Between Two Waves The Second Wave (2014)

Eardrums Pop

Indie pop Alternative pop Twee pop Psychedelic Electronic Jangle pop Doo wop Synth-pop

Nullindate lõpus-kümnendate alul oli kolm väikest netileibelit (Bad Panda, Eardrums Pop ning Beko DSL), kes tõid iganädalaselt kas singlite või EP'de näol uueilmelist indimuusikat tuhandete kuulajate manu. Vahetevahel ilmusid ka kogumikud, mis andis tavapärasest rammusama kuulamiskogemuse. Võib-olla norrakate Eardrums Pop oli rohkem traditsioonilisema indipopi orientatsiooniga, mis tähendas peaasjalikult belleandsebastianlikku kurva alatooniga ent sillerdavat poppi; mille juured omakorda peituvad 60ndate psühhedeelias a la Love ning C86-liikumises. Eriti Sveamaa paistis sellesuunalise bändirohkusega silma. Nagu ikka -- kitarrid, klahvpillid ja sulnid vokaalid panustavad popvalemisse. Lihtsalt proportsioonid instrumentide vahel varieeruvad. Näiteks mõni lugu sisuliselt on elektrooniline/süntpop. Valdavalt muretu lõõritamine. Mis siin ikka rohkem jahuda -- kogumike mõte ongi, et kuulaja saaks asja lõdvemalt võtta. Spordist analoogiat otsides võiks seda võrrelda iluuisutamise galavõistlusega. Igaüks saab midagi endale välja noppida või kõrva taha panna. Kuigi ma vaatlesin ainult Volume B-d, siis tegelikkuses koosneb see suisa kolmest volüümist -- hea kuulata päiksepaistelisel pühapäeval.

Sleeping Policemen – ePop028 (2012)

Eardrums Pop

Bandcamp

• Indie pop 
• Alternative pop 
• Folk indie 
• Twee pop 
• Alt-folk 
• Indie folk

Comment: Sleeping Policemen is a 4-member ensemble from Hamburg, Germany who represent the main line of a record, Eardrums Pop of which choice is based on cute indie/twee pop. I would prefer the term “meadow pop” as if music being produced somewhere in the countryside if people (especially human persons coming out from a city, “civilization”) after running around in the middle of a herd of cattle, and across the meadow and picking flowers and then arrive at a barn in the evening to produce an upbeat music. A contemporary approach to be the hippy. Even if the combo sing about visiting friends in Italy and French philosophy. Such sort of music has been popularised in the Scandinavian peninsula (mostly in Sweden during the 90s, and 00s). So if you are keen to hear such sunshiny, cloudless and careless music then do not hesitate to come close to the discography of the imprint. Yet it does not mean the release is somehow aesthetically second class even if they do not produce hell out of this 4-track outing. Bucolic guitar twangs and female and male mixed singing are wrapped up by cute synthesised strings and reverberant chords. The tempo is up and upbeat. Business as usual with regard to the outings on Eardrums Pop, one of the tracks is a cover version of the combo`s comradeship group Big Ideas` composition Jack Of All Trades. Get it for sure.

Various Artists - Hi-Five! EardrumsPop's 5 Year Anniversary Compilation (2015)

EardrumsPop

• Indie pop/rock
• Jangle pop
• Shoegaze
• Alternative pop/rock
• Twee pop

Comment: if you want to get the overdose of indie/alternative pop music then listen to this magnum opus by EardrumsPop which contains 38 tracks in total. Of course, the term “indie music” says nothing about it because so different genres and styles have been incorporated into it over many years and even decades. By that it might even be tautological to describe musically contemporary pop music as indie/alternative pop. Furthermore, the scheme could be even fuzzier by considering that not only mainstream music did loan from alternative/indie pop but vice versa either. If earlier the term stands for small independent imprints being separated from mainstream labels then later these imprints got sold by the latter ones. Later on, such instances as weblabels, Archive.org, Free Music Archive, lastfm had been a home for indie music and today Bandcamp as a growing platform is getting more and more recognized to represent a genuine idea of independent distribution as to indie/alternative pop. However, EardrumsPop artists` roots mainly come out of the 80s jangle and twee pop (mainly they were the C86 compilation related artists) music which resorted to ironically naïve and thereby elegantly self-confident attitudes within the indie music scene thereby conveying a lot of viable impetuses to the style to get evolved into something powerfully flourishing and beautiful. There are represented such artists as The Marble Man, Tomiji, Lost Tapes, Vukovar, Making Marks, Ralegh Long, Uncle Rico, The Paris Work-In, Monster Bobby, The Just Joans, Are You Feverish Ian?, The Royal Landscaping Society, Marc Elston, Ceremonies, Shekon, The Lost Cavalry, Finnmark!, The Pinefox, Kids On Bikes, Boyish, A Little Orchestra, Sleeping Policemen, Tiny Fireflies, The Color Waves, The Swapsies, Evripidis and his tragedies, L & M Kingsize, Cape Canareval, Laura K, The Very Most, Helena Sundin, Niko Niko!, Antony Harding, Colin & The Clarys, les bicyclettes de Belsize, Onward Chariots, and Little xs for Eyes. Most of those artists are already familiar for those who have enjoyed previous issues under EardrumsPop. Happy birthday, EardrumsPop.

