
MAP (Music Alliance Pact) asks 31 music bloggers (now taking entries from Greece, China, South Africa, Indonesia and India) across the world to share a track from their home country that they think you should hear. My Irish pick this month: The Dying Seconds. ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Baby Scream - Ups And Downs Baby Scream is a musical project led by Juan Mazzola, [...]

MEXICO: Club Fonograma Selma Oxor - Abrazame Demonio Selma Oxor is the vindication of a blasted youth that has fun exploring rock, techno and pop, an all-in-one distorted vision that according to their MySpace sounds like "a cow giving birth". From their self-titled debut album comes "Abrazame Demonio", a moment of useless exertion perhaps, but it's one of the few perfect songs we'll get to hear this year. It effectively transitions its noisy [...]

It's time for this month's Music Alliance Pact (MAP), where music bloggers from all over the world go together and present favourite bands from their own country. This month, MAP is even bigger than usual. We're joined by bloggers from China, Greece, India, Indonesia and South Africa, and the number of participating blogs, songs and countries are now as much as 31! My own favourites this time includes especially the incredibly beautiful music from South Korea's Sunkyeol, England's brilliant The XX, Indonesia's sweet, folky pop from The Whispy Hummers, New Zealand's dark and [...]

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie Baby Scream - Ups And Downs Baby Scream is a musical project led by Juan Mazzola, with the ocassional collaboration of friends such as Cristian Basualdo, Sebasti疣 Rubin and even Gilby Clarke's bassist Muddy Stardust. Mazzola writes pop songs with a strong influence from classics like The Byrds, The Beatles and The Replacements. This beautiful acoustic ballad was taken from the album with the same name, released last year in the [...]

Strap on, folks - the Music Alliance Pact is guiding you into some of the most diverse corners of Planet Earth this month. We've been joined by five more music blogs - representing China, India, Indonesia, Greece and South Africa - taking MAP membership to an all-time high of 31 countries. Not only is that three more than NATO, it's six more than the number of nations who took part in this year's Eurovision Song Contest final. However, you won't find any posturing superpowers or neighbourly favouritism in MAP. It's one country, one song. And as [...]
É 15, dia do mês para uma volta ao mundo em canções de, já, 31 países. Este mês juntaram-se a esta aliança musical global cinco nove blogues: Wooozy da China, Mouxlaloulouda da Grécia, Indiecision da Índia, Deathrockstar da Indonésia, e o Musical Mover & Shaker! da África do Sul.Quanto aos músicos portugueses a representarem o nosso país são os Ölga, rapazes que apesar de não terem começado ontem

El calendario marca 15 de Agosto y es tiempo otra vez de MAP (Music Alliance Pact), es increíble como va creciendo el proyecto, esta vez se han adicionado más blogs que incluyen a India, Grecia y Japón, increible. He estado preparando un post especial para la banda que representa a Perú este mes, las excusas no valen, pero el tiempo me ha jugado en contra otra vez, les adelanto algo. Serpentina Satelite se formo a finales del 2003 y definitivamente tendría que incluirlas dentro de la carpeta de "Bandas Interesantemente Prometedoras Nacionales" es perfecto [...]

MAP-ul vine cu alte cinci bloguri care acopera acum toate continentele cu exceptia Antarcticii: China - Wooozy Greece - Mouxlaloulouda India - Indiecision Indonesia - Deathrockstar South Africa - Musical Mover & Shaker! Din Romania, avem prima trupa autohtona de stoner, The: Egocentrics (tot din Timisoara, ca si Melting Karousel). Ma bucur ca au fost de acord ca una dintre piesele lor sa fie inclusa in MAP, pentru ca sunt chiar pe gustul meu si imi plac [...]

On June 16th, Dublin-based band, The Dying Seconds will be holding a launch party/gig for the upcoming EP, Some Grand Romantic Gesture . It's clear the 4-track EP is suitably named with the sounds of opening track, "Calling All Cars", that wraps you up in an atmospheric blanket, and graduates throughout from the instrumental "Desire Lanes" to the final track, "The Ladder Drops". According to the band's MySpace, the digital release is still pending, but when it's available to those of us on the other side of the pond, I highly [...]

I should probably mention before I start that electronic music isn't really my forte. Yes, I hail from the birthplace of techno/electronic, but it's something I never caught onto much. Every once in a while I'll give it a listen, so at least I'm trying, eh. That said, here's a few artists... Throcke , an independent musician based out of Brooklyn. He's giving away his new album free, Sometimes Not Unpointful, on his website. Starry by Throcke from Sometimes Not Unpointful [...]

Ich bin begeistert! Nicht nur ob der Tatsache, hier auf den Schallgrenzen erstmalig als Gastschreiber meine Passion einbringen zu dürfen, nein, eigentlich bin noch mehr überrascht wie ich gerade schleichend von zwei Dublinern vereinnahmt worden konnte. Das Dublin eine Stadt mit einem beeindruckenden kulturellen und musikalischen Hintergrund ist, das wissen wir sicherlich nicht erst seit den Ereignissen an einem Tag namens Bloomsday und den popkulturellen Einfluß von Bands mit dem wunderschönen Namen My Bloody Valentine und den DUauchs. Wie dem auch sei, momentan laufen die Dying Seconds unaufdringlich einnehmend auf Wiederholung gestellt auf meinem [...]

The Dying Seconds - Seconds EP (ZIP) The Dying Seconds - The Dying Seconds (ZIP) "...it is up there with the best of 2008." (MP3 Hugger), "The Dying Seconds is magic. True magic." (Lemur Blog). "Tremendous, stunning... They guys are right!" (The Last Pop Song)
There are a couple of free albums doing the rounds that really deserve a hefty price tag such is their goodness. The Dying Seconds eponymous is certainly one of them, it so well endowed with lyrical (non-vocal) entities it sometimes makes me emotional. This is a duo (David Cantan and Jack Quilligan) who have the gift of making machines sound almost human, electronica with a beating heart and a
Jive Bunny for the electronically minded? You must be having a laugh given the quality of this mashup from those electronic provocateurs the Dying Seconds. Deus may rule this particular roost but there are joyful intermittent visits from the likes of Feist, Laura Marling and Beirut and it's all held together beautifully by the Dying Seconds peculiar brand of suds and soda. The Dublin act
Arcadia – The surreal mix of fire, water and dance beats made for a perfect Friday night wrap. BJ – In open view amongst the trance heads on Saturday night in the Sibin forest area. Good to see romance is alive, well and proudly rearing its head…periodically. Closing Time – A most stupendously flawed decision to stop serving at 10pm, sort it out for next year or at the very least allow us
As albums go it is up there with the best of 2008. Because it is free to download there is no reason in the world why you shouldn't be enjoying its vibrant digital heart within an hour. It's worth it, I promise you. I had been enjoying the cascading electronic opuses long before I discovered that the Dying Seconds are actually from ye olde Dublin. Came as a bit of surprise that a local outfit