Land of Talk 2

Do segundo disco, "Cloak and Cipher", dos Land of Talk, de Montreal, Canadá, que são clientes aqui desde 2006, há hoje 'Quarry Hymns', que pode ser descarregado, em mp3, gratuitamente, do sítio da editora da banda.

O vídeo foi realizado por Joseph Yarmush.

Land of Talk Continuam a Dar Que Falar

Os canadianos Land of Talk que são convidados deste estaminé desde 2006, têm um novo (belíssimo) vídeo, realizado por WeWereMonkeys, para "It´s Okay" do disco "Some Are Lakes".

- "It´s Okay"

Land of Talk

Apesar de ter sido já em Março de 2006 que falei aqui, pela primeira vez, nos canadianos Land of Talk, eles ainda andam a promover e a tocar o seu primeiro disco de longa duração, que saiu em 2008, na Saddle Creek, em parte devido a problemas de saúde de Elizabeth Powell, a vocalista e líder do trio. Há agora um vídeo para o tema "The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)", do primeiro disco, realizado por Joseph Yarmush. Este vídeo é um dos três que estão incluídos na mais recente edição da banda, o EP "Fun and Laughter".

MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT : : MAIO 2010

Mais uma edição do Music Alliance Pact com trinta e quatro temas de trinta e quatro países.

Os Soulbizness, Rodrigo Gomes e Filipe Campos, que tocam esta noite no Bombarral e passarão pelo Rock in Rio, no dia 22, às 17h, são uma das bandas independentes, sem uma grande editora nacional, mais bem sucedidas. A sua presença deve-se à edição do seu novo EP, "2nd Shake", do qual nos ofereceram a possiblidade de cedermos, gratuitamente, aos nossos leitores do Music Alliance Pact, o tema "Victimless Crime".

Agora ponham os vossos "dancing shoes".

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie

Verdeoscuro – Allright

This is the musical project of singer-songwriter-producer Diego Acosta. We’ve been following his evolution since the very beginning of our blog, so we’re very fond of the folk-rock vibe, languid guitars and moaning vocals of Verdeoscuro’s songs. This is his newest release after the departure of long-time partner Victoria Boano and it was released by a new netlabel called Fuego Amigo Discos.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?

Cloud Control – There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight

Sydney’s Cloud Control made a mark in blogging circles with their previous single, the unforgettable Gold Canary. This time I would like to highlight the track There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight, taken from their debut album Bliss Release. From a collection of indie gems, this track is the outstanding crown jewel that caught my attention with its amazing melodies, counter-melodies and lyrics. Bliss Release is truly an album for the 2010 indie-rock fan and I’m glad I got to hear this one early.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado

Renegado – Meu Canto

Straight from the slums, Renegado presents a concise social screed (the fruits of his work as leader of an NGO focused on social development and appreciation of black culture) by mixing hip hop with Brazilian rhythms. The samba-influenced Meu Canto is an example of that, featuring vocals from Aline Calixto and lyrics that discuss the hardships of poverty and the pleasure of enjoying life. Renegado is preparing for upcoming shows in the United States, Europe and Africa. His debut album, Do Oiapoque a Nova York, is available for streaming via his website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music

Hannah Georgas – Bang Bang You’re Dead

Hannah Georgas’ full-length debut, This Is Good, is chock-full of exceptionally good, radio-ready pop-rock. Few of the songs on it are as fun as the slyly naughty Bang Bang You’re Dead, complete with its children’s choir and chorus of “You’re talking shhhh… ’bout me / I’m talking shhhh… ’bout you”. If (or, more likely, when) Georgas breaks through in a big way, it’ll be songs like this one that will help her do it.

CHILE: Super 45

Gepe – Por La Ventana

The long-awaited third record by Gepe will be released this month and is preceded by a suprising first single. Por La Ventana (“Through The Window”) must be his poppiest song yet, but it comes from his personal understanding of what pop music is: the mixture of contradictory traditions converging to produce an easy-to-grasp sound. It may be a little upsetting for his hardcore fans but this isn’t the first time Gepe has bent his own rules, and it certainly won’t be the last.

