tindersticks - Medicine

Tindersticks are an alternative band from Nottingham, England. Their sound is characterized by a synthesis of orchestral backing, lounge jazz, and soul; the lush orchestrations of multi-instrumentalist Dickon Hinchliffe and the smoky baritone of lead vocalist Stuart A. Staples are the band’s hallmarks. Tindersticks have employed electric guitars, as most rock bands have done, but augment their instrumentation with a wide array of instruments: Rhodes piano, glockenspiel, vibraphone, violin, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, bassoon, Hammond organ, and many more are prominently utilized in the music of Tindersticks. 
The band has a cult following in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, although the eclectic and unique sound Tindersticks possesses never made significant inroads in the mainstream.
The band formed in late 1991, Staples, Boulter, Frazer, Macauley and Hinchcliffe having previously been members of Asphalt Ribbons. The final band line-up for the “old horse” mini-LP (1991) was: Stuart Staples (vocals) Dave Boulter (organ & accordion) Neil Fraser (guitar) Dickon Hinchliffe (Guitar & strings) Al Macauley (percussion & drums) John Thompson (bass).

http://www.tindersticks.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/tindersticksofficial

http://www.twitter.com/tindersticksUK

http://www.myspace.com/tindersticksofficial

Richmond Fontaine - Lost in the Trees

Richmond Fontaine is a four-piece alt country band based in Portland, OR.
The band was formed in 1994 by guitarist / lead vocalist Willy Vlautin and bass player Dave Harding at the Portland Meadows horse race track. Known for Vlautin’s incredibly rich and evocative lyrics, several of Richmond Fontaine’s songs relate to horse racing specifically and gambling generally. This is largely an artifact of Vlautin’s upbringing in Reno, Nevada, a place that is heavily referenced in his lyrics, along with Portland, the U.S. Western states in general and occasionally Mexico. Vlautin is also an acclaimed novelist, having written two respected books, The Motel Life and Northline. As a fiction writer, he is often compared to Raymond Carver and Charles Bukowski while his lyrical style is inspired by the narrative style of Australian artist Paul Kelly. Musically, Richmond Fontaine have cited influences such as Gram Parsons,X (U.S. band), Green on Red and Dave Alvin and they are often regarded as part of the rock alt.country movement that includes bands such as Drive-By Truckers, Slobberbone, Grand Champeen, The Damnations and others.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richmond-Fontaine

Calexico - The Vanishing Mind

They call New Orleans a melting pot. When one thinks about it like that, it’s hardly surprising that this is where CALEXICO reconvened to record their seventh full-length album, ALGIERS. Joey Burns and John Convertino have long called upon an extended range of musical influences, blending them together so distinctly that the results have almost become a genre of their own. Nonetheless, the choice of New Orleans may still come as a surprise to many. CALEXICO are, after all, associated with a style that their name – borrowed from a small town of less than 40,000 inhabitants on the border between the US and Mexico – has always defined with an unusual precision. Their work has spoken of dusty deserts and the loners that inhabit them, mixing America’s country music heritage with that of a Latin persuasion. In other words, it isn’t obviously affiliated with the sounds that have made New Orleans one of the premiere tourist destinations in the US. What’s emerged as a result of this decision, however, is arguably the most exciting and accessible record CALEXICO have made. It’s a fact emphasised by the band’s decision to name the album in tribute to the neighbourhood where they worked: Algiers.
The feel of ALGIERS is recognisably classic CALEXICO, but their style been revitalised and reborn by the experience of recording in the city. Its influence isn't necessarily sonically evident, but there’s a strange, powerful connection to the sounds that have always coloured their own, influences Burns has previously identified as including “Portugese fado, 50’s jazz, gypsy or romani music and its offshoots, 60’s surf and twang from Link Wray to country’s Duane Eddy, the spaghetti western epics of Ennio Morricone and dark indie rock singer songwriters.”
So, some 22 years since they first met, Joey Burns and John Convertino – joined as ever by a cast of musicians from across the globe – add yet another successful musical adventure to their list. You might think that, after six studio albums and a suitcase of tour CDs, collaborations with the likes of Victoria Williams, Iron & Wine, Willie Nelson, Roger McGuinn and Nancy Sinatra, and soundtrack work to boot, there wasn’t much more they could achieve. But you’d be wrong. New Orleans clearly inspired them to make an album that sees them stretch out more effortlessly than ever but, while you can take the men out of CALEXICO, but you can’t take CALEXICO out of the men…

http://www.anti.com/store

http://www.casadecalexico.com/

http://twitter.com/casadecalexico

http://www.facebook.com/calexico

Jim White - Chase The Dark Away (Live)

