GERMANY – Blogpartei
Apparat – Ash/Black Veil
Download audio file (Apparat-AshBlackVeilGermany.mp3)
This month we’ve got one of the most discussed German artists of last year. Apparat’s 2011 album The Devil’s Walk took the concept of Sascha Ring, the man behind the moniker, further. The soundscapes created feels like a cairn, carefully layered and poised, yet built to last; but Ring has decided to use his falsetto, which has caused controversy with reviewers. Decide for yourself if this concept works well on Ash/Black Veil. I think it does!

Um alle 36 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Nubes En Mi Casa – Aceleremos
Download audio file (NubesEnMiCasa-Aceleremos(Argentina).mp3)
Nubes En Mi Casa is an indie-pop band led by singer Josefina Mac Loughlin. Aceleremos is a preview from their upcoming second studio album, Me Suelto y Vuelvo. The song sounds like an instant hit and we’re sure it will become one of our favorite tracks of 2012, so we can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Sures – The Sun
Download audio file (The-Sun.mp3)
The Sun is a short burst of sunshine from Sydney duo Sures. It sounds like a Beach Boys outtake, which might sound boring given the number of bands out there paying homage to Wilson and Co. Fortunately, The Sun is just two minutes of harmonising over a dull melody – it’s a catchy tune that will have those of us in the southern hemisphere pressing repeat throughout summer.

AUSTRIA – Walzerkönig
Diver – Illusions
Download audio file (Diver-Illusions(Austria).mp3)
Quiet is the new loud. Diver, a folky trio from various places in Austria and Germany and now based in Vienna, play beautifully melancholic songs with three acoustic guitars and lyrics that go “everyday reality is an illusion of possibilities”. Illusions is the opener of their first full-length album Kites, which will be out later this month. In the meantime you can listen to their self-titled debut EP on Bandcamp.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
Bixiga 70 – Balboa Da Silva
Download audio file (Bixiga%2070%20-%20Balboa%20da%20Silva%20%28Brazil%29.mp3)
Bixiga 70 is what happens when you combine African beats, jazz and Brazilian swing in a city as hectic as São Paulo, where they’re from. Their first CD was released last year and is available to download at the band’s website.

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
Honheehonhee – We Only Go
Download audio file (Honheehonhee-WeOnlyGo.mp3)
There’s more than a hint of early Arcade Fire to We Only Go but, as someone who misses early Arcade Fire, I don’t see why that’s a strike against Honheehonhee. Besides, this song (not to mention the rest of their debut, Shouts) is exuberant, unhinged fun, and the world can always use more music like that.

CHILE – Super 45
Los Embajadores – Peso
Download audio file (Los_Embajadores_-_Peso_-_Chile.mp3)
From all the tips made in the Chilean music scene for this year, Los Embajadores is one of the most interesting. Romantic goth-pop songs reminiscent of Cocteau Twins as well as the darkest hours of Miguel Bosé. Faisanes is the name of their soon-to-come new album, and Peso (“Weight”) is its first single.

CHINA – Wooozy
Elenore – Psycho Man
Download audio file (Elenore%20-%20Psycho%20Man%20(China).mp3)
Beijing-based Elenore formed in late 2009 and have developed a sound influenced by bands such as Oasis, Kasabian and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The single Psycho Man fuses 60s swing drum loops, fuzzy guitar riffs and a Middle Eastern instrumental chorus which became a hit on China’s popular site Douban. In February, Elenore will release their first EP both on CD and the band’s own digital distribution site.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Nelson Can – Apple Pie
Download audio file (Nelson_Can_-_Apple_Pie_-_Denmark.mp3)
Danish girl-trio Nelson Can release their eponymous debut EP this month as part of a triple EP release with The Freudian Slip and Echo Me. Punk aesthetics spoon with pop flair and hipster cool on their first single Apple Pie, which reaffirms that apples are indeed a good thing. Like the girls on Facebook and check out the video for Apple Pie on YouTube.

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
Money – Who’s Going To Love You Now
Download audio file (WhosGoingToLoveYouNow.mp3)
A four-piece based in Manchester, Money are part of that city’s tradition of earnest young men, “the weight on their shoulder”, as Ian Curtis once sang. They quote Austrian poet Rilke, while their Facebook features a “eulogy for the death of everything”. A recent Guardian New Band of the Day article contended that they “have a similar air of mystery and cerebral intensity to Wu Lyf, with a vocalist who can do enigmatically gruff as well as fervid and angelic”, positing them as the Mancunian Manic Street Preachers, with a shared sense of the sacred and intense.

ESTONIA – Popop
Zebra Island – Falling Through
Download audio file (Zebra_Island_-_Falling_Through_-_Estonia.mp3)
Mysterious Zebra Island rocketed into blogs and social networks at the very end of 2011 and everyone in Estonia seems to love them, although no-one knows much about the band. Zebra Island is led by Rasmus Lill from Kosmofon (featured in the March 2011 edition of MAP) and beautiful vocals are provided by Helina Risti. Falling Through, their first and only song so far, is a lovely, pulsating electro-pop masterpiece that keeps you wanting for much more Zebra Island.

FINLAND – Glue
Greymouth – The Boy
Download audio file (greymouth_the_boy_finland.mp3)
Singer and songwriter Elisa Husu founded Greymouth in the summer of 2011 to recreate her folky songs with a full band. The Boy is the first taster of this project and highlights Elisa’s beautiful voice on top of epic acoustic sounds with a marked Fleet Foxes influence.

FRANCE – Yet You’re Fired
Concrete Knives – Brand New Start
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A perfect title for the first song of the year, Brand New Start is a highly enjoyable pop song, so good it’s featured in a commercial, and so fresh with its choir and upbeat sound, I would name it song of the year. Very good proof that the French indie scene is better than ever.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
Hristos Lainas – H Thlipsi To Brady
Download audio file (Hristos_Lainas_-_H_Thlipsi_To_Brady_-_Greece.mp3)
Hristos Lainas’ first solo album, I Agapi Tha Lampsi (“Love Will Shine”) is stuffed to the brim with alluring pop melodies, drenched in skittering 12-bit samplers, filtered vocals, warm and luscious analog synths and infused with a pleasant aura of drowsiness. Lainas assembles an array of sounds and textures, adds sporadic splashes of static atmosphere and in the process creates a magnificent listening environment of rose-tinted optimism and disenchantment. H Thlipsi To Brady (“Sadness In The Night”) submerges a sense of intense feeling within its 80s fantasy electronic ether and instantly takes hold of your ears.

ICELAND – Rjóminn
Toggi – Let Them Bleed
Download audio file (01-Let-Them-Bleed.mp3)
This catchy little song, taken from the Iceland king of pop’s second album Wonderful Secrets, should be the anthem for any self-respecting Occupy movement. Feeling a need to protest? Then let Toggi’s tune occupy your mind and fire you up.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
Belkastrelka – Pujian Ekspatriat
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Belkastrelka are an eccentric electronic duo who sample sounds from various sources – windows, the library, television, nature and everything else. Combined with the tiny but wild vocals of Asa Rahmana, they create feral dance music.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Collie Collins & Monto – How Does?!?
Download audio file (Collie_Collins_Monto_How_Does_IRELAND.mp3)
A collaboration indicative of Ireland’s growing insurgency against genre borders, Keep Her Lit is an EP which was released last year from Dublin rapper Collie Collins. Teaming up with producer Monto for four tracks of electronic-infused rap, the result is something wholly Irish yet globally progressive. It’s a free download too.

ITALY – Polaroid
Esperanza – Aliante Giallo
Download audio file (esperanza_-_aliante_giallo.mp3)
Three skilled musicians and DJs put together a project devoted to an idea of music with no barriers. The sound ranges from chillwave to house, from trip-hop to psychedelia, and becomes a wide landscape. Featuring a collaboration with Banjo Or Freakout and released on the prestigious German label Gomma, this album works magic when the bpms slow down and the electronics becomes warmer and warmer.

JAPAN – Make Believe Melodies
Praha Depart – Portrait Man
Download audio file (Praha%20Depart%20-%20Portrait%20Man%20%28Japan%29.mp3)
Praha Depart demand attention, the Tokyo band mixing constantly morphing guitar with drum smashes to create mesmerizing tracks that reveal new sonic details with each new listen. All of those elements appear on Portrait Man, but the highlight of the song is lead singer Mai and her jittery voice. Over the course of Portrait Man, her vocals bring to mind Lydia Lunch before zigging towards a style reminiscent of Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings.

MALTA – Stagedive Malta
Dolls For Idols – Run
Download audio file (Dolls-For-Idols-Run-Malta.mp3)
Dolls For Idols are an electronic band underpinned by indie and pop sensibilities. Their music embraces 80s-inspired synthesised sounds and the 90s rave generation, all served up with an attitude that is very much rooted in the here and now.

MEXICO – Red Bull Panamérika
Los Mundos – Ni Un Segundo Más Sin Música
Download audio file (03-Ni-un-segundo-más-sin-música-1.mp3)
Los Mundos is a long-distance collaboration that perfectly speaks about musical memory and desertic solitude. The title of this lush pop-shoegaze song means “Not a second more without music”. Indeed, it’s the urgent need of a music lover: to spend all their time in a record store (how nostalgic), living their days wearing headphones with an obsession for everything that spins – very accurate for a band whose name in Spanish translates as “The Worlds”.

NETHERLANDS – Unfold Amsterdam
Hospital Bombers – Traditional Maori Fight Song #9
Download audio file (hospitalbombers-traditionalmaorifightsong9.mp3)
This self-proclaimed stadium-folk outfit have been in hiding for too long, sitting on a wealth of new material that they’ve struggled to shape into that ‘difficult second album’. Thankfully, this month they’ll finally release the sequel to 2008′s Footnotes – the grandly titled At Budokan. Their lovingly lo-fi folk-pop is always rougher and rawer in the live setting, but this new collection again shows them up to be masters of careful songcraft, albeit unashamedly quirky songcraft that’s emblazoned with handclaps and violins.

NORWAY – Birds Sometimes Dance
Billie Van – On My Knees
Download audio file (Billie_Van_-_On_My_Knees_-_Norway.mp3)
Billie Van’s music makes me reminisce back to the 50s and the 60s, when country music was good and Nancy Sinatra was the one; when rock ‘n’ roll meant four chords and terrific songs; when guitar solos were mandatory and slapback echo came from the amps. Her music is all of this – great pop songs, tearful country ballads and hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s also new and done in a refreshing way.

PERU – SoTB
Chico Unicornio – Triángulo
Download audio file (Chico%20Unicornio%20-%20Tri%C3%A1ngulo%20%28Peru%29.mp3)
Once again, it is the independent scene that gives us another interesting musical proposal. Chico Unicornio is a one-man project that combines acoustic folk sounds with a nice Andean instrument called a charango. The music that this young man makes is new to our local sound, giving it a freshness and novelty.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
We Trust – Time (Better Not Stop)
Download audio file (We_Trust_-_Time_Better_not_stop_-_Portugal.mp3)
We Trust is André Tentugal’s one-man band. In 2011, Time (Better Not Stop) was one of the most-played tracks by a new independent artist on Portuguese radio. We are proud to have it here, exclusively, for download for MAP readers. You can also find it on We Trust’s debut album, These New Countries, which was released in November.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
Coughy – Precambrian
Download audio file (Coughy_-_Precambrian%20%28Romania%29.mp3)
Coughy are an experimental duo residing in Bucharest, featuring former and current band members of The Amsterdams. Therefore it is regarded as a creative playground where everything is accepted as a form of expression without the self-censorship required when playing in a regular and quite popular indie-rock band.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
M A Y Г L E Y – Farfour
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M A Y Г L E Y are getting ready to strike Russia’s cruel winter with an ancient God’s spell, drowned in a wall of sound. Religion, symbolism, adrenaline, isolated genres and the naked language of post-Stalin 60s influence this psychedelic shoegaze project, who have made a great record.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
Make Sparks – Your Heart’s On Fire
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Scotland’s rock scene is firmly in the spotlight thanks to the wildly successful exploits of Biffy Clyro and young pretenders Twin Atlantic. For those looking for the next band to follow in their footsteps, two contenders stand out: Make Sparks and LightGuides (featured in the July 2010 edition of MAP). Catchy choruses are fitted as standard on Make Sparks, who are making all the right noises with their relentless touring and recording ethic, slick promo videos and a vivacious pop sensibility.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
Riot !n Magenta – CTRL
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Do androids dream of electric sheep? One thinks of such things when the contrast between the organic and inorganic meld together into a primordial blur of passion. Riot !n Magenta gently slip into the stream of your thoughts with Hayashida Ken’s dark, pulsing rhythms and Eugenia Yip’s wispful and forlorn vocal delivery. There’s tension in every stem as the words haze through: “I try to take it slow, you go faster…You need control…”. Definitely hoping to hear more from this special duo.

SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Mover & Shaker!
Jeremy Loops – The Gypsy Opera
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Jeremy Loops is not a traditional band. He creates music on the spot with his gamut of loop pedals and impromptu collaborations. With The Gypsy Opera, he brings together his delicate mix of folk, hip-hop, bluegrass funk and blues all by using his guitar, ukelele, harmonica and beatboxing skills. It is something rather magical to behold.

SOUTH KOREA – Korean Indie
Galaxy Express – As Time Passes, Always Been Good
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Galaxy Express is one of the best rock bands in Korea and have been for quite some time. During their Wild 30 project in 2010, a 30-day quest during which they recorded a piece of music for their Wild Days album every day, they showed that they put on the best of performances, even just going to karaoke. In late 2011, Galaxy Express released split EP Naughty Boy with Korean punk pioneers Crying Nut, which contained a re-recording of the somewhat atypical but gorgeous and engaging As Time Passes, Always Been Good from those wild days. Look out for more from Galaxy Express in 2012 as they’re heading for a US tour in March and playing SXSW for the second time.

