Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for April is below, along with recommended tunes from 34 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 35-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Diosque – Melancolía Del Futuro
Diosque is a singer-songwriter born in Tucumán. Melancolía Del Futuro is our favorite song from his brand new album, Bote, in which Diosque enjoys playing with samplers and acoustic instruments like guitars and percussion. It was released by QQ Records on vinyl and can also be downloaded for free by visiting his website.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
A Thousand Fuegos – No Up No Down
“Don’t you know that everything we build up once will fall apart someday?” Time and religious metaphors are recurring themes on The Treachery Of Things, from which No Up No Down is taken. The album circles around the notion that we can never grasp the true identity of the things around us; they remain passive while we assign attributes to them. A Thousand Fuegos started out as a lo-fi project and these days focuses on beats, loops and spacey synths that create a mystical atmosphere.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Siba – Canoa Furada
Canoa Furada is one of the liveliest songs from Siba’s new album Avante, on which the unusual formation of his band stands out with a fanfare vibe and a cool feeling that combines contemporary music and regional rhythms. Avante is available to download for free at Siba’s website.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Kalle Mattson – Water Falls
Kalle Mattson recently racked up over a million views of their Thick As Thieves video, which is impressive for any indie band. The attention generated by the video shouldn’t be dismissed as hype. Kalle Mattson are impressive songwriters and musicians, and have fans across Canada eagerly awaiting their new EP (from which Water Falls comes from) at the start of May.

CHILE: Super 45
Poki Tatane – Esclavos Rumbo Al Virreinato
Behind the peculiar name of Poki Tatane hides one of the most interesting projects in the Chilean electronic scene. Esclavos Rumbo Al Virreinato is from his first EP, Breve Explicación De Las Partes (available for free at Discos Pegaos), which takes elements from a more organic dubstep, adding a particularly melodic sense to the compositions.

CHINA: Wooozy
Xiban – Drunk Ghost
Xiban is a contemporary world music band who describe themselves as being “fresh, wild, wandering, funny, and direct”, with the added tag of “folk music phoenix nirvana” thrown in for good measure. The musicians are from China, France and the United States. Combine Shanxi opera with Beijing and Jiangzhou drumming, add some Yellow River chanting, Tibetan long tune, Australian Aboriginal music, Indian organs and elements of modern electronic music and you have an idea of how eclectic their brand of music is.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Crew Peligrosos – Medayork
From Medellín, we present you Crew Peligrosos – 16 people tearing up the scene with their urban sounds and mise-en-scène. Medayork contains the best flavors of old school hip hop with the song title paying tribute to two cities key to the development of hip hop culture in Colombia – Medellín and New York.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Lydmor – Lamppost Light
This acoustic version of Lamppost Light was (and is) originally a video shot in a theater in Denmark’s second city, Aarhus. But since I really, really like Lydmor aka Jenny Rossander’s take on her otherwise electrofied pop self, I had my people tell her people to give all you people the song as a MAP exclusive. Oh, and if you want to watch the video here it is.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Seye – White Noise (Olugbenga Edit)
Seye Adelekan’s urgent floor-stomper gets held gently by the shoulders and told to take a minute thanks to a pitched-up, slowed-down remix by the Nigerian-born scenester’s older brother, Metronomy bassist Olubenga Adelekan. Seye, who’s been a gun for hire for Lana Del Rey, The Noisettes and Ellie Goulding in the past, is just coming into his own through an upcoming debut album of globe-trotting pop that had the Guardian’s Paul Lester hail the Bromley-based star as “like a younger, cooler Paul Simon around the time of his African adventure or Peter Gabriel circa So”. If Seye’s original suggests the woozy slip of a party on the turn, Gbenga’s remix is the regretful aftermath.

FINLAND: Glue
Weepikes – What About
Weepikes was an alternative rock band in Helsinki that called it a day in 1997 after three intense years. A little wiser, a little older, the band reformed some months ago and recorded new songs with the help of American producer and musician Kramer. Now Weepikes are ready to deliver more of their characteristic blend of punk and progressive rock, or, as a journalist called it back in the day, PRONK.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Pegase – Without Reasons
Pegase, known for being the singer of the successful band Minitel Rose, started his solo project with the single Without Reasons. Its immediate appeal lies in the fragile emotion it emanates, the simple rhythm backed by airy and cold synths, and a superb, dreamy choir. Signed to the same label as Rhum For Pauline, Pegase will, without a doubt, be just as successful. Watch the wonderful video for Without Reasons here.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Hundreds – Fighter
The music of Hundreds is breathing, a bit like an asthmatic whose gasps always make a little swish. The Milner siblings tend to garnish their songs carefully, patterns of shivery sounds which texture warm rhythm beats, airy and clasping at the same time. Fighter is taken from their free Under The Icicles EP, which you can download via the lovely label Sinnbus.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Thanos Anestopoulos – Xanarthan Ta Sunnefa
After the blossoms of a long journey with Diafana Krina, Thanos Anestopoulos blazes his own musical trail with a beautiful, bleak and intimate solo album. Os To Telos (“To The End”) is brimmed full of personal memories and wrapped in warmth and emotional sincerity. It works best as a concise listen, as each song segues naturally into the next. Xanarthan Ta Sunnefa (“The Clouds Have Returned”) is a finely detailed hymn with a deceptively light touch, led by his soulful, baritone voice and brittle acoustic guitar.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Prinspóló – Fostudagsmessa
This is the first new song Prinspóló has released since his debut album Jukk in June 2011. Fostudagsmessa most likely does not make sense to you, since it is in Icelandic, so let Prinspóló himself explain: “The song is about the place you don’t want to be at. For example, a dark and dirty nightclub where everybody is pretending to have fun and everything is great.”

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Mushafear – Meats In
Even though most people in Indonesia only knew Kurt Cobain from television, magazines, CDs and the internet, there are a handful of devoted fans who still yell their angst to the establishment, family and social system. One of the best bands from the community are Mushafear, who are fronted by Mirantie Boreel, an angry young lady while on stage but a humble girl off it.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Wonder Villains – 33
The sense of exuberance and energy coming from the speakers when a Wonder Villains track is playing is almost too much. This pop punk band from Derry make music that could only come from young minds and (relative) inexperience, but that primal energy makes it so infectious. Revel in their youth. It’s a lot of fun.

ITALY: Polaroid
Drink To Me – Future Days
“Life is an experiment and that’s why it is interesting,” says the first line of Future Days, and it’s something that could fit with the music of Drink To Me as well, especially with their new album, S. Amazing percussions, a lot of spacey synths, echoes of Animal Collective and MGMT – you can never tell what’s going to happen next. “We’re wide awake and we’re working on the future days”, and judging by this song, Drink To Me appear to have a lot fun doing it. And us too!

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
MFP – Theme For The Movement
MFP, the recording name of Osaka’s Masaki Konagai, named his latest album Mindful Beats Vol. 2, but the music within is more than rapper bait. MFP cites the late beat-maker J Dilla as a major inspiration, and album highlight Theme For The Movement carries the same this-does-not-need-rapping-over-it quality so prevalent in the best works of Dilla. It surges with more electricity, though, making it one of the most energetic tracks from an album brimming with them.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
MegaFun – You’re So Cool!
MegaFun is 16-year-old Daniel Abdilla. When not fronting his band Clandestines, he is churning out bedroom recordings under the MegaFun moniker. He forms part of a Maltese DIY scene which has blossomed over the past couple of years.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Centavrvs – El Caudillo Del Sur
The Mexican Revolution started in 1910 and during the centenary festivities, a group of deviant jazz, funk and electro musicians from Guadalajara formed Centavrvs. Their cunning mixture of old “corridos” (speeches and folk songs) from the Revolution and contemporary aesthetics create a Mexi-tronica sound that departs adventurously from the roads explored by the Nortec Collective over the past decade. Viva la Revolución!

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Aafke Romeijn – Stella XVII
Aafke Romeijn is no shrinking violet singer-songwriter. Having fronted the all-female folk-rock band Mister Blue Sky for six years, she recently released a pleasing debut solo album titled Stella Must Die! As a solo artist, she calls to mind Amanda Palmer, not simply because this record is based heavily on piano and accordion, but because the songs are as theatrical and lyrically conceptual as Palmer’s are renowned for. As Aafke says: “It’s a record about pretty girls, secretly making out during school lunch breaks, throwing kitchen knives and, of course, about Stella.”

PERU: SoTB
Xilófonmático – La Aventura De Los Insectos
An album doesn’t require large studios to impress and excite. Take, for example, the home project of Xilófonmático (a compound of xylophone and automatic). His first work, La Aventura De Los Insectos (Ipod EP), mixes instrumental and sung songs with playful and surreal touches. The EP is a rollercoaster of emotions, with the same ups and downs.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Walter Benjamin – Airports And Broken Hearts
Walter Benjamin is the artistic name of Luis Nunes. He is a singer and songwriter from a new generation of Portuguese musicians, some of whom he has played with and/or produced (for instance, MAP alumni Noiserv, Minta, Julie & The Carjackers). His new album, The Imaginary Life Of Rosemary And Me, is out this month and we proudly present the first free download from it.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
Similar – Cíclope
Similar began as a studio project between Daniel Vicente and Ariel Hernandez back in 2009. Their debut EP showcased a mean pop sensibility with striking noise textures and was well received. The duo recruited musicians to perform as a live ensemble, but with the departure of Vicente to concentrate on his solo project, Pasajero, Ariel moved to consolidate a more psychedelic and aggressive sounding band. Cíclope is the first track recorded by its most recent line-up, which includes guitarist Gaby Vidal of local metal group Ongo. It will be part of the band’s first full-length, expected later this year.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Mojo Barrel – Catch The Devil
Mojo Barrel are a young band from Cluj who successfully merge rock with funk and blues. In their own words, they have the mojo – the magic, the charm, the inspiration, the creative trigger, the talent – and the barrel – the place where it all begins, blends, becomes and finally breaks through.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Videatape – Coastal Lights
Parad Planet, the debut album of St Petersburg rock trio Videatape, combines amazingly melodic songs both in English and Russian with soft lyrics, a great vibe and beautiful sadness.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
JERC – ADHD
JERC is the alter-ego of self-confessed music obsessive James Campbell. The 22-year-old from Aberdeen started producing hip-hop tracks for local artists when he was a teenager before moving on to DJing in clubs, remixing and setting up his own label, Why Not Records. Most significantly, he is creating his own solo work and the pounding, delirious, sleazy-synthed electro house of ADHD is as intoxicating a debut track as you could ever hope to discover.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Winterhalter – Squirrel Land
Don’t take the music of Winterhalter too seriously. It’s great if you can name all the references in any given song, but doing so seems counterintuitive to what’s intended by Shaun Soh, the brains behind the project. Performing sporadic shows within Singapore’s shores, Winterhalter is a sort of myth, but recordings of the music are available if you ask nicely, just like we have. So go on, have a listen. A real treat would be the four-track EP, I Am Worthy of God’s Love, released as an entire song on Soundcloud.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Saintfearless – Conventional Love Song
With their dynamic, rich sound and equally watchable stage performance, Saintfearless is making waves around the country as well as within the music industry. With a frontman to rival any other and talented musicians to back him up, Saintfearless offer fresh, catchy indie-rock songs.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Byul.org – Pacific
For as long as they’ve been around, Byul.org have been one of the most interesting entities in Korea’s music scene. Last month the collective had their first proper album Secret Stories Heard From A Girl In An Opium Den released in the US and Europe through Burnt Toast Vinyl, putting a decade’s worth of intriguing work on display. Though Byul.org are not usually afraid to experiment, Pacific (see video) is a retro pop number on the electronic side with an invitation to both dance and dream.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Evripidis And His Tragedies – Teeth
Evripidis And His Tragedies are a familiar face in Barcelona’s indie music scene. Led by Evripidis Sabatis from Athens, Greece, they deliver carefully handcrafted pop, inspired by 60s innocence. Evripidis opens up his heart in every song, as we can tell by the sincere, melancholic and emotional lyrics that most of us will feel like our own. Teeth may be the darkest but most necessary song they have recorded, and there’s also a video for it.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Domi Chansorn – Leaving In A Gentle Way
A tragic incident brought Domi Chansorn to his first drum kit. His dad, also a drummer, died in a car accident. Now, 15 years later, he has won the m4music Demotape Clinic – Switzerland’s most important contest for young musicians – with his first album Bright Times Can Be Dark As Well (free download), which he recorded completely on his own. His singer-songwriter-approach is genuine, playful and brisk.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Farfara – Water Air
Farfara is a dream-pop trio from Istanbul and Berlin. The members say the band invented itself with a psychedelic brew of kraut drums, shoegazing guitars, airy synths, ethereal vocals, lots of Love and a clear commitment to pop. They convey a simple though profound expression. Their second album is released this month – keep an eye on their Bandcamp page and drown yourself in the dreamy waters of Farfara.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Alabama Shakes – On Your Way
We often try to give you some unearthed gems every month and who knows, maybe you’re unfamiliar with Alabama Shakes? If so, we’re gonna change that ASAP by introducing you to the soulful Southern rockers and their gem On Your Way. This band blew up from obscurity last autumn, signed to ATO Records and will open for Jack White on his solo tour. It’s good to know all the new fame won’t change their sound, though.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Alfred Gómez Jr – On The Ground
Alfred Gómez Jr has changed everything with his new album Simple (name your price on Bandcamp). In his previous album, La Reina Peinándose, we could hear urban and Latin rhythms merged fairly harmoniously. This time he has incorporated elements of jazz and pop-rock that will take his music to a whole new audience.

Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for March is below, along with recommended tunes from 37 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 38-track compilation here.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Kim Janssen – Tors
Singer-songwriter Kim Janssen has had plenty of international experiences to date. He has recorded and performed around the world with The Black Atlantic (a previous MAP tip), he has followed his parents around Asia as a youngster, and even experienced English boarding school life. It’s the latter that most influences his lush and gentle new album Ancient Crime. He describes it as ‘a concept album that takes place in an old idyllic school, in a remote village in north-west England during the winter’. Like traditional folk, it’s a mixture of history, myth, memories, old and new verses. Along the way he’s aided by Marla Hansen’s Oriel Quartet and a 100-piece choir, resulting in ambitious, delightful arrangements.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Yataians – What A Man’s Got To Do
Yataians is a Buenos Aires-based band with a rocksteady sound heavily influenced by Jamaican artists from the 60s and 70s, such as The Ethiopians, The Gaylads, The Heptones and The Paragons. It’s also a product of global age, with members from France, Colombia, New Caledonia and, of course, Argentina. This song is from their first album, Ô Tulop, which came out a couple of months ago, courtesy of the independent label Estamos Felices.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Shady Lane – Dumb Hope
Dumb Hope is the gorgeous lead single of Shady Lane’s forthcoming album, Built Guilt. Once the solo guise under which Sydneysider Jordy Lane put out a diverse range of odds and ends, Shady Lane has grown into a four-piece (officially?) with more hooks, vocals and a nostalgic pop sensibility not unlike fellow New South Welshmen Belles Will Ring.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Giantree – Communicate
With past major label experience, the founding members of what is now Giantree found a new home on an indie label, but without denying that what they are doing is pop in capital letters. Their debut album We All Yell comes with synthesizers and catchy hooks. Communicate, a song about fragile beginnings, was a radio hit in Austria.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
DJ Cremoso – Say It Ain’t So
In the film Be Kind Rewind, Jack Black and Mos Def produce their own lo-fi version of movies, which they call “sweded” versions. What DJ Cremoso makes is like that, “bregalizing” songs – turning international hits into tecnobrega rhythms (a popular style from northern Brazil). There’s almost always the same beat and silly synths are its trademark, as we can hear in this tecnobrega of Weezer’s 90s hit Say It Ain’t So. DJ Cremoso’s identity is unknown – all he has is a profile on 4shared with his remixes.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Bronx Cheerleader – Camelot
Bronx Cheerleader have been a regional treasure in and around their hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, for years now but their new album, Real Punks Don’t Sing About Girls, deserves to be heard by a wider audience. Camelot is a deliciously dirty lo-fi anthem-in-waiting, and one of the stand-out moments on this record, of which there are many.

CHILE: Super 45
Matías Cena & Los Fictions – Raíz
Matías Cena used to be a solo artist from the folk scene in Santiago, and he made himself relatively known via an acoustic guitar and MySpace. Gradually, Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst’s influence diverted him to the ensemble format, which has developed into this six-piece that shines in a land not used to country-like rock. Raíz is a taster of Matías Cena & Los Fictions’ second album Arauco Cajún.

CHINA: Wooozy
Modern Children – Mongolia
Modern Children is a six-piece band based in Hong Kong that formed in 2006. “Colorful” is the best word to describe them. They play music in different styles, from indie-pop to post-rock. Their songs are filled with all kinds of sounds by using a wide range of instruments, from guitars and bass to rainbow bells and erhu. The band released their self-titled debut album in January.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
1280 Almas – Antipatriota
1280 Almas is the biggest cult band from Bogotá. More than 18 years of history, six albums and a life of independence on the underground make them local legends. Now, they present a new song called Antipatriota (“Unpatriotic”), a declaration of national nonconformity.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Ring Them Bells – When I Hear That Whistle Blow
A MAP exclusive, When I Hear That Whistle Blow by Ring Them Bells is only the second great taste of the quartet’s loud combination of 90s noise-rock and 60s psych-pop in circulation. The other, titled Technicolor, is also available for free at the band’s website, and both will most likely be part of Ring Them Bells’ debut album slated for release later this spring.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Submerse – Love You Down
Rob Orme alias Submerse is a 23-year-old DJ and producer from Runcorn, now living in Tokyo, who happens to be making some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful (dance) music anywhere on the planet. Influenced equally by 2000-era UK garage and Japanese pop (J-pop), it combines the skittering rhythms of 2-step with sad female vocals and wan melody to make J-garage. If you thought Rustie was a maximalist, try this ADHD pop. It’s like bubblegum Burial, Orme filling every second of space with infinitesimal bursts, droplets, clicks, spasms and lovelorn cries, dubstep given a sugary coating.

ESTONIA: Popop
Lack Of Eoins – Sudden Death Mode
Lack Of Eoins came together in late 2005 and recorded their first demos the following year. In 2008, they won a garage band contest in Estonia and recorded their debut album, which was mastered at Abbey Road Studios. They’re back now with the single Sudden Death Mode, which was released along with three remixes as a free download on the first day of 2012.

FINLAND: Glue
Cats On Fire – A Few Empty Waves
Many argue that Cats On Fire are the best indie-pop band in Finland at the moment. This bold statement may easily be true thanks to well-crafted pop songs with a melancholic and dreamy twist, solid lyrics and distinctive vocals. This month, Cats On Fire release their third album All Blackshirts To Me. It is their best yet. So good, in fact, that the band can afford a terrific outtake like A Few Empty Waves.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Rhum For Pauline – I Can Reach The Top
Rhum For Pauline are an indie-pop band formed in Nantes in 2009 who released their first mini-album, Miami, in 2010, and their first EP, Can Reach The Top, in January. Their upbeat songs are incredibly enjoyable, the kind you like immediately after the first listen, the kind you’ll put on repeat for days. Be sure to check out the very cool video for I Can Reach The Top, directed by The Incredible Kids.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Juli Kapelle – Treiber
Juli Kapelle is a collective from lovely Aschaffenburg, built around mastermind Achim “AS” Sauer. They are guitar-driven, reminiscent of a laid-back and bit krauty Dire Straits. All in all, music for a sophisticated afternoon.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Playground Noise – This World
Playground Noise’s new single, Swinging Lowdown, is a delicate combination of finely arranged brooding melancholy and redemption. The two indie-pop songs infuse soaring guitars with a tense, literate sense of foreboding, adding strings and brass to strike the perfect balance between moody, underground noise and melody. They are built on restraint, tinged by poignancy and wrapped up in poetic human emotion that sticks with you long after the final note. Their sophomore album is set to be released later this year.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
1860 – For You, Forever
For You, Forever is the third single from 1860′s self-released debut album Sagan. Drawing inspiration from bands such as Fanfarlo and The Avett Brothers, the song has a modern folkish vibe to it, with small-town sentiments featuring heavily in the lyrics. The song was recently included in the short documentary Íslander by Grasshopper Films.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Bromocorah – Bromocorah
Bromocorah means “repeat offender”. They’re a thrash metal recidivist and I don’t think they’ll be changing their way of life any time soon.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Young Wonder – Tumbling Backwards
Ian Ring and Rachel Koeman recently teamed up as a producer/vocal duo under the name Young Wonder. Their sound is hard to define as any one genre but is recognisable by its big beats, euphoric synth rushes, pitched vocal samples and emotive lead vocals from Koeman. Yet another excellent new Irish band to watch. A debut EP drops on April 14.

ITALY: Polaroid
Man On Wire – A Thousand Legs
The name of the band is a reference to Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who walked on a rope between the Twin Towers, but their sound is definitely Americana. Man On Wire play that kind of warm and emotional folk-rock that you can find in certain songs by Arcade Fire, Wilco or The National. Their debut album is a rope from the music to your heart. And they are walking on it.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Occult You – Psychic Feelings
Tokyo artist Occult You loves to explore new sounds, each new release from this moniker and his other alias Taquwami (Google it, totally worth it) sounding like a new artistic swerve. Psychic Feelings is one of the newest tracks from the young producer, an irresistibly funky jam recalling the synth-heavy songs created by Ford & Lopatin and the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune. This is not needless nostalgia, though, rather a great song from a promising contemporary artist.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
The Shh – So Over
The Shh’s music emerges, in secret, from a place in between the city of Paris and the island of Malta. Their debut EP, The Burning Love, evokes surf-rock sounds with warm Summer Of Love-esque vocal melodies.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Descartes a Kant – Convince Me
Descartes a Kant is about to release their sophomore album Il Visore Lunatique, a lovingly crafted treat of madness from this exquisite riot grrrl band. While their music speaks for itself, Descartes a Kant has brought to the surface a collection of fears and obsessions through very tight and twisted imagery filled with schizoid violent punk episodes, cabaret, electronic glimpses and a disturbing cheerleading attitude embraced in a well-accomplished match between roughness, eroticism and femininity.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
The Avalanche – Throw Away The Rest
The Avalanche play noisy pop with both feet firmly planted in a classic shoegaze tradition. Catchy melodies hidden beneath endless layers of distorted guitar, driving drums and fuzz bass paired with the wonderful sound of dying synths throws the listener back and forth between waves of delicious pop and dirty noise. Their debut album will be released this autumn.

