Soribada just tweeted something about W&Whale so I just had to follow that link. Turns out they released a digital funk rock single by the name of Born To Rock today, August 31. Seems they have somehow worked together with GAP on this one. If you're on a Windows computer you can sample a minute of the song here.

Update (090901): wassereis has found the music video at Cyworld.

New indie spotlight at Popseoul! This time you've got the chance to learn something more on electronic acts Humming Urban Stereo and Instant Romantic Floor: [PS! Indie Spotlight] Humming Urban Stereo.

Tomorrow the time has come for the last of the three Music Hong episodes where Dringe Augh plays British folk. Just tune in (or visit) to Mapo FM at 11PM August 31 to have a listen.

If you're interested in previous episodes (which you definitely should be if you like Dringe Augh - there's a lot of that music in his own) can be streamed from these links:
- mapo fm dringe's first day
- mapo fm dringe's second day
You'll need Microsoft Silverlight to play, which is something MAC users can get from here.

A couple of days ago, Foundation Records share a couple of new EE music videos with the world via YouTube. There is the Indie To Go video for new album track Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears. And then there is another awesome 80s inspired song off Imperfect I'mperfect called High Collor with an awesome 80s inspired music video:

boonga Boonga Records has launched another series and it's called 수공업영상DVD. As the name implies this is all about DVDs, and the first one was released on August 12. The title was 090227 공연실황 and the artist behind it none other than Jang Ki Ha & The Faces! YES24 has tracklist, picture on the stickers that come along, and a bit more.

And while on the subject of Jang Ki Ha & The Faces, Roboseyo has found an entertaining YouTube clip where Michael Jackson dances to 나를 받아주오. It's from last year, but definitely something to check out if you haven't seen it already.

Sunshine has reviewed Taru's recently released first full length album for Seoulbeats: Review: Taru’s self-titled album.

Ruby Salon's Lee Kyu Young updated his blog last week with the news that new wave act Telepathy will release their first album in September. Judging by the presumed cover its title will be Human Evolution.

The very fine post-rock band Glittering Blackness , Fall has finally added a new song to MySpace. Eight and a half minutes of Übermensch awaits you if you decide to visit.

Last week I exercised a bit of Korean while engaging in a brief exchange of messages with donawhale's guitarist, Youn Sung Hoon. As he agreed to answer questions for a mini interview, I turned to mrkwang who kindly agreed to help out with the translation. And so Indieful ROK readers now have a chance to learn more on the upcoming album from this very fine band:

Can you please start by introducing donawhale?
Donawhale is a 3 piece team,
Youn Sung Hoon (guitar)
You Jin Young (Piano & Vocal)
Jung Da Young (bass).

It formed 6 years ago, and released the 1st. self-titled album donawhale in 2007. Kim Min Joon (ex-drummer) was a member from the beginning, but retired early 2009 due to personal situation.

What can we expect your second album to sound like?
We'd like to express such things - Image around us, Echo of space, Sound of wind, Smell of grass, Memory, etc, fluttered feelings because of them.

Without division of genre, various paintings of color senses.

What we enjoy while we play, acoustic sound which has noise in the room, more psychedelic, band feeling, etc. We considered them important, and worked 2nd. album.

What are your current plans?
The 2nd. album will be released in mid September this year - not much time left. We are mixing it now and are almost finished.

Where do you see donawhale in a couple of years?
Maybe doing 3rd. album, with fluttering songs.

---

Donawhale's album debut was one of my favorites from 2007, and of Jenny Wu's too. Jenny also wrote a really nice review on it, describing well the loveliness that is donawhale: Donawhale debut album.

Check out donawhale's YouTube channel if you have yet to hear what they sound like or feel like watching a soundless clip from the 2nd album recording.

August 27, Cherry Filter will return with "paroxysmal rock mentality" as they release their fifth full length album, Rocksteric. Details at Dahee's Plastic Castle.

