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Music Alliance Pact - May 2015

Η μηνιαία συλλογή του Music Alliance Pact με όσα ξεχώρισαν 19 συστηματικοί ακροατές μουσικής από την σκηνή της χώρας που διαμένουν. Αποκτήστέ την στο σύνολό της πατώντας εδώ ή μεμονωμένα στον τίτλο του κάθε τραγουδιού.

Manos Milonakis produces modern classical music for films and theatrical plays, as well as for his independent solo work. The original score for Thanassis Triaridis' theatrical play Zyklon Or The Destiny is a magnificent set of 10 tracks awash in textures, atmospheres, moods and emotion. His music winds its way through your mind and moves your soul. You should also check out the main theme for the documentary Drink And Be Merry.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
This new musical project by Martin Reznik (La Filarmonica Cosmica) almost started as a game in 2012, when he recorded several songs on a weekly basis. Some time afterwards, while reviewing the material, Martin realised he had an album in his hands, so he spent the next months polishing the songs and re-recording some instrumental tracks. He also invited musical friends to participate in what became a folk album with a soft psychedelic vibe. Suicidas Melodías is one of these collaborations, in which singer-sonwriter Sofía Viola lends her wonderful voice. You can download the full album from Bandcamp.

Arvo Tanty is an introduction to producer Michael Dolan's solo material, following his work with electronic outfit Perth. White Hum Valley (Hello) is a grandiose, cinematic Casiotone orchestra track where slow, effacing rhythms pulse and dissolve at surface break. Dolan says the song was inspired by Joni Mitchell, Mort Garson's Plantasia and his yearning to make a "Nintendo soundtrack of some kind".

Montag's Dream, the opening track of Otis Trio's debut album 74 Club, probably refers to the main character of the novel Fahrenheit 451. The dark jazz they create fits perfectly with the despair related in the book.

Toronto artist Nina Bowz specializes in artful electro-pop that has quirky twists at every corner.

CHILE: Super 45
The lack of spirituality is a recurring theme of living in big cities, and for Urban Monk this is a starting point in their musical history. After a season in Brazil, Chai got together with Dhanur to bring out the sounds inside their heads. They have followed up their 2013 debut Primavera En Secreto EP with this year's release of A Lua - a mixture of pop, rap, shoegaze and Krishna life by these friends from La Serena.

Bogota's Planes (Estudios Universales) previously appeared in the Music Alliance Pact in August 2012 and much has happened to them since then. Many trips, festivals, soundtracks and the release of their 2014 debut album Las Americas. In it, they continue their wave of dream-pop with alternative rock, creating a beautiful place in the soul of those who listen to them. Album closer Fue Siempre Lo Mismo is a song that speaks of encounters and disappointments.

This month we try something different, serving up an exclusive taste of a 15-year-old album. Speaker Bite Me's If Love Is Missing It Must Be Imposed was originally released to little critical acclaim, but it has since grown to become a Danish rock classic and now it's out on vinyl for the first time.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Les Petit Bâtards, with members under 19 years old, have become one of the most acclaimed new bands in Ecuador and are definitely worth keeping an eye on. One reason to believe in them is their intimate, touching first single, Ficción.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
With ukulele, guitar, bass and live loops, Yogyakarta band Answer Sheet bring diversity to Indonesia's indie-pop scene. You might love how these guys sing in English with a slight Javanese dialect.

Multi-instrumental, multi-talented member of multiple Derry acts, Neil Burns - known in this particular guise as Comrade Hat - will throw that hat over anything that catches his fancy. One Of Them is a fine example of his work, designed on piano and guitar but constructed using a delicate touch on synths. Think Moby's blissful corners constructed using the Rockies for inspiration. This is out of sync with the zeitgeist and all the better for it.

ITALY: Polaroid
"As if Raymond Carver got drunk in front of the typewriter while Dinosaur Jr's Green Mind plays on the turntables" - I really like this sentence from the press release for Giving Up On People, Pueblo People debut album. I think it really tells something about the way these songs are written, the spirit behind this raw, powerful music. The guitars are loud, the drum and bass are tight, the vocals are harsh and grasping. Life up against the wall, bad luck, growing up and going separate ways. For sure, one of the best Italian indie-rock albums this year.

