Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

1. Palmistry
2. Everything Is Moving So Fast
3. Pulling On A Line
4. Concrete Heart
5. She Comes To Me In Dreams
6. The Chorus In The Underground
7. Singer Castle Bells
8. Stealing Tomorrow
9. Still
10. New Light
11. Rivers Edge
12. Unison Falling Into Harmony

Heeding the invitation of historian/photographer/mondo Great Lake Swimmers fan Ian Coristine, Tony Dekker and his folksy crew took a field trip upstream to the Thousand Islands region of Ontario last year. There they recorded in churches, community centers and even a castle, basking in the picturesque environs and getting artistically inspired in general. Those recordings make up the bulk of Lost Channels, the group's fourth album. Lead single "Pulling On A Line" reveals how the group spent its 
river vacation: chiming mandolins, subtle harmonies and an easygoing beat combine to make the ultimate sonic postcard. Wish we were there, indeed...www.prefixmag.com

Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds And A Sound

1. Oviedo 
2. The Story I Heard 
3. Paint or Pollen 
4. Poor Boy 
5. One Red Thread 
6. Go On, Say It 
7. Two Towns from Me
8. I Buried a Bone 
9. Things I Cannot Recall 
10. The Bitter End 
11. 3 Rounds and a Sound

Frontman Israel Nebeker sings of loss and wonder with a voice smooth enough for anyone to enjoy, and every single song on this album is wonderful. Possibly more energetic than fellow Portland-ites Horse Feathers, 3 Rounds and A Sound is also quite relaxing. Songs like “The Story I Heard”, “Poor Boy”, and “3 Rounds and A Sound”, are all beautifully sang and appropriately subdued with instrumentation ranging from subtle horn lines to marimba. The smoothness of this album is incredible!

That being said, this reviewer would enjoy a little more in the way of dynamics, 3 Rounds can be listened straight through without anything really sticking out other than the fluidity of the melodies coming from Nebeker’s voice.

Another aspect I find particularly interesting about Blind Pilot is their love of the bike tour. The band’s website makes this abundantly clear, and I find it only so appropriate that a band that feels so much like the Pacific Northwest should make this a conscious effort in their music.

Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski prove in 3 Rounds and A Sound that they can produce an album that will turn no one away and provides a message about being who you really are, unabashedly true to yourself...www.myspace.com

Fanfarlo - Reservoir

01 I'm A Pilot
02 Ghosts
03 Luna
04 Comets
05 Fire Escape
06 The Walls Are Coming Down
07 Drowning Men
08 If It Is Growing
09 Harold T. Wilkins Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time
10 Finish line
11 Good Morning Midnight

Jenny Wilson - Hardships!

1. The Path

2. Like A Fading Rainbow 

3. Clattering Hooves 

4. The Wooden Chair 

5. Porcelain Castle 

6. Anchor Made Of Gold 

7. Bad Waters 

8. Only Here For The Fight 

9. Pass Me The Salt 

10. Motherhood 

11. Hardships 

12. We Had Everything 

13. Strings Of Grass 

Former first lady of Swedish avant-garde indiepop outfit First Floor Power, Jenny Wilson, is finally ready with the follow up to acclaimed solo debut, ‘Love And Youth’ (2006). Titled ‘Hardships’ it’s produced by Wilson herself and will be released February 23 on her own label Gold Medal Recordings. (Featuring guests Mapei, Simone Rubi and El Perro Del Mar)

Lampshade - Stop Pause Play

1. The Rest

2. 123 - Lalala - Take It Back

3. Silkesår (feat. Teitur)

4. Neon People

5. Architecture Wounds

6. Den støjende tid (Bonus track)

RebekkaMaria presses stop, pause and plays with the indie collective Lampshade once again - maybe for the last time. New mini album and tour is the 'Thank you, goodnight' from the Scandinavian sound expressionists, who don't know whether they will stop or just pause. But for now they just PLAY.  With an enormous variation in style and sound, yet a consequent focus on art and expression the Swedish/Danish music collective is back as we know it - and again in a totally different way. "Stop Pause Play" is the title of their new 6-track mini album that follows up their 2003 debut success "Because Trees Can Fly" and the latest full length "Let's Away" from 2006. Again the charismatic singer RebekkaMaria enchants the listener but on the new recording guitarist Erik Nylén takes the lead on 2 tracks - both as singer and songwriter adding yet another dimension to the sound landscape. Further more RebekkaMaria sings a duet with Faroese star Teitur on the Danish pop hymn 'Silkesar'.  Lampshade is playful as ever. Singing in Danish and English, playing soft and monotone, loud and noisy, combining male/female vocals, "Stop Pause Play" becomes a bomb of expressions. And maybe the last release from the band that has decided to take a break - not knowing how long or if it's even definite. The reason is partly to be found in the increasing solo career of singer RebekkaMaria - the electropop project As In RebekkaMaria and in the new band This Is Head formed by guitarist Henric Claesson and drummer Adam Jacobsson. After the upcoming tour the members of Lampshade will focus 100% on other projects...www.friendly-fire.nl But before the break there are new songs to be heard live and on "Stop Pause Play". Most of the new songs will be on the set list on the upcoming tour among Lampshade classics like Disse Fugle, Come on In, Joy, The Hug and Treasure Is. 