And for yet another post on something self-released today - Hahn Vad put out an album under his Amature Amplifier moniker on August 21. It's his fourth full length album, and the title of the CD-R holding an impressive 26 tracks is Soo Sung Land. On his YouTube account, there's an album promo vid and a music video for 사계절스픈사, in case you want to hear what it sounds like.

And in further news from the beginning of the month, Noisecat put out a CD-R single called All Together Now on August 1. It's the first release in the "noisecat airlines single series" and it holds 4 tracks that may fall under the drone noise category.

This is a bit old, but I only heard about it this weekend: punk trio Gumx have been touring Japan for several weeks, and will continue to do so for a couple of weeks more - details here. The tour started on July 31, which is also when the band put out the self-released 5 track EP American Standard.

The August issue of Groove Korea and this month it features an article from Shawn Despres on Cocore. Download the full magazine in pdf format from Groove, or head over to Cocore's news board for the article! It's well worth a read, and among other things mentions that guitarist Hwang Myung Soo's upcoming SF novel A Letter from Pluto will be accompanied by a bunch of new songs that weren't included on the band's recently released fifth full length album Relax.

Speaking of Relax, Shawn writes that it "features a smorgasbord of styles including rock, blues, surf and psychedelic music with ukulele, hand claps and chanted and spoken word vocals being added to the mix". I've had a listen myself, and as strange as it may sound that's all on there. Some of it a bit grungy, some that made me think of Beck, and some (유체이탈 in particular) reminiscing the sound from vocalist Lee Woo Sung's Sagitta on Hello Stranger.

Fellow MAP member Indiecision reported yesterday that applications for season 2 of Sutasi are now open! The winners of season 1 were announced last week, and as you may recall Peejay won the songwriter category whereas Biuret became the overall Sutasi winner. Let's see if Korea's triumph can be repeated next year - apply here!

Continuing on the hardcore trail from yesterday, Jeju punk act 99anger announced that they will release a self-titled album on September 9. The CD release show will however not take place until the 26th at Badabie.

It's August 20, and that means that hardcore band 13Steps' second full length album, Existence, is out! GMC Records' Kyono dedicated a blog post to it today with album sampler, Against All MV, and a long interview in Korean. However, if you don't understand Korean here's Indieful ROK's own mini interview with the band:

What are 13Steps?
13Steps : Hello, We are a hardcore band called "13Steps".
13Steps were formed in CheongJoo City 9 years ago.
And we have just put out a new album called "Existence".

What does 13Steps sound like?
13Steps : We made a band, 13Steps just for hardcore scene and game and we think we have been trying to keep it for real. The music of 13Steps is based on hardcore and we grabbed some spices from Punk and Metal. Simply speaking, We are trying to make the toughest songs from all genres in music.

Though it's often fairly difficult to hear your lyrics for the unexperienced listener, it's evident that the vocals do matter. How important would you say that the actual lyrics are for your music?
Dokyo : Lyrics are very important parts. But I don't think we gotta force lyrics to all kids. I usually write lyrics for 13Steps. And I don't think everybody can agree with my idea about anything that I write because the thoughts people have are different. Well, I think I can say it's just like looking up some person's diary. Still I will be happy if people catch my ideas and got something in common though. Especially on this new album, I think there will be many people who can agree with my ideas because I wrote lyrics for this album about politics and social issues.

What do you want to say about Existence?
13Steps : We don't know how much we have been trying to make this new album two-thumgs-up-one. I think EXISTENCE album is the toughest and perfectest one ever we can make by the name of 13STEPS. Please listen to this, even do steal and listen to it if u ain't got money to buy the new album. And then please show yourself up for our shows if u could feel something from the album. Lastly, please show us big love. Thanx!

---

As mentioned previously I'm not much of a hardcore listener, yet 13Steps' second full length album impressed me a lot. Those lyrics are quite catchy too - No Hope makes me wish I could just start screaming "Policies! Policies! Policies!" in a happy manner before helping out next time somebody asks me about policies at work. Though I'm afraid nobody would get the reference...

The album sampler is also available for listening through the MySpace of GMC Records. Check it out!