Featherfin - Butterfly Girl EP (2015)

EardrumsPop

Bandcamp

/Baroque pop, Indie pop, Crossover, Electronica, Drone folk, Art folk, Alternative pop, Chamber pop, Folktronica, Indietronica, Dream pop/

Comment: Featherfin is an artist from Norway whose 5-track extended player Butterfly Girl on EardrumsPop/6-track issue at Bandcamp (with Featherfin`s own remix of one of those compositions) has been produced in the way to bring to the surface a wide range of musical influences from different areas and eras for your pleasure. One can hear picturesque folk tunes coming out of the 60`s Great Britain, for instance. On the other side, the issue does feature a distinctive, a languid and smacking mixed feel of music of the Scandinavian Peninsula/northern countries. Thirdly, it is certainly a contemporary suite – technically it was produced, mixed and composed on an iPad (of course, it is not so important!). The release involves many production tricks and conjuring electronic sounds between and around the organic instruments (the strings, and glockenspiel). In a word, it is a common example of substantial music being issued on Norway-based label EardrumsPop. Get it! 

Eva On The Western Castle Island - ePop033 (2013)

Eardrums Pop

Bandcamp

• Alternative pop
• Post-punk
• Indie rock
• Psychedelic pop

Outstanding tracks:

California Shrills

Surfing Like A Guru

Shaolin Punk

Dutch Barn - ePop036 (2013)

Eardrums Pop

• Alternative rock
• Indie pop

Outstanding tracks:

Steal Your Jokes
Heart In The Middle
So Dead

Skelocrats - ePop034 (2013)

Eardrums Pop

• Indie rock
• Alternative pop/rock
• Rockabilly
• Synth pop
• Cover

Lost Tapes - ePop035 (2013)

Eardrums Pop

9.6

/Indie pop, Psychedelic rock, Alternative rock, Shoegaze, Dream pop, Jangle pop, Trance rock/

Comment: Lost Tapes is the combo of Pau Roca, and RJ Sinclair whose 4-track solo issue is made up of chiming guitar ascensions, buried vocal vibes, and subtle keyboard induced whiffs and drones. The duo`s aesthetics is laid bare at the crossroads of shoegaze, jangle pop/C86 scene, and light-weighted psychedelic pop instances like lots of bands related to Sarah Records and Slumberland Records. However, there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of McCarthy, The New Mystikal Troubadours, Field Mice, Ride, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, for instance. Roca & Sinclair`s songwriting is tight, and mesmeric. Great offering by any means.

Tiny Fireflies vs Baffin Island (Across Oceans #1) - ePop031 (2013)

Eardrums Pop

• Conceptual
• Indie pop
• Alternative pop
• Jangle pop
• Psychedelic pop

The Candy Strypers - epop021 (2012)

Eardrums Pop

9.2

/Indie pop, Singer-songwriter, Covers, Alternative pop, Jangle pop/  

Comment: behind The Candy Strypers is the mancunian Paul Hughes whose 3-piece set is an amalgamation of fine guitar strumming and chiming harmony glides. It is pleasing,organic, and sometimes epic (e specially at Don`t Forget Your Dreams which is accentuated with sublime orchestrations). There is up a cover version of Born On A Train, a song by Stephin Merritt aka The Magnetic Fields. A tiny bit retro but any moment it provides it is on the ball.

Lowpines - ePop024 (2012)

Eardrums Pop
Bandcamp

9.5

/Alt-folk, Indie folk, Folk indie, Dream folk, Twee pop, Alternative pop, Indie pop/

Comment: there are up 3 songs performed by the cockney band Lowpines (Oli Deakon and Lyla Foy). A pair of tracks are original ones and one is a cover version of a piece by the Vancouver-based To Be Good Tanyas. However, Lowpines is an organic link between slowcore and twee pop and indie pop/folk appearances - those now and then chiming, a little bit wistful guitars are backed up by slow-paced rhythms and male and female mixed dreamy vocals. The favourite of mine is Heavy Hander, though, the rest of songs used to have otherworldly beautiful (or blissful) touch as well. In the first place the combo reminds me of Mojave 3 (especially an early period of Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell-headed combo sometime in the mid 90s). Highly incisive and suggestive in its mellow nature. Top songs.

Karibean - ePop019 (2011)

Eardrums Pop
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.5

/Alternative pop, Jangle pop, Surf pop, Twee pop, Indie pop, Experimental indie/

Comment: there are 6 tracks spreaded out over 18 minutes. The issue starts off with a tropical pop tuned Christmas song (Xmas Vibrations) (and will be ended up in the same mood - Down Before Christmas). This track and the rest ones on the album include easy, suggestive melodies and harmonies so characteristic to the 80`s twee pop, jangle pop/C 86 scenes (early Primal Scream, The Housemartins, McCarthy, The Primitives etc) which in turn was partially influenced by Beach Boys and other Californian surf pop and sunshine pop groups´ sonorous chirps. Despite of the influences this Ancona, Italian-based trio is a clear-cut entity with its strengths and...more strengths on its own. Because of outreaching the borders of different eras with playful lightness at any moments and including the pieces being essentially strong, in a word, the release can be considered one of the best issues on Eardrums Pop so far.

