Music Alliance Pact – Iunie 2013

Despre trupa de luna asta am un lucru de zis: incercati sa-i prindeti live!

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Valerinne – Ins Meer

Taking inspiration from everything that surrounds them, this three-piece from Bucharest started creating atmospheric, loud and emotional instrumental music at the beginning of last year. Combining their sound with equally haunting visuals, they will transport you to twisted worlds. If you like this song, you will definitely love their album, available on Bandcamp.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 34-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Excursiones Polares – La Guerra Psicológica

Concepto Cero, one of La Plata’s finest record labels, just turned four, and they decided to celebrate by releasing a free compilation with songs from all of their artists. La Guerra Psicológica is an original track by El Perrodiablo, but in this case played in a blues fashion by Excursiones Polares. Both bands are from the Concepto Cero family, so we recommend you to download the whole album and check for their latest releases.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Gang Of Youths – A Sudden Light

Harmonies and punch-the-air victory songs are generally always in high demand. Sydney’s Gang Of Youths are next. This sounds like Win Butler singing at your birthday and Julian Casablancas singing at your funeral at the same time. A Sudden Light is a loose, belter of an anthem with a modulating chorus, overbearing references to children, drugs and enough harmonic “WHOAHS” to easily make them your new favourite band.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
The Unused Word – Heaven (Testa Remix)

Much like the recent 4AD signing SOHN, Anna aka The Unused Word is not only working and living in Vienna, but also has her finger on the pulse with her soulful mixture of hip hop and new school electronica. Heaven is taken from her debut EP ∞ (Infinity). The version here is a remix by her labelmate DJ Testa.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Rua – Às Bolas De Gude

Rua, also known as Rua Do Absurdo, is an experimental quintet. Às Bolas De Gude shows their minimalism with beautiful vocal melodies and a marimba guiding us through the song.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Ketch Harbour Wolves – The Good Blood

Weaving together history, mythology and their own personal experiences, Ketch Harbour Wolves’ new album, Queen City: Volume One, is their first of what is expected to be a multiple disc project that aims to create a sonic map of their home, Toronto. The Good Blood is an excellent gateway into this sprawling, ambitious project, and to Ketch Harbour Wolves’ majestic, cinematic back catalogue.

CHILE: Super 45
Alex y Daniel – Cada Vez Que Invento Algo Sobre Ti

After reaching recognition and fame through their solo projects, Alex Andwandter and Daniel Riveros (Gepe) – two of the most iconic faces of Chilean pop – got together in a joint project that, under the suggestive name Alex y Daniel, combines their musical curiosity. Their new single Cada Vez Que Invento Algo Sobre Ti (“Every time I make up a story about you”) mixes Andwandter’s penchant for dance music and Riveros’ melodic instinct perfectly, leaving no room to doubt that, together, they’re dynamite.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
La Etnnia feat. Doctor Krápula – La Gran Epidemia

It is our pleasure to introduce you to perhaps Colombia’s biggest hip hop project, La Etnnia, who formed more than 25 years ago in the Las Cruces neighborhood of Bogotá. La Gran Epidemia, a preview of their eighth album Universal, features the stellar appearance of Doctor Krápula, a rock band with long renown in Colombia. You can watch the video for the song here.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Scarlet Chives – In A Ground Floor Apartment

Scarlet Chives is something as rare as a Danish band signed to a Norwegian label and, in a not so distant future, that label, Riot Factory, will release the alternative rock quintet’s second full-length album. In A Ground Floor Apartment, a MAP exclusive download, is the B-side to first single The Timber Will Fall.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Hache ST – Sebastian Lemba

Culture and rebellion are at the center of this experimental piece, which revolves around the figure of the black anti-slavery advocate Sebastian Lemba Calembo. This track is a portal to that struggle and it’s an essential component of the journey outlined by Hache ST in his new album, Zafra, which portrays the main ideas of life in a shared Caribbean island, and its intricate, passionate toils for freedom.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
El Extraño Comportamiento De Un Torso Animado – ¿Dónde Están Tus Amigos?

El Extraño Comportamiento De Un Torso Animado is an indie band with a lot of attitude. Formed by Ernesto Torres and twins Nicolás and Felipe Meneses, the trio have a punk-rock spirit with a guitar sound that invites you to dance. From their first EP, Mujer Pulpo, we present the single ¿Dónde Están Tus Amigos?

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
BODYWORK – Tame

English avant-pop or alt-rock or whatever the kids on the cobbled streets are calling it these days hasn’t had the respect it deserves for quite some time. Percolating beneath the Mumford mirth and Adele success, there’s a throbbing underbelly of eccentricity and experimentation that flirts with radio-friendly melody. Leeds’ BODYWORK are one such act, muddling Roxy Music’s odd shuffle with Wild Beasts and Heaven 17′s falsetto into a sublime cocktail of alien grooves. Download their LP for free from their website.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Forgotten Sunrise – Sisters, Brothers & Other Hellborn Creatures

Forgotten Sunrise is a cult band who are pleasing the ears of the world with negative music for positive results. They have just released their seventh album, Cretinism.

FINLAND: Glue
Constables – Ludovico

With all its members born in the early 90s, Constables is a very young band and is simply inspired by the three most important things when you are 20: sex, girls and alcohol. Musically, Constables offers melodic guitars and fast rhythms with a post-punk approach. The band has just released its debut Bedroom Culture EP, which is available on SoundCloud.

GERMANY: Coltran
Poétique Électronique – Irregular Heartbeat (Video Edit)

Poétique Électronique is a clever group: they have a good band name, they know what they want to do and they know how to do it. Their musical approach stands out from the crowd as they realise when to pause and when to push. Irregular Heartbeat is a fine example of the current penchant in electronic music for soft vocals and punchy bass. As this is my final MAP submission due to time contraints, I want to say goodbye to you folks and many thanks for the great time!

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Playground Noise – The Plan

Playground Noise’s second album, 8 Songs, brims with endlessly replayable, perfect pop tunes that glimmer with pure magic. Every note and transition is smooth and effortless, and there is such a wealth of brilliantly executed music. Brass and strings swarm beautifully around soaring guitars and vocals, and intense crescendos linger over delicate passages.

INDIA: NH7
Drawing Short Straws – Predator

Drawing Short Straws is a prog-rock band from Pune. This is their first single and a taste of what their debut LP will sound like. A combination of electronic and rock elements make for an interesting sound, which DSS are trying to hone.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
White Shoes & The Couples Company – Tam Tam Buku

One of Indonesia’s most beloved bands, White Shoes & The Couples Company make us proud. Purveyors of quality music, they’re coming with a new EP that rearranges traditional Indonesian songs and invites us to dance with them. After playing around Europe in June, they’ll release another EP documenting the tour.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
The Violet Roadkills – Solar

Taken from their debut album Lead Kindly Light, Solar has everything The Violet Roadkills need to make a good first impression. The four-piece hail from Dublin and use electronics and instruments to take vintage concepts in a fresh direction, resulting in songs that are simultaneously geeky and cool. Solar’s assertive, warm bassline and beat build up to spangles of synths that sound like small studio commissions for 70s television shows. When the outer drift subsides, the beaming krautrock core of Solar begins to blast out, reaching a blisteringly heated finish.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Ykiki Beat – Garden

Something something summer jam. It is that time of the year when everybody starts nominating songs as the soundtrack to the warmer months, and here is the strongest candidate from the ever-sprawling Tokyo indie scene. Garden is giddiness reduced to sonic form, powered on by handclaps, neon basslines and yelpy back-up singing. At the center, though, is an irresistible jogging melody that rarely slows down. Recommended if you like: running on really hot days.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Andre Camilleri – Same Old Fool

In 2000, Andre Camilleri moved from Malta to Australia, where he continues to follow his musical ambitions. Having served his apprenticeship playing the streets of Berlin and Malta’s capital Valletta, wearing his trademark cowboy hat, his world is one of nostalgic reflections, acute and often intimate observations. Andre has released nine albums to date, with his influences including The Flying Burrito Brothers, Big Star, Uncle Tupelo and Hank Williams.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Santos – La Cosita

There are plenty of people religiously devoted in northern Mexico, even the drug dealers have their own sacred figure there. Santos come from that cultural background, belonging to the ‘ruidoson’ musical scene of Tijuana. Santos is the brainchild of two brothers who have embodied their faith, but their faith comes from their lust and it is well printed in this new single. La Cosita has a very intense carnal desire and highly erotic resounding kettle drums.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Nouveau Vélo – Kite

A gang of best friends from small towns home-recording dreampop. Much like bike-life in Holland, Nouveau Vélo has a touch of romance to it. Kite, from their new Dazed EP, could be described as upbeat melancholia, one of those songs that makes you feel nostalgic for the things that are happening right now. Possessing a chorus that catches you straight away with its blurry guitar licks and far-off vocals, Kite is a dreamy summer anthem.

PERU: SoTB
TOURISTA – Requiem

One day Rui Pereira decided to leave his job as a publicist to follow his true passion – music. He moved to the beach and began to make songs that would form part of his first EP, Déficit de Atención, recruiting a group of experienced musicians who soon formed TOURISTA. The band mixes its electronic concerns with indie-rock, although the labels don’t matter when you start to feel a connection with the musical passion of its creators. Requiem is TOURISTA’s latest single, take a look at its funny video.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Milcz Serce – 22.22

Although Nawyki/Kolizje is their first studio album, Mysłowice-based trio Milcz Serce are experienced musicians. Their debut LP talks about a break-up which starts at 10pm and ends at 9am the next day. So what you hear in 22.22 is the beginning of the whole dramatic story.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Elektra Zagreb – Kesey Palms

Elektra Zagreb began in Croatia, of course. After an EP, many concerts and experience, this Portuguese quartet, now living in Lisbon, recently released their debut LP, Dreams About Dying In California. Mostly inspired by rock bands, their sound is harsh, sort of The Stooges meets Suicide. Kesey Palms is a genial piece of music in which you never know what is going to happen next, a feeling that its video achieves even more.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
MoreIra – Pao

José Iván Lebrón Moreira (Las Abejas, Venera-3) created MoreIra after buying a second-hand Alesis Micron keyboard from a local musician. His mind racing with new musical possibilities, José embarked on an electronic solo project that is now slowly evolving into a fully-fledged band. Pao is the first single from his debut EP, available later this year. Noisy, glitchy, yet filled with heartfelt melodies, Pao is both powerful and personal – dealing with Moreira’s paternal love toward his younger sister.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Friends In America – Quietly Quietly

Such is my love for the sweeping, elegantly crafted indie-rock of Friends In America that their previous lack of recorded material resulted in me going to desperate lengths to consume their music. One time, after taking along my dictaphone to interview the band before a gig, I kept the ‘record’ button on during their live set just so that I could play their songs at home. This month, though, the waiting is over as FIA release their debut record What It Is To Be – from it we have a MAP exclusive download of the brilliantly melodious Quietly Quietly.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
John Empire – Dead Stars feat. Drunk Beggar Thief

Two honours students – hip hop artist John Empire backed by producer The English – created a meeting point between hip hop and indie influences that pushes the understanding of both genres. With their song Dead Stars, the added feature of Drunk Beggar Thief gives their sound an extra dimension. Their mixtape Drunken Night Make Up has recently been released and further shows off the duo’s range and diversity.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Asian Chairshot – Mask Dance

Asian Chairshot formed in 2011 and released their first official EP, Mask, in May this year. Equipped with drums, bass and guitar, the trio merges rock with Korean melodies in a powerful fashion, crafting a unique sound. Mask Dance starts out calmly but soon turns into a hard-hitting fest for the ears. The song’s refrain borrows the rhythm of traditional Korean mask dance.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Prisma Circus – Paradox

Prisma Circus was formed in September 2010 in Barcelona. Inspired by 70s psychedelia, with a lot of wahs and fuzz, they have toured Spain, Portugal and France, becoming the ambassadors of a new but old sound.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Da Poet – Other Side feat. Ince Sarj

Da Poet, one of the most showy producers in the Turkish hip hop scene, creates an innovative, sharp sound. He tries to connect with his audience just as much without speaking and expects listeners to pay attention to the instrumental parts of hip hop.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Kaleidico – Pretty Panasonic Dear

Kaleidico is a band that has been around for a few years but, being perfectionists, scrutinized every detail before releasing their first album this month. It’s dreamy, smart, catchy and all too perfect for the summer moments creeping up on us.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Los Mentas – Cacería (live)

Los Mentas formed in Caracas in 1998, influenced by punk and rockabilly from the early 50s, resulting in a fusion that went down well in the music scene in Venezuela. After six studio albums and 15 years of experience, they have released their first live album, Arriba Carajo!, recorded in the main rock bars of the country.

