domingo, novembro 15, 2015

MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT :: NOVEMBRO 2015 com THE WEATHERMAN





Está de regresso Alexandre Monteiro,  mais conhecido como The Weatherman. Ele já tinha passado pela Music Alliance Pact, em Dezembro de 2008  e em Outubro de 2012, mas agora regressa com o seu novo trabalho.

 Ice II é o tema que abre o caminho para a edição do quarto álbum de The Weatherman. É mais uma das excelentes canções pop a que o Alexandre Monteiro já nos habituou, deixando-nos a desejar mais. 

Além do tema de The Weatherman, temos mais 16 temas e bandas, de 17 países, nesta edição do Music Alliance Pact. Clique com o botão direito do rato, por cima do título da canção, para fazer o download do mp3 ou faça um download do ficheiro completo, com os dezoito temas, através do Dropbox AQUI.



  ARGENTINA: Zonaindie El Violinista Del Amor & Los Pibes Que Miraban - Inofensivos El Ruido y La Culpa: Una Opereta Lastimera is the band's fourth album in more than six years on the road. It's a crazy journey through an eclectic salad of genres, something we're quite used to with them. Their music overcomes drama, bad mood and guilt with humor, irony and abandon.

  AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Spookyland - Bulimic Forget wearing your heart on your sleeve. This track stabs it profusely, draws a stake through the middle and stands over watching as your arteries bleed out in 4/4 time. Sorry for the emotional terrorism, but hear this track from Sydney outfit Spookyland and you'll probably agree it warrants the description. Marcus Gordon's prose is stark, its delivery brutal at times - but you get the feeling there's something important to be said beyond the rhetoric. It's a stoic, turbulent six-minute epic - and the ending is worth the wait.

  BRAZIL: Meio Desligado Bonifrate - Museu De Arte Moderna Museu De Arte Moderna is the title song from Bonifrate's new album. It has the psychedelic vibe of the whole record, plus some Beck influence that makes it more contemporary. His album is one of the jewels of the Brazilian indie scene in 2015.

  CANADA: Ride The Tempo Pony Girl - Candy Ottawa's Pony Girl creatively blends acoustic elements such as guitars and wind instruments with electronic samples for the delicate harmonies of their single Candy. Who knew two singers in unison could be so beautiful?

CHILE: Super 45 Niños Del Cerro - Nonato Coo Niños Del Cerro had already displayed their fresh sound with La Pajarería, a single that didn't go unnoticed among the ears of the independent music press. Now they're back with their first album, Nonato Coo, which continues its path of Latin rhythms and ethereal textures and confirms the return of pop guitars in the sound of Santiago.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo Montaña - En Bicicleta Bogotá quartet Montaña has been experimenting in the fields of instrumental post/math-rock for more than three years. Pending the release of their first album we can enjoy En Bicicleta, a track that is gaining a lot of attention in the independent scenes of the Colombian capital.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian HÔN - Vulture He's the frontman of lauded nordicana outfit The Rumour Said Fire, but two weeks ago Jesper Lidang debuted as HÔN with the album White Lion. On it he mixes indie, R&B, dance and the 1980s to a compelling alternative pop cocktail. Here's Vulture as a MAP exclusive download.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Los Detectives Helados - En El Camino Los Detectives Helados formed in the small town of Piñas in 2012. The band, whose name was inspired by a poem by renowned Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, have just released their debut album which mixes indie-rock, pop, experimental sounds and blues. Here is first single En El Camino featuring Ricardo Pita.

  IRELAND: Hendicott Writing Joseph Panama - Side 2 This 22-minute ambient track might be one of the more unusual and slow-gestating songs ever to have been included in the MAP project, but it's also a great example of Ireland's modern-day musical diversity: deceptively intense as it flits on, yet still walking a fine line between background music and inventive modern electronica. One for a long, thoughtful walk, it's a far cry from its creator's rocky day-to-day project Overhead, The Albatross.

  ITALY: Polaroid Dumbo Gets Mad - Misanthropulsar Psychedelic duo Dumbo Gets Mad's new album is called Thank You Neil, named after the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. In fact, the whole album is inspired by the TV show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the sound draws from classic Seventies soundtrack composers such as Piero Umiliani and Bruno Nicolai, but also from the American experimental soul of Shuggie Otis and the contemporary works of Connan Mockasin. The vibe is super relaxed overall, but Dumbo Gets Mad know full well how to make you dance as well.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Shigge - Tiny Block Over the past two years, the city of Fukuoka on the western side of Japan has been home to Yesterday Once More, an electronic label promoting some of the most thrilling young talent domestically and abroad. Label head Shigge has made some of the finest cuts from the collective, and the title track from his latest EP highlights the dancefloor energy the burgeoning imprint is capable of.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta Brodu - Ic-Cimiterju Brodu, formed in 2011, sing in Maltese and play rock music with influences from various genres. The band was set up to record an album of songs written by Mark Abela and the late Darren Gatt. Brodu's debut album Ħabullabullojb, released in 2014, is a diverse collection of tracks featuring many guest artists from Malta.

