic pop, lo-fi to the extreme, with washed out lyrics somewhere in the distance. In short: beautiful music. His debut album, Orange You Glad, was released by The Olde English Spelling Bee last year.

Last week he posted the first song of the follow-up. According to the id tag, the new album will be called Mare, but we'll see.

Download or listen to his ode to home below:

Julian Lynch - In New Jersey

This must be a mistake.

04 Mar 2010 — NFOP

I can't help it. Every time someone says "Balearic", images like the above pop into my mind. And when that someone goes on and enthuses over "Balearic pop", I'll most likely get a sudden urge to leave him alone, as associations with this term are rather hard to stand:




Still, I've recently learned that this someone could just as well be some über-rad Brooklyn hipster raving about Swedish electronic pop music made for late hours at Mediterranean beaches, which is for some reason obviously considered cool across the Atlantic. More the "Café del Mar" kind of music, then. Not sure if that really makes it better.

Anyway, one of the artists making such music is the "mysterious" (at least this is what everyone's writing, so there must be some truth in it I guess) duo jj, and they actually have some pretty nice songs (according to their Last.fm page, they even do "neo-Balearic" indie pop, which means that I really must have missed something). Moreover, they are able to add some subtle irony to their wonderfully smooth tune "My life", posted below, by, well, citing one of the eminent Eurodance hymns of the late nineties, which quite seamlessly brings us back to the picture on top.

ATC - Around the World:



jj's "My Life" will appear on their third album, appropriately called "jj n°3", which will be released by Secretly Canadian on March 9.


jj - My Life

Read more →
I can't help it. Every time someone says "Balearic", images like the above pop into my mind. And when that someone goes on and enthuses over "Balearic pop", I'll most likely get a sudden urge to leave him alone, as associations with this term are rather hard to stand:




Still, I've recently learned that this someone could just as well be some über-rad Brooklyn hipster raving about Swedish electronic pop music made for late hours at Mediterranean beaches, which is for some reason obviously considered cool across the Atlantic. More the "Café del Mar" kind of music, then. Not sure if that really makes it better.

Anyway, one of the artists making such music is the "mysterious" (at least this is what everyone's writing, so there must be some truth in it I guess) duo jj, and they actually have some pretty nice songs (according to their Last.fm page, they even do "neo-Balearic" indie pop, which means that I really must have missed something). Moreover, they are able to add some subtle irony to their wonderfully smooth tune "My life", posted below, by, well, citing one of the eminent Eurodance hymns of the late nineties, which quite seamlessly brings us back to the picture on top.

ATC - Around the World:



jj's "My Life" will appear on their third album, appropriately called "jj n°3", which will be released by Secretly Canadian on March 9.


jj - My Life

Surf’s up.

03 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Now that our favourite West Palm Beach residents have announced their first two appearances in Germany, just a brief reminder of why we all should adore Surfer Blood. Go buy their debut album, Astro Coast, released 19 January on Kanine.

Surfer Blood:

23 May 2010: Berlin, Lido
24 May 2010: Hamburg, Uebel & Gefährlich


Surfer Blood - Harmonix

Read more →
Now that our favourite West Palm Beach residents have announced their first two appearances in Germany, just a brief reminder of why we all should adore Surfer Blood. Go buy their debut album, Astro Coast, released 19 January on Kanine.

Surfer Blood:

23 May 2010: Berlin, Lido
24 May 2010: Hamburg, Uebel & Gefährlich


Surfer Blood - Harmonix

This is a warning.

03 Mar 2010 — NFOP

Speaking of who to keep an eye on in 2010, I fear thou shalt not omit "L.A.'s Lolita" and latest Urban Outfitters "It girl" (no, seriously) Sky Ferreira. Anyone still hoping this one will just pass by without causing any harm: it's probably too late.

To gain some helpful indie credibility, Ms. Ferreira lists acts such as Phoenix, Passion Pit, Lykke Li, and even Wavves as "influences" on her myspace. But no matter if true or not, she's still only 17, signed by EMI now, and her all too known producers - most significantly Bloodshy and Avant among them - will make her sound like you have to sound in 2010, which will most presumably not remind us of Wavves. And just in case you were wondering, she actually has songs called "Femme Fatale" and "Lolita" (what happened to Alizée by the way?). So we all know where this will lead to, we've been there. For the last remaining sceptics: According to the Guardian, she is going to record (or most likely already has recorded) a song in collaboration with her most tragic antecessor, Britney Spears, called "Age is Just a Number". Sounds like a bad joke. If not, it's rather sad.

So, I guess you get the idea of the extent of the mess that's approaching. In the song posted below, our dear Sky sings over the most worn-out Dr. Dre beat, not even flinching from using Beatles lyrics. The apotheosis of pop culture, I guess. The road to hell is, well, you know.


Sky Ferreira - Happy Dre

Read more →

Speaking of who to keep an eye on in 2010, I fear thou shalt not omit "L.A.'s Lolita" and latest Urban Outfitters "It girl" (no, seriously) Sky Ferreira. Anyone still hoping this one will just pass by without causing any harm: it's probably too late.

To gain some helpful indie credibility, Ms. Ferreira lists acts such as Phoenix, Passion Pit, Lykke Li, and even Wavves as "influences" on her myspace. But no matter if true or not, she's still only 17, signed by EMI now, and her all too known producers - most significantly Bloodshy and Avant among them - will make her sound like you have to sound in 2010, which will most presumably not remind us of Wavves. And just in case you were wondering, she actually has songs called "Femme Fatale" and "Lolita" (what happened to Alizée by the way?). So we all know where this will lead to, we've been there. For the last remaining sceptics: According to the Guardian, she is going to record (or most likely already has recorded) a song in collaboration with her most tragic antecessor, Britney Spears, called "Age is Just a Number". Sounds like a bad joke. If not, it's rather sad.

So, I guess you get the idea of the extent of the mess that's approaching. In the song posted below, our dear Sky sings over the most worn-out Dr. Dre beat, not even flinching from using Beatles lyrics. The apotheosis of pop culture, I guess. The road to hell is, well, you know.


Sky Ferreira - Happy Dre

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