CHINA: Wooozy

X Is Y – Curse

X Is Y is a digital rock band from Shanghai with three French guys – G, Fabien and LON. Their first album was recorded in 2009 and you can download it by clicking here.

COLOMBIA: Colombia Urbana

Transporte – Lonely

Transporte are not afraid to experiment. Formed by Diana Navarro (vocals) and Juan Felipe Bastidas (drums, guitars, sequences), the duo mix live sounds with digital synths to create their electronic pop.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian

The Wong Boys – Git Ur Wong On

At the start of the year, Frank Ziyanak (The Wong Boys, Death To Frank Ziyanak and much more) launched a new website making a solid portion of his impressive musical output – remixes, full albums, demos and rarities – available for download on a “pay your respect” basis. Among the rarities is this remake of The Wong Boys’ club-banging smash-hit Git Ur Fuk On, aimed at the Asian market as Git Ur Wong On.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl

Archie Bronson Outfit – Shark’s Tooth

One of my favourite albums of the year so far is Archie Bronson Outfit’s Coconut. It’s a beast of an album, full of dirty, greasy, noisy rock thrills. And by that I don’t mean lo-fi – with DFA man Tim Goldsworthy in the chair, it’s pretty high-spec stuff with amped-up guitars, propulsive rhythms and carefully controlled noise explosions. If it sounds rough, it’s meant to be that way. It’s less about the tunes (though they are there), more the dark energy seething underneath the wall of sound. This is an album that you know wants to rock you, but you’re always afraid that it’s going to sneak up on your gyrating body and kick your head in. Exciting.

ESTONIA: Popop

Picnic – Too Fast

Picnic was formed in 2006 and features Rivo Jarvsoo (guitars, electronics), Andres Soosaar (guitars, other instruments) and Marju Taukar (vocals, keyboard, accordion). Flowing guitars mingle with electronic beats and treats, and the influence of ’90s British shoegaze is not difficult to notice – Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Chapterhouse are all there. The band released their debut album Winter Honey on local label Seksound in February.

FINLAND: Glue

Captain Cougar – Engagement Song

For their second album, Captain Cougar came up with a history-related concept album telling the story of two people growing up on the heels of the Finnish independence and civil war in the early 20th century and emigrating for the never-to-be-found hope and glory of the American land. The cinematic music enhances the melancholy of the story with dense atmospherics and layers of instruments underneath the beautiful voice of Eva Louhivuouri, who acts as the narrator thanks to a collection of soft pop melodies. Early in the story, Engagement Song gives a break to the hard-working people in the rural community.

GERMANY: Blogpartei

L’egojazz – Ovatime

Jazz and sampling are the foundations L’egojazz is built on. These guys from the Bavarian Chiemgau draw their inspiration from many different genres such as electro, indie and drum and bass, and merge them to form an eclectic, improvisational sound. Ovatime is a piece of impulsive music with a funky touch that goes directly into your dancing shoes. The song is a Music Alliance Pact exclusive which shows their electronic side best.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda

Sleepin Pillow – Silicone

Sleepin Pillow’s philosophy is based on bringing together experimental, psychedelic rock along with Greek and Eastern traditional music. They create eerie yet familiar soundscapes while achieving a distinctive sound of their own to form an enveloping whole, with each overlapping texture or shifting tempo plunging the listener further into the darkness. Their album Superman’s Blues is rewarding, thoughtful and challenging. It is an ambitious work of power, emotional depth and feeling, with vocals submerged under a claustrophobic blanket of guitars battling with drums.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music

Who Knew – Sharpen The Knife

Who Knew is a six-piece indie power-pop band that produces catchy melodies and groovy beats. The band was formed by lead singer Armann Ingvi Armannson and backing vocalist and guitar player Baldur Helgi Snorrason in 2006. Sharpen The Knife is taken from debut album Bits And Pieces Of A Major Spectacle, which will be released in Europe on the German 101berlin label on May 21.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar

White Shoes & The Couples Company – Kampus Kemarau

White Shoes & The Couples Company’s music make Indonesians feel proud. Heavily influenced by old Indonesian movies and ’60s ballads, they spread the warm feeling of their vibrant, vintage pop tunes all around the world, even if most of the lyrics are in Bahasa Indonesia.

