Friday! This weekend I should be able to start working on the fanzine inner pages, I mean the interviews! Last weekend I worked on the front cover and the CD sleeve. So yes, little by little this cool new zine is shaping up. I really really hope I can publish this by late March or mid April as the latest. I’ll keep you updated.

Also I want to say that I will be in Lima, Peru, from March 27 to April 4th. Just as we did in Mexico, please let me know if you want to save some postage. I can bring you any records that are available from the Cloudberry catalog to Lima. Just let me know in advance and this way you can just pay for the price of the record and save on postage. Just drop me an email with the records you’d like me to bring and we’ll figure out a way to meet.

Now, here are some new music worth checking out!

The Drain on the Balcony: on February 28th the Greek label Old Bad Habits is releasing a 7″ by this band. It also seems that this song  that we can listen, that is the A side, “Truly Deeply Madly” will be part of an album called “Greetings from Solihull” that will be coming out on the label Local Underground. Sounds great!

Flower Tattoo: this Seattle band released an album called “You Can Never Have a Long Enough Head Start” last month. It has 12 songs and it seems is only available digitally at the moment. The record has some great tracks and others not so good, a bit of a mixed bag, but when they are good, the tracks are pretty good, like the song “She”!

Huevos II:  Western Massachussetts band on a Louisville, Kentucky label called Sophomore Lounge. That is quite a discovery. They have released a 12″EP  called “Huevos II ‘III'” that has 5 jangly tracks influenced by New Zealand pop. It is quite a very nice surprise by this band formed by Ma Turner, John McGuigan and Patrick Borezo. Do they ever come down south to NYC? And what about their band name?

“Sampler Vol.1”: is the name of a new compilation put together by the Buenos Aires label Café y Ruido. There are 10 songs here, all by Argentinean bands and there is one song that is simply superb, Bruxismo’s “Tengo Ganas de Verte”. Just because of that song I am telling you to check this out.

The Claim: the classic Rochester band is releasing a split 7″ with the band Jim Riley’s Blues Foundation on March 3rd. It is being released by the Spinout Nuggets label and each band will be contributing a track. The Claim ‘s song is titled “Spring Turns to Winter” and it is a terrific slice of pop magic!

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It is always a good idea to return to check the WokingSoundscene Soundcloud and explore the obscure bands they feature. Last time I discovered Summersalt, today my surprise came when I heard the band giant Arc and their song “Fire Up the Sun”, a fine guitar pop song.

According to this terrific group that celebrates the band from their area, from the 80s and 90s, the band was around between 1991 and 1993. It was formed by Dave on bass, Michael on guitar, Lee on drums, Geoff on vocals and guitar and Gary on vocals. No last names are available though. It is going to be hard to track them down.

The band released just a demo tape, that was all. It was released in late 1991 and the cassette tape was titled “Time Becomes a Monster” and it included 3 tracks: “Hunters”, “Burn” and “Care”. These were recorded at Von’s Studio in autumn of that same year with Ottie/Lee producing.

Before that, earlier in 1991 the band had appeared on the tape compilation “Farnborough Groove Vol. 1”. On my post about Summersalt I talked a bit about this series of compilations that showcased up and coming bands from the area. On this one, the first one of the series, the band contributed the song “Fire Up the Sun”. It was the very last track on the B side. Later on, one of the songs from the demo, “Hunters”, appeared on the 3rd tape of the series, “Return of Farnborough Groove Vol. 3”

It seems there was also a “Farnborough Groove Best” of all 10 volumes of the series that was released in 2015. On it the band appeared once more with “Fire Up the Sun”.

Something interesting on the tape is that all lyrics are credited to Hawkes. Could it be that it was Gary Hawkes? Or Geoff Hawkes? I am just guessing here.

Also the art is pretty curious, it is credited to HA! Design and Miclantecuhli and Mosaic Guitar. It looks like a pre-hispanic muummy on the cover. It looks familiar but I can’t remember where I’ve seen it before.

I can’t find any other information about the band. Hopefully someone remembers them and can share details about them! Or even let us listen the songs from their demo?!

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Listen
Giant Arc – Fire Up the Sun

I had written, two years ago, about the Bradford 80s band The Word on the blog. I had discovered them through a fantastic single, “Schoolboy Saint”, and I had wondered who were behind it. In the end I was lucky that Jon Macdonald got in touch with me and finally could get many questions answered! Here’s the interview!

++ Hi Jon! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? I hear you are still making music under Icecream4freaks, right? Tell me a bit about this project?

First of all Roque, thanks for your comments and interest. Icecream4freaks started out as a idea to work with some old friends. I had walked away from music for a while, but as it seems to be in my blood, I built a digital recording studio in my home (Addingham, Yorkshire, England) and started nervously writing some songs. Nervously, because I have always collaborated and not done words and music by myself. I didn’t know if anyone would like it but pressed ahead anyway. We have no record deal or management, but have managed some limited airplay on BBC national and local radio…
The line up is
Julian Walker: voice, occasional keyboards
Jo Dixon: guitars, programming and production,
Myself: songwriting, synthesisers, keyboards, bass etc etc
There will be more to come…

++ How similar or different would you say it is compared to The Word?

Compared to The Word, pretty different I’d say, but melodic indie pop is still the goal. Jock wrote the lions share of the songs, but we all contributed ideas.

++ And what are the future plans for the band? Where are you based, not in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the Bandcamp says?

I am based in Yorkshire, Julian and Jo in Wiltshire so live is an issue.

We would gig if there was a demand, but I’m not sure there is ha ha.

++ Let’s go back in time then. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Well, my first instrument (and still my favourite) is drums. I am self taught with the aid of many famous drummers I listened to as a lad, notably John Bonham, Keith Moon, Billy Cobham and especially Jaki Leibezeit from Can (my all time favourite band). All these players were a source of influence, along with bands like King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Talking Heads plus of course Can.

++ Had you been in other bands before The Word? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Previous bands I played in, whilst at art college mostly, were garage bands in Bradford, Yorkshire. They included such luminaries as Japanese Soldiers (with Mark Manning who went on to become Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction… somewhat notorious, Vex and Radio 5, where I met Jock.

Recordings were made by all these bands, but sadly I’m not much of an archivist…

++ Where were you from originally?

