The end

Well my indiepop friends, after almost three and a half years I have decided to wrap up the blog. Sadly, I don't have much time for it any more, and because of this it's become more of a chore than a pleasure. So it's time to call it a day.

Many thanks to those who read and commented, those who regularly read without commenting (I know who where you are :)) and especially those who sent me stuff. I love getting stuff. Sorry I couldn't use it all.

Let's end this on a classic, shall we?

Peru - Clueless

East Midlands band who appeared on a couple compilations and a split 7" in the early '90s, disappeared for yonks and then resurfaced a couple years ago sounding like they'd never gone away at all. Which is always nice. You can get this one on their Across Blue Skies compilation on Jigsaw.

Bunnygrunt - Favorite Food

Lo-fi punkish twee from St Louis, Missouri. I never saw Bunnygrunt, but listening to this makes me flash back to a million gigs in people's garages during my US East Coast visits of the mid-1990s. Anyway, haven't they got one of the best names ever?

From a 1993 EP, Standing Hampton.

Girl of the World - 5 Years Old

1993 single from a pre-Cat's Miaow band of Bart and Cameron. I think it's almost got a bit of a Britpop tinge to it. They went on to better things.

The Would-Be-Goods - The Camera Loves Me

1988 single and title track to the Would-Be-Goods' debut album, a collection of ornate and sophisticated twee girlpop with lyrics and vocals so contrivedly upper-crusty I almost feel like a class traitor just listening to them. I always thought they had a bit of the novelty act about them, though they're not without their charms.

The Stupid Cupids - Big Blue Bus

Definitely up there with the worst band names ever to appear on this blog, though in fairness, the Stupid Cupids weren't a real band so much as one of the many identities used by Paul Chastain and Ric Menck (the Springfields, Velvet Crush) over the years. And besides, it's hardly like they were trying for a good name.

This pleasant and fun little tune was released on a 1987 Bus Stop flexi, and was later re-recorded by another Chastain/Menck alter ego, Choo Choo Train, under the title "Big Blue Buzz".

Annemarie - Lovely Afternoon

One of the leading lights of Indonesian indiepop - and with the quality of bands coming out of there in recent years, that's quite a compliment indeed. What makes Annemarie stand out is their singer, Rima, who may well have the sweetest voice I have ever heard in my life. It's almost unreal.

This is a track from Fall to Fall, a 2011 split EP with Italian band Tiny Tide.

Tiny Fireflies - Snow

I liked this band as soon as I first saw their name, before hearing them or knowing anything else about them. How could a band called Tiny Fireflies not be filled with indie twee wondrousness? Then I found out they were actually a collaboration between members of Tiny Microphone and Fireflies, the same members who also collaborate as Very Truly Yours, and I still didn't need to hear them to know I would love them. And then I finally actually did hear them and even with my high expectations they still knocked me out. This is almost unbearably gorgeous, I could listen to it for hours.

You can get it here. Do yourself a favour.

 

Pencil Tin - Friday

Side project of Bart Cummings from the Cat's Miaow and Robert Cooper from the Sugargliders and Earthmen. Their only 12" release was the album A Gentle Hand to Guide You Along, put out by Bus Stop in 1996 though it had been recorded two years earlier.

This is one of Robert's songs, a gorgeous and very Sarah-esque track.

Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan Dreams

This may have been ridiculously overexposed a few years ago through being used in about twelve different companies' advertising but, erm, that's because it's really really good. I never realised she was "discovered" on Australian Idol, and actually did pretty well on it; the TV audience for singing competitions must be different down under because I can't imagine a twee-indie-folk artist getting beyond the first round over here. In saying that I suppose I have to admit I never watch those programmes anyway.

From her second (2008) EP, Welcome to the Afternoon.

Crystal Garden - Heaven's Kiss

Apologies for my no-show yesterday folks. I was suffering from Irish Sunstroke, a widespread affliction on this island in which the rare occurrence of a warm sunny day renders the population absolutely physically incapable of sticking to usual schedules or obligations. Seriously, it's like a spell of mass hysteria gripping the nation.

I'm over it now.

So anyway, here's a track from a 1993 Waaah! 7". It was something of a clever marketing ploy by Bring On Bull Records, putting the (relatively) well-known Orchids on the cover to make it look like a new Orchids single when the b-sides were actually by two different bands: Bouquet and this lot whom I know absolutely nothing about. Theirs is actually my favourite track on the record, though, a nice little bit of lo-fi twee pop with delightful boy-girl vocals and possibly the worst drum machine ever.

Oporto - Actors Studio

A short-lived band formed by Andy Davies after the Cudgels' split. As far as I know the French Blue 7", to which this was the opening track, was their only release; it came out in 1994 on Sunday Records. Twee pop fans will want to get it though to be honest I don't think it's up there with the best recordings on the Cudgels family tree.

The Limiñanas - I'm Dead

A brilliant, buoyant, very '60s-influenced pop tune from this south-of-France band. It was their first single, released in 2010, and they've since followed it up with a self-titled album on the Trouble in Mind label. They do actually sing in French on some of their songs, which is something I always like in a French pop band. Not because it's French, I just think pop bands shouldn't always feel they have to sing in English, if their native language is something else. Anyway, great tune, this one.

The 6ths - As You Turn to Go

I have mixed feelings about this particular Stephin Merritt project, but it's hard to be ambivalent about this track, a lovely two-minute-long twee ballad performed entirely on zither (whatever that is). Its sheer sublime gorgeousness is all the more surprising when you realise the vocals are provided by Momus, who's usually pretty creepy.

It's from the second 6ths album Hyacinths and Thistles, from 2000.

Catnaps - Lullaby

Catnaps are from Philadelphia, used to be called When I Was 12, and play such ridiculously appealing twee indie girl-pop that part of me wants to just turn this into the Catnaps Blog for a while and post nothing else. Except they already have their own blog (here). So this will have to suffice. Just listen, though, you'll know what I mean.

It's from their 2011 album Why Don't You Whisper?, their first under their new name.

The School - I Want You Back

Cardiff band. Dreadful name, Heavenly music. And I do mean capital-H Heavenly.

This was originally released on a 2008 EP and subsequently reappeared on their 2010 debut album, Loveless Unbeliever, on the wonderful Elefant Records.

Guatafán - Cucurucho

A song that grabs you from the very first note, this is an utterly delightful piece of perfect twee-indie-girl-pop, sung in Spanish. It's also a wonderful video, every bit as joyously full of life as the song itself is; if you haven't fallen completely in love with Guatafán by the first 30 seconds of it you're probably at the wrong blog.

It's a 2010 single, on Elefant Records.

Honeycrash - One False Move

Twee, very English indiepop from a Stoke band who seem to have disappeared with only this 1989 7" to their name. The a-side was pretty awful, but this and the other track showed a bit of promise. No idea what their members went on to.

Elephant Parade - For You

Totally adorable song from this Brooklyn (of course) duo, from their 2007 album Bedroom Recordings. It's sort of a modern "I'm Sticking With You", which is not a bad thing at all.

Number 4 Joystreet - Flowers

Kind of a strange little band, Number 4 Joystreet, from Somerset in southwest England, combined jangly guitars, violin, cello and really high-pitched female vocals to, erm, interesting effect. Even I find them a little too precious for anything more than small doses at a time. But those small doses can be very nice.

This was a b-side to a 1986 single, "Watch the World".