The image that the beach city of Zushi, south-east of Tokyo, has conjured up in recent years has not been particularly positive. It was a rowdy spot and then the local government banned loud music and other fun times from the coast. Thank goodness for outfits such as Half Mile Beach Group, who on Twilight present a windswept and haunting view. It is not quite summer bliss, as the whole thing sounds appropriate for the slow season, but it is a gorgeous representation all the same.

Mistura is a duo whose songs, exclusively in Maltese, have elements of blues and rock, both electric and acoustic. Debut album U d-Dinja Tkompli Ddur, released in October 2014, is a rock concept record divided into four sections of four songs each. Packed with biting social commentary, especially in relation to local issues, it reflects on the theme of repetition and cycles of life. Antonio Olivari and Malcolm Bonnici are the main members, but they also perform as a full electric band with additional musicians.

Error.Error is the project of Efrén Valenzuela, a young musician and beatmaker from Hermosillo, Sonora on the north-western desertic corner of Mexico. He is the founder of the netlabel LALALA4e and also operates under the Zonzobot alias. Error.Error recently blew us away with his newest track, written as Γ, an incredibly chilling piece which the artist has branded "reggaetrón". Γ was accompanied with a futuristic, must-see 3D video created by the artist himself.

PERU: SoTB
Physic began to attract vast attention with only a couple of songs earlier this year, leaving us eager to hear more of their dark post-punk. Fortunately for us, they have just released their self-titled debut and Never Satisfied is one of the jewels of this remarkable album.

Beautify Junkyards' first album, released in 2013, contained only covers but it drew the attention of many radio stations and journalists, and they were invited to participate in a Brazilian television documentary along with David Byrne, Devendra Banhart and M.I.A. Their new album of original material, The Beast Shouted Love, was released this month and it is one of the best records I have heard this year. It will please fans of Goldfrapp, Beach House, Melody's Echo Chamber and Foxygen.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Every so often you come across a new song that's so obviously better than anything you've heard in months that it stops you in your tracks and makes you realise how much better life is to have it in it. For me, that special something is Righteous Man by The Great Albatross. The creator of this exceptional acoustic heartbreak is A. Wesley Chung, an American based in Glasgow. Righteous Man (video here) is taken from recent EP Roots, which features Avi Zahner-Isenberg from Avi Buffalo - he and Wesley are former bandmates.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Johnny Azari doesn't pull any punches with his blues. This is in your face, razor-edge reconstruction of a genre that's gotten soft. His music is the last swig of whiskey after a long night of drinking. The dark alleyway. This is real-life emotion through music and he's not cleaning it up just to make a few casual listeners more comfortable.

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Music Alliance Pact - March 2015

Η μηνιαία συλλογή του Music Alliance Pact με όσα ξεχώρισαν 21 συστηματικοί ακροατές μουσικής από την σκηνή της χώρας που διαμένουν. Αποκτήστέ την στο σύνολό της πατώντας εδώ ή μεμονωμένα στον τίτλο του κάθε τραγουδιού.

There's something totally irresistible about Zebra Tracks’ intoxicating third album, Waves. They make thoroughly exciting, perfectly executed music that brims with fresh ideas, shimmery guitars and thundering rhythms, sharp and moving melodies, bleak, brooding but hopeful arrangements. They have wisely retained the elements that worked previously, yet there is a depth of emotion here they have never accessed before. Zebra Tracks have made an impressive stride forward and you'd be mad not to follow them.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Panda Elliot is three in one: woman, band and producer. A fresh new face in the music scene, she recently launched her second album Forastera, which shows a more confident Panda Elliot, well established in her own style. After the eclectic single Ligerita, she released Guerrero, a rockin' feminine song that forces you to move your head. The track is potent and full of energy on its own, so this remix by AlexPatri extends into the realm of fun, uptempo electronic dance.

A continuation of Kučka's future R&B leanings hinted at in her previous work, Divinity is a lush, surreal affair. Undulating rhythms sync perfectly with the swirling, cough-syrupy synths and Laura Jane Lowther's vocals, which sound at once sultry and innocent. Think an antipodean Purity Ring.

Passo Torto is a quartet formed by renowned musicians from Sao Paulo's contemporary music scene. Isaurinha is taken from their second album, Passo Elétrico, in which they explore guitars and effects on acoustic bass and cavaquinho (sort of a small guitar often associated with samba), with the lack of percussion elements leaving space for harmonic and melodic experiments.

Fans of Lykke Li may enjoy newcomer Kathleen Munroe, who simply goes by Munroe. She makes chilling folk tunes like this one with a tinge of Americana (though I guess this would be Canadiana?). Production-wise, Bloodlet doesn't have too much but it's perfect just the way it is. Her lovely voice is all you need.