PERU: SoTB
I Am Genko – Bobblehead Sphynx
I Am Genko is a live electronica act from Lima consisting of one person and some machines. They all get along pretty well. Bobblehead Sphynx, from Awkward Teenage Years EP, is a really fun, exciting song – a succession of catchy beats that take us back to our youth or childhood.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
A Jigsaw – The Strangest Friend
A Jigsaw, named after a dEUS song, are from Coimbra and have already won an honorable mention in the 2009 International Songwriting Contest. The Strangest Friend is the first single from their third album, Drunken Sailors & Happy Pirates. They have received enthusiastic reviews in Les Inrockuptibles (France) and Heaven Magazine (Holland) and will gather many more fans after this month’s MAP.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Lights Out! – Origin
Lights Out! are a bunch of high school kids from Cluj (the heart of Transylvania). In the past two years, since existing as a band, they have kept growing, managing to make a name for themselves among Romania’s alternative/indie bands. The start of this year found them in the studio, recording their first material – Patience EP – which is about to come out. With the smooth combination of psychedelia, dreamy guitars and indie sounds, topped with Teo’s amazing voice, Lights Out! could be one of the best musical products Romania has to offer.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Human Tetris – Silver Tears
Moscow-based post-bunk band Human Tetris have just finished their debut LP, Happy Way In The Maze Of Rebirth, and a European tour that covered Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and France. As cold and raw as the Russian winter, Silver Tears cuts right to the bone.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Mike Nisbet – Not Long
Originally from Oban, Mike Nisbet possesses an enchanting backstory that could give Justin Vernon a run for his money. Living a genuine nomadic existence, acoustic guitar in hand, this wandering troubadour has a Dylan-esque timeless quality to his songwriting, a voice that soothes and shatters hearts, and a gorgeous debut album, Vagrant, that could/should earn this remarkable 23-year-old talent devotees in any continent, any generation, any decade.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Shelves – Star Alright
The much-anticipated debut album by Shelves was released this month on both vinyl and digital, resurrecting not just the choicest cuts of Britpop and college rock, but the very essence of the 90s Singapore scene. Yet the record sounds anything but dated, with its clever balance of crisp melodies and generous distortion pointing the way forward for indie rock today. That vision is epitomised in Star Alright, a song that rides above the crackle and feedback to poke fun at the studded-leather ironies of pop stardom.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Sterling EQ – Bach’s Kittens At Play
Sterling Electric Quartet, affectionately known as Sterling EQ, burst on to the scene with their genre-defying musical style and sensational live performance. What started out in 2007 exploded into a musical phenomenon that has continued to take the South African entertainment industry by storm. Bach’s Kittens At Play shows off their eclectic stylings and versatile influences. It takes you on a lovely journey. With a twist. Simply delightful.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
No Control – Time
Noise-rock band No Control started out making loud punk explosions, but have since learned the importance of harmony. Influenced by Sonic Youth and with some post-rock and shoegaze thrown into the mix, their first studio-recorded release will be out this month, but already we can savor the captivating sound of Time.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Kokoshca – La Fuerza
If there’s a band that can show off the creation of a hymn for those Spaniards who usually party like there’s no tomorrow, that band is Kokoshca. They are a three-piece from Pamplona and they have already released five records (some demos, a live album and EPs). Heirs of the biggest Spanish pop bands of the 60s but with an irreverent, garage spirit, Kokoshca have recently re-released their well-known single, La Fuerza, via Elefant Records, an indie-pop institution in Spain.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Fucking Werewolf Asso – Keep My Adresse To Yourself, Cause We Need Secrets
Honestly, I think I’m mainly posting this for the shock value. Both the band’s name and their odd amalgam of genres are, to say the least, unusual. Have you ever wondered what 8bit electronica and punk might sound like as a mash-up? Well, wonder no more. Here’s a new song from Fucking Werewolf Asso.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Castling Queen’s Side – Rise And Fail
The starting point for six-piece Castling Queen’s Side was an Arcade Fire gig in Zurich in 2005. There they got to know each other and decided to form an indie band. Now, seven years later, they have their debut record Cinema ready with 11 splendid songs full of depth, melancholy and catchy crankiness.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
The Away Days – Dressing Room
The Away Days carries influences from Northern music sounds and actually presents an unfamiliar style for us in this terrain, which is indie-rock. What distinguishes them from other bands in Turkey may be their desire and aim to make themselves known in Europe. While The Away Days is preparing to release their first EP in a couple of months, we can also see the band perform in various festivals during the summer. Dressing Room has an exceptional unity of quality structure, lyrics and music that can’t be ignored.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Hundred Waters – Me & Anodyne
There’s not really much you can say about Hundred Waters that will do justice to their brand of experimental dream-pop. You’ve really just got to hear it for yourself. Me & Anodyne is from Hundred Waters’ self-titled debut, an early album-of-the-year contender.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Buenaparte – Con Lucy In The Sky
Buenaparte formed in mid-2010 and released their debut album, La Caída De Lucy, in 2011. Third single Con Lucy In The Sky is a love song with lyrics inviting us to get lost with the person we desire.

THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY
Melkweg (Oude Zaal), 20.30, €17 + membership

Musical Wonder Woman Merrill Garbus, AKA tUnE-yArDs, is coming, so get ready. She creates drum loops on the spot, layers clunky jumped-up percussion with her ukulele strums and tribal-sounding androgynous vocals to generate some of the best new music on the scene right now.

Her first album BiRd-BrAiNs was originally a self-released cassette, but was released again in 2009 by both Marriage Records and 4AD. Despite its lo-fi nature it astounded listeners with the amount of energy and vibrancy that came out of it, as well as the overwhelming African influences and incredible vocals.

Her second LP, w h o k i l l, shows even more hard work and determination, complimenting the first so well. The contribution of Nate Brenner on it is an added bonus. He helped to write some of the most prominent songs, including ‘Bizness’ and ‘Gangsta’, as well as bringing new synthetic sounds to the mix. It’s a hive of activity, busyness and unexpected surprises that will get your feet moving.

Performing and improvisation comes naturally to Garbus. Influenced by her earlier theatrical training, she’s a girl who certainly knows what she’s doing, even if nobody else does. On stage, tUne-yArDs are an assault on the senses, with the winding, twisting turning beats and melodies not quite knowing where to go next. It’s impossible to predict, but that’s all part of the fun.

Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for February is below, along with recommended tunes from 35 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Wooden Constructions – Full Brother
There’s been a buzz brewing for Amsterdam’s Wooden Constructions for a year or two already, their edgy live performances stealing the limelight from a host of international indie wannabes along the way. Well, it’s all set to reach boiling point when they finally unleash their debut album People Now People in spring. A barrage of taut dance grooves, minimalistic riffage and unsettling narratives, they provide a contemporary glimpse of post-punk at its maniacal best. Check out first single ‘Full Brother’ for a taster of their danceable gloom, making the bold promise that the intensity of their live shows will carry over onto tape.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Cosmo – Cazador
Cosmo is an indie-pop band which features members or former members of other groups that are well-known to the Buenos Aires independent music scene (Pablo de Caro from Mataplantas, Ayar Sava from Interama, Pablo Font from Les Mentettes and Andrés Ravioli from Mompox and Brian Storming, among others). A couple of months ago they released their self-titled first album, with songs that combine vintage synthesized sounds and beats with acoustic instruments and fine arrangements. You can download the whole album for free.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Squalloscope – Domino
Anna Kohlweis has released three albums as Paper Bird, however these days she prefers her new alias Squalloscope. Goodbyes in bus terminals, long train rides, sitting on planes and bottles of wine have influenced her upcoming album Soft Invasions. Domino is a singer-songwriter take on R’n'B combined with postmodern lyrics: “I’m a copy of a copy of a copy of a woman, you’re the copy of a copy of a copy of a guy.”

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Graveola e o Lixo Polifônico – Insensatez: A Mulher Que Fez
Graveola e o Lixo Polifônico is a creative band that experiments with MPB (mainstream Brazilian pop music) and makes organic mashups, appropriating themes of bands from various genres to create new works. Their new record is available for download from their website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Amity Beach – Jake’s Version Of Paradise
Seeing as Amity Beach a) only have a three-song EP to their name and b) look like they’re probably still in high school, I might be jumping the gun on praising them. Still, listening to this track (along with the other two), it’s hard not to be excited. They’ve got a great ear for catchy pop and I’d be surprised – not to mention a little disappointed – if this doesn’t lead to some great things.

CHILE: Super 45
Survey Team – Valdivia De Viña
A couple of years ago, Survey Team was just a frail bedroom duo with singer Carla Bolgeri adding colorful and sweet melodies to folk-guitar patterns created by her bandmate, Francisco Marín. They’ve certainly changed. Today, they are a powerful quintet with sounds that shock and hit with electric sensuality. Valdivia De Viña is a summer première, soon to be included in their debut album Suriname, which validates Survey Team as a pop delicacy from the current Chilean pop wave and a highly versatile band by successfully flirting with reggae.

CHINA: Wooozy
Mr. Graceless – Mr. Li
Mr. Graceless is a Beijing-based indie-rock trio. They try to keep a low profile, moving forward step by step. They are tepid and unassuming, and have a clear-cut stand on what to love and what to hate. The love, pain, fantasy and fervor of youth are the best tags for their music. They prefer beautiful melodies and independent attitude. Mr. Graceless is touring around China with their debut release The Tree Ever Green.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Julián Mayorga – ¿Cómo Llorar Al Revés o Regresar Al Asfalto o…?
¿Cómo Llorar Al Revés o Regresar Al Asfalto o Espantar Mi Propio Cuerpo Inerte o Desaparecer y Volver a Aparecer? – this is the complete title of this piece by singer-songwriter Julián Mayorga, born in Ibagué. It’s an interesting, poetic union between pop and folk that hides, in what he calls La Pequeña Orquesta Sintética (synths and computers), the deep and very personal landscapes that his soft voice creates.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Spleen United – Bright Cities Keep Me Awake
“We are still wild animals,” Spleen United proclaim on Bright Cities Keep Me Awake, from their long-awaited and impressive third full-length, School Of Euphoria. It’s a sentiment carrying truth and one somewhat defining for principal songwriter and frontman Bjarke Niemann’s lyrical appendage to the dark, synthesized rock reminiscing 90s electro, house and (euro)dance. It makes School Of Euphoria a rather despondent, while immensely awesome, listen.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Wild Combination – Great Expectations
Wild Combination’s sound itches and twists in an effort to etch itself across indie’s sonic history. It shouldn’t worry so much. The Essex trio responsible know how to channel the best of recent backbeat melancholia (Foals, The Postal Service) and that’s more than enough. This demo version of Great Expectations – mixed specially for MAP – clips along, the addition of a swarth of dreamy synths tying it just to the right side of funky.