I am from a small town in Yorkshire called Skipton… I studied at Bradford Art School, so all my musical endeavors were based there.

++ How was Bradford at the time of The Word? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

At the time of The Word, Bradford was a fairly upbeat place with a thriving music scene, and a general drive for bands to make themselves heard. Venues like The 1 in 12 Club and Queens Hall were good to play and also a decent amount of pubs put bands on… I remember it as quite a creative time. We developed quite a decent following and played all over the country, including The Marquee and The Rock Garden in London.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Jock and I met in a pub called The Manville and hit it off… I joined his the band Radio 5. Some time later, we met Paul and decided to start The Word as both our outfits weren’t getting anywhere, although we had some interest from John Peel on Radio 1.

We just all got on, and got down to making ourselves the tightest unit we could be.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

We practised in Jock’s girlfriends house in the basement. The neighbours were not impressed.

Creatively, we wanted power and melody above egotistical noodling!

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

We were into The Beatles Revolver and Rubber Soul era, The Word was a Lennon song.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Influences were definitely The Beatles, although we all liked a wide range of stuff, from Scott Walker to The Psychedelic Furs and The Cure.

++ Your first 7″ was the “Colour It!” 7″ released in 1983. It was released by Menace Music. It was your own label, right? How did that work for you, doing a self-release? How challenging was it? Did you enjoy doing the label part of music?

Yes… nobody was battering the door down to sign us so we did it ourselves… Paul was the main driver of that. I enjoyed designing the sleeve though…

++ Were these two songs your first recordings as The Word? And how was your experience at Box Studios and working with Nyk Goss who had worked with many high profile bands?

Nyk was always fun… we did those songs because they seemed to go down really well live.

++ Then came “The Next Big Thing” 12″. I believe you first release it under your own Menace Music and then Abstract Sounds signed you and re-release it. Is that how it happened? How did you end up releasing on this London label and how was your relationship with them? Did you had to go down to London?

Memories area bit hazy about Abstract… I know we signed something ha ha.

We mastered the ep in London and I had a cup of tea with Ozzy Osbourne who’s band were in the next studio.

++What about the photo on the sleeve? Who took it?

I think the sleeve pic was by Jean Reeman, Jock’s girlfriend who was into photography. Once again I did the design for it.

++ Then came “Schoolboy Saint” 7″. Something that caught my curiosity was that it came out on the sister label Abstract Dance. How come it came out there instead of in Abstract Sounds?

Sorry on this one Roque… I cannot for the life of me remember!

++ This time around you recorded in the well known Alaska Studios. How was that? Any different to recording in other studios?

Alaska was a better studio than we had been able to afford previously so the outboard was better… We used real violin, courtesy of Carolyn Harley which sounded great. Although the song was Jocks, I was pleased with my string arrangement on the track (derived from my backing vocals live)… a played the notes to Carolyn on a crappy kiddies keyboard and she did the rest.

++ Aside from the singles and EP you appeared on the compilation”Enemies of the State” that was put out by 1 in 12 Records. This label was actually put together by 1 in 12 Club in Bradford. I was wondering how important was that club for you and the city and if you were familiar or even friends with the bands there?

The 1 in 12 Club was quite a large part of our lives at that time, not only as a venue but as a social club. Paul was more involved than Jock and me, but we were friendly with a lot of other bands around at the time. Quite a few of them supported us on some gigs, like Wild Willy Becket, Boys from the East and various others. The 1 in 12 was so named because 1 in 12 people were un-employed in Bradford at that time.

++ Also quite curious that on the other three compilations you were in you always contributed always the same song, “Different”. Was that on purpose or just a coincidence?

Just a coincidence I think.

++ And are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased tracks?

There are quite a few tracks out there from The Word, I think… probably enough for a double LP… Paul might be the best person to ask,

He runs a record company in Bradford called Sound Shack Records… he goes by the moniker Nagbea these days… I haven’t seen him in a while, but you could try getting in touch…

++ Have you ever thought of putting all songs together in a retrospective release?

Again, Paul may have the old tapes… my copies are long gone.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Schoolboy Saint”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

“Schoolboy Saint” was written by Jock, one of his more accessible lyrics I think, about a kid at school everyone looked up to (I think).

++ If you were to choose your favorite The Word song, which one would that be and why?

My favourite Word song would have to be “Garden Street”.

Another great song from Jock, basically “Garden Street” was the name of the street Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire ripper) lived Some one out there in Bradford should have copies of this stuff, but it was a long time ago 🙂

++ I read on the web that you won a Battle of the Bands hosted at the Halifax Town Hall. That must been exciting! What year was it, do you remember? How was that experience and what did you win?

I was never keen on Battle of the Bands type things… I never felt music should be a contest and I still don’t. Simon Cowell and his sort should be marooned on a desert island ha ha. I think we won some rather useless recording equipment.

++ What about other gigs? Did you play many?

We played loads of gigs all over the country… most of them were really well received.

We had a bit of a sense of humour… I remember one gig, no one was allowed in without a banana…also one where we organised a massive food fight… most gigs ended with stage invasions… usually triggered by our roadies… this could be quite dangerous, as the drummer I was a little safer.

The worst gigs in terms of audience were in London, as they were all to cool to dance!

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

One of the best gigs we did was supporting The Icicle Works at Queens Hall… we gave them a run for their money!

++ And were there any bad ones?

There are always bad gigs… I got very drunk at a gig in Sheffield and fucked all the songs up before falling of my stool… the rest of the band were pretty fed up! My excuse? Waiting too long to go on.

++ When and why did The Word stop making music? You were involved in Cotton and Poppy Factory, right? Can you tell me a bit about these bands? Were you involved in other bands?

I can’t remember exactly when we called it a day… I know we were frustrated not getting anywhere.Jock kind of gave up, and didn’t want to do much, but I kept at him suggesting a new band where I would switch to keyboards and we could write together.A friend of mine Mick Dale was invited to join when we felt we had some decent tunes.

The Poppy Factory was a book I read about World War 1, and it seemed a good name for what we were doing. No drug references should be inferred ha ha.

Mick was classically trained on piano and he and I divided up keyboards and bass between us… I was responsible for most of the melodies and Jock the vocals and guitar.Mick polished it all up. It worked for a time… we played a handful of gigs and got signed by Chrysalis Records in 1990.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Paul was with his own band Hyacinth House for a time, the last thing Jock and I did together was Poppy Factory.
I should say Poppy Factory ended rather badly… I think there was little regard for each other at the end… I have not seen Jock or Mick since 1991…I believe the two of them carried on for a while, but were dropped shortly after I left.