Music Alliance Pact – Mai 2013

Pentru luna asta am ales niste tineri din Cluj, pe care merita stat cu urechea – Quantum Drive

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Quantum Drive – Echoes (redone)

Quantum Drive, a project from Cluj, started with two guys who found that a shoegaze/indie/60s-revival approach to music fit them very well. Later on, other friends joined them in this journey. They draw their inspiration from bands such as Deerhunter, The Horrors and Tame Impala, and are definitely an act we’ll keep our ears on.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 36-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Paula y Los Besos – Bailar

Paula y Los Besos is the new musical adventure of singer, songwriter and poet Paula Trama. The band just released eight songs in the form of two EPs that range from acoustic-punk upbeat tunes to tender folk ballads. Bailar is a cover of T. Rex’s Cosmic Dancer, with Spanish lyrics adapted by Paula herself. You can hear and download both EPs from their Bandcamp page.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Swimming – Triplebrie

Adelaide’s Swimming are sisters Katie and Angie Schilling and friend Sam Reynolds. Triplebrie is the first single from their new record Yes, Tonight. There are plenty of layered vocals and looped sounds on the album, but Swimming’s simple outlook on a capella really does its best in an acoustic setting. The trio also sell tea towels as merchandise, so we can’t really say anything bad about this band right now.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Fijuka – Behave (From Now On)

First a drum machine, then a Billie Jean-style bassline and finally synthscapes that embed the voice of Fijuka’s Ankathie singing one of the weirdest declarations of love we have ever heard. Fijuka stands for DIY pop with an art school touch. Watch the music video for some Rhönrad wheel action.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
FAROFF – Brazilian Star Wars

Can you imagine the Star Wars troopers having fun in a slum in Rio de Janeiro, listening to funk carioca in the summer and surrounded by girls? This is not a new track, but Brazilian Star Wars shows one of the best moments of DJ FAROFF, the name used by Leo Bursztyn, PHD in economics and former guitarist of Brazilian band Móveis Coloniais de Acaju.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Program – Waiting

Program’s wall of sound is not insurmountable but it’s far from an easy climb. It will challenge you to find a familiar foothold (Is it shoegaze? Is it drone-rock? Is it disco or dance?) but ultimately leaves you breathless with its brilliant audacity. It is a mountain you’ll climb over and over again, never once following the same sonic route to its summit.

CHILE: Super 45
Lainus – Montañitas

Lainus is the solo project of Alfredo Ibarra who, after returning from New Zealand, has devoted himself to writing music and rediscovering his country. The Andes is the source of inspiration for his single Montañitas (“Little Mountains”), a catchy electronic pop breeze that links him telepathically to the new pop wave (Passion Pit, Phoenix), the Chilean psychedelic tradition and the now very trendy world music. It’s a taster of his next album, due for release in the second half of the year.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Lina Patiño – Plena Luz

With roots in classical singing, Lina Patiño has been experimenting with jazz, ballads, R&B and classical music. Proof of this is the endless number of projects of different genres she has participated in. But now, in her solo guise, her range takes her a step further than usual. We invite you to listen to Plena Luz (“Full Light”), produced by Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers), in which Lina’s vocals are confused and intermingled between bambuco and dark experimental pop.

CUBA: suenacubano.com
Adrian Berazaín y Mauricio Figueiral – Por Una Camarera

This month we cover the association of two young artists: Adrián Berazaín and Mauricio Figueiral. Por Una Camarera (“For A Waitress”) is a song in which Cuban rhythms are fused with extraordinary results and will be included in the upcoming releases of both artists separately. Follow these two songwriters closely as they are sure to surprise us with their future output.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Lulu Rouge – Grey Heron Man

Five years on from their awesome debut Bless You, electronica legends Lulu Rouge (aka DJs and producers Buda and T.O.M.) released their second full-length, The Song Is In The Drum, at the end of April. If you’re into deep, dark and excellently melancholic dub this is one not to miss. Grey Heron Man, one of three instrumentals, is a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Nelson García – La Bomba

Veteran singer-songwriter Nelson García (formerly known as Nelson Poket) went solo and is now making music under his real name. La Bomba is a rock song with a classic attitude that ticks with new energy and prepares us for his new album release on June 15.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Guanaco – Crónico

After 15 years on the road, Guanaco, one of the most important independent music icons in Ecuador, presents his most ambitious and mature album, Raíz. The record has 16 versatile tracks that blend hip hop with a wide range of urban and Latin sounds. The lyrics of Crónico provide a deep reflection on the use of drugs.

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
Ghosting Season – Time Without Question (alternate version)

Ghosting Season are a techno-loving duo from northern England. Until recently, their music was a marriage of glacial post-rock and warm late-night electronica as Worriedaboutsatan. Under their new guise, Gavin Miller and Tom Ragsdale are already readying a second LP of brooding bloops that spiral into something you could call evil party music. This track was featured on our DiS community podcast.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Kannabinõid – Karistus

Kannabinõid are a deafening stoner/doom band from Tallinn. Obviously there are plenty of (Nordic) metal/rock bands but these guys are particularly good. They just received some really good feedback from the international music industry delegates of showcase festival Tallinn Music Week.

FINLAND: Glue
Phenomenal Creature – Perfect Impression

Phenomenal Creature play (mostly) acoustic folk with an intense bluesy feeling, creating songs that are beautifully arranged and decorated with a myriad of little instruments and harmonies.
Perfect Impression is the opener of the band’s recently released debut album.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
FAUVE – Kané

FAUVE appeared from nowhere in the French music scene at the end of 2011, and after only a few months and four songs, offered for free, they became what many French critics called “the voice of our generation”. With beautifully crafted instrumentals, marvellous choirs and words that touch and speak to our feelings and soul directly – putting a finger on our many life problems and crises – they deserve to be known all over the world, even if only using spoken word in Molière’s language. Their first EP, Blizzard, is released on May 20.

GERMANY: Coltran
HELMUT – The Tribe

Voice, guitar, loops. More and more artists focus on these instruments to make versatile songs to dream, cry or dance to. HELMUT has the talent to build up a song layer by layer, motif by motif, and then slowly start to variate and deconstruct everything. The live experience of this guy is simply amazing.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
No Clear Mind – Morning Rain In June

No Clear Mind is an unconventional musical experiment that has been evolving constantly from 2004 till now, an open platform of expression, bringing together people who tint everyday inertia, cancelling its discreet yet lingering nature. Borrowing its name from the old neighbourhood of Athens where it was created, Mets, their second album, is a magnificent set awash with texture, atmosphere, strong autobiographical elements, past memories and emotions that provide a hypnotic, surreal soundscape suitable for both day and night dreaming.

INDIA: NH7
Big City Harmonics – Ennio

A former alt-rock band guitarist, Big City Harmonics is Rohan Hastak, a soul-infused, downtempo electronic music producer. Sampling a variety of instruments and vocals, Big City Harmonics offers a fresh take on electronica.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Muchos Libre – Romusa

On Muchos Libre’s press release they declare: “In surf we trash! In stage we wrestle! Give us one show, so we’ll give you the beast!” They’ve perhaps watched too much Mexican wrestling as the two vocalists often grapple on stage during their ferocious live shows.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Rachael Boyd – Aim Too High

From playing in side-project math rock and pop bands to her own contemporary, improvised solo efforts, the broad strokes of Rachael Boyd’s taste in music have gifted the Belfast multi-instrumentalist with a keen grasp of melody and timing. Aim Too High is the title track of a new EP, alternative neo-classical pop with enchanting, urgent piano and strings. Freely flowing with ambition, the slight underlying jitter is calmed by a reassuring vocal intercession. It feeds the need for pop sweetness yet still sounds like substantial brainfood.

ITALY: Polaroid
Wildmen – Zero Generation

Wildmen are a garage rock duo from Rome. Guitar, drums and a lot of raw energy. More than a lot. Their debut album is called Haters Gonna Hate and someone wrote that it sounds like a grungier version of Black Lips. Uhm, well, OK. What if we stop talking and just dance to these marvellous and mighty songs? You will have fun, trust me.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Metoronori – v_v

The boom in bedroom-based music makers in Japan over the past few years has produced a lot of great artists operating on a very DIY level. Tokyo-based Metoronori is one of the latest in this tradition. She makes discombobulated lo-fi pop where every element falls just into place. Her song v_v demonstrates this well – the sounds she makes seemingly out of step with one another, but the whole thing comes together to create an inviting track.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Bletchley Park – Calendars

Bletchley Park is an indie/alternative band who draw influences from post-punk and fuse them with dark rhythms and lyrics. In 2010, they released From Bletchley, With Love, a collection of their first works. Last year’s debut album, My Body Fighting, resulted in three nominations at the 2013 Malta Music Awards – Best Album, Best Song for Tight Red Dress and Best Band.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Apocalipsis – Jihad

It’s easy to behave in a nihilistic way when you are a Mexico City dweller. With no frills other than being raw as reality can get, Apocalipsis delivers a hybrid that borderlines on the ridge of post-rock, math-rock, hardcore and neocrust, without being too loyal to any of those. Grip zealously to the soundtrack of riots, burning flags and a society on the fringe of collapse… it’s not the Arab spring, nor the Mexican spring. Actually, it’s nothing but part of the Apocalypse.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Spilt Milk – Funeral Blues

For an album which boasts death as its central theme, Spilt Milk’s Funeral Blues is not as morbid a listen as you may think. You may recognise the lyrics as a W.H. Auden poem, used in that harrowing funeral scene from Four Weddings And A Funeral that I’m still getting over. But thanks largely to Brenda Bosma’s beautiful vocals, the Amsterdam quintet does an impressive job of giving a soft yet jangly, folkish spin to what must be some of the saddest lyrics bouncing around.

PERU: SoTB
La Tornado Lost Band – Wake Up

La Tornado Lost Band is a folk/rock/country duo formed by Gabriel De La Piedra and Rodrigo Melgar. Their warm voices and nostalgic guitar sounds create an atmosphere of loneliness and calm. If you like Wilco, Bon Iver or The Replacements, you will love this duo. Wake Up is taken from their debut EP, Pastores On Strike, a collection of six beautiful songs available for free download from Bandcamp.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
How How – Pinkery The Knight

No, this isn’t Animal Collective and we aren’t in 2004. How How is a four-piece from Warsaw who play experimental music. Or, as they describe it, “electroacoustic free pop”. Pinkery The Knight is taken from their latest EP, Knick-Knack.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Dear Telephone – That Violin Lesson Sucks

Dear Telephone, whose band name was inspired by a Peter Greenway movie, appeared on MAP in August 2011 with their song Providence, from their first EP. This month they released their debut album Taxi Ballad which continues their path through mildly electronic music ripe for reasoning and wonder, which will please fans of bands like The xx. Dear Telephone is releasing videos for each track on their album, such as this one for That Violin Lesson Sucks.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Ikol Santiago – Tampoco Tanto

Having spent his teenage years and part of his adult life living in the United States, Ikol Santiago returned to Puerto Rico in 2004 and quickly became part of the island’s underground hip hop scene. His commanding vocal style – cool yet stern, clear and precise – developed through numerous collaborations with many of the island’s greats. Ikol’s solo debut, Iguacas, named after the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot, is a deeply personal journey through the MC’s experience growing up and trying to find his footing in life. Tampoco Tanto takes a look at our increasingly desperate society, turning anger and anxiety into something closer to wisdom – and perhaps a bit of hope.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Prides – Out Of The Blue

Prides are probably the most talked-about new band in Scotland since CHVRCHES. In fact, one listen to the fiendishly addictive Out Of The Blue – a staggering piece of dynamic pop that proclaims the arrival of a hit-ready proposition – proves the two groups share common ground, with Prides’ debut single informed by current trends for 80s-leaning electro. It is also reminiscent of MGMT hit Kids, with its distorted, organy synth sound.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Beast – Smoke Swig Swear

New supergroup Beast consists of some of the most well-known members from various bands in South Africa. The band’s raw, organic sound has captivated audiences and their ‘no boundaries’ ethos is reflected in their honest rock ‘n’ roll that is best played at high volume.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Gage – Your Night

Gage is a band featuring members from heavy rock MAP alumni Apollo 18 and The Quip. A complete contrast to the music of those two groups, however, this quintet has a much more acoustic orientation, playing on current trends in Korean music while still creating an original sound. Your Night is taken from Gage’s recent self-released and self-titled EP and is a new take on the sort of melodies Apollo 18′s Kim Daeinn would create under the alias Jelly Boy.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
The Free Licks – Hang On

The Free Licks are getting ready to share their Exit Plan EP, which is inspired by the best variations of rock music since the 70s. Although The Free Licks could be categorised as an alt-rock band, its members’ varied styles and influences make it much more than that.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Carousel Beach – Ayahuasca

Carousel Beach’s impressive self-titled debut runs the gambit of genres as folk bleeds into a 90s rock sensibility, which moves into piano ballads and then makes a turn with grandiose harmonies that bounce around tribal percussion lines. A satisfying listen for anyone and everyone.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Andreazulado – Alto

Andreazulado is one of the most prominent rock bands in the Venezuelan indie scene. The trio have toured Argentina, Spain, Colombia and the United States and now they are preparing for the release of their fourth album, Apolo, from which first single Alto is taken.