FINLAND: Glue
Black Twig – Lake Song
Noise, pop, fuzz, sound experiments. Black Twig is one of the hottest bands in the Finnish indie scene at the moment with their just-released debut album, Paper Trees. In their own words, Black Twig’s sound has echoes of modern fuzzed-out pop experiments as well as of 60s garage-rock gems, sometimes developing a sensibility for hypnotic, repetitive drones.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Cracbooms – @soleil
Cracbooms are more than a band. They are a group of friends who sing about how sweet and simple life is when surrounded by your loved ones, when there are pretty girls around and the sun shines above your head. Their lyrics are filled with humor and casualness, and are written with an unsettling easiness. As for their sound, it’s a mix between the guitars of Two Door Cinema Club and pop à la Young Michelin. I think they’ve found the perfect combination.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Wooden Peak – Pills Start Work
The two guys behind Wooden Peak are getting famous for their gigs where they occupy a whole stage while just sitting on their stools, carefully watching each other. Although their set-up with guitar and drums seems quite like a garage band, their singing and acoustic play triggers very different emotions – calm and dizziness, homeliness and wanderlust. Pills Start Work is a great MAP exclusive which slightly resembles early Whitest Boy Alive. The album Lumen has just been released on the lovely label Analogsoul.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Bokomolech – Talk About Fires
Nine years is a long time to wait, but new album Mass Vulture finds Bokomolech embracing and sifting through the finer moments of their past over the course of 10 outstanding songs. The record is once again exceptionally crafted and gorgeously composed, richly textured and potently rhythmic, instilled with instrumental mastery and consistent music ideas, powerfully expressive vocals, remarkable melodic turns, lovely harmonic noises, sleek and slippery riffs. They have created a sparse and thrilling work of strikingly expansive ambition with the arresting delicacy of the quieter, dreamier tunes capable of ripping up your emotions.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Vigri – Animals
Animals is from Vigri’s debut album Pink Boats. The band decided to travel around many of the small churches in Iceland’s countryside to record the song, but the end result is from what they recorded in the Flatey island church.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Spring/Summer – Tonight
Spring/Summer come from Bandung and are the freshest breed of (what we Indonesians call) Britpop revivalism. With a twist of The Smiths, Joy Division and Blueboy and a bit of attitude, they make tasty, raw music. They probably won’t be the next big thing, but their music provides enjoyable reminiscing of teenage years spent looking for second-hand Smiths CDs at the local thrift store.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Redahan – Ru In Daejeon
If I could, I would pick the entire Loud Mouth collective as Ireland’s MAP representatives this month. They are a coterie of producers, rappers, musicians and DJs who have released three volumes of freely downloadable new music taking in electronica, rap and post-dubstep. Redahan is one producer at the heart of the collective and his evocative and expansive Ru In Daejeon is indicative of the collective’s scope and vision.

ITALY: Polaroid
Heike Has The Giggles – Breakfast
On their sophomore album, Crowd Surfing, the young Heike Has The Giggles pin down even more precisely the range of their influences – from the lighter Nineties pop-punk full of fun to the stronger Noughties punk funk à la Gossip. And damn, they are very good at mixing these. Breakfast is the new album’s first single.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Cloudy Busey – Up To You (If You Love Me)
Cloudy Busey takes many cues from house music on Up To You (If You Love Me), yet this long-burning song never feels exuberant. Rather, the Osaka-based Busey inverts the sounds of a club into something apt for a shadowy alleyway. The beat pounds on relentlessly, but the spacey synths and singing evoke the loneliness of long, solitary walks home early in the morning set against neon lights. If nights out tend to bring you down, here is the jam for you.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Danjeli – Midnight Carpet Ride
Besides being a maverick club DJ and an accomplished musician in his own right, Danjeli is also a member of the renegade Maltese folk band Brikkuni. This year he released another solo album, KontroNatura, available for free download from Complex Sound Sagacity.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Uvilov – De Tantos Universos Paralelos
“Playing dreampop since 2005,” is the slogan of this pioneering band. De Tantos Universos Paralelos is the gigantic overture to their new album El Desprendimiento, which promises to be an overload of feedback and chaos restrained under a structure. Uvilov might be intending to picture a party where the mankind of tomorrow is invited only if its conscience allows it to.

NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
Grass Cannons – Wendy’s
If hissing noise and warm melodies are your buzz then Auckland four-piece Grass Cannons should be on your radar. They’ve just released their debut EP Vet Dream, containing five darting guitar songs that each take a different path but ultimately lead to the same satisfactory conclusion. While a noisy mess rides heavy throughout their music and kidnaps a bit of their style, within each song there are several minutes of genius song structure that highlights their ability to write amazing pop-influenced punk music. Deerhunter, The Clean and Grooms come to mind when describing their sound, but Grass Cannons seem good enough to leave those influences out of the equation.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Storm The Bastille – Circle Robotics
You never know quite what to expect when listening to a song by Storm The Bastille. Their schizophrenic and mildly cacophonic music is unpredictable, strange and full of surprising twists. The only constant is the great energy the band possess. It’s fast, energetic, melodic and a bit dark with a sense of impending doom that creeps up close.

PERU: SoTB
Los Zapping – Cine Mudo
Los Zapping began toying with music when they were still in school, but their garage-rock soon won a place in Lima nights and an authentic touch of freshness was about to be born. Their first EP, released in 2007, was considered the best of that year. Teoría De La Televisión y La Radio was released in 2011, an album that reaffirms the strength and talent of this band.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Sun Glitters – They Don’t Want To Let You Know (Sumsun Remix)
Victor Ferreira aka Sun Glitters, born to Portuguese parents in Luxembourg, has been praised by The Guardian, FADER and Pitchfork. For this reason, his newest release, High EP, which came out on January 30, was highly anticipated. On it, Victor continues his voyage through a dreamy electronic world. This track is a remix of one of the songs on the EP.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Methadone Skies – Vs. Evil
Methadone Skies are a bunch of young guys from Timisoara playing the music they themselves like to listen to – psychedelic, progressive, stoner, post-rock, ambient or just noise – most of the time jamming in the studio with excellent results. Keep your ears opened for them as they’re about to release their new album, Enter The Void.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Brodsky – Death Note
Brodsky plays beautifully-orchestrated romantic folk with flowery melodies, youthful vocals and sad eyes that might remind you of Beirut or Jens Lekman. Nowadays, it’s truly a blessing to find such an artist in Russia.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Craig_FS – Grass Stain (feat. Rachel Tesfaye)
Grass Stain is a musical head-turner – an 8.5-minute electro/house fusion with an outstanding soulful female guest vocal that takes you on a trip of a lifetime labelled bliss-euphoria-bliss. Craig_FS has been been making and uploading songs to Soundcloud for the past year, and the potential is certainly there for him to follow in the mainstream footsteps of compatriot Calvin Harris.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Obedient Wives Club – Fragments
The first release by 60s indie-pop distributors Happy Teardrop Music is the debut self-titled EP by Obedient Wives Club, and what a hit it’s been with all physical copies selling out within a month. The band, cheekily named after a controversial Muslim organisation of the same name, plays a delightful blend of girly noise-pop – or what they helpfully term “Spectorgaze”. Fragments indulges its Jesus And Mary Chain obsession with generous doses of saccharine melodies and interstellar fuzz.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
MDS – Insomnia
DJ duo MDS released their first album in July last year, full of remixes of songs from some of the best artists in Seoul’s indie scene. In January, they released a digital single with a couple of songs of their own, showing that they’re also capable of crafting great pieces of music themselves. Insomnia is a smooth electronica track that lends itself very well as a soundtrack to a walk just about anywhere.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Novedades Carminha – Pesetas
Novedades Carminha are a garage-rock three-piece from Santiago de Compostela, and they’re starting to be the talk of the town. Their songs are energy-packed and irreverent, making fun of everyday topics but vindicating them at the same time. Their lyrics hold true punk spirit. Pesetas, taken from their first album Jódete y Baila, released in early 2011, is a true jewel of dirty Spanish rock.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Kids – My Sincerest Apologies
Electronic pop duo Kids are shockingly good. Sure there a few cheesy moments in the single My Sincerest Apologies but it gives the song a bit of fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
John Caroline – Robine
John Caroline is a young six-piece from Baden who make playful, jittery and dreamy indie rock. Their debut EP is released as a free download on February 18.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
The Ringo Jets – Collar
The Ringo Jets, consisting of two guitarists and a drummer, is a rock ‘n’ roll band inspired by 60s garage music and blues rock. They made a big splash in Istanbul indie circles with their Limited Lunchpack EP, which you can download for free from Bandcamp. After signing with Aisha Records, they’re planning to release their debut album by the end of the year.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
That Ghost – Morning Now
Californian lo-fi bedroom artist That Ghost has been making music since before he could drive a car. His sound has grown and changed as much as he has from tween state to young adulthood. OK, he was never a tween but a pure artist whose latest EP Rosalind is a gem. Check out the slow-burning Morning Now, like, right now.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Mcklopedia – Guardián
Mcklopedia is a young man who, back in 2001, identified with a genre and took it as his philosophy and way of life. He explicitly shows the reality of the world’s great cities, the everyday stories that come to a close in households every night. Superlirical, his debut album, seeks to represent a new concept in urban music, combining soul, reggae, funk and hip hop.

MONDAY 20 FEBRUARY
Bitterzoet, 21.00, €12.50

After winning the Australian Music Prize last year, this Australian psych-folk quartet decided they’d climbed high enough on the fame ladder back home and set their sights on the rest of the world. Their catchy single ‘There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight’, released earlier this year by Infectious Music, catapulted them into the European spotlight, and rightly so. Debut album Bliss Release combines jangly riffs and twangy bass guitars to generate a sound that’s distinctive and almost flawless – add the boy-girl blues harmonies, reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane, and it’s just delightful. Alister Wright’s vocals are what really set them apart from their other folk-pop contemporaries. And combined with their delicately set percussion intermingled with the precision-placed solos and harmonies provided by Heidi Lenffer, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were playing Heineken Music Hall by 2013. Therefore, lap it up while you can.

THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY
OT301, 20.30, €8

These Oregon dream pop masters assemble sounds from strings of ambient pop and twinkling synths so delicately it could make you cry. But don’t. Just go see them instead and have the night of your life. I may be sounding overly dramatic, but seriously, do it! Their self-titled debut album was released on Captured Tracks a few months back and it dives right into the deep end, leaving you gasping. ‘Into the Black’ is one of its most prominent tracks; its dreary, damp vocals winding their way into every crack and crevasse in your head. In fact, their sound is so established and sure-footed, it’s hard to believe they only formed in 2010. Either way, they’re an outfit perfectly on song, and with their live set this week, they’ll hopefully demonstrate what all the fuss is about.

Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for January is below, along with recommended tunes from 35 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Hospital Bombers – Traditional Maori Fight Song #9
This self-proclaimed stadium-folk outfit have been in hiding for too long, sitting on a wealth of new material that they’ve struggled to shape into that ‘difficult second album’. Thankfully, this month they’ll finally release the sequel to 2008′s Footnotes – the grandly titled At Budokan. Their lovingly lo-fi folk-pop is always rougher and rawer in the live setting, but this new collection again shows them up to be masters of careful songcraft, albeit unashamedly quirky songcraft that’s emblazoned with handclaps and violins.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Nubes En Mi Casa – Aceleremos
Nubes En Mi Casa is an indie-pop band led by singer Josefina Mac Loughlin. Aceleremos is a preview from their upcoming second studio album, Me Suelto y Vuelvo. The song sounds like an instant hit and we’re sure it will become one of our favorite tracks of 2012, so we can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Sures – The Sun
The Sun is a short burst of sunshine from Sydney duo Sures. It sounds like a Beach Boys outtake, which might sound boring given the number of bands out there paying homage to Wilson and Co. Fortunately, The Sun is just two minutes of harmonising over a dull melody – it’s a catchy tune that will have those of us in the southern hemisphere pressing repeat throughout summer.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Diver – Illusions
Quiet is the new loud. Diver, a folky trio from various places in Austria and Germany and now based in Vienna, play beautifully melancholic songs with three acoustic guitars and lyrics that go “everyday reality is an illusion of possibilities”. Illusions is the opener of their first full-length album Kites, which will be out later this month. In the meantime you can listen to their self-titled debut EP on Bandcamp.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Bixiga 70 – Balboa Da Silva
Bixiga 70 is what happens when you combine African beats, jazz and Brazilian swing in a city as hectic as São Paulo, where they’re from. Their first CD was released last year and is available to download at the band’s website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Honheehonhee – We Only Go
There’s more than a hint of early Arcade Fire to We Only Go but, as someone who misses early Arcade Fire, I don’t see why that’s a strike against Honheehonhee. Besides, this song (not to mention the rest of their debut, Shouts) is exuberant, unhinged fun, and the world can always use more music like that.

CHILE: Super 45
Los Embajadores – Peso
From all the tips made in the Chilean music scene for this year, Los Embajadores is one of the most interesting. Romantic goth-pop songs reminiscent of Cocteau Twins as well as the darkest hours of Miguel Bosé. Faisanes is the name of their soon-to-come new album, and Peso (“Weight”) is its first single.

CHINA: Wooozy
Elenore – Psycho Man
Beijing-based Elenore formed in late 2009 and have developed a sound influenced by bands such as Oasis, Kasabian and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The single Psycho Man fuses 60s swing drum loops, fuzzy guitar riffs and a Middle Eastern instrumental chorus which became a hit on China’s popular site Douban. In February, Elenore will release their first EP both on CD and the band’s own digital distribution site.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Nelson Can – Apple Pie
Danish girl-trio Nelson Can release their eponymous debut EP this month as part of a triple EP release with The Freudian Slip and Echo Me. Punk aesthetics spoon with pop flair and hipster cool on their first single Apple Pie, which reaffirms that apples are indeed a good thing. Like the girls on Facebook and check out the video for Apple Pie on YouTube.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Money – Who’s Going To Love You Now
A four-piece based in Manchester, Money are part of that city’s tradition of earnest young men, “the weight on their shoulder”, as Ian Curtis once sang. They quote Austrian poet Rilke, while their Facebook features a “eulogy for the death of everything”. A recent Guardian New Band of the Day article contended that they “have a similar air of mystery and cerebral intensity to Wu Lyf, with a vocalist who can do enigmatically gruff as well as fervid and angelic”, positing them as the Mancunian Manic Street Preachers, with a shared sense of the sacred and intense.

ESTONIA: Popop
Zebra Island – Falling Through
Mysterious Zebra Island rocketed into blogs and social networks at the very end of 2011 and everyone in Estonia seems to love them, although no-one knows much about the band. Zebra Island is led by Rasmus Lill from Kosmofon (featured in the March 2011 edition of MAP) and beautiful vocals are provided by Helina Risti. Falling Through, their first and only song so far, is a lovely, pulsating electro-pop masterpiece that keeps you wanting for much more Zebra Island.

FINLAND: Glue
Greymouth – The Boy
Singer and songwriter Elisa Husu founded Greymouth in the summer of 2011 to recreate her folky songs with a full band. The Boy is the first taster of this project and highlights Elisa’s beautiful voice on top of epic acoustic sounds with a marked Fleet Foxes influence.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Concrete Knives – Brand New Start
A perfect title for the first song of the year, Brand New Start is a highly enjoyable pop song, so good it’s featured in a commercial, and so fresh with its choir and upbeat sound, I would name it song of the year. Very good proof that the French indie scene is better than ever.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Apparat – Ash/Black Veil
This month we’ve got one of the most discussed German artists of last year. Apparat’s 2011 album The Devil’s Walk took the concept of Sascha Ring, the man behind the moniker, further. The soundscapes created feels like a cairn, carefully layered and poised, yet built to last; but Ring has decided to use his falsetto, which has caused controversy with reviewers. Decide for yourself if this concept works well on Ash/Black Veil. I think it does!

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Hristos Lainas – H Thlipsi To Brady
Hristos Lainas’ first solo album, I Agapi Tha Lampsi (“Love Will Shine”) is stuffed to the brim with alluring pop melodies, drenched in skittering 12-bit samplers, filtered vocals, warm and luscious analog synths and infused with a pleasant aura of drowsiness. Lainas assembles an array of sounds and textures, adds sporadic splashes of static atmosphere and in the process creates a magnificent listening environment of rose-tinted optimism and disenchantment. H Thlipsi To Brady (“Sadness In The Night”) submerges a sense of intense feeling within its 80s fantasy electronic ether and instantly takes hold of your ears.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Toggi – Let Them Bleed
This catchy little song, taken from the Iceland king of pop’s second album Wonderful Secrets, should be the anthem for any self-respecting Occupy movement. Feeling a need to protest? Then let Toggi’s tune occupy your mind and fire you up.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Belkastrelka – Pujian Ekspatriat
Belkastrelka are an eccentric electronic duo who sample sounds from various sources – windows, the library, television, nature and everything else. Combined with the tiny but wild vocals of Asa Rahmana, they create feral dance music.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Collie Collins & Monto – How Does?!?
A collaboration indicative of Ireland’s growing insurgency against genre borders, Keep Her Lit is an EP which was released last year from Dublin rapper Collie Collins. Teaming up with producer Monto for four tracks of electronic-infused rap, the result is something wholly Irish yet globally progressive. It’s a free download too.

ITALY: Polaroid
Esperanza – Aliante Giallo
Three skilled musicians and DJs put together a project devoted to an idea of music with no barriers. The sound ranges from chillwave to house, from trip-hop to psychedelia, and becomes a wide landscape. Featuring a collaboration with Banjo Or Freakout and released on the prestigious German label Gomma, this album works magic when the bpms slow down and the electronics becomes warmer and warmer.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Praha Depart – Portrait Man
Praha Depart demand attention, the Tokyo band mixing constantly morphing guitar with drum smashes to create mesmerizing tracks that reveal new sonic details with each new listen. All of those elements appear on Portrait Man, but the highlight of the song is lead singer Mai and her jittery voice. Over the course of Portrait Man, her vocals bring to mind Lydia Lunch before zigging towards a style reminiscent of Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Dolls For Idols – Run
Dolls For Idols are an electronic band underpinned by indie and pop sensibilities. Their music embraces 80s-inspired synthesised sounds and the 90s rave generation, all served up with an attitude that is very much rooted in the here and now.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Los Mundos – Ni Un Segundo Más Sin Música
Los Mundos is a long-distance collaboration that perfectly speaks about musical memory and desertic solitude. The title of this lush pop-shoegaze song means “Not a second more without music”. Indeed, it’s the urgent need of a music lover: to spend all their time in a record store (how nostalgic), living their days wearing headphones with an obsession for everything that spins – very accurate for a band whose name in Spanish translates as “The Worlds”.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Billie Van – On My Knees
Billie Van’s music makes me reminisce back to the 50s and the 60s, when country music was good and Nancy Sinatra was the one; when rock ‘n’ roll meant four chords and terrific songs; when guitar solos were mandatory and slapback echo came from the amps. Her music is all of this – great pop songs, tearful country ballads and hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s also new and done in a refreshing way.

PERU: SoTB
Chico Unicornio – Triángulo
Once again, it is the independent scene that gives us another interesting musical proposal. Chico Unicornio is a one-man project that combines acoustic folk sounds with a nice Andean instrument called a charango. The music that this young man makes is new to our local sound, giving it a freshness and novelty.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
We Trust – Time (Better Not Stop)
We Trust is André Tentugal’s one-man band. In 2011, Time (Better Not Stop) was one of the most-played tracks by a new independent artist on Portuguese radio. We are proud to have it here, exclusively, for download for MAP readers. You can also find it on We Trust’s debut album, These New Countries, which was released in November.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Coughy – Precambrian
Coughy are an experimental duo residing in Bucharest, featuring former and current band members of The Amsterdams. Therefore it is regarded as a creative playground where everything is accepted as a form of expression without the self-censorship required when playing in a regular and quite popular indie-rock band.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
M A Y Г L E Y – Farfour
M A Y Г L E Y are getting ready to strike Russia’s cruel winter with an ancient God’s spell, drowned in a wall of sound. Religion, symbolism, adrenaline, isolated genres and the naked language of post-Stalin 60s influence this psychedelic shoegaze project, who have made a great record.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Make Sparks – Your Heart’s On Fire
Scotland’s rock scene is firmly in the spotlight thanks to the wildly successful exploits of Biffy Clyro and young pretenders Twin Atlantic. For those looking for the next band to follow in their footsteps, two contenders stand out: Make Sparks and LightGuides (featured in the July 2010 edition of MAP). Catchy choruses are fitted as standard on Make Sparks, who are making all the right noises with their relentless touring and recording ethic, slick promo videos and a vivacious pop sensibility.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Riot !n Magenta – CTRL
Do androids dream of electric sheep? One thinks of such things when the contrast between the organic and inorganic meld together into a primordial blur of passion. Riot !n Magenta gently slip into the stream of your thoughts with Hayashida Ken’s dark, pulsing rhythms and Eugenia Yip’s wispful and forlorn vocal delivery. There’s tension in every stem as the words haze through: “I try to take it slow, you go faster…You need control…”. Definitely hoping to hear more from this special duo.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Jeremy Loops – The Gypsy Opera
Jeremy Loops is not a traditional band. He creates music on the spot with his gamut of loop pedals and impromptu collaborations. With The Gypsy Opera, he brings together his delicate mix of folk, hip-hop, bluegrass funk and blues all by using his guitar, ukelele, harmonica and beatboxing skills. It is something rather magical to behold.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Galaxy Express – As Time Passes, Always Been Good
Galaxy Express is one of the best rock bands in Korea and have been for quite some time. During their Wild 30 project in 2010, a 30-day quest during which they recorded a piece of music for their Wild Days album every day, they showed that they put on the best of performances, even just going to karaoke. In late 2011, Galaxy Express released split EP Naughty Boy with Korean punk pioneers Crying Nut, which contained a re-recording of the somewhat atypical but gorgeous and engaging As Time Passes, Always Been Good from those wild days. Look out for more from Galaxy Express in 2012 as they’re heading for a US tour in March and playing SXSW for the second time.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Dolores – Volcán
Dolores are four, they’re from Madrid and they are certainly one of the best hopes for noise-rock made in Spain. Post-punk and shoegaze are two of the genres Dolores mix for achieving their sound (which is also spiced up with a touch of good ol’ pop and loads of energy). A good bit of that power can be heard on Volcán (“Volcano”), whose stunning rhythm will invite you to dance the hell out of yourself. And you won’t be able to refuse.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Blanket – Hailey Fought The Law
Want to watch a video starring the runner-up of the figure roller-skating world championships dressed as a rabbit? Here you go. Given that Blanket’s accompanying song is a fragile and psychedelic piece of awesomeness, we obviously have a win-win situation.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Haossaa – Holgar Godoni
Last year, Ozan Aktuna, Enis Özbek and Tolga Güldallı, three-pieced avant garde noise band Haossaa, became legends in the indie scene of Istanbul, mostly for their extraordinary live performances. And when their debut LP came out last September, their reputation finally got crowned.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Fantasy Island – Avenue
One of 2012′s more promising American groups is Fantasy Island, a Los Angeles duo responsible for a pair of intriguing, soulful jams since their formation in late 2011. They’ve got a new single out on UK label Stroll On Records and a debut album on the horizon. With a song like Avenue (and the equally fantastic Breaking A Heart) it’s hard to keep wild expectations in check… guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the year cooks up.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Okills – Nube
Okills is a band that started in mid-2010 and fuses alternative indie-rock with other genres, resulting in some fun music. In September 2011, they released their Iniciando Transmisión EP for free via the web in a pack that includes six songs, illustrations and photos of the band.

Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for December is below, along with recommended tunes from 35 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation via MediaFire.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Spoelstra – Pallets
An alternative to the schmaltz of typical Christmas sounds, enjoy a dose of Spoelstra. He’s a collaborator with Dutch experimental label Narrominded, which specialises in all sorts of fantastic non-profitable sounds, from full-on noise rock to electronic warbles. And Spoelstra is a perfect fit, as he’s proven capable of both. His latest album Pallets was released earlier in the year. Packaged as a cassette and a book about everything you can imagine about pallets, it showcases a full rack of effects and a wonky mind. Part chip tune, part drunken country improv, part toy noise, this uneasiness is how Santa feels come Boxing Day.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Empire Of The Moon – Transition
The Empire Of The Moon is the new project of Juan Sábato, a former member of Brian Storming, a band that was featured in the first edition of MAP (and, by the way, the grandson of writer Ernesto Sábato). Transition is the first single from The Empire Of The Moon’s just-released debut EP, Saturday Children, for which he wrote all the music, lyrics and beautiful pop arrangements.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Tim Fitz – The Line
Tim Fitz is a 21-year-old producer/instrumentalist/singer from Sydney. He put out his first EP, Infinite Space, in March but his latest release, Beforetime, is definitely a rich picking. Some might hear genre spanning and others will hear indecisiveness, but there’s a great feel to this collection of tracks. The Line is a good example of Fitz’s kaleido-instrumentals. Just as the flouncy percussion gets into the proper swing of things, we get bombarded by drive-high fuzz around the one-minute mark. Fitz’s sound is original, but the way he has put his sounds together is still familiar enough to catch on to.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Nana Rizinni – Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart
It’s almost 2012, but listening to this song from singer/drummer Nana Rizinni can take you back to the 90s with an awesome “sounds like The Breeders feeling”. Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart is from her first album, I Said, which is available to download from her website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Fevers – Passion Is Dead (Long Live Fashion)
Fevers’ debut full-length (which is currently free via Bandcamp) is a wonderful blend of disco-pop and ambient Stars/Young Galaxy-style space-rock. This song, the title track from the album, falls firmly into the former category. It’s five and a half minutes of a glorious, life-affirming, wave-your-arms-in-the-air anthem, and it sets the stage for one of the best albums of the year.

CHILE: Super 45
Tio Lucho – Ilusión Rebelde
Even though Tio Lucho had an aggressive, non-conformist punk sound when they started, it has developed into a more danceable and, clearly, more passive format. Produced by Chalo González, their new album Innombrable, released through Cazador, has a strong new wave influence. Ilusión Rebelde is its first single.

CHINA: Wooozy
Mini Train Heart – Just This Feeling
Formed in 2009, Mini Train Heart is a peculiar band based in Wuhan. The band is noted for their unpredictable drumbeats and manic vocals. Also, you can’t easily tell who their influences are. We recommend you just drown in the lo-fi atmosphere and enjoy their uniquely dry humor in how they see this generation.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Anchorless – A Step Too Steep
Comprising members of bands such as Lack, The River Phoenix and The Fashion, indie-rock six-piece Anchorless are currently finishing their debut album, which I assume will be released early-ish next year. Until then dive in, dig and download A Step Too Steep from their six-song eponymous 2010 debut EP, which you can in fact download in full through this link.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Citizens! – True Romance (Populette remix)
This is an exclusive remix of the debut single, True Romance, by a London-based five-piece who have just signed to French electronic/indie label Kitsuné. Their debut album, due early next year, has been produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. The video to the single was directed by LA’s High5Collective, the team behind shorts for The Weeknd and Odd Future. And they believe that “pop is not a dirty word. It’s a holy one”. For Citizens!, pop is something David Bowie did in the 70s – they conflate glam-era Bowie and Bowie in Berlin with some of the tart arrogance of Suede and louche energy of Franz.

ESTONIA: Popop
Shelton San – Well-Behaved
Noise-rock band Shelton San started rocking the small Estonian indie scene in 2002 and, almost 10 years later, they are stronger than ever, creating massive, raw, hypnotic atmospheres, always polished, but never sterile. In 2006, they received the Estonian Music Award for the best punk/metal artist. Shelton San’s second LP was released on December 12.

FINLAND: Glue
Zebra And Snake – Burden
Matti and Tapio, best known as Zebra And Snake, positioned themselves as the next big thing in Finnish electro-pop in 2010 and since then, the duo has been carefully crafting their debut album while playing anywhere from Iceland to Indonesia. Burden, the first single off Healing Music (out in spring 2012), is an epic pop song with a Blood On The Dance Floor beat, analogue electronic hooks and powerful Bowie-esque vocals.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Marauders – Galley-Slave
Marauders formed in the late 80s in Strasbourg, and have been making garage rock ever since, before it was cool and re-popularized by The Black Keys. The quartet, who have released two LPs and appeared in various compilations, play short, edgy songs and are pretty awesome live. Galley-Slave is a sweet, soft-rock ballad that deserves some attention.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Kraków Loves Adana – Silver Screen
The Black Forest, a myth. Since Kraków Loves Adana come from Freiburg, we can all speculate whether the forest has its influence or not. Hence, the sound of this duo is outstanding. The voice of Deniz Cicek is remarkably dark and complex, the use of the instruments is deliberate, creating deep and slightly ominous songs. Silver Screen is a MAP exclusive from their upcoming second album, which will be released in early 2012.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
2L8 – Let It Go
A collective led by K the Clown and comprised of talented Greek musicians, 2L8 is a bold and electrifying project that has come to be categorized by their radical stylistic shifts between albums. New Battles, Without Honor And Humanity is packed with feverous instrumental intensity and florid arrangements based on bursting guitars, pounding drums, subtle and luminous climaxes, dramatic strings and brass, hypnotically simple melodies, inner monologues and trembling, frantically passionate vocals, desperate and bleak lyrics about resistance, equity, freedom, love and equality coupled with a sense of hope.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Low Roar – Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out
Low Roar is the personal project of Ryan Karazija who, almost two years ago, moved from San Francisco to Reykjavík to follow the love of his life. His self-titled debut chronicles the challenges of starting anew in a foreign land and the struggles to acclimatize, find work and support his family in the Icelandic winter. Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out, one of the highlights of the album, is a haunting, emotive and slightly melancholic song with a melody that will undoubtedly keep playing in your head long after the song is over.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Stars And Rabbit – Worth It
Stars And Rabbit are probably one of this country’s most promising indie acts. The duo mix some soul from Joan Baez, the cuteness of Lisa Mitchell and the playful touch of Björk to produce catchy, beautiful pop songs.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Come On Live Long – Elephants And Time
Formed last year, Come On Live Long have picked up a steady pace in no time as evident on the release of their latest EP entitled Mender. They make far-reaching alternative songs with considerable melodies, synths and a strong singular sound. Production by Nouveaunoise electronic maestro Conor Gaffney helps too. Ones to watch.

ITALY: Polaroid
Distanti – Astronomie
Distanti sing in Italian, but even if you don’t speak our old and praiseworthy language, I’m sure you’ll understand – in fact, you will totally feel the way Distanti tear up their post-punk sound. Visceral. Urgent. Clever. They just released a new EP, Mamba Nero, which you can get at To Lose La Track. And try to catch Distanti live, they’re amazing.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Love And Hates – Party Trash
Love And Hates is a collaboration between Yuppa and Moe, two of the best indie artists in Japan today, from HNC and Miila And The Geeks respectively. Love And Hates finds them teaming up to make rap music with indie-pop touches, or kindergarten hip-hop as they dubbed it. Party Trash, with its cutesy chopped-and-screwed intro and solid structure, is not a lame dorm-room joke but rather a fun, appreciative stab at the genre. UGK they are not, but they still feel like a blast.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
nosnow/noalps – Far Into The Night (Without You)
nosnow/noalps began its journey over mountainous terrain in early 2007 with their poppy indie-rock seasoned with punk, reggae and ska. Soon after, the quartet hit the live circuit with an energy and force comparable to an avalanche at a Swiss ski resort. The band’s first EP, Just Rock, came out in 2008 and they released their debut album, Romantikpolitik, this August.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
3Ball MTY – Ritmo Alterado
The city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, is struggling in a war against drug-mafias: despite the violent context, a new musical genre is rising thanks to 3Ball MTY. Led by veteran electro-cumbia DJ Toy Selectah and a crew of skillful producers in their early 20s, the collective have created a new sound by merging polka, reggaeton and acid-tribal-techno. But the most peculiar thing about this trend is the style of dancing – like dodging bullets – while wearing ultra-long pointy boots. Curious? Just google ‘Pointy Mexican Boots’.

NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
The Eversons – I’m A Conservative
Fronted by Mark Turner (ex-Little Pictures) and with Chris Young (Insurgents, No Aloha), Tim Shann and Blair Everson, The Eversons have a crisp, clear garage-rock vibe that strongly recalls Art Brut and American college rock with its undeniable catchiness and the immediate satisfaction this brings. With classic guitar riffs and day-in-the-life-style lyrics, their debut five-song EP is instantly likeable. This is one of those bands that doesn’t muck around, delivering a top-class release very early in their career, which makes us excited about future things to come from them.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Sunturns – Hallelujah (Christmas Is Here!)
Sunturns can perhaps be labeled an indie supergroup – or not just an indie super group, but a Christmas indie supergroup. It’s something as rare as a full-time Christmas band and is comprised of some of the best musicians from the Oslo indie scene, with members from bands such as mylittlepony, Monzano and The Little Hands of Asphalt. They sing about both the nice and the more melancholic sides of Christmas. Their debut album, cleverly titled Christmas, is out now.

