When asking for suggestions on new special features for Indieful ROK, I learned that there are quite a few of you that would like some more personal input from me - such as what I'm currently obsessing over and why. Problem is I rarely know how to describe music well and often the nuances of English words eludes me, so even when I do try it likely doesn't turn out the way I meant it to. Anyhow, having spent a large portion of the day listening to the same song over and over again I figured I'd give it a go anyway.


I've loved Donawhale since I first heard them, so when I could finally give up listening to Julia Hart today (the trick was not to press play until after changing the playlist) Donawhale's second album, Dive Into Blue, which I had brought home from Korea soon ended up on repeated play instead. The first couple of times it was just background music while I did a bit of reading, but I could still hear that there was this one song trumping even the gorgeous first album track 아카시아. Following a brief investigation I found that the title of my new favorite Donawhale song is shiny day.

The beginning of shiny day is quite modest with the focus on a piano and Jinyoung's sweet voice - the distinct ring of her delicate vocals is one of the reasons why I enjoy listening to Donawhale so much, and in a simple setting like this it's perfect. In the background there's also a bit of a trembling electric guitar creating an air of anticipation. As the song proceeds midway, the tremolo intensifies a bit, but soon it's as modest as ever. Then. At 3:35 there's something like a post-rock explosion with plenty of drums and a full-on tremolo - it blows me away every time. Intense and overwhelming, it lasts for roughly 70 seconds before subsiding. But 70 seconds is nowhere near enough for music as captivating as this. And so I end up listening again, and again to get the full experience just one more time...

Care to learn a bit more on morin khuur rock band Hanumpa? Have a look over at make-shift cartology for bio and samples: group overview: Haneumpa [한음파].

If you instead happen to be in the mood for something a bit more pop you might be interested in checking out the latest K-Music Spotlight from Dahee's Plastic Castle, this time on Broccoli, you too?: [K-Music Spotlight] Broccoli, You Too?.

October 20, boonga Boonga Record put out a book called 붕가붕가레코드의 지속가능한 딴따라질. Except for a few brief biographies of bgbg bands and descriptions of bgbg releases I'm not quite sure what it contains, but if you understand Korean you should be able to get a bit more information here. Aladdin offers a book preview.

To make it somewhat more interesting to those who can not digest the actual text, the book comes with an 11 track boonga Boonga compilation CD including a previously unreleased Sultan of the Disco track (일요일 밤의 열기) and a rare Jang Kiha song (만약 니가 아주 나쁜 놈이라면). Full tracklist in section 4 here.

Yesterday I realized that I'm now among the people that can create and see Twitter lists. Although still in beta, this feature has been around for at least a week and what it means is basically that twitter users can create various lists of twitter users to keep private or share with others. I set out to make a public list with people (artists, band members, organizations, etc.) related to Korean indie music that you can check out here. Feel free to let me know if there is any name not already on the list you think should be added!

While I was enjoying myself on the other side of the world, a surprising amount of k-indie related music reviews from various sources found their way onto the internet. I have most likely missed some, but here's what I found while going through my starred items today:



First up I'd like to introduce you all to wakesidevision, that has been posting a lot of reviews of both Japanese and Korean music during the past month. Personally I like those reviews because more often than not his opinion appears to be the opposite of mine, meaning I'm always excited to read them. From the beginning:
- Chococream Rolls – Self-Titled Review (ChocoCream Rolls was a side-project from two of the Jaurim members and one of the Funny Powder guys, with only one album released in 2003)
- Donawhale – Dive to Blue Review
- Donawhale – Self-Titled Review
- EE - Imperfect, I'mperfect Review
- Sugar Donut - Spinner Jump Review
- Nell – A Separation Anxiety Review
- Lucite Tokki – Vol. 2 A Little Sparkle


The Silent Ballet has again turned its ears towards Korea with a review of the most recent Loro's release: Loro's - Dream(s). Although I quite like Dream(s), contradictory to [how I interpreted] the reviewer I much prefer the diversity of full length album Pax.