IRELAND: Nialler9

Kill Krinkle Club – Airport

Justin Cummins and Elena Bergman are an Irish-Swedish duo who released a promising EP back in 2008. They’ve recently been recording material for their debut album in September (each track will be accompanied by a video) and Airport is one of the first missives available from it, showcasing Kill Krinkle Club’s unique electronic/synth-pop sound.

ISRAEL: Metal Israel

Desert – Letter Of Marque

The evocative mastery of classic dark power metal act Desert exports a majestically melodic, edgy onslaught laced with influences from Judas Priest to Deep Purple. They’ve shared the stage with Sabaton and Draconian and show formidable talent and promise.

ITALY: Polaroid

Vermillion Sands – Miss My Gun

A single out on Fat Possum, an EP on Sacred Bones and now the debut album on Alien Snatch Records – Vermillion Sands may be from Italy but they really talk the international language of rock ‘n’ roll. Their songs are raw and catchy as hell. You could say they play garage pop with a folk vibe, but you just have to let yourself go and wildly dance. Anna Barattin’s twangy voice will hypnotize you.

JAPAN: JPOP Lover

Tim & Puma Mimi – Aquarium

Tim & Puma Mimi is indie electro-pop group that consists of Tim (aka Christian Fischer) from Switzerland and Mimi (aka Michiko Hanawa) from Tokyo. They met in the Netherlands at a party in 2003. They are far away from each other but are connected via the internet, using Skype to record their tracks to deliver sweet and frisky tunes.

MEXICO: Red Bull PanameriKa

Carla Morrison – Buena Malicia

Carla Morrison is a beautiful voice in Mexico’s new music scene. Emerging from Baja California in 2009, Carla has touched audiences with just a piano, a guitar and her voice, which seems to melt down every soul that dares to listen to it live. Sweet and haunting, her sound is engaging but, more than anything, it’s moving. Buena Malicia is taken from her first EP titled Aprendiendo a Aprender. Carla is recording a follow-up with fellow singer (and fan) Natalia Lafourcade, which will go by the name Mientras Tu Dormias.

NETHERLANDS: Amsterdam Event Guide

Zea – Song For Electricity

Zea’s music draws influence from all over the world, and this entry especially is a mish-mash number inspired by an Ethiopian track taken from a recent tour through the country. Tribal beats with fast-paced indie-pop guitars merge with high-pitched electronics to create a messy, “wonderfully bonkers” pop number. File Zea in your collection with other eclectic, world-pop big-wigs MIA, Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat

Bandicoot – Silence Is Golden

Take teenage angst and energy, pounding drums, speedy riffs, frenetic lead guitar, a hyper vocalist who spits her lyrics rather than sings, songs that duck and dive rather than take a linear path from go to whoa, turn up the treble and approach the whole thing with the aim of having fun. That’s Bandicoot. Silence Is Golden is from their second EP Jurassic Warfare and it ticks all those boxes. Jurassic Warfare, along with free 2009 EP Happy Talking are available from Muzai Records.

PERU: SoTB

Caudillismo y Pedigree – Mi Perro Poodle Tiene Pulgas Negras

Mi Perro Poodle Tiene Pulgas Negras exudes creativity both in its hypnotizing, pleasant melody and its lyrics. The minimalism mixes with nostalgia to tell a strange story – the pains and habits of a dog called Poodle. The lyrics seem to make no sense, but in fact the use of metaphors explain and criticize the current society and some dark extracts of Peruvian life.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?

Soulbizness – Victimless Crime

Rodrigo Gomes and Filipe Campos are Soulbizness, a duo deeply influenced by funk, soul and electronic dance music. They won the first music contest in which they participated, in 2007. In 2008, they released their first EP, Collectables, and soon had a single on a major TV series. 2nd Shake is their second EP, released this last April, and Victimless Crime is one of its four tracks.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise

Discoballs – Watch Out!