++ Has there been any The Word reunion?

There won’t be a Word reunion.

++ Did you get much attention from the press, radio? TV?

We had quite a bit of press from the local paper in Bradford, The Telegraph & Argus, and the odd bit of TV I think.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Can’t think of any one highlight, but I do remember enjoying nearly all of it. We had some laughs and a lot of respect from our peers.</p>

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

I really enjoy cooking and do a fair bit of walking… Yorkshire is good for that, oh and of course going to the pub with my friends and putting the world to rights ha ha

++ Never been in the Bradford area, but I’ll ask a local about some recommendations you’d have? Like sights one shouldn’t miss? Food and drinks one should try?

If your ever in Bradford… two words… Curry and Beer… not necessarily in that order!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Hope this is ok Roque…
Some contacts you might find useful:
•Nagbea (Paul as was) Sound Shack Records, Bradford.
• Gary Cavanagh, 1 in 12 Club, Bradford, author of “Bradford Noise of the Valleys” books, a history of local Bradford bands.
Best wishes and anything I can help you with let me know.

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Listen
The Word – Schoolboy Saint

I continue working on the fanzine (this week I got another interview answered plus another song), I hope to have a better idea very soon for when I can publish it. Blog readers will be the first to know. I do think that the fanzine this time around will be dark blue/navy blue!

New music for this week? Here you go!

Remington Super 60: the Norwegian band is back with a new EP called just “New EP”! It will be released on tape by the Slovakian label Z Tapes in a limited run of 70 copies. The EP comes with 6 songs of terrific casiopop. It is amazing how this band gets better with the years!

Meltway: close to Norway, in Denmark, I discover this shoegaze band. They are releasing an EP titled “Everytime” on February 10th that will include 5 songs. So far we can preview just one of them, “From Blue”, which is a gorgeous lo-fi fuzzy track. The band is formed by Mathias Hammerstrøm, Mikkel Schmidt, Thomas Brunbjerg and Magnus Rullestad Bjørnsen.

The Radio Dept.: continuing with this Scandinavian journey we head to Malmö for the newest song by the legendary band The Radio Dept. It is called “The Absence of Birds” and there are two versions, the ‘normal’ one and also the one called “Untitled Version 2 by Civilistjävell”. I must say I prefer the original version, with lyrics, but have a listen yourselves. I really hope they come back soon to NYC!

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: three more songs by the most prolific of all indiepop bands around. The San Francisco band now presents us with “I Hope I Never Fall in Love”, “Is Your Mind that Free? (ver2)” and “I Wouldn’t Die for Anyone”. Time to give them a listen!

Melenas: wow! wow! wow! the Pamplona band is back with an amazing new song called “3 segundos”. They have put together a video for it that is so much fun! It looks very 80s kitsch, a parody of American series of the time. They are definitely one of my favourite bands right now and you have to remember that last year they made the best single of 2019. What will bring this year? A new album? More concerts around the world? I hope to catch them live again. What a great band!

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Sage: an aromatic plant with grayish-green leaves that are used as a culinary herb, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Who were Sage? Who were behind this wonderful lofi pop band? I want to know!

The band was around in the nineties, that is what I know. Was it a French band? I think so, that would definitely be my guess. I say that because they appeared on two French compilations and that was it. Which compilations were they? Okay, just a minute. Let’s go in chronological order.

I was to discover the sweet female vocals of Sage on a song called “Silence is the Safest Thing” that appeared on a 1996 cassette compilation called “Imbroglio” (PAM 008) that the French label Pâte A Modeler released. This label put out very fine tape compilations in the nineties, I would love to listen to them all. Anyone has digitized them by any chance?

Imbroglio means an extremely confused, complicated or embarrassing situation. I didn’t know this word existed in English if I am honest. I thought it was an Italian word only. Anyhow, the band contributed not just one song on it, but three. The other two were “What it Means” and “Directions for Use”. I would love to listen to them of course. Other bands on the compilation that are familiar to me are Ego and River, but then I don’t know the other ones! Who were Gallous? or Monsieur Soprano?

Then a few years later, in 1999, the band would contribute two songs to a comp tape called “Love Song”. This tape was released by A Secret Song (019), another tape label that released some tapes in the late 90s. The songs they gave away were “Silence is the Safest Thing” and “What it Means”. Two songs taht had previously appeared on the other compilation. Did they only record these three? Didn’t they have more songs? I’d like to find out. This tape feels more familiar to an indiepop fan as you see names like Gypsophile, Watoo Watoo or Tahiti 80.

Sadly aside from this information, information about the compilations there were in, I can’t find anything else on the web. I will need my French friends to help me on this one. Because I do want to know more about them!

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Listen
Sage – Silence is the Safest Thing

Well, well, I have started working on the fanzine now and it is looking great! I can give you heads up that the fanzine will feature The BV’s, Dayflower, Okama Flannel Boy, Salt Lake Alley, The Seashells, Stephen’s Shore and Den Baron. And maybe more! The CD that will accompany is slowly taking shape too and will let you know when I have more info on that too!

Now here are this weekend’s good finds!!

Náufragos Permanentes: my friend Cris, from Sevilla, shared this with me the other day and I was WOW! How haven’t I heard this band before. The band formed by José Luis Maestro on guitar, Pedro Ortega on bass Goyo Campos on drums and Emilio Carmona on guitar and vocals have recorded a classy EP called “Naranja Miel”. It has 5 songs and looks to be available only on digital format. I do hope a Spanish label picks them up as here’s lots of sweet jangle!

Violet Cheri: I got an email a few days ago about the newest single “I’m Fine” by this Stockholm based band. I am always skeptical about emails I get about bands, they are usually quite bad. But this one sounded pretty neat. Formed in 2015 the band is now working on their debut album which should be released this year.

Gaarden: the video for the Ruso-Estonian band’s “Shiny Day” was released 5 months ago! But I missed it and now I am re-discovering it. The band signed to the Australian label Library Records sounds ace. They are a very promising band and I hope I get to see them play live someday. The guitars are terrific and the melodies make are too.