Jim White is a southern gothic alt-country singer-songwriter. He has released four albums as a solo artist.
While his music is based in americana, he borrows elements from rock, rhythm and blues, and evenelectronica, often piecing sounds together in the lo-fi cut-and-paste fashion of artists like Tom Waits. His albums have featured a wide variety of collaborators, such as Victoria Williams, Morcheeba, Aimee Mann,Barenaked Ladies, and Joe Henry. He is signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and appeared in the BBC documentary, Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, which looks at musicians inspired by the culture of the American South.Not be confused with the acclaimed Dirty Three / Cat Power / Smog / P. J. Harvey / Nina Nastasiadrummer, who also had a recent collaboration album “You Follow Me” with Nastasia under the name of Nina Nastasia And Jim White

http://www.jimwhite.net/

http://www.myspace.com/officialjimwhite

http://www.facebook.com/jimwhiteofficial

The Walkabouts - Follow Me An Angel

The Walkabouts were founded in 1983 by Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson. Other members have been Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller. Although the Walkabouts started in seattle, US their main base of popularity is Europe. Their blend of folk idioms and noisy experimental rock has won them lots of devoted fans; however, even with twelve studio albums and another 15 EPs, live albums and compilations released, they still remain below the radar of the public at large. 
The band draws inspiration from folk and country music, particularly Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young andJohnny Cash, but also from other types of artists and musical styles such as Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen, french chanson and Jacques Brel. Their sound is typically rich, with string arrangements and keyboards in addition to the standard rock instruments. In reviews the band’s music is often described as melancholic or mellow, while Eckman’s lyrics, concerning such themes as human relations, loneliness and restlessness, are often emphasized as poetic.
The Walkabouts have achieved commercial success and a strong fanbase in Europe, where they have done promotion and extensive touring since early 1990s. They have occasionally even made it high on the record charts in countries such as Greece and Norway.
Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met in 1983 when they were both working at an Alaskan fish cannery as a summer break from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1984 they moved to Seattle, and the band was born when they joined forces with Chris’ two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt.

http://www.thewalkabouts.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Walkabouts

Bert Jansch - Katie Cruel

Herbert Jansch (b. 3rd November 1943 - d. 5th October 2011), commonly known as Bert Jansch, was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band The Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and, particularly in his early career, was sometimes characterised as a British Bob Dylan. This, however, was misleading, in that Jansch’s best work has always been fundamentally musically-driven, unlike Dylan’s, which is more lyrically-based. In the 1960s, he was heavily infuenced by the guitarist Davy Grahamand folk singers such as Anne Briggs. His work influenced such artists as Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler,Led Zeppelin, Nick Drake, and Neil Young. He earned a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2001 BBC Folk Awards.

http://www.last.fm/music/Bert+Jansch

http://www.bertjansch.com/

http://www.myspace.com/bertjansch

http://www.twitter.com/bert_jansch

EXITMUSIC - White Noise (Live)