Music Alliance Pact – Aprilie 2013

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Rubik’s Cube – Over The Mountain

Rubik’s Cube are a rock trio based in Timisoara. Even if the melodies are reminiscent of Blur, they experiment with the basic pop-rock song structure, transforming and evolving it in creative ways. It is like experiencing pop through a kaleidoscope.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 37-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Fotos Del Otoño – Diario De Hoy

For those of you living in the southern hemisphere like us, autumn is already here. So we figured it’s the perfect season for playing Superposición, the third album by Fotos Del Otoño, a band with a pop acoustic vibe and introspective lyrics. Diario de Hoy is our selected track from this record, but you can download the whole thing from Bandcamp.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Willow Beats – Alchemy

Electronic music in Australia has never burned brighter. Melbourne’s Willow Beats are Narayana Johnson and Kalyani Ellis, an uncle-niece duo who are leading the fort of this country’s best electronic producers right now. Fans of Mount Kimbie and Flume will gravitate to Alchemy fast. Willow Beats definitely have something beyond a magic touch. This is complex, spectral electronica at its best.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Francis International Airport – The Right Ones

It is no overstatement to say that Francis International Airport are Austria’s most relevant band with an international appeal. With their 2010 album In The Woods, they took the local indie community by storm and made quite an impression at festivals such as Eurosonic and Primavera. Three years later, additional e-drums and synths contribute to the more electronic sound of its equally great successor Cache.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Bambas Dois – World Cry

Bambas Dois, the project created by musical producer BiD (who has worked with artists such as Nação Zumbi and Seu Jorge), reunites a great ensemble to experiment with a mix of Brazilian and Jamaican sounds.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Lake Names – The Ostrich

If their first EP, 2011′s Echo, was “music to make breakfast to” then Lake Names’ latest release is the soundtrack to a picnic lunch on the beach. The Nova Scotia band’s Folly EP tastes like salt water spray and sunshine, and makes me long for a fix of vitamin D. My favourite so far is The Ostrich, but you can’t go wrong with any of these four songs of sparkling reverby pop, available as a free download from Bandcamp.

CHILE: Super 45
Cadenasso – La Puerta

Filipe Cadenasso, frontman of established independent band Matorral, started his parallel solo career a few years ago. He moves away from Matorral’s rock sound to show a quieter and intimate side. Un Ejercicio is Cadenasso’s second studio album, and it sounds like we were with him in the same studio. First single La Puetra, with vocals from Bernadita Martinez, manages to give a sense of closure at times.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Globos De Aire – El Mar Es Nuestro

Juan Carlos Torres is the driving force behind Bogotá’s Globos De Aire, whose music has elements of shoegaze, post-rock and electronica. This year they released their second album El Día y La Noche (“Day And Night”), a concept record based on duality. El Mar Es Nuestro is taken from the disc’s Day side.

CUBA: suenacubano.com
Qva Libre – 2012

An exquisite fusion to which no one can resist dancing. Witty lyrics that speak of the enjoyment of life and the intensity with which we live every second because we never know when it will end. Qva Libre focus on mixing genres such as funk, reggae, rock and hip hop to the rhythm of Cuban music. They have a very distinctive visual style and energetic stage projection.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
The New Spring – Final Day

The New Spring, aka singer-songwriter Bastian Kallesøe, will release his second album Secret Armor in Europe and Japan on April 29. First single Who Do You Love? has been out for a while and here’s the MAP exclusive Final Day, three minutes of the Dane’s beautiful songwriting that is sure to move.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Belachao – Sábanas Blancas

Belachao is an acoustic/folk band that just released their first album. Sábanas Blancas is a sample of how elegant their tunes can be, taking you back to simpler times where we could fall in love with our significant other with just a guitar and their voice.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Alkaloides – Ella Viene Del Futuro

Alkaloides is a space-punk-garage band from the independent music scene of Quito. Their first single, Ella Viene Del Futuro, is a warm piece of music that invites you to dance wildly to the rhythm of the beats. The band has been honing their sound for four years and recently participated in a contest to create a short film about the region’s independent music scene for the Sundance London film and music festival.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Tiny Dancer – Who Am I?

Tiny Dancer is an 18-year-old from Sheffield who sounds as though she has been beamed in from 1978 – her voice is quirky, hiccupy, like Gwen Stefani doing an impression of Lene Lovich doing an impression of Kate Bush. Her song Who Am I? is catchy indie-pop with world music elements that could equally be chanted by schoolkids, footie fans and tribespeople from far-flung continents. The fact that she has Wayne Wilkins – who has written and produced hits for Beyoncé, Cheryl Cole, Natasha Bedingfield and Jordin Sparks – on her side augurs very well indeed.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Winny Puhh – Meiecundimees Üks Korsakov Läks Eile Lätti

Swallow your coffee before listening. And especially before watching this video. This is Winny Puhh, a highly theatrical Seto punk band, performing their song Meiecundimees Üks Korsakov Läks Eile Lätti on Eesti Laul 2013, the semi-finals for the Estonian slot in the Eurovision Song Contest. Although they weren’t selected, something tells me they’re going to be THE band that everyone remembers this year.

FINLAND: Glue
Black Lizard – Love Is A Lie

Psychedelic, hypnotic, raw, fuzz, proto-punk, noise, primitive… those are the words being used to describe Black Lizard’s music. Mentored by Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Black Lizard have just released their debut album and it is a fantastic work of contemporary psych-rock. Love Is A Lie is its first single.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Hyphen Hyphen – Baby Baby Sweet Sweet

Hyphen Hyphen is Santa, Line, Puss and Zak – four 21-year-old rock’n'roll magicians who draw diverse influences, from Phoenix to Klaxons, from Late Of The Pier to Metronomy. Known for their incredible energy which has bewitched many venues throughout France (100+ shows last year), they’re the latest electro-pop buzz band in the country, and one you don’t want to miss.

GERMANY: Coltran
Dobré – Caramel

Sometimes, if you don’t hear an artist for three years they tend to be gone. Dobré, who were first featured in MAP in December 2009, are now based in London. They have changed their musical approach a bit, with the addition of more electronics. But they still have the classy vocals, grungy guitars and modern electronic soundscaping. Good job growing up, Dobré!

INDIA: NH7
Frame/Frame – Rogue

Frame/Frame is Nikhil Kaul, a producer from New Delhi. Kaul’s songs cover a wide soundscape of electronic music (synth-driven tech to sample-laden post-dubstep) and he is a fine example of the current crop of electronic producers mushrooming in bedrooms across the country.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Afternoon Talk – Island

Bandar Lampung band Afternoon Talk make beautiful music recorded in their bedroom. While most bands in the city play cheesy pop, Osa, Sofia and Ridwan write even cheesier love songs in English but with much better music arrangements. Check out their free self-titled EP.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Lumigraph – Tampa Awaits

Although Ireland’s electronic music scene is always busy with the assorted output of its many artists, Lumigraph is the most interesting new name to emerge in 2013. Appearing seemingly from nowhere with a few tantalising clips, the quality on display suggests intense levels of experimental deliberation prevented this individual from releasing anything that sounded amateur. The result is expansive, progressive construction, as heard in Tampa Awaits, an attractive and engrossing genre-blurred track straddling the divide between house and techno. The full album, Nautically Inclined, is out now on Opal Tapes.

ITALY: Polaroid
The Clever Square – February Is A Lie

Classic indie-rock inspired by Guided By Voices, Pavement, The Lemonheads, Neutral Milk Hotel and Dinosaur Jr. You think it’s obvious and predictable? I just wish we had more young kids with taste, talent and passion like this down here in Italy.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
CRUNCH – Mori No Naka

Nagoya rock outfit CRUNCH write on their SoundCloud page that new song Mori No Naka is inspired by the Radiohead track Jigsaw Falling Into Place. The influence can definitely be heard in the driving tempo of the song, but CRUNCH add in plenty of personal touches to make it all their own. Check out the vocals, delivered in a more relaxed manner before they pick up ever so slightly in intensity come the chorus. Plus, the imagery of the lyrics (translated via the artist link) are fantastical.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Cygna – Little Wooden People

By creating organic atmospheres, Cygna’s music warms spaces with its sound journeys. Cygna manages to be simultaneously innovative, experimental and conservative – and the result is a multi-layered mix of real ethnic, classical instruments and electronics that bear indisputable connections to the ambient and progressive music pioneers of the 70s. Little Wooden People is taken from his debut album Opus Eva.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Martin Thulin – Glued To The Chair

Martin Thulin’s story is quite peculiar: a Swede who has being living in Mexico City for the past 19 years; forms a post-punk band called Los Fancy Free that sets ablaze the local scene with his ironic twists and bare-chested stage divings; after four albums Los Fancy Free go into hiatus and Martin takes time to delve into his psyche; titles his first solo effort I Rather Be Transparent Than A Shadow In The Dark, a work conceived with a structure similar to David Bowie’s Heroes.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Vakantie – Schaafijs

Sharing the same breeding grounds as Earth Control, Dutch duo Vakantie have slowly emerged out of the art academy scene with their electronic noodling and keen sense for making improvised beats that’ll put a smile on the face of the toughest of crowds. With their new Samling double CD release Fotonen, it’s clear these guys are as versatile as they are productive. Hypnotic mantras of synthesizer sounds ranging from subdued soundscapes to meditative forms of gabber, Vakantie’s music is what you might expect to hear if you put Mouse On Mars and Black Dice together in a studio on some tropical island. Sometimes challenging but always fun.