Mint Julep: and finally the whole album by the Portland duo is up to listen! “Stray Fantasies” is so far the best album released this year. Now the question is where are the CDs, the vinyls? It only seems to be available online. There are 12 songs of perfectly crafted popsongs with electronic beats, dreamy pop melodies and smart lyrics. Don’t miss this one.

Mumrunner: Shelflife Records is back with a few superb releases. The latest is by this shoegaze band called Mumrunner, I believe from Portland, who had already made a splash touring Europe and Japan. They will be releasing an 8 song album called “Valeriana” on CD and vinyl. We can preview one of the tracks, “Foe”, which is truly fantastic. Is the rest of the album as good? I hope so!

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What would be an average prophecy? I think it is an interesting question.

I wonder where this English 5-piece got their name from. I know very little about them (I still don’t own their records) so I am now digging the web, see what I can find.

The band was around the early nineties. Perhaps during the late 80s too. I know they put out two records in 1990. That’s why. Both of them were released by Dream Discs. It seems that this label was the band’s own. There are no other records listed for this label. Or maybe not? It is always hard to be sure 100%.

The first release was a 7″ (DREAM 0017) with two songs: “Was She the One?” on the A side and “Tie Me to the Railway Line”. The sleeve art shows a baby being carried, a black and white photo. The labels tell us that the songs were composed by Ben Gunstone and that they were produced and engineered by Pete Lamb.

The back of the sleeve tells us that the band was based in Melksham, Wiltshire. It is the first time I hear of this town to be honest.

Melksham is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about 7 km northeast of Trowbridge and 10 km south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire’s fifth-largest town after Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham and Trowbridge. Melksham developed at a ford across the River Avon and the name is presumed to derive from “meolc”, the Old English for milk, and “ham”, a village. On John Speed’s map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt both Melkesam (for the hundred) and Milsham (for the town itself). Melksham was a royal estate at the time of the Norman Conquest. Melksham is also the name of the Royal forest that occupied the surrounding of the area in the Middle Ages.

That same year, 1990, they put out a 3-song 12″ (DREAM 0212). The A side featured the fine “Goodnight England” while the B side had “This is My Land” and “Still Life”.  All three songs were produced and engineered by Steve Evans.

At this point we know the band was formed by:
Justin Daniell on bass
Daniel Tayler on drums
Andy Tilley on keys
Wendy Laws on vocals
Ben Gunstone on vocals, guitar and effects.

We know that “Goodnight England” was written by Ben Gunstone while the music is credited to himself and also Steve Evans. The two other songs are solely credited to Gunstone.

In 1991 the band would record a demo tape with three songs. The songs on it were “Bible Song”, “Over” and “V.H”. It was a white tape that was distributed by PowerPlay. It doesn’t seem as the tape had any paper inserts.

No compilation appearances are listed. So I look into what other bands were the band members involved with. It looks like 15 years after, in 2015, Andy Tilley was involved in a project called Real Deep. Ben Gunstone, in the other hand, released two solo records: “Merchant Venturer” (2000) and “Songs from the Corner of the Room” (2004). I believe too he was in a band called Johnny Panic during the Britpop era.

I dug and dug for more information about the band but I couldn’t really find much. I wonder what years were they active, if they had more demo tapes, and what happened them… many questions which I hope to get answers some time!

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Listen
Some Average Prophecy – Goodnight England

Friday! I hope I have news next week! In the meantime I leave you with some great music!

Ultracrush: it is by no no mystery that Australia is one of the indiepop hotspots of the world. All the time I find new quality songs coming from there. The latest discovery is this Sydney five-piece and their track “Leave”, a lovely bouncy jangly track. But also don’t forget to check their other song on Bandcamp, “Swimming” as it is as good!

Peel Dream Magazine: “Agitprop Alterna” is the name of the new album Joe Stevens from NYC is releasing with Slumberland Records and Tough Love Records on April 3rd. To promote this terrific second album by his band (After 2018’s “Modern Meta Physic”) they just released a new video for the track “Pill”!

Figure Austère: this Paris band is releasing a tape on February 14th called “That’s Gone Now”. The tape will include 8 tracks but at this point we can only preview the first song, “Drippy Eyes”, which is a wonderful catchy bedroom pop song, like the ones from 15 or so years ago, a popsong like they don’t do anymore!

Tops: the Montreal, Canada, band is back with a new album called “I Feel Alive” which will be released on April 3rd. 11 tracks of superb pop I am guessing. Guessing because I have only heard the song that gives the name to the album, “I Feel Alive”. That’s the one song we can preview on Bandcamp but what a good song it is. The album will be available on vinyl, CD and even cassette!

Sunfruits: another Australian band, this time from Melbourne but on a French label! Wow. The label is called Six Tonnes de Chair Records and are releasing the band’s “Certified Organic EP” on February 11th and I think this is my favourite new release at the moment. I want a copy of it. The EP comes with 6 songs and you can preview two of them, “Above the Clouds” and “Sunfruits”. Catchy, good melodies, boy/girl vocals, just up my street.

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I’m heading to Sweden and not to Mexico on this post. Some swedes had no better idea to call their band The Mexicos and I don’t blame it, it is a beautiful country. Did they ever visit it? I hope they did.

I remember listening to them back in the mid 2000s. It was the time of Soulseek and blogs. I used to love all things Sweden then and collected CDRs, demos and live gigs of small Swedish indiepop acts. Among the labels that were important at the time, one that championed bedroom lofi pop was Bedroom Records. And it was them indeed who would release the self-titled mini-album “The Mexicos” (BED018).

This CDR was released in 2005 and included six songs: “Lofi Referee”, “Grenoble”, “The Paralympics”, “Undone & Undo”, “The Mexican Fury” and “It Takes Two to Finish Disco”. The art for the record is credited to Lisa Hall and Tommy Svenningson and the only other credit on the sleeve is that of John Haglund who played drums on “Undone & Undo” and “It Takes Two to Finish Disco”.

The band did appear on three compilations. The first one was from 2005 and was the very fine “Popkonst, Love & Understanding” which was released by Popkonst Recordings (POPK12). The band contributed the song “Undone & Done”.

A cover of Haddaway’s euro-pop hit “What is Love”, was included in the “This is Love” CD compilation released by Dig Your Own Grave (DIG003) in 2006. Actually every band on this compilation covered this same song. 12 bands! Among them we find Komon, My Enemy, Bare Knees and All of My Brother’s Girlfriends.