Init_Music has reviewed the latest album effort from jazz pop act Winterplay: Winterplay - Hot Summerplay




In the 10th and latest issue of Broke in Korea, a bunch of GMC and Estella releases were reviewed, all re-posted at Kyono's blog: GMC / Estella 아티스트 앨범 리뷰 - Broke Zine. The releases in question are the following:
- 13 Steps - Existence
- 49 Morphines - Partial Eclipse
- Apollo 18 - Self Titled
- Firestorm - Amigos Para Siempre (Actually this particular review I find sorta unfair - what little I catch of the lyrics while listening to Firestorm is my main reason to continue. Big Time Hustler in particular is an excellent song to change my mood from worse to better.)
- Ninesin - The Death, We Will Face
- Knockdown - Violence for Violence
- Maze - Struggle 4 Yourself
- LO - Spring
- Vicious Glare - Commencement

And with the translations of wassereis mentioned twice already today, I think it's time to announce that Indieful ROK has gotten a bit of competition in the form of wassereis' new blog Violet Sweets. Here's what she's got to say about it:

I'll post mostly about No Reply and Naru, but also about Mate, Super Kidd, Serengeti, Pony, W&Whale, My Aunt Mary and stuff I like. I'll do summaries of articles but also post little information snippets that may be not that relevant but funny, interesting, or just good to know or things like that.

Great initiative, I think. And to make it even better she takes requests for k-indie related translations! I have a feeling there'll be many more links from here to that direction in the future.

Following two digital singles, the Hwantastic album was released on October 27. The full title reads 20th Anniversary Hwantastic Friends, and it celebrates 20 years as an artist for Lee Seung Hwan with a total of 10 re-recordings.

In addition to 심장병 as performed by Outsider & MC Sniper & Horan, and 덩크슛 as performed by Whale & 2PM's Jo Kwon and, the tracklist also includes (among others):
- Clazziquai doing 세상에 뿌려진 사랑만큼
- Yoo Hee Yeol & Nell's Kim Jong Wan doing 내가 바라는 나
- Winterplay doing 텅 빈 마음
- Windy City doing 크리스마스에는
- A joint effort from PIA, Yoon Do Hyun, Kim Jin Pyo and No Brain's Lee Sung Woo in taking on 붉은 낙타

A couple of related notes:
- Yoo Hee Yeol and Kim Jong Wan's recording of 내가 바라는 나 is currently used in the promotion of new movie White Night (백야행). See music video here. (Thank you, Janet!)
- A couple of weeks ago, Jo Kwon & Whale's take on 덩크슛 got a thorough review over at omgkpop: Jo-Kwon & Whale - Dunk Shot.

And since Whale has been mentioned twice already: wassereis has found and translated a cute piece where W talk about their first impression of Whale and vice versa: W&Whale Bae Young Joon "I thought Whale is an ajumma".

Apparently what was once known as MKMF now goes by the name of MAMA - Mnet Asian Music Awards. Although largely dedicated to kpop, there are a few names on the nominees list that ought to please some Indieful ROK readers: Clazziquai has been nominated for "Best Mixed Group" and also had their Love Again put them up for the "Best House & Electronic Music Award". Further, Jang Kiha & The Faces will get to use 별일 없이 산다 to compete against Cherry Filter (피아니시모), Seo Taiji (Juliet), Boohwal (생각이나) and FT Island (바래) over the "Best Rock Music Award".

Voting is already open, and even people overseas has the chance to vote, albeit for a separate award. The winners will be presented on November 21.

Although not officially released until October 27, the first EP from No Reply member Jung Wook Jae's solo project TUNE, called Tune Your Mind, has been available to fans since the first day of GMF, October 24. Not much for No Reply myself, I was positively surprised by TUNE's (in my opinion) somewhat stronger sound and even returned to see more the next day (when he was also walking around the premises on what appeared to be some kind of garbage duty). Check out the music video for 아름다운것과 소멸되는 것, with English subtitles from wassereis. If you want to hear more, Happy Robot has brief samples of 내 함성 and 달려가잖아, whereas Hyang Music also offers a preview of 고래의 삶과 죽음.