SPAIN – Musikorner
Dolores – Volcán
Download audio file (Dolores%20-%20Volcan%20(Spain).mp3)
Dolores are four, they’re from Madrid and they are certainly one of the best hopes for noise-rock made in Spain. Post-punk and shoegaze are two of the genres Dolores mix for achieving their sound (which is also spiced up with a touch of good ol’ pop and loads of energy). A good bit of that power can be heard on Volcán (“Volcano”), whose stunning rhythm will invite you to dance the hell out of yourself. And you won’t be able to refuse.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
Blanket – Hailey Fought The Law
Download audio file (Blanket-Hailey-Fought-The-Law-Switzerland.mp3)
Want to watch a video starring the runner-up of the figure roller-skating world championships dressed as a rabbit? Here you go. Given that Blanket’s accompanying song is a fragile and psychedelic piece of awesomeness, we obviously have a win-win situation.

TURKEY – WEARTBEAT
Haossaa – Holgar Godoni
Download audio file (haossaa_holgar_godini_turkey.mp3)
Last year, Ozan Aktuna, Enis Özbek and Tolga Güldalli, three-pieced avant garde noise band Haossaa, became legends in the indie scene of Istanbul, mostly for their extraordinary live performances. And when their debut LP came out last September, their reputation finally got crowned.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
Fantasy Island – Avenue
Download audio file (Avenue.mp3)
One of 2012′s more promising American groups is Fantasy Island, a Los Angeles duo responsible for a pair of intriguing, soulful jams since their formation in late 2011. They’ve got a new single out on UK label Stroll On Records and a debut album on the horizon. With a song like Avenue (and the equally fantastic Breaking A Heart) it’s hard to keep wild expectations in check… guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the year cooks up.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Okills – Nube
Download audio file (Okills%20-%20Nube%20%28Venezuela%29.mp3)
Okills is a band that started in mid-2010 and fuses alternative indie-rock with other genres, resulting in some fun music. In September 2011, they released their Iniciando Transmisión EP for free via the web in a pack that includes six songs, illustrations and photos of the band.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Kraków Loves Adana – Silver Screen
Download audio file (KrakowLovesAdana-SilverScreenGermany.mp3)
The Black Forest, a myth. Since Kraków Loves Adana come from Freiburg, we can all speculate whether the forest has its influence or not. Hence, the sound of this duo is outstanding. The voice of Deniz Cicek is remarkably dark and complex, the use of the instruments is deliberate, creating deep and slightly ominous songs. Silver Screen is a MAP exclusive from their upcoming second album, which will be released in early 2012.

Um alle 36 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Empire Of The Moon – Transition
Download audio file (TheEmpireoftheMoon-Transition(Argentina).mp3)
The Empire Of The Moon is the new project of Juan Sábato, a former member of Brian Storming, a band that was featured in the first edition of MAP (and, by the way, the grandson of writer Ernesto Sábato). Transition is the first single from The Empire Of The Moon’s just-released debut EP, Saturday Children, for which he wrote all the music, lyrics and beautiful pop arrangements.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Tim Fitz – The Line
Download audio file (The-Line.mp3)
Tim Fitz is a 21-year-old producer/instrumentalist/singer from Sydney. He put out his first EP, Infinite Space, in March but his latest release, Beforetime, is definitely a rich picking. Some might hear genre spanning and others will hear indecisiveness, but there’s a great feel to this collection of tracks. The Line is a good example of Fitz’s kaleido-instrumentals. Just as the flouncy percussion gets into the proper swing of things, we get bombarded by drive-high fuzz around the one-minute mark. Fitz’s sound is original, but the way he has put his sounds together is still familiar enough to catch on to.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Nana Rizinni – Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart
Download audio file (Nana%20Rizinni%20-%20Nice%20figure%2C%20dangerous%20heart%20(Brazil).mp3)
It’s almost 2012, but listening to this song from singer/drummer Nana Rizinni can take you back to the 90s with an awesome “sounds like The Breeders feeling”. Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart is from her first album, I Said, which is available to download from her website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Fevers – Passion Is Dead (Long Live Fashion)
Download audio file (Fevers-PassionIsDeadLongLiveFashion.mp3)
Fevers’ debut full-length (which is currently free via Bandcamp) is a wonderful blend of disco-pop and ambient Stars/Young Galaxy-style space-rock. This song, the title track from the album, falls firmly into the former category. It’s five and a half minutes of a glorious, life-affirming, wave-your-arms-in-the-air anthem, and it sets the stage for one of the best albums of the year.

CHILE: Super 45
Tio Lucho – Ilusión Rebelde
Download audio file (Tio_Lucho_-_Ilusion_rebelde_-_Chile.mp3)
Even though Tio Lucho had an aggressive, non-conformist punk sound when they started, it has developed into a more danceable and, clearly, more passive format. Produced by Chalo González, their new album Innombrable, released through Cazador, has a strong new wave influence. Ilusión Rebelde is its first single.

CHINA: Wooozy
Mini Train Heart – Just This Feeling
Download audio file (Mini%20Train%20Heart%20-%20Just%20This%20Feeling%20(China).mp3)
Formed in 2009, Mini Train Heart is a peculiar band based in Wuhan. The band is noted for their unpredictable drumbeats and manic vocals. Also, you can’t easily tell who their influences are. We recommend you just drown in the lo-fi atmosphere and enjoy their uniquely dry humor in how they see this generation.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Anchorless – A Step Too Steep
Download audio file (Anchorless_-_A_Step_Too_Steep_-_Denmark.mp3)
Comprising members of bands such as Lack, The River Phoenix and The Fashion, indie-rock six-piece Anchorless are currently finishing their debut album, which I assume will be released early-ish next year. Until then dive in, dig and download A Step Too Steep from their six-song eponymous 2010 debut EP, which you can in fact download in full through this link.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Citizens! – True Romance (Populette remix)
Download audio file (TrueRomanceCitizens.mp3)
This is an exclusive remix of the debut single, True Romance, by a London-based five-piece who have just signed to French electronic/indie label Kitsuné. Their debut album, due early next year, has been produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. The video to the single was directed by LA’s High5Collective, the team behind shorts for The Weeknd and Odd Future. And they believe that “pop is not a dirty word. It’s a holy one”. For Citizens!, pop is something David Bowie did in the 70s – they conflate glam-era Bowie and Bowie in Berlin with some of the tart arrogance of Suede and louche energy of Franz.

ESTONIA: Popop
Shelton San – Well-Behaved
Download audio file (Shelton_San_-_Well_Behaved_-_Estonia.mp3)
Noise-rock band Shelton San started rocking the small Estonian indie scene in 2002 and, almost 10 years later, they are stronger than ever, creating massive, raw, hypnotic atmospheres, always polished, but never sterile. In 2006, they received the Estonian Music Award for the best punk/metal artist. Shelton San’s second LP was released on December 12.

FINLAND: Glue
Zebra And Snake – Burden
Download audio file (zebra_and_snake_burden_finland.mp3)
Matti and Tapio, best known as Zebra And Snake, positioned themselves as the next big thing in Finnish electro-pop in 2010 and since then, the duo has been carefully crafting their debut album while playing anywhere from Iceland to Indonesia. Burden, the first single off Healing Music (out in spring 2012), is an epic pop song with a Blood On The Dance Floor beat, analogue electronic hooks and powerful Bowie-esque vocals.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Marauders – Galley-Slave
Download audio file (Marauders%20-%20Galley-Slave%20%28France%29.mp3)
Marauders formed in the late 80s in Strasbourg, and have been making garage rock ever since, before it was cool and re-popularized by The Black Keys. The quartet, who have released two LPs and appeared in various compilations, play short, edgy songs and are pretty awesome live. Galley-Slave is a sweet, soft-rock ballad that deserves some attention.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
2L8 – Let It Go
Download audio file (2L8_-_Let_it_go_-_Greece.mp3)
A collective led by K the Clown and comprised of talented Greek musicians, 2L8 is a bold and electrifying project that has come to be categorized by their radical stylistic shifts between albums. New Battles, Without Honor And Humanity is packed with feverous instrumental intensity and florid arrangements based on bursting guitars, pounding drums, subtle and luminous climaxes, dramatic strings and brass, hypnotically simple melodies, inner monologues and trembling, frantically passionate vocals, desperate and bleak lyrics about resistance, equity, freedom, love and equality coupled with a sense of hope.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Low Roar – Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out
Download audio file (Low-Roar-06-Friends-Make-Garbage-Good-Friends-Take-It-Out.mp3)
Low Roar is the personal project of Ryan Karazija who, almost two years ago, moved from San Francisco to Reykjavík to follow the love of his life. His self-titled debut chronicles the challenges of starting anew in a foreign land and the struggles to acclimatize, find work and support his family in the Icelandic winter. Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out, one of the highlights of the album, is a haunting, emotive and slightly melancholic song with a melody that will undoubtedly keep playing in your head long after the song is over.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Stars And Rabbit – Worth It
Download audio file (Stars_and_Rabbit-Worth_It-Indonesia.mp3)
Stars And Rabbit are probably one of this country’s most promising indie acts. The duo mix some soul from Joan Baez, the cuteness of Lisa Mitchell and the playful touch of Björk to produce catchy, beautiful pop songs.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Come On Live Long – Elephants And Time
Download audio file (Come_On_Live_Long_-_Elephants_and_Time.mp3)
Formed last year, Come On Live Long have picked up a steady pace in no time as evident on the release of their latest EP entitled Mender. They make far-reaching alternative songs with considerable melodies, synths and a strong singular sound. Production by Nouveaunoise electronic maestro Conor Gaffney helps too. Ones to watch.

ITALY: Polaroid
Distanti – Astronomie
Download audio file (Distanti_-_Astronomie.mp3)
Distanti sing in Italian, but even if you don’t speak our old and praiseworthy language, I’m sure you’ll understand – in fact, you will totally feel the way Distanti tear up their post-punk sound. Visceral. Urgent. Clever. They just released a new EP, Mamba Nero, which you can get at To Lose La Track. And try to catch Distanti live, they’re amazing.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Love And Hates – Party Trash
Download audio file (Love%20And%20Hates%20-%20Party%20Trash%20%28Japan%29.mp3)
Love And Hates is a collaboration between Yuppa and Moe, two of the best indie artists in Japan today, from HNC and Miila And The Geeks respectively. Love And Hates finds them teaming up to make rap music with indie-pop touches, or kindergarten hip-hop as they dubbed it. Party Trash, with its cutesy chopped-and-screwed intro and solid structure, is not a lame dorm-room joke but rather a fun, appreciative stab at the genre. UGK they are not, but they still feel like a blast.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
nosnow/noalps – Far Into The Night (Without You)
Download audio file (nosnownoalps-Far-Into-the-Night-Without-You1.mp3)
nosnow/noalps began its journey over mountainous terrain in early 2007 with their poppy indie-rock seasoned with punk, reggae and ska. Soon after, the quartet hit the live circuit with an energy and force comparable to an avalanche at a Swiss ski resort. The band’s first EP, Just Rock, came out in 2008 and they released their debut album, Romantikpolitik, this August.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
3Ball MTY – Ritmo Alterado
Download audio file (05-Ritmo-Alterado-1.mp3)
The city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, is struggling in a war against drug-mafias: despite the violent context, a new musical genre is rising thanks to 3Ball MTY. Led by veteran electro-cumbia DJ Toy Selectah and a crew of skillful producers in their early 20s, the collective have created a new sound by merging polka, reggaeton and acid-tribal-techno. But the most peculiar thing about this trend is the style of dancing – like dodging bullets – while wearing ultra-long pointy boots. Curious? Just google ‘Pointy Mexican Boots’.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Spoelstra – Pallets
Download audio file (spoelstra-pallets.mp3)
An alternative to the schmaltz of typical Christmas sounds, enjoy a dose of Spoelstra. He’s a collaborator with Dutch experimental label Narrominded, which specialises in all sorts of fantastic non-profitable sounds, from full-on noise rock to electronic warbles. And Spoelstra is a perfect fit, as he’s proven capable of both. His latest album Pallets was released earlier in the year. Packaged as a cassette and a book about everything you can imagine about pallets, it showcases a full rack of effects and a wonky mind. Part chip tune, part drunken country improv, part toy noise, this uneasiness is how Santa feels come Boxing Day.

NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
The Eversons – I’m A Conservative
Download audio file (The-Eversons-Im-a-Conservative-New-Zealand.mp3)
Fronted by Mark Turner (ex-Little Pictures) and with Chris Young (Insurgents, No Aloha), Tim Shann and Blair Everson, The Eversons have a crisp, clear garage-rock vibe that strongly recalls Art Brut and American college rock with its undeniable catchiness and the immediate satisfaction this brings. With classic guitar riffs and day-in-the-life-style lyrics, their debut five-song EP is instantly likeable. This is one of those bands that doesn’t muck around, delivering a top-class release very early in their career, which makes us excited about future things to come from them.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Sunturns – Hallelujah (Christmas Is Here!)
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Sunturns can perhaps be labeled an indie supergroup – or not just an indie super group, but a Christmas indie supergroup. It’s something as rare as a full-time Christmas band and is comprised of some of the best musicians from the Oslo indie scene, with members from bands such as mylittlepony, Monzano and The Little Hands of Asphalt. They sing about both the nice and the more melancholic sides of Christmas. Their debut album, cleverly titled Christmas, is out now.