Lastly the band had the song “Förmögenhet” on a compilation called “Har Du Hört Den Förut? – 29 Svenska Artister Tolkak Förmögenhet” that was released by Diskret Förlag. Some very fine bands appear here like Action Biker, Ring Snuten, Gentle Touch among others.

I kow the band used to have a website and also a Myspace. Sadly these don’t exist anymore. So there’s barely any information about them. I will rely on you, my Swedish friends, to fill in the blanks! Who were The Mexicos? From where in Sweden did they come from? Did they have more songs? What happened to them? Were they in other bands? Many questions that I hope get answered some day!

EDIT February 22nd 2020.

My friend David has pointed me to some interesting new info about The Mexicos!

First of all there was a blog for The Mexicos. Here there were shared a bunch of songs which are not available to download anymore. Among these covers we find: “Sweet Chili of Mind”, “What is Love”, “Strange Things”, a cover of Aaliyah’s “Try Again (Remexified)”, three covers of Håkan Hellström “Klubbland – betaversion”, “Nu kan du få mig så lätt (who can hell stream)” and “En midvinternatts dröm”. According to David the band’s leader was called Mikael and he also found out that he used to collaborate with a Douglas Holmquist. Together they were called the Mex-Icons and they would do more songs like “Shooting Star” a cover of the Amy Diamond’s original.

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Listen
The Mexicos – Undone & Undo

So in the end I didn’t find time to post while I was away in Mexico. I’m now organizing myself starting with the many emails that are not answered. I did mail yesterday every order from last week and that is quite some progress I think. But, I have already got a lot of assets for the fanzine so that’s what I plan to do on the weekend. I also need to see the status of the new releases. Many things then.

There’s always time for new music though, right?

Deserta: the LA dreampop band has just released their album “Black Aura My Sun” on Felte Records just a few weeks ago. The record is available on vinyl LP (in black only now, the mint green/sea foam colored vinyl is now sold out) and CD. We can preview three out of seven tracks on Bandcamp at the moment and that is enough to know this is a very promising record.

Seablite: Meritorio Records from Spain and Emotional Response from the US are releasing a 10″ vinyl EP by the terrific California based band on February 21st. The EP will come with 4 songs and is going to be titled “High-Rise Mannequins”. At the moment we can preview the third track. It is called “Skeleton Crunch” and what a song it is! This release is one not to miss!

Flowerbed: the Denton, Texas, shoegaze/dreampop combo has released a new song a few days ago. It is titled “Blame” and it is a terrific track. It seems it is only available as a digital single but as it is very good I hope it makes it to a record sometime!

Elsa Lester: “Back from Vacation” is the name of the new EP by Lisa Van Kampen. It has 5 poppy tracks of fine bedroom pop all made by herself. It looks like the release is only available digitally at the moment, but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t enjoy tracks like “Sweet Ghost Inc.” or “Cactus”. Good stuff.

My Violainé Morning: I remember them from many years ago, but I haven’t been following the Bandung, Indonesia, band for the last few years I must admit. Their latest track is called “Memories” and it is a digital single that sounds ace! Let’s keep an eye on them, see what’s coming up in the future!

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Wilde Clube Records have released many of my favourite records of the early 90s. At the same time many of the bands they released are still unknown to me. Especially the ones among the last releases of their catalogue. One of them were The Badgers, who I know very little about.

They released a 12″, 4-track EP, in 1992. It had the catalogue number Wilde 12. The EP was titled “Picnic” and included two songs on each side. The A side had the title song “Picnic” and “Cycleface” whereas the B side had “Ragged Jack” and “Rejuve”.

I should order a copy of the record for myself. In the meantime I am using Discogs to get some information. It seems that the four songs were recorded at Purple Rain Studios in Yarmouth and were produced by Richard Hammerton and the band.

The band was formed by Emma Hewitt on vocals, Robin Jeynes on guitar, Mike Jeynes on drums and Darren Long. An obvious question, were Robin and Mike related?

Interestingly enough the blog Wilfully Obscure dedicated a post to the band back in April 2013. Why did I miss this post? The author complains about the band’s name, that it is quite hard to search for them in Google. I agree about this. But then, in the early 90s, who would have thought that! Something interesting I learn from the comments from a reader called David Dent is that the band recorded an album but split before it could be released. Another reader says that the album was supposed to be called “Giants at Sea”.

Then there is a comment from someone that was in the band but sadly doesn’t has the real name, instead it appears as “White Boots”. Thanks to that we know that the band started as a two piece that were going under the name of The Railway Badgers. This two piece was formed by Rob Jeynes on four string guitar and Luke Barrett on bass. Then people joined the band and the 12″ was recorded. Also at some point a Scot called Tony Aldridge joined the band. He mentions too a band called The Volunteers who were also from the local North Norfolk area (as many of the Wilde Club bands) who they played many gigs together.

Indeed the band hailed from the village of Guist, in Norfolk. Guist is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 6.80 km2 and had a population of 242 in 102 households at the 2001 census, including Twyford and increasing slightly to a population of 250 in 110 households at the 2011 Census. Twyford House is a Grade II listed manor house on the edge of the village. The local pub is called The Ordnance Arms, where they have an adjacent Thai restaurant. As well as this business, the village also has a number of prospering farms in and around the local area.

And that’s all I could find on the web really. I would have loved to attend any of these Wilde Club gigs, with the bands that were in the label. The Badger sounds great. At the same time they sound quite different to other bands in the label, with the female vocals. I would love to listen to their long lost album. If it sounds as good as the songs on the 12″, then it is a true treasure waiting to be rediscovered.

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Listen
The Badgers – Cycleface

Friday! Later today I’ll be heading to Mexico City. Last chance then for letting me know if you want some records.

I hope to update the blog while I am there as I will be working there, not on holidays. So I should have my computer with me. I’ll  try to do it on Wednesday and Friday. Monday is a holiday.

Probably won’t have much news during this time, but I am sure when I return to NYC there will be some good news to announce. In the meantime here are some good finds!

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: the San Francisco band have just released two new songs, “I’m Sorry About Your Life (ver 2)” and “Marty as a Youth (ver 2)”. But that’s not all they have also announced that they will be releasing a 7″ on a Swedish label called Dischi del Barone and they will also play  Madrid Popfest in March! A really great year is coming up for them!