More TUNE related translations from wassereis have been showing up at Wannabe-Translator recently. For instance here we learn that there'll also be a music video for EP track Freedom eventually. And here we learn of Wook Jae's pre-No Reply activities - Did you know that he released a digital single called Hurt Beating Fast with Etude in 2007? Or that he once was the guitarist in a band called F.O.R that released the EP 앞으로 일어날 모든 일 in 2005?

It seems KoME has been quite busy doing interviews recently, posting as many as 3 in the past month.

- First there was Pastel's "new wave modern rock act" Zitten: Melodic rock band Zitten talks about their first album and the depth of their work. Reading, among other things I learned that 손톱 was the first Zitten song ever written, and that Zitten had Secret appear in the movie Summer Whispers (여름, 속삭임) last year. As for Ro (the other member) and the army; I had the pleasure of watching Zitten at GMF in the company of wassereis that informed me that was Ro's first performance since getting out of the army on October 17. And if you feel like reading a bit more Zitten history, here's an article I wrote after an interview early last year.

- Then there was Korean American Royal Pirates, best known for their kpop covers: Interview with the up and coming rock band, Royal Pirates. As you may already be aware, the group's got a YouTube channel where you can check out their work. And to read more, allkpop has plenty including In the Studio with Royal Pirates!

- And most recently there was awesome rock band The Plastic Day providing entertaining answers to all questions from KoME: Interview with The Plastic Day. The Indieful ROK interview referenced would be this one.

Going through the kpop blog updates of the last few weeks, I spotted something interesting over at seoulbeats: Want to See Brian in Concert?

The Brian in the headline is the one formerly in kpop duo Fly to the sky and to see him in the concert in question, one would have to be in Illinois (Northfield, to be specific) on October 30. Also playing at the same event is Soy of Raspberry Field (pictures and videos here). As you may recall, Soy sang 작은 새 together with My Aunt Mary for the 남과 여 그리고 이야기 compilation.

Details on the event here!

Via twitter I came across a somewhat interesting article in The Korea Herald: Blazing path for indie musicians. It deals primarily with the music scene in Korea outside of Seoul, mentioning the great work carried out by Super Color Super.

In preparation for the official European launch of True To You from Younee (a.k.a. Key's Piano) at Pizza Express in London's Soho tonight, Philip has reviewed the album for London Korean Links: True to Younee.

To everyone submitting entries for the past weekend's CD draw - thank you so much for all of your suggestions! Just about everything was such that I'd love to do and in many cases I had even considered doing something like it, but didn't take the time not knowing if anyone would actually like to read the result. Now I'm off to buy jiffy bags, and tomorrow I'll send some CDs to destinations in the US, Singapore, South Korea and Sweden (yes, it's actually cheaper to send a CD from Korea to Sweden than to send one within the country...).

As for the most common suggestions:
- I will most definitely write something about my trip to Korea and my experiences at GMF2009. This will end up at London Korean Links, but links will of course be posted here.
- The next introductory post will most likely be on late 90s/early 00s kindie. I've already had the pleasure of interviewing (and offering mp3s) from my old favorites Especially When and Merry-go-round (and maybe I should count Julia Hart too, though they're still around and the new song is only up for a month), but this will be one or more themed posts along the line of that twee pop introduction. Other introductions likely to follow include post-rock and metal.
- Indieful ROK top lists! My favorites, your favorites, etc. Exactly how to gather the data and present it is a bit unclear, but I've got a few ideas under evaluation.
- Label overviews/introductions.
- How to buy Korean mp3s without a Korean ID. I've heard that this is possible from mnet, but still haven't tried it myself. If anybody knows of other useful online stores, can provide any assistance and/or even knows where to find a guide in English for this already you are extremely welcome to let me know.
- How to find the record shops/live venues/etc. of particular interest in Seoul. Perhaps not that interesting or new to people that actually live in Seoul, but something that could come in handy for other first time visitors.