CHILE: Super 45
Guitars are back in Chilean pop and Patio Solar proves this. After a couple of self-produced releases (Patio Solar and Driminsún), these youngsters from a little corner of Santiago offer dreamy lo-fi melodies, sometimes close to shoegaze and psychedelia, on their 2015 debut album Temporada. The single Pintura is taken from the record, released through Piloto.

Juan Carlos Torres, the frontman of Bogotá's Globos de Aire, also goes by the pseudonym Okraa, and with this solo alias he makes deeper, more personal work within electronica. Okraa, who has done remixes for Scottish artist Turtle, shows the well-woven sounds that lead us to take a walk in our minds on Healing, from his debut Dreamachine EP.

The quintet Virgin Suicide will release their eponymous debut album on May 18, co-produced and mixed by Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes). Here is first single Virgin Suicide as a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Behind The Tigers is a new, mysterious project from Santo Domingo. Their name is a literal translation of a colloquial Dominican way of referring to fun-loving guys as "tigres". Their first song, Behind The Tigers, is a breezy electro-pop tune, but as simple as it sounds, the duo claims there's more than meets the eye in their lyrics and wordplay.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Se Fue El Sistema is the first single on the new EP by La Orden Del Baile Atrevido (L.O.B.A.), an electro-rock band with a euphoric style dubbed "rotten glamor". This song mocks the nightmare of Ecuador's paperwork, but it's also a criticism of the system in which we live. L.OB.A.'s debut album, Musica Del Cosmos, will be released this year.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
If you watched a lot of MTV and crowdsurfed at gigs during the 1990s, then you may have the era forever in your heart as one awesome memory where lots of weird-sounding bands emerged and you love them. Nic Fit will bring back those happy feelings.

No Monster Club is the solo guise of Bobby Aherne, an ever-present at the heart of some of Dublin indie's more eccentric and memorable moments. I've Retired sees colorfully upbeat verses and bouncing choruses adorned with contrary lyrics: it's themed around a departure from the scene that's clearly not about to happen. What's bound to happen eventually, though, is one of Aherne's acts make a major, major impact. A space worth watching.

ITALY: Polaroid
A Love Explosion is the new album by Go Dugong. Spring is approaching here in Italy, so a record full of love and sensuality seems appropriate. There are mellow beats and psychedelic melodies influenced by 60s and 70s Italian soundtracks plus samples from old school Northern Soul hits. The album is free to download via Bandcamp.

Indie-pop shall truly never fade out of style. As long as there are young people out there with access to some instruments and a computer to record with, the twee stuff will keep on coming. Caro Kissa have released one of the first great indie-pop EPs of the year in Japan with Perfect Dream, and Saturday Morning is an easy-going highlight, showcasing their skippy tempo and solid singing.

Vapor and sine waves are certainly bubbling under the skin of Animación Suspendida II, a duo comprised of Beto Ben and Mou (formerly of Bam Bam, the space-rock band that delivered Red Bull Panamérika's 2011 album of the year). With an amazing recording process, the pair improvise on iPad music apps, record to tape and then edit the final track. So, no Ableton Live here, just pure Monterrey psy-fi-phuture juice. The video is a must-see.

PERU: SoTB
The Deep Sea Monster, who formed in 2012, have emerged from Lima's independent music circuit with a sound encompassing psychedelia and garage rock. Their new self-titled album is a perfect match of experimentation and euphoria. Their challenge is to not limit their music in any way and their full discography is available for free on Bandcamp.

The Tape Junk, who first appeared on the Music Alliance Pact in October 2013, release their eponymous second album in April. It was produced by another talented Portuguese musician, Luís Nunes (Walter Benjamin), and recorded in a makeshift studio in Alvito, Alentejo. The calmness of the place comes across on the recording and its sound.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Tongues. is the electro project of Kill The Waves frontman Tim Kwant, who is wildly succeeding in his mission to create inspiring pop songs that combine raw energy with a delicate touch. Bold synths, deep subs and soaring vocoders have justifiably drawn comparisons to Alt-J, Hot Chip and fellow Glaswegians Chvrches. With around 50,000 plays so far, Colours In The Dark sparked an online stir after being "accidentally" left public on SoundCloud earlier this year. However, MAP exclusive download Anymore is an even more impressive offering, a perfect union of uplifting and emotive.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Seoul-based Flash Flood Darlings, who was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, describes his music as romantic synth-pop. Debut album Vorab And Tesoro was released in February and is filled with a dreamy blend of genres. In The City has been well chosen as one of the album's two lead tracks, offering a synth line that makes it the perfect soundtrack for a night drive through any city.