PERU: SoTB
Oscilador – Colisión

Oscilador are a three-piece from Lima formed by singer/guitarist Alonso Regalado, drummer Marco Castillo and bassist Adrian Ortiz. The band have been making music for a long time, but only this year released their debut album Los Ultimos, available for free download from Bandcamp. It’s a masterful example of indie-rock containing exciting songs such as Colisión.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Ifi Ude – ArkTika

It’s hard to find a better place than MAP to introduce half-Polish, half-Nigerian singer-songwriter Ifi Ude, whose songs combine electronic beats with Polish folklore and African energy. Stunning track ArkTika is the third single from her debut album, which she’s currently finishing.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Plaza – High On Stereo

Plaza are Quico Serrano and brothers Paulo and Simão Praça. They have been together since 2003 and their sound will please fans of intelligent electro-pop. Pop song High On Stereo, the introductory single to their 2013 album, could be an enormous hit anywhere in the world. The video was directed by João Rei Lima.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Recluso – Praseodimio

Puerto Rico’s great masked hope, Recluso, is one of the most prolific figures in the island’s hip hop underground. Known for short songs with precise rhymes – as well keeping his true identity secret, hidden behind a black ‘luchador’ mask – the MC began concentrating on his beat production on last year’s Tabla Periódica Vol. 1. The instrumental project matched elements of the periodic table to smartly produced and memorable beats. Praseodimio is one of our favorite cuts from Tabla Periódica Vol. 2, which drops later this month.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
On-The-Go – Deception

Dreamy indie-pop band On-The-Go has already stormed Russia with their album November, which will get a worldwide release later this year. They remind me of Swedish and Danish pop groups as well as Wild Beasts. Yura Makarychev’s melodic songwriting is full of charm – I guess that’s the kindest Russian export in years.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Father Sculptor – Sault

Every article written about Father Sculptor has mentioned their eerie similarity to The Smiths. While the evidence is irrefutable, it would be travesty if it overshadowed the Glasgow band’s many atypical traits. Father Sculptor manage to be highly prolific in their output without sacrificing quality control. They strike the perfect balance of being wilfully mysterious but approachable thanks to a laudable DIY ethic. They’ve just released their potentially fame-making Faith & Violence EP but previous release VI, a compilation of their 2012 singles, is every bit as essential.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Rainbow99 – Walk

Rainbow99 is perhaps best known through his work as a producer and music director, but followers of MAP will have already heard him as the atmosphere maker of SiwaRainbow. In late March he released his aptly-titled second solo album Dream Pop, treating listeners to plenty of dreamy electronica. Walk is a bright tune, a perfect soundtrack to a sunny spring day.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Jose Luis Algar – Dame

Jose Luis Algar is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Barcelona. After releasing a self-produced demo, recorded in his room, he is now ready to bring out his first LP with Music Bus, his new label. He sings about love and tries to keep it simple and beautiful.

SWEDEN: Ja Ja Ja
Tiger Forest Cat – Everybody’s Running

Tiger Forest Cat is the promising dream-pop project of Filip Sundberg from seven-piece pop/rock group Syket (also well worth checking out). Over the past two years, in between gigs and studio sessions with his main hang, he has been writing and recording his debut album, Affairs Of The Heart. Everybody’s Running, out now via Nomethod Records, is its first and very beautiful single.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Sami Baha – Swan

Sami Baha is one of the most creative and inspirational producers in Istanbul’s electronic music scene. When he’s making his music, he feeds on disco and R&B rhythms of Dirty South. After mind-blowing shows and countless releases, we’re finally about to hear his debut record soon.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Radical Dads – Mountain Town

New York’s Radical Dads pack their tracks with blistering guitars, drums that feel like they’re about to break and a female vocalist with the talent to soar above the aggressive backing melodies. Mountain Town is one of the best pure rock songs of the year and proves that music about to fly off the handle can also be highly intelligent.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Americania – Estoy Afuera, Sal

Americania have just released their second studio album La Fiesta Del Rey Drama, which can be downloaded for free from their website. The promo single Estoy Afuera, Sal tells the surreal story of a house that won’t let out one of the band members to meet his girlfriend. Its video had more than 20,000 views on YouTube in its first week.

Music Alliance Pact Martie 2013

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
The Noise – Ringo Starr

The Noise is an indie-rock band formed in the summer of 2011 in Sibiu. The four-piece has shared a stage with some of Romania’s better-known alternative bands and is scheduled to do quite a bit more of that in the coming year. The group’s sound is the result of a diverse set of influences ranging from 60s beat music to modern-day noisemakers. New single Ringo Starr is meant to serve as a taster of things to come.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 40-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Carmel – Tu Momento

A musical project led by Alan Soifer and Pablo Antonietti aka Panto, young folks in their own right (they both just blew out 21 candles). El Buen Retiro (on Estamos Felices, one of our favorite independent labels) is Carmel’s first album, in which they manage to combine experimentation with electronica and melodies. Tu Momento is the first single from the record, available on iTunes.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Jesse Davidson – Winter

Jesse Davidson is a 16-year-old songwriter from Adelaide. The track we’ve chosen may be called Winter, but we think it sounds more like Grizzly Bear recording a leisurely acoustic session somewhere off the Caribbean coast. Alongside muted drums and blissful guitar embellishments that resurface every so often, there’s something really pure about Jesse’s music. He manages to capture the beauty of isolation in a way that never seems forced. Honest, effortless indie-folk.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Kidcat Lo-Fi – Life Sucks

A singer-songwriter with a feminist tendency, Kidcat Lo-Fi’s songs range from love to hate and from protest to irony. Her self-titled debut album, out in April, is consciously kept raw and will feature songs called I Will Not Marry Or Reproduce and I Want To Be A Cat. Don’t we all?

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Karina Zeviani – Update

Everyone should learn Portuguese to get the true feeling of Update, a ballad about the end of a relationship. Karina Zeviani, the former singer of Nouvelle Vague and Thievery Corporation, released her first solo album last year.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Eagle Lake Owls – Little Brittle Bones

You can hear the world thawing from winter’s cold grip on Little Brittle Bones, from Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Eagle Lake Owls. The slow and steady vibration of spring echoes through the song’s opening moments, before it shakes the last shards of ice off and swells into life. Songs like this are what keep you going through the isolation of a prairie winter.

CHILE: Super 45
WatchOut! – Guayabita

Although in the beginning WatchOut! stood out with a sound strongly influenced by Los Saicos’ primitive punk and North American psychedelic garage, they’ve now turned to Latin America. In Guayabita, the first preview of their forthcoming album Tribu, to be released by local label BYM Records, the spirit of tropicalia, fusion music and Chilean psychedelia come alive to shape the new sound of WatchOut!

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Dorado – Out Of Her Depth

David Triana aka Dorado is an electronic music producer and DJ from Bogota. His style is a coalescence of UK bass, techno and house music, although in his early life he was greatly influenced by hardcore punk. Triana is currently working with Downpitch Recordings, a new label from his home city. Out Of Her Depth is taken from Tribute EP, his first release.

CUBA: suenacubano.com
Karamba – Vivir La Vida

We are happy to begin our participation in MAP with a different approach to what is generally known of Cuban music. Vivir La Vida is an ode to self-esteem. It’s a song that invites reflection on our path to being and behaving in these troubled times. With his own particular stamp, Karamba uses cumbia, hip hop and rock ‘n’ roll, combining the freshness of his lyrics and refrains to recreate the impeccable taste that permeates Cuban music.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Bite The Bullet – I Feel Love

The first five songs by Bite The Bullet are released in Germany this month, one being this MAP exclusive download. Comprising one half of one of my favorite Danish bands, the sadly defunct Highway Child, BTB rock in the same retro vein as HC (the abbreviations end here) and still seem a live force to reckoned with as this video shows. A full vinyl release is coming up this fall and I for one can’t wait.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Ocean Lips – Submarine

Ocean Lips take inspiration from Brit-rock, modern art and, of course, the ocean. Their first single Submarine evokes breezy feelings with the wavy sound of their guitars, taking us for a ride to the bottom of the sea.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Munn – En La Obscuridad

Munn is one of the country’s best new bands. Their first EP Espirales mixes an electronic rhythm section with different types of samples, analog and digital synthesizers, acoustic instruments, bass, electric guitar and layers of voices, generating atmospheres of trip hop and downtempo. En La Obscuridad is Munn’s second single and its video was directed by Lucia Romero.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
YYZ – Into The Night

Into The Night is a sublime blast of ravey pop from the synth prodder, DJ-cum-FX-whiz and perky chanteuse known as YYZ. Formerly members of Ting Tings surrogates Ghostcat, and with a CV that includes remixing a single by Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud, YYZ are now purveying an even more commercial brand of mainstream nu disco and fizzily addictive technopop aimed at the shopping mall massive, not the Hoxton passive.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Highmachine – Sobergeist

Highmachine have been playing honest, fun rock music since 2008. Formed from alumni of several Estonian rock and metal bands, they have returned to the bluesy riff rock that drove all of them to music in the first place. Highmachine are performing at the Tallinn Music Week festival in April, at a Rada7.ee showcase. By the way, the video for Sobergeist did pretty well on Estonia’s video chart.

FINLAND: Glue
Streak And The Raven – Speed Of Light

Electropop group Streak And The Raven create an intense atmosphere with minimalistic synth-driven sounds, drawing comparisons to Chromatics and hedonistic early-80s bands. Speed Of Light is included in their recently released debut Love & War, an album that makes a nighttime journey in the spirit of past war and lost love.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Mermonte – Monte

Mermonte was formed in Rennes in 2010. This group of 10 wonderful musicians all have a past in various bands, combining different elements such as jazz, math-rock, pop and post-rock. Band leader Ghislain Fracapane recorded the album Mermonte in 2011, before releasing it in May 2012. Monte is a catchy pop song with glockenspiel and soft French vocals that you will love immediately and put on repeat for weeks.

GERMANY: Coltran
Tellavision – Holidays On Earthquakes

There are a lot of stunningly good solo artists in Germany who base their music on looping, DIY and edged rhythms. Tellavision, who just recorded a split-vinyl called Cake with Touchy Mob, stands out from the crowd. Fee Kürten, the woman behind Tellavision, has a knack for drifting melodies and haunting singing. Holidays On Earthquakes perfectly captures these features.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Melentini – Gone Are The Days

After creating a series of music pieces, appearing in theatrical plays and collaborating with prominent artists, Melentini has finally completed Explosions Around, The Desert Inside, an enrapturing debut album. It is racked with mostly bare arrangements and a stark, heartfelt vocal delivery that provides the stunning balm to bind this unsettling beauty together. Stricken with fragility, it combines affecting poetic lyrics and piercing sorrow with something ethereal that drags you into an achingly alluring world. It’s a record you’ll return to again and again.

INDIA: NH7
The Lightyears Explode – Garam Dharam

The Lightyears Explode are a three-piece punk/garage rock band from Mumbai and a good example of the current crop of independent music coming out of India. Garam Dharam is from the band’s debut release and the first word that comes to mind after listening to this song is ‘heavy’. If you dig this tune, stay tuned for their debut album which is due out in the next few months.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Good Boy Badminton – Time Off

Good Boy Badminton are an emo/indie-rock band that routinely rocks their home city and casually tours around the country. They have a good number of followers everywhere. Time Off has been well received by emo fans around the world, with the song remaining on the PureVolume chart for weeks. They are currently planning for an Asian tour.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Replete – Easy Love

Lesser-known amongst the glut of electronic producers who are proving so popular in Ireland lately, Replete is Cork’s Peter Lawlor. Easy Love, his latest track which premiered on Earmilk, is not quite house music but comes close. An indiscernible vocal leads over a brooding beat but this slight disorientation is allayed with the sweetest of synths. Not hard to love at all.

ITALY: Polaroid
ThreeLakes – The Accordion Player

Luca Righi is a young and talented songwriter from Mantua, in the north of Italy, but when you listen to his music you’d think he comes from the heart of the United States. His songs clearly have deep roots in Americana and folk, but then you hear his voice and it’s so torn he is probably singing with tears in his eyes. And what you hear is amazing.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Buddy Girl And Mechanic – Fenix

Fenix is in no rush to get to any particular destination, but rather sounds intent on unnerving listeners during its almost four-minute running time. The track comes courtesy of Tokyo outfit Buddy Girl And Mechanic, who specialize in making seductive Krautrock-tinged songs hiding stranger details. On Fenix, check the way the vocals skip jump all over the place, and how those rinky-dink synths sound. Close listening encouraged.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Capitol K – Yo Tarzan Tu Jane

Kristian Craig Robinson, as Capitol K, has traversed a spectrum of electronic aesthetics throughout 13 years and five albums with releases on Planet Mu, XL and Faith And Industry. A legend of contemporary electronica in the purest sense, Capitol K’s genre mashing, globetrotting musical explorations have seen him receive a steady stream of critical praise. Yo Tarzan Tu Jane is taken from his latest album Andean Dub, inspired by a South American road trip.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Yellow Yesterday – León

The name Yellow Yesterday might refer potential listeners to a nostalgic band that recreates Beatlesque anthems for lazy afternoons. And that was indeed the sound of this Mexico City group, led by the charming Andrés Ibarra (aka Chelito), on their early singles and EPs. For their proper debut, though, Yellow Yesterday seem to have ignited their retro-boosters to deliver this spacey-krauty epic that roars in slow motion like a lazy lion.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Lemontrip – Wander

With Wander, Tilburg-based producer Lemontrip allows the listener to catch a glimpse of his submerged world. Being sparse with the distribution of melodic and rhythmic information, he makes sure to leave a lot to the imagination of his audience. In this sense, Wander seems to be the embodiment of the overarching theme of exploration, embedded in his debut album Nowhere. Released in November 2012 through his own Fog Mountain Records label, Nowhere consists of six stunning tracks, each displaying Lemontrip’s craftsmanship for making slow-paced, melancholic electronic music. Now it’s time for the rest of the world to catch on.

