Renée

Renée is Belgian singer-songwriter Renée Sys who was born in Sijsele, Belgium. Her debut album "Extending Playground"  is filled with dreamy indie pop gems and was released last february on Zeal Records. The first single of the album "Dum, Dum, Dum" had some succes on the Belgian charts. The single is a perfect example of Renée's sultry and colourful vocals what makes the album perfect for lazy summer evenings. But my favorite song on the album is the sensitive piano track "Elegant Elephant"which in a way reminds of "Such A Lonely Soul" by Anna Ternheim, one of my favorite tracks of all time. But the album has much more to offer, be sure to give it a listen!

@ Brugge, Belgium

♫ Acoustic, Folk, Pop

♥ Elegant Elephant (mp3)

♥ The Fear (mp3)

▸ Facebook

▸ Official Website

Nina Nesbitt

Nina Nesbitt is an 18 year old singer-songwriter. Nina was born in Edinburgh and was raised by pop-loving parents – her Swedish mother loves Abba and Christina Aguilera and introduced her only child to Eva Cassidy; her dad is obsessed with Roxy Music – Nesbitt initially wanted to be an author. She got a guitar when she was 15 and started writing and recording songs in her bedroom and uploading the videos to her YouTube channel and participated in singing contests. After meeting Ed Sheeran, she was invited to support him on his European tour, and was also invited by Example to open his three concerts in December 2011 after hearing her perform his song "Stay Awake". She also appeared in the video for Ed Sheeran's song "Drunk". For nine months, Nesbitt turned down offers from labels to sign her. Determined first to build her own fan base and develop her sound, she ignored advice not to post original songs on YouTube and saw interest in her sweet, feisty folk-pop soar. By the end of 2011, BBC Introducing had picked up on Nesbitt’s independently released, debut EP, Live Take, and broadcast a session with the singer/songwriter on Radio 1. At the start of this year, she toured Europe with Ed Sheeran. In April, she released her second EP, The Apple Tree, comprised of five self-penned songs about growing up. Nina has briefly announced her second UK Headlining Tour; "BOY UK TOUR". Which is to celebrate the release of her debut single; "Boy", a poppier track she wrote 18 months ago and released under her new record label.

@ Edinburgh, UK

♫ Acoustic, Indie, Pop

♥ Glue (mp3)

♥ Make Me Fall (mp3)

▸ Facebook

▸ Official Website

+ Spotify

Free Music: Elastic Summer

Now that spring is coming closer and closer, I already cannot wait for summer to start with long days of being outside and doing nothing. If that is the same for you, then already get in the mood in the mood with the happy carefree indie pop of Elastic Summer. A friend of mine recommended Elastic Summer, and when I listened to their EP I just could not believe they're offering their EP for FREE! Elastic Summer is a pop band based in Brooklyn, New York. It was founded by Rebeca (vocals) and Michael (drums) in the Summer of 2010. They then recruited Joe (guitar) and Bryan (on the bass) with an incredibly successful Craigslist ad. Rebeca is a Brazilian from New Jersey. Michael is from California, Joe is from Texas and Bryan is from Berklee College of Music. Together they enjoy asian cuisine, tequila shots, and playing the board game taboo. The average band height is 6 feet and 1/4 inches. The average age is 22. Their first EP, “Elastic Summer,” was engineered and mixed by Rebeca at her house, and released in February of 2011. And now can be downloaded for FREE from their Bandcamp.

@ New York, USA

♫ Indie Pop

♥ Super Powers (mp3) 

▸ Official Website

+ download FREE EP

Little & Ashley

Tonight's feature is another artist I discovered through a commercial, LA based songwriting duo Little & Ashley was formed when they recorded “Fly Me Away” to accompany an Amazon commercial contest entry, which also starred Annie. Ultimately, the contest entry won both the Audience and the Amazon Jury prize and Little & Ashley, with the help of trombonist Alanna Vicente, finished recording a full-length version of the song which is included on the Stole My Heart EP. They also have completed a deal to compose additional material for Amazon’s Kindle commercial series. Their song, "C'mon Let's Go", "Fly Me Away" and “Stole My Heart”, featured in Amazon’s Kindle commercials for TV are available on Amazon’s music site.  Annie Little has starred in over 40 national commercials and hit TV shows including Mad Men, Scrubs, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Longtime musician Marcus Ashley writes and records with Los Angeles band American Weapon, and is currently completing a third release. In addition to music, Marcus has guest starred as an actor on numerous TV shows including Bones, CSI: NY, Scrubs and Ghost Whisperer. Additionally, he has starred in over 50 U.S. national and European commercials including Volkswagen, Heineken, Ford, Levi’s, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Budweiser, and Kodak. But with their first steps in the music business,  Little and Ashley hope to live up to earlier expectations: in high school, Marcus was voted Most Talented and Annie was voted Most Likely To Sing In The Metropolitan Opera.

