Those Darlins

After getting quite a buzz on SXSW, Those Darlins' music caught my eye. Their infectious, catchy garage pop country is so full of fun and energy that it immediately made me smile. Let's hope their full length album will be released soon!
The best pop groups create their own universe, and make up their own ways of playing music and dealing with the big, bad world outside. Those Darlins are a pop group, if they are any one thing, which doesn't mean anybody with ears can't hear the country and rock 'n' roll in their sound and stance. Or maybe this trio of young women (early twenties, although no one's telling exactly), who live a long stone's throw from Nashville, Tennessee in the college town of Murfreesboro, are punks straight out of London or Cleveland, 1977. Being informed by Nashville and its intersecting indie, pop and country scenes, and aware of the twisted tradition of Appalachian roots music that stretches back to the Carter Family, Those Darlins nevertheless aren't of Nashville. They write their own songs, record in New York City, and talk convincingly about female empowerment, music history and egalitarian ideals of performance and business. But in practice, they're rockers. In the backyard of their shared suburban house in Murfreesboro (which is littered with many musical instruments and the occasional fifth of Evan Williams green-label whiskey), they stick wires in the spindle holes of old LPs, hang them from a magnolia tree, and shoot them with BB guns. They're good shots. The rockers in question are Kelley Darlin, the group's bassist, Jessi Darlin, who plays guitar, and Nikki Darlin, on baritone ukulele. Everyone sings. All this was somewhat new in a town where true rock 'n' roll attitude has always been in short supply, and Those Darlins got noticed by The Nashville Scene. So far they released an EP, and one single, both for sale at their website, eMusic and iTunes.

@ Tennessee, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ Wild Ones (mp3)
♥ Snaggletooth Mama (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Blue Roses

Quite a while ago, I think it was in 2007, Laura Groves released her first single I Am Leaving, which I really liked. It made me really want an album to be released. After months and months of waiting, I kinda gave up on the idea. Stupid, because I should have known that Laura Groves is way too talented to go to waste. And a few months ago, there it was, Laura Groves is now Blue Roses and is about to release her debut album later this month. Already had quite a few listens to an advance copy of the album, and I have to say... it's great and all I was hoping for. It's definitely not the standard singer songwriter stuff, but something that really makes her to stand out.
Yorkshire is full of towns where nothing much happens, or so they’d have you believe. Laura Groves either didn’t hear, didn’t believe or simply knew better and on the edge of seventeen began writing songs. With an old family piano and a borrowed guitar, thinking of the records she loved, lyrics that broke her heart, phrasing that made it race, composers cradling her aspirations. Influences spanning genres and generations; from Bartók to Bush, Tiersen to Tears For Fears, Debussy to Du Maurier. She dreamt of writing, arranging, performing and producing an album that would be as treasured by someone else, and hopefully inspire them in the same way. The journey from then until now has not only given her more years, but more confidence, more experience of life, the courage to let the music express when words seem too restrictive. Blue Roses is the story, with Laura Groves as the protagonist. Included is a cast of family members to play instruments and a choir of firm friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers gathered together in a café to help. A small amount of money and a little faith was stretched with the benevolence and enthusiasm of those who stood at each door. From recording in living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms in various houses, to recording a Steinway in a local piano shop Instant praise is neither expected nor sought; Blue Roses is not the stuff of lists, tip offs or hollow press recommendations; this is not recollection, it is realisation. It is not music to be forced onto the public for social measurements, or on the merit of affiliation. Blue Roses is to be found, kept and cherished; it is to be absent as the dust begins to settle, and longed for as ambience resumes. Blue Roses is the serendipity that can only happen when you thought you’d stopped looking; as you realise how life sounds without it, you begin again.

@ Shipley, UK
♫ Indie, Folk, Acoustic
♥ Doubtful Comforts (mp3)
♥ Greatest Thoughts (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Little Hands of Asphalt

The Little Hands of Asphalt was recommended to me by one of Spoon Train Audio's staff when I contacted them about My Little Pony (amazing as well). I immediately had a listen to his full album that was streaming at his Myspace back than. And there it was, Leap Years instantly became a serious contender for my top ten albums of this year. Sjur sings with so much honesty and genuine emotion that it can't left you unmoved.

Oslo is a small town. And Sjur Lyseid has been one of the driving forces in the growth of the indie-scene in the city in recent years. By being a musician and vocalist in Monzano, but also as a contributor in a number of bands and projects, and in the last year as a producer for, among other things, My Little Pony, Nomber 5s, Einar Stray and Roger Græsberg. But his folk project The Little Hands of Asphalt is where his hart lies. LHoAFolk pop with a country feeling that leans on artist like Elliot Smith and Conor Oberst. The lyrics are about lost, found or rejected love, about the sea that rises and golf power turns. And about Oslo. On the 9th of March Little Hands' debut-album Leap Years, produced by underground completely Kenneth Ishak was released. The album will be released as a collaboration between the acclaimed How is Annie Records and Spoon Train Audio. As a live band LHoA is a loose collective of rotating instrumentalists, with contributors from, among other things, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson, Yonakit, My Little Pony and Monzano. With everything from two to eight members have Little Hands made a series of concerts in Oslo.