PERU: SoTB
La IrA De Dios – Yo Solo

La IrA De Dios was formed in 2001, but it was in 2005 that they began to draw international attention after being signed to German label Nasoni Records, who reissued the band’s first album, leading to their first European tour. Last year they released their fifth album, Peru No Existe, a great example of psychedelia and powerful rock.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Sorry Boys – The Sun

You could say that where Bon Iver’s last album ends, the new song from Sorry Boys starts, though The Sun in its entirety is something different than Beth/Rest. Their avant-pop single is popular from the spring schedule advertisement of one of the biggest TV stations in Poland. Is it Kate Bush behind the microphone?

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Kubik – Basso Profondo

Kubik’s new EP, Music For Trevor Reznik, was inspired by the character interpreted by Christian Bale in the 2004 movie The Machinist. Kubik mingles contemporary with traditional, and Basso Profondo is a perfect example of that as electronic sounds combine with the didgeridoo and basso profondo singing, best known in traditional Russian orthodox music.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Orquesta El Macabeo – Lluvia Con Sol

Time to hit the dance floor! The self-proclaimed rockeros con guille de salseros (“rockers posing as a salsa band”) of Orquesta El Macabeo have just released the first single from their upcoming third album. Lluvia Con Sol showcases the mean and dirty brass section and populist lyrics that have become staples of the band’s sound. If you still haven’t heard of these guys – local punk and hardcore players now spearheading Puerto Rico’s ‘old school’ salsa revival – now’s a great time to start.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
OL – Tak Budet Vsegda

As a part of the first compilation by the newly-created Beryoza community, OL transforms a Soviet musical hit by Alla Pugacheva, stretching a catchy refrain into a club anthem.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Vigo Thieves – Heartbeats

Vigo Thieves are the quintessential festival band. Think anthems. Massive, swaggering raise-the-roof anthems. Heartbeats is the pick of the bunch and was the official song adopted by T in the Park for their website last year. The group have a couple of EPs under their belt, although curiously they remain unsigned. For a band with this much commercial appeal, you’d imagine that won’t be the case for very much longer.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Obedient Wives Club – Murder Kill Baby

Oh the glorious fuzz! Obedient Wives Club take their self-styled Spectorgaze (remember this kids!) to all new heights with the release of their Murder Kill Baby EP. What awaits is the throwback-to-saccharine 60s girl-band inspired pop paired with an almost manic dose of fuzzed out backwash that only the evilest of musical geniuses would dare tread upon. Don’t let any of their gentle imagery fool you – this music is a hard citrussy candy shell wrapping the warm centre of acid bombs. Stay lucid, or don’t.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Modsdive – North

Psychedelic post-rock band Modsdive gathers some of the best indie musicians in Korea, crafting amazing instrumental tunes on the foundation laid by MAP alumni Auhm. Formed a year ago, the band is scheduled to release their first full-length album this month. As a taste of what’s to come, here is the dynamic and captivating North.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Pol Wagner – Grieving

Pol Wagner is a songwriter from Girona and currently living the nights of Barcelona. He says he’s in love with American folk and booze, and you can tell by his dark but tender songs, written in his room and clearly influenced by Conor Oberst, Elliott Smith and Tom Waits.

SWEDEN: Ja Ja Ja
Nord & Syd – Inte Idag

Sweden’s latest supergroup, Nord & Syd – which consists of members from Vapnet, Laakso, Holy Madre, Ironville and Penny Century – released their debut full-length Som En Människa on March 13 via Hybris. The album is said to revolve around death, love and alienation – in other words your typical melodic, solidly produced and, of course, completely outstanding Swedish indie-pop.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
My Name Is George – Crazy Star

My Name Is George, from Winterthur, have released their fifth studio record in which they again celebrate the pompous and melodic side of rock ‘n’ roll. Welcome in the neon-coloured world of My Name Is George. It’s disco pop as disco pop can be.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Sapan – It’s Alright

Sapan, one of Turkey’s most promising bands, has been around for three years. With their second EP Tundra they began writing songs in English, which should improve their future prospects. Opening track It’s Alright is a very hopeful and soothing indie-rock tune.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Miracles Of Modern Science – Dear Pressure

This five-piece from New York takes classical instruments and pushes them to new levels by crafting half pop/half indie sounding tunes. Featuring a violin, mandolin, cello, drums and stand-up bass, Miracles Of Modern Science sound familiar, but at the same time highlight talents becoming rarer and rarer to find in modern music.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Satelite – Poco A Poco

Satelite is a pop/rock band that formed in Puerto Ordaz in 1997. They were first played on radio stations with home recordings and managed to share the stage with renowned bands such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Los Pericos and Desorden Público. They define their music as rock made using traditional instruments with electronic sounds and ambience inspired by outer space.

Music Alliance Pact – Februarie 2013

In aceasta luna ii avem pe cei de la Subumbra, o formatie de care am aflat recent, dar care m-a surprins.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Subumbra – Good People Are Rainbows
Subumbra started like an art audio-video project, a punk band made up of three brothers who recorded their lo-fi songs in a poor home studio. Recently, the project took a new direction as they began to use more electronic instruments and sampling. Subumbra is about taking the core of punk music and merging it with contemporary influences such as chillstep, dubstep and hip hop.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 39-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie The Omelettes – Perfect Wave The Omelettes’ sophomore album seeks to part from the 60s British sound of their first work and the result is something much more psychedelic and introspective. Perfect Wave is one of our favorite tracks from the new record, The Drawing & The Traveller. You can also watch a video of their song Mondays here.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They? Them Swoops – Too Fast For Love Never trust a happy song, right? While Tame Impala are still trumping the globe with Lonerism and Gotye’s break-up song is STILL unfortunately stalking us everywhere, we do make mood-lifting songs here in Australia. Indie-pop ain’t a dirty word, especially when bands like Them Swoops make tracks like this. Too Fast For Love will probably sound like the first time you heard The Shins. Felt good, hey? We’re not such a sombre bunch after all.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig Sex Jams – Shark Vs Apple The alternate girl/boy singing on Shark Vs Apple and its saucy, playful lyrics make it an instant favourite. Basically, the first single from the new Sex Jams album Trouble, Honey is what Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta would have sounded like had Grease been a noise-rock musical. Half of Sex Jams also play in May 2012′s MAP band and this year’s Eurosonic favourites Mile Me Deaf.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado Sambanzo – Xangô Sambanzo is one of the projects of saxophonist Thiago França, also a member of Metá Metá and collaborator of artists such as Gui Amabis and Romulo Froes. Xangô is taken from the album Etiópia, which features some experimental music with strong influences of jazz, Candomblé, Afrobeat and rock.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts Barbarosa – Sinking West The title track of Barbarosa’s debut EP calls up images of the Wild West – rugged, romantic, ruthless and without rules. Sinking West’s menacing undertone is brightened by modern pop sensibilities, and the playing is fast and fierce. The full EP is available now on the band’s website.

CHILE: Super 45 Perrosky – A Mil Millas Perrosky, a duet formed by brothers Álvaro and Alejandro Gómez, offer a local interpretation of the music styles that gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll in the USA. Their fifth album Vivos is swarmed by distorted guitars, vocal effects and, of course, a great set of songs. Our highlight is the touching blues ballad A Mil Millas (“A Thousand Miles Away”), which depicts a man searching for himself but whose possibilities seem blocked to him.

CHINA: Wooozy Tengger Cavalry – War Horse Deeply influenced by the nomadic culture of north Asia, Tengger Cavalry’s music evokes ancient times when wandering warriors, steeds and wolves danced across the great grasslands. The melody of horse-head fiddle, the rhythm of heavy drum, the echo of Mongolian throat singing and the distortion of guitar all create an expressive scene of pagan culture.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo La Pulpafonic – Camelia Jam for the ears, that’s how we can describe the sound of La Pulpafonic. A project born in Bogotá, it aims to present Colombian folklore within a new context and a new flavor: the taste of the fruit pulp. Electronic sounds literally extracted from fruits, mixed with an eclectic explosion of dance rhythms from this century. From their first work released in 2012, we squeeze out the song Camelia.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian Freja Loeb – W.O.M.D. Earlier this month Freja Loeb followed up her 2011 debut album Odyssey with the release of a new EP titled W.O.M.D. Where the album stood on the shoulders of the 1980s pop scene, the EP finds its sources of inspiration in the same decade’s rock scenes. Here’s the title track as a MAP exclusive.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera Las Acevedo – Cena En La Terraza Love is still in the air, after a Valentine’s Day full of fresh romantic tunes brought by several Ibero-American bands. Las Acevedo, the hippie twin sisters of folk, present this breezy love song about dining in terraces, chasing fireflies and packing away your significant other inside a trunk with flowers in their hair.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria Marley Muerto – Dorado Salmon Violeta (featuring Frances Possieri) Marley Muerto is led by Daniel Pasquel, a musician and producer who was born on the same day that Bob Marley died. This project sees him play with a range of electronic sounds and collaborate with some important local artists. Pararmar is his debut album released while his band, Can Can, takes a break.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog GNOD – Visions Of Load Taken from GNOD’s forthcoming album Chaudelande (released on February 25 by Rocket Recordings), Visions Of Load captures neatly – that is to say, powerfully and sprawlingly – the krautrockin’, shoegazin’, prog-metallic sludginess of this Salford band at their most freakily magnificent. “It recalls Can’s ga-ga go-go music while the singer yelps like Alan Vega doused in even more echo,” said our New Band of the Day writer, who nevertheless promised that, notwithstanding the far-out sonics and instrumental melee, you could still dance to it. He just didn’t specify what type of shoes you might need.

ESTONIA: Rada7 Candy Empire – Lucky Candy Empire is a new band founded late 2011 by restless multi-instrumentalist Ervin Trofimov of acclaimed experimental rock band Opium Flirt. Trofimov has previously recorded in various genres such as instrumental prog-rock, acoustic folk and electronic pop, but Candy Empire’s sound can be described as a futuristic version of Blondie with Neil Young on guitar. They have unveiled their new single Lucky with a colorful animated video.

FINLAND: Glue Hexvessel – Woods To Conjure Inspired by the mysticism of Finnish nature, Hexvessel mixes an acoustic folk vibe with psychedelic and electric doom sounds, creating dense, spaced-out atmospherics. Woods To Conjure is included in the band’s second album No Holier Temple. Hexvessel will be heading to the SXSW festival in Texas in March.

GERMANY: Coltran Pollyester – Concierge D’Amour The most advanced band in Munich’s music scene is Pollyester. Although Polly Lapkovskaja and Manuel da Coll play in several other groups, the duo found a unique and remarkable style on their latest record Earthly Powers. Relying heavily on a groovy rhythm section with drums and bass, the rediscovered synths and Polly’s vocals add up to something between disco and New Wave, and has been met with critical acclaim.

ICELAND: Rjóminn Morgan Kane – Nine Nine is a song about a guy trying to get to a girl to tell her that she was right and strong, when he was wrong. Morgan Kane’s songwriting is influenced by Serge Gainsbourg.

INDIA: NH7 Apu And The Dentist – No Messages For Rumi Apu And The Dentist is the experimental rock project of Mumbai-based duo Saurabh Roy and Achint Thakkar. With this track, which also features local musicians Suraj Manik, Jeremy D’Souza and Krishna Jhaveri, they have created a psychedelic rock soundscape. A debut EP is slated for release in 2013.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar Backwood Sun – Seven Shadows Backwood Sun is one of the most promising indie acts in Jakarta. The band are often described as an Indonesian version of Fleet Foxes, but even if they are heavily influenced by them, it doesn’t stop Backwood Sun making humble, honest music.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise Girl Band – Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage Few could predict a post-punk version of a techno track that took its vocal sample from a hip hop song. This cover version, however, was recorded for the third and final Quompilation album of Irish bands’ favourite songs. Blawan’s original Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage is a psychotic, six-minute stamp through disturbia and the four males of Dublin’s Girl Band managed to eke out almost two extra minutes, using that time and their canny production values to flesh out and reanimate bare bones, breathing life through a spirited reiteration of the vocal hook.