Sometimes, listening to Exitmusic, it’s hard to tell whether the goosebumps you’re getting are from the parts that are chillingly beautiful and melodic or the ones that are aching and guttural or the ones that are creepily sparse and disembodied. The New York City duo – Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church -- doesn’t care when the chill runs down your spine, they just hope their music provokes some kind of primal feeling. Church explains, “It’s like what Aleksa sings at the end of ‘The Sea’: ‘And you turn your back to life… Oh, sorrow.’ We want our music to confront people in a gentle but powerful way, to make them feel something.”
“To feel human again,” adds Palladino. “To remind people, and even us, to let yourself be vulnerable.” She says that when she’s writing a song, she knows it’s going well when she feels breathless, overwhelmed by what is stirring inside of her. “The songs themselves are slightly abstract, but where they’re coming from emotionally is always very clear to me.”
Church and Palladino started writing together several years ago, when Church moved to New York following a year teaching English in Taiwan and India. “We had a funny dynamic musically, at first,” says Church, who grew up in Winnipeg. “I was listening to things that had elements sonically of what we’re doing now -- Radiohead’s Kid A, that second Sigur Ros album, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Warp Records electronic stuff. But all I had to work with at the time was an acoustic guitar. Meanwhile, Aleksa was recording all these really interesting, odd arrangements on her four-track that would be about a minute long and only have one movement in them, and it sounded more like what I was into than what I was doing.”
Palladino, a New York native, had been writing and recording her own songs since she was in her early teens. She grew up in an artistic family; her grandparents are both painters and her mother is an acclaimed opera singer. Aleksa got her first guitar at age twelve and played it constantly. “When I got the four-track, I got really into layering sounds and playing with what, to me, were shapes. They were music, but they were shapes and angles. I was just committed to sketching, almost. I still wonder if I hadn’t started recording with Devon, if I ever would have finished a song.”
The pair spent pretty much all of their time writing together, but things really began to take shape when they moved to Los Angeles a year later.. “We got a computer and recording software and really started to experiment with it and explore things together,” says Palladino. “That’s when it became a real project.”
They self-released their first collection of songs, The Decline of the West, in 2008. Their sound at the time was described by critics as a union of post-punk and trip hop, with apocalyptic overtones. ‘Dark, brooding and beautiful,’ wrote the UK’s Supersweet Magazine. ‘Radiohead meets Portishead in a living nightmare. Genius then.’’
The couple married that year, exchanging vows at a scenic overlook on Mulholland Drive. They had moved to Los Angeles so that Palladino, who has been acting professionally since fourteen, could be available for work there. But when she was cast in Martin Scorcese’s HBO series Boardwalk Empire as bohemian artist Angela Darmody, Exitmusic were thrilled to be able to move back east. Since returning to New York in 2009, the band -- which currently performs as a four piece, with drummer Dru Prentiss and electronic musician Nicholas Shelestak -- has both honed and expanded their sound, as well as their recording technique. Striking a unique balance between darkness and light, their music builds on a foundation of rhythmic electronics and synthesizers, to arrive at a sound almost operatic in scope. The tracks on the band’s new EP, From Silence, explore themes of loss, both personal and universal, “the destruction of nature and the destruction of our own nature.” Recorded at home in Brooklyn over the course of the past several months, the EP marks Exitmusic’s Secretly Canadian debut. 

http://www.exitmusic.bandcamp.com/

http://www.twitter.com/weareexitmusic

http://www.allthingsexitmusic.tumblr.com/

http://www.facebook.com/weareEXITMUSIC

http://www.myspace.com/thedeclineofthewest

BLK JKS - Molalatladi

The BLK JKS, South African afro avant noise rock band. Childhood friends Linda and Mpumi grew up on the same block in Johannesburg’s East Rand, where they taught themselves guitar after Linda’s sister received one as a prize in church choir. Forming a band in 2003, early BLK JKS shows and recordings were remarkable for their stacks of guitar drone and head nodding beats, but it was with the addition of bassist Molefi and drummer Tsepang—both of Soweto—that BLK JKS began work with a fresh approach and plunged into its current universe of sound. Heavy club dates and festival gigs followed as they band earned a loyal following across the country. In June 2007 the BLK JKS released a handful of songs as a limited edition CD EP that was quickly snapped up by hardcore fans and knowing collectors. The November 2007 release of the “Lakeside” vinyl-only 10 in marks the band’s international debut with a limited edition of 500 selling at some of the world’s best record shops: Rough Trade (London), Soul Jazz (London), Phonica (London), Rush Hour (Amsterdam), Turntable Lab (NYC), Other Music (NYC), Dusty Groove (Chicago), Jet Set (Kyoto/Tokyo), Canned Applause (Johannesburg) and Mabu (Cape Town).

