SNOWMINE - 2011 - LAMINATE PET ANIMAL

Ambient Indie Pop

[FOR FREE]

http://snowmine.bandcamp.com/album/laminate-pet-animal

• 5 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: The Bomb, Honey, Strangers

English

There is something about Lexi Scherr and her 2012 demo Spring that fills me with a completely immutable, uplifting joy. Maybe it’s the way her voice dodges in and out of the piano on opener “The Bomb”, navigating lines like “How do we keep pretending we can't be heroes? / We don't know how it ends, we gotta let it go” with the emotional rawness and honesty of a pro. Maybe it’s the unabashedly sunny arrangements here, full of bouncy piano, playful percussive touches, and booming drums. Maybe it’s just how doggone catchy it is. Maybe it’s all of those things.
It must be said that Scherr has a powerful grasp over her stories, such as the sorrow she channels on “Honey”, her resigned sendoff to a love she doesn’t feel she deserves. “Honey” is a stirring ballad, confined to just a piano and the voice that delivers it, and that’s exactly how it should be. Not that Scherr stays down for long: follow-up “Find You”, a song anybody who has ever stayed put in a downer relationship can relate to, has Scherr playing the plucky heroine as she promises to stay and help make things better. Perhaps it is the lyrics to this song that show why she is so relatable: she can take charge of a gloomy situation—and turn it back her way, an optimism that runs throughout many of the songs here.
These can be breezy, lonely days, and my heart is wanting for warmth again. Lexi Scherr has done a fantastic job with this five-song sampler, a soundtrack for many sunny afternoons and warm nights to come.

Gulls - 2012 - Down the Hatch

Indie/Surf Pop

   [FOR FREE]

http://gullsband.bandcamp.com/

• 9 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Sleep In The Sun, Wild

English

If you are a regular Wasfuersohr reader, these guys shouldnt be completely new to you, though you might know them better by their main project Magic Man. Magic Man's Real Life Color easily stepped up to be my favourite album last year, so my expectations for a new project from these guys were quite high. Contrary to any expectations I might have had, the sound of Gulls is quite a different affair than Magic Man, which is obvious right from the start. Down the Hatch's albums opener Sleep in the Sun has a very soft and slow pop intro, only to transform into a super fun and driving Indie pop track, reminiscent of the Surfpop music style of Swimming. My initial problem with this record was its lo-fi nature , which gave me a slightly difficult time getting into this record at the beginning, but its hard not to fall for these pure and innocent songs about the most trivial things important to us. If anything, those trivial pleasures are probably the most innocent joy anyone can have, and these songs make a very valid point of how important those moments are to us. So who gives a anything about those songs having a slightly worse quality. They are pure fun and express the fundamental desire to enjoy life. If you didn't get your fair share of sunshine today, take a listen to Gulls' Down the Hatch.

Indie Anna Jones - 2011 - Demo EP

indie pop/acoustic

[FOR FREE]

http://indieannajones.bandcamp.com/

• 4 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Bagels, Apple Juice

English

Sometimes, it doesn’t take very much for a song to draw you in. It can be anything: maybe there’s an interesting beat you’re catching on to, or a really insightful melody, or a particularly clever line. For me, that feeling of exuberance and innocence I get when I lose myself in the opening of “Bagels” does the trick: the opening melody is so playful, so airy, that I’m defenseless to its charm. This EP’s appeal can be described in that way; it’s a lightweight, clocking in at fourteen minutes in four tracks, but it steps right in and sets such a welcoming atmosphere that there simply isn’t that much to say. Fans of stripped, acoustic artists should find plenty to like here, whether it’s the simple but effective guitar interplay, earnest and barren production, and the vocals, which never overpower or sink under the music but float along delicately. The lyrics, though taking precedence behind their soundtrack here, fit it well, evoking faint memories and wistful relationships; they may be low-key, but that certainly doesn’t equate to any lack in substance.
There are artists that provoke right out of the gate, that intend to challenge, denounce, and redefine themselves. Then there are the subtler gems, artists that may not be as bold but worm your way into your ears and your heart all the same. While we seek and praise the former all the time (and with good reason), there’s something to be said for the value of the latter as well. So if you’re waiting for a rescue, why not stop for a bit and sniff the flowers…hmm…