PERU: SoTB
Gris Volta – You Go Behind The Truth
Formed at the beginning of 2008, Gris Volta have too many influences to place the band into one genre – you can find anything from indie-rock to jazz themes and experimental music in their songs. Their debut record Monochrome is without doubt one of the best Peruvian albums released this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Julie & The Carjackers – Mr Williams
One year ago, Julie & The Carjackers released their debut EP. Now the first album by João Correia (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Bruno Pernadas (guitar), with the help of some friends (none of them called Julie), is available. Parasol has been warmly welcomed by Portuguese press and blogs as a surprising and refreshing debut in the local indie scene.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Absurdcus – Puppy Slippers
Absurdcus is the solo project of Transylvanian bass player/multi-instrumentalist Laszlo Demeter. His music has been a continuous work in progress since 2003, when he first started recording bits and pieces under this pseudonym. His music stylistically ranges from alternative rock and funk to electronica and even metal. You can download his debut album here.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Arktor – Pier ft. Didjelirium
Just like the original story by Philip K. Dick, Arktor’s album Retreat Syndrome recreates the atmosphere of madness and insanity, combining truth and despair with the skills of his mate, jazz pianist Ilz. Pier is recorded with a special guest, Shanghai rapper Didjelirium.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Café Disco – Terra Nova
I’ll never forget the first time I heard Terra Nova by Glasgow-based newcomers Café Disco. It was on a shaky YouTube clip filmed in June 2011 during one of the band’s earliest gigs. “Contains the peachiest guitar riff I’ve heard in ages” is how I described the song on my blog back then – and that verdict hasn’t changed with this studio recording, which was funded by The Pop Cop for the sole purpose of giving it away through the Music Alliance Pact, together with this rather fun promo video.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Sonicbrat – Bed Of Forty Winks
Sonicbrat is the enduring moniker of sound artist Darren Ng, whose work is characterised by an intricate tapestry of field recordings and found sounds, strung together by subtly processed acoustic instrumentation with a classical bent. Gentle, stirring and complex, Ng’s music is the sort that invites itself into and comfortably inhabits one’s imagination. His latest release, Hana, is his musing on the life of a flowering plant and is available as a free download on the Totokoko label.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
The Frown – The National (Yesterday’s Pupil remix)
The Frown makes a curious mixture of folk and electronica. With their song The National, Yesterday’s Pupil’s remix adds a special touch to it, with a heady mix of soaring strings and orchestration, low tempo colliding beats, dark and menacing basslines and the fragile yet commanding vocals of Eve Rakow. Ethereal and enigmatic, it’s one of the year’s most exciting songs.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Kim Mok In – Scene
Kim Mok In started out as the guitarist of playful lo-fi folk quartet Cabinet Singalongs over a decade ago. This month he released his first solo album, Song Of Musician’s-self, with an updated sound and better production that still shouldn’t leave any old fan disappointed. Scene is a song about the Korean music scene which finds Kim Mok In’s voice and guitar accompanied by a sturdy piano.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Doble Pletina – Cruzo Los Dedos
Doble Pletina, a five-piece from Barcelona, were born from the ashes of Abrevadero (a one-of-a-kind cover band that would play songs of almost any genre). Thanks to their simple yet carefully crafted melodies and everyday life-inspired emotional lyrics – as in their latest single Cruzo Los Dedos – they have broken into the city’s local independent scene. They are, basically, what we would expect from a good indie-pop band.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Let’s Say We Did – Galaxies
If your idea of Swedish music is something exotic like Lykki Li, First Aid Kit, Little Dragon and/or Jens Lekman, the music of Let’s Say We Did might surprise you. On the whole, the new record hews closer to Big Star meets Wilco dad-rock than the drum and bass electronica music coming out of Sweden of late. Sebastian Fors is one of the main men behind the band. He has been contributing to the Swedish music scene for a few years in multiple projects. Let’s Say We Did’s new self-titled album, though, is some of the best stuff I’ve heard from him.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Alejandro Jiménez – Die Fragestellung In Frage Stellen
Alejandro Jiménez is actually more poetry slam than singer-songwriting. He also had the honour of playing in the most famous theater in Switzerland for cabaret artists. On his second record, Nabelschau, he recorded 11 songs which have one thing in common: they’re raw and personal.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Toz Ve Toz – Kara Mamba
Founded in November 2007, Toz Ve Toz make experimental songs that combine elements of jazz, surf, punk and Turkish classical music. The trio use guitar, synthesizer, drums, harmonica and bağlama – a Turkish instrument with three double strings. They have released two albums – the first featured music for a theatre play called Sahici İnsanlar Plastik Ölümler (“Real People Plastic Deaths”) in 2009; the second is a home recording called Ev/Home. Their third album will be released from their own record label soon.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Gracie – Sisters
Philadelphia’s Gracie is an intriguing project to say the least. There is bedroom pop and garage rock, but the vibes coming from Gracie match more of a bomb shelter banger sound. Haunting, effervescent, glitchy, mesmerizing echoes, and driving beats that propel your ears forward straight through tangles of sonic cobwebs. Can’t wait to snag this unique release via Small Plates soon.

WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER
OT301, 20.30, €8, free for Subbacultcha! members

The Babies started as nothing more than a side project for Vivian Girls Cassie Ramone and Kevin Morby of Woods. Two years down the line they’re still going strong and have compiled enough material to create their first full length, self-titled album as well as release a few 7″s along the way. Originating from Brooklyn, Ramone and Morby lived together for a year and, since they were both musically inclined, it was only natural that they began collaborating. What evolved from those elementary song-writing sessions was what we now know as The Babies, give or take a few band members…

They’re now a four piece, with drummer Justin Sullivan having been roped in from his full-time band Bossy, as well as Nathaniel Stark from Bent Outta Shape – yet another Brooklyn outfit. This bunch know how to play, that’s for sure, and deliver their jangle indie-rock with nonchalance and flair. Ramone’s lilting, stretching vocals don’t have to be perfect to make you smile and with elements of punk, as well as their classic shouty, lo-fi Brooklyn sound, surely you can spare a few bob to come out and see ‘em. It’ll be worth it!

THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER
Trouw, 20.30, €15/€17 at door

Junior Boys return to Amsterdam for the second time this year, after their brief stint at Pitch Festival during summer. They’re renowned on the scene for their successful mix of electronica, techno and disco with an R’n’B influence thrown in, and this they Thursday hold court in the cavernous room at Trouw as they tour in support of their new album It’s All True.

The duo, originally from Hamilton, Ontario first formed in 1999, and have come on leaps and bounds since then. Their most recent offering draws influence from unexpected role models – Orson Welles and Carl Craig to name a few – and showcases their range of talents and ability. They’re not just two men and some synths you know.  It’s easy to get sucked in within minutes of the first listen – the slick synth-pop and expertly mixed beats are definitely worth the €15 cover and if you go early enough you’ll really get your money’s worth by catching the support Diamond Rings, another Canadian electro dude who’s one to watch.

Josh T Pearson is ready to testify

FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER 
CROSSING BORDER (DEN HAAG)
De Duitse Kerk, Bleijenburg 3b, 22.30

Originally known for Lift To Experience‘s 2001 cult classic The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, Josh T Pearson spent the following decade losing his faith and mind in the Texas back country.  Having finally pulled himself from purgatory, the preacher’s son is now touring his heart-wrenching solo effort Last Of The Country Gentlemen and will play at this year’s Crossing Border festival in The Hague.

It’s pretty well known that your father was a Pentecostal preacher. Did church music influence you in any way?
Not in a conscious way. But the church music I grew up with is all about being lost in the epiphany. All the worship services lead to one particular moment where it washes over you. All the people and instruments take on their own melodies in the same key. I think when that’s ingrained in you from a young age it will always filter down – even to the acoustic guitar.

There was a huge gap between The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads and your solo record. What were you doing in between?
I was living in small town Texas south of Dallas in the middle of nowhere. I was working locally for different cowboys and cut myself off from pretty much everything. I didn’t want to be part of the business side of the music industry at all. It was a pretty conscious decision. After that I hit the road for a while and specifically didn’t put anything out. I needed to walk the Earth for a while to see where my headspace was at. Then gradually I began to play some songs live again along the way.

Given that your playing in Lift To Experience was awash with guitar effects, what made you switch to acoustic for your solo album?
I was basically just on the road and brought my acoustic because I couldn’t bring any amps along. But I started out on the acoustic way before I was in the band. I only switched to electric after Loveless came out. That was the album that made me go out and buy a Jaguar and a bunch of effects pedals. But part of the goal of this solo record is to play it as bare as possible. It’s an album that can rip your heart out.

You’ve described recording Last Of The Country Gentlemen as a ‘painful process’. Why did you decide to record it? Was it also therapeutic?
I was going through a terrible time and I wrote about it because I thought it would be cathartic, although it didn’t help me at the time. But I also didn’t have a goal in mind to make an album, which gave me a certain freedom to be truly confessional.  In most therapy people are made whole and better by confession, that’s something not just limited to Christianity.  So I took the collection of songs and made it into one straight piece. I wanted to have it as a confessional love letter from beginning to end.

How long did it take to actually record?
It took two days to do seven songs live. I went in the first day and it was a painful experience, almost like a documentary. It destroyed me. About twelve days later I felt strong enough to do it again and finished off the the remaining three or four songs. Then I didn’t get out of bed for about 8 months after.

You’ve joked at previous shows that your audience is only made up of  ‘ heartbroken dudes’. But is it rewarding that your music brings people together in a shared sense of experience?
Yeah, I’m glad about that and it’s been healing for me. It’s good that it’s out there for people. But I also haven’t thought about it too much. I just hit the road and haven’t looked back too much since. I’m still surprised I even recorded the album. Maybe next year I’ll see more perspective on it. But now I’m just playing the songs and figuring out what to do next.

So are you looking towards recording another album already?
I still have to figure that out.  I’m in a much better spiritual place than I was a few years ago. I played with a couple of drummers recently and it was sounding good. So I’d like to paint on a different canvas for a while. I seem to be doing ok mentally in terms of not being an asshole. I may go back to Texas and try out some songs on the electric and see what happens.

Every month, international bloggers and publications pick their fave new music from their local scene and share it with the world. The Unfold Amsterdam selection for November is below, along with recommended tunes from 34 other countries.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 35-track compilation via MediaFire.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Moon & Sun – Hunt (Gavin Russom remix)
Although based in Amsterdam, Moon & Sun is very much an international concept. At its core is artist/musician Monica Tormell, who’s originally from Sweden but who wrote and recorded her debut album, The Wild Things, in Curaçao, the Swedish woods and also back in Amsterdam. That original collection emerged last November, offering bouts of atmospheric and tribal folk. One year on, a number of its tracks have been reworked by a host of international collaborators. This remix by DFA artist and LCD Soundsystem collaborator Gavin Russom draws on the heavily percussive elements to create electronic patterns reminiscent of Swedish peers The Knife and jj.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Fútbol – El Asedio De River
El Eternauta is an amazing science fiction comic created by Argentine comic strip writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published from 1957 to 1959. Los Ellos is a tribute compilation to this work and its author, one of 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983. The album contains 18 original tracks written by independent bands from La Plata and Buenos Aires. El Asedio De River is one of them, an instrumental track from alternative rock trio Fútbol.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Feathers – Cat Burgler
Cat Burgler is a sweet new jam from Brisbane’s Feathers, taken from their forthcoming 12″ Hunter’s Moon, out through Bon Voyage. The song showcases this all-female four-piece’s ability to intertwine whimsy and hooks into irresistible tunes suited for both Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Kassin – Calça De Ginástica
Kassin is a producer who has worked with some of the most creative artists in Brazilian contemporary music. He has also played in some bands and projects and this year he released his first solo album, from which Calça De Ginástica is taken. The electronic pop is combined with funny lyrics in which a man tells of his desires with a girl he knows (such as having sex with her in a paraplegic’s bathroom while wearing his gym clothes).

