Alternative

The peculiar voice of Maria Holm-Mortensen is oscillating between Björk's unconventional timbre and the haunting vocals of The Knife's Karin Dreijer. Wrapped in formidable synthesizer spheres and vast sound walls of guitars the five Danes of Scarlet Chives are creating mesmerizing pop séances, seemingly summoning gloomy fantasies and secret fears. An impression also reflected in the band's video to "The Timber Will Fall". By means of lust and degradation two women with matriarchal confidence are keeping several men at their disposal in a remote cabin in the woods. The raw physicality at display lead to a swift removal from Youtube. On "This is Protection" Scarlet Chives prove to be a versatile band delivering noisy, orchestrated dream pop contrasted by fragile and disarming arrangements. To passionate followers of the Nordic music scene the distinct appeal and artistic approach by Sleep Party People mastermind and rabbit mask aficionado Brian Batz may be striking. With Scalret Chives he is certainly pushing his own limits Record Label: Siluh Records Style: Independent

Artist: Tapper Zukie Label: Kingston S (Godbrain Distribution)

Artist: Pup Label: Side One Dummy

Artist: Silver Arm Label: Code 7 - Big Tea Records

Artist: Lavender Country Label: Paradise of Bachelors

Record Label: XL/Beggars Group Style: Hip Hop

Artist: Small Black Label: Jagjaguwar (Cargo Records)

Lewis and Addison Rogers are brothers who make pop-music together. When they do this, they go by the name Busman's Holiday. Lewis plays guitar, and Addison plays his modest drum kit, complete with suitcase-bass-drum. Independently, the brothers have performed with artists such as Jens Lekman and Sleeping Bag. "A Long Goodbye", the first proper album from Busman's Holiday was recorded by Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire) and mixed by Drew Vandenberg (Toro Y Moi, Kishi Bashi). The band has been featured on WNYC's Radiolab. RIYL: Kishi Bashi, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, music Record Label: Joyful Noise Style: Independent

Artist: Htrk Label: Ghostly Int. (Cargo Records)

Artist: Bushman'S Holiday Label: Joyful Noise (Cargo Records)

Artist: Ortolan Label: Sounds Familyre (Cargo Records)

Artist: the Desoto Caucus Label: Glitterhouse (Indigo)

Record Label: Kidnap Style: Punk

Artist: Lambchop Label: City Slang (Universal)

Artist: Se Delan Label: K Scope (Edel)

Artist: Armin Van Buuren Label: Armada Music

On discovering their excellent first album : Lost Lost Lost it's easy to see that Les Marquises is not something fixed. More than just a group, it's more of a variable collective, both in their line up as well as in their music. Born from Jean-Sébastien Nouveau's imagination and around whom gravitate numerous musicians (some of whom were not unknown to Ici d'ailleurs) Notably Etienne Jaumet (The Married Monk, Headphone, Zombie Zombie) on saxophone and Benoît Burelllo (Bed) on vocals. The line up for the latest album includes : Jonathan Grandcollot (Maman Brigitte, Plein Soleil) on drums and keyboards, Nicolas Laureau (Dino Nino, NLF3) and Johannes Buff (Dubaï) on vocals, Martin Duru (Immune, Colo Colo) on keyboards and bass, Souleymane Felicioli on trumpet, Julien Nouveau (Immune) on feedbacks and percussions and Pierre-Alain Vernette on violin. Lost Lost Lost had for underlying theme the work of artist Henry Darger, this time Jean-Sébastien Nouveau draws his inspiration from cinema citing influences such as: Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, The Wrath of God by Werner Herzog, Lord of the Flies by Peter Brook and also Les Maîtres Fous by Jean Rouch. These films give us a glimpse of the underlying themes of the jungle and wildness found throughout the album, which has a highly visual quality, allowing the listeners to lose themselves in their imagination. These luxuriant images stay with us having listened to this album that has been so refined through the texture of the vocals and the percussion, it proves to be a deep well of inspiration. Each track has been so well and minutely enriched, the detail allows one to be come submerged in the wild and torturous world of Pensée Magique. We won't ever become completely lost however as Jean-Sébastien Nouveau never strays to far into the wilderness throughout the 7 tracks, which each having their own video clip. The album is neither rock, electronic or folk. It's all three at the same time. It's the culmination of the influences and desires of its master, who disregards barriers and enjoys the freedom to elaborate. An album like this one is clearly the result of a refusal to stay within the parameters of any one style, thus allowing the listener too, to escape conventionalism. Finally, we find ourselves confronted with an album that is melancholic, untameable, hypnotic and intense which even after several listens, is still fresh, and that is its strength. The release of Pensée Magique coincides with the return to stage of Les Marquises, supported by La Route Du Rock Booking agency. Jean-Sébastien will be accompanied by his brother Julien on drums, Arnaud Lemoine on vocals and keyboards, and Souleymane Felicioli on trumpet, for performances that promise to be even more fierce and adventurous than the album. Record Label: Ici D'Ailleurs Style: Independent

