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7"
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ANOST 069EP
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Berlin's otherworldly Saroos and weird-pop youngster Sequoyah Tiger from Verona have been remixing each other. Sharing a certain preference for hardly categorizable music, the results can be found here, pressed to the most beloved of all vinyl formats: the 7 inch.
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ANOST 060EP
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Lali Puna meets the Korean band Trampauline. In the beginning there was just the plan to do a tour together Germany in January and then Korea in February 2015. At one point both bands thought the same: Let's see what happens if we start to exchange some culture before the tour. So finally many files were sent back and forth with two songs getting finished: "Machines Are Human" features the voice and text of Hyosun Cha, singer of Trampauline. A love song, In 2014 machines are more human than humans. You can see Spike Jonzes Her waving at you. "Mary Maloone", however, is a typical Lali Puna piece with the voice of Valerie Trebeljahr. Based on a beat by Trampauline, Valerie is telling the nightmarish story of Mary, who is working out her soul for her lordship while infecting them with typhoid fever.
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7"
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ANOST 046EP
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After recording some killer cover versions of Bryan Ferry and Frederick Loewe, Masha now sings The Cure's second hit, "Boys Don't Cry." After more than 30 years of heavy indie-disco rotation, you might be sick of that song, but Masha's version is just too clever. First she adds a rhythmic Kelis-citation ("Trick Me"). This also brings an even greater gender twist to the lyrics, as it may be seen as a comment on Robert Smith's elaborate moaning. On the flip, the guitar work of James McNew (Yo La Tengo, Dump) adds some gentle funk to Masha's recent single "Fishing Buddies." Features silkscreened artwork.
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ANOST 041EP
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Electronic pop fruitcakes múm return with a single, before coming up with a whole new album later in 2013. "Toothwheels" starts off with echoes of their millennium-era rhythms, which morph into shadows. Flourishing strings and teeming arpeggios elevate the track, which spins along in a cyclical motion before being washed away. The lulling vocals disguise the song's fatalistic lyrics, evoking an eerie sense of immateriality. "Cranes Like Ships" is built around booming electronic beats and confused synthesizers, but it's a much happier affair.
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ANOST 033EP
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Iceland's Múm send seasonal greetings with this 7", containing two interpretations of conventional Icelandic Christmas songs: "Nú er Gunna á nýju skónum" ("Now Gunna is wearing her new shoes") and "Babbi segir" ("Daddy Says"), both of which are traditionally sung around the tree at Christmas dances. They are arranged for guitar, autoharp, kazoos and voices and are sung in (charming) terrible-beautiful style. Slightly festive stuff yet melancholic, floating somewhere between pure naiveté and lucid kitsch. With the addition of artwork by lead singer Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason and a coupon for a free download (with a a digital bonus track), this is the best Icelandic Christmas 7" put out all year.
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ANOST 032EP
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Fenster plays deconstructed pop music, layering subtle distortions, melodic chords and city soundscapes under dream narratives and schadenfreude. The two songs evoke a futuristic nostalgia -- playing with Tom Waits percussion and Velvet Underground guitar riffs with a nod to the macabre Dada sweetness of early Beck and Cat Power. Their instruments include slamming doors and trashy synths, utilizing the analog warmth of their instrumentation to underscore the interaction between the two vocalists.
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7"
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ANOST 023EP
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"Move On," taken from the Lali Puna album Our Inventions (MORR 098CD/LP), is a track that summarizes pretty well what Lali Puna is about: it starts with a quite abstract and kicking beat that is accompanied by Valerie Trebeljahr's voice but then the refrain comes in: and thanks to the generous harmonies, the whole song now suddenly blossoms out, but without losing focus. The previously-unreleased flipside features a long introduction that uses the voice as a transcendent instrument.
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ANOST 030EP
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To celebrate the signing of the wonderful Icelandic supergroup FM Belfast, A Number Of Small Things presents "Underwear," the biggest hit from their debut album How To Make Friends (KRCD 012CD/KRLP 012LP) with an exclusive additional version that was recorded live in their backyard and a version from Prins Póló. "Underwear" perfectly captures FM Belfast's carefree and enthusiastic attitude and provides a glimpse into the joy surrounding everything the band gets up to.
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ANOST 029EP
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Icelandic king of lo-fi layered lushness Sindri Már Sigfússon aka Sin Fang (formerly Sin Fang Bous) brings you a 7" as a foretaste of his album Summer Echoes. "Because Of The Blood" encapsulates the essence of the forthcoming album in a euphoric, orchestral pop song that manages to merge epic tune-sculpting with several layers of choir. "Two Boys" is a heartbreaking ballad, like the essence of pop music in two minutes.