East Village: the reissue of “Hotrod Hotel” that Slumberland is releasing is already available to pre-order on Bandcamp. The album will be coming out on January 24th and will be available on vinyl only it seems. No CD. If you have never heard this classic and legendary band I urge you to discover them now! Start with the two songs available to preview, “Cubans in the Bluefields” and “Violin”.

Die Katapult: Anna and Elena form the Swedish/Spanish duo that sings in German, Die Katapult. They make quirky and fun indiepop. Their latest is a videoclip for their track “Für Einen Moment” and it is super cool and fun! Oh! And it is catchy too. This song was included in their album “DKXD” that was released by Elefant Records.

Basic Plumbing: this Los Angeles band is releasing their album “Keeping Up Appearances” on January 24. It will be coming out both on vinyl and CD and that’s a great thing of course. At the moment we can preview three tracks, “As You Disappear”, “Bad Mood” and “Constant Attention, all of them great indiepop songs. Another interesting detail is that profits from the album will be going to the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Luby Sparks: and lastly the great Japanese band is back with a cover of “Birthday” by The Sugarcubes. They have a video too for this rendition of theirs. It sounds great to my ears. It seems this cover will be only released as a digital single.

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I discovered a few days ago a Soundcloud full of goodies from the area of Woking in the UK. The WokingSoundscene group also has a Facebook group which has photos from many of the bands they feature. So I started digging and found many cool tracks from bands I have never ever heard about. So in the next few weeks or months I may be covering some of them. I want to start with the band Summersalt, whose song “Forever” sounded pretty cool to me!

The song that introduced me to the band is called “Forever”. Where does it come from? When was it recorded? Let’s see if I can find out.

The information on the WokingSoundscene Soundcloud tells that the band was formed by Barney Jeavons (bass, vocals), Anthony Read (drums) and Alex Ballentine (guitar, vocals). This three piece recorded a demo tape called “Better than Nothing” which included 8 songs it seems. It was recorded at DNA Studios in Brixton.

The name of the songs on the “Better than Nothing” tape were on the A side we find “Mind Sigh”, “Puppet Playground”, “Forever” and “Autumn”, while on the B side we find “Spirit”, “Mirrorglide”, “Laughing Box” and “Neverend”. Was this the only songs the band ever recorded?

It is also worth mentioning that on this tape Alex Steinitz played violin. On which song or songs? It doesn’t specify. The photography is credited to Rae.

Aside from this tape we know the band contributed the song “Autumn” to the tape compilation “Revenge of Farnborough Groove” that was the 5th volume of the tape compilation series “The Farnborough Groove”. This tape series had the very important goal to promote up and coming unsigned and local bands from the Farnborough area in Hampshire.

Not much more info about them on the web.

I did find though that Barney Jeavons has been, since 2001, the Aldershot West End Centre’s director. Before that he had been manager of the band Reuben and I found out that he is the son of the actor Colin Jeavons.

What about the other two members? What happened to them?

That’s really all the info I could dig from every corner of the web. I am sure someone must remember them. Did they play lots of gigs? Were they involved with any other bands? Any other recordings?

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Listen
Summersalt – Forever

Just a reminder that I’ll be heading to Mexico this Friday night. Any orders placed after Thursday will be posted on January 28th. Also if you are in Mexico and want any records from the Cloudberry catalog or any that we distribute let me know. I’ll be happy to meet or mail them to you from within Mexico and save you shipping.

About Cloudberry news, I should have a bunch upon my return. In the meantime, here are some great new finds you shouldn’t miss!

The Lousy Pop Group: the Indonesian band is preparing a new 7″ to be released on the German label Entes Anomicos. And that is great news for sure! The band led by Eko, Erlan, Andy and Addil, have released one of the songs that will be part of this release, “Days”! It is jangly, moody, and sweet. Also worth mentioning is that the artwork is being done by my friend David! He is also on a roll lately!

Selma: this Norwegian band from the town of Seljord has just released an album called “Sjøormpop”. 9 songs packed with cool folky sounds and very catchy melodies! Yes. I don’t usually get hooked by folky stuff, but when it is poppy, fun and quirky, I can buy it. The album seems to be available only in digital format for the time being.

Flying Fish Cove: the Seattle band have released a new digital single with two tracks, “Magic Wand” and a cover of Heavenly’s “Shallow”. Wow! That is a treat indeed. And that is not the only treat of course. “Magic Wand” has a promo video too. I really hope this West Coast band gets to play some East Coast gigs in the near future!

Plainbow: their “Super Super Super” EP is out now on tape on Hidden Bay Records, the terrific label from Toulouse. This tape has some very fine shoegaze in it, packed nicely in 4 songs. Something that caught my attention of course was their name, which looks very much like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s own label, Painbow. Was it a nod to them?

Honey Cutt: lastly there’s this new band for me that hails from Boston. There is a new album coming out called “Coasting” which will be released in vinyl and CD on March 13. Around that time they will be playing NYC. Maybe I should catch them there. Two (out of ten) of the songs of the album are available to preview, “Vacation” and “Suburban Dream”. If you like Alvvays and similar female-led jangly bands this is up your street for sure!

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch (known as Croque-Cannelle in French Canada, Curiously Cinnamon in the UK (previously Cinnamon Grahams), and as a different-tasting but similar-looking variant called Cini Minis in other European and Latin American countries where available), is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills and Nestlé. The cereal was first produced in 1984.

I was looking the other day into completing my Cinnamon Toast Crunch collection but I feel it will be quite hard. You see I own the “Charmless Harm” mini-album but I am missing the “Jumpers Survive” album and “Chelsea Wood” EP, but the thing is they seem a bit pricey for me!

At least I have one of the three releases. And I am playing it now. As it is so pretty. But in due honesty I know very little about this late 90s Japanese band. So maybe it is good time to find out more about them?

The band was formed by:
Sai – vocals, backing vocals and words
Kenji Imada – bass, guitar, xylophone and lyrics
Daichi Hamazaki – drums and percussion
Masaru Funaki – guitar

The first release by the band was in 1998. It was the album “Jumpers Survive” (SP-002) released by Smile Records and Sunshine Pop. I suppose it was a co-release though there is just the one catalog number. This album had just 8 songs on it, “Néron”, “Swing Parade 1964”, “Sharing Opportunity”, “Grassy”, “If I Dream in September”, “Candyfool”, “Lord, It’s Winter and Snowing Outside” and “Thrown Thrown”.