The MBC Music Travel Lalala CD+DVD set that was scheduled for release on August 13 has been delayed till August 20. The tracklist has also changed a bit, no longer including Jang Ki Ha & The Faces' take on 그건 너. Though all other covers previously listed on the blog are still included, as far as Hyang Music is concerned.

In a couple of months - October 24-25, to be exact - Grand Mint Festival is coming up, and as a Korean indie fan with no actual experience of Korean festivals it seems like the one festival one really shouldn't miss. In fact, I've even made plans to go there myself this year (finally! I'm so excited!) and so I was a bit extra curious about things and sent off a few questions that were kindly answered:

How many acts are you hoping to put on stage this year?
We hope more than 50 artists in this year but we won't know until everything is decided.

From what I understand there will be four different stages - what can a visitor expect to hear when visiting each of them?
- Mint Breeze : It's a biggest stage in GMF. U can see them in front of stage as other rock music festival, and u can sit back and relax on big grass field.
- Loving Forest : This is our remarkable stage. You can enjoy music with great looks of lakeside. Sometimes water fountain spills water, and music is very selective
- Club Midnight Sunset : This year, this stage will be bigger than ever. It will play club rock, electric and so on
- Cafe Blossom House : U can relax!

How many visistors are you expecting? Do tickets usually sell out?
Unlike other music festival, we strictly check the ticket sales. To provide maximum relaxation at GMF, we limit the ticket numbers. Last year, Sunday ticket was sold out.

What is the purpose of the "festival guy"?
GMF wants to be not only music festival, but culture festival. Like many movie festival, we assign a person to introduce GMF more frequently to people who don't know GMF well. Festival Lady/Guy takes a photo, trailer, and other promotional process. However, we are not assigning anyone to be a festival person. We only asks who really like music and understands GMF's theme

---

The festival guy this year is model/actor Kim Jae Wook, whom I assume most people recognize as the waffle guy in Coffee Prince. A list of confirmed artists can be found here - so far it includes names such as The Black Skirts, Han Hee Jung, Peterpan Complex, sweetpea, Sister's Barbershop, Jang Ki Ha & The Faces and Zitten. More names to be added on August 31.

And here's how to get a ticket if you can't follow the instructions in Korean:

Send e-mail to Ticketlink ( jihee@ticketlink.co.kr ) with the information below. Our booking manager will contact you back with your reservation confirmation letter.
1) Name
2) # of tickets wish to purchase
3) Foreigner registration number or passport number
4) Desired date (Oct. 24, 25 or both)
5) Credit card information: cardholder’s name, card number, and expiration date (mm-yy)

Ticket pick-up booth will be located at the entrance of the festival site and you will be able to pick up your tickets anytime during festival period with presentation of your reservation confirmation letter and public/official identification document (foreign registration card, passport, international driving license, etc.).

The fifth full length album from Cocore was released on August 15. The title of the album is Relax and one minute samples of 유체이탈, 타이페이무중력지하철특급 and Hawaii are available at Hyang.

And if you haven't already read it, K.O.A. Zine did a great Cocore interview in 2007: Cocore: Korea's premiere indie rock band.

Indiepop sweetheart Taru will release her first full length solo album on August 25. The self-titled album has been produced by Japan's Swinging Popsicle and contains a new version of Yesterday from the R.A.I.N.B.O.W. mini album. Also among the 13 tracks is a song featuring naru called Talk & Play, and a duet with No Reply's Kwon Soon Kwan called 내일이 오면.

There will be more of the awesomeness that is EE! The total art act - whose Curiosity Kills single not only counts as one of last year's very best releases (at least according to me and Mark Russell), but also may well be an example of the finest electronica based music ever to come out of Korea - will release a full length album on August 20. The album title is Imperfect, I'mperfect and the tracklist includes two new remixes of single tracks Curiosity Kills and Monkey Defense. Teaser MV here.