Again, thank you so much! Now that I know what you want, I've just got to find the time to provide it.

As you may recall, music blog Milk Milk Lemonade has been reviewing Electric Muse releases recently. Last week they posted reviews of Dringe Augh's fine folk piece Individually Wrapped: Dringe Augh: Individually Wrapped EP.

And a week ago, Milk Milk Lemonade covered folk rock act Plastic People's third full length album Snap, while also including a song from second album Folk, Ya! in the post: Plastic People. Read the review for a chance to download Under The Shadow (그늘에 서서), History (역사) and The End Of Summer (여름의 끝).

As it happens, that second Plastic People album is one of the albums in Indieful ROK's CD draw, which closes at the end of today (GMT). And since I like Dringe so much, I picked up a few more copies of Individually Wrapped in store at Hyang Music while visiting the other day, so those CDs are included in the draw as well.

Instrumental/experimental (generally awesome) music webzine The Silent Ballet has had a listen to Vidulgi OoyoO's aero, making a few Asobi Seksu comparisons: Vidulgi Ooyoo - Aero.

As it happens, this is one of the albums you could end up with if joining Indieful ROK's latest free CD draw.

As you may be aware, the lovely music of Tearliner is very dear to me. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to meet the man responsible while in Korea since he's out traveling, but I did get a chance to perform an email interview him a few months ago. Today the resulting article was posted at London Korean Links: Tearliner Revisited.

"Revisited" as in I also interviewed Tearliner for London Korean Links a couple of years ago. Actually I was a bit ashamed of pulling the drama angle (Coffee Prince, Triple) this time when he doesn't want publicity because of his music director works, but coming to Korea I've found that's the easiest way to explain his awesomeness to others... Let's hope Happy Robot has the power to change that!

I think it's time for a new free CD draw here! Being in Korea I've received a surprising amount of CDs, some even in spite of me insisting I already have the albums at home. The kind people sharing their wonderful music with me have then said to dispose of the CDs as I like, so I figured I should give them out through the blog. I also figured this would be a good opportunity to get a bit of input from you.

You see the "special features" link section in the sidebar? I'd like to have more stuff to put under there. I loved making the twee pop introduction (which btw will offer another bunch of free&legal mp3s as soon as I'm back in Sweden - more on that then) and would really like to make more of the kind as long as I know what you want to hear more of. Anything else that doesn't go under the regular release updates/blog aggregation kind of posts would be really nice too, like a new post series or something, but I could use some fresh ideas.

So, if you want one of the albums this is the rule: by then end of Sunday (GMT) October 25, please send an email to indiefulrok@gmail.com telling me what kind of feature stuff you'd like to see at Indieful ROK. I'll be giving out CDs to the winners of the draw more or less randomly, but if it makes any difference to you, please also specify whether you'd prefer a Pastel Music compilation or something awesome from Electric Muse. Thank you!

Hey everyone!

Korea has been nothing but awesome so far, with lots of super nice people, great food, and, of course, easy access to all of my favorite music. As you have probably noticed blogging has suffered a bit because of this, but in little more than a week things should be getting back to normal again. (Reminder: till then, twitter is good for anyone curious about what I'm doing while here.)

Tomorrow I'll be on the radio for roughly an hour, talking about music and playing a bunch of songs (still working on the selection, but there might be an unreleased Tearliner song in an exclusive version). The show in question is On The Pulse at TBS eFM, which airs around Seoul, Busan, and Gwangju starting at 10 PM. After that you will have to wait 30 minutes or so to hear my nervous ramblings...