Laura K - ePop018 (2011)

Eardrums Pop
Lastfm

9.5

/Twee pop, Indie pop, Cover, Baroque pop, Experimental indie, Sunshine pop/

Comment: Eardrums Pop is back after a while with an amazing miscellany of 3 songs by Brisbane, Australia-born indie gal who has played in such groups as Little Scout, and Roman History. This case takes on amusingly strumming ukuleles, striking vocal harmonies, and chiming synths, thus constituting the organic whole. One of those songs is a cover version of Real Estate`s Beach Comber. By the way, Jarvis Cocker likes her music. Lucky you.

The Very Most - ePop017 (2011)

Eardrums Pop

9.5

/Indie pop, Experimental indie, Alternative pop/rock, Jangle pop/

Comment: The Very Most, a sextet (being active since 2002) coming from Boise, Idaho, USA (as well as the hometown for the mesmerizing ambient/drone/experimental electronica project Eluder and downtempo collective ElectricWest (also as Electricwest), both overseen by Patrick Benolkin). However, this three-pieced set is a powerful and noble example of indie music merging various elements with each other derived from different epochs. Trilling jangle pop like the McCarthy; space pop and electronically patterned developments like Stereolab; hippie/junkie folk-naiveness a la Polyphonic Spree; the last track If Monday`d Never Come (a cover of the Brilliant At Breakfast`s track) is a galant cha-cha-cha-inflected independent outlook. Listen to and enjoy it.

Boca Chica - ePop016 (2011)

Eardrums Pop
Lastfm

9.2

/Alt-folk, Baroque pop, Alt-country, Indie folk, Experimental indie, Folk indie, Chamber pop, Indie pop, Cover/

Comment: This is a stunning, 3-pieced set of folk/US-based roots-inflected (for instance, country and folk music) indie pop by a quintet from Pittsburgh. Simple but recognizable, emotive but considered. Strumming guitar lines do flutter going up as the orchestrated progressions at times. Especially outstanding notch is Afternoon Tea, appeared in a subtle synergy consisting of wringed, guitar-based echo effects and whimsical chamber progressions. The last track is You`re the Blues, a cover version of the song of Nik & the Central Plains.

Sometimes Always - ePop008 (2011)

Eardrums Pop
Lastfm

9.2

/Indie pop, Alternative rock, Cover, Noise pop, Shoegaze, Fuzz pop, Electro rock, Jangle pop/

Comment: Sometimes Always (may it be named by the Hope Sandoval-featured JAMC`s hit?) is a sequent example of the blossoming Indonesian indie scene nowadays. More detailly, Tyo from Jakarta seems to be one of those old school guys who used to mix up the mid-period (Isn`t Anything) MBV-echoed densely stomping drum patterns with dynamic, hiss-filled jangle pop/C86/blonde hair guitar strums, however, which will be interrupted sometime to segue into shoegaze-inflected electro rock (a cover of The Sharesprings` Ivory Tower). Grossly, it is a recommended release for all of those bewailing crews having assumed the advantage of the past experience vis à vis with the nowadays musical situation.

Oláfachada - ePop012 (2011)

EardrumsPop
Lastfm

8.4

/Indie pop, Twee pop, Alternative pop/

Comment: Behind Olàfachada are Ola Innset aka My Little Pony and Bernardo Fachada aka bFachada delivering us two examples of rolling indie pop with changeable pace patterns and a bit buffooning vocal manners, restraint guitar fingerpickings, syncopated rhythm examples, and some ascending transitions. Subsequently, it is a pleasant outing worth enough to be checked out.

ePop014 – Early To Bed (2011)

Eardrumspop

8.7

/Poptronica, Indie pop, Dream pop, Electronic pop/

[Compilation] Between Two Waves – Vol. C (EardrumsPop)

Actually it did not happen much time ago when I reviewed one compilation (Between Two Waves - Vol. A) under EardrumsPop which consisted fundamentally of two-sided collaborations. In any cases, I am not able to put the temptation aside for not reviewing another one too because of my orthodox indie nature was came to the forefront with those 14 songs again. In a word, here is another great collection of songs shuffling inbetween jangle pop, dream pop, slightly folk-driven indie pop and also some more contemporary sounds are thrown over here (of course I referred to dream-alike electronic/chillwave undercurrents here). Although without whimsical tricks basically, in principle, the whole seems to be really virtuous in the vein of old indie tunes having lots of catchy angles and edges and refreshing air letting you feel yourself free. No doubt, you need to be relaxed and having some distance from effect-loaded pop experimentalism at least for some time. Here is one track that really imprisoned me during last days. Indeed, The Hurries (Sundae + Girl Alliance)`s Not That Easy sounds out as if hinting at a neutral zone between Pet Shop Boys and Mojave 3 somewhere.

Listen to it here

[Artists] Alison Eales

Alison Eales
EardrumsPop
Lastfm