http://blkjksband.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blk-Jks

Wolf Larsen - If I Be Wrong

Sounds like: The Cowboy Junkies + Leonard Cohen. Intimate story-songs; blanket-fort music; a new favorite record. 
Best listened to on long drives or walking in the woods with a good set of headphones, Wolf Larsen's debut album Quiet at the Kitchen Door is intimate, intelligent, transporting and rather soothing. 
Known for her arresting live performances, Wolf is famous for bringing any noisy barroom to a standstill. With total focus, stillness and a gentle approach to playing her nylon string guitar, Larsen invites an audience to lean in closer and to feel the Quiet as a part of the fabric of her songs. 
For the release of her first record, Larsen is donating a significant portion of proceeds to organizations that invest in the education of girls around the world, starting with The Nike Foundation’s initiative called The Girl Effect. The Girl Effect is the notion that investing in women, particularly in the education and business development of girls, is the best, fastest way to save the world. Along with UNESCO, The World Health Organization, and USAID, Wolf believes in this idea passionately and wants to dedicate her record release to spreading this worthy meme around.

http://www.wolflarsenmusic.com/

http://www.facebook.com/wolflarsenrecords

Saytan - Soft Teeth (Live)

Saytan formed in early 2010 in Reykjavík, Iceland. Saytan is manned by Sigurvin Edvard Pálsson, Eggert Gíslason Þorsteinsson, Pétur Már Guðmundsson and Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia who are bound by a manical love of music.
Saytan performs a mix of electronic music and rock using earsplitting guitar wizardry, drum machines and synthesizers that they have dubbed "Electrock" Their influences range from Television to Yasuaki Fujita.
Their first release "Design & Circuits" is available at gogoyoko.com

http://www.facebook.com/saytanband

Misophone - I sleep like the dead

Misophone consists of M. A. Welsh and S. Herbert who have been recording for ten years. They have hundreds of songs and countless unofficial releases. 
6 albums have been officially released: ‘’Where has it gone, all the beautiful music of our grandparents? It died with them…that’s where it went…’’ (kning disk) ; ‘’Be Glad You Are Only Human’’ (kning disk); ‘’I Sit At Open Windows’’ (another record); ‘’Songs From An Attic’’ (another record); Another Lost Night (lirico); Laughing At The Moon (cdr lirico). 
They are currently working on a double album and are awaiting the release of a new album Before the Waves Roll In.

http://last.fm/music/misophone

http://myspace.com/misophone

http://kningdisk.com/

http://another-record.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Misophone

House of Wolves - 50's

House of Wolves is the solo project of Rey Villalobos,
the band name's origin coming from the translation of Villa-lobos from Spanish to English. 
A Los Angeles native, Villalobos's family originates from two different sides of the globe - Cananea Sonora México and Francavilla al Mare on the Italian Adriatic Coast. Rey grew up a classically trained pianist, citing Chopin as his first and main musical influence.
House of Wolves debut album Fold In The Wind presents a warm, ethereal, and poetic collection. While beautifully eerie in acoustic form, the songs are filled with "colorful symphonic sustain that decorates spacious arrangements" blended with Villalobos's haunting melodies and tender voice they call to mind Elliott Smith, Low, Sparkle Horse.
The album is produced and mixed by John Askew (The Dodos, Alela Diane) and self released in July 2011.
Over the past few years Villalobos spent his time touring Europe & the U.S, playing shows with: Sharon Van Etten, Damien Jurado, Villagers, Gardens & Villa, The Middle East, Avi Buffalo, Blind Pilot, Laura Gibson, Little Joy, Seabear, Kaki King, and Fanfarlo.

http://www.houseofthewolves.blogspot.com/

http://houseofwolves.bandcamp.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/HouseofWolves1

http://soundcloud.com/houseofwolves

http://vimeo.com/houseofwolves

Louise McVey and Cracks in the Concrete - Muse

Vocalist Louise McVey and guitarist/noisemaker Graeme Miller met in a basement in 2009. Their shared passion for dark unexplored musical territory has made for a highly fruitful period; exploring dusty pianos, scuttling guitars, sonorous vocals and selective percussion. Drummer Gordon MacPherson, pianist Jimmy O'Donnell, bassist Garry Freckleton and violinist Kathy Boyd were all press-ganged into the fold to create a stark haunting backdrop for Louise's vocals.
In 2010 they performed live in amongst others Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Berlin to rave reviews and played coveted support slots with Pete Molinari and She Keeps Bees, and an incendiary Radio 1 live session for Vic Galloway in the Summer. They are continuing to unsettle audiences far and wide.
Their self-titled debut EP was released digitally through the hugely auspicious Optimo Music in Autumn 2009, and in 2010 on 7" white vinyl through Metropolicana. Their debut album will be released Autumn/winter 2011, and the band will further seek out the darker corners.