@ Los Angeles, USA

♫ Indie, Pop

♥ Stole My Heart (mp3)

▸ Official Website
▸ Spotify

Amy Stroup

TV shows have always been a source for great new music for me.. One of the artists that has been featured in shows quite often is Amy Stroup. If you listen to her music, you immediately know why. Her smart folky pop songs sung by her tender voice just fit in about any significant scene in most drama shows. Amy Stroup communicates what she knows is true about life in melodic lyric and verse. Amy has released four albums under her own label including, The Other Side of Love | Session One. On her latest release,  she has taken a less conventional approach and collaborated with a few good friends and producer Thomas Doeve to release the next three sessions of The Other Side of Love. Session Two features “Hold Onto Hope, Love”, “Chin Up”, “Odds of Being Alone”, and more as heard and featured on ABC’s Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, One Tree Hill, and more released under her new venture Milkglass Creative. Amy’s single ‘Backed into the Corner’ was featured on this season premier of Grey’s Anatomy. In addition to television placements, her songs have been featured on national television ads including e Harmony and Walmart. Not long ago she released session Three featuring that song and more. “I try to focus on writing simply a great song, one song at a time, and when you are working with people you genuinely enjoy and live life with, the music naturally comes and speaks,” says Amy. Amy draws from a range of geographic locales and musical influences, having called Boston, Texas and now Nashville home. There, she earned a liberal arts degree in marketing and classical guitar from Lipscomb University. Growing up, her musical influences included songwriters Ennio Morricone, Lucinda Williams and Patty Griffin.

@ Nashville, USA

♫ Indie, Pop

♥ Just You (mp3)

♥ Quiet Hearts (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Official Website

▸ Spotify

The Narcoleptic Dancers

Although a lot that we receive in the mailbox of LMLI is junk or just the regular mailing-list stuff, we sometimes get nicely surprised by great submissions and recommendations, today's featured duo "The Narcoleptic Dancers is one of those mailbox treasures. In their long and somewhat weird biography  Anton Louis Jr  and Melody Van Kappers get reunited as long lost family and discover one common passion: music. And so, it was as simply, as naturally as this that they would get together as a duo. They took the name “The Narcoleptic Dancers’ in homage to their father. She writes and sings. Anton Louis Jr composes and produces. Their songs are gentle, fresh, light, poetic and energetic, just as they are, on stage and in life. They’re currently working on their first album. It brings together the best of their childhood promise: pop songs and folk ballads, evidently, but not only. There’s also electro-pop and promenades with old-fashioned charm. Their influences range from The Breeders to the Ting Tings, with a little Grizzly Bear, Radiohead, Kate Nash, Atlas Sound, The B52’s and Young Marble Giants in-between. Their first EP 'Not Evident EP' filled with five infectious indie, electro pop songs is on Spotify and for sale in France and the UK. Give it a try, I, at least can't wait for the full album!

@ France/NL

♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Rastakraut (mp3)

♥ Again and Again (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Spotify

Hayley Taylor

If you're getting a lot of music, it happens that albums get to the bottom of the pile, and some stay there unfortunately way too long. The same happened with singer-songwriter Hayley Taylor debut. But once he was discovered, it remained in my CD player. Hayley was born in Michigan and raised in Los Angeles, began performing at a young age, working as a professional actress into her teens in TV and film. Though she began playing music and singing early on, it wasn’t until college that she realized music was her true passion. Her music has been featured in commercials, TV shows, and films, including How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Royal Pains (USA), Privileged (CW), Heartland and most recently a Vick’s commercial. On the ten-track debut One Foot in Front of the Other produced by Dan Romer (Ingrid Michaelson) and Eric Robinson (Matt Nathanson, Kate Voegele), Hayley touches on the heartstrings without running over. Her voice conveys her emotions as honest and unflichingly clearl and catchy as her melodies. A real treasury for the ear. It features performances by an all-star cast of players, including Michael Chaves (John Mayer), Ben Peeler (Alexi Murdoch), Adrienne Woods (Josh Radin, Jonas Brothers), Elliot Jacobson (Ingrid Michaelson), and producer Marshall Altman (Kate Voegele) and is not to be missed out on if you love catchy indie pop songs.