@ Oslo, Norway
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Oslo (mp3)
♥ Highway's Pull (mp3)
▸ Myspace
+ Free EP

Steso Songs

Most of my new music discoveries are badly timed. Often when I'm extremely busy with collegestuff and definitely have no time to go on a "new music discovery adventure" I always seem to stumble upon a treasurechest of new great music. Steso Songs was no exeption, while studying for one of my exams a few weeks ago I stumbled upon her music on a swedish online music store, where it was one of the bestselling albums. Immediately had a listen at her Myspace, and liked what I heard. Steso Songs's debut EP features four nice pop songs, that will get you humming a long in no time.
Steso Songs is Karolina from Malmö. She started her first band when she was 12 with some friends. They wrote songs about boys, teenage fears and how pissed they were of life, school, anything, everything. Now, she writes about quite the same things. She lives together with her acoustic piano. "I can't get along with anyone else, i guess. and that's great because it means more songs, faster" she says. After gigs in every little town in Sweden, after getting one million questions when she will release her debut album, after stupid escapes into even more stupid jobs, after long cries in front of a dusty piano, after sessions of song writing more filled with anxiety than with pleasure, after worrying, after a bit chance and after pulling my self together a little, her first record is finally done. An EP. It's still unsure when her full length debut album will be released. The EP was recorded in Gothenburg by Kalle von Hall and in Malmo by Christian Berg and Nicklas Stenemo and will be released on May 23 on the label Lyckan.

@ Malmö, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Blinding Light Of Love (mp3)
♥ Tonight It's Oh Too Dark (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Two White Horses

Two White Horses are siblings James and Lovisa Nyström. They started singing together when they were in the Säkert!'s band out on tour. Spontaneity is what their debut album is about. They took some songs they liked and made it their own. Whether it's ABBA or El Perro del Mar. The album is half filled with covers, or their own interpretations of the songs if you prefer to call it that way, and some of their own songs. In the songs we hear the interaction between the two band members and, Jakob with electric guitar and keyboards by Loviisa. Good Times Are Gone Forever, is one of the best tracks on the album, but it is in their own songs like Naked Natives with small fine stringed instrumental pieces where they shine the most. It is only then that they show that they can write great lyrics. Many of the album covers are brilliant, and their cover of El Perro del Mar "Candy" is great. But I would like to see more of their own material, that on this album actually has the tendency to fall slightly in the shadows of the covers. I hope we will hear more from Two White Horses in the future, when they maybe make an album filled with their own songs, so they may show that they are able to stand completely on their own feet.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Good Times Are Gone Forever (mp3)
♥ Eyes of the Noble (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Lelia Broussard

The beautiful albumart of her newest EP, lured me into listening to Lelia's music Am glad it did, because this girl can sing! On Waiting on the 9 she manages to show her versatility with beautiful indiepop songs and some more rootsy tracks. This girl is one to look out for!
At age 20, Lelia has seemingly had a lifetime career in the music industry. From her early beginnings at age 14, writing and recording her first song Secrets (from the EP "Louisiana Soul") which was picked up by the popular Joan of Arcadia CBS television show, along with the famed college radio station WXPN in Philadelphia to her soon to be, third independently released record, "Waiting on the 9", Lelia has proven to be all these things. Her career has been one of a constantly evolving cottage industry for herself, built upon a determined work ethic and belief that the fans and her connection to them are what matters most. She has toured extensively across the US as an independent artist on the TGIF tour, her new EP has already been picked up for distribution in Japan, and her music has been featured in several television shows and movies. Her new record "Waiting on the 9" came about after Lelia moved out to LA and decided that she would choose to be the executive producer of the new project by financing it herself rather than give up creative control or the rights to her music. Working with a new band and producer the group was able to come out with a record that finally reflects Lelia's fantastic live sound. Lelia has always shown the ability to swing from different styles and genres and Waiting on the 9 is no different. Waiting on the 9 is heavily influenced by the Motown sound, but with a fresh new perspective. Nothing illustrates that better than the title track to the EP. "The song Waiting on the 9 is about people waiting on their lives to start, and living in the past..I thought it would be a cool thing to tie that idea to the 9 train in New York which stopped running about five years back.

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Acoustic, Indie, Pop
♥ Scared To Feel (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Oliver the Penguin

"Playful electropop for all ages"

Oliver The Penguin started as an unexpected collaboration between Tommy Walter (Eels, Abandoned Pools), & Rie Sinclair (Emmy-Nominated independent composer & Artist) one afternoon in June ‘07 during an attempt to create a mini theme-song for a TV show. Over think-tank walks down Melrose & conversations of relationships, the two conceptualized a side project, which morphed into something eerily prolific. The classic example of a chemical reaction by slamming particles of computer guy with sub-structure of starlet in small confined Hollywood space. Oliver began to morph into a wider concept, as collected samples of the two’s own personal childhood stories became more relevant to the character & music they were creating. Reminiscent of The Postal Service, Frou Frou, & The Bird And The Bee, Oliver The Penguin appeals to a wide range of listeners including an alternative young audience with their underground vibe, soothing melodic tones, & playfulness. Tommy Walter has not actually abandoned Abandoned Pools & continues to dish up mixtures in other collaborations. Rie Sinclair twirls various TV & personal music projects, while mixing her debut solo album. The two have already captured their collective pool of fans, who salivate in simple anticipation of more delicious material.

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Electro
♥ Paper Airplane (mp3)
♥ Girls and Boys (mp3)
▸ Myspace