ITALY: Polaroid Brothers In Law – (Shadow II) Leave Me Brothers In Law is a young three-piece band from Pesaro, on the always surprising Italian east coast. The dirt of the sea has sneaked dirty sounds into their songs. File under: dream-pop bandits, C86 catchers, Captured Tracks lovers. Brothers In Law just released their debut album Hard Times For Dreamers and they have been invited to play at next month’s SXSW. A dream coming true.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies Hotel Mexico – A.I. In Dreams Hotel Mexico, hailing from the historic city of Kyoto, have been one of the most chirped about bands in the Japanese indie scene for several years now. Many cite them as the first chillwave group in Japan, but that label does them a disservice. A.I. In Dreams, taken from new album Her Decorated Post Love, is laid-back but never lazy, the guitars creating a lush sound while voices dart by in the back. It is a song rich in detail, something this outfit excels at.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta The Suburbanite – Blow My Mind The Suburbanite is the project of Maltese-Canadian Robert Pisani, backed by a floating collective involving a number of other local band members who have helped shape their sound. A Field Guide To The Suburbanite is a seven-song collection which embraces the spirit and naivety of the past; a frolic on the beach, the first love, Saturday nights indoors… all with hummable melodies. Listening to that debut EP is like taking a walk through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, without the Oompa-Loompas chanting those annoying moralising ditties.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika 60 Tigres – Picoso One of the country’s best live acts, 60 Tigres started as a six-piece in 2005 in the northern city of Monterrey and has had many member variations since then. They mix Latin grooves with great melody lines, sparkling keyboards and the heritage of early-90s strident indie guitars. Take a chance with their anthemic, danceable new single Picoso.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha! APRIL – The Rise And Fall Of A Beautiful Bird Last year I had the privilege to witness APRIL’s first ever gig. Amidst the seedy rock ‘n’ roll crowd this enigmatic duo generated plenty of attention – both frontwoman and man rockin’ high heels while channelling Bowie-esque vibes like it was nobody’s business. On stage it soon became clear that their originality did not stop at their taste in fashion, combining drum computers with reverberant guitar melodies, groovy basslines and intricate, contrasting vocals. With their new single, due to be released on February 23 via Subroutine Records, APRIL has replaced their drum machine for a real drummer and their melodramatic side for a sound that embodies the same confidence they project in a live setting.

PERU: SoTB Rafo Ráez – Los Regalos Del Viento Rafo Ráez has been creating songs since high school, with his catchy compositions making him one of the most beloved musicians in Peru. With eight albums under his belt, Rafo’s music has gone through rock, trova, punk and Peruvian folklore. And with a penchant for poetry, they have also been part of theater plays.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog Południce vs. Liquid Molly – Dolina, Dolinuszka Południce are a female vocal group who sing traditional, folklore, Polish and Ukrainian (sometimes Belarusian) songs. On their album Południce / Elektronice, they couple these with modern electronic productions from guest musicians – Dolina, Dolinuszka features heavy bass beats from Liquid Molly. If you think about it logically it should result in disaster, but it is in fact majestic.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco? Little Friend – Sunken Low John Almeida is not a freshman as a musician or a composer. Before this first solo single, he played with some major Portuguese indie artists (The Weatherman, We Trust) who, as a sign of friendship, have returned their gratitude by appearing on his first solo record. The video for Sunken Low was directed by Lewis Arnold and has Jo Hartley (This Is England, Dead Man’s Shoes, The Young Victoria) as the protagonist.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie Los Pepiniyoz – Entre Las Paredes Los Pepiniyoz have been making their brand of high-energy, melodic punk for more than a decade now – writing songs that reach for the heart without losing any attitude. Throughout the years the band has served as a sort of workshop for a lot of local rockers and now, after a long hiatus, have returned to the boricua scene with a new line-up and a solid three-song EP. Entre Las Paredes is the catchiest tune of the bunch and will probably make you lust for new material from Los Pepiniyoz.

RUSSIA: Big Echo Dasha Shults – Kite Dasha Shults, a 16-year-old wonder from Saint-Petersburg, has taken her first steps from covering her favorites by Ellie Goulding and Laura Marling to making her own simple, beautiful songs. She sings about kites, nightmares and, of course, love.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop Kevin Harper – Kingdom Of Wires Influenced by warm, fuzzy guitar bands of the American West Coast, Kevin Harper first appeared in the Music Alliance Pact in March 2011 under the guise of Little Eskimos, a solo project that evolved into a group. He’s back on his own again, not that you could tell from this talented multi-instrumentalist’s canny knack of sounding like a full band is at work. Mr Harper is probably one of the most accomplished pop songwriters in Scotland, yet he’s still little-known in his native land. If there’s any justice, his forthcoming debut solo album Kingdom Of Wires should change all that.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Halcyon – Building With Sticks One of the artists we’ve got on our radar this year is Halcyon (Zhong Ren Koh), who’s managed to come out just a little more broken in Singapore’s cookie cutter society. We love the singer-songwriter, and we love even more that Halcyon has broken out from that particular mould to become an emerging multi-instrumentalist. His arrangements are delicate and achingly heartfelt – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, but it’s more real than most of the crap out there.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie From The Airport – Colors Electro rock duo From The Airport formed in 2012 and they’re not afraid to throw other genres in the mix. Second single Everyone’s Alright was released last month but here we get to hear them as they first came out with electro-pop debut single Colors, which brought the two producers plenty of positive attention when it was unleashed in October.

SPAIN: Musikorner Megaafonía – Señor Gutiérrez Formed in 2005, Megaafonía have been active until this month, when they decided to split due to creative differences, although they will remain friends. They released two albums, Despechado and Tutto, and we will certainly miss their fresh pop (influenced by the likes of ELO, Xavier Cugat and Bom Bom Chip) and their irreverent and highly ironic lyrics.

SWEDEN: Ja Ja Ja Dödens Dal – Bakom Stjärnor, Bakom Tiden Dödens Dal is a duo with a fingertip feel and fondness for gloomy, instrumental and really rather mind-boggling electronica. They first came to our attention last year with their brilliantly dark debut single Det Står Skrivet, and now they’re back with the pitch-black follow-up Bakom Stjärnor, Bakom Tiden. Both tracks come from the album Gå Ensam Förbi Horisonten, released this month via Flora & Fauna.

SWITZERLAND: 78s Last Leaf Down – Fake Lights In The Sky Last Leaf Down is a shoegaze outfit from Solothurn. Heavenly, ethereal sounds and distinct, dreamy vocals make them deserving of your attention. Here’s their new track Fake Lights In The Sky.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT Baykuş – Gel Yeter Baykuş (once known as Kaotik) comes from the grey city of Ankara where our grunge acts always sprout fertile. Anatolian tunes bound up with post-grunge styling are common but Baykuş succeed in making their sound more solid and more garage-like. Gel Yeter is catchy enough to start a pogo party on its own.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You The Long Wives – The Hollow Fin The Long Wives’ standout track The Hollow Fin is deceivingly gentle. The softly-plucked guitar and the eased restraint of the vocals invite the listener to get close to the speaker and its warm, wispy, radiant sounds. But there’s more to this track than meets the ear. Like most great pieces of art that explore the juxtaposition between surface appearances and the evils that can lurk below, the power comes from an unidentifiable element onto which the listener just can’t seem to put their finger.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más Los Paranoias – No Hace Falta After almost two years of absence, Los Paranoias return to the scene with No Hace Falta, a single released last month and the first cut of their next studio album Que Se Activen Las Alarmas, scheduled to come out in the coming months.

Music Alliance Pact – Ianuarie 2013

Începem al 5lea an de când participam la compilația lunară Music Alliance Pact cu un proiect Clujean nou nouț, pe nume Kaleidonescu.

Luați, ascultați și credeți pe cuvânt că-s de-ai noștri, chair daca nu sună deloc

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 35-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Kaleidonescu – Upperfields
We welcome 2013 with a MAP exclusive download of a brand new project on the Romanian market. Kaleidonescu manage to bring us exactly the kind of music we were missing. If you’re into electronic, neopsychedelic and the like then you will surely want to keep your ears on this band. Make sure you check out the video, it definitely matches the sound.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
El Festival De Los Viajes – Los Altos
El Festival De Los Viajes is a psychedelic rock band with a sound that has an epic atmosphere and lyrics that play with your imagination. Los Altos is our favorite track from La Reserva De Los Lieros, their third album.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
D.D Dumbo – Tropical Oceans
Oliver Hugh Perry is D.D Dumbo. Perry makes music from his house in Castlemaine, a small rural town 120km from Melbourne. Tropical Oceans is a perfect cue to his unique brand of technicolour lo-fi that spans genres, blues hooks, African folk – and a sound that no one else from anywhere is really making at the moment. Sometimes the best releases never receive as much credit as they deserve, and this is one of them. If music is supposed to make you feel goddamn otherworldly, 2013 is going to be a good year for D.D Dumbo.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Nowhere Train – Ashes
Nowhere Train is a project of seven folk musicians from different bands. After a train tour through the country and a documentary about it, the supergroup’s first album, aptly named Station, recently saw the light of day. It was featured on national television and Austria’s most popular website. Ashes, a song about a perfect moment, was written on tour by globetrotter Ian Fisher (Missouri/Berlin).

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Tulipa Ruiz – Cada Voz
Tulipa Ruiz is one of the major new Brazilian singers and is acclaimed by critics and the public alike. Cada Voz is the track that closes second album Tudo Tanto, available for free download on her website, and has its instrumental performed by the experimental band São Paulo Underground.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Daniel Romano – Middle Child
Get out yer hankies, ‘cuz this one’s gonna make you ball like a baby. Daniel Romano’s transformation into the reincarnated George Jones is now complete, right down to the leisure suit he wears on the cover of Come Cry With Me, his third solo album in as many years. The former Attack In Black frontman has become an impeccable storyteller, and this tale of an estranged son trying to make sense of the senseless will break your heart by the time he gets to the first chorus.

CHILE: Super 45
Motivado – Ferrer
For lack of a better label, the music of Motivado (Mario Martínez) could be classified as ‘space Latin house’. After the praise he got for Bobby Fischer, his debut EP, Motivado delivered his second EP, Stasi, just as the past year ended and it exceeds what he accomplished on his first work. Yes, this is experimental music, but extremely danceable. Ferrer is one of three tracks on Stasi EP, a free download from the Discos Pegaos netlabel.

CHINA: Wooozy
Summer Fades Away – Thank You
Summer Fades Away is an instrumental/post-rock band from Changsha. They released their second album We Meet The Last Time, Then Departure through 1724 Records last November, which features more classical elements. Though the band announced they were going on hiatus, fans still hope they could be back soon to make more beautiful music.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
North Fall – Curve
Originally a one-man project by singer-songwriter and guitarist Anders Belling, North Fall turned into a full indie-rock ‘n’ alt-folk band in 2011 and released their first EP late last year, from which Curve is taken. The whole, excellent thing is yours to download on SoundCloud along with seven tracks from Belling’s time as a lone rider.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Dkano – El Bolo Bolo
Rapper Dkano mocks the rise and fall of a fictitious dembow artist nicknamed Bolo Bolo, in reference to so many one-hit-wonders that this local genre produces, as opposed to true hip-hop. El Bolo Bolo is taken from Dkano’s upcoming album Señales.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Fabrikante – Chanteoma
Making songs only with the voice is a risk that can produce impressive results. Francisco Valdivieso, better known as Fabrikante, is an artist who uses the flexibility of his voice to create unique compositions based on a powerful beatbox and original vocal loops. Chanteoma is the first single from his debut album, which will be out early this year.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Public Service Broadcasting – If War Should Come
Public Service Broadcasting is the operations name of one J Willgoose Esq and his cohort Wrigglesworth. Imagine the Pet Shop Boys if they were obsessed with the war. They’re an electronic duo from London who use samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material from WW2 and ally them to a variety of beats and backing from krautrock to drum ‘n’ bass. If War Should Come, from The War Room EP, is typical of their approach, with its found voices and sense of looming menace as the broadcaster warns of impending battle.

