I usually come up with a new compilation every three months or so, and since #17 was finished in time for my Christmas party, #18 is a bit overdue. Many of the songs and/or artists have been discussed here before, so I’ll focus on the exceptions.
Ellie Golding is a 23 year old singer-songwriter from Hereford, England, and her debut LP Lights has a refreshingly slick sound of production that many of my indie faves lack. Check her website or MySpace for more tunes.
- Sola Rosa
“Turn Around” is a track I heard on Passport Approved and I recall thinking “if more hiphop sounded like this, I’d listen to more hiphip!” Sola Rosa, from Auckland New Zealand, has been toiling away down under since the early part of this 21st century. Their 2009 LP Get It Together features an awesome assembly of guest artists, including emerging Wellingtonian songstress Iva Lamkum, who gives this track it’s funky diva chops. MySpace/website.
Sissy Wish
Norwegian Sissy Wish may sound like an MTV-ready poptart, but she’s been getting indie press raves since 2003, and her 3rd album Beauties Never Die doesn’t disappoint. MySpace/website for more info/tunes.
MOPP
MOPP is musician/producer Barry Mop from a little village called Alloa near Glasgow in Scotland. No LP yet but plenty of colaborations available to hear online. MySpace/website.
Sister Crayon
Sacramento’s Sister Crayon has yet to release a full LP but “Souls Of Gold” caught my ear on, yes, Passport Approved. MySpace/website for all the info.
The Salvagers
The Salvagers are a Sydney Australia 4 piece that has a more rock edge than you may be used here at pop-friendly djeddieo.com; check their MySpace/Website for other tunes, including “Die Pretty”, my close-second choice!
Hargo
Every once in a while, I see a photo of an artist before I listen to any tracks. Hargo is an excellent reminder not to judge a book by it’s cover! An only child from Eugene, Oregon, was raised both as a Sikh and a musical prodigy. Exposed to his dad playing Beatles, Bowie and Tom Petty tunes on guitar throughout his childhood, it’s no surprise he became a talented writer and musician. What is a surprise is the slick, top40-ready sound he creates. I’ve read “a cross between Coldplay and John Lennon”, but that barely scratches the surface. Check out “Coming Round” as well as his other tracks. MySpace/website.
Florence and The Machine and The xx have both been written about here before, but I just have to call some extra attention to their collaboration on this remake of Candi Staton’s “You Got The Love”, one of my all-time favorite dance songs. Far more than the “remix” it’s labeled, The xx rerecorded the entire vocal, then just uses a tiny sample of Florence’s vocal in a mad dub loop. Makes me want to get back into a DJ booth!
Operator Please
Operator Please has that great 80s sound I always gravitate toward: part Missing Persons, part No Doubt (nineties, I know). They formed as high school students in Gold Coast, Queensland (Australia) for a “Battle of the Bands” competition 5 years ago (I couldn’t make this stuff up any better). Known to do faithful covers of Salt N Pepa’s “Push It” and Devo’s “Whip It”, as well as a fresh take on Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”, I expect to be hearing more from these kids. MySpace/website(has the entire LP streamed). The next release off the “Gloves” CD is this one:
Christian Linke (what's with the booboo?)
I thought for sure I had posted about Christian Linke already, as I’ve been listening to “Start Right Here” since February, but I guess not. This is one tough cat to Google, I don’t mind tellin’ ya! I’ve seen him billed as Linke or Lefti, and he’s been a member of the German bands Panik and Nevada Tan, playing bass. And there are plenty of sappy, dreamy ballads put up by fans on YouTube, but “Start Right Here” is a real gem: big, bright production, great vocal (minimal falsetto), and you’d be hard pressed to tell that English is not his primary language. I did find it odd that Google auto-complete thought I might be interested in “Christian Linke tattoo”, of all things: 
….make no mistake, this kid is already a teen idol in his native Germany. MySpace/Twitter (no website).
Scouting For Girls
Scouting For Girls’ “This Ain’t A Love Song” was just bumped from number one on BBC Radio 1 the week I first heard it (bumped by Usher), but I don’t hold that against it (I tend to prefer the the more indie BBC6 over the sugary list at Radio 1). The London trio released their sophomore LP “Everybody Wants to Be on TV “just 3 weeks ago (4/12/2010) and “This Ain’t A Love Song” went immediately to #1. This could be one of those songs that catches on so big here in the US that I wonder what made me think it was indie! MySpace/website.
Laleh
When I first heard Laleh’s “Simon Says”, I guessed it was a new track by Irish songstress Lisa Hannigan, who I had blogged about over a year ago HERE. Not even close! Laleh Pourkarim is Iranian born and Sweden-based, by way of Azerbaijan and Belarus….talk about international! That said, “Simon Says” sounds like American folk/country, and it’s lovely. I hope to hear more from this multi-lingual 27 year old, and soon! MySpace/website; Nice video too:
She and Him and Eliza Doolittle have graced this page before (HERE and HERE, respectively), and colleague buzzbiscuits has blogged about Best Coast (HERE), so that leaves Empire Of The Sun…
Empire Of The Sun
Again, I’m lucky to have heard before seeing, as their photo evokes more “Sigfried and Roy” than, say, “Strummer and Jones”, but I found the song “Walking On A Dream” catchy when I first heard it, and I stand by that. The track has been kicking around for a while, originally released digitally in Australia as a single in 2008, and it holds the record down under for the longest time taken for a single to reach the top 10. I admit that the more I read about them, the less I want to know, which is why I prefer to let the music do the talking. Suffice to say that if they turn out to be the 21st Century Milli Vanilli, I won’t be surprised, but I’m on record as saying that SOMEBODY deserved that Best New Artist Grammy in 1990, just not Fab and Rob!
MySpace/website.
djeddieo.com 