Just got a press release from DFSB Kollective regarding Mad Soul Child's impending US debut. The "electro house project" will play on two days of the 2009 CMJ Music Marthon & Film Festival that kicks off in New York tomorrow (October 20). As per the press release:

During the five day extravaganza, Mad Soul Child is scheduled to perform with New Zealand alt-rockers, Steve Abel & The Chrysalids, and American indie sensations, The States, at the Village Underground (October 21st Wednesday @ 8pm). As the special headlining act at Swerve Media's BaseNYC Party, Mad Soul Child will also be taking the stage at the legendary dance music venue, Hiro Ballroom (October 23rd Friday @ 11pm).

The trio's VJ Kwon actually went to New York for the same event last year to support DJ Soulscape, so I'm guessing he left a good impression.

The press release also states that there's a new single coming up from Mad Soul Child called Wanna Play, which will be featured in a European marketing campaign from Samsung Electronics.

Listen to songs from Mad Soul Child's Lalala release from March this year on MySpace.

New Music Alliance Pact post! This time with songs from 34 different countries as Estonia has joined the world-wide alliance of music blogs. This month also sees Deaf Indie Elephants covering for Barquismo Musical to have Venezuela represented. I'm sorry to have this up a day late - I've spent the past three days on a blogger camp visiting some beautiful and historical sites in Korea, but for some reason yesterday's hotel did not offer Internet...

Now I'm happy to present a really sweet song from Julia Hart Although released as a digital single only, Stoneage Records still gave permission to distribute an mp3 of 한국소녀의 겨울 through MAP (thank you so much!). There's actually a Japanese version of this song too, but this is the original Korean version. Oh, and don't forget to read Indieful ROK's mini interview with Bobby Chung from the band if you haven't already.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Lipgloss - Land Of Lords
This band from Buenos Aires released their first EP a couple of months ago and Land Of Lords is our favorite song from it. Lipgloss sound like they've been listening to British rock all their life and you sure can feel the influence of bands like The Stone Roses at the end of the song, with the psychedelic guitars and all. If you like it, you can download the entire EP directly from this link.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Cloud Control - Gold Canary
New music from the Blue Mountains! Only it sounds kinda like it originates from somewhere deep in America. Cloud Control always had an earthy, pastoral quality to their music but it sounds all the more temporally appropriate post-Fleet Foxes. Less jangle and more twang. Gold Canary is pulled from their debut album expected early 2010. It has some rootsy backing vocals and yelping, tambourine/handclap percussion, references to family members in the lyrics and then… a synth solo. This song is rad.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Constantina - Sobe Ladeira
There is something special about Constantina that goes beyond their music. The absence of vocals never leaves you with a feeling of emptiness. It's just the opposite. The instrumental songs are so deep and strong that lyrics would limit them to what we can express with words.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
The Balconies - Serious Bedtime
It's almost mind-boggling how good and how talented The Balconies are. They have two incredible lead singers (in brother and sister Jacquie and Steve Neville), both of whom are also astoundingly good songwriters, and they're backed by one of the steadiest drummers I've ever seen. They've barely been around for more than a year but they're generating a whole lot of buzz (their debut has just been released and it's already charting nationally). Songs like Serious Bedtime make it easy to see why.

CHILE: Super 45
Tonossepia - Happy Habibi Te Vez Mas Feliz
Tonossepia (Diego Vergara) is one of the most advanced musicians in the Chilean electronic scene. Constantly evolving in his way of creating music, this year he released his fourth album, Happy Habibi, an effort full of organic textures, warm harmonies and rhythmical variations. By mixing, almost to perfection, IDM and hip hop, Tonossepia has a lot of robot style and rap style.

CHINA: Wooozy
Silkfloss - Mon Amour
Mylène Chan (Muxitu) and Quan Du formed Silkfloss at the start of this year in Beijing. They are electronica, they are trip-hop, they are everything that brings you softness and fills you with love. Mylène also collaborates with many local electronic producers as a vocalist.