Generally, I've found that people that make good music also listen to good music. On this Monday and two Mondays more, we'll be able to find out if this is also the case for Dringe Augh, as he plays British folk music on Mapo FM's Music Hong. The one hour show airs at 11PM on Mondays with reprises at 8PM on Tuesdays. Dringe is on August 17, 24 and 31, and it's possible to listen in online.

In further Dringe related news, he will make his first appearance abroad in Japan on September 11. More on that when I find out the details.

A new album from veterans Crying Nut was released on August 11. It is the band's 6th full length album, and they've got a bunch of music videos to go with it on their MySpace profile.

A couple of days later, on August 13, the band's 3 Singles from 2007 got another release.

The Sutasi Grand Final has now been held, and as reported previously Biuret and Peejay both won their respective categories. The final show clips are now up on YouTube:

SUTASI - Grand Final
-part 1: The Great Spy Experiment (Singapore) & Liu Jin (China)
-part 2: Biuret (Korea) & Kadangyan (Philippines)
Biuret performs Violet again in the first half.
-part 3: Nikhil D´Souza (India) & Infinity of Sound (Korea)
In the second half, IS performs 봄 (Spring) for the third time in Sutasi.
-part 4: Cassini's Division (India) & Jessa Mae Gabon (Philippines)
-part 5: Jalebee Cartel (India) + songwriter category background stuff
-part 6: Winners: Peejay (Korea) & Biuret (Korea)
Together with Red-Roc, Peejay once again offers a performance of Butterfly and talks a bit about music. Biuret talk about their Sutasi experience and plays 웃지 않는 공주 (Frowning Princess) to the Sutasi audience again.

More on the Northeast Asia episodes and the songwriter episode leading up the the finals here.

Thanks to Nudeviking I have now heard The Greatest Song Ever Recorded. The title of the song in question is Call Me, and it was released as a digital single some time within the last few days. The actual music was written by Biuret's guitarist Lee Gyo Won, whereas former presidential candidate Huh Kyung-young not only performs it but has written the lyrics. Read more about the song and get a taste of the lyrics here. Visit Wikipedia to learn more on the man.

August 14 a digital single from Byun Jae Won with friends was released. The three track single includes 너 또한 똑같았음을 from Lucite Tokki - a song that was released a year ago as part of The Happieness 4 Us. Short samples of all songs on the single at Soribada.

Music Alliance Pact is back, bigger than ever! Thanks to Jason's hard work, this month we're up to 31 one members with the addition of China, Greece, India, Indonesia and South Africa. More than two hours of some of the best music the world has to offer right now awaits you below!

Representing Korea this month is Sunkyeol with a song that makes me hit the repeat button every time it comes up (consequently making it the only song I listen to before I have to turn my computer off next time...). Though the title is in English (the original title of the song, actually) it is the song that goes by 행인 on MySpace - where more warm fuzziness awaits. Even more Sunkyeol awesomeness here. And of course, to learn more on the band you can read this Indieful ROK interview.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Baby Scream - Ups And Downs
Baby Scream is a musical project led by Juan Mazzola, with the ocassional collaboration of friends such as Cristian Basualdo, Sebastián Rubin and even Gilby Clarke's bassist Muddy Stardust. Mazzola writes pop songs with a strong influence from classics like The Byrds, The Beatles and The Replacements. This beautiful acoustic ballad was taken from the album with the same name, released last year in the US by Recording Records.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
The Frowning Clouds - Time Wastin' Woman
Geelong boys The Frowning Clouds are so 60s and very fun. Lead vocalist Nick (a dead ringer for George Harrison) and his poncho-wielding counterpart Zack rotate between singing and rhythm guitar duties. The coarse vocals of Zack lend backbone to Time Wastin' Woman, oozing with the sounds of the Stones' early catalogue.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Copacabana Club - Just Do It
They're pretty, uber-cool and hyped. Justin Timberlake likes them. Channel Fox uses their song in a commercial. Do you want more or is that enough to make you see that Copacabana Club are a band to pay attention to? Last year the five-piece band (two women and three men) released their first EP, King Of The Night, from which Just Do It is taken. It's dance and kinda new-rave style make people think about CSS, but it's better to listen and judge for yourself.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Centretown Cripplers - Eat The Bee
Centretown Cripplers are a seven-piece. I only mention this because they're a garage rock band, and bands in that genre typically have a much more minimalistic approach to line-ups. As Eat The Bee shows, however, in this case size doesn't matter. Centretown Cripplers are loud, raucous, primal... and awesome.