Gozu pack a punch with their sophomore album delivering heavy rock that crushes with blistering riffs as much as shimmers with haunting melodies. Style: Stoner Rock

For this tribute Beast records has gathered an international cast - mostly Australian but overseas too - that features TEX NAPALM - whose Central Europe accent again adds to his inner-seduction ; British rockabilly leading outfit HIPBONE SLIM ; the gentle-mannered PETE ROSS with his compagne SUSY SAPPHIRE ; American Trad Rock artist JOHN PAUL KEITH ; Southern-gothic MISS MARY MACK ; violin-driven and film noir-spirited The SPOILS ; garage-r'n'b outfit wih a female singer DOUBLE AGENTS ; Johanna - who belonged at this time to JAMES MCCANN & THE DIRT SKIRT - in a one-shot project with Régis of DEAD HORSE PROBLEM and JAMES MCCANN himself ; voodoo and swamp-rock composer STU THOMAS - bassist for KIM SALMON & THE SURREALISTS ; country story-teller I AM A BAND ; TONIO MARINESCU, drummer of KALASHNIKOV and nowadays Dead Horse Problem (who did also paint the sleeves of this album), and his wife Anne ; country-soul duet TEXAS TEA ; folksy-bluesy-country man RED ; as folk as rhythm'n'blues BLACK PONY EXPRESS - with JUSTIN CUSACK and LILITH LANE ; even PHILIPPE PASCAL, the legendary French singer of MARQUIS DE SADE, makes a personal yet faithful adaptation of a Cash track after a near 25 years missing from the recording studios, and SPENCER P. JONES - of the JOHNNYS and the BEASTS OF BOURBON fame, and a solo artist with the same reckless and consuming determination - also offers a cover of The Man in Black that leaves an unforgettable impression to the listener... TRACKLISTING: 01. JOHN PAUL KEITH - I STILL MISS SOMEONE 02. I AM BAND - JACKSON 03. MISS MARY MACK - RING OF FIRE 04. THE DOUBLE AGENTS - DON'T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN 05. THE MARINESCUS - AS LONG AS THE GRASS SHALL GROW 06. HIPBONE SLIM & THE KNEETREMBLERS - MEAN EYED CAT 07. THE SPOILS - THE FOLK SINGER 08. TEX NAPALM - SINGER OF SONGS 09. PETE ROSS AND THE SAPPHIRE - GIVE MY LOVE TO ROSE 10. SPENCER P. JONES - WALK THE LINE 11. TEXAS TEA - I GOT A WOMAN 12. BLACK PONY EXPRESS - DARK AS A DUNGEON 13. JOHANNA AND ZEE WAIT JAZZ - COCAINE BLUE 14. RED - DELIAH'S GONE 15. PHILIPPE PASCAL - DON'T YOU KNOW WHERE I'M BOUND 16. STU THOMAS - FOLSOM PRISON BLUES Record Label: Beast Records Style: Garage