@ Los Angeles, USA

♫ Acoustic, Indie, Pop

♥ Felt Like Love (mp3)

♥ No More Wishing (mp3)

▸ MySpace

+ Spotify

The Music Dept.

Again, a tv show introduced me to great new music. This time it was in the amazing last episode of One Tree Hill, that I first heard The Music Dept. The Music Dept. are Amy Wallace (singer/songwriter), Jonathan Korszyk (singer/songwriter), and Chris Franz (producer/songwriter) who crossed paths late 2009 while cutting their teeth in the Los Angeles music scene. Franz was playing lead guitar for Wallace at venues like Hotel Café and Room 5, while concurrently producing Korszyk’s band Vienne. Discovering a unique chemistry, the three decided to create a new project, centered on the idea of writing and releasing singles, instead of writing a load of songs to release an album, which they use to create awareness about social issues and the nonprofit organizations working to make a difference. They may be a new name to music fans, but is wasting no time in making its voice heard. Last monday The Music Dept. gained national attention when it’s third release, “Already Fell,” was featured on One Tree Hill. The band is currently recording its next batch of songs and I can't wait to hear what they sound like when they are releasing 'em this summer!

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Already Fell (mp3) [BUY]
▸ Myspace

Free Music: He Is We

He is We are Trevor Kelly (acoustic guitar) and Rachel Taylor (vocals). They met working at Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, WA. When you spend a lot of time with someone and you don’t end up hating them… chances are you’re going to be great pals. They both played music but different kinds. Rachel is into indie pop,melodic metal and girlie stuff. Trevor is into the hardcore metal that talks about bloody things and such. Oh the madness! But it just clicked…And they started writing songs together. The band has changed its members around a bit trying to find the ones that fit. Its all about the right combination. Everythings finally settling down now and they are currently in the process of recording and releasing their debut EP. They recently released “A Mess It Grows” on iTunes, the first single of the upcoming EP. To keep you busy till the full EP drops they decided to share all the music they’ve done up to now for FREE on their Bandcamp page. So don’t hesitate but start downloading already!

1. I Wouldn't Mind
2. Blame It On The Rain
3. Breathe
4. Pardon Me
5. Blame It On The Rain
6. Give It All (mp3)
7. Happily Ever After (mp3)
8. Light A Way
9. Pardon Me
10. Pour Me Out
11. Too Beautiful
12. Radio
DOWNLOAD | BUY | MYSPACE

Jess Penner

Growing up on a small Banana farm in Hawaii to a free spirited song writing, husky voiced father and beautiful, swing dancing, business savvy mother. Jess Penner’s childhood was sweeter than most. Perfect sunny days walking barefoot to the beach and fishing with the neighborhood boys would be more than a dream for most kids. But Jess had dreams much bigger. Signing her first record deal at age 16, Jess spent the next decade fully committed to her dream. Two bands, seven nationally distributed records and over 1000 live shows later Jess is now releasing her debut solo album "Love Love Love" that's filled with quirky, fun pop songs that Jess hopes "to make people smile, laugh, and feel alive" And after one listen only, it already became clear that she gloriously succeeded doing all of that with this album that brings summer even closer.

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ All Smiles (mp3)
♥ We Fit Together (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Facebook