COLOMBIA: Colombia Urbana
Jiggy Drama - Contra La Pared
Direct from San Andres Island, Heartan Lever - better known in the artistic scene as Jiggy D - comes loaded with cool rhymes and party beats. Jiggy mixes Antillean dancehall with old-school hip hop and Contra La Pared proves that when something is good, it doesn't have to be forced. The combination of typical Colombian sounds (papayera in this case) makes him the perfect choice to represent the nation in MAP. Jiggy is currently working on his new album, Nerdside.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Sebastian Lind - Stay
A pop natural and excellent singer, 20-year-old Sebastian Lind excites with an enticing mix of singer-songwriter acoustics and crackling electronica. He has just released his first single Stop These Feet, but here's Stay - a strong contender when it comes time to select a second.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
The Voluntary Butler Scheme - The Eiffel Tower And The BT Tower
This month's song comes from the English Midlands courtesy of awesome one-man-band Rob Jones aka The Voluntary Butler Scheme. He's a little scruffy around the edges but he serves up a tasty dish of pure pop. Although probably best experienced live, his debut album At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea (how old-school English is that title?) is full of sprightly tunes, huge hooks and amusing lyrics and is well worth checking out.

ESTONIA: Popop
I'll Hit Her - Noise In Your Mind
There's not much info about Estonian electro-poppers I'll Hit Her and Googling that name will probably get you some quite disturbing results. Listing Aqua, 2 Unlimited and Joy Division as influences on their MySpace page, that's really as diverse as you can get.

FINLAND: Glue
The Capital Beat - Feel The Reggae
This is not the kind of song you would expect to hear from a Finnish band, but The Capital Beat phenomenally recreate the warm sounds of Jamaica on their first album, A Greater Fire. This eight-piece combo takes Jamaican music to a new latitude and there is only one condition - feel the reggae and do the ska.

FRANCE: ZikNation
Pascal Comelade - Two Maniaco Depressive Beatnicks Squabbling Over A Jane Russell Mozarella's Stereokini
Pascal Comelade is a really special musician. He mixes common instruments with some toys he found in a flea market. This way of working gives his music a unique tone and makes the listener feel the soul of his work. In some ways, his music reminds us of Yann Tiersen - nice piano, accordion and a lot of percussion. Two Maniaco..., with its happy leading saxophone and ringing xylophone, is a track dedicated to a happy life, which makes it a must-hear before beginning a day at work.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Rhytm Police - Ghosttrain
Rhytm Police sound like they live in a metropolis as they reduce music to a strong bass line, synth sounds and sometimes quite snatchy vocals. However, they come from the rather rural Augsburg in western Bavaria. The only way to figure this out is by listening to their songs with German lyrics. But the featured song Ghosttrain shows their international attitude.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Coin - Error 687
Coin draw their influences from the Manchester scene of the 80s and American grunge of the 90s. In their third studio album they shift their best qualities into different, equally dazzling guitar-pop shapes, sounding unclenched, enchanting and energetic. Popstitute is a beautifully balanced album filled with tremendously rich highs, unfailingly tuneful music, jagged guitars, drums and bass, which supply the rhythmic pulse and captivating hooks.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
FM Belfast - Synthia
FM Belfast was formed in late 2005 by Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson (aka Árni Plúseinn) and Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir. For the Iceland Airwaves festival in 2006, the band expanded into a live act with up to eight (or even more) members. The core of the band is now a quartet with Árni Vilhjálmsson (of Motherfuckers In The House) and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason (of Múm). Synthia is taken from their debut album, How To Make Friends, released on the band's own World Champion Records label last year.