On this album we see that it included very nice arrangements as Takayuki Taneda played violin in “Grassy” and cello on “If I Dream in September”, Masayo Maeda played flute on “Sharing Opportunity”, Mizue Oikawa played accordion on “Swing Parade 1964” and “Grassy”, Yasuhiro Narita played mandolin on “Thrown Thrown”, Yuki Makita played piano accordion on “Candyfool” and “Lord, It’s Winter and Snowing Outside” and Susumucci Fujibayashi played harmonica on “Thrown Thrown”. Other credits include design by Tomonori Iwasaki, photography by Ani Hayashi and Aya Kawasaki. Kenji Imada produced the songs.

The band released in 1998 the “Chelsea Wood” EP (SP-006) on Smile Records and Sunshine Pop.  I read that this EP came with a free mini sticker. What was this sticker about? Would be fun to know. This EP was sweet and short, four songs were on it: “Chelsea Wood”, “Sandmill and Sandals”, “Passengers State” and “Slightly Funny”.

Other credits on this EP are for Mizue Oikawa who played accordion, Susumucci Fujibayashi  played harmonica, Daisuke Hara who art directed, Osamu Matsuo who took the photography.  Also it is worth mentioning that Kenji Imada produced the record.

Lastly the band moved to the very fine Under Flower Records/Pusbike Records. With them they released the “Charmless Harm” EP (UFPB 022). This is the one I have. The songs on this one were “Try Little Piece”, “Inverted Forest”, “Rain”, “Wave of Love”, “Misery-Bernard’s Case” and “Irish Testament”.

Aside from these releases we know the band appeared on a few compilations. In 1998 they had their song “Passengers State” on the Sunshine Pop comp “Sunshine Pop Show! Vol. 2” (SP-008). The year after, 1999, they had the song “Rain” on the Under Flower Records comp CD “Flowers are Go! Vol. 3” (FLOWER 026) and one year later, 2000, this same song was included in “Indies Magazine Vol. 32” compilation that was released by Rittor Music (ICB-032). This last one was a comp that came with the February 2000 issue of the Indies Magazine in Japan.

I look too if the members had been involved in any other bands. I can see that the drummer Daichi Hamazaki played in Chappie, Dream, Ayumi Hamasaki and more. Can’t find any info for the rest!

The problem, as it is quite obvious, is that the band’s name makes it very hard to find any information about them. I only get hits for the cereal! Tough. I wonder if there’s a way to track the band members down, as I’d love to interview them and find out more about this very curious Japanese band, who released fine records but it seems they are not remembered much!

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Listen
Cinnamon Toast Crunch – Inverted Forest

Okay, I hear our friend Cris is mastering now the next Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release. Then we are figuring out now our next 7″ and this past weekend I finally had some time to work on the fanzine, at least send all the bands, I wanted to interview, questions. That is important as I will be away in Mexico City starting this Saturday. I will be going to work there so I should have my computer with me and will be able to update the blog I think. We’ll see. In any case here are a bunch of cool new finds from over the weekend!

Dayflower: this is amazing news really. Our latest 7″ was Dayflower’s “Sweet Georgia Gazes” and now it has a video! It is terrific to see images accompanying this terrific song! The video was directed by Keith Allott with the help of Paul Daniels and Bill Newsinger and with actress Jess O’Brien.  We still have copies of the 7″ just so you know!

The Know: this moody shoegaze track called “Hold Me Like You Know Me” is the latest by this husband and wife band from Los Angeles. It was released just last week and aside from the lyrics that are posted on Bandcamp we don’t have more info about it. Will it be released somewhere? Will it be part of an album or something? Who knows. Just know it sounds good!

Soma Lake: more shoegaze! This time from Mexico’s Stupid Decisions label. They will be putting a six song mini-album by Soma Lake on January 13. We can only preview the first track, “When We Were (Angels)” which sounds very good. Also I like the artwork, very Cloudberry blue.

Tom Boyle: it has been a while since I heard the Spanish band from Getxo, Tom Boyle. More than a year. And their comeback is quite a surprise! A quirky rendition of “Burbujas de Amor”, the mega-hit of Juan Luis Guerra, a Dominican bachata/pop star from the 80s/90s. I think this is very cool!

The Hazy Seas: not too long ago I discovered this terrific Chicago pop band!  heard their song “Heavy Heads” and was hooked. And that was it. But now they have a proper release, a self-titled album of 8 tracks of superb guitar pop! It is available now on tape and they also have some t-shirts for sale. Really really enjoying this.

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The Prayers, that Scottish band that I love. Whatever happened to them? I discovered them quite late, when Egg Records started their restoration programme in the early 2000s. Oddly enough I didn’t manage to get a copy of the release they put out then, the retrospective CD “Everything but the Rubber Cat”, but I did end up getting the 7″s released in the 80s. It’s something.

The story starts with Egg One, the first release on Jim Kavanagh’s Egg Records. It was a 7″ with two songs by The Prayers. The A side was the magnificent “Sister Goodbye” and the B side had “Under the Deep Blue”. The 7″ came out in October 1988 after the songs had been recorded in March that same year.

EGG 002 was the “A Lighthouse in the Desert” 12″ sampler. Here the band appears with the track “Puppet Clouds” that was produced and engineered by Nick Quail from Playing Soldiers. Other bands on this record were The Church Grims, The Bachelor Pad and Remember Fun. The song was recorded in Autumn 1989. It is also worth mentioning that the German Edition 59 Records would re-release this as a mini-CD (EDL-051) in 2010.

Then in November of 1990, the band released another 7″, this one being EGG 004. The A side was “Fingerdips” and the B side was “Head Start”. These were recorded in December 1988. This 7″ also had a 12″ version where the two songs, “Fingerdips” and “Head Start” appear on the A side, while on the B side we find “Puppet Clouds” from the sampler and “Sister Goodbye” and “Under the Deep Blue” from the first 7″. This was EGG 005.