http://www.louiseandcracks.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/louisemcveyandcracksintheconcrete

James Apollo - The Violins

Apollo was born on 25th December 1980 in North-West Arkansas, and spent his formative years in Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, and Tennessee. He currently lives and works in Silverton, Colorado, and New York City.
He is best known for creating emotionally textured soundscapes, often including musical and lyrical references to William Faulkner, Tom Waits, and classic Americana of the Western U.S. His songs have been featured in a number of independent films, including the 2009 feature, Sun Dogs. 
After touring the U.S. for several years, Apollo was picked up by NoAlternative Records, which released a number of his albums, including Good Grief (2005) and Hide Your Heart in a Hive (2007). First touring Europe with Canadian songwriter Morgan Finlay, James Apollo was invited by Tom Robinson to perform live on the BBC. This led to numerous radio appearances, and a live television session on Channel M in Manchester, gaining the singer a wide audience throughout the U.K. He has since continued performing in both the U.S. and Europe.

http://www.jamesapollo.com/

http://www.facebook.com/thejamesapollo

Cem Adrian & Halil Sezai - Olsun

Born in Edirne on 30th November 1980, Adrian was the second child in a family of Yugoslavian origin. He is known for his ability to sing from bass to soprano, as his vocal cords are three times the length of an average person’s. He started his musical studies while at secondary school, and also released his first recordings. He started his career on radio at the age of eighteen, and continued for about six years. At the same time he studied theatre and photography, and recorded about 250 of his own songs at the studios of the radio where he used to work. 
In 2003 he performed as a singer and dancer with the traditional music ensemble Mystica in Istanbul. In Autumn 2004 he started his education as a “special student” at the Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, at the invitation of Fazil Say. In February 2005 he released his first album, Ben Bu Sarkiyi Sana Yazdim(Means: i wrote this song for u).

info@cesproduction.com

http://www.cemadrian.com/

http://www.facebook.com/cemadrian

Versa - We Are Not What We Say We Are

Versa was formed in 2006 by Matthew Dolmage, Kevin Grady, Hollas Longton, Benjamin Rancourt, and Anthony Theocharis, who met at the University of Victoria School of Music. Kevin left the band to pursue a Masters degrees in music in 2010, and Hollas remains a contributing member though his current residency in Holland precludes frequent live appearances. The performing band now consists of founding members Matthew Dolmage, Benjamin Rancourt, and Anthony Theocharis, with Michelle Edwards on trumpet and flugelhorn and Janelle Wrona on keyboards, guitar and percussion. Versa is joined by a rotating roster of drummers and percussionists including Liam McKeracher, Jesse Bell, John Russell, Shawn Trail, and Mike Restall, as well as by local string, horn, and woodwind players who allow Versa to bring freshness, energy, and uniqueness to our live shows, and who give the band the versatility to perform in a wide variety of venues.

http://www.youtube.com/redirect

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Decline-Fall-Of/dp

Dirtmusic - Black Gravity

dirtmusic is Chris Eckman, Hugo Race and Chris Brokaw

Digging back to their roots in search of the raw urban folkblues, Eckman, Race and Brokaw converge paths in the European spring for full immersion in the journey of a brand new collaborative project: DIRT MUSIC
Three multi-instrumental artists from diverse backgrounds - three voices discovering a mutual language in the legacy of the frontier. Six strings, some keys, “found” percussion, steel bottleneck, roots feels, acoustic storytelling illuminated by an electronic vein. Dreams and memories carved from hard bedrock reality: DIRT MUSIC - a road movie in evolution… 
In this exclusive Eckman, Race and Brokaw will be performing new material written for the occasion and evolved on the road - for a future release album of both live and studio material drawing on folkcountryblues tempered by twenty-first century experience.