SPAIN: Musikorner
MIWA* is the moniker under which Barcelona-based DJ and producer Sergi Miwa releases tracks inspired by avant-garde Japanese pop. His music is an open invitation to a galactic getaway, or a one-way ticket to wherever your imagination takes you.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
There are thousands upon thousands of singer-songwriters in the world - and not a single one of them is like Hip Hatchet. His music is highly personal yet also universal. Every lyric packs a punch and every play reminds you just how powerful sound can be.

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Music Alliance Pact - November 2014

Η μηνιαία συλλογή του Music Alliance Pact με σύντομες πληροφορίες για όσα ξεχώρισαν 22 συστηματικοί ακροατές μουσικής από την σκηνή της χώρας που διαμένουν. Αποκτήστέ την στο σύνολό της πατώντας εδώ ή μεμονωμένα στον τίτλο του κάθε τραγουδιού.

Babis Papadopoulos blends the organic nature of Greek traditional folk music, rhythms rich with contemporary elements and avant-garde jazz and succeeds in creating a sequence of lush, varied and nostalgic tracks. Spring, the splendid first preview from his forthcoming album, Joy In Pain, Pain In Joy, is dominated by a delicate, recurring melody in bouzouki, mournful violins, a broody viola and the warm restlessness of his guitar.

CHILE: Super 45
The Dagger Complex were formed in 2013 by Hernán Díaz (vocals/guitar), Michaela Boman (vocals), Abraham Vicencio (guitar), Gonzalo Chandía (bass) and Ignacio Álvarez (drums). Their debut EP, Vibrant, released by Beast Discos, is a collection of songs inspired by early 90s shoegaze and dream-pop, one foot set in the cadence of bands such as Slowdive or Mojave 3, the other one in the fuzzy mass of noise of The Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
In March 2013, a mixed group of musicians gathered together in Cordoba and Buenos Aires to play some songs and sound pieces composed with lyrics taken from the work of a federal collective of artists called Esta Vida No Otra. Some of them recorded the results several months later, and those tracks were then released as a compilation titled 15 Artistas Cantan Esta Vida No Otra. The song we have selected from this album, also available for free at Bandcamp, is Cuando Te Hablo by Tomás Ferrero from the band Rayos Láser.

Open Swimmer's version of pop is jarring, even discordant at first, but it's this blatantly simple approach that has us hooked. (Dirty Projectors fans, pay attention now.) Sugar Bowl is a brilliant introduction to the band; playful yodelling is cut and pasted along a steady 4/4 drum beat, while witty banter takes the fore. Songwriter Ben TD was based in Glasgow for seven years, touring extensively and landing multiple sessions on BBC Radio One and a stint at T in the Park before settling in Melbourne. The band comprises some of Melbourne's most admired independent music alumni (The Harpoons, Seagull). Expect to hear a lot more from this group.

Alessandra Leão shows off her experimental side with Mofo, taken from her new EP, Pedra De Sal. Avoiding the world music sound from other works, this song has dark music and some weird programming that fits the angst of the lyrics.

There's not actually much out there on Beach Season besides the fact the project is from Calgary. The smooth vocals of Midnights complements the hip-hop influenced rhythms. This is a duo that won't be much of a mystery for long.

IAmFire have their debut EP ready and apparently it sounds like a "massive drug experience" to frontman Peter Dolving. Come December, he and the rest of the gang will be releasing this groovy stoner metal dragon and here's Burn Your Halo as a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Hip-hop producer Gnómico has always been interested in preserving Dominican musical culture for the present and future generations. Now he's embarking on a new project called Sinergia that will add an urban twist to many songs from past decades. The first one is Mesita De Noche, a famous 90s bachata by Victor Victor, now remade with a funky fresh attitude, Gnómico's own rap verses and Mr Victor himself singing its signature chorus.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
From the city of Cuenca, Da Culkin Clan represents the most weird and experimental contemporary hip hop of the country. Their lyrics and music are a bunch of random, powerful and creative ideas - a mixture of carnival and fiction figures. From debut album Special Dark, we present its first single, Sometimes You Make Love.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Dangdut Koplo is one of the most famous electro genres in the shady underground clubs of Indonesia. This trashy dance anthem was created by the guy behind Dubyouth as an introduction.