PERU: SoTB
Gris Volta – You Go Behind The Truth
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Formed at the beginning of 2008, Gris Volta have too many influences to place the band into one genre – you can find anything from indie-rock to jazz themes and experimental music in their songs. Their debut record Monochrome is without doubt one of the best Peruvian albums released this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Julie & The Carjackers – Mr Williams
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One year ago, Julie & The Carjackers released their debut EP. Now the first album by João Correia (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Bruno Pernadas (guitar), with the help of some friends (none of them called Julie), is available. Parasol has been warmly welcomed by Portuguese press and blogs as a surprising and refreshing debut in the local indie scene.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Absurdcus – Puppy Slippers
Download audio file (absurdcus%20-%20Puppy%20Slippers%20%28Romania%29.mp3)
Absurdcus is the solo project of Transylvanian bass player/multi-instrumentalist Laszlo Demeter. His music has been a continuous work in progress since 2003, when he first started recording bits and pieces under this pseudonym. His music stylistically ranges from alternative rock and funk to electronica and even metal. You can download his debut album here.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Arktor – Pier ft. Didjelirium
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Just like the original story by Philip K. Dick, Arktor’s album Retreat Syndrome recreates the atmosphere of madness and insanity, combining truth and despair with the skills of his mate, jazz pianist Ilz. Pier is recorded with a special guest, Shanghai rapper Didjelirium.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Café Disco – Terra Nova
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I’ll never forget the first time I heard Terra Nova by Glasgow-based newcomers Café Disco. It was on a shaky YouTube clip filmed in June 2011 during one of the band’s earliest gigs. “Contains the peachiest guitar riff I’ve heard in ages” is how I described the song on my blog back then – and that verdict hasn’t changed with this studio recording, which was funded by The Pop Cop for the sole purpose of giving it away through the Music Alliance Pact, together with this rather fun promo video.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Sonicbrat – Bed Of Forty Winks
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Sonicbrat is the enduring moniker of sound artist Darren Ng, whose work is characterised by an intricate tapestry of field recordings and found sounds, strung together by subtly processed acoustic instrumentation with a classical bent. Gentle, stirring and complex, Ng’s music is the sort that invites itself into and comfortably inhabits one’s imagination. His latest release, Hana, is his musing on the life of a flowering plant and is available as a free download on the Totokoko label.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
The Frown – The National (Yesterday’s Pupil remix)
Download audio file (The_Frown_-_The_National_Yesterdays_Pupil_Remix_-_South_Africa.mp3)
The Frown makes a curious mixture of folk and electronica. With their song The National, Yesterday’s Pupil’s remix adds a special touch to it, with a heady mix of soaring strings and orchestration, low tempo colliding beats, dark and menacing basslines and the fragile yet commanding vocals of Eve Rakow. Ethereal and enigmatic, it’s one of the year’s most exciting songs.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Kim Mok In – Scene
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Kim Mok In started out as the guitarist of playful lo-fi folk quartet Cabinet Singalongs over a decade ago. This month he released his first solo album, Song Of Musician’s-self, with an updated sound and better production that still shouldn’t leave any old fan disappointed. Scene is a song about the Korean music scene which finds Kim Mok In’s voice and guitar accompanied by a sturdy piano.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Doble Pletina – Cruzo Los Dedos
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Doble Pletina, a five-piece from Barcelona, were born from the ashes of Abrevadero (a one-of-a-kind cover band that would play songs of almost any genre). Thanks to their simple yet carefully crafted melodies and everyday life-inspired emotional lyrics – as in their latest single Cruzo Los Dedos – they have broken into the city’s local independent scene. They are, basically, what we would expect from a good indie-pop band.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Let’s Say We Did – Galaxies
Download audio file (Galaxies.mp3)
If your idea of Swedish music is something exotic like Lykki Li, First Aid Kit, Little Dragon and/or Jens Lekman, the music of Let’s Say We Did might surprise you. On the whole, the new record hews closer to Big Star meets Wilco dad-rock than the drum and bass electronica music coming out of Sweden of late. Sebastian Fors is one of the main men behind the band. He has been contributing to the Swedish music scene for a few years in multiple projects. Let’s Say We Did’s new self-titled album, though, is some of the best stuff I’ve heard from him.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Alejandro Jiménez – Die Fragestellung In Frage Stellen
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Alejandro Jiménez is actually more poetry slam than singer-songwriting. He also had the honour of playing in the most famous theater in Switzerland for cabaret artists. On his second record, Nabelschau, he recorded 11 songs which have one thing in common: they’re raw and personal.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Toz Ve Toz – Kara Mamba
Download audio file (toz_ve_toz_kara_mamba.mp3)
Founded in November 2007, Toz Ve Toz make experimental songs that combine elements of jazz, surf, punk and Turkish classical music. The trio use guitar, synthesizer, drums, harmonica and baglama – a Turkish instrument with three double strings. They have released two albums – the first featured music for a theatre play called Sahici Insanlar Plastik Ölümler (“Real People Plastic Deaths”) in 2009; the second is a home recording called Ev/Home. Their third album will be released from their own record label soon.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Gracie – Sisters
Download audio file (Sisters.mp3)
Philadelphia’s Gracie is an intriguing project to say the least. There is bedroom pop and garage rock, but the vibes coming from Gracie match more of a bomb shelter banger sound. Haunting, effervescent, glitchy, mesmerizing echoes, and driving beats that propel your ears forward straight through tangles of sonic cobwebs. Can’t wait to snag this unique release via Small Plates soon.

GERMANY – Blogpartei
Jolly Goods – If I Were A Woman
Download audio file (JollyGoods-IfIWereAWomanGermany.mp3)
When you listen to Jolly Goods’ second album Walrus, released recently on Staatsakt, you should be prepared for some serious disarray. Their songs, especially their lyrics, bear testament to a deep doubt in the world as it appears to these two sisters; they capture emotions like anger, trepidation and a little bit of hope in an extraordinary way.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Fútbol – El Asedio De River
Download audio file (Futbol-ElAsedioDeRiver(Argentina).mp3)
El Eternauta is an amazing science fiction comic created by Argentine comic strip writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published from 1957 to 1959. Los Ellos is a tribute compilation to this work and its author, one of 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983. The album contains 18 original tracks written by independent bands from La Plata and Buenos Aires. El Asedio De River is one of them, an instrumental track from alternative rock trio Fútbol.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Feathers – Cat Burgler
Download audio file (Cat-Burglar.mp3)
Cat Burgler is a sweet new jam from Brisbane’s Feathers, taken from their forthcoming 12″ Hunter’s Moon, out through Bon Voyage. The song showcases this all-female four-piece’s ability to intertwine whimsy and hooks into irresistible tunes suited for both Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
Kassin – Calça De Ginástica
Download audio file (Kassin_-_Calca_de_ginastica_-_Brazil.mp3)
Kassin is a producer who has worked with some of the most creative artists in Brazilian contemporary music. He has also played in some bands and projects and this year he released his first solo album, from which Calça De Ginástica is taken. The electronic pop is combined with funny lyrics in which a man tells of his desires with a girl he knows (such as having sex with her in a paraplegic’s bathroom while wearing his gym clothes).

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
First Rate People – Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art
Download audio file (FirstRatePeople-SomeoneElseCanMakeAWorkOfArt.mp3)
Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art is a dance song, but only in the way that, say, All My Friends is a dance song. It’s got incredibly catchy beats and a wonderful vocal performance, but it’s held together by a genuine emotional core. It, and the album it comes from, are currently free for download from Bandcamp, so there’s really no reason not to go get it right now.

CHILE – Super 45
Fernando Milagros – Carnaval (feat. Christina Rosenvinge)
Download audio file (Fernando_Milagros_-_Carnaval_-_Chile.mp3)
San Sebastián, the third album from singer-songwriter Fernando Milagros, is, in simple terms, a masterpiece. Although in his early days as a musician Milagros pointed towards a more contemplative kind of folk (a big reference here would be Nick Drake or the calmer moments of Devendra Banhart), in his newest album he explores South American music, creating denser pieces, darker yet more powerful. Carnaval, the first single from the album, features guest Spanish musician Christina Rosenvinge.

CHINA – Wooozy
Tong Dang – Don’t Let Me Cry
Download audio file (Tong%20Dang%20-%20Dont%20Let%20Me%20Cry%20(China).mp3)
Tong Dang formed in 2001 in Chengdu. Their name is derived from the Chinese word meaning “Young Gang”. They started off as a melodic nu-metal band and gradually added elements of pop-punk and emo. Tong Dang are known for their explosive performances which features catchy hooks and melodies. Don’t Let Me Cry is taken from their album Far Away, released in 2007.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Echo Me – Darkest Hour
Download audio file (Echo_Me_-_Darkest_Hour_-_Denmark.mp3)
It’s alternative pop-rock with a folksy touch. It’s Echo Me aka Jesper Madsen. It’s an eponymous debut album. And it’s great.

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
WooWoos – Fizzy Lettuce
Download audio file (NovemberMAPENGFizzyLettuce.mp3)
WooWoos are Nicky, Tasie and Jess, three London girls shaping up to be the new Sugababes – only the Sugababes when they were good, when Keisha, Mutya and Siobhan were in the group, not the three ciphers they’ve got in now. They’re funny, they’re sassy, and their debut single, Fizzy Lettuce, is 90s trip-hop revisited with a solid chorus that suggests there in a substantial musical base below the fizz and pop. We still don’t know what is a Woo Woo, or indeed what is fizzy lettuce, but at least they’re getting us thinking, these sugar-babes with subversive intent.

ESTONIA – Popop
Ewert And The Two Dragons – Jolene
Download audio file (Ewert_and_The_Two_Dragons_-_Jolene_-_Estonia.mp3)
Ewert And The Two Dragons, consisting of Evert Sundja, Erki Pärnoja, Ivo Etti and Kristjan Kallas, sky-rocketed into the Estonian music scene in autumn 2009 with their debut album The Hills Behind The Hills. 2010 was a busy year for the Dragons: they performed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including noted festivals such as Tallinn Music Week and Positivus. Their smooth sounds and melodies have been praised both at home and abroad. Their second album, Good Man Down, came out in April and has enjoyed tremendous success.

FINLAND – Glue
The Saturnettes – Girl Named Sue
Download audio file (the_saturnettes_girl_named_sue_finland.mp3)
The Saturnettes, from Tampere, blend in a refreshing way the 70s glam rock sounds of David Bowie and T. Rex with a touch of new wave and synth-pop. Girl Named Sue is the very catchy first single off their debut album.

FRANCE – Yet You’re Fired
1995 – La Source
Download audio file (1995%20-%20La%20Source%20%28France%29.mp3)
Ask someone from France if they like French rap and they will most likely answer ‘no’, but ask if they likes old-school rap and the answer is most likely to be ‘yes’. And that’s what this month’s band is all about: old-school rap, with modern lyrics. 1995 (or “un-double-neuf-cinq”/”un-neuf-neuf-cinq”) is a young rap collective (five MCs, one DJ) hailing from Paris who released an extraordinary, well-received EP, La Source, last June. The EP is a work of art for people disappointed and bored by gangsta-like music, and is almost a miracle for the purists as well, thanks to the return to basics, the flow and the instrumentals. You can buy La Source on Amazon or iTunes.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
Sugar Factory – 440
Download audio file (Sugar_Factory_-_440_-_Greece.mp3)
Sugar Factory have unleashed their luminous, lilting, lovely debut single, the double A-side 440 / Explosions. It’s an insular instrumental experience, casting intrigue in the minute details, an immersive and inevitably cinematic gem rich in fuzzy memories, nostalgia, melody and atmosphere, with woozy accordion that accentuates the underlying emotions, guitars and samples with an otherworldly quality that lingers with you. Listen to 440, a perfect mood piece as the night begins to draw in.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
Polka Wars – Horse Hooves
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Horse Hooves is an echoey, spacey song made by a collective of young boys influenced by the current fuzzed and mopey music scene. You’ll love their simple interpretation of what we call humble music.

IRELAND – Nialler9
We Cut Corners – Go Easy
Download audio file (We_Cut_Corners_Go_Easy_-_Ireland.mp3)
Go Easy is a fine example of what to expect from Today I Realised I Could Go Backwards, the debut album from Dublin duo We Cut Corners. Restricting themselves to drums, guitar and voice doesn’t hamper John Duignan and Conall O’Breachain in the construction of their direct songs. Rather, they find new ways to create unique songs from a limited palette. They might Go Easy but they will go far.

ITALY – Polaroid
Horrible Present – Cloudy Talks
Download audio file (Horrible_Present_-_Cloudy_Talks.mp3)
Nicola Donà used to sing in the band Calorifero, now he lives in London and writes music under the moniker Horrible Present. His new songs are more lo-fi, bedroom pop-oriented, ranging from synth-driven experimental tunes to romantic acoustic guitar ballads, but always with a big shining love for melodies. And the love is returned. Expect a debut album in early 2012.

JAPAN – Make Believe Melodies
Avec Avec – Kuzuha No Sunday
Download audio file (Avec%20Avec%20-%20Kuzuha%20no%20Sunday%20%28Japan%29.mp3)
Avec Avec is one of the most promising young artists to emerge in a burgeoning electronic scene based in the Kansai region. Kuzuha No Sunday stands as one of the best tracks from this fledgling movement, a stuttering beat-driven song reminiscent of Bibio or Cornelius that sounds like a perfect sunny Sunday. The sweetest part comes via that glitchy vocal sample, one of the most joyous sounds to come out of Japan this year.

MALTA – Stagedive Malta
Cable 35 – Cow Head
Download audio file (Cable-35-Cow-Head.mp3)
Formed in 2006, Cable 35 have become known for their highly energetic performances and are arguably Malta’s tightest band. The three-piece is made up of singer and guitarist Jeffrey Zerafa, bassist Kriz Zahra and drummer Chris Mallia. Following a couple of EPs, the band released their aptly-titled debut album Louder three months ago and are currently touring Europe to promote it. Louder brings back Bleach-era Nirvana to your ears.