CHILE: Super 45
Mostro - Moha Moha
Mostro, one of the cornerstones of the Chilean indie music scene, are Carlos and Jaime Reinoso, two mutant brothers who deliver an intense and creative musical experience. Playing, in their own words, "evil pop" with a guitar, drum and small keyboard, they attack you (yes, literally attack you) with a mix of minimal electronica and raw, intense rock that simply knocks you down, just like American duo High Places were when both bands recently shared a stage. Moha Moha, taken from their second LP Consumido Por Pájaros ("Eaten By Birds") is a small appetizer of their genius insanity while we await their third album.

CHINA: Wooozy
Sonnet - A Nice Song
Sonnet are a disco/indie rock band from Shanghai. As one of the few third rock generation in Shanghai, they've just independently released their second demo S-File. One of the band members is now helping the SOMA indie label host live shows at the Dream Factory venue in their native city.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Jong Pang - Liar Liar
Jong Pang aka Anders Rhedin released his lauded debut solo album Bright White Light just last year and already he's got the follow-up ready and out. It's titled Love and it is a magnificent alternative pop-rock effort from which I'm happy to present irresistible first single Liar Liar.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
The xx - Crystalised
Although they went to the same school as Four Tet and Burial, don't go making too many assumptions about The xx, a group of four teenagers from South London currently making waves in the UK ahead of the release of their debut album later this month. They may share similar influences (dub, R'n'B) but they take their songs in another direction with magnificently minimal production, all of which is done by themselves.

FINLAND: Glue
Astrid Swan - Unrelated
Earlier this year singer Astrid Swan dumped the piano (and along with it, the dramatically adorned songs) and took the guitar to compose simple, but sincere and personal pop songs that she recorded with a new band, The Drunk Lovers, for her soon-to-be released third album Better Than Wages. There we can find this synth-pop gem about erroneous encounters.

FRANCE: ZikNation
Mama's Mule - Globe Trotter
The Mule and Venom met during a studio session in 2007 and they immediatly clicked. For about a year, they kept seeing each other every now and then between concerts, studio sessions, taking the dog out, vacations and soccer games. Meanwhile, Jessy Rakotomanga and Sylvain Moreau pledged allegiance to the secret society. January 2009: tadaaaam. First demo. Three tracks. Viagra for your ears. Just listen.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Timid Tiger - Are You Gonna Go My Way (feat. Ludacris & The Notorious B.I.G.)
Perhaps Timid Tiger are globally more famous for their remixes than for their regular songs. And hell yeah, this Lenny Kravitz cover does indeed kick ass. So enjoy it - but don't forget that this band from Cologne is creative and inspired in their own work, both on record and live.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Film - Filter
After a two-year period of experimentation in the studio, Film are releasing their third album. Persona is a dizzyingly beautiful set of delicate atmospheric songs with cinematic aesthetics and a detailed production. It signifies a different, more inviting musical direction that is influenced by the compositions of Vangelis Papathanasiou and summons lush combined voices, pop melodies, electronics, sparse strings and brasses. An album that is best taken from start to finish, where the songs will uncover its manifold delights, endear and impress.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
Agent Fresco - Above These City Lights
Agent Fresco formed in early 2008 with the goal of competing in the Músíktilraunir contest, a sort of Battle of the Bands, which they subsequently won. The quartet write complex songs with lots of rhythm changes and received the Brightest Hope (Best Newcomer) Award at the 2008 Icelandic Music Awards. The band, who released a five-song EP called Lightbulb Universe last December, are currently working on their debut album.