INDIA: Indiecision
Teddy Boy Kill - Tonic
New Delhi's Teddy Boy Kill represent the new Indian electronica soundscape - instantly international, slick and unrestrained by the need to reflect any inherent Indian-ness. This unsigned act from the country's capital released their debut album, The Exit Plan, as a free download. Tonic is one of the highlights of the record - an immediately catchy dancefloor anthem that's as temperate as it is energetic. Get ready to do something stupid.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
The Super Insurgent Group Of Intemperance Talent - Money Making
The Super Insurgent Group Of Intemperance Talent are the greatest rock 'n' roll band in Indonesia. Their straight-to-the-point songs, killer hooks and good attitude has already seen them play some big venues and sell out concerts, which is very rare in Indonesia.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Trophy Boyfriend - Black Ship
Despite the silly moniker, Gregor Ruigrok aka Trophy Boyfriend still managed to impress us with his first self-titled EP. He's still at the embyronic stages having not played live or formally released anything in Ireland yet, but judging by the electro-indie of Black Ship, we certainly hope he gets out there soon.

ITALY: Polaroid
Damien* - Confidants
Play this song and fly back in time, to around the first half of the 90s, when Britpop was full of hope and strength. Well, this is just how Damien* are today. This young and promising band from Pesaro, on the Italian east coast, is able to mix a post-punk background with a more pop attitude. The incredibly catchy Confidants is taken from their second album, out this week on Suiteside.

JAPAN: JPOP Lover
Henrytennis - Valencia Raincoats
Another progressive band in the Tokyo music scene, Henrytennis feature instrumental dynamism influenced by post-rock, IDM, jam and progressive rock. Their members come from such outstanding Japanese bands as 4 Bonjour's Parties, Hula Hooper, Kuruucrew, Oceanlane and Shugo Tokumaru. Their excellent second album R.U.R. is released on November 11.

MEXICO: Red Bull PanameriKa
Radaid - Shine
Shine is the opening track of L'Intent, the most recent record by Radaid. Hailing from Guadalajara, Jalisco, the eight talented musicians produce a peculiar mix of pop and original rhythms. That is why traces of Indian influences echo in Shine, while the vocals are by Sofía Orozco, who not only wrote the English lyrics but also invented the dialect which has nods to the phrasing of Hindu MCs.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat
O'Lovely - A Different Day
O'Lovely are from Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island and they have a glistening, ringing guitar sound on this song that reminds me of some great bands from that city's past such as Bailterspace and Loves Ugly Children. The band has morphed from the more poppy The O'Lovelys with singer and keyboardist Laura Lee remaining at the centre of the band. She's joined by Perry Mahoney of Bang Bang Eche, whose guitar gives a darker, noisier feel than the earlier band. A Different Day comes from the five-track Lost Luck EP.

NORWAY: Eardrums
Firefly Effect - Never By Your Side
Oslo quartet Firefly Effect recently released their brilliant debut album, Everything Is Beautiful And You Are The Reason, on Perfect Pop Records/Solerød Records. It is full of charming indie-pop songs with organs, boy/girl harmonies and jangly guitars. They call their style "retro-futuristic sunshine pop" which is a definition of their sound I can agree on. Perfect pop!

PERU: SoTB
Emergency Blanket - Next Passenger
The music of Emergency Blanket is fully charged with life and energy, taking influences from rock classics from the 60s, 70s and 90s to achieve a vintage yet fresh and original sound. Emergency Blanket recently released their debut album, Combi + Nation, which includes songs in Spanish, English and even a combination of both languages. Next Passenger has taken them to the final of The People's Music Awards and you can vote for the band here.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Real Combo Lisbonense - Oh!
Real Combo Lisbonense (Lisbon Real Combo) play music that takes us back to a time when everyone would dress up to dance to the sounds of an orchestra or a small ensemble. RCL is the band you would expect to hear in the casino lounge of an Ian Fleming novel. They remade some Portuguese and international popular classics of 50s and 60s and have become one of the pleasant surprises in the Portuguese indie scene this year. Shall we dance?