MEXICO – Red Bull Panamérika
Antoine Reverb – You As A Fish
Download audio file (02-You-as-a-Fish-1.mp3)
The tradition states that Guadalajara is the quintessential land for Machos and Mariachi in Mexico. But Antoine Reverb (actually a quintet, not a person) doesn’t belong to their time and place. On their splendid second album Everything Is A Foreign Language To Me, the band sets their inner clocks backwards on a swirly Victorian time-travel in a quest to reach the land of the Pet Sounds, rabbit-holing on a twee-gaze mood (reminiscent of Broadcast in the 90s), finally sliding on a spiral that leads to confusing atmospheres that resemble the soundtrack for the Czech vampire film Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders. Antoine Reverb are not only strangers in their own land, but in their own dreams.

NETHERLANDS – Unfold Amsterdam
Moon & Sun – Hunt (Gavin Russom remix)
Download audio file (moonandsun-hunt-remix.mp3)
Although based in Amsterdam, Moon & Sun is very much an international concept. At its core is artist/musician Monica Tormell, who’s originally from Sweden but who wrote and recorded her debut album, The Wild Things, in Curaçao, the Swedish woods and also back in Amsterdam. That original collection emerged last November, offering bouts of atmospheric and tribal folk. One year on, a number of its tracks have been reworked by a host of international collaborators. This remix by DFA artist and LCD Soundsystem collaborator Gavin Russom draws on the heavily percussive elements to create electronic patterns reminiscent of Swedish peers The Knife and jj.

NEW ZEALAND – Einstein Music Journal
Fabulous/Arabia – The Ballad Of State Highway 1
Download audio file (Fabulous-Arabia-The-Ballad-of-State-Highway-1.mp3)
James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) and Mike Fabulous (The Black Seeds) unveiled their collaboration last month and surprised many fans by presenting an album of nu jazz songs – combining elements of funk, soul and jazz, while quite obviously retaining Lawrence Arabia’s indie-pop influence. Their debut album is a mixed bag, each song exploring a different path. The most obvious reference is British downtempo DJ Mr Scruff, courtesy of Fabulous’ wonderfully unusual instrumental experimentation. Their debut album Unlimited Buffet can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

NORWAY – Birds Sometimes Dance
Bendik – Igjen
Download audio file (Bendik_-_Igjen_-_Norway.mp3)
Bendik is a lush, ambient electro-pop band signed to the great Trondheim-based label Riot Factory alongside the likes of Scarlet Chives, Dråpe, Angelica’s Elegy and Pelbo. It started as Silje Halstensen’s solo project but has now grown into a trio. They have played at some of the biggest festivals throughout Norway, such as Øyafestivalen, Pstereo and Slottsfjell, and their debut album will be released next year.

PERU – SoTB
Division Mayday – Lugar Seguro
Download audio file (Division%20Mayday%20-%20Lugar%20Seguro%20%28Peru%29.mp3)
Division Mayday formed in 2008 and their sound ranges from post-punk to electro-pop. A mix of electronic guitars, intimate lyrics, an intense rhythmic base and electronic sequences are the raw materials of their musical proposal.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Rose Blanket – Feel My Way Around
Download audio file (Rose_Blanket_-_Feel_My_Way_Around_-_Portugal.mp3)
Nothing Ahead Nothing Behind is the third album from Miguel Dias’ project Rose Blanket, recorded between 2008 and 2011. For this double album, he collaborated with several Portuguese musicians and two American vocalists, Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) and Dana Schechter (Bee And Flower). Feel My Way Around features Jennifer Charles.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
East Roots – S.O.S.
Download audio file (East%20Roots%20-%20S.O.S.%28Romania%29.mp3)
East Roots is not a conventional dub/reggae band. As the cardinal points, each member comes with a new direction: drum ‘n’ bass, reggae, ska, dancehall and even trip-hop, you will find it all in their music.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
Valotihkuu – Two Shadows
Download audio file (Valotihkuu%20-%20Two%20Shadows%20%28Russia%29.mp3)
Valotihkuu’s Flutter EP is made up of 15 tracks which collect memories and emotions of a full year, filled up with nostalgia, old vibes, cassette tapes, weird samples and a unique feel that might remind you of Madlib and Monster Rally.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bats In The Attic (Unravelled)
Download audio file (King-Creosote-Jon-Hopkins-Bats-In-The-Attic-Unravelled.mp3)
Rarely has the word “timeless” been more appropriate for a record. It took seven years for King Creosote and Jon Hopkins to make their first collaborative album, the Mercury Prize-nominated Diamond Mine, and it handsomely captures delicate snapshots of unhurried, everyday life in rural Fife – literally, with the sound of coffee shop chatter, running streams and chirping seagulls. Here’s an exclusive free MAP download of their reworking of album track Bats In The Attic, taken from their Honest Words EP.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
Magus – Riders On Psychedelics
Download audio file (magus-riders-on-psychedelics-singapore.mp3)
Magus is a new collaboration between Mark Dolmont and Leslie Low, the latter best known for his work with Humpback Oak and The Observatory. Their debut effort is fittingly the first release by Ujikaji Records, a new independent label and distro focusing on experimental music in the region. The album, titled Sun Worshipper, presents a dark and spiritual brew of kraut-inspired psychedelia which makes for an addictively harrowing pilgrimage through the deepest of valleys.

SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Mover & Shaker!
Laurie Levine – Six Winters
Download audio file (Six_Winters_-_Laurie_Levine_-_South_Africa.mp3)
Six Winters is the lovely first single and title track of the third album by acclaimed Johannesburg singer-songwriter Laurie Levine. Piano and acoustic-driven, twinkling and atmospheric with an electric tinge, it all makes Laurie’s heady blend of folk coupled with her captivating vocals one that has earned her critical acclaim and a growing audience.

SOUTH KOREA – Indieful ROK
Coedwig – Let Her Go
Download audio file (Coedwig_-_Let_Her_Go_-_South_Korea.mp3)
Street folk artist Neofolk has gotten himself a band member and formed the unit Coedwig. Let Her Go is one of the indie rock numbers on the recently self-released first EP, which also contains a couple of acoustic tracks – a sound that is very popular in Korea at the moment.

SPAIN – Musikorner
Lasers – Solar System
Download audio file (Lasers%20-%20Solar%20System%20(Spain).mp3)
Lasers are a cosmic pop three-piece from Barcelona. Influenced by acts such as Animal Collective, Fuck Buttons, locals Delorean and label mates The Suicide Of Western Culture (featured in September’s MAP), Lasers have learnt to create extraterrestrial atmospheres using “samples, tireless cyclic sounds, breeze melodies” in their music, which can be both obscure and optimistic at a time or, as they call it, “noise and poetry”. Lasers will release their first album Juno through Irregular in December, from which Solar System is taken.

SWEDEN – Swedesplease
Halina Larsson – Puget Sounds
Download audio file (Puget%20Sounds.mp3)
Halina Larsson is an expat from Sweden who has lived in LA and now resides in Brooklyn. She has a diverse sound and a variety of influences including Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Feist and Elliott Smith. Halina is a trained jazz vocalist who, on her latest Fires & French Horns EP, falls somewhere between indie folk songstress and new soul chanteuse. It’s an odd combination but on certain songs and in certain styles she can pull it off.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
laFayette – Heavy Rain (feat. Lena Fennel)
Download audio file (La-Fayette-Heavy-Rain-feat.-Lena-Fennell-Switzerland.mp3)
Since their launch in 2009, Basel boys Jascha Dormann and Simon Hauswirth have found their place in the Swiss electronica scene. Musically, laFayette boldly go into the deep end of a pool filled with electronica, hip hop and techno music. Their debut EP Sputnik was released in September.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
Saskatchewan – Skinny Dipping
Download audio file (01%20Skinny%20Dipping.mp3)
Orlando, Florida’s Saskatchewan are masters of slow-built dream pop, lush vocal harmonies and melodies that are damn near impossible to ignore. Skinny Dipping is their latest single, available for free on Bandcamp. Look out for an album sometime in early 2012.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Carlos Angola – Hasta Mañana
Download audio file (Carlos%20Angola%20-%20Hasta%20Manana.mp3)
I first saw Carlos Angola at a festival called VirgenFest which was being held in a public square. The atmosphere was magical, it felt like Woodstock. On stage there was this boy with glasses, an acoustic guitar and a great voice. Carlos Angola used to be part of a ska band called Skabiosis, but now he is displaying his talents as a solo artist with his album Rompecabezas which guarantees total relaxation no matter when you listen to it.

GERMANY – Blogpartei
BOY – This Is The Beginning
Download audio file (BOY-ThisIsTheBeginningGermany.mp3)
BOY are a little hyped in Germany right now. Valeska and Sonja just released their debut Mutual Friends via Groenland Records, which features warm and cosy folk-pop songs. They are written and sung so well that you instantly forget summer was awful this year and start enjoying the Indian summer.

Um alle 34 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Flopa/Minimal – Atolondrón
Download audio file (Flopa-Minimal-Atolondron(Argentina).mp3)
A couple of months ago, the indie supergroup formed by Flopa Lestani, Mariano “Manza” Esaín and Ariel Minimal reunited for several sold-out concerts in Buenos Aires. The experience was so positive that Flopa and Minimal decided to step into the studio to record some songs, and the result is an EP called Reducción de Daños. Atolondrón was written by Flopa and is our favorite track from it, but you can download the whole EP for free from their website.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Option Command – Break Even
Download audio file (05-Break-Even.mp3)
Option Command (who has previously released gorgeous music under the name Broken Chip) hails from the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. Where his former project often focused on texture and mood, Option Command is a more beat-oriented project. Break Even sounds like playing Atari in a canyon, and is a good blend of the two musical personas. Both are worth checking out.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
Lirinha – Adebayor
Download audio file (Lirinha%20-%20%20ADEBAYOR%20%28Brazil%29.mp3)
Jose de Paes Lira, best known as Lirinha, is the former vocalist of Brazilian group Cordel do Fogo Encantado, who have produced some of the most consistent works in terms of updating regional sounds from Brazil’s northeast. In Lirinha’s first solo album, the results are somewhere between alternative rock and a new take on mangue beat. His excellent CD is available for free download at his website.

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
Sound Of Lions – Enders
Download audio file (SoundOfLions-Enders.mp3)
Yes, Sound Of Lions borrow somewhat liberally from 90s trip-hop generally, and Portishead in particular. However, as Enders – and the rest of their debut, 11:44 – demonstrates, they’re so good at making the old genre sound fresh and new, it’s easy to overlook a little thievery when the end results are so incredibly listenable.

CHILE – Super 45
Nuevacosta – Todo Fácil
Download audio file (Nuevacosta_-_Todo_Facil_-_Chile.mp3)
Four-piece outfit Nuevacosta released their debut offering, Costa Brava EP (available for free at their website) this year under the Casa Joven and Espacio Cellar labels. Through these six songs, the band explores new wave sounds and early 90s Chilean pop, creating dark, lo-fi, atmospheric soundscapes.

CHINA – Wooozy
Eat Alien’s Brain – Sick Body Dance
Download audio file (Eat%20Aliens%20Brain%20-%20Sick%20Body%20Dance%20(China).mp3)
Eat Alien’s Brain are an electro duo from Chengdu, who formed in August 2010. Loco and Umar, both in their early 20s, use music to express their attitude towards freedom. Their sound is hard to define – electro/dance with a bit of Nintendocore/chiptune/crunk. They were highly recommended by the NME, who described them as “Crystal Castle bound up with Burial and Sepultura”.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Laura Drescher – I Do I Will
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I can’t really tell you much about Laura Drescher other than she was born in Spain, raised in Denmark, and that she released both an EP (Polyest) and an album (Hallucinations Of A Good Life) last year. Oh, and she’s not sore on the eyes either. It’s gloomy and groovy electronica – here represented by I Do I Will from Hallucinations Of A Good Life – and if you like what you hear, head for SoundCloud where you can download both album and EP for free.

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
Daley – Smoking Gun
Download audio file (DALEYSmokingGun.mp3)
A new blue-eyed soul boy from Manchester, Gareth “Daley” Daley looks set to be the first genuinely interesting British artist to operate in that area since David McAlmont or Lewis Taylor. He was a nominee on this year’s BBC Sound of 2011 poll, has already tasted chart success, having sung on Long Way Home from Wretch 32′s top-5 debut album as well as on the Gorillaz track Doncamatic, which he co-wrote with Damon Albarn. Now he’s signed to A&M and working on his own debut album, due out in 2012, with Suede guitarist and Duffy producer Bernard Butler as well as Dre of Dre & Vidal (Alicia Keys, Usher) and Shea Taylor (Ne-Yo, Beyoncé).

FINLAND – Glue
Koria Kitten Riot – An Anthem From The 80′s
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Koria Kitten Riot is the project of singer-songwriter Antti Reikko and it brings well-crafted pop songs, full of detail and ambitious instrumentation. It puts together the intimacy of the songwriter and grandiose arrangements in a manner that reminds us of Bright Eyes. An Anthem From The 80′s is a melancholic song about long-gone happy times and is taken from Koria Kitten Riot’s second album, The Lows & The Highs, out this month.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
The You And What Army Faction – I Used A Blade To Carve Me A New Smile
Download audio file (The_You_And_What_Army_Faction_-_I_Used_A_Blade_To_Carve_Me_A_New_Smile_-_Greece.mp3)
The You And What Army Faction set their distortion pedals on stun and amplify each strummed string to produce a crushing, absorbing and raw wall-of-sound repetition where chaos and beauty ravish each other within the same song. Their artful contrasts and angular arrangements are imbued with instrumental dexterity and coherent ideas and balanced between formlessness and structure, melody and cacophony. Here’s a vibrating preview from their upcoming sophomore album.

