We're grateful to indie-mp3.co.uk for "turning us on" to these Glasgow and Leeds artists. You can find out more here, here, and here, plus by clicking other links below. You will notice that each song is downloadable, (if you're into that kind of thing). Raped by Education by bubblegumrecords Insect Guide - Bats by EardrumsPop

Letters Edinburgh band Letters, have developed a bit of a buzz about themselves lately, with an array of Scottish bloggers already tipping them for big things. Kudos has to go out to Kowalskiy for being the first one to pick up on them. Personally, I think they sound like they have potential but I am not getting overly carried away, not yet at least. They've just release their new double a sided single 'Grand National/Pipe Dreams' as a free download. If you want to see if the hype is justified then you can make your own [...]
Tweet Glasgow'a Maple Leaves have been one of my loved bands for some time now. They have released two wonderful singles, ""Kirsty/Easy Speak in 2009 and "Tapestry" in June 2010. Now they're back with a full EP on Bubblegum Records . The EP is named after the opening track, "Golden Ether", a lovely, folky indiepop song with piano and acoustic guitars as key elements. Another good one is "What a day", with boy/girl vocals and guitars as powerful [...]
Hey kids, it's another Scottish indie pop band! I could tell you that I'm trying to mix things up by finding brand new things, but I'm not. I'm evidently listening to a lot of Scottish indie pop at the moment, so that is what ends up here. Maple Leaves are from Glasgow, just like the majority of the good stuff, and without descending too far into stereotypes, vocalist Anna features on Stuart Murdoch's God Help the Girl project. Maple Leaves make nice little pop songs that add to the growing trend of folk influence into indie [...]
From day one of The Pop Cop , this blog has directed readers to the MySpace page of any artist we've written about. The social networking site's instant ability to let fans hear streamed songs packaged in a consistent, practical set-up made it a much more reliable alternative to linking to a band's custom-made website. Recently, however, it has been pretty hard to resist the urge to hunt down the people who run MySpace and give them a right good kick to the crotch. They seem hellbent on making the experience increasingly annoying for everyone. Musicians are [...]

Maple Leaves Glasgow's very own indie poppers the Maple Leaves are giving away a free download of a couple of their songs ' Kirsty '/'Easy Speak' here. I really really like these guys, I downloaded their songs a few weeks back, then forgot all about them, that was until just a few days ago, the vocals sooth me in a way that I though only Belle & Sebastian could. Lovely lovely stuff. Pink Pills Powerpop from Edinburgh, sung in a distinct Scottish [...]

You're probably aware by now that we started this thing called the Music Alliance Pact. The Pop Cop's part of the deal is to choose a Scottish song to share with the rest of the world on the 15th of every month, and to celebrate MAP's 1st birthday (IKEA vouchers would be great, thanks) we've decided to compile our 12 selections to date in a single album for you to download for free. I know what you're thinking - that's 'The Best Scottish Album in the World... Ever!' Unfortunately, that record already exists so [...]
I wasn't really prepared for this month's Music Alliance Project. I came backfrom holiday several days past the submission deadline, then had a mental scramble to decide what to include for England. Normally it's a stand-out from my previous month's blogging, but I was hardly very prolific in June so ...
i've always regarded force vomit as the quintessential singaporean band - lots of attitude and brimming with local flavor - so i'm glad our map correspondent brian koh has chosen to feature them for this month's issue, which includes new additions to the map family, japan and venezuela . enjoy! AMERICA: I Guess I'm Floating Spanish Prisoners - [...]

MEXICO: Club Fonograma Hello Seahorse! – Universo 2 Hello Seahorse! is the year's most acclaimed Mexican indie band. With their third album, Bestia, the trio have made the transition into a multi-dimensional group with a masterwork under their belt. Bestia shines in between ghosts and hazy sonic beauty, in a universe of its own, and proves Hello Seahorse! have total control over their [...]
AMERICA: I Guess I'm Floating Spanish Prisoners ñ Kiss The Lawn Goodbye Brooklyn's Spanish Prisoners, fronted by Leo Maymind, create fractured power-pop in the vein of The New Porno's Dan Bejar (Destroyer). They're currently working on a new album but in the meantime they've released a free three-song EP - download it here - from which Kiss The Lawn Goodbye [...]

Here's July's edition of the Music Alliance Pact . For those of you who don't know about MAP, it's a collection of music blogs from around the world who band together once a month to shed light on up-and-comers from their home countries. It's sort of like the WTO without the human rights violations. This month we've welcomed Japan and Venezuela into the mix, so this edition showcases 26 tracks from around the world. Some of you expressed how much of a pain in the ass it is to sift through 26 [...]

Luna aceasta, la Music Alliance Pact, avem o piesa noua de la Melting Carousel, cvartetul indie pop din Timisoara, de aceasta data fara vocea feminina dar cu un sunet mult mai interesant. Melting Carousel se joaca cu jazz-ul in doze mici, dar suficient de concentrate astfel incat sa nu fie una dintre multele trupe de indie pop. La fel ca si Kumm in perioada Dan Byron, lasa in urma griul cotidian si da cu fruntea de stele. AMERICA: I Guess [...]

AMERICA: I Guess I'm Floating Spanish Prisoners ・ Kiss The Lawn Goodbye Brooklyn's Spanish Prisoners, fronted by Leo Maymind, create fractured power-pop in the vein of The New Porno's Dan Bejar (Destroyer). They're currently working on a new album but in the meantime they've released a free three-song EP - download it here - from which Kiss The Lawn Goodbye is taken. [...]
AMERICA: I Guess I'm Floating Spanish Prisoners – Kiss The Lawn Goodbye Brooklyn's Spanish Prisoners, fronted by Leo Maymind, create fractured power-pop in the vein of The New Porno's Dan Bejar (Destroyer). They're currently working on a new album but in the meantime they've released a free three-song EP - download it here - from which Kiss The Lawn Goodbye [...]
Mais um mês e mais uma lista de downloads de bandas de vinte seis países. Este mês juntaram-se ao M.A.P., a Venezuela e o Japão.Andrew Thorn, o nome do projecto de João Pedro Coimbra, que tem, desde há dois dias, o seu EP, "Brutes on the Quiet", nas lojas, apresenta-se ao mundo com o download legal e gratuito do seu primeiro single do novo disco, "Me Jane". Este tema tem um vídeo que foi aqui

This month's explanation of the Music Alliance Pact comes courtesy of The Guardian: "MAP is an international group of bloggers who each month simultaneously post a list of tracks by their countries' best new bands, with one suggestion from each MAP member." We're now up to 26 participating countries thanks to new arrivals Japan and Venezuela. The blurbs below are written by the blogger who picked the song and you can download any track for free with a right-click and save, or alternatively get the whole lot in a single album by following the link at the end [...]

Es MAP quiza una burbuja solitaria en medio de la discusión eterna global, no lo se, pero definitivamente esta en esa onda, una recopilación de canciones ansiosas de ser escuchadas de todo el mundo, este mes se nos ha unido Venezuela con Barquisimeto Musical, bienvenido! y ya somos 26 blogs. Para esta entrega no he dudado al elegir a Francois Peglau de quien ya te habia hablado , sus canciones no necesitan alguna explicación, son simples sentimientos ligados entre si, es que acaso una canción perfecta ¿necesita más explicación?, gracias Francois y pues disfruta de [...]