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Vive La Noiz - Bird Song
Vive la Noiz could be seen as the usual alternative/indie band. Two girls and two boys starting a band in the finest DIY ethic. However, their eclectic influences and pure, melodic sound label them as post-everything because you can find anything there, genre-free. Dark Clouds And Silver Linings is regarded as one of this year's most interesting EPs.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Meursault - A Small Stretch Of Land
Edinburgh six-piece Meursault's otherworldly, experimental folk seems almost tailor-made for the music blogging cognoscenti. But as A Small Stretch Of Land shows, Meursault (pronounced "mer-so") also know when less is more, stripping the song to just acoustic guitar and vocal with crushingly beautiful effect. It's no surprise Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison described A Small Stretch Of Land as "one of my favourite songs of last year, or indeed any year". You can buy Meursault's album, Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues, and other releases here.

SINGAPORE: I'm Waking Up To...
Inch Chua - Devotion In Reality
Like the wet leaves after a thunderstorm, Devotions In Reality bring a melancholic hope to past hurts, as the first step after grief into a new light. Inch Chua is more well known in Singapore as the little dynamo of a frontwoman with rock stalwarts Allura. Taking time off to record her solo EP, she brings to the forefront another facet of her versatility, especially on this number that is best described as a cross between Lisa Ekdahl and Stars.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Ameen Harron - Techicoloured Oblivion
Ameen Harron is a force to be reckoned with in the South African music scene. He is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, and one of the country's up-and-coming producers, who has worked with a range of the best local musicians, garnering national and international attention. Technicoloured Oblivion shows not only his skills as a producer but as an artist. He has strong ties to hip hop, which is evident as his combination of hip hop, punk and electro creates his own distinctive sound. The song has an almost soulful feel to it and wouldn't be out of place on the international charts. Ameen Harron is set to take over. Watch out.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Julia Hart - Korean Girl's Winter
Always delightful guitar-pop act Julia Hart decided it had been too many years since the release of their last album in 2007 and consequently released a digital single with a couple of new songs for people to hear last month. Korean Girl's Winter, shows Julia Hart at their loveliest and is a perfect indie-pop piece well suited for repeated play hours on end.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Leaving Mornington Crescent - Seventeen
From the sound of Seventeen, Leaving Mornington Crescent have ventured into new territory. Unlike the sunny 60s-inspired indie-pop of April Song from their Cloudberry split CD, Seventeen is a rather heavy, shoegaze number with buzzing and churning guitars and a solid backbeat. Still the vocals retain the cheeriness of April Song with a chorus of "I'm seventeen on the inside, the only difference is...".

TURKEY: Reset!
Kim Ki O - Serbest Kalp Dusmesi
Kim Ki O's songs are self-written, self-played and self-sung in the name of self-pleasure and self-impulsion. Kim Ki O, which is the Turkish expression for "who is that anyway?", is a name chosen for its phonetic beauty. The duo like to play with synthesizers and drum machines but do not to use computers in their music, preferring to create all the action live with enthusiasm and tension. The two members of the gang are former high school buddies who had been out of touch for years. Now they are back, clasped together, making great things.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I'm Floating
That Ghost - The Red Bow
That Ghost is the musical moniker of one crazy kid from the coast of California. Ryan Schmale, a youthful 19-year-old, creates lo-fi pop that evokes the warmth of bedroom recordings. He has a new EP on the way titled Get It And Get Out that IGIF will certainly be writing more about in the near future.

VENEZUELA: Deaf Indie Elephants
Ulises Hadjis - Lunes
The warm voice of Ulises Hadjis and his guitar are suddenly interrupted by a theremin, a trumpet from a gypsy story and a dialogue between Star Trek's Captain Kirk and Zulu. These are some of the big surprises you'll find in his debut album, Presente, which without doubt was one of the best debuts of 2008. His original indie-pop contains lyrics as melancholic as Bon Iver's or Elliott Smith's and a musical diversity that in its best moments resembles Beirut or Neutral Milk Hotel. On a Sunday morning this album will be your best company.

To download all 34 songs in one file click here