FINLAND: Glue
The Fundamics – Role Of The Soul
Guitars, Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, dub vibes and rap merge to create some of the grooviest music. The Fundamics combine 70s funk and soul with straightforward 90s hip-hop plus the addition of some up-and-coming rappers. Role Of The Soul is an instrumental track from the band’s forthcoming album We All Have Our Roots.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Spiders Everywhere – Swing Loops
Spiders Everywhere are a young band whose members hail from France and Switzerland. They released their appropriately titled The First EP last May. With a sense of rhythm as precocious as it is unique, some catchy melodies and soft vocals, this is just what we’d like to hear more often on the French indie-pop scene.

GERMANY: Coltran
Fraktus – Pogomania
Maybe Fraktus found the best way to jump on the bandwagon of krautrock and neo New German Wave: Say you were one of the most influential bands of that time and a founder of techno but were forgotten about; create a brilliant mockumentary in the style of This Is Spinal Tap and record a “comeback” album. Fraktus’ Millenium Edition is in both senses contemporary. The influence of producer Erobique is clearly audible: deconstruction of common patterns, reconstruction to catchy and danceable songs which oscillate between all mentioned electronic music styles.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Victory Collapse – She Is More An Idea Than A Girl
Whether Victory Collapse experiment with different tones, volumes or styles, they’re always exuding an intensity that never fails to astound. Their debut album Convenience Has Poisoned Our Souls is an exciting mix of audacious post-punk stammering, noisy punk-funk sound and a barrage of buzzing, stinging guitars, chunky bass lines and clockwork beats littered with passionate, sharp vocals held together by such disparate art-rock tendencies as saxophone bits and cowbells with spastic, jagged grooves that are powerful enough to inspire a sea of awkward punk-rock dances.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Rumah Sakit – Bernyanyi Menunggu
Rumah Sakit helped shaped the foundation of Indonesia’s indie-pop scene. The band are back after a very long hiatus with a new album that sparked an all-night party on its release date of 12/12/12. If you love Blueboy you’ll probably love this music too.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
mynameisjOhn – Don’t Mind Me feat. God Knows
Irish hip hop grew steadily more promising in 2012, and not just in the densely-populated urban areas. The internet having pretty much quashed the pervading sense of isolation that separated more remote artists from sharing their work, some of the most exciting sounds came from outside Dublin. Releasing two EPs last year, producer mynameisjOhn is setting out pathways from his base in Ennis, rural County Clare. Collaborating with Shannon MC God Knows, whose delivery exacerbates the keen sense of neglect in Don’t Mind Me, with its strains of sad string samples, it fits a certain disenfranchised mood in austerity-hobbled Ireland.

ITALY: Polaroid
Paisley Reich – Margot
Their name makes me think of a parallel universe, where history took a weird and ultrasnob turn. These young kids from Rome really know how to mix psychedelia, shoegaze and indie-pop. From Deerhunter to C86, from Syd Barrett to Captured Tracks, Paisley Reich seem to have listened to a lot of different records. I wonder what will ever stop them. Download a free EP from their Bandcamp and expect beautiful things from them in the future.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
OKLobby – Fireworks
2012 saw a surge in the number of bedroom-based producers in Japan, as SoundCloud and Bandcamp became flooded with new EPs and albums from artists working from the comfort of their homes. Tokyo-based OKLobby popped up at the end of the year, and his skittery Fireworks (off the recently released Resort album, get it at the link above) ended up as one of the finest home-produced tracks of the last 12 months.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Dapuntobeat – Necesito Cambiar feat. Javiera Mena
Disco-funk has been the trademark sound of this Mexico City band for more than a decade, spawning international festivals, an inclusion on the FIFA 11 soundtrack and three – very slowly cooked – albums. Always in need of a female voice to be the cherry on top of their dancey instrumentals, Necesito Cambiar sees the all-male quintet join forces with Chilean indie-pop princess Javiera Mena, whom they have backed whenever she tours Mexico.

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Herrek – Rain
There’s an array of awesome Dutch underground bands planning to release new material in 2013 and that’s why we’re kicking off the year with an exclusive track from Herrek’s upcoming album Waktu Dulu, to be released via Snowstar Records on February 15. Herrek revolves around Gerrit van der Scheer (known as a member of the now-defunct but still legendary post-noise bands Bonne Aparte and Adept) and has seen some different incarnations over the past year. Finding inspiration in childhood years spent in a small, secluded village in Papua, Indonesia, Gerrit (pronounced Herrek by the Papuans) has now delivered a hypnotic and somewhat dark record, lamenting monsoons whilst combining tribal clapping, lulling guitars and mesmerising vocals.

PERU: SoTB
Dolores Delirio – A Cualquier Lugar
Dolores Delirio formed in 1994. Throughout their career, the sound of the band has shifted from 80s darkwave to gothic rock to hard rock and now simply rock. A Cualquier Lugar is from their first album Cero. This is an essential song in Peruvian rock history.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
kIRk – Pies Zdechł
In kIRk’s music it’s all about the meeting of electronic and acoustic, mixing free jazz trumpet sounds, frightening beats, vocal samples and sometimes scratches, with plenty of scope for improvisation. Although the trio have been around for a decade, they are gathering praise from listeners all over the world now. Pies Zdechł is kIRk’s first single from Zła Krew, the follow-up album of the critically acclaimed Msza Święta w Brąswałdzie.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Anarchicks – Restraining Order
Anarchicks are four women (Playgirl, Synthetique Red, Katari and JD) full of energy with different musical tastes and experiences. Following on from their Look What You Made Me Do EP, released in 2012, their debut album Really?! is out this month. From this record, we are privileged to share their first single, Restraining Order. Whether you like CSS, Sleater-Kinney or Pat Benatar, there is something for you in Anarchicks’ grrreat music.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Fofé y Los Fetiches – Barquito De Papel
José Luis Abreu aka Fofé is a seasoned veteran of the Puerto Rican music scene. El Manjar De Los Dioses and Circo are two of the most recognized rock ventures in part thanks to his iconic voice and powerful stage presence. When Fofé announced he was forming a brand new band expectations were high. On Christmas Day, Fofé and Los Fetiches presented themselves at seminal music venue La Respuesta and unleashed their debut album Lujo Eterno, which opens with Barquito De Papel. Taking elements from New Wave and La Movida Madrileña, their sound is polished but playful and totally danceable.

RUSSIA: Big Echo

Muc J – lagrng.pnts
Diligently following traditions, Muc J creates lounge-friendly abstract hip hop with wonky jazz elements. Dmitry Fedorov, from Saint-Petersburg, has an enviable flair for melody and turns his inner world towards to the listener. It’s a nice example of an album that is better than the sum of its tracks.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
The LaFontaines – Light Up The Background
You can’t help but wonder if The LaFontaines would be famous by now had they been from, say, Miami and not Motherwell. Combining Kerr Okan’s rap dexterity with a surprisingly accessible rock/pop sound, the band owe much of their reputation and loyal following to their invigorating, electric live performances. Light Up The Background proves beyond doubt The LaFontaines know how to write a knockout chorus – the video, with its freerunning, is a must-see too. They are currently recording their debut album which should hopefully be out this summer.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Jowall – Night Night
Jowall is a member of creative collective Byul.org, the Korean artist featured in April 2012′s MAP, but he did most of the work himself before releasing his second solo album Clean & Clear earlier this month. It hosts a variety of styles ranging from post-punk to dirty folktronica. Taken from the record is Night Night, with its convincing melody line and a warm, fuzzy sound.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Brunetto – License To Beat
Brunetto is from Sevilla but currently lives in Barcelona. We could call him a true electronic explorer as he doesn’t hesitate to discover a new world in the music he makes through layers of sounds, chosen fearlessly. Brunetto has remixed some well-known electronic acts such as The Suicide Of Western Culture (featured in September 2011′s MAP) and is set to release his fourth album later this year.

SWEDEN: Ja Ja Ja
Simian Ghost – Autumn Slowmo (For The Dejected Realist)
Stockholm-based three-piece Simian Ghost is no stranger to the average lover of Swedish music – or any music for that matter – as last year saw them go from talented to fully-fledged, very much thanks to their magnificent second album Youth. To crown 2012, they released a limited time free EP for Christmas called Autumn Slowmo (For The Dejected Realist), and we’ve been given the go-ahead to share its truly epic title track once more.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
The Fridge – Pilot
On their new album Draw The Plot, The Fridge create a fragile sketch of indie-pop meets chamber folk from horns, piano, guitars, bass, percussion, chimes, choral music and different electronic equipment. They offer an intimate yet powerful album.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Böbrek Soundsystem – Mantarların İçinde (Üzüntüden Uzakta)
Böbrek Soundsystem is an incognito producer/DJ who likes to combine incongruous Turkish sounds from trash movies, forgotten arabesque songs and anonymous Anatolian stuff with all kinds of improbability. Until we saw him live recently, we thought he was fooling around with us, but his show delivered an outstanding, ear-bleeding performance. Superbly creepy but catchy as hell.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Dragon Inn 3 – Rocket Launcher
Dragon Inn 3 is the side-project of Philip Dickey (Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin). The music plays like Beach House if the band existed right when the disco era was melting away. Bubbling synths, glamorous productions and smooth vocals create a soundtrack for the more introspective moments on and off the dance floor.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
12″ Ninjazz – Caracas
12″ Ninjazz is a hip hop trio formed by Dantes, DDA and DJ Threz. Their first album Boombap Mercenaries was released for free download in August 2012 and by the end of the year was listed as one of the best in the country. Boombap Mercenaries was mixed and mastered by musician Pedro Laprea in collaboration with well-known producers of the underground scene.

Music Alliance Pact – Decembrie 2012

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Stonebox – Welcome To My World
Stonebox are an alternative band from Bucharest with 90s rock influences, in particular grunge. Thanks to their mesmerizing live performances and energy they have played at the major festivals in Romania and gathered an impressive number of fans.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Olga – Dolor De Nuevo
Before you ask, Olga is not a solo artist but a band led by Roger Delahaye with Florencia Zavadivker and Luciano Lasca. Together they deliver electronic pop songs that near perfection, so it was hard to pick just one for MAP. Olor De Nuevo is our favorite from their new album, Gracias Tonales, which you can stream and buy from Bandcamp.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Sunk Junk – Jr
If Sunk Junk represent the calibre of young bands coming out of Oz, no-one can justify not being able to find decent new music ever again. Sunk Junk have only released one home recorded EP, but it’s definitely the most impressive thing we’ve heard all month. The elaborate percussion in Jr only feeds this assertion – weaving its labyrinthine way around intricate guitar lines and a hypnotic croon that could be easily mistaken for Jeff Buckley’s ghost. A sprawling track which teeters on the stark side of melody and mania, Jr is definitely a marker of good things to come from this band.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Clara Luzia – Morning Light
Morning Light contains some of my favourite lyrics: “We held hands and cried until the morning light”. Isn’t the idea of sharing one’s sadness with someone else just such a beautiful thought? After four successful records in Austria, singer-songwriter Clara Luzia recently released her international debut album The Range, a compilation of songs from her previous albums.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Metá Metá – Man Feriman
Ethno math-rock could be a way to try to explain the sound of Man Feriman, a song from the album MetaL MetaL from Paulistan project Metá Metá. Sung in Yoruba (a West African language), it has elements of African liturgical music, free jazz and alternative rock, with a three-verse lyric that is repeated over the song to create an experimental, dark mantra.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Elephant Stone – Heavy Moon
Montreal “Hindi rockers” Elephant Stone defy easy categorization. Echoes of The Stone Roses, The Kinks, Sloan and Big Star abound, but in the end the band crafts their own unique sound. Their sophomore self-titled LP is due early in 2013, but Elephant Stone have been teasing Canadian fans for the past few weeks with Heavy Moon.

CHILE: Super 45
Protistas – Granada
In just a few years, Protistas has become one of the most active bands in the Chilean indie rock scene. They frequently perform in Santiago, with appearances on blogs’ multimedia shows and local festivals (Primavera Fauna, Pulsar), along with tours across Chile and Argentina. They have released two albums and an EP since 2009. Their melodies combine the poignancy of Sebadoh with the urgent impact of Guided By Voices, in a style they’ve named “wild pop” – bittersweet songs with an explosive, intense guitar sound.