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ANOST 027EP
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Iceland's Sindri Már Sigfusson used his time off from touring the world with Seabear to write and record an album of his solo project Sin Fang (formerly Sin Fang Bous). The album is preceded by this 7" featuring two all-time-classic non-album conversions: "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac and Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy In New York." Sin Fang's versions withdraw some of the glossy sweetness of the originals and replace it with a pinch of heartbreaking weirdo-folk.
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7"
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ANOST 026EP
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Pascal Pinon are Icelandic twins Jófríður and Ásthildur. When they were only 14, they decided to start a band with two of their friends. Using a guitar, a glockenspiel and of course, their voices, Pascal Pinon produced a twee mixture of acoustic neofolk and lo-fi pop with a remarkable sense for songwriting. It was nominated for The Icelandic Music Awards as Newcomer of the Year, 2009. This 7" contains three tracks from their self-titled album. Sleeve design by Julia Guther.
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ANOST 025EP
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As singer of The Bats and bass player with The Clean, Robert Scott is one of the main protagonists of the New Zealand indie scene. Songs pour out of Robert Scott constantly, collected in exercise books and on cassette tapes over the years. "Too Early" is a short and fuzzy pop song garnished by Scott's laconic vocals. "The Moon Upstairs" will thrill you with its slightly psychedelic guitar arrangements. The 7" comes with a silk-screened cover designed by Julia Guther.
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ANOST 022EP
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Morr Music brings you this perfect appetizer of Lali Puna's fourth album, Our Inventions (MORR 098CD/LP). "Remember" is the album's most jubilant track, perfectly recalling the extrovert tendencies of Faking The Books (MORR 044CD/LP). Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, this track has the kind of clever arrangements and haunting melodies that truly make a hit. "Remember" was heavily requested when it was streamed on various web sites like Pitchfork.com, and it has received heavy rotation on many radio stations. Also includes a non-album track.
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ANOST 021EP
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This is the first single from the second Seabear album, We Built A Fire. While "Lion Face Boy" features the classic Seabear indie-folk-virtues, the flipside "Cold Summer" surprises with an intense and unsettling ballad that breaks new territory. Seabear started out as a one-man project of singer/guitarist Sindri Már Sigfússon, but grew into today's collective of 7 Icelanders with their debut album The Ghost That Carried Us Away (ANOST 014LP/MORR 076CD) in 2007.
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ANOST 018EP
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This is a double A-side release by It's A Musical, featuring songs off of their debut full-length The Music Makes Me Sick, on Morr Music. Two tracks of glorious keys, brass, and catchy vocal melody.
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ANOST 017EP
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Butcher The Bar is the 22 year-old Joel Nicholson, who currently resides in the north of England with his acoustic guitar and a couple of instruments such as a banjo, a melodica and an accordion. "Get Away" is a melancholy goodbye to a town, a disillusioned memory of a city that fades away while still living in it. "Leave Town" is as minimal and as maximal as a pop song could be: a guitar, a banjo and a warm voice.
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ANOST 015EP
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Organic, electronic, melodic songs that shimmer with light and dark textures from the UK. Antony Ryan (ISAN) and Simon Scott (Televise/Slowdive) blend together a mixture of musical elements that stun and comfort. This musical partnership could be described as The Cure drinking with My Bloody Valentine drinking with The Postal Service drinking with Ulrich Schnauss.
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ANOST 016EP
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Released in 2007. Skvavars is an acoustic postcard. One track tells of travelling, the other one tells of the people met along the way. Benni Hemm Hemm recorded "Skvavars" for his album Kajak, and it drifts with one continuous surge. The wind murmurs the instruments around your ears... voices whirl through the air. "Baldrei" features a tiny guitar, trumpet, cornet and piano as well as Jens Lekman's Icelandic singing.
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ANOST 013EP
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Released in 2006. Famous and familiar songs: Brian Ferry's "Don't Stop The Dance" on the one side, and "Saturday Night" from the Berlin-based duo Komeït on the other. Ferry's smooth declaration of love with its charismatic short interruptions are also typical of Masha Qrella's music. The arrangement and production is precise, transparent, and interwoven in a complex way. "Saturday Night" charms with an emphatic closeness instead of the vibrating coolness of side A. Take me to the places that I've never seen, indeed.
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ANOST 012EP
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Released in 2006. "Beginning End" is an emphatic overture, reduced to opulence. A lot of instruments -- guitars, a brass section and a glockenspiel -- ensnare just a few sounds, a lively game. The second track is "Beygja Og Beygja," Benni Hemm Hemm's first hit single. This time, it is performed by an acoustic guitar and Benni's Icelandic singing fragments. Reminiscent of Stereolab, Ennio Morricone and any other good-natured dance band, sometime after midnight when the power goes out.
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