MEXICO: RBMA Radio Panamérika G-Flux - Cocaína (feat. Afrodita & Borchi) G-Flux is the alias of Gustavo Naranjo, a Mexican producer and DJ settled in Washington D.C. Even though he's far away from his homeland, G-Flux remains ever present and relevant in Mexico City through his music and collaborations. As one of the strongest advocates of cumbia, G-Flux is never afraid to explore all of this genre's diversifications, like pitched down cumbias. Cocaína, featuring delicious vocals from Afrodita and Borchi, is a hip-swaying track for anyone who's ready to be part of a simmering dancefloor.

PERU: SoTB Ale Hop - Hey Girl Ale Hop is an experimental Peruvian musician with a base in Berlin, and also the songwriter and producer of the band Las Amigas De Nadie. She just released Pangea, an experimental music-video album full of roaring guitars and expansive electronic sound layers which create a very characteristic kind of music. Pangea comes with a music film featuring 10 audiovisual pieces made by several directors and is one of the most ambitious works to emerge from Peru this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? The Weatherman - Ice II The Portuguese contribution to MAP has been long enough to almost follow the complete the career of The Weatherman, the alter-ego of Oporto multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Alexandre Monteiro. Ice II is the first known song from The Weatherman's fourth album. It's a sweet, sticky pop single that will have you whistling all day. You can watch its video here.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop Armstrong - Thursday Night Club It's hard not to succumb to the youthful enthusiasm of alt-rock quartet Armstrong. Singer Nicole Mason has energy to burn and oozes star potential with an appealing mixture of confidence and glam. As a reference point, you wouldn't be a million miles off with early Paramore. Here is an exclusive free download of the exuberant Thursday Night Club (with an ace video to boot), which can also be found on Armstrong's self-titled debut EP, released in September and available to buy on iTunes.

  SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK Gus Benevolent - I Was Right Operating under the name Hyun Lee Yang when he was last featured as a MAP artist (in June 2014), Gus Benevolent has released two albums in 2015. His most recent effort, Alexandria, came out in late October and offers almost a full hour of emotional vocals and classic guitar, including a couple of acoustic versions of songs crafted and first released during his days in emo band 99anger. I Was Right features a well-balanced combination of easily relatable lyrics and beautiful guitar play.

quinta-feira, outubro 15, 2015

MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT :: OUTUBRO 2015 com BENJAMIM


  

Anteriormente conhecido com o seu projecto Walter Benjamim, tendo chegado a representar Portugal na lista de Abril de 2012 da Music Alliance Pact, com destaque no The Guardian, volta agora só como Benjamim e em português.  Tarrafal é o  single do seu novo álbum, Auto-Rádio, que foi dar uma volta ao mundo através desta lista internacional.






Além do tema de Benjamim, temos mais 17 temas e bandas, de 17 países, nesta edição do Music Alliance Pact. Clique com o botão direito do rato, por cima do título da canção, para fazer o download do mp3 ou faça um download do ficheiro completo, com os dezoito temas, através do Dropbox   AQUI.

  ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Fabiana Cantilo y Fer Isella - Viernes 3 AM In 2009 the Argentine goverment published several declassified official documents produced during the dictatorships that ruled the country from 1962-1982. One of these documents is titled "Songs whose lyrics are considered not fit to be played by broadcast services" and it includes compositions by all kinds of Argentine and foreign artists. Canciones Prohibidas is a compilation with 16 versions of these censured songs. For MAP we selected Viernes 3 AM, originally by Argentine rock living legend Charly Garcia, here recorded by (also legendary singer) Fabiana Cantilo on vocals and producer Fer Isella on piano.

  AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Fresh Kills - The People At The Drive-In is the first association any rock connoisseur will make with this 90-second post-punk melodrama. It's all energy and emotion without the slightest hint of pretension. The song is chaotic and at times confusing without a single comprehensible lyric (go on, try to figure out what the hell they're saying) but that's exactly the charm of this south Australian band.