ICELAND – Icelandic Music Maffia
Ruddinn – Cover The Distance
Download audio file (Ruddinn_-_Cover_The_Distance_-_Iceland.mp3)
Ruddinn is one guy, Bertel Ólafsson from Hafnarfjörður, who has released three albums to date. Ruddinn works primarily alone but receives a helping hand occasionally. He mixes electro pop with indie guitar and a dash of 80s shoegaze. Cover The Distance, a track from his third album I Need A Vacation, features Heiða Eiríksdóttir of the band Hellvar on vocals.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
BRNDLS – Start Bleeding
Download audio file (01%20Start%20Bleeding%21.mp3)
BRNDLS have helped shape today’s Indonesian garage rock scene with their harsh sound, raw attitude and foul-mouthed frontman. Also known as The Brandals, they have just brought out their latest album that stole the XTRMNTR concept and delivered their most well-produced release to date.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Tieranniesaur – In The Sargasso
Download audio file (tieranniesaur_-_In_The_Sargasso_IRELAND.mp3)
Strutting disco-infused funky indie tunes that recall the experimental new wave pop visions of ESG and Tom Tom Club don’t come by every day. So Tieranniesaur standout. This Irish six-piece revel in fun, old-school danceable thrills and their self-titled debut album is one of the best releases Ireland has to offer this year.

ITALY – Polaroid
A Classic Education – Forever Boy
Download audio file (A_Classic_Education_-_Forever_Boy.mp3)
Produced by Jarvis Taveniere of Woods, Call It Blazing is undoubtedly the most eagerly-awaited indie rock album in Italy this year, but not only in Italy. A Classic Education have released two EPs and a single, traveled the US, Canada and UK, played SXSW and CMJ, and are touring Europe with British Sea Power right now. They are definitely one of the best things to have happened to the music in my country in the past decade. Their sound is magnificent, warm, ambitious and timeless.

JAPAN – Make Believe Melodies
Canopies And Drapes – Sleeping Under The Bed
Download audio file (SLEEPING%20UNDER%20THE%20BED%20mstrd.mp3)
Sleeping Under The Bed twinkles from the get-go, Tokyo solo artist Canopies And Drapes setting up a glowing dream of a song about hearts melting like ice cream and perfect lovers. Yet this, the highlight off her debut EP, conceals some darkness around the corners. The minimalist structure allows for some chilly synths to stand out, and then she steps back from all the gooey love talk for a frank final line: “Where should I go? I got lost.” It sounds gorgeous from the start, but grows more complicated with time.

MALTA – Stagedive Malta
Beangrowers – The Priest
Download audio file (Beangrowers-The-Priest.mp3)
Beangrowers are a rare and delicate breed of band – managing to be intelligent without being ponderous, fun without being silly, outrageously poppy without being cheesy, and rocking without being clichéd or predictable. This female-fronted three-piece are Malta’s biggest music exports, with a following on both sides of the Atlantic. This track is from their album Dance Dance Baby, which has just been re-released digitally.

MEXICO – Red Bull Panamérika
Robota – Troqueladora
Download audio file (07-Troqueladora.mp3)
Dystopian scenarios are inherent to industrial music, with narratives and textures well explored by artists on the Mute roster – from Throbbing Gristle and The Normal, to Suicide and Add (N) to X. Mexico City trio Robota particularly share Add (N) to X’s aesthetic based on a vintage electronic junk sado-fetishism. Troqueladora is taken from their “vibrant” second album, Vulgar Display Of Power. No, there’s no relation with Pantera other than pure cyber-punk irony.

NETHERLANDS – Unfold Amsterdam
Chris Kok – Sounds Of Sirens
Download audio file (chriskok-soundsofsirens.mp3)
Since studying ‘pop’ at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Chris Kok has spent the past couple of years working on songcraft and stepping out to play live at every opportunity – be it contests, open mic nights, festivals or art openings – all while freely distributing his music online. The graft seems to be paying off, and now working with a full band, even his most intimate acoustic troubadour pieces are taking epic turns. Sounds Of Sirens is the kind of atmospheric pop Snow Patrol should be making, and that’s merely one template from his sonic arsenal. Look out for a full album from Kok and his band Civil Union later this year, plus listen to his new self-titled acoustic EP (including a version of Sounds Of Sirens) on Bandcamp.

NEW ZEALAND – Einstein Music Journal
St. Rupertsberg – In Albania
Download audio file (St.-Rupertsberg-In-Albania.mp3)
Wellington octet St Rupertsberg began in 2009 when Kate Whelen assembled a group of female musicians to start a rather unique band. Now, after gaining rave reviews from critics and audience members at this year’s Campus A Low Hum festival, word of the group’s musical prowess has spread. Performing together like a multi-talented musical circus, the band members take turns playing various instruments, including trumpets, clarinets, trombones, synthesisers and percussion. But the main highlight is an all-inclusive vocal chorus. Their debut EP is available now from Bandcamp.

NORWAY – Birds Sometimes Dance
Autonomia – Steiner Å Stå På
Download audio file (Autonomia_-_Steiner_Aa_Staa_Paa_-_Norway.mp3)
Autonomia are a great and hidden gem from the large underground of Norwegian music, with members from veteran bands such as Freeshine, Dunderhonning and Far From Tellus. Singing in Norwegian, their music is eclectic and it can shift from sweet and rough indie-pop with Hüsker Dü guitars to long, slow and heavy post-rock/post-hardcore anthems reminiscent of bands like Envy and Neurosis.

PERU – SoTB
Royalvalet – Escorpio y Rimel
Download audio file (Royalvalet_-_Escorpio_y_Rimel_-Peru.mp3)
Royalvalet is a project formed by musicians who had their beginnings in other bands. When it comes to composing a song, each member gives his contribution with full freedom, there are no creative limitations. Led by Salim Vera, Royalvalet began in March 2010 and have released three highly creative rock singles to date.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
The Klinton Kings – Rulin’
Download audio file (The_Klinton_Kings_-_Rulin_-_Portugal.mp3)
The Klinton Kings is the project of Lewis M, a recent graduate of Oporto College of Arts and Music. He has just a few songs available online. However, his most promising single, Rulin’, which was recently available on a CD of new Portuguese acts, transmits a maturity and creativity rarely heard in most first singles. A debut album is expected in 2012.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
Moonlight Breakfast – Still
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Self-characterized as a retro electro band, Moonlight Breakfast is one of the freshest presences on the Romanian alternative music stage. In only a couple of months after getting together for this project, they reached the top position in Romania’s alternative radio charts.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
InWhite – Sea
Download audio file (InWhite%20-%20Mope%20%28Russia%29.mp3)
One of the cutest Russian indie-pop bands, InWhite is looking forward to their upcoming album. Sea is a beautiful piano-driven song that can carry you away from a seaside to the storm.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
Panda Su – I Begin
Download audio file (Panda-Su-I-Begin.mp3)
The title track of Panda Su’s second EP illustrates her appeal: dark, intelligent pop with all sense of vulnerability left intact. Apart from her occasional on-stage face paint, the Panda Su package is never black and white. Her music often draws on experimental sounds, but never at the expense of melody. Her lyrics, both fragile and cryptic, demand attention – I Begin finds Su repeating the poignant lines, “I should try to remember/I should try to forget”. It’s apt that Su Shaw named the outlet for her music after an endangered creature – songs of this quality really are rather rare.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
Etc – Big Girl’s Blouse
Download audio file (etc-big-girls-blouse-singapore.mp3)
Etc is truly one of Singapore’s best-kept secrets. There are no fancy fashions or trends associated with the duo of Ben Harrison and Harvey Chamberlain, just well-written guitar-rock to a steady beat. Harrison’s jangle-raggedy guitar work is exciting and tasteful enough to balance perfectly atop Chamberlain’s near-primal approach to the beat, yet also easy enough for that slacker sway. They have an album in the works, but we’ll make do with their generous online singles in the meantime.

SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Mover & Shaker!
140 – Say It Better
Download audio file (140_-_Say_It_Better_-_South_Africa.mp3)
Meet your new favourite power-pop, tongue-in-cheek, somewhat satirical band. Meet 140. They recently released their debut single Say It Better, a synth-drenched pop song. But not to be stereotyped or confined, the band’s next single could range from indie-rock to anything they feel their listeners would like. With a unique, zany and out-there approach, 140 is band whose mantra is to do things differently. In fact, it’s experimentation that will keep everyone engaged and interested in this provoking new set of creatives.

SOUTH KOREA – Indieful ROK
Mighty Coala – Seoul
Download audio file (Mighty_Coala_-_Seoul_-_South_Korea.mp3)
Indie-pop band Mighty Coala has been around for many years, but it wasn’t until this month that their first album For Bright And Healthy Mornings, mixed by Yeol Park of August MAP band Pigibit5, was released. With a preference for short songs that are both fun to play and listen to, Mighty Coala offer a rich sound with plenty of curiosities. Seoul is an uplifting tune dedicated to the city where they live and the city they love.

SPAIN – Musikorner
Las Tocayas – Hombres
Download audio file (Las%20Tocayas%20-%20Hombres%20(Spain).mp3)
Las Tocayas, despite their name, are not an all-girl band; they’re actually two girls and a boy who met through an internet forum dedicated to Spanish indie band Los Planetas. If we said that their influences include The Flaming Lips, Surfin’ Bichos, Nacho Vegas and The National, you wouldn’t believe us, but, yes, we mean it. Their music can be described as hedonistic and their lyrics are rather irreverent and joyful. Maybe, as they confess, they’re more inspired by everyday life, television, their gossiping neighbours and Jon Secada. Hombres is a hilarious ode to men and what we can and cannot expect from them.

SWEDEN – Swedesplease
Poor Lifestyle – These Times
Download audio file (These%20times.mp3)
Hardcore and punk should be immediate and Poor Lifestyle certainly is. You may argue that this song is breaking no new ground and I’d say you’re right – that’s the beauty of it. This song will be coming out in Sweden on a split 7″ with friends The Wallrides sometime soon.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
Evelinn Trouble – I’m On Fire
Download audio file (Evelinn-Trouble-Im-on-fire-Switzerland.mp3)
Evelinn Trouble has, in her still very young career, gone through some major changes. The Zurich resident started off as an 18-year-old releasing a very intimate singer-songwriter record, alone in her bedroom. She was soon discovered and heartened by the Swiss indie scene and last month brought out her sophomore record Television Religion, which presents her as a ‘femme fatale’. It’s great pleasure seeing her grow.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
Young Man – Enough
Download audio file (1-01%20Enough.mp3)
The compositions of Colin Caulfield, playing under the moniker Young Man, have come full circle on his latest LP titled Ideas Of Distance. An achingly beautiful album with more layers than an Arctic explorer, Enough is a track that boils up slowly like water left on the stove. Except each rising bubble is a different sonic explosion and instead of bursting on the surface in watery, translucent explosion, you can see the melodic colors dispersing in swirls of steam.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Limpiacabezales – Mérida
Download audio file (Limpiacabezales%20-%20M%C3%A9rida%20%28Venezuela%29.mp3)
Limpiacabezales was formed in 1998 by Claudio Sanchez, Orlando Toro and Carlos Eljuri. After a few shows in several cities across Venezuela, they released their first EP this year, which features five songs that serve as a teaser for their album, expected to come out later this year.

GERMANY – Blogpartei
Dear Reader – MONKEY (You Can Go Home)
Download audio file (DearReader-MONKEYYouCanGoHome-Germany.mp3)
Dear Reader’s debut was subtle in a folky way; the second album, Idealistic Animals, continues this promising cachet in a more janiform way. South African Cherilyn Macneil decided after some soul-searching about conscience and religion that she needed a change and now lives in Berlin, continuing Dear Reader as a solo project. Although her lyrics are very intense and profound, the music seems breezy and effortless, which makes a great and lasting combination.

Um alle 35 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Hernán Martínez y Las Estrellas – Revolución En Verano
Download audio file (HernanMartinezYLasEstrellas-RevolucionEnVerano(Argentina).mp3)
Hernán Martínez was the man behind Voltura, a magnificent but rather unkown indie-pop band from Buenos Aires’s underground music scene (they only recorded two EPs, which are free to download from here and here). Revolución De Verano is Martínez’s first solo album, released by Perinola Discos and recorded with his band Las Estrellas. As with previous EPs by Martinez and Voltura, his songs are both catchy and melancholic. Revolución En Verano is the first single from the album.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Royal Headache – Down The Lane
Download audio file (royal_headache_-_down_the_lane.mp3)
After a couple of years of drip-feeding 7″, CD-R and cassette releases, the time has arrived for the release of Royal Headache’s debut album. Down The Lane is a great introduction to Royal Headache and shows exactly why people are so excited about them.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
4instrumental – Não Mais
Download audio file (4instrumental%20-%20nao%20mais%20(Brazil).mp3)
4instrumental is a band whose sound is influenced by the history of Sabará, a city founded 400 years ago, while permeated by that kind of constant search for renewal typical of rock and roll. They’re prog rockers, but also funky, jazzy and experimental, as you can hear in Não Mais, from their first EP, released two months ago. The quartet are activists of a way of life that believes culture is a means of social transformation. They travel through the country expanding this idea while making people feel some catharsis with their instrumental music.

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
Zoo Legacy – Shockwave
Download audio file (ZooLegacy-Shockwave.mp3)
Is it hip-hop? Rock? R&B? I don’t know. What I do know, though, is that Zoo Legacy create music that’s a genre-bending mish-mash, and they do it extremely well.

