ODi - 300th post!

ODi's story began when she uploaded some home recordings to My Space. People here, there and everywhere began to listen to her songs, loved what they heard and asked when her next gig was. Inspired by this and armed with a beautiful, raw, voice, a cheap guitar, won on ebay, and her heart on her sleeve, ODi headed down to her local venue to blag her first gig. Her story has grown from there. Two years on, ODi was invited to support Seth Lakeman at the Beverley Folk Festival. Along the way, the hard working Wexford woman has played over 200 gigs across the UK, Ireland and Germany. Released 2 well received singles "Crawl" and "What You Deserve" whilst developing an ever growing fanbase. She’s also managed to trade in the cheap guitar for a better one! Her captivating voice and well crafted songs have already been likened to those of Suzanne Vega and Natalie Merchant. The musical landscapes on her recordings hinting towards a female version of Damien Rice, with a touch of PJ Harvey thrown in for good measure.October sees ODi bring her new EP “A Superman” to the UK. She will enter the studio, late 2008 to record her debut album, due for release in summer 2009.

@ Leeds, UK
♫ Indie, Folk Rock, Pop
♥ A Superman (mp3)
♥ Real to Me [Live] (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Pocketbooks

Again it's MySpace that delivers me my next addiction from the UK, they sound a bit like Camera Obscura, and earlier featured The School, and for me that means instant love most of the time!
"We formed in 2006, having met on the dancefloors of London’s indiepop and northern soul clubs. Before we’d actually played a gig, we appeared on the indiepop compilation The Kids At The Club alongside Voxtrot, I'm From Barcelona and Lucky Soul. In April 2007, we headlined the first ever Indietracks event on a 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire. That year we also played shows across the country alongside bands including Fanfarlo, Monica Queen, The School, Radio Luxembourg, Butcher Boy and Saturday Looks Good To Me. We also released our debut single, Cross The Line, on Atomic Beat Records, and featured on a Smalltown America compilation, following in the footsteps of The Go! Team and Blood Red Shoes. In 2008, we hit the summer festivals, including the Rip It Up festival (Sweden), Offset festival, and The Mix festival in London. We also returned to the Indietracks Festival, to play alongside The Wedding Present, Los Campesinos! Darren Hayman and The Wave Pictures. We also released our debut EP 'Waking UP', and even got played on BBC 6Music!"

@ London, UK

♫ Indie, Pop, Acoustic
♥ Don't Stop (mp3)
♥ Falling Leaves (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Katie Todd

The enthousiasm of a friend of mine, rewakened my interest for Katie Todd (Band). There were a few times last year, I found her across the net, but I was never able to track down any of their music, now I finally did, and I'm already sure she's going to be one of my top artists this week!
Having shared the stage with such music scene luminaries as Juliana Hatfield, Patti Labelle, 10,000 Maniacs, Steve Winwood, Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s, Kenny Loggins and The Wallflowers, the Chicago Arts and Entertainment Magazine has recognized Katie Todd as “a breath of fresh air that the Chicago music scene has been waiting for.” She released her first album "Changing Faces" back in 2002 and was named best indie release on WXRT Chicago that year. After releasing a LIVE album in 2003; she released her second studio album "Make Some Time For Wasting" in 2005. After intensive touring Katie took a short break and shifted her focus primarily to writing new music. Now she is back in the studio recording her third album, "Mumbled Speech" , slated for release sometime this year.It was pretty hard choosing two preview tracks of the album, so please try to listen to the full thing!

@ Chicago, USA

♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ The Polite (mp3)
♥ Claustrophobe (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

New Moscow

This was a recommendation from my girlfriend, she heard it on a episode of One Tree Hill, and really liked it; as did I... Isn't it great to have a girlfriend that shares your musictaste? ;)
New Moscow started in the spring of 2005, and is the creation of Division Of Laura Lee guitarist David Fransson. David recorded and produced the album on his own and he also played all the instruments. New Moscow plays indiepop/rock with catchy melodies - noisy but not loud. Both music and lyrics have more in common with singer-songwriters than with the garage-punk rock David otherwise plays in Division Of Laura Lee. Lots have happened since New Moscow started 2005. Andreas Nordström (drums) and Mattias Engwall (bass) have joined the band. The song “Slow Down” has been included in the hit TV Show Grey’s Anatomy… twice. The series is seen by 20 million Americans every week. The first of the two episodes (episode 19 season 2) is aired in Sweden on Kanal 5 by Christmas. A first single, “C’mon Up”, has been released in the UK by the small and credible indie label Young and Lost Club Records. The single attracted alot of attention and will be included in legendary record shop Rough Trades coming compilation. Their next album "Slow Down" will be out early next year.

@ Kållands Island, Sweden
♫ Indie, Acoustic, Pop, Rock
♥ Taking Back What's Mine (mp3)
♥ Slow Down (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Cocoanut Groove

Some weeks ago I read about Cocoanut Groove, and yesterday, I finally got my hands on some of their music! When I'm listening to Cocoanut Groove, like the name implies, I feel like being on sunny beaches in the end of the summer.. Try it!
Cocoanut Groove is the solo project of Olov Antonsson, who began making recordings under that name in the summer of 2007. Joined on his first recordings by Calle Thoor, Mattias Malm, Ivar Lantz, Frida Danielsson, Antonsson formulated sleek, drowsy, mournful indie pop sound reminiscent of the Clientele and rooted in the sweet psychedelia of the Zombies and Mortimer. Cocoanut Groove’s debut seven-inch, “The End of Summer on Bookbinder Road”/ “Shadow”, was released on London’s Phonic Kidnapping Recordings in May 2008. A full-length album, Madeleine Street, is slated for release on the Swedish label Fridlyst later this year.

@ Brighton, UK

♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ The End Of The Summer on Bookbinder Road (mp3)
♥ Walking to Madeleine Street (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Social Services

The Social Services are two thirds Glaswegian and one third Swedish, so that explains their combined love of nature and cholesterol. Their nomadic lifestyle and frustration with the world around inspire them to write songs about: war, death, consumerism, immigration, storage solutions, potatoes and swimming. They rant without being shouty and love it when everybody joins in on the sing-a-long choruses. Based in Stockholm, they combine a songwriting tradition and melancholy of their Scottish roots, with the melody and playfulness of Swedish indie-pop. They create music with a brain, that makes you want to dance around without thinking.
The Social Services' debut album "It's Nothing Personal, It's National Security" was recorded in Sweden in the Spring of 2008 and will be released Oct. 6th.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Alternative, Pop
♥ The Baltic Sea (mp3)
♥ The Final Countdown (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Greg Holden

"Talented singer-songwriter, destined for bigger things"

Greg Holden begun his solo journey in June 2007. With a huge influence from older artists such as Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash to more recent writers such as Damien Rice and Ray Lamontagne, Greg Holden’s music has been described as “Soulful”, “Melodically Beautiful” and “Incredibly Genuine”. Music Producer Nunzio Signore spotted him playing at a small venue in Brighton where Greg was living at the time. This was the lucky break that Greg needed and it was this opportunity that resulted in Greg’s debut EP, ‘Run, Don’t Walk’ which is currently available from iTunes. In January 2008 Greg started a small video series on YouTube called ‘The Living Room Series’, which was a simple concept involving himself, his guitar, a bunch of his songs and a webcam, it ended up becoming a YouTube smash. That leads us to now, September 2008. Greg has since returned to New York to complete more tracks for his debut album 'A Word In Edgeways' soon to be released.

@ London, UK

♫ Acoustic, Folk, Rock
♥ Days (mp3)
♥ Art of Falling (mp3)
▸ Myspace