“From now on, no one is safe, nothing is for sure,” announced Discoballs – a 100% live electronic group from Bucharest – at the beginning of 2008. They were very well received by the public because such a project was missing from the music scene and because they are really good at what they’re doing – playing constantly with sound and managing to make incredible music every time they’re on stage. Here’s one of the few tracks they’ve recorded.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop

Sorren Maclean – You Shook

Sorren Maclean is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter who I recently came across while doing research for a feature on musicians from Scottish islands. Although Sorren lives in Glasgow, he grew up in Mull and still maintains strong ties with the island. His debut album won’t be out until later in the year but we’ve got an exclusive sneak preview from it. You Shook is typical of Sorren’s sound, driven by melody and harmonies and very easy on the ear.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…

Great Empty – Intro (Pattern & The Essence)

Great Empty are an experimental, instrumental band. One of the most beautiful aspects of their music is the raw simplicity that lies at the heart of all their tunes. There is no need for grand opuses, or pitch-perfect production quality. I think flaw is their gift to the realm of music, to ache and bleed out the last vestiges of honest emotion beyond the limits of control. It is heartfelt music, something that’s worth remembering and listening to.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!

Megan C – I Got It

Megan C is a triple threat – a model, classically-trained vocalist and gifted actress. She teamed up with producer extraordinaire Ameen Harron for the song I Got It. It is a blend of slick, uptempo beats combined with MIA-esque rap, hip hop flavour and just a touch of electro to make a surefire dancefloor hit. Megan C is a force to reckoned with, keep an eye out for more from her.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK

Vidulgi OoyoO – Goodnight Shining

Vidulgi OoyoO (literally “Pigeon Milk”) is one of Korea’s finest shoegaze bands. They recently put out a split album with Chicago’s bliss.city.east and it is scheduled for release in Europe and the US later this month. They wanted to apply their own textures to electronica, post-rock, psychedelic blues and more, and the result sounds better than ever. Goodnight Shining is an outstanding instrumental piece that’ll make you want to stay in Vidulgi OoyoO’s world of droning goodness for as long as possible.

SPAIN: Oscuro Magazine

Barbo – Exilio En Yokohama

Barcelona indie band Barbo created Matagigantes, an alternative rock album full of three-minute pop songs. Exilio En Yokohama speaks of the search for a personal retreat when you see everything around sink. Musically, they try to recover the fighting spirit of early U2, especially with the drum beat and guitar delays.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease

Big Fox – Saturday

Big Fox (aka Charlotta Perers) accomplishes her sound mostly by herself playing all the instruments, and doing the production/arranging of the songs. You would think that Saturday would be an uptempo pop song about partying, but instead is a slightly melancholy (yet positive) song about being home alone on a Saturday night. Charlotta admits to being influenced by Feist, Regina Spektor, Frida Hyvonen, Jenny Wilson and Ane Brun but her sound stands out on its own at the same time.

SWITZERLAND: 78s

Bonaparte – L’etat C’est Moi

Bonaparte is a multicultural music project based in Berlin. However, the band leader, Tobias Jundt, is a Swiss musician and producer who has gathered members from Germany, France, USA, New Zealand, Mexico, Panama, Austria and Brazil. Together they’re putting on an unforgettable show. At the beginning of their energetic and witty live shows everyone is dressed like circus animals. At the end, almost everyone is naked. Bonaparte’s music is contagious as hell and will get you in the end. Their second long-player, My Horse Likes You, comes out on June 4.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating

Sleigh Bells – Tell ‘Em

All it took was a killer P-Funk sample to make Sleigh Bells the hottest new band of 2010. Their debut album, Treats, is hitting shelves in early June on M.I.A.’s N.E.E.T. label and Tell ‘Em is the first official track we’ve tasted. It’s like crack-sprinkled Andes thin mints. Absolutely delicious, intimidatingly addictive.

VENEZUELA: Barquisimento

Famasloop – Vaca Lechera

Famasloop is a young band with a new approach to music, combining fresh, innovative rhythms with a marketing campaign full of multimedia elements that match their energy. They go from pop to rock and indie, and claim to make music not from genres but from the heart. Vaca Lechera is taken from Casa 4, a release that includes 10 new songs, 12 remixes and four videos.