INDIA: Indiecision
Sridhar/Thayil - Bring Me Rain
The project of theatre actor and singer Suman Sridhar and poet Jeet Thayil, Sridhar/Thayil's lyrical pop takes thematic Indian music sensibilities and combines them with an urban swagger in the vein of early Björk and, occasionally, Tom Waits. Bring Me Rain is a perfect example of their dirty-sexy feel, taking traditional Indian sounds and cooking up something that could work equally well at a nu-jazz club or a grimy bar. Sridhar/Thayil have been around since 2007 and they're currently working on releasing their debut album.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
The Wispy Hummers - My Love
The Wispy Hummers is a singer-songwriter who is much influenced by The Zombies, Bright Eyes, Destroyer, Death Cab For Cutie and, above all, Bob Dylan. She has released two EPs, both recorded at home, creating a signature lo-fi quality that makes the songs more honest, heartfelt and nostalgic.

IRELAND: Nialler9
The Dying Seconds - The Ladder Drops
"To some people electronic music is impersonal. It's just an orgy of numbers, dancing together and doing as they're told. But have you ever wondered what would happen if you took apart the machine and tried to replace the motherboard with a human heart?" The Dying Seconds' own description says it better than I could. This is taken from their 2009 EP Some Grand Romantic Gesture. Lovely stuff. Download their album here.

ITALY: Polaroid
Fitness Forever - Vacanze a Settembre
It's August, everyone down here is on holiday and Fitness Forever are the perfect soundtrack, with their glamorous sound inspired by Burt Bacharach, Armando Trovajoli and classic 60s lounge-pop. They recently released their first album on the Spanish label Elefant Records and played a joyful set at the Indietracks Festival in the UK, making Derbyshire feel warm like a Mediterranean spot.

JAPAN: JPOP Lover
Nuito - NeKoMaJiN vs
Nuito are a post-rock experimental trio who formed in Kyoto in 2004. With tapping guitar, slap bass and hard drum, Nuito rapidly change beat and rhythm while they play, and make an immediate impression. Their experimental attitude is not about musical destruction or collaboration, but reconstruction.

MEXICO: Club Fonograma
Selma Oxor - Abrazame Demonio
Selma Oxor are the vindication of a youth spent having fun exploring rock, techno and pop, an all-in-one distorted vision that according to their MySpace sounds like "a cow giving birth". From their self-titled debut album comes Abrazame Demonio, a moment of useless exertion perhaps, but it's one of the few perfect songs we'll get to hear this year. It effectively transforms noisy punk into some kind of urban uprising.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat
Sora Shima - Hello Big Sky (Radio 909 remix)
Sora Shima are a four-piece instrumental group from Hamilton who specialise in the kind of start quiet, end apocalyptic epics that you hear from the likes of Explosions In The Sky or fellow countrymen Jakob. Hello Big Sky is from their third EP, Destroy Electronica. You'll find links to free downloads of the previous two releases on their MySpace. The five tracks on Destroy Electronica see the band experiment more with the form, adding variety but losing none of the power.

NORWAY: Eardrums
Casa Murilo - 19th Floor
Casa Murilo are the perfect band to present on a global project like MAP. They are based in Norway, originally from England and started making music together in Brazil. Two Englishmen, Chris Winfield and Dan Hesketh, met, lived and worked in Brazil for two years. They fell in love with two Norwegian girls. They moved to Oslo and started a band, Casa Murilo, with two Norwegian friends. They are currently in the studio recording their debut EP, The Waldemar Thranes Debacle.

PERU: SoTB
Serpentina Satelite - Nothing To Say
Serpentina Satelite formed at the end of 2003 in Lima. Their sound oscillates among calm, violence and ecstasy, in the spirit of space-rock and Krautrock. Their second record Nothing To Say, released on the Trip In Time label, is an extended five-track epic in which Serpentina Satelite bring us a turbulent and more powerful, rough sound. For the title track Nothing To Say, you better fasten your seatbelts - this is a high energy rock 'n' roll freak-out!