Sally Seltmann

Have been loving Sally Seltmann ever since I listened to her first album as "New Buffalo" (be sure to check that project out as well) Now she's back, with a great new album filled with beautiful folky pop songs that I instantly loved. She seemed to have moved away from the more folky sound of her previous albums and embraced a lighter, poppier sing-a-long, almost 60's inspired sound that perfectly suits the coming warmer and sunny days.
Sally Seltmann is an award-winning songwriter and singer. She has previously released albums and performed under the name ‘New Buffalo’, and is well known as the co-writer of the Grammy award nominated hit song ‘1234’, performed by Feist. Sally now returns with Heart That's Pounding, her first album as Sally Seltmann. Previous recordings by Sally as New Buffalo include her debut EP ‘About Last Night’. Following her debut EP, Sally wrote, arranged and produced her first New Buffalo album ‘The Last Beautiful Day’. The album features performances from Beth Orton, and the Dirty Three’s Jim White, who plays drums on three tracks on the album. In 2007 Sally released her stunning second New Buffalo album ‘Somewhere, anywhere.’ She wrote and recorded the songs on a century-old piano, in the studio she set up inside a flower-flanked shed in her own backyard. The album features guest vocals from her husband Darren Seltmann and Kellie Sutherland. As New Buffalo, Sally has toured in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, performing her own shows, as well as supporting artists including Cat Power, The Concretes, Broken Social Scene, Bright Eyes, Stars, and Feist. Sally's newest treasure "Heart That's Pounding" was released a few days ago, be sure to consider this as your soundtrack for the coming summer.

@ Australia
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Harmony to my Heartbeat (mp3)
♥ On The Borderline (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Fallulah

Fallulah is one of my most recent discoveries. Fallulah, 24 year old Maria Apetri, will surely join the ranks of Bat For Lashes, Jenny Wilson and Marina & The Diamonds, as part of the new emerging wave of proud, bold and adventurous female popartists. Fallulah creates popmusic with finesse, integrity and a fiery, hot- tempered feel of Central Europe. Her songs defy genres and contain subtle elements of classic pop, rock´n´roll, indie, balkan, jazz and r&b. They are energetic and highly physical, which is reflected live, when Fallulah is backed by a tight quartet that plays with a teenth-grinding, feet-stomping bluesy rawness. Fallulah´s debutalbum “The Black Cat Neighbourhood” is a minimalistic horn-of-plenty; extremely ambitious and focused, but at the same time organic, personal and with an infectious, rogue energy; The catchy melodies are arranged around propulsive beats, playful percussion, folkloric strings, piano, choir, glockenspiel and dry, stabbing guitars. The album was released in February 2010 and succeeds the single “I Lay My Head”, which immediately became “Song of the week” on the highly influential Danish P3 Radio.

@ Kopenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ Use It For Good (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Free Music: My Bubba & Mi

Last night I discovered this folky trio from Denmark on the 3voor12 Luisterpaal, a great place to listen to new and upcoming albums. I was immediately attracted by their gorgeous and promising albumart, and fortunately after a first listen it seemed to definitely have fulfilled its promise with ten songs with everything that you always love in scandinavian music and that make you want summer to start even sooner.
My Bubba & Mi are three girls from Denmark, Sweden and Iceland that became room mates in an apartment in Copenhagen. My Bubba & Mi is a special female trio that reeled me in with their intriguing mix of folk, expert finger picking and vocal harmonies so warm they’ll melt the biggest glacier. They themselves are far more down-to-earth. “lullabies from the countryside”, is what the ladies call it. The latter might be a more accurate description, as the trio headed to the sunny, wide fields of southern Italy to record their début. The story goes as follows. An Italian bar-owner was cycling through the city of Copenhagen on holiday. He was taken in by hypnotising sounds seeping through the window of a small bar nearby. Overpowered by his curiosity the man entered and saw My, Bubba and Mia performing for a small audience. A fan was born. The man invited the ladies to come to Italy to perform their music. “All right”, the threesome said and they left. A second invitation followed soon afterwards, this time to record a CD. “Agreed”, the answer was yet again and they packed their bags. Yes, that’s how simple life can be. ‘How it’s done in Italy’ is the mesmerizing début of My Bubba & Mi and furthermore the first Beep! Beep! Back up the Truck release from an international artist. The album will be released on March 8th on CD and vinyl. The 1,500 covers are – believe it or not – hand-made by the band members themselves. Each cover is a unique piece of art. So don't hesitate and give these girls a listen to the full album stream and buy it on cd or vinyl.

@ Copenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Folk
♥ Really Really (mp3)
♥ Gone (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website
+ Free "How It's Done In Italy" album

Shelly Fraley

Shelly Fraley is one of the many great singer-songwriters I've discovered through One Tree Hill and you should all give this girl's music a try, especially if you're into catchy indie pop songs to sing along with! I've included Shelly's selfwritten biography because of the lack of time and that I could not say it better myself.
I’d like to say I knew I’d pursue music in one form or another from the time I was in the womb, but let’s be honest, I can’t remember that far back. So, If I have to pick an age, I’d have to say four, which is when I remember writing my first “lyrics.” I couldn’t understand why my mom laughed when I used the phrase “you keep cracking me up” in a breakup song (yes, at four)! From those first lyrics until now, I’ve been a songwriter at heart. I never thought of myself as a great singer, but I always loved the process of writing and creating something that was my own. I started learning piano on a Casio keyboard with little sticker letters on the keys to learn the notes when I was about eight. Growing up on a farm in nowhere Kansas lent to plenty of “down-time” to learn the piano and create music, silly as it may have been. My first semi “official” recordings were done at my church in my tiny town on an out of tune piano. I still have the cassettes and laugh at them on occasion. Although I had fun with music, and loved creating it as a kid, I had a pretty sheltered childhood as far as my musical influences go. It wasn’t until my early twenties when I started writing and playing with other musicians that I began discovering music that I had no idea existed. Music from artists such as The Cardigans, Ben Folds, Ben Harper, Beck, Radiohead, U2, Muse, Sheryl Crow, and many others pushed me to want to write better, more interesting songs. Since those days, I’ve recorded several songs. Some of them I love, others not so much; some are dark, and some are hopeful; but, ultimately, they all come from an honest place. My most recent is what I consider my first “official” solo project, an EP entitled “Up Up & Away.” It’s a collection of 5 songs that sum up my first year in Tennessee and my last year in Kansas. From the title track, “Up Up & Away,” a song about coming from a dark, unhappy place, into a more positive hopeful place - to “I Don’t Know,” a song about having to make the heartbreaking decision of ending a relationship, all of the songs are really about what I know best… my life.

@ Nashville, USA
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ On Her Way (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Cady Groves

Discovered this talented girl quite a while ago on MySpace, did not have the time to share her with you back then. Still quite busy with a lot of projects for college so added a part of Cady's selfwritten bio underneath for you to read. I remember when I realized what I wanted to do in life. I was helping my mom clean out our swimming pool when an old Frank Sinatra song came on the radio. I remember saying, "Mom, I want to write things down that I have to say, and I want to sing them real loud so everyone can hear me." I was seven at the time. Ever since that moment, making music has continued to be my goal. Writing has always been a constant escape for me. A lot of horrible things have happened in my life, and without the ability to write my feelings down and communicate them with a melody; they essentially would have blown up inside of me, for all I know. Sometimes an entire song and melody will pop into my head at a gas station, or some place unexpected. I'll press the record button on my phone and sing the whole thing right there so I won't forget it. It's such a privilege and much fun for me to write songs, and then have them actually be accepted by people. If I have one thing to say--I just want people to know they are not alone. I've made a lot of mistakes, and have experienced a lot of hurt. But the one thing I feel like you can do with pain, is make it your art. If you can turn it into something you can sing along to, the healing will come through that. To imagine one of my songs could change or help someone, or make them feel like someone understands them, makes this all just that much more amazing. It's not about me being a role model, and never will be. I'm part of the crowd. I just want to speak for the whole. We're in this together. Cady released her first EP "A Month Of Sundays" in the fall of last year, and will be releasing her debut album "Life of a Pirate" next month, pre-order it here.

@ Oklahoma City, USA
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ A Town Like This (mp3)
♥ One In The Same (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Gold Motel

Ever since I discovered the indie pop/rock band The Hush Sound and heard Greta Morgan’s vocals in “Wine Red” I daydreamed of her going solo, or at least release an album on her own. Not that I did not like The Hush Sound, I just prefer female vocalists as many of you loyal readers won’t be surprised to hear. That why I was very happy to find out that the last album of THS was filled with Greta Morgan fronted songs, and was very sad when THS announced their indefinite hiatus. A few months after the news, the hiatus actually turned out to be not such a bad thing after all. Greta Morgan announced on her Twitter that she was recording solo material! This proves; sometimes your dreams might become real. The following months I kept checking Greta Morgan’s twitter page, to eventually found out that her solo project would be called Gold Motel. When the first Gold Motel song “Perfect In My Mind”, a perfect cheerful and upbeat song, surfaced on MySpace, it made my anticipation for the upcoming EP even higher (if that was even possible). The Gold Motel EP, released last month, contains five indie pop gems about life, love and everything in between. The songs vary from the very catchy and hooky and instant favorite “The Cruel One” where Greta sings about breaking up, and therefore being the cruel one to the, in my eyes, most THS-like song “Who Will I Be Tonight?” where she sings about being left/cheated on. There’s not a song on the EP you won’t like, and if the upcoming full length album, coming this June, is only half as good and endearing as this first release, we’re up for a treat!