In 1991 Egg would release a tape with the four songs included in the 7″s on a split tape with The Bachelor Pad. The Prayers would appear on the B side. It seems more like a promo tape but can’t say much about it even though it appears listed on Discogs. It has no catalog number.

As I mentioned, in 2003 Egg Records reappeared in the indiepop scene. They released a bunch of great compilations of long lost bands. The fourth in that series (EGGREST 004) was “Everything but the Rubber Cat” that included the 5 songs we know from the early vinyl records but added 5 more: “Feet (demo)”, “Daze (demo)”, “Sister Goodbye (demo)”, “Under the Deep Blue (demo)” and “Puppet Clouds (demo)”.

Thanks to this compilation we learn that the band was formed by Hugh McLachlan on vocals and guitar, Colin Murray on guitar, Andy Muiry on drums and Bob Gregory on bass. we know too that most of the songs are credited to the whole band but “Sister Goodbye” and “Under the Deep Blue” to McLachlan and Murray only. The demos were recorded as follow:  “Feet (demo)”, “Daze (demo)” and “Puppet Clouds (demo)” in the spring of 1989, “Sister Goodbye (demo)” in October 1987 while “Under the Deep Blue (demo)” in November 1987.

The band through the years have appeared on many compilations. Back in 1991 they had their song “Puppet Clouds” in the tape compilation “Beneath the Valley of the Magnetic Monster” released by Hypertonia World Enterprises (HWE 050). This was a compilation put together in Norway by J. R. Bruun. That same year Elefant Records from Spain released “Egg Records compilation” (ER-008), a sort of sampler featuring many bands from the Scottish label. The Prayers contribute “Sister Goodbye” and “Under the Deep Blue”.

In 1992 the band appears on the tape comp “Garden Party” (ALIEN α) released by the French Aliénor Records. The band shows up with “sister Goodbye”.

Then we jump to 2003, for the CD comp “Egg Records: an Introduction To 1988-1991”. the first of the Egg Records releases during their “restoration programme”. They have the songs “Sister Goodbye”, “Puppet Clouds” and “Fingerdips” in it.

In 2006 appears the CD compilation “Souvenirs from Egg Records”, the 15th release in the Egg Records restoration programme (EGGREST 015). “Sister Goodbye” and a track we hadn’t heard before, “Forevers Over”, appear on this CD.

Then comes Cherry Red and their arsenal of boxsets. First their song “Puppet Clouds” on the “Still in a Dream: A Story of Shoegaze 1988-1995” in 2016 and then “Sister Goodbye” on the “C88” boxset from 2017. A year later, 2018, “Fingerdips” is included in “C89” and lastly this year, 2019, “Head Start” appears in “Big Gold Dreams-A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989”. Seems Cherry Red will be releasing all of their songs, one per year?

And yes, the only name I found was that of John Connor, their bassist, on a Youtube comment.

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Listen
The Prayers – Sister Goodbye

I think this weekend I’ll be finally able to work on the fanzine. This is exciting. At the same time I want to remind you all that next week I’ll be heading once again to Mexico City. Please let me know if you need any records and we can find a way for you to save on shipping costs!

New finds? You got them!

Sloome: this Modesto, California, band took two years to record and release their first album “Smorgasbord”. There are 12 songs of classic American indiepop, quirky and fun. There are some songs that I am not crazy about but there are some good ones like “Squeaky Bones” or “Whisper to Me”.

Corriendo por el Bajo: here is an Argentinean band, from Buenos Aires, making some cool music. Their latest track is called “Radiación Solar” which was recorded at the same time they did their “Sístema” EP that was released last September. If you like dreampop and postpunk, this is for you.

Fule: this Japanese band formed by Ryohei Enoki on vocals and guitar, Miyu Knno on bass and Anri He on drums has recorded a very nice shoegazy track called “Morning Glow” that will be part of a 3 song EP titled “藍、梔子”.

Closer Preys: the 19 year old Minjun Kim has recorded a lo-fi dreampop EP called “Betrayed” EP. It has three songs, “Distant Friends”, “Dark Room” and “I Tried to Swim Across the Ocean”. It is dreamy sure, but at the same time it is gloomy and the vocals are buried and mysterious.

Jimbo: some classic tweepop from Pensacola, Florida? Sure thing. A collection of seven songs form the mini-album “Epic” by the band Jimbo. This sounds very early 2000s US indiepop to me, with it’s lo-finess and fun vocals with catchy choruses.  Worth a listen.

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Let’s head back to Sweden, to the year 2006. That was a great time in Sweden’s indiepop. Lots of bands, labels, festivals, and fans. I wish I had lived there then. At the time I wished so very much. I wanted to be there. It wouldn’t be until 2009 that I would finally visit that country I had dreamed of so many times and meet many popfriends.

Anyhow, 2006. As I was saying it was a good year for indiepop in general. It was kind of the year building up for the revival that would be 2007. 2007 was a worldwide revival. I even started Cloudberry in 2007. But of course, Sweden had been brewing great indiepop for many years now. The rest of the world was just catching up.

One of the labels that made a splash was Friendly Noise, releasing records by Friday Bridge, Action Biker and more. Lots of superb stuff. Today I wanted to look into a band that is quite obscure, that I know very little of, but left a song that is truly great, Dianas Tempel.

I assume there was a girl vocalist in the band. That is obvious. But was there a band? Or was it just her playing everything? In those days I would stumble upon so many talented people that would just create songs on their own. I wouldn’t be surprised. The song Dianas Tempel recorded and contributed to the Friendly Noise compilation “Are You Scared to Get Happy?” (FYN 30) was called “I’ll Be Different This Time”. It is gorgeous.

On this compilation that was released on CD and was compiled by two greats of Swedish indie, Mattias Holmberg and Stefan Zachrisson, we find top music by The Radio Dept., Kuryakin, Sarto and many more. The album was mastered by Andreas Tilliander.

Not much written about the compilation, aside from some very favourable reviews on blogs and webzines, and whenever Dianas Tempel is mentioned the reviewer is very supportive about the great track that “I’ll Be Different This Time” is. Now, if only I knew who is behind it, and if there are more recordings…. who’d know? The vocals remind me quite a bit of Sarah from Action Biker… but I don’t know if I’m in the right track there. Maybe the CD booklet has information, I should try to get myself a copy. But any help would be appreciated!

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Listen
Dianas Tempel – It’ll Be Different This Time