  BRAZIL: Meio Desligado Rodrigo Campos - Katsumi Rodrigo Campos, a prolific name in São Paulo's contemporary music scene, has just released his third solo album, Conversas Com Toshiro, which is influenced by Japanese culture. Katsumi is a good opening gate to his work.

  CANADA: Ride The Tempo Harrison - Sorry Toronto producer Harrison beeps and blips his way into a sweet apology with his latest track, Sorry.

  CHILE: Super 45 Breaking Forms - Folie A Deux Breaking Forms is a duo formed by Nicole L'Huillier and Juan Necochea. Although they currently live in the United States, their journey began in Chile under the wings of two emblematic bands, Cóndor Jet and Picnic Kibun. While in the first one, L'Huillier developed a penchant for psychedelia and post-rock; in Picnic Kibun, Necochea explored the multiple facets of dance music. Breaking Forms is, in its own way, the meeting point for both genres. Proof of this is their first single Folie A Deux, a power-pop song spiced up by electronic sequences and noisy synths.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo Electric Sasquatch - Hunting Season The legend of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, acts as inspiration for this stoner rock band from Cali. They feed on forest myths, adding elements of theater and visuals to their presentations. From their brilliant self-titled album, whose CD version comes in a beautiful wooden box, we present Hunting Season, in which the Sasquatchs show us a more violent and dehumanized side.

  DENMARK: All Scandinavian Slaughter Beach - ClearInsight Slaughter Beach are very much a Scandinavian proposition. Hailing from Denmark, they played their debut concert in Gothenburg, Sweden and are signed to Norwegian label Brilliance. MAP exclusive download ClearInsight is taken from their debut EP, Love/Venice, released this month.

  ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Radio Invasor - Magnolia Radio Invasor is an electronic project blending digital sounds with organic elements of rock, funk, dub and hip hop. From their first EP, released this September, we present Magnolia. It's an epic, experimental track that offers a taste of Radio Invasor's potential.

  INDONESIA: Deathrockstar Littlelute - Berlibur Ke Poznan Littlelute is an indie-pop outfit from Bandung. Their ukulele player recently visited Poznan and the beauty of the Polish city inspired him to write this cute pop composition (see video).

  IRELAND: Hendicott Writing Owensie - Dramamine After more than three years tucked away from the eyes of the Irish music scene, dream-pop artist Owensie returns with Dramamine, a trippy ode to a motion sickness drug. The track features Conor O'Brien of Villagers and comes ahead of a third album of the same title that's seemed an extremely long time in the making. One for watching the world drift by outside your window.

  ITALY: Polaroid Port-Royal - Death Of A Manifesto Port-Royal is a trio from Genova that fuses elements of ambient techno, shoegaze, melodic IDM and post-rock into a dreamy, evocative sound. Active since 2001, they have toured Europe and the United States, and released several records, compilations and remixes. Where Are You Now is their fourth proper album, out on Oakland-based label n5MD. Port-Royal are expanding their palette, and the gorgeous Death Of A Manifesto is one of their more pop-oriented compositions.

  JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Boogie Idol - Seiteki Na Mimi The recently released Schau Essen 2 compilation features many talented artists who pull from the glitzy sounds of 1980s Japan, when the economy was roaring and decadence dominated. Producer Boogie Idol offers up one of the best contributions to that set, a shimmering number full of bright synths, sticky bass lines and a slightly uncomfortable growling noise lurking beneath it all.

  MALTA: Stagedive Malta Juno And The Wolf - Dambrose Born out of the merging of different projects in late 2011, Juno And The Wolf is the culmination of the myriad of influences that inspire its four members - James Azzopardi, Kristian Schembri, Samwel Mallia and Corey Farrugia. The band have developed an experimental ethos, an aim to create a duality with emotion and sound, flowing from heavy, raw numbers to quieter, more introspective ones rather than simply settling for one set genre. Their debut home-recorded self-titled EP was released in September 2014.

MEXICO: RBMA Radio Panamérika El Muertho TJ - Malandro El Muertho - a street musician playing romantic delusions with only a Yamaha keyboard, wearing black robes and Kiss wannabe make-up - has emerged from the Tijuana slums to raise a few eyebrows among critics and audiences. But, hey, the best works come from outsiders: Syd Barrett, Daniel Johnston, Tom Waits... add in a little bit of Suicide industrial tremolo and you'll get the perfect treat for Halloween or the Mexican Day of the Dead.