Para descarregar 34 canções carregue aqui

MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT :: SETEMBRO 2013 com NOME COMUM

Os Nome Comum, um projecto dos irmãos Bernardo e Madalena Palmeirim, ambos compositores, cantores e músicos, com a companhia de Gonçalo Casto (baixo) e Nuno Morão (percussão), terão amanhã disponível o seu álbum de estreia, "Cuco", que também poderão encontrar no bandcamp da banda. É desse disco que partilhamos, hoje, para todo o mundo, através da Music Alliance Pact, o single que baptizou o disco.

Em 2011, tinham já publicado o EP "A quem possa interessar", disponível aqui.

Os Nome Comum darão um concerto de apresentação deste álbum, no Teatro do Bairro, no dia 26 de setembro, às 22 horas.

O vídeo, do single  "Cuco", que podem ver abaixo, foi realizado por  Gonçalo Soares e tem ilustrações de Sara Coimbra Loureiro.

Não se esqueçam que o Music Alliance Pact tem ainda mais vinte oito temas, de vinte oito outros países, para além da participação portuguesa.


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A LISTA DO MUSIC ALLIANCE PACT / SETEMBRO DE 2013

Carregue no ícone botão do play para ouvir as músicas individualmente ou carregue no botão direito do rato sobre o título da canção para fazer descarregar o mp3. Se preferir, descarregue um ficheiro em formato zip com a compilação das 29 canções deste mês  aqui.


ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Travesti - Beduino Fernando Floxon and Alejandro Torres are the cosmic rockers behind Travesti, a band whose music is often associated with transgression and misunderstanding, with songs that are dense, powerful and provocative. Their lyrics, always clever, rough, usually offer a certain social criticism. Beduino is our favorite from Suicidio Latino, their fourth studio album.


AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Manor - Architecture The general assumption that tormented bed friends make better musicians most of the time is true - right? In respectable 'dream-pop duo' tradition, we hope these two are. Architecture is timeless pop right from the first off-beat. The track is set with slingback hooks, dreamy vocals and a fledging groove that sounds too much like Chairlift's Caroline Polachek doing a cover of Men At Work's Land Down Under for anyone to ignore.


AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig Beach Girls And The Monster - I Go Surfing This band draws their inspiration from American surf rock of the 1960s. Accordingly, their rendition of The Beach Boys' Kokomo suits them so very well, not only because of the obvious band name correlation, but also because it blends perfectly into their own sounds. The aptly titled I Go Surfing is the first song of their four-track 7" EP of the same name that was released earlier this year.


BRAZIL: Meio Desligado A Fase Rosa - Casa Música Popular Brasileira meets alternative rock at its best. This four-piece band is one to keep our eyes and ears on.


CANADA: Quick Before It Melts The Provincial Archive - Common Cards Back in 2011, Edmonton, Alberta's The Provincial Archives made Canadian music touring history by being the first band to actually play live in each Canadian province's actual archive; 10 shows billed as The Provincial Archive LIVE at the Provincial Archive. Common Cards marks their recorded music return, and is the first taste of music from their forthcoming third LP.


CHILE: Super 45 Otoño - Scheider After eight years of silence, Otoño are back with their psychedelic guitar-rock. Their atmospheric, drowsy sound grows every second until it explodes in a whirlwind of white noise, a perfect landscape for their gloomy, self-reflective lyrics. Scheider is taken from the quartet's Páramos EP, released via LeRockPsicophonique.


CHINA: Wooozy Worldwide Collaboration Company - Crying Launer Remix (feat Chairman Ba & MC Stone) Nobody knows who the people behind World Collaboration Company are, but anyone in China who listens to them will find something familiar. WCC mash up cross-talk recordings, TV series samples, Chinese propaganda songs as well as rock and hip hop, and put an overwhelmingly sarcastic touch to it. While some criticize WCC's sound collage approach as being too lighthearted, others can argue WCC are simply one of China's best and most clever sample players. Love them or hate them, one thing you can't deny is WCC reflect the true pop landscape of modern China.


COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo MULA - A. Grisales With much pride we present MULA, a kind of supergroup formed by Santiago Botero and Mange Valencia. Armed with saxophones, bass, drums and guitars, they effortlessly incorporate anything from punk to jazz to champeta - they don't recognize genres, but sounds. It's a very particular and special view that takes form in the track A. Grisales, inspired by Colombian TV's first diva, Amparo Grisales.