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Advance Base Battery Life

1. Old Panda Days (w/ Nick Krgovich)
2. Lesley Gore On The T.A.M.I. Show (version)
3. White Corolla
4. White On White
5. Holly Hobby
6. Lonesome New Mexican Nights
7. The Only Way To Cry
8. It's A Crime
9. Missoula
10. Hot Boyz (w/ Dear Nora)
11. Born In The U.S.A. (w/ Concern)
12. Streets Of Philadelphia (w/ Concern)
13. Graceland
14. Sunday St
15. Voice Of The Hospital

Advance Base Battery Life is a compilation of singles and rarities from Owen Ashworth's Casiotone for the Painfully Alone moniker. It collects rare songs from his decade+ long career, and features guests Concern and Dear Nora...www.prefixmag.com

Bell X1 - Blue Lights On The Runway

1. The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella

2. How Your Heart is Wired

3. The Great Defector

4. Blow Ins

5. Amelia

6. A Better Band

7. Breastfed

8. Light Catches Your face

9. One Stringed Harp

10. The Curtains are Twitchin’

After critical raves, three national tours, and multiple late-night TV bookings earlier this year, Ireland's Bell X1 has recorded its most ambitious work to date with Blue Lights on the Runway, coming out March 3.The band's central trio of Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty, and Dominic Phillips penned every song on the record. Leader Noonan said, "We started recording last November in a big, draughty, stately home called Ballycumber House, under the beady gaze of musty portraits of the Lords and Ladies of the estate from the 15th century. We wanted to make something different, something tight and coherent from start to finish. Where we've landed is a little bit electronic, a little bit Bacharach, a little bit New Orleans Funeral March."Bell X1 recall Eno-era Talking Heads, Sigur Ros, and XTC on jagged, vintage synth-laden "Broken Umbrella," the syncopated "How Your Heart Is Wired," fuzzed out hard rocker "Breast Fed," the electrifying "The Great Defector," and gorgeous ballad "Light Catches Your Face."Bell X1's US debut Flock earned the band incredible reviews earlier this year. Tastemaker website Very Short List called Flock an "early front-runner for best record of 2008." In a four-star write up for Paste Magazine, Christine Van Dusen called the group "one of Ireland's great bands," continuing, "Flock will prove that Bell X1 is an incredibly valuable export."New York Daily News' Jim Farber wrote, "It's not just [Paul] Noonan's sharp eye in these songs that proves winning. It's also his flair for dialogue and his keen way with a metaphor. His cruel writing will make you swoon."..www.yeproc.com

Light FM - Black Magic Marker

01. The High
02. Black Magic Marker
03. Golden SUV
04. Trick
05. Loneliest People
06. Glory Dayz
07. Shame
08. What Good is a Man?
09. IJWUTBM
10. Try 2 Make You Happy

Peter Adams - I Woke With Planets In My Face

01 In the Great Green Room
02 The Observatory
03 Conversation With the Moon
04 Into the Mist
05 Sprinkler Song for Jessica
06 Ziggurat
07 I Was Looking At the Ceiling, and Then I Saw the Sky
08 Antarctica
09 Ghost in the Fen
10 Annabel Lee
11 Eyelids
12 The Seventh Seal

FM Belfast - How To Make Friends

1. Frequency
2. Underwear
3. I Can Feel Love
4. Tropical
5. Pump
6. Par Avion
7. VHS
8. Lotus
9. Optical
10. Synthia
11. President

Limebridge - Copy & Paste EP

1. John2
2. Night Life
3. Antwerpen
4. Lift

Moto Boy - For Martha (Songs I Wish I Had Written) EP

1. Pie Jesu (Andrew Lloyd Webber)
2. Cigánské Melodie (Antonín Dvorák)
3. A Room Without You (Oskar Humlebo)
4. Ave Maria (Vladimir Vavilov)
5. Suo Gân (Traditional)