PERU: SoTB Nave Ascensor - Ciudad Reacción Ciudad Reacción is the first single from Nave Ascensor's debut album, Hartistas. The Lima trio come with a strong proposal - listen as they rail against the system through rock songs loaded with critical social and visual exercises to help you free your mind.

  PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? Benjamim - Tarrafal Benjamim is an artist formerly known as Walter Benjamin, who had a song on the Music Alliance Pact's April 2012 edition. Tarrafal is a single from his new album, Auto-Rádio, which has won over the Portuguese public and critics. In contrast to his previous guise, Benjamim opts for Portuguese lyrics instead of English. The music continues to be sophisticated pop that will get your feet tapping. Belle & Sebastian fans will love him.

  SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop JR Green - Nigerian Princess With a modern spin on traditional folk music (accordion and mandolin feature heavily) and a healthy dose of lyrical intrigue, JR Green sound like the happy marriage of Frightened Rabbit and King Creosote. Made up of young brothers Jacob and Rory Green, their debut EP, Bring The Witch Doctor, is being released by Hits The Fan Records - the same label that released Frightened Rabbit's first album. Sign up to JR Green's mailing list for updates and freebies.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK Silica Gel - Hrm Silica Gel is most definitely a band to look out for. They describe their music as neo-psychedelic, experimental, progressive, dream and shoegaze - and they manage to deliver on all counts. A great track to dream away to, Hrm starts out plainly with just a simple guitar loop and some toned-down drums, gradually adds more and more to the mix, before unleashing total bliss a few minutes in.

terça-feira, setembro 15, 2015

MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT :: SETEMBRO 2015 com FEW FINGERS



Os alguns Few Fingers são, afinal, só dois: Nuno Rancho  e André Pereira. Nuno Rancho, ao longo dos anos, tem participado em diversos projectos. Curiosamente, passou por aqui em 2008, enquanto artista a solo  O som deste projecto é o que  muitos chamariam de indie-folk.

O álbum de estreia dos Few Fingers, "Burning Hands", que estará disponível a 28 de Setembro, tem, para já, como aperitivo, o tema From Pale To Red, que agora dá a volta ao mundo através do Music Alliance Pact. O vídeo do tema, que poderão ver abaixo, foi realizado por Tiago Gomes.

Além do tema dos Few Fingers, temos mais 17 temas e bandas nesta edição do Music Alliance Pact. Clique com o botão direito do rato, por cima do título da canção, para fazer o download do mp3 ou faça um download do ficheiro completo, com os dezoito temas, através do Dropbox AQUI.





  ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Argonautas - Perfecto With a career that spans more than 20 

years, this independent prog-rock band from Ramos Mejia, a Buenos Aires suburb, performed a couple of shows last month after being inactive for quite some time. So we thought it was a great opportunity to share this fine track from Argonautas' third album, also called Perfecto.


AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Jack Colwell - Don't Cry Those Tears On his latest EP, Only When Flooded Could I Let Go, classically trained musician Jack Colwell blends the popular and the arcane to stunning effect. He has a grand vision and the chops to pull it off, creating compositions that dabble in everything from chamber-pop to doo-wop. Don't Cry Those Tears, a tribute to 60s pop, brings together strings, organ and a small choir with the seamlessness of a jigsaw puzzle. As a vocalist Colwell is often compared to Nick Cave and Patrick Wolf, and his performance on Don't Cry Those Tears is an expert balance of melodrama and levity. He is undoubtedly an artist to keep your eye on

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado Emicida - Mandume Brazil's most famous rapper, Emicida, has just released a new album in which he explores themes about urban life in his homeland, mixing it with African rhythms. In Mandume, he's surrounded by a group of new Brazilian MCs: Drik Barbosa, Amiri, Rico Dalasam, Muzzike and Raphao Alaafin.

  CANADA: Ride The Tempo Mieke - Sleeping Alone You may recognize Elissa Mielke (aka Mieke) as the model in The Weeknd and Drake's video for The Zone, but she has her own thing going on. Her goosebump-inducing single Sleeping Alone reminds us all that there are worse things in the world than being alone

. CHILE: Super 45 Planeta No - Sol a Sol Planeta No is one of the most promising acts in Chilean pop. Gonzalo García, Camilo Molina and Juan Pablo Garin, who released first EP Matucana in 2014, make perfect music for the dancefloor with guitars, synths and harmonies. The single Sol a Sol is taken from debut album Odio, which came out in August.

  COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo Anyone/Cualkiera - En Cualquier Parte From Medellín, as part of the No Rules Clan, we introduce Anyone/Cualkiera, who have been making hip-hop for more than five years. Their latest work, Tiempo Libre EP, is very interesting, not only for its collaborations - which includes Kario One on En Cualquier Parte - but for its approach to old school and reflection of Medellín life.
 
DENMARK: All Scandinavian Palace Winter - Menton Palace Winter - aka Danish producer/synth wizard Caspar Hesselager and Australian singer-songwriter Carl Coleman - release their five-song debut EP, Medication, on October 2. Here's the awesome second single Menton as a MAP exclusive download.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Andes Music Machine - Stray Song Andes Music Machine were formed by Pinteiro, an electronic musician from Quito, and The Pineda Brothers, who belong to the indigenous community of Peguche in the Andes of Ecuador. They play Andean music with electronic and traditional instruments, creating a sound that represents new Latin American music beyond the popular cumbia.

  INDONESIA: Deathrockstar Peonies - Truth Peonies are Cinta Marezi, Jodi Setiawan and Paramitha Citta. They come from Jakarta and love to sing and dance in an indie-pop style.

IRELAND: Hendicott Writing Overhead, The Albatross - Big River Man Having forged a reputation as a truly stunning live band, Overhead, The Albatross have finally unveiled the first single from their long-awaited debut album, out shortly. Big River Man is about Slovenian distance swimmer Martin Strel and contains the band's usual swirling guitars and complex, beguiling layering. It's loud yet nuanced, jagged yet melodic, and entirely instrumental. You need to hear it.

ITALY: Polaroid Any Other - Gladly Farewell Adele Nigro is only 21, but she has been making lovely folk-pop with intense lyrics and a strong attitude for years. She reminds me young songwriters such as Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee or Eskimeaux. Adele recently formed a trio called Any Other, who released their debut album this month (available at Bandcamp) and it is the best new voice I have heard in a while.

  JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Takeaki Oda - Loop The term chillwave presumably vanished from many music fans' heads several years ago, but the microgenre persists in Japan, with lots of great results. Takeaki Oda is the latest Tokyo artist to embrace it and Loop is an absorbing number that makes dusting off classic terms such as "sun-dappled" worth it. He adds a level of familiarity by weaving in some childhood sounds, at least if you played the Nintendo 64.

  MALTA: Stagedive Malta Norm Rejection - The Radical Underground Norm Rejection formed in 1994 and are the country's first metal band to have both English and Maltese lyrics. With three albums and two EPs to their name, they fuse different styles into a distinctive metal sound. Norm Rejection are known for their songs of rebellion and liberation as well as their powerful live performances.

MEXICO: RBMA Radio Panamérika Selma Oxor - Luna Llena Based on the tracks we've heard so far from the Cocina or Jungle Juice) and naked, Oxor feels terribly confident in her vocal acrobatics that have been pushed to the foreground. In Luna Llena, the former Bam Bam member adopts a vamp persona while carrying a batch of bubblegum synths and a threatening ambience that's as lustful as it is catchy.

  PERU: SoTB Los Lagartos - Invierno Los Lagartos recently launched their La Luz Del Mediodía EP, influenced by American jangle-pop and 80s British rock. Invierno, the fifth track of this remarkable record, is a fresh tribute to British rock played under Lima's grey sky.

  PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? Few Fingers - From Pale To Red Few Fingers (Nuno Rancho and André Pereira) release their debut album, Burning Hands, this month. They have a beautiful indie-folk sound, as you can hear on From Pale To Red, which is backed by this video directed by Tiago Gomes. Nuno Rancho was also featured in the Music Alliance Pact's December 2008 edition when he released his first solo album.
 
SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop Daydream Frenzy - Pride & Wonder Daydream Frenzy are one of the most promising alternative rock bands to emerge from Scotland in quite some time, with support from Kerrang! magazine and an endorsement from Tom Delonge of Blink-182 fame testament to the very obvious talent this Aberdeenshire trio possesses. Daydream Frenzy released debut album Pride & Wonder in March - seek it out on iTunes/Amazon/Spotify. Its title track (see video), presented here as an exclusive free download, perfectly encapsulates their appeal: jumbo choruses, exceptionally strong melodies and accomplished musicianship.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK Tierpark - Bullfight Seoul-based dreamgaze outfit Tierpark release second album The Moment Two Worlds Meet this month. Showcasing the band's characteristic dynamic sound, Bullfight offers intense progressions and captivating guitar lines perfectly complemented by Sehee Kim's vocals.