http://www.myspace.com/dirtmusicband

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dirtmusic

Mogwai - Mexican Grand Prix

Mogwai are a band from Glasgow formed in 1995. They compose lengthy, mostly instrumental guitar-based pieces in the style of post-rock, usually focused around the elaboration of a single theme, and are known traditionally for their quiet/loud dynamic, defined bass riffs, and an eminent ambient sound, sometimes dark and sometimes grand. Although frequently referred to as post-rock, the band have revealed in interviews that they despise this categorization, insisting that their sound bears little resemblance to pioneers of the genre, such as Tortoise. 
The band were originally signed to renowned Glasgow indie label Chemikal Underground, but call a number of labels home, being distributed by different labels such as Matador in the United States and Play it again Sam Records in the United Kingdom. They have also developed their own label called Rock Action Records, named after guitarist Ron Asheton of The Stooges, who had his name changed to Rock Action.
Mogwai are named after the creatures from the film Gremlins (the word itself is Cantonese for ‘little-monster’), although Braithwaite comments that “it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one , but like a lot of other things we never got round to it.”.
Their style has been influenced by such bands as The Cure, Joy Division, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Pixies,My Bloody Valentine, and post-rock granddaddies Slint. During 2004 the band were handed support slots on the tours of two of their heroes, the Pixies and The Cure. It has easily identifiable connections to genres like shoegaze, math rock, art rock, and occasionally instrumental metal.

http://www.mogwai.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/mogwai

Le Days - That Is Love

Le Days is Daniel Hedin, voice, guitar & instruments. Very talented swedish young indie folk acoustic artist.
He dosen…t know the rules for this little song, he dosen…t know the fact of making his act. Though it never stops him to make a song. and then when the time as come to it…s right he and his friend stands in the end.

http://www.le-days.com/

http://www.myspace.com/ledays

http://www.ledays.bandcamp.com/

http://www.cdbaby.com/ledays

http://www.facebook.com/ledays

Young Galaxy - Blown Minded

Young Galaxy are a Canadian indie rock/dream pop band, whose members are Stephen Ramsay (vocals/guitar) and Catherine McCandless (vocals/keyboards), and Stephen Kamp (bass/vocals)
Young Galaxy formed in Vancouver, Canada, as duo including Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless. Through that summer of 2005 and the spring of 2006 they recorded with appearances and contributions of friends at Jace Lasek’s Breakglass Studio. Their sound has been described as similar to the bands Slowdive, Galaxie 500 and Luna as well as Pink Floyd and Spiritualized. The band has toured in Canada, The United States and Europe, opening for Arcade Fire, The Album Leaf, The Frames, Peter, Bjorn and John, Stars and Death Cab For Cutie. They later moved to Montreal, where they recorded their self-titled debut. The album was released on April 24, 2007.
They recorded their second album Invisible Republic in Montreal at Hotel2Tango studio with Radwan Moumneh engineering (A Silver Mt. Zion, Pas Chic Chic) and at Breakglass Studios with Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes engineering. Invisible Republic was released independently on August 25, 2009 through Fontana North. It was mixed by Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol) in Glasgow, Scotland. It was subsequently released in July 2010 in the U.S.A. by Paper Bag Records, and received a long list nomination for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize.
The band followed up in fall 2010 with YG No Art EP, an EP comprising unreleased tracks and remixes from the Invisible Republic sessions.

http://younggalaxy.com/

http://www.facebook.com/younggalaxy

Director - Can't go Home

Hailing from Malahide in County Dublin, Director are Michael Moloney (Vocals/Guitar), Eoin Aherne (Guitar), Shea Lawlor (Drums) and Rowan Averill (Bass).
Taking their musical cues from their early encounters with the classic songwriting of The Beatles, Steely Dan and Randy Newman, Director cite Beck, Grandaddy, Muse and The Strokes, as some of their modern day influences.
Director’s debut single, “Reconnect” was released in Ireland and the UK on April 26, 2006. The single stayed in the Irish charts for 12 weeks peaking at number 10.
Director’s debut album, “We Thrive on Big Cities” was released on October 6 in the Republic of Ireland and included their debut single, “Reconnect”. Within the first week of release, the album had reached number 2 in the Irish album sales charts. The album went on to go Platinum and spent a total of 29 weeks in the Irish chart.
The second single taken from the band’s debut album, “Come With a Friend”, was released on September 29 of the same year. The third single from the album, “Leave It to Me”, was released on January 5 2007. Both these releases were solely in the Republic of Ireland.
The album was nominated for the Choice Music Prize 2006 for Irish album of the year. It was also nominated in the ‘Best Irish Album’ category at the 2006 Meteor Music Awards at which the band won the award for ‘Best New Irish Act’ and performed their single “Reconnect” live.
Director have announced that their second album will be released on May 8th, 2009 and is titled “I’ll Wait For Sound”. They completed the recording of the album with US producer Brad Wood in Los Angeles.
“Sing It Without A Tune” is the first single from the new album and will be released via digital download only, one week before the album on the 1st May.