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Ölga - It's Alright
Ölga formed in 2001, as a quartet, from the ashes of another band. In 2003, they won an alternative rock contest and were invited by an indie label to release their first EP, Ö, in 2004. Their cello player left the band and their sound, as a trio, became more rock oriented. Their first LP, What Is, was released in early 2005. In 2007, they started recording their new record, La Resistance, which will be released in September. It's Alright is the first single and it is, at this time, only free and legally downloadable through the Music Alliance Pact.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
The :Egocentrics - Mystic Initiation
Loose jams, goosebumps, trance and therapy. These are the reasons why the three-piece instrumental band formed in Timisoara in early 2007. Combining stoner-rock vibes, 60s psychedelic, 70s rock 'n' roll with hints of old prog rock and post-metal - along with colourful, hypnotising visuals in a live setting - the band take an almost shamanic approach to music, acting like an intermediary between the listener and that mysterious and far away realm behind your eyelids.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
My Cousin I Bid You Farewell - What We Are Eating Tonight
If this song is anything to go by, My Cousin I Bid You Farewell are cooking up something rather tasty. As a statement of intent for a band who have been around for less than a year, it reveals the scale of the ambition from within. It is big and it is clever. The Kate Bush-style piano melody, the brooding guitars and Jonathan Sellar’s haunting vocals - which resemble Win Butler’s - propel What We Are Eating Tonight into an anthem for the restless. Cracking song, cracking band.

SINGAPORE: I'm Waking Up To...
Jonathan Chan - Water Line
Taking a step back from the catchy power-punk of his band Plainsunset, Jonathan Chan comes forward with a more intimate and soulful musical offering with his EP, Pencil Tracings. An illustrator in his own right, Jonathan perhaps did not find it uncomfortable to show a more earnest, intricate side to his music. With Water Line, he seems right at home sketching out a brief outline of the world going by, with a guitar in hand and a somber voice, singing of life's constant love.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
LAN - In The City
Head-bopping, dance-inducing beats are what LAN are about. LAN (Local Area Network) are the live representation of two DJs (CodecVSTheSound). The band formed in late 2008 and are made up of Gerald and Raffael (who are Codec and TheSound) on synths, percussion, vocals and samplers with Chris Slabber on drums. They call their music a mix of anything from 70s funk to booty bass all dropped over the latest electro tunes. With their song In The City showcasing their many influences and what they have to offer, their new material is sure to set the dancefloors alight.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Sunkyeol - I'll Write When I'm There
Kyoungmo Kim of Especially When has a new band and their name is Sunkyeol. Equipped with great melodies and a bit of experimentation that leaves a warm, fuzzy feeling, Sunkyeol are currently looking for a label to release their first single. I'll Write When I'm There was co-written and recorded with Joe Hollick of Wolf People in a joint project that never took off.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Erik de Vahl - Running
Erik de Vahl describes his new record as "the straightest pop songs I've ever done but also some more experimental pieces". You can hear both influences on the single song Running. It has a Memphis slow jam feel with instrumentation that reminds me of a classic Ann Peebles track, but it's layered in such a way with so many found sounds and samples that it does sound truly experimental.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I'm Floating
Happy Family - Cups
Baltimore's Happy Family, sandwiched somewhere between Panda Bear and Atlas Sound, are the latest in a group of like-minded lo-fi psych-pop outfits (Memory Cassette, Neon Indian, Washed Out) to be picking up buzz around the blogosphere. Cups is one of my favorite jams of the summer, taken from the recently-released Sound Farm EP which you can grab as a free download here.

VENEZUELA: Barquisimeto Musical
Mr. Swing & The Bongo Clan - Mi Camino
Mr. Swing & The Bongo Clan are a new band that gathers nine talented musicians from the Conservatory of the City of Barquisimeto, the same place where the famous music director Gustavo Dudamel came from. After almost 10 years of work, these guys released their debut album Ska*Jazz Venezolano, merging two musical genres with a wonderful result. Mi Camino shows the real soul of this band.

To download all 31 songs in one file click here