The Novel Ideas - 2011 - Summer Demos

Indie Pop/Folk Rock

   [FOR FREE]

http://thenovelideas.bandcamp.com/album/summer-demos

• 4 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: On Fire, Artichoke Heart

English

Todays band are making a Indie Pop & Folk Rock mix that is hard to resist. The main topic sung about in basically every song is love and since this isnt quite a novel idea, you may hope that they have something else to set themselves apart from the countless Indie Pop records released every month with the same topic. And indeed they do. While The Novel Ideas also have their fair share of overly dramatic sounding songs (especially on the LP also available on Bandcamp: The Sky is a Field ), they manage to vary their approach to the topic at hand on this EP quite a bit, somehow accomplishing to make a listening not a repetitive, but a rather fun and catchy affair. The best song to be found here is Artichoke Heart which has a fantastic build up, a remarkably well done and distinctive introduction part and expressive lead vocals. The other songs are very well done as well, and I expect them to gather a lot more fans if they continue making music. As a sidenote: They currently have a Kickstarter project running to finance their upcoming album. Its already fully financed, but if you like their sound and if you want to pitch in a few bucks for any of the mentioned rewards, click here. Considering the overall quality and variety of their sound, I really hope their next full album release comes rather sooner than later.

Goodbye Kumiko - 2011 - My Wild Arms

Indie/Pop/Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://goodbyekumiko.bandcamp.com/

• 10 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Plain Dream, Sleeping in, We own the night

English

This album is a perfect example of how you are not convincing people to listen to your, too good to be overlooked, music. The band knows how to make music, very good music at that (convince yourself by listening to Plain Dream or Sleeping in), but the beginning of the album is very alienating, starting off with an Instrumental piece that isn't quite interesting enough to catch most people's attention and a few songs that sound not quite as well thought out than the songs the album ends with. Unfortunately, most people tend to judge musicians by the first few songs they hear/skip through and its really troublesome that the best songs of Goodbye Kumiko were probably never heard by the people stumbling over this record. I like with how much different variations of their sound they came up with. I can't really blame them for trying different styles, some resulting in better songs than others. And it definitely paid off since the 3 best songs on the album are also 3 songs that feel completely different. These guys are definitely very talented, and if you look at some of their older songs/older versions of current songs (which you can find here), you can't help but notice how much they already improved their own style of music. They have quite the potential to improve themselves and I am already liking what I am hearing on this album. This is definitely a band we should hope for getting another record.

WING DAM - 2011 - WING DAM

Indie Pop

[FOR FREE] 

http://wingdam.bandcamp.com/

• 5 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: BLOOM, FEATHERS

English

One's appreciation for WING DAM's eponymous EP of soothing indie pop will ultimately rest on whether or not the listener likes what the distinctive voice that Wing Dam singer Austin Tally brings to the table. It's impossible to describe, yet it's effortlessly catchy and perfectly fits with the tone of the music he's singing over. The music itself is a relaxing mix of alt-country rock and lo-fi pop, the kind of music that evokes summers at the cottage or listening to the rain patter down outside your window. If music could be happily melancholic, then Wing Dam might just be it. 'Mosquitoes' for example, is driven by a toe-tapping drum loop and winding guitar, but the lyrics juxtapose a troubled relationship with a deteriorating home. The music and lyrics play off each other beautifully. There is an impressive amount of work on display here, as Tally is essentially a one man band: playing, recording and producing the entire record himself at his home studio in Baltimore. If you're a fan of lo-fi and want your music to sound a little rough around the edges, this might be too polished for your tastes. But fret not, as Wing Dam doesn't come across like some Bob Rock-produced album you could see your reflection in. The last thing this record strives to sound like is slick and overproduced, just lovingly well crafted songs with enough polish to appeal to just about anyone. You'll be drawn in by its charm if you give it a chance.

Ben Seaward - 2011 - A Matter Of Moments

Pop/Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://benseaward.bandcamp.com/

• 8 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Expectations, Can't Help

English

This is a musical project that still might be in active development. I downloaded the album a while ago, and when checking up on it today, I noticed 3 more songs have been added. Nice surprise! The 2 most catchy and easily accessible songs are right in the beginning, which was a good idea to get people interested. Half of the songs are rather laid back pop songs, which is a bit unfortunate since the other songs with their accentuated electronic and guitar parts definitely stand out as being the more catchy and striking songs. I also got the impression that Ben Seaward tried to push too much different musical styles onto one record, without considering that those different styles might not have the same crowd to like them. "Know How" and "You came after me",with their rather special sound effects, especially stand out as tracks that have a certain 80's pop feeling to it that doesn't really go well with the other songs and will probably alienate people who continued listening after the interesting album openener and the follow up song. Still overall easy listening worth a listen or two, especially for these first songs and who knows, he still might be adding more interesting tracks, so keep an eye on his Bandcamp if you like what you heard so far.