CHILE – Super 45
Fakuta – Aeropuerto
Download audio file (Fakuta_-_Aeropuerto_-_Chile.mp3)
Fakuta is one of the best bets in the current Chilean musical scene. Behind that moniker, architect Pamela Sepúlveda builds introspective synth-pop songs filled with detailed soundscapes and warm textures. Aeropuerto (“Airport”) is the second single from her debut album Al Vuelo, available for free at her website.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Siamese Fighting Fish – A Liar Cried Wolf
Download audio file (Siamese_Fighting_Fish_-_A_Liar_Cried_Wolf_-_Denmark.mp3)
In early 2011, alternative metal six-piece Siamese Fighting Fish released their grand debut album We Are The Sound, which this site’s metalhead, Thomas Brunstrøm, suggested you check out if you’d like to know “what it would sound like if Muse, System Of A Down and Incubus went on stage in a metal club in Sarajevo and tried to out-weird each other. Featuring a guy playing the violin.” At the end of August, the gang released epic new single A Liar Cried Wolf, which is a MAP download exclusive.

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
Spotlight Kid – Haunting Me
Download audio file (SpotlightKidHauntingMe.mp3)
Twenty years ago, there was grunge, and there was shoegazing, and that was pretty much it for the alternative rock scene. Spotlight Kid wonderfully evoke that era when My Bloody Valentine meant more than the Beatles and the Stones combined, and every young band was in thrall to the sound of MBV’s Isn’t Anything album and wanted to be signed to Creation – that is, Creation B.O. (Before Oasis), when it was all radiant guitars and ethereal, billowing, androgynous boy/girl harmonies. Spotlight Kid don’t come from the Thames Valley like their forebears (they’re from Nottingham) but everything else about them screams – or rather, sighs and shimmers – shoegaze.

ESTONIA – Popop
Taavi Peterson & Üdi – Tibet Ocean
Download audio file (Taavi_Peterson_Udi_-_Tibet_Ocean_-_Estonia.mp3)
Singer Taavi Peterson got his first taste of fame in 2007 from the first series of the Estonian version of Pop Idol, coming third, but he decided to turn his back on the shiny pop world. The band Üdi (“bone marrow”) was formed in 2008 and their plan is to keep their hearts in the 60s but minds in the present day and make helluva good music. Is it possible for one band to change something? That’s what they are trying to find out.

FINLAND – Glue
The New Tigers – Pocketful Of Sand
Download audio file (the_new_tigers_pocketful_of_sand_finland.mp3)
From the west coast of Finland, The New Tigers are a guitar-driven pop band that might remind you of Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth or Galaxie 500. On their debut album, The New Tigers show an austere sound straight from the rehearsal room with no unnecessary embellishments. Loud guitars are all over the album and extend the songs with some good jams, but the band never forgets to include a good pop melody.

FRANCE – Yet You’re Fired
Pendentif – Riviera
Download audio file (Pendentif%20-%20Riviera%20%28France%29.mp3)
These days you see “pop” in every review you read and, over time, it even had bad connotations, as if it was the simplest music you can create. In fact, we forgot we could be surprised by it, and Pendentif are here to remind us of how great pop is, not by reinventing it, but by offering highly enjoyable pop songs, using the best the genre has to offer. Signed to the same label as previous MAP band Young Michelin, Bulle Sonore Records, they are just as great and sing in French as well.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
Your Hand In Mine – A Boy And The Birds
Download audio file (Your_Hand_In_Mine_-_A_Boy_And_The_Birds_-_Greece.mp3)
Your Hand In Mine present a deeply personal sense of chamber music and an emotive, atmospheric dreamworld through intricate arrangements, waltzing rhythms, fluttering accordions, mandolins, delicate glockenspiels, woozy laments and beautiful, melancholic melodies that conjure a cinematic romanticism. Their second album, The Garden Novels, is a testament to the versatility and adventurousness of their sound, where nine sonic novels, nine small stories told in a fictional garden, are transcribed into warm and intimate musical notes.

ICELAND – Icelandic Music Maffia
Samaris – Hljóma Þú
Download audio file (Samaris_-_Hijoma_Thu_-_Iceland.mp3)
Samaris consist of singer Jófríður Ákadóttir, computer programmer Þórður Kári Steinþórsson and clarinet player Áslaug Rún Magnúsdóttir, three students from Reykjavík aged 17-18 who came together in January 2011. The trio plays a mixture of trip-hop, dubstep and downtempo beats. This year they won the Icelandic battle-of-the-bands competition Músíktilraunir. Hljóma Þú is the title track of their first EP.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
Jirapah – Crime
Download audio file (Jirapah-Crime-Indonesia.mp3)
Jirapah duo Ken Jenie and Mar Galo are lovers, both Indonesian students who stayed in Brooklyn. But Ken is currently living in Jakarta, partly because of the good reception their music has received in the capital’s indie scene, where he has started playing live with several other musicians. Their music can be described as something dreamy, layered and lo-fi.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Alarmist – Giraffe Centre
Download audio file (Alarmist_-_Giraffe_Centre_Ireland.mp3)
Intricate melodies intertwine and search for ears in Dublin band Alarmist’s Giraffe Centre, taken from their brilliant self-titled five-track EP. Like Tortoise and Battles, this band are all about turbo-charged but beautiful instrumentation.

ITALY – Polaroid
Three In One Gentleman Suit – Green Riots
Download audio file (three_in_one_gentleman_suit_-_green_riots.mp3)
Pure is the fourth album by Three In One Gentleman Suit, a band that keeps getting better and better. Moving from post-rock and math beginnings, TIOGS developed their own style – a kind of Modest Mouse epicness with more synth and samples, and with an incredibly strong live impact. You can download Pure for free from the band’s website.

JAPAN – Make Believe Melodies
Miila And The Geeks – New Age
Download audio file (Miila%20and%20the%20Geeks%20-%20New%20Age%20%28Japan%29.mp3)
Miila And The Geeks grab familiar elements of rock music and contort them into slightly disturbing shapes. New Age, the title track to their recently released debut, uses simple repetition and jittery drumming to turn what could have been a by-the-numbers garage rock song into a captivating, no-wave-inspired number. Yet it is the saxophone popping up at various moments, seemingly blessed with a mind of its own, which really cements New Age as a fascinating listen.

MALTA – Stagedive Malta
Hunters Palace – Tal-Metall
Download audio file (Hunters-Palace-Tal-Metall.mp3)
Hunters Palace was initially an indie-folk outfit with a tendency to lay on some psychedelic improvisational grooves, but has recently evolved into a power trio playing abrasive free rock. Its core membership has always comprised two people, Peter Sant and Alex Vella Gera, but over the years others have contributed to the band’s sound including Adolf Formosa and Vinicius Duarte. The track on offer, Tal-Metall, is a krautrock-ish assault meaning to be a dance anthem.

MEXICO – Red Bull Panamérika
Juan Cirerol – Corrido Chicalor
Download audio file (05-Corrido-Chicalor.mp3)
Storytelling and improvisation are two qualities rarely seen among musicians nowadays, since abstract compositions and studio over-productions rule the landscape. Enter Juan Cirerol, a twenty-something guitar-yielding cantina troubadour from the desertic Mexico-U.S. frontier city of Mexicali, all-stereotyped with pointy boots, worn-out cowboy shirt and a Johnny Cash square-jawed grin. With a carefree, nomadic take on the music business, Juan is kind of an outlaw riding a black horse into the shy, dusty streets of the Mexican indie scene. Nobody saw him coming and now everybody is talking about this charming youngster. If you feel attracted to this stranger, download his debut from the Vale Vergas Discos site.

NETHERLANDS – Unfold Amsterdam
houses – Walk Away
Download audio file (houses-walkaway.mp3)
This young Amsterdam-based quintet share in an unashamed love of North American indie guitar pop, spending the past decade absorbing the melodies and atmospherics of bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Stars and Broken Social Scene. It’s most noticeable in how their guitarist and keyboardist duel over shimmering riffs, while their choruses naturally soar as Ella van der Woude’s sweet and airy Feist-esque voice is lifted by the urgency of the rhythm section. Following plenty of local gigging and a self-released EP in 2010 that perked up the ears of local radio, their debut album Clean Life is released on September 19.

NEW ZEALAND – Einstein Music Journal
Jon Lemmon – Exodus I
Download audio file (Jon-Lemmon-Exodus-I-New-Zealand.mp3)
When asked to make a summery pop song for a compilation, US-born New Zealand-based artist Jon Lemmon set about writing a tune about the end of the world. Exodus I is a lush and enigmatic opus, boasting everything from honky-tonk piano to squelchy synth bass and an incredibly catchy wordless vocal singalong in the chorus. Lemmon shows his breakout potential with this huge song from his forthcoming album that he’s aiming to release by the end of October.

NORWAY – Birds Sometimes Dance
Mikhael Paskalev – I Spy
Download audio file (Mikhael_Paskalev_-_I-Spy_-_Norway.mp3)
Mikhael Paskalev is an astonishing young talent from deep within the fjords of Norway. He makes joyful folk pop that sometimes resembles Port O’Brien, Slow Club and other indie folk acts, yet also with a certain regard for the old ones, like The Everly Brothers. We can’t wait for his debut album due out next year.

PERU – SoTB
Moldes – Trés Malade
Download audio file (Moldes_-_Tres_Malade_-_Peru.mp3)
Among the noise, psychedelia and experimentation, Moldes, a quartet formed by two boys and two girls in 2008, released their first album in August 2010 to good reviews. Trés Malade is a song that comes from a French poem written by Katia De la Cruz.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Iconoclasts – Stranger In A Strange Land
Download audio file (Iconoclasts_-_Stranger_In_A_Strange_Land_-_Portugal.mp3)
Iconoclasts first appeared on MAP in 2009 and they keep on rocking. At last, the band’s debut album, Mt. Erikson, is released this month. Stranger In A Strange Land shows just why they are one of the most promising acts from Lisbon. Pump up the volume.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
We Singing Colors – There When You Sleep
Download audio file (We%20Singing%20Colors%20-%20There%20When%20You%20Sleep%20%28Romania%29.mp3)
We Singing Colors is the side project of Andrei Hațegan from indie band The Amsterdams. The boy/girl vocals, the exploration of simple sounds and everyday noise, and the melodic themes approached from a different angle create a very intimate pop atmosphere.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
Synecdoche Montauk – Infinitely Many Primes
Download audio file (Synecdoche%20Montauk%20-%20Infinitely%20Many%20Primes%20%28Russia%29.mp3)
Summer is almost gone and now it’s time for calm and beautiful melodies, so I guess Infinitely Many Primes suits the weather perfectly. Acoustic guitar, violin and abstract lyrics create a complicated mood that mixes calmness, nervous, sweetness and melancholy. Synecdoche Montauk say their album is nearly finished so hopefully it will be available before the end of the year.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
Pearl And The Puppets – Little Diamonds
Download audio file (Pearl-And-The-Puppets-Little-Diamonds.mp3)
We join Pearl And The Puppets at a career crossroads, with Katie Sutherland having split from her record label this summer before she had the chance to release a debut album. While the Glasgow-based singer is better known for her radio-pleasing acoustic pop, Little Diamonds takes an altogether more refined approach, with Katie whispering her lyrics over gentle piano notes and subtle string work. The best is yet to come from this lass.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
Hanging Up The Moon – Water Under The Bridge
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Hanging Up The Moon is the self-titled debut album and solo project of Sean Lam, best known for fronting Singaporean band Concave Scream. After an extended hiatus, Sean’s return to songwriting has been welcomed by many, especially for his minimalist and introspective approach. The songs in this album, which you can pay as you wish for at his website, were birthed in the stillness of the night before dawn breaks. You can just imagine the quiet corner where these carefully-crafted songs were committed to recording, without a squeak or whimper; and when each track is done, only a still air lingering.

SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Mover & Shaker!
EJ Von Lyrik, Isaac Mutant and Teba – Goldmine (Shockwave Edit)
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The sounds of funky Cape Town hip-hop artists EJ Von Lyrik, Isaac Mutant and Teba shine through this month as they combine their talents on Goldmine (Shockwave Edit). Each artist brings their own unique South African feel and musical style which reflects the melting pot that is Cape Town. It’s fun, fresh and has a funky feel that is sure to get heads nodding and feet tapping.

SOUTH KOREA – Indieful ROK
Ninesin – Arena
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Although competition is tough, Ninesin is one of the best hardcore acts Korea has to offer. Following the remarkable The Death, We Will Face from 2009, their second full-length album comes out this month. Arena is the first track revealed from the self-titled release. It has a shotgun beat and shows Ninesin’s characteristic grasp of good melody.

SPAIN – Musikorner
The Suicide Of Western Culture – The Italian Chapel
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The Suicide Of Western Culture have become one of the most successful Spanish electronic bands. They have, so far, supported Animal Collective in their last visit to Barcelona and played at the most important festivals in Spain and even in Berlin’s Popkomm. With a post-rock soul, as epic and ethereal as Explosions In The Sky but as intimate as Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, they have released an eponymous album filled with their thoughts and emotions; the final result is a highly visceral and passionate record.

SWEDEN – Swedesplease
Vampyramiden – Pyromanens Dotter
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Vampyramiden are still serving up strangely appealing Swedish-language indie pop. The band’s new EP (which has a fantastic cover) is called Teenage Destiny and I can only guess the lyrics are some sort of combination of teenage angst, wizarding mythology and, of course, vampires.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
San Marino – Strangers To Ourselves
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Since there’s no music blog representing San Marino, we came across a nice substitute in the form of a Swiss band pleading the country’s music case. San Marino hail from Zurich and represent not only the small country in the heart of Italy, but do so as well for Switzerland’s surf-indie-pop conscience. Their debut album was released in May.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
THE-DRUM – Omar
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Much like their Chicago brethren Supreme Cuts and How To Dress Well, THE-DRUM are catalysts for precognitive future-music, hybridizing molasses-slow R&B vocals against shockwaves of percussion and echoing synth melodies. The results are as vibrant and unique as they are compelling, and Omar, released just two weeks ago, is perhaps their best experiment yet.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Los Expresidentes – Te Rodeo En El Rodeo
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It is impossible to listen to this band and not think of a film about the Old West and imagine American cowboys on their horses. Los Expresidentes make an interesting, enjoyable fusion of punk rock, country and rockabilly. Their debut album, Lanzados Al Rodeo, has fun lyrics and a really contagious rhythm.