DENMARK: All Scandinavian SPEkTR - The Infirm Three years on from their second album Personetics, SPEkTR release The Door Is Paint On A Rock EP on September 23. Frontman Manoj Ramdas (also The Raveonettes, The Good The Bad) calls it Soundtrack'n'Roll and there's no good reason to argue with that description. Here's the awesome EP's first single, The Infirm, which also comes with this vídeo.


DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera Mediopicky - La Ola (feat Cristabel Acevedo) Urban-alternative sensation Mediopicky pairs up with Cristabel, one of the twins from the folk duo Las Acevedo, to make a sweet, summery track. La Ola, from Mediopicky's upcoming EP Cantinas, features moombahton beats specially made for Cristabel's tender voice, conveying that feeling of saying goodbye to the last days of summer.


ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Rima Roja En Venus - Bendición De Ser Mujer The impressive female rap of Rima Roja En Venus shows the strength of the fight against discrimination and violence. These two women use music and poetry to express social criticism with a positive message. Bendición De Ser Mujer is taken from their 2012 album Libre Albedrio. You can see the video here.


ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound 65daysofstatic - Prisms From movie soundtracks to Japanese arena shows to a US tour with The Cure, this electronic outfit from Sheffield have had one hell of a career since forming back in 2001. The cult heroes' fifth album Wild Light is out this month, and finds the band continuing on their mission to retro-fit the future. Mixing together a myriad of glitches and orchestral sounds they've created yet more of their signature brew of complex but hearty digital delights.


ESTONIA: Rada7.ee Thou Shell Of Death - The Night-Wind This strongly ambient-influenced black metal band is majestically atmospheric, with mesmerizing live shows. Thou Shell Of Death has played all over the Europe, sharing stages with well-known and underground acts (Strid, Negura Bunget, Vesania, Altar Of Plagues, etc). The Night-Wind is from their new album Sepulchral Silence, released this month by Austrian label Talheim Records.


FINLAND: Glue Maglevs - Van Rijn Indie band Maglevs play organic dream pop with strong dynamics that might draw comparisons with Okkervil River. They have just released a debut EP that you can hear and download on SoundCloud.


INDIA: NH7 Blent - Cafe Coffee Tale_Bummer Blent is the music project of Bangalore-based Aniket, a game designer by profession and an experimental electronic music producer seemingly by way of hobby. Blent has just released his first formal set of tracks that became the Dusk EP, available for free download from Bandcamp. Blent's music lends itself to the experimental genre but can be best described as The Postal Service meets Four Tet, coming together with the staccato pace of the garden city of Bangalore.


INDONESIA: Deathrockstar Bikinies - Dance Floor Mafia All girls, all fun, all wild on stage. Influenced by the 90s alternative scene with distortion and yelling, Bikinies offer one of the rawest sounds in Jakarta.


ITALY: Polaroid His Clancyness - Zenith Diamond His Clancyness, once a solo project for A Classic Education's Jonathan Clancy, now a full band, deliver an intense and psychedelic, sometimes dreamy, sometimes fuzzy sound inspired by the likes of Deerhunter, Kurt Vile and Lower Dens. Amazing new single Zenith Diamond is taken from Vicious, one of the most important Italian rock albums of the year, which gets a UK/US release on October 7/8 through FatCat Records.


JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Cosmosman - Unique Fun Fiction It has gotten to the point in the Kansai region of Japan - made up of cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe - where new electronic artists pop up nearly daily. It takes a lot to jump out from that crowded scene, but Kobe outfit Cosmosman do just that with Unique Fun Fiction. It is a playful number with an Enchanted Tiki Room vibe, but made even better by the unsettling nature of the vocals. It comes from the stellar Ananga Ranga album, available via the link above.


MALTA: Stagedive Malta Alex Alden - Just Like You Alex Alden takes every opportunity to play live and share her lyrics and poetry through song. Having performed extensively in various venues around the islands, she is now relocating to Holland for the next few years. Alden's music is heavily influenced by blues, pop and classic rock, and draws inspiration from jazz whilst exploring the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, often using the themes of nature, mythology and childhood to communicate her message. Earlier this year she released her debut EP The Curious Child.


MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika Mood-Fu - Perros De Fu Mood-Fu, formed by two brothers from southern Mexico City, have released their first album after a very successful introductory EP. Filled with bass, soul and R'n'B flavors set to angular lyrics and enjoyable rhymes, Perros De Fu is a powerful portrait of the city's nightlife with a little bit of social critique and urban apocalypse. The release features various friends and stars from the Mexican indie music scene.


PERU: SoTB Iván Fajardo - Me Voy Dejando Iván Fajardo is a musical icon in Peru, his musical independence reflected in bands such as Indigo and Era. It is displayed once again in his first solo album, Vímana, the highest point of his career. This new beginning has 10 songs full of mythology, nostalgia and melancholy. In Hindu mythology Vímana is a flying machine and the album promises to be a space trip.


POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog Furia Futrzaków - Noc Wystarczyć Ma Na Dłużej Four years after releasing their self-titled debut LP, Warsaw electro-pop duo Furia Futrzaków are back. They have moments when they sound like Junior Boys, as you can hear in Noc Wystarczyć Ma Na Dłużej, a single from Kalejdoskop EP, but things are a little bit different here. Soulful vocals, lyrics about mainly happy (but difficult) love and a warm coating are Kinga Miśkiewicz and Andrzej Pieszak's own contribution.


PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? Nome Comum - Cuco Nome Comum ("Common Name") are a quartet led by two siblings, Bernardo and Madalena Palmeirim. Both are writers, players and singers in the band. Cuco, which is also the name of their debut album released this month, is their first single. It has a video directed by Gonçalo Soares.


PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie Un.Real - Piloto Gardy Pérez began experimenting with an analog tape recorder back in 1995, a direct response to the cancellation of MTV's seminal Alternative Nation. Trying to channel all the energy of the shoegaze movement he had been exposed to through television, Pérez founded Un.Real, becoming one of the great emerging bands from Puerto Rico's west coast underground scene. An extended hiatus and various line-up changes later, Un.Real is back and revitalized in their new EP, Épico. The song Piloto showcases the dreamy soundscapes Un.Real is so adept at while adding guest vocals by Xavier Rodríguez of local band Indigo.


ROMANIA: Babylon Noise Poetrip - Aşa Ceva Described as a mixture of krautrock and Japanese psychedelia, Poetrip is a band who became popular by promoting their music as a dadaist manifesto. They make use of pop clichés to convey attention to absurd and often psychedelic musical contexts.


SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop Blood Relatives - Fowl Mouth Formerly known as Kitty The Lion (featured in the Music Alliance Pact's October 2012 edition), Blood Relatives create upbeat folk-pop songs of a peerless quality, wrapping irresistible hooks around the unique talents of Anna Meldrum, whose lyrics are peppered with wordplay, double entrendres and puns, with particular fondness for animal-related content. Case in point is MAP exclusive download Fowl Mouth, the opening track of debut album Deerheart, whose release on October 28 through Comets & Cartwheels can't come soon enough. While you wait, check out the videos for album tracks Dead Hip and Deerheart.


SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie Square The Circle - Bitchquito Rock band Square The Circle has a fondness for uptempo tunes that give them a chance to show their colors. They've been around for a couple of years and released their 1003 EP in August. Bitchquito is a song with great energy, telling the story of a girl that sucks blood like a mosquito.


UNITED STATES: We Listen For You Wharfer - Architect Brooklyn's Wharfer is the musical project of Kyle Wall. Wall complements his gentle and emotional backing music with commanding vocals that cut through the speakers with one intention: to make the listener feel every word. With every subtle artistic choice, Wall is simply defining himself as a songwriter with the intelligence to back up his raw talent.


VENEZUELA: Música y Más Da Vianda - Nómada In late 2012, and after nearly a year as a band, Da Vianda recorded their first EP, which contains six songs written by these four young boys from Puerto La Cruz. "Our goal is to have fun and create honest music," they say. Their self-titled EP can be downloaded from Bandcamp.