Sweet Water Pirates - 2009 - Swedish Music in English

Indie Pop

[FOR FREE]

http://sweetwaterpirates.bandcamp.com/

• 4 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: I have no place to go

English

Today I am going to present an interesting and charming little Indie Pop project. As already mentioned in previous posts, people in Sweden seem to breath an air filled with music or something. Way too many incredibly talented people there. If you want to see the potential of those guys, check out the first song. It is a really well made and very catchy pop song, that strikes the right tunes in the refrain to stay in your ear, while having charming intersections with an almost breathed female voice in between. The second song is interesting as well in that they try to change up their sugar-sweet pop style and show that they are able to be more varied. However, when arriving at the third song, the feeling creeps up on me that the band wasn't too sure what to do with their record themselves. It seems to miss any form of musical coherence and simply mashing different music styles together rarely works for a release to create a bit of attention. The 3rd and 4th song are also not nearly as memorable as the first or even the second song. However, all of this doesn't change the fact that I like them enough to present them to you, with especially the first song being strikingly well done.

SoccerMom - 2011 - SoccerMom EP

Indie/ Pop

[FOR FREE]

http://soccermomspokane.bandcamp.com/

• 6 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Against the Grain, Mirrors, College Dreams

English

We celebrate the last day of the meteorological summer by presenting you another almost perfectly fitting summer record for the sunny and weightless days that hopefully are still to come. The catchy songs on this EP should go along swimmingly with Swimming and Fort Lean. Soccermom used a quite varied selection of guitar, drum, piano and synth sounds to create these songs, having every one of those songs leaving a refreshing impression. The lead singer is also incredibly gifted with a carefree sounding and extremely likeable voice. The feel good mood conveyed in the 3 songs listed in the recommendation section is especially contagious. The other songs are well made as well but aren't as catchy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The whole record is still a huge success for their first outing. This is definitely another band where I have no clue how they manage to stay rather undetected, which of  course also has a Facebook page you can "like". By all means, do so to spread awareness for bands that deserve it and this band is no exception. Summer is over but music in our ears keeps shining on thanks to bands like Soccermom, even though I would be quite interested to hear how they thought of their rather unusual band name.

Lucky Penny - 2011 - Lucky Penny

Indie Folk Pop

[FOR FREE]

http://lucky-penny.bandcamp.com/album/lucky-penny

• 5 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Snake, Bound North

English

After the last two Bands I introduced you to, we are now back on a very soothing terrain of music. This EP starts off with a minimalist, but nonetheless captivating melody to set the tone of the record. The basic instruments you'll get to hear are guitars plus a few occasional other minor background sounds. One interesting feature is the very harmonic use of their voices as such a background sound in some parts of their songs. Since this is a collaboration project you'll also notice some variations within the song structures of the different songs. The bitter sweet, cute "Memory" and the song "What you want for yourself", sung by a male lead singer, especially stand out in that regard, since the other 3 songs have a similar song structure and feeling, despite not even sung by the same female lead singer. The best songs in my opinion are "Snake" and "Bound North". I can't put my finger on it, but something about how the singer uses her voice to tell her stories is really mesmerizing. It's a bit unfortunate that you can hear a slight hissing in the background, which tends to be especially noticeable in slower, quiet records like these. I like all of those songs, though. Definitely an interesting listen, even though probably better matched to a laid back listening session during the colder season of the year.

Stallions - 2011 - The Great War EP

Indie Pop

[FOR FREE]

http://stallions.bandcamp.com

• 6 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: A Proper Answer, Girl by the Dock

English

Stallions make well-crafted, serene Singer-Songwriter Indie Pop. It took me a few listens and maybe I wouldn't even have given this EP a fair chance if not for the reason of writing a review about it, but it grew on me after a while. After listening to these songs once, you might not even have noticed all the different instruments used here, namely guitar, bass, keyboards and violin. During my first time through it, I was too focussed on the vocals to notice any subtleties in the instrumentation, which is partly my fault and also partly the fault of Stallions, also pointing out the biggest flaw in this EP. These songs are sort of traditional Indie Pop songs, and they are quite good at that (especially song 2 "A Proper Answer" and 3 "Girl by the dock"), but this record is probably missing some sort of highlight, or more variety in general to set them apart from the many other Singer-Songwriter outings out there. They tried to mix up things with the instrumental song "Hiroshima", but I got the feeling that they need to find another interesting idea for a future EP or full fledged album release to attract more attention. However, they know how to make good music, I really hope they find another interesting angle to present it on top of the solid foundation they showed here.