GERMANY – Blogpartei
Tim Neuhaus – As Life Found You
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Tim Neuhaus sounds fresh and ageless despite having already released six albums. His smart pop songs are driven by elaborated rhythms and his soft but catchy voice, which create a very warm feeling of melancholia. A trained percussionist, he was part of the famous Blue Man Group and accompanied rapper Clueso for several years. Meanwhile, he always wrote and recorded his own songs, with As Life Found You being maybe the best from his latest release, The Cabinet.

Um alle 32 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Tomi Lebrero y El Puchero Misterioso – Noche En La Pampa (feat. Lisandro Aristimuño)
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This song is from singer, songwriter and bandoneónist player Tomi Lebrero’s third album, Me Arrepiento De Todo. The first time we listened to it, we were amazed by the melancholy of some of his songs, moving away a little bit from the parodic tone that was present in previous albums and soundtracks. Noche En La Pampa features the great Lisandro Aristimuño as a guest vocalist.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
The Baggios – Oh Cigana
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The Baggios could be described as the Brazilian version of The White Stripes. It’s the fusion of blues/garage rock from the Detroit duo transposed to the arid feel of Brazil’s hot north-west and its 70s rock. Their debut album is available to download for free via their website.

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
Cowlick – Can Neu Do It
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With a name like Cowlick, you’d expect something twangy. If there’s one thing their newest album, Wires, isn’t, however, it’s country. They bring together everything from drone-pop to hip-hop and, as this track shows, they do it well.

CHILE – Super 45
Mowat – Librando A La Mañana
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Mowat is a Chilean musician/producer living in Berlin. After his first work, EP#1 (2008), Mowat is now preparing his debut LP, Anglia, to be released on Cápsula Discos. Experimenting with traditional Chilean folk, the album’s first single, Librando A La Mañana, stands out for its orchestrated arrangements and warm vocals.

CHINA – Wooozy
48V – Long Men Zhen
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48V is an instrumental post-rock project from Chengdu. The band consists of four members and so far they have released two full-length albums. Their first, South, came out back in 2006 and it was followed this year by South II on 1724 Records. It’s a good start if you want to try Chinese post-rock.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Klak Tik – With Ernest & George
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A UK resident for the past 10 years, Søren Bonke released Must We Find A Winner – his excellent debut album as Klak Tik – in Britain in 2010, which earlier this year earned him a worldwide release on Danish labels Slow Shark Records and VME. Exclusively for MAP, here’s With Ernest & George, just one marvelous example of Bonke’s orchestral alternative folk.

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
Oh Minnows – Another Volunteer
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Londoner Chris Steele-Nicholson used to be in indie trio Semifinalists. Now he makes music as Oh Minnows, with an album of synth/guitar pop called For Shadows just released on the Young And Lost Club label. The album opener, Another Volunteer, is the kind of plangent affair that gives 80s-referencing indie rock a good name, with its gently insistent drums, lush bed of synths, and vocal pitched nicely. As a recent Guardian New Band of the Day article put it: “Between optimism and despair, between the hope that a loved-one has moved on and a fear that they one day will.”

ESTONIA – Popop
Possimiste – Behind The Seas
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Possimiste is an 18-year-old “uber-experimentalist”-bluebird-singer/songwriter from the wonderland, who likes to destroy the borders of music genres, believing in music and its existence in everything. A mysterious creature, an almost fictional character, who lives in a forest, has bat wings and is always wearing imaginary tinklers in her hair.

FINLAND – Glue
Revival Hymns – Path Of Grace
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Formed in the so-called Manchester of Finland that is the city of Tampere, Revival Hymns have worked hard in the past year to write and record their debut album, Feathers, which is already available to download on the band’s website. Although clocking at 40 minutes, you will find just seven post-rock songs that go from slow psychedelic notes to big momentums of distortion, noise and epic choruses.

FRANCE – Yet You’re Fired
La Mort De Darius – T.E.U.F
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La Mort De Darius come from Strasbourg and are into electro/house. Violence is a keyword to describe their sound, and you can’t do anything but dance to it (at the very least, you’ll shake your hand in the air while listening). Each of their songs could have appeared on Don Rimini’s The Perfect Prescription because of that same “turbine sound” that characterizes the compilation. La Mort De Darius show how good France still is at making electronic music. Listen to their remix of Katy Perry’s E.T. in this brilliant video shot at Dour Festival.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
Plastic Flowers – White Walls Painted Black
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Plastic Flowers builds levees of emotion with subtle sonic shifts, washed-out electronic textures and layers of instrumentation that blur together sublimely and turns hushed beats and lightly scratched guitars into overwhelmingly lush sound offerings. The single, White Walls Painted Black, off his forthcoming debut album, flows with some artful embroidery and shines exquisitely.

ICELAND – Icelandic Music Maffia
Coral – The Underwhelmer
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Rock band Coral have been playing together since 2000, effectively starting their career in 2002 with the release of their nameless low-budget EP commonly referred to as The Yellow Album by listeners. Since then Coral have been unleashing their raw brand of rock ‘n’ roll on audiences, experimenting with classical, jazz and rock influences within a rock-quartet format. Last month they released their second album, Leopard Songs, on the Record Records label, from which The Underwhelmer is taken.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
Cupumanik – Grunge Harga Mati
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Grunge Harga Mati is roughly translated as “you can’t take grunge from me without killing me”. You might grin but the band won’t stop making music and will embark on their first Canadian tour later this year, spreading their rock music.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Last Days Of 1984 – River’s Edge
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▲L▲ST D∆YS OF 1984▲▲ (to give Darren Moloney and Brian Rice’s band its full name) are only on debut single status but a slot at the Berlin Festival is already lined up. It’s easy to hear why. River’s Edge is an Animal Collective-esque romp down the beach, conjuring up sunny climes and good vibes with a sound described by the band themselves as “beach house”.

ITALY – Polaroid
Gazebo Penguins – Il Tram Delle 6
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Gazebo Penguins are one of the best punk hardcore bands you will find in this country, on stage and on record. Their new album is named Legna, which in Italian could mean “wood” and also “bashing”, but in a groovy way, or something like that. They’re heavy and uplifting. The album is available for free download.

JAPAN – Make Believe Melodies
Möscow Çlub – Bikinikill
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The name implies ties to chilly Russia, but Möscow Çlub hails from Tokyo and they love the summer sun. Bikinikill finds the indie-pop quartet at their most seasonally appropriate, all jaunty guitars and warm bells while the vocals melt into the surrounding sounds. Like similarly ocean-centric artists Best Coast and Beach Fossils, Möscow Çlub turns simple melodies into irresistible beach-blanket pop. Thank goodness there is a little summer left to savour.

MALTA – Stagedive Malta
The Areola Treat – Nothing There
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Formed in 2006, The Areola Treat are inspired by cult classics, 70s horror movies and awkward Japanese bands. With screeching guitars, resounding feedback, feisty punk beats and definite munchy punk vocals, they are almost reminiscent of X-Ray Spex. Nothing There is from their debut album Pleasure Machines, released earlier this year.

MEXICO – Red Bull PanameriKa
Klezmerson – Zuntik
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For the past decade, Klezmerson have been fusing traditional Jewish culture sounds with some Mexican roots like charanga and huapango dressed up with rock and jazz. Their third album, Siete, was recently released by John Zorn’s label Tzadik. Zuntik (“Sunday” in Yiddish) is a clever and saucy piece that portrays pretty much what this seven-piece ensemble is all about. Among Klezmer-based melodies, gypsy scales and garbled guitar episodes with heavy drums, it features the voice of Hazan Moshe Mendelson, a cantor who leads the prayers in almost all the ceremonies of the Ashkenazi community in Mexico City.

NEW ZEALAND – Einstein Music Journal
@Peace – @Peace
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@Peace is a collaboration between Auckland hip-hop artists Lui Tuiasau, Tom Scott, Christoph El Truento, Hayden Dick and Brandon Haru. The group have been getting praise for their discerning take on life in New Zealand’s largest metropolis, delivering a realist’s viewpoint referencing pop culture, politics and poverty and the challenges facing an ageing Generation Y. The group’s debut self-titled album was released in July and can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

PERU – SoTB
Las Amigas De Nadie – Clones De Pan
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Rock was not invented only for men. Las Amigas De Nadie are a band of five girls aged between 23 and 26. They’re nice, but they aren’t going to be smiling at the world looking for sympathy. Their only mission is to create music as they go, sometimes mixing up punk rock with hip-hop. Capsula is their first LP and is available for free from their website – listen to Clones De Pan and soak up its essence.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Dear Telephone – The Door Was White
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Dear Telephone, named after Peter Greenaway’s Dear Phone, are a quartet. One of their members is also in Peixe:Avião (featured in August 2010′s MAP) and both bands belong to a new indie label called PAD. Dear Telephone create an electro-acoustic sound and last month released their debut six-track EP, Birth of A Robot.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
The MOOoD – Stay Right
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“Spread The MOOoD!” is their motto and you will understand why after listening to one of their songs. With an electric and infectious Brit/indie sound enriched by the unique timbre of the voice, The MOOoD makes you wanna hear more of their music with every song you listen to. After five years of making themselves known on the Romanian indie scene, the guys released their very-much-awaited-by-the-fans debut album, which starts like this.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
Motorama – Ghost
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Motorama is a new-wave, twee-pop band from Rostov inspired by Scandinavian music and romance of the 80s. Their musical mood is closely related to the visual part, full of northern nature, military aesthetics and clippings from 50-year-old magazines.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
Arches – Like Fireworks (radio edit)
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If a band’s ambition is related to the epicness of the music then Arches’ goals must be stadium-sized. Like Fireworks is the sort of song someone with the pedigree and studio budget of Doves or Elbow would release as the first single from a new album, not the first offering from an unsigned Glasgow group. Immerse yourself in its colossal choruses here and on the promo video.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
The Psalms – Johnny Mnemonic
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Fiercely upfront and dizzyingly discordant, The Psalms have been shaking things up in the music scene here, with growing expectations on their upcoming debut album. The band’s Ishmael’s Wishlist EP offers a raw glimpse of things to come, with its arresting spiral of chaotic rock delivered at breakneck speeds. All donations through the EP’s digital download on Bandcamp will benefit Acres, a Singaporean organization promoting active community involvement in animal protection.

SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Mover & Shaker!
MacGyver Knife – Stumble
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Stemming from a high school band and after almost a decade of jamming in a garage, MacGyver Knife was born in 2008. They recently released their debut album Sewing Legends, with Stumble as their first single. It is a song that changed their sound as a band, establishing their more edgy indie approach, one that is evident throughout their debut offering and is a refreshing take on the local music scene.

SOUTH KOREA – Indieful ROK
Jiyeon Kim – Dear May
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Jiyeon Kim may be one of the most interesting artists in Korea right now. She records sounds from her environment, mixes them with synthetic sounds on the computer and uses her own voice to explore the musical spectrum further. Still on a journey to find her musical direction, once she’s found her style she’ll look into releasing an EP, but has yet to decide whether to do it by herself or through a label. Dear May started out as a short memo on a friend’s blog but turned into beautiful, tranquil and very captivating song.

SPAIN – Musikorner
Lenticular Clouds – Hermanos Humanos
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Lenticular Clouds is more than a just project, it’s a trip through the biggest secrets of modern physics as Albert Zaragoza Gas, the man behind the music, defines it. Listening to the album as a whole certainly is almost a magical experience, but we’re pretty sure there are scientific explanations for all those ethereal sounds that navigate through the deep yet bright seas of aether pop and chillwave. Hermanos Humanos, the second song on the album, is the perfect tune for chilling outdoors, thinking of what we are and where we come from.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
Octanone – None
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Lucien Montandon, known for his drum skills with ALT F4, takes his first steps as an electro live act under the name of Octanone. He is a born beat junkie who plays with a drum pad, Loop Station and Kaoss effects. None (which comes with a superb video) is available as a free appetizer. We’re looking forward to his debut EP which will be released in September.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
Holiday Shores – Spells
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IGIF has loved on Holiday Shores for a long time and nothing makes our love swell like a new release. The band are preparing to bring out their sophomore album New Masses For Squaw Peak and lead single Spells is a track I haven’t stopped spinning since first hearing it in June. It slowly pulls you in with a driving bass line and fetching guitar riff before exploding in a flurry of keys and percussion.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Brew Army – Down To Hell
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Army Brew is one of the leading exponents of hard rock in Venezuela. With just one listen to their music you can hear right away influences from bands like Pantera and Ozzy Osbourne. They are about to finish their first album, which includes Down To Hell as the first single.

GERMANY – Blogpartei
soft.nerd – Always The Good Times
Download audio file (soft.nerd-AlwaysTheGoodTimesGermany.mp3)
soft.nerd really are into analogue synths. In their 80s-driven tracks and remixes it is the driving force which makes room for the guitar sounds and Christian Bachmann’s catchy vocals to float free in subtropical spheres. After rebuilding as a three-piece, soft.nerd recently released the album Sound Sound Sound, available via Bandcamp, from which Always The Good Times is taken.

Um alle 32 Songs in einer Zip-Datei runterzuladen, bitte rüber zu Mediafire. Alternativ könnt ihr die einzelnen Songs auch per Rechtsklick auf den Titel runterladen.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Laika – Corazón
Download audio file (Laika-Corazon(Argentina).mp3)
Laika is a soft-rock band featuring Leticia Monge (vocals, guitar), Micaela Hattori (guitar), Leonardo Fucci (bass) and Roberto Fighetti (drums). They’ve just released their self-titled debut album and we think it’s great, with really funny lyrics written in an almost scientific poetry. Corazón is one of our favourite songs and it was included in the soundtrack of Plan V, a web sitcom about the lesbian scene of Buenos Aires that we also recommend.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Guerre – Millenium Blues
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Guerre is the best thing to happen to Oz music since the Australian cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. If you’ve not heard his ghostly take on lo-fi R&B then now is the perfect time to get into it because his official debut EP, Darker My Love, and a remix companion are available for free on his label’s Bandcamp page. A good point of comparison would be blog sensation How To Dress Well, although there’s enough uniqueness and authenticity here to keep you hitting repeat (plus I actually heard of Guerre first, so points for that). Highly recommended.