http://www.myspace.com/directormusic

http://www.directormusic.co.uk/

Magyar Posse- Whirlpool of terror and tension (Live)

Hailing from Pori, Finland MAGYAR POSSE are the ambassadors of Finnish instrumental rock. Drawing influences from Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Angelo Badalamenti, Astor Piazzolla, Einstürdenze Neubauten, David Lynch, Giorgio Moroder, Neu!, Michael Rother and Roman Polanski, the group plays epic cinematic atmospheres with an edge entirely their own. The band consists of two keyboard players (Jari Lähteinen and Pasi Salmi), two guitarists/bassists (Mikko Rintala and Harri Sippola), a drummer (Olli Joukio) and a sound engineer (Tuomas Laurila).
The group started out as "The Alibi of Carlos" in 1997, and after a short break they renamed themselves MAGYAR POSSE and stretched their musical visions further. In 2002 Verdura Records from Helsinki released the debut album We will carry you over the mountains, which received praising reviews in national music press. The album earned the band their first European tour which was interrupted the very first night in Riga, Latvia when their van was stolen and some of their gear lost.
Influental are these events or not, the bands second work Kings of Time released in 2004 displayed a new found depth and it became an album to set new standards for Finnish instrumental rock. The album received several "Album of the year" awards and opened opportunities for MP to play in the biggest festivals around Finland. During the making of the album violin player Sandra Mahlamäki joined the band. A Parisian label OSCILL licensed the album in France and the band played a successful French tour with other European dates. The band also played their first shows in Russia during this period.
In 2006 Verdura Records released the bands third full length titled Random Avenger, where the band stood on their own feet taller than ever before. This album, just as Kings of Time, entered the national album charts and again gave them plenty of attention in Internet communities. The band also released their first music video for the song Whirlpool of Terror and Tension which won several major music video awards in Finland and introduced them to a wider international audience. After the release of the album one member of the band moved to China and the band took time off from performing live.
In early 2008, the band did their first 7 gig tour in China and made enough impression to the Chinese audience to be involved in the same Internet scam attempts as multi-million selling artists. Also the same year Magyar Posse completed Aldebaran rising, a collaborative film project with art film director Petri Hagner. The result was an abstract combination of movie theatre and live music performances and it was performed in film festivals and clubs during 2008 and 2009.
Sandra Mahlamäki left the band in early 2010. Currently the band is in a new storm of creativity, adding rougher and minimalistic elements to their music and defining the new sound of Finnish instrumental rock for the 2010's.

Moonface - Headed For The Door

Spencer Krug is a singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the indie rock band Wolf Parade, as well as Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake and Frog Eyes.
Born and raised in Penticton, British Columbia, Krug moved to Victoria, British Columbia where he became a founding member of the indie rock band Frog Eyes. Later, he moved to Montreal, Quebec where he formed Wolf Parade alongside fellow songwriter and singer Dan Boeckner in April of 2003. Wolf Parade’s first show was opening for the Arcade Fire in 2003. In July 2005, Krug released the self-recorded Sunset Rubdown album Snakes Got a Leg. Apologies to the Queen Mary, Wolf Parade’s debut album, was produced by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock and released on Seattle indie label Sub Pop on September 27 2005. Also in 2005, he contributed to the UNICEF benefit song, “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en?” along with Dan Boeckner. Originally a solo project, Sunset Rubdown expanded in the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006 to include Camilla Wynn Ingr of Pony Up!, Jordan Robson-Cramer of XY Lover, and Michael Doerksen. This new line-up released its first collaborative effort, the band’s second LP, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, in May 2006. Krug rejoined Frog Eyes as their keyboardist in the spring of 2006
Krug recorded material for the indie rock supergroup Swan Lake alongside Destroyer’s Dan Bejar and Frog Eyes’ Carey Mercer. The group released their debut album, Beast Moans, on November 21st 2006 through Jagjaguwar.