Hyped up by authorities as hefty as The Guardian and NME, Dublin's SPIES are widely seen as the city's next big thing. Moosehead is the latest of their slow to emerge singles, released on the band's own Trout Records label. Leaning on the same glorious desolation that fronted Factory Records' world-renowned soundscapes, it's a jittery, dingy piece of indie-rock that brings atmospheric depression up to date. Think social awkwardness meets Interpol, and put a hefty bookmark on this space.

ITALY: Polaroid
On the cover of Bleak, the debut album by Klam, there is a foggy road, a city in the shadow, a storm seems to be approaching. It's a perfect introduction to the sound of the band: dark shoegaze with post-punk sharp edges. They can create hazy clouds of feedback, but they can also write vibrant and trembling songs like this one.

If the term 'vaporwave' gives you chills, either turn back now or try to think beyond whatever concepts of the internet microgenre you have. Toyohirakumin makes music that is often filed as - and in some cases sounds like - vaporwave, but Cliff is far more than an exercise in aesthetics. It is a slow burner, and a minimal one at that, but a compelling throbber from a promising Japanese producer.

Fastidju was born when Nigel Baldacchino (essentially a non-musician) started conceiving vague sung melodies and aural structures for existing pieces of writing compiled for the exhibition, Sajda, in 2012. Nigel started seeking collaborations with electronic producers he admired, such as Istishhad Hheva and Cygna, to provide flesh to his musical skeletons. An album was devised and a band took on the task of developing some of the structures - and even creating new songs. Cygna ultimately ended up being the main crucial guiding light in the final studio phase.

Hailing from Guadalajara, Pumcayó is a band that weaves their region's folkloric heritage, with patterns found on Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes' music. Following a Kino-Pravda aesthetic - as in Dziga Vertov's Soviet documentary from the 20s - the video for the song Don Jacinto follows the semi-industrial art of making colourful papercrafts, a simple decor in Mexican celebrations with a beautifully complex craft.

PERU: SoTB
Mirella Bellido is the songwriter and lead singer of Mind Black. These Days is her debut five-track EP that moves through different emotions such as anxiety, perversion, obsession and regret. Mind Black, as defined by its creator, is a balance between the emotional and rational.

Coimbra band A Jigsaw are back with a new album, No True Magic. Jorri and João Rui, the two members of the folksy alternative band, invited Carla Torgerson (The Walkabouts) to join them on vocals for one of the tracks, Black Jewelled Moon. They also produced the record, which will find new fans in those who appreciate artists such as Tindersticks, Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
After an exhaustive and intense European tour, garage-rockers Los Vigilantes returned to Puerto Rico with a new record under their belt. Aptly titled Al Fin (At Last), it perfectly showcases the band's brand of melodic surf punk: both infectious and melancholy, it makes your bones rattle, a bit from pain and a bit from joy. Los Vigilantes recently shared a video for the record's second single, Ahí Ya No Estoy, in which a scorned lover wills himself into feeling hopeful for the future with a little help from his friends, cheering us all up in the process. Dance those blues away with Los Vigilantes.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Billy Jeffrey Jnr's debut album, Eternal Blue, received modest attention when it was released in early 2014 but - thanks to the power of word-of-mouth and mesmeric live performances - it continues to gain the Glasgow songwriter a host of new fans and followers with each passing week. Possessing the same otherworldly quality as Bon Iver, it is a record full of elegant moments, with title track Eternal Blue being a personal favourite.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
We Hate JH - 20
Emo/power-pop band We Hate JH made the finals of this year's edition of the foremost South Korean rookie competition, Hello Rookie. A brand new single will be out very soon, but 20 is the charming and extremely likeable opening track off the official debut EP Officially, We Hate JH released earlier this year.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Role - Shrine II
Role are a four-piece from Madrid whose sound is influenced by dream-pop, trip-hop and even art-rock. They have played live at Valle Eléctrico, one of the most important experimental electronic club nights in Spain, and their first album is due to be released in the first quarter of 2015.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Jenna Dean - Blown
Funk-based hip hop is alive and well in the form of this brilliant track from Jenna Dean. Smooth guitars open into a locked groove that swarms around a controlled lyrical outpouring. It's a song that builds and builds, never letting the listener down.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 22-track compilation through Dropbox here.

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