BRAZIL – Meio Desligado
Criolo – Mariô
Download audio file (Criolo%20-%20Mario%20(Brazil).mp3)
Criolo is a rapper who released an acclaimed album this year, Nó Na Orelha. In this song he pushes African beats above his rhymes and shows why he is part of a new scene of creative MCs in Brazil, such as Emicida, Renegado and RAPadura.

CANADA – I(Heart)Music
Patrick Canning & The Suffering Mothers – The Howl
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The first influences listed on Patrick Canning’s MySpace are Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, so it should come as no surprise that his music is dark and gloomy. Still, as a song like The Howl shows, just like his influences Canning has a way of making even dark and gloomy sound surprisingly engaging.

CHILE – Super 45
MKRNI – Humedad
Download audio file (MKRNI_-_Humedad_-_Chile.mp3)
Hailing from completely different backgrounds, ranging from experimental folk music to visual arts, the three members of MKRNI (pronounced “makaroni”) come together to produce a distinctive sound that combines Latin American rhythms and post-punk influences, whose roots can be traced back to bands like ESG. Formed in 2008, the trio released an album through independent label Madhaus Records and are currently touring America, Europe and Brazil. Their latest single, Humedad, is a sample of their forthcoming and long-awaited second album.

CHINA – Wooozy
Fan Shiqi – Dreamland
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Fan Shiqi is an emerging, talented singer-songwriter. Professionally trained in classical piano and influenced by jazz, Fan exhibits the peaceful urban scene with her refreshing voice and showcases the delicacy and confidence of this modern female with her smooth lyrics. Fan’s debut album Dreamland, released on the Peaceful Music label, is a collection of her jazz-flavored songs spanning four years.

DENMARK – All Scandinavian
Highway Child – Love Love Love (I’m Gonna Take It Out On You)
Download audio file (Highway_Child_-_Love_Love_Love_-_Denmark.mp3)
Fueled on a combo of Fernet Branca and a profound love for rock as it was cut 40-50 years ago, Highway Child have been personal favorites since I first caught one of their always awesome live performances a few years back. Three albums in, they keep impressing with their ability to make the musical heritage their own instead of just robbing the historical cradle. Their 2011 album Highway Child, from which this track is taken, expertly fuses their classic hard rock debut On The Old Kings Road (2008) and 60s psychedelia sophomore effort Sanctuary Come (2009).

ENGLAND – The Guardian Music Blog
Gross Magic – We’re Awake Tonight
Download audio file (GrossMagic.mp3)
Sam McGarrigle is Gross Magic, a one-man band from Brighton who comes across like a UK Ariel Pink, all static-drenched pop with echoes of everything from glam to grunge, delivered in a fabulously fey, high, camp voice. We’re Awake Tonight manages to condense 35 years of rock and pop into three glorious minutes: T.Rex’s iridescent boogie, ELO’s Mr Blue Sky – it’s all here. As a recent Guardian New Band of the Day column put it: “It’s really hard to find actual precedents for the sound blend he’s achieved here: ELO meets glam, then fed through a hypnagogic filter. Not so much shock of the new as shock of the ‘ooh!’.”

ESTONIA – Popop
Laulan Sinule – Masina Sees
Download audio file (Laulan_Sinule_-_Masina_sees_-_Estonia.mp3)
Laulan Sinule is a tongue-in-cheek project by Taavi Tulev, who here leaves behind his usual deep electronics and makes pure Estonian electro-pop with analog synths. For months he managed to stay anonymous with this new project, but is now gigging around Estonia – in concerts this music really comes alive even more.

FINLAND – Glue
Astrid Swan – Box Elder (Pavement cover)
Download audio file (astrid_swan_box_elder_finland.mp3)
Astrid Swan was meant to be the princess of Finnish pop but she always seemed to be too stubborn to accept the impositions of the music biz. With her third album, Better Than Wages, she fully embraced the indie sounds with a full album of straightforward guitar-pop. Astrid has taken another turn in her career and in August she will release a Pavement covers album with the attractive title of Hits (Pavement For Girls).

FRANCE – Yet You’re Fired
Hold Your Horses! – We Dear Are A Desert
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Hold Your Horses! come from Paris and, like many others acts from the capital, they are into acoustic folk-pop. They may already be known to you thanks to an original video in which they reinterpret the history of art. Their first EP, Sorry! Household, (an anagram of Hold Your Horses!), released in May, can be bought on iTunes.

GREECE – Mouxlaloulouda
A Victim Of Society – You’re Gonna Hate Me
Download audio file (A_Victim_Of_Society_-_Youre_Gonna_Hate_Me_-_Greece.mp3)
A Victim Of Society delves into the darker side of human nature and delivers eerie, uncannily alluring melodies with raspy vocals buried beneath noise and distortion-drenched filters. His music is a plaintive, lo-fi mixture of nostalgia wrapped up in deeply ingrained noir sensibilities. You’re Gonna Hate Me’s rough and tumble groove coated in sheets of echo and shadow will leave you bewildered and enthralled in equal measures.

ICELAND – Icelandic Music Maffia
Valdimar – Undraland
Download audio file (Valdimar_-_Undraland_-_Iceland.mp3)
Valdimar is a fresh force within the Icelandic music scene. The band’s music spans the whole emotional spectrum, from intimate ballads to powerful, energetic rock. Valdimar colours its music with heavy brass, guitar and keyboard textures. They were nominated in the brightest hope category at the Icelandic Music Awards. Undraland is the title track of their debut album, released at the end of 2010 on the Geimsteinn label.

INDONESIA – Deathrockstar
Burgerkill – House Of Greed
Download audio file (Burgerkill-Venomous-HouseofGreed.mp3)
Burgerkill are one of the biggest and longest running metal bands in Indonesia. They have just released a new album, Venomous, which is heavy as hell.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Little Green Cars – My Love Took Me Down To The River (To Silence Me)
Download audio file (Little_Green_Cars_-_My_Love_Took_Me_Down_To_The_River_Ireland.mp3)
Having first been impressed by Little Green Cars in 2008, it’s with great pleasure that a mere three years later, the band consisting of 18-year olds have come good on that spark of promise they initially showed. Now a tight, talented and focused unit, their sound falls between Local Natives-style folk and Arcade Fire-style rock. Their debut single The John Wayne is out this month through UK label Young And Lost Club, and this separate new track showcases another impressive side to them.

ISRAEL – Metal Israel
Hammercult – Stealer Of Souls
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Hammercult is an extreme thrash metal band formed in late 2010 by alumni of Israel’s finest metal bands. Following their debut show in December, Hammercult stormed stages all across Israel, smashing into the local scene and garnering a tremendous amount of fans in a minimal amount of time. They also won the right to represent Israel in the 2011 international Wacken Metal Battle competition to be held this August in Germany. Late July will mark the release of their debut EP, Rise Of The Hammer, and their first full-length release is in the works.

ITALY – Polaroid
Giorgio Tuma – New Fabled Stories
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Sometimes, in the middle of the summer, a sweet melody that brings back memories of Brian Wilson, Stereolab and flamboyant Italian soundtracks from the 60s (think Piccioni, Rota, Umiliani) is really all you need. Add a touch of bossa nova and a smoke of jazz and you’ll have In The Morning We’ll Meet, the brilliant new album by Giorgio Tuma, out now on the legendary Spanish label Elefant Records.

MEXICO – Red Bull PanameriKa
Candy – El Entierro
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Coffin kids, you know them. Gloomy faces, an obscure way to dress and a strange glow of life that strains to endure all their gray and decaying surroundings. But wait a minute? Are we describing a slow and pitiful goth band? Maybe this approach to Mexico City’s Candy is erroneous and stereotypical. Candy have all the bittersweetness, frenzy and pomp that a power-goth trio could ask for. Produced by the experienced Joselo Rangel (from Mexican super-band Café Tacvba), El Entierro (“The Burial”) is the ravenous radio-friendly single that heralds a great sophomore album for Candy.

NETHERLANDS – Unfold Amsterdam
The Black Atlantic – Walked On Wood
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The Black Atlantic is a folk-pop band based in Groningen, but they undeniably have international ambitions – no wonder given how easily their heavily melodic and lulling acoustic tracks fit in alongside the new Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes albums. The core of the project is singer-songwriter Geert van der Velde, who formed the band back in 2008 to record debut album Reverence For Fallen Trees. It has been freely available online for the past two years, although this spring it was also given a physical release in more European territories with added bonus tracks, one of which you can hear here. The band rarely takes itself off the road long enough to record new material, but a new single then EP are on the way.

NEW ZEALAND – Einstein Music Journal
Sleepy Age – Décor
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In 2009, Christchurch’s Sleepy Age began their life as a guitar band, reworking the finer points of Britpop and 90s American indie rock. But in 2011, they’ve completely upended their sound, releasing the synth-heavy, European disco-inspired single Décor (see video). It’s a bold move, and at a time when they would be excused for making gloomy rock music, Sleepy Age has turned misery into delicious synth-pop. The band is currently escaping a string of crippling earthquakes in their home town and touring Europe and the UK – dates are available on their website.

PERU – SoTB
José Arbulú – Salta
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José Arbulú, a member of the well-known band Cementerio Club and considered by many people in his native country to be one of its most talented contemporary composers, returns to the music scene with his new solo production, Salta: Espíritu Azul, the first of a trilogy of records called SALTA. In this new stage, Arbulú tries to capture thoughts and feelings about all that happens to us and affects us in our tired routine of life.

PORTUGAL – Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – Over The Sun, Under The Water
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They are six, most of them from Lisbon, who have/had other projects, such as David Santos (Noiserv), a previous MAP pick. Their debut album, Chromatic, released in May, prompted influential French magazine Les Inrocks to call their music “sublime”. If you are a fan of Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective, you will love You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown too.

ROMANIA – Babylon Noise
Algebra – Moloz
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Algebra come from Bucharest and just released their first album – a mix of post-rock, post-punk, noise and influences from several other genres translated into short instrumental tracks. You can find their entire album as a free download on Bandcamp.

RUSSIA – Big Echo
The Patience – Space Farewell
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Novosibirsk-based trio The Patience have been searching for their proper sound since 2007. They released debut EP Sun Is Always Pt.1 this year, offering a massive wall of sound based on traditions of shoegaze and pop music. Space Farewell mixes the energy of live performance with the lead singer’s beautiful voice to make it one of the best Russian tracks you’ll hear these days.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
The Barents Sea – O’ Brother Of Mine
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Every once in a while you come across a band like The Barents Sea who have an indefinable essence that makes your ears prick up. One spin of O’ Brother Of Mine will confirm how capable the Perth band are when it comes to constructing punch-the-air, epic guitar riffs… but you’ll probably play it over and over again just to make sure. Feel free to discover how they sounded before they developed into a harmonious blend of indie and post-rock by downloading their charming bedroom-recorded 2009 mini-album Bear Island for free here.

SINGAPORE – I’m Waking Up To…
In Each Hand A Cutlass – A Universe Made Of Strings
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Outlaws, stargazers and free riders – that’s the sense of freedom apparent in the debut album of In Each Hand A Cutlass. The masterpiece is called A Universe Made Of Strings, and while allusions to string theory and parallel dimensions are in order, no-one can deny the sprawling ambition that the group have laboured to achieve. Swirling with different time signatures, musical styles and rapturous energy, In Each Hand A Cutlass prove that genres are for the common man and that genius lies in the outliers.

SOUTH KOREA – Indieful ROK
SiwaRainbow – We Are All Alone
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Siwa is a female singer-songwriter, Rainbow99 is a guitarist and electronica producer. Together they have formed the unit SiwaRainbow, creating a mellow sound where Rainbow99 provides the atmosphere and Siwa adds melody and lyrics. The duo’s second album, We Are All Alone, was released in June. The title track opens with an epic synth-heavy intro that extends into total bliss.

SPAIN – Musikorner
EdredóN – Bautismo
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EdredóN is a five-piece formed in the working class district of Carabanchel, Madrid. Their unique sound can be described as a cosmic mixture of psychedelia and several other genres not so easily found in Spanish indie music, such as Kraut, ambient, house or pop noir. Bizarre as it seems, this risky blend is present throughout their self-titled debut album released in 2010. Bautismo, with lyrics in French, is their particular approach to Serge Gainsbourg’s élégance.

SWITZERLAND – 78s
Dead Bunny – I Don’t Know You
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Dead Bunny don’t invent the wheel anew, but from time to time that’s bracing news, with hipster bands popping up all over the place. They play sweaty rock ‘n’ roll right from the heart, without frills and straight to the point.

UNITED STATES – I Guess I’m Floating
CSLSX – Keep Shining On
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This band, by way of Philadelphia, are plenty young with plenty of talent. CSLSX have released a handful of tracks in the past few months, slowly showcasing their music abilities. Keep Shining On is the best yet, a perfect summer jam with stunning production value.

VENEZUELA – Música y Más
Vel France – Galaxia
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Vel France is one of the newest talents to come out of eastern Venezuela, a region characterized by alternative rock bands, but this time bringing a more melodious voice than has been heard in recent years. Since debuting at a festival called VirgenFest, Vel France has captivated audiences with syrupy lyrics and nice guitar riffs. Galaxia, her first single, contains a lot of that and has been played on radio nationwide.