http://moonface.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/MoonfaceOfficial

Language Room - Skin & Heart & Lungs

Thus far, the trajectory of Language Room’s career has been determined by a strange brew of happenstance, fan support, and a certain resourceful thriftiness. In 2007, old friends Scott Graham and Todd Sapio ran into each other on the streets of SXSW after not seeing each other since they both lived in Los Angeles years prior. They began collaborating and soon decided to turn their ideas into an actual band, bringing in Scott’s brother Matt on bass.
The newly formed Language Room immediately went into the studio to record their first E.P. with LA producer Derek Jones. From that session, they placed tracks on Livestrong.org and a feature film called “Haunting at The Beacon”. Having only been together for less than a year, the band started turning heads all over the Texas region. One head in particular was producer Matt Noveskey (after randomly meeting him in a guitar store, no less). So in the winter of ’08, he and the band began working on their debut album One by One.
Released independently in February ’09, the album received excellent reviews. “Rarely do young bands release profound music with their debut,” said The Hollywood Bureau; “(One by One) is a bold and resplendent ode to American rock and indie pop…an epic poem written for the musically obsessed.” According to Austin Chronicle critic Austin Powell, “Language Room’s alt-rock debut is slick and radio-friendly, but the local quartet performs with the earnest sincerity of Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World and has an ace up its sleeve in guitarist Scott Graham.”
In 2009, the band launched a Kickstarter campaign to purchase an RV in preparation for tour. Not knowing what to expect from the relatively new crowd-funding website, they set the goal at $10,000 and nervously hoped for the best. Fans gave them quite a shock – not only did they meet the goal, but they went $300 over. Unbeknownst to the band at the time, this made them the first entity from Austin to successfully complete a Kickstarter campaign, as pointed out by the Austin Chronicle in their article “Kickstart My Heart.”
In 2011, after finding a new drummer in Sean Hill, and an evolution in sound, they began making plans for a new EP but found themselves with the usual independent band’s quandary – how to pay for it. They turned again to their old friend Kickstarter, this time coming through with over $5,000 to go into the studio with legendary producer Dwight Baker (Bob Schneider, Kelly Clarkson, Dixie Chicks). Since its release in January of 2012, the band’s E.P., “Skin & Heart & Lungs” has gotten rave reviews from fans and critics alike.
In September, the band released a video for the song “Kerosene”. This video also happens to be the band’s most recent display of resourcefulness. Armed with a couch, some party supplies, and a cooler of food and beer, the band and twenty friends trooped out to a ranch in central Texas for a sweltering summer weekend. By juxtaposing day and night shots, they were able to achieve a video that was creatively simple, visually captivating, and virtually cost-free.
Suffice it to say, Language Room has proven to be both undeterred by limitations and blessed with an incredibly supportive fan base. With over a dozen brand new songs the band has begun pre-production for their next release which will prove to be the most poignant to date.

http://www.languageroomband.com/

http://www.facebook.com/LanguageRoom

Revere - I Can't (Forgive Myself)

The distinctive sound of London-based seven-piece REVERE is a monument to the backgrounds and musical loves of its members – who originate from across the UK, from London, Newcastle and Liverpool, to as far afield as the Orkney Isles.
Drawing on influences as diverse as Ennio Morricone, Joy Division and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, REVERE bind together the traditional back-bone of guitar/bass/drums with an unlikely approach to the violin, cello, and piano. Elsewhere, this line-up is complimented further by Salvation Army-style brass sections lamenting over layers of fractured vocal samples and distorted keyboards.
As they roll out new material from their upcoming second album, REVERE continue to pull together varied influences into a now more frantic, grittier onslaught. The edgy new-wave guitars of Magazine merge with the industrial clatter of Joy Division and Battles; the expansive soundscapes have morphed into euphoric flashes that would vie with the most uplifting elements of Everything Everything or the Maccabees.
Angular stabs of synths surge up out of waves of strings; and there’s still that voice, sailing through the mêlée, itself sounding both urgent and sea-worn. It’s part Jeff Buckley, part Bon Iver. Imagine Ian Curtis singing Scott Walker, set against the varied skylines of England’s industrial docklands.

http://www.revereonline.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/revere

http://www.facebook.com/revereonline