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ Perfect In My Mind (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Micadelia

Micadelia, (Mika Sundqvist), was born 1989 in the small town of Skellefteå in the northern parts of Sweden. Her love for music in general, and Neil Young and Led Zeppelin in particular, led to performances on different stages in various contexts. After playing Led Zeppelin material with the band Mica and The Other Pages and doing several concerts interpreting Neil Young songs under the name of Mica and the Gold Rush, she felt that it was time to take the next step and record an album of her own. The American singer-songwriter Ferraby Lionheart was visiting Skellefteå while on tour and was invited to the studio by Micadelia to have a listen. When leaving an hour later he had ended up singing on two of the tracks, one hearty duet version of The Beatles/George Harrison’s Long Long Long and back up vocals on Nirvana’s Polly. Her own songs are coming along and slowly maturing as the sweetest of fruits. The self penned song Sadness on the debut album reveals the path Micadelia has started to wander, with great promises of a bright future ahead.

@ Västerbottens Iän, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop, Acoustic
♥ Under The Milky Way (mp3)
♥ Hanging on the Telephone (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Rock Paper Safety Scissors

Rock Paper Safety Scissors (RPSS) are two girls from Calgary, Canada who sing indie pop songs in perfect harmony. In a way they sound like the acoustic version of the earlier featured linden. "We're not really a big deal but we absolutely love what we do. Our music may not always be the happiest of tunes, but sometimes it is. It's there for you in the dark and it's there for smiling. Each song is written with care, not to mention a few tears, hugs, and laughs along the way." was what they said about their just finished first EP entitled 'Don't Cut Yourself' released not too long ago and available on iTunes. They hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as they did making it. The production of the EP is very simple and basic, but the lyrics are clever and the combination of their enthusiastic voices make it worth a listen. With the willpower these ladies show at their age, it can't mean anything else than this won't be the last we've heard from them.

@ Calgary, Canada
♫ Acoustic, Indie, Pop
♥ Skin + Bones (mp3)
♥ Democracy! (mp3)
▸ Myspace

fun.

Today's feature was actually inspired/recommended by Greta Salpeter from The Hush Sound, that tweeted that Fun's debut album was currently her favorite album. She was right, Fun's debut album "Aim and Ignite" is a lot of fun, that will remind you of summer and get you through the upcoming winter months. Fun is what happens when three extraordinarily talented musicians come together to create something altogether new and wonderful. Nate Ruess, late of The Format, has teamed up with ex-Anathallo multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost and Steel Train’s Jack Antonoff, resulting in their ingenious debut, “Aim and Ignite.” The trio melds a stunning array of diverse inspirations – spanning Broadway to The Beach Boys, “Nillson Schmilsson” to “Pinkterton” – into an irresistible collection of freewheeling pop songcraft. Songs like “Benson Hedges” and “All The Pretty Girls” are fit to burst with richly prolix lyricism and intricate melodic twists and turns, which provide plenty of room for Ruess’ distinctive vocals to soar. With “Aim and Ignite,” Fun have crafted something special indeed, a contemporary rethinking of classic 70s pop, where ornate arrangements and inspired orchestrations meet present-day rock ‘n’ roll.

@ New York, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ Be Calm (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Asha Ali

Asha Ali is a swedish singer/songwriter whose music contains elements of indie pop and soul. She was born in Ethiopia, moved to Uganda and came to Sweden as a 9-year-old together with her family and now lives in Svedmyra, outside of Stockholm. Asha also lived in London for a year between 2001 and 2002. She first became famous in 2005 when she released a acoustic EP. called "Warm Fronts". At the end of 2006 she released her first album "Asha Ali", which almost immediately got nominated for both a Grammy and a P3 Guld. Musically she's inspired by Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Cat Power, Gillian Welch, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. This october, Asha will release her second album "Hurricane" featuring titletrack and also first single "Hurricane" and her new single "The Time is Now" which is featured in an ad-campaign for Saab.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Hurricane (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website