CHINA: Wooozy
Rainbow Danger Club – The Gathering Of Fools
As one of Shanghai’s most talented new bands, Rainbow Danger Club has been wowing music fans since 2010. Their theatrical live shows, fantastical lyrics and lush arrangements have drawn comparisons to Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Hector Berlioz. Last month they released their new 12-track Into The Cellar EP.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Lucrecia Dalt – Conversa
Lucrecia Dalt’s musical journey has taken her from the city of Pereira to Barcelona, Spain, where she currently lives. With guitar and drum machine she makes introspective music with many layers that stirs the imagination of the listener. She has traveled the road of independence and now with Conversa, from her 2012 album Commotus, she grabs our attention again.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
The Woken Trees – Orders
I know December is supposed to be all about lights and happy times, but here’s a MAP exclusive track and a band that is almost exactly the opposite. There are six of them, they call themselves The Woken Trees and they’ve recorded an awesomely bleak and hard-hitting post-punk debut album which is sure to make waves everywhere when released on January 28.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Juango Dávalos – 6PM
Juango Dávalos borrows his musical inspiration from the 80s, but the songs he composes are surprisingly fresh and modern. 6PM is part of his most recent album, Réplica, which is also available as a free download.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Swing Original Monks – Tucán
Swing Original Monks broke into the musical scene in early 2010. The band offers a proposal that is both visual and aural, feminine and masculine, provocative and subtle. The inventiveness of these musicians extracts the essence of popular music with the picturesque landscapes and absurdities of our society. Swing Original Monks is not a fusion band, it’s an infusion band.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Swiss Lips – Carolyn
Swiss Lips are a five-piece from Manchester who are more Delphic than Courteeners. Carolyn is part of the city’s electronic history rather than its less illustrious trad-rock one. They use the fizzy electro-pop medium to express feelings of longing for better days. “Most of the songs we’ve written seem to be about looking back on being a teenager and that wide-eyed optimism about the world,” they say, which might explain the giddy chorus to Carolyn – “Hey, hey, Carolyn, get into my car/Keep your feet up on the dashboard” – and its memory of illicit abandon.

FINLAND: Glue
Murmansk – Mercury
Helsinki band Murmansk play loud noise-rock built from powerful guitars and upfront bass and drum beats. Their songs are notable for their propensity for melody and the energetic performance of vocalist Laura Soininen. Mercury is part of the band’s recently released third full-length album Rüütli.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Lescop – La Forêt
Mathieu Lescop, singer for the rock band Asyl, recently started a solo project and released an eponymous album in October under the name Lescop. Heavily influenced by the French (Étienne Daho, Daniel Darc) and British (Joy Division, New Order) coldwave and new-wave, he achieved much success in France with his single La Forêt, and consequently is the most talked-about artist in the country.

GERMANY: Coltran
Binoculers – Monsters
Binoculers is an artist you might easily overlook, given the reserved attitude of Nadja Ruedebusch. But you would miss some of the most thoughtful folk music Germany can currently offer. This is the kind of thing you might like to hear on a foggy winter’s day or a sparkling spring afternoon when you lay down in the grass for the first time that year. Binoculers’ third album, There Is Not Enough Space In The Dark, has just been released.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Manolis Aggelakis – Apoleipein o Theos Antonion
Manolis Aggelakis’ fourth album, O Anthropos Vomva (“The Bomb Man”), is yet another sensational landmark on his long, well-traveled path. Guitars, tightly tied drums, dirty electronic sounds and noises gently form otherworldly landscapes. Along with his distinctive voice and disarming performance, the lyrical themes portray an authentic troubadour recording signs of difficult times with a gloomy nostalgia for bygone eras. Apoleipein o Theos Antonion (“The God Abandons Antony”) is a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Pojke – Black Eye
Sindri Már Sigfússon, singer and songwriter for bands such as Seabear and Sin Fang, has recently been exploring his electronic side through a side-project titled Pojke. So far he has released two songs as Pojke on his SoundCloud page which can be downloaded and remixed freely.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Funny Little Dream – Be With You
This is the latest single from Funny Little Dream, aka Ganesh and Peppy, whose cute indie-pop songs have received a great response from fans around the world.

IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Windings – This Is A Conversation
A five-piece band from Limerick, Windings released This Is A Conversation as a single in September. Introduced with a clean guitar and racy keys, the light pop intentions go slightly awry when Steve Ryan starts belting out the vocals, repeating nine lines of lyrics in chorus-like bursts. There comes a mighty bass riff that lays down the heavy element, and a few light taps of cymbal domes mark time for the band to gather up and go all-out towards a hugely satisfying rock crescendo.

ITALY: Polaroid
Life & Limb – Before The Flame And The Flood
Andrea Mangia comes from Lecce; Mike McGuire comes from New York. They have both released solo albums on the prestigious German label Morr Music, which is how they met in 2006 and started collaborating. They are now releasing their self-titled third album, and it is gorgeous as always: uplifting electronic sounds full of lush synths, fat downtempo beats and ultrasweet melodies. If you like M83 or The Postal Service, you’ll be carried away by Life & Limb.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
HNC – I Will Make You Sad
HNC (short for Hazel Nuts Chocolate) has been in the Japanese music scene for more than a decade, originally operating as a hyperactive pop maker. Now, though, she is making music grounded in reality, shaped by actually living through the ups and downs of time. I Will Make You Sad is a sparse meditation on inevitable disappointment, HNC and her music sounding melancholy but all the while aware that she is the one who is going to let someone down.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Claire Tonna – Age Of No Age
Singer-songwriter Claire Tonna is known for her profound, exceptional voice and awe-inspiring performances. Tonna’s innovative acoustic debut studio album The Port, which contains collaborations with acclaimed writer Maria Mar, gets its first international release in New Zealand this month.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Verano Peligroso – Culpable
Verano Peligroso (translated as “Dangerous Summer”) is the boy-girl pet project of an omnivorous studio-rat and a gorgeous radio presenter for a Mexico City indie-rock station. They just released their debut EP on which Culpable stands as a naive call-and-response song that, in contrast to its twee-pop sound, tells a story about a crime of passion. This pair really spend their time in a peculiar way!

NETHERLANDS: Subbacultcha!
Kleinindustrie – Repetition
Kleinindustrie emerged from out of nowhere in 2010, wowing live audiences and winning two big music competitions in Utrecht, the band’s hometown. After this sudden burst to the surface, the band shrouded itself in a veil of mystery. Although some said they emigrated to Norway to live off the prize money, 2011 turned out to be the quiet before the storm. Since February 2012, Kleinindustrie has released three EPs and toured all over the Netherlands. Repetition stems from their latest release, Hit It!, which meanders loosely between no-wave and straightforward noise-rock. With a relentless drummer, menacing singer and a bass player and guitarist in one, Kleinindustrie have created a huge sound that’s naturally fit for repetition.

PERU: SoTB
Sergio Cubas – Ruteando
Ruteando is taken from Sergio Cubas’ debut album Revolución Caliente. For this album, Sergio performs a mix of different musical styles such as dub, lounge, jazz and reggae linked to various Peruvian influences such as Afro-Peruvian music and Festejo. Revolución Caliente (listen on SoundCloud) features 11 songs that are an invitation to relax.

POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
Afro Kolektyw – Czasem Pada Śnieg w Styczniu (Zakazane Warzywo)
Afro Kolektyw is one of Poland’s most distinguished bands, with a music career spanning nearly 14 years, from organic hip hop, jazz and funk origins to electronic elements in more recent tunes. Although Afro Kolektyw have never been tied to only one style, their latest album, Piosenki Po Polsku, shocked listeners. With songwriting inspired by 80s Polish pop and sarcastic lyrics, this journey seems to be Afro’s most risky and ambitious one yet.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
A Jigsaw – Let It Snow!
A Jigsaw, who were on the Music Alliance Pact in March 2012 with their fantastic song The Strangest Friend, have been kind enough to let us share their exquisite cover of the classic Let It Snow!, which was on a very limited edition benefit CD for a children’s hospital in Coimbra. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to them and all of you.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Alegría Rampante – Hotel Puercoespín
When Puerto Rico’s indie darlings Superaquello disbanded in 2011, they left behind four remarkable LPs and a disappointed fanbase not ready to miss them. A year later, fans can breathe easier thanks to vocalist, composer and dramatist Eduardo Alegría, who has emerged with a new musical project – Alegría Rampante. Eduardo and his group of skilled collaborators from the local indie scene have quietly built an arsenal of melodic earworms to be released over the next few months as the digital singles collection Se Nos Fue La Mano. Hotel Puercoespín is the second song from the cycle, an upbeat baroque pop-rocker full of Eduardo’s trademark playful lyrics and sincere delivery. Alegría Rampante is Latin Alternative’s best kept secret – but not for long, so get in first.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Stonebox – Welcome To My World
Stonebox are an alternative band from Bucharest with 90s rock influences, in particular grunge. Thanks to their mesmerizing live performances and energy they have played at the major festivals in Romania and gathered an impressive number of fans.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Astrocowboys – We Give Blood
Using a Soviet LEL DR-8 drum machine, cheap synthesizer and jangly guitar, Astrocowboys from Saint Petersburg create their familiar, yet distinctive sound. Their deep, sweet-sounding lo-fi album Olympic has an unusual combination of influences from New Order-esque synthpop to old school hip hop and early electro.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Three Blind Wolves – Parade
Three Blind Wolves may be from Glasgow, but it’s the American Deep South that resonates most emphatically in their music. They are a little bit country, a little bit hillbilly rock ‘n’ roll, yet their versatility means they’re equally at home in indie and folk circles. Their new album Sing Hallelujah For The Old Machine comes out in April, with the coil-sprung standout track Parade released as a single in October (alongside this promo video), but here it is as an exclusive free download.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
.gif – Diatribe
.gif embodies the illusion of data passing off as real-life moving images by giving us an electronic amalgamation of observatory life with shades of melancholy, hope and resolution. While usually accompanied by ukulele, Weish finds the embrace of warm textures courtesy of Din, with synthesizers and beat arrangements assembling base emotions into the soul of a machine.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Sasquatch – Mannequin
Sasquatch emerged this year with a retro synth sound reminiscent of the very best of K-pop of the 80s and the 90s, bound to charm even those with no knowledge of Korean music prior to Gangnam Style. Debut album Utopia was released last month, with lead track Mannequin and its addictive harmonies and melody lines serving as the perfect introduction to the band.

SPAIN: Musikorner
NITCH – Bon Dia, Capità
NITCH are a three-piece rock/shoegaze act based in Barcelona. They started in 2007 and so far they have played in almost every (cool) venue in town and supported important underground local bands. Now it’s their turn to be in the spotlight, and this month they played at the Primavera Club festival, Primavera Sound’s little brother.

« | »

SWEDEN: Ja Ja Ja
VED – Din Egen Spegelbild
VED is a five-piece project from southern Sweden inspired by old film scores, obscure audio recordings, progressive rock and folk music. A collection of their experimental, epic creations was recently released through the ever-reliable label Adrian Recordings, and Din Egen Spegelbild (translated as “Your Own Reflection”) is the latest track to be shared from VED’s self-titled album.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Mama Rosin – Sorry Ti Monde
The Cajun/folk/garage trio released their new album Bye Bye Bayou in October, which was produced by Jon Spencer from the legendary Blues Explosion. Cyril, Robin and Xavier from Mama Rosin are consistently entertaining on stage and entirely passionate about their art. Plus they are good at a party!

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Meriva – Hepberaberyalnız
Meriva formed with five close friends in 2007. They get their musical inspiration from people’s struggle to win back their self-esteem and therefore reflect urban life complications in their alternative rock sound, which is often danceable and catchy. Meriva hope to progress their career with the release of their debut album in 2013.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
Teen Mom – I Wanna Go Out
Washington DC trio Teen Mom are the type of band that act as a reminder that simple music can pack a punch. Staying away from flash or gimmicks, they focus on a splashy guitar, rattling bass and fast-paced drums to craft Mean Tom, one of the most infectious EPs of 2012.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Planeador – Al Diablo
Planeador returns to the Music Alliance Pact, this time with a track from Barcelona 10C, certainly one of the best albums released this year in Venezuela. Its deeper lyrics and more elaborate melodies reflect the musical maturity of the band.