Your Song Here - 2011 - Volume One: Outer Space

Indie Compilation

[FOR FREE]

http://yoursonghere.bandcamp.com/

• 11 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: "Tunnel Vision" by Modern Space Station Furniture, "Star's Song" by Jenni Potts, "Books About UFO's" by Minah Thrones

Deutsch

Es ist recht schwer eine Musik Compilation verschiedener Künstler zu bewerten, da jedes Lied und vor allem jeder Künstler eigentlich einzeln die Aufmerksamkeit verdient hätte. Aus dem Grund hab ich es bisher auch vermieden derartiges auf meinen Blog zu stellen. Allerdings musste ich meine Einstellung dazu überdenken als ich dieses Projekt hier gefunden habe. Es hat mich einfach froh gemacht zu sehen dass derartige Zusammenarbeit auch heute noch möglich ist, und zu derart vielfältigen und interessanten Ergebnissen führen kann. Für dieses Album wurden nicht nur ein paar bereits existierende Lieder zusammengeworfen, sondern meines Wissens alle Lieder für dieses Thema und diese Veröffentlichung neu erstellt. Die Mühe diesem Album ein allumfassendes Thema zu geben, hat sich definitiv gelohnt und hält alle Lieder merklich zusammen. Es gibt einige wirklich empfehlenswerte Songs, vor allem "Star's Song", "Tunnel Vision" and "For Nine Months, Mars Was Home". Diese gehören definitiv zu dem qualitativ hochwertigstem Material was hier zu finden ist, aber ich würde trotzdem empfehlen die Songs alle mal anzuhören da es noch einige andere interessante Songs gibt.
Da es eine Independent Compilation diverser recht unbekannter Musiker ist, gibt es natürlich einige Unstimmigkeiten was die Qualität der Songs anbelangt, da nicht jeder Musiker dieselben Mittel hatte. Jeder hat aber gute Arbeit geleistet, die vorhandenen Mittel zu nutzen um die eigene Vision des Themas "Outer Space" umzusetzen, was zu einem gefälligen und durchaus empfehlenswerten Album führte. Wenn euch einer dieser Musiker besonders gefällt, versucht Ihre Band Seiten zu finden, da es einige Musiker gibt die mehr als nur dieses eine Lied veröffentlicht haben. Ich werde versuchen alle Links die ich finden kann in den Comment Teil unter dem Review zu posten. Aus den Gründen die ich anfangs nannte, werde ich auch keine direkte Bewertung unter dieses Review setzen. Bleibt nicht viel mehr zu sagen als: Dif-tor heh smusma, hoffentlich hören wir mehr von diesem Projekt.

English

Its hard to review a compilation, as every song and especially every artist actually deserve more attention than being one amongst many, which is why I refrained from reviewing a compilation so far. But when I found these guys efforts, I couldn't help but feel happy to see that people still get together to make projects like these. Not only putting together a few songs that were already made, but the efforts to give this release a coherent feel by making songs to a certain topic are easily appreciated. There are a few really good songs on there, I especially recommend checking out "Star's Song", "Tunnel Vision" and "For Nine Months, Mars Was Home". These are among the most polished songs on this record, but give it a complete listen, since a few of the others are also quite charming.

It is an Independent compilation of relatively unknown musicians, so there are a few minor problems as not everyone obviously had the same means for creating their songs, which sometimes shows in the varying quality of the songs. Everyone made a great effort, though, to put out their vision of a song about "Outer Space" which ended in a definitely enjoyable and recommendable album. If you are interested in one of those artist, check out their bandpages, some of them have more music than just one song. I'll put all the links I can find into the comment section later. For the reasons mentioned in the beginning, I also wont directly put a score under this review. Nothing left to say, except: Dif-tor heh smusma, I really hope to hear more from this project.