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
First Rate People – Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art
Someone Else Can Make A Work Of Art is a dance song, but only in the way that, say, All My Friends is a dance song. It’s got incredibly catchy beats and a wonderful vocal performance, but it’s held together by a genuine emotional core. It, and the album it comes from, are currently free for download from Bandcamp, so there’s really no reason not to go get it right now.

CHILE: Super 45
Fernando Milagros – Carnaval (feat. Christina Rosenvinge)
San Sebastián, the third album from singer-songwriter Fernando Milagros, is, in simple terms, a masterpiece. Although in his early days as a musician Milagros pointed towards a more contemplative kind of folk (a big reference here would be Nick Drake or the calmer moments of Devendra Banhart), in his newest album he explores South American music, creating denser pieces, darker yet more powerful. Carnaval, the first single from the album, features guest Spanish musician Christina Rosenvinge.

CHINA: Wooozy
Tong Dang – Don’t Let Me Cry
Tong Dang formed in 2001 in Chengdu. Their name is derived from the Chinese word meaning “Young Gang”. They started off as a melodic nu-metal band and gradually added elements of pop-punk and emo. Tong Dang are known for their explosive performances which features catchy hooks and melodies. Don’t Let Me Cry is taken from their album Far Away, released in 2007.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Echo Me – Darkest Hour
It’s alternative pop-rock with a folksy touch. It’s Echo Me aka Jesper Madsen. It’s an eponymous debut album. And it’s great.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
WooWoos – Fizzy Lettuce
WooWoos are Nicky, Tasie and Jess, three London girls shaping up to be the new Sugababes – only the Sugababes when they were good, when Keisha, Mutya and Siobhan were in the group, not the three ciphers they’ve got in now. They’re funny, they’re sassy, and their debut single, Fizzy Lettuce, is 90s trip-hop revisited with a solid chorus that suggests there in a substantial musical base below the fizz and pop. We still don’t know what is a Woo Woo, or indeed what is fizzy lettuce, but at least they’re getting us thinking, these sugar-babes with subversive intent.

ESTONIA: Popop
Ewert And The Two Dragons – Jolene
Ewert And The Two Dragons, consisting of Evert Sundja, Erki Pärnoja, Ivo Etti and Kristjan Kallas, sky-rocketed into the Estonian music scene in autumn 2009 with their debut album The Hills Behind The Hills. 2010 was a busy year for the Dragons: they performed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including noted festivals such as Tallinn Music Week and Positivus. Their smooth sounds and melodies have been praised both at home and abroad. Their second album, Good Man Down, came out in April and has enjoyed tremendous success.

FINLAND: Glue
The Saturnettes – Girl Named Sue
The Saturnettes, from Tampere, blend in a refreshing way the 70s glam rock sounds of David Bowie and T. Rex with a touch of new wave and synth-pop. Girl Named Sue is the very catchy first single off their debut album.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
1995 – La Source
Ask someone from France if they like French rap and they will most likely answer ‘no’, but ask if they likes old-school rap and the answer is most likely to be ‘yes’. And that’s what this month’s band is all about: old-school rap, with modern lyrics. 1995 (or “un-double-neuf-cinq”/”un-neuf-neuf-cinq”) is a young rap collective (five MCs, one DJ) hailing from Paris who released an extraordinary, well-received EP, La Source, last June. The EP is a work of art for people disappointed and bored by gangsta-like music, and is almost a miracle for the purists as well, thanks to the return to basics, the flow and the instrumentals. You can buy La Source on Amazon or iTunes.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Jolly Goods – If I Were A Woman
When you listen to Jolly Goods’ second album Walrus, released recently on Staatsakt, you should be prepared for some serious disarray. Their songs, especially their lyrics, bear testament to a deep doubt in the world as it appears to these two sisters; they capture emotions like anger, trepidation and a little bit of hope in an extraordinary way.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Sugar Factory – 440
Sugar Factory have unleashed their luminous, lilting, lovely debut single, the double A-side 440 / Explosions. It’s an insular instrumental experience, casting intrigue in the minute details, an immersive and inevitably cinematic gem rich in fuzzy memories, nostalgia, melody and atmosphere, with woozy accordion that accentuates the underlying emotions, guitars and samples with an otherworldly quality that lingers with you. Listen to 440, a perfect mood piece as the night begins to draw in.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Polka Wars – Horse Hooves
Horse Hooves is an echoey, spacey song made by a collective of young boys influenced by the current fuzzed and mopey music scene. You’ll love their simple interpretation of what we call humble music.

IRELAND: Nialler9
We Cut Corners – Go Easy
Go Easy is a fine example of what to expect from Today I Realised I Could Go Backwards, the debut album from Dublin duo We Cut Corners. Restricting themselves to drums, guitar and voice doesn’t hamper John Duignan and Conall O’Breachain in the construction of their direct songs. Rather, they find new ways to create unique songs from a limited palette. They might Go Easy but they will go far.

ITALY: Polaroid
Horrible Present – Cloudy Talks
Nicola Donà used to sing in the band Calorifero, now he lives in London and writes music under the moniker Horrible Present. His new songs are more lo-fi, bedroom pop-oriented, ranging from synth-driven experimental tunes to romantic acoustic guitar ballads, but always with a big shining love for melodies. And the love is returned. Expect a debut album in early 2012.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Avec Avec – Kuzuha No Sunday
Avec Avec is one of the most promising young artists to emerge in a burgeoning electronic scene based in the Kansai region. Kuzuha No Sunday stands as one of the best tracks from this fledgling movement, a stuttering beat-driven song reminiscent of Bibio or Cornelius that sounds like a perfect sunny Sunday. The sweetest part comes via that glitchy vocal sample, one of the most joyous sounds to come out of Japan this year.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Cable 35 – Cow Head
Formed in 2006, Cable 35 have become known for their highly energetic performances and are arguably Malta’s tightest band. The three-piece is made up of singer and guitarist Jeffrey Zerafa, bassist Kriz Zahra and drummer Chris Mallia. Following a couple of EPs, the band released their aptly-titled debut album Louder three months ago and are currently touring Europe to promote it. Louder brings back Bleach-era Nirvana to your ears.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Antoine Reverb – You As A Fish
The tradition states that Guadalajara is the quintessential land for Machos and Mariachi in Mexico. But Antoine Reverb (actually a quintet, not a person) doesn’t belong to their time and place. On their splendid second album Everything Is A Foreign Language To Me, the band sets their inner clocks backwards on a swirly Victorian time-travel in a quest to reach the land of the Pet Sounds, rabbit-holing on a twee-gaze mood (reminiscent of Broadcast in the 90s), finally sliding on a spiral that leads to confusing atmospheres that resemble the soundtrack for the Czech vampire film Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders. Antoine Reverb are not only strangers in their own land, but in their own dreams.

NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
Fabulous/Arabia – The Ballad Of State Highway 1
James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) and Mike Fabulous (The Black Seeds) unveiled their collaboration last month and surprised many fans by presenting an album of nu jazz songs – combining elements of funk, soul and jazz, while quite obviously retaining Lawrence Arabia’s indie-pop influence. Their debut album is a mixed bag, each song exploring a different path. The most obvious reference is British downtempo DJ Mr Scruff, courtesy of Fabulous’ wonderfully unusual instrumental experimentation. Their debut album Unlimited Buffet can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Bendik – Igjen
Bendik is a lush, ambient electro-pop band signed to the great Trondheim-based label Riot Factory alongside the likes of Scarlet Chives, Dråpe, Angelica’s Elegy and Pelbo. It started as Silje Halstensen’s solo project but has now grown into a trio. They have played at some of the biggest festivals throughout Norway, such as Øyafestivalen, Pstereo and Slottsfjell, and their debut album will be released next year.

PERU: SoTB
Division Mayday – Lugar Seguro
Division Mayday formed in 2008 and their sound ranges from post-punk to electro-pop. A mix of electronic guitars, intimate lyrics, an intense rhythmic base and electronic sequences are the raw materials of their musical proposal.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Rose Blanket – Feel My Way Around
Nothing Ahead Nothing Behind is the third album from Miguel Dias’ project Rose Blanket, recorded between 2008 and 2011. For this double album, he collaborated with several Portuguese musicians and two American vocalists, Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) and Dana Schechter (Bee And Flower). Feel My Way Around features Jennifer Charles.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
East Roots – S.O.S.
East Roots is not a conventional dub/reggae band. As the cardinal points, each member comes with a new direction: drum ‘n’ bass, reggae, ska, dancehall and even trip-hop, you will find it all in their music.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Valotihkuu – Two Shadows
Valotihkuu’s Flutter EP is made up of 15 tracks which collect memories and emotions of a full year, filled up with nostalgia, old vibes, cassette tapes, weird samples and a unique feel that might remind you of Madlib and Monster Rally.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bats In The Attic (Unravelled)
Rarely has the word “timeless” been more appropriate for a record. It took seven years for King Creosote and Jon Hopkins to make their first collaborative album, the Mercury Prize-nominated Diamond Mine, and it handsomely captures delicate snapshots of unhurried, everyday life in rural Fife – literally, with the sound of coffee shop chatter, running streams and chirping seagulls. Here’s an exclusive free MAP download of their reworking of album track Bats In The Attic, taken from their Honest Words EP.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Magus – Riders On Psychedelics
Magus is a new collaboration between Mark Dolmont and Leslie Low, the latter best known for his work with Humpback Oak and The Observatory. Their debut effort is fittingly the first release by Ujikaji Records, a new independent label and distro focusing on experimental music in the region. The album, titled Sun Worshipper, presents a dark and spiritual brew of kraut-inspired psychedelia which makes for an addictively harrowing pilgrimage through the deepest of valleys.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Laurie Levine – Six Winters
Six Winters is the lovely first single and title track of the third album by acclaimed Johannesburg singer-songwriter Laurie Levine. Piano and acoustic-driven, twinkling and atmospheric with an electric tinge, it all makes Laurie’s heady blend of folk coupled with her captivating vocals one that has earned her critical acclaim and a growing audience.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Coedwig – Let Her Go
Street folk artist Neofolk has gotten himself a band member and formed the unit Coedwig. Let Her Go is one of the indie rock numbers on the recently self-released first EP, which also contains a couple of acoustic tracks – a sound that is very popular in Korea at the moment.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Lasers – Solar System
Lasers are a cosmic pop three-piece from Barcelona. Influenced by acts such as Animal Collective, Fuck Buttons, locals Delorean and label mates The Suicide Of Western Culture (featured in September’s MAP), Lasers have learnt to create extraterrestrial atmospheres using “samples, tireless cyclic sounds, breeze melodies” in their music, which can be both obscure and optimistic at a time or, as they call it, “noise and poetry”. Lasers will release their first album Juno through Irregular in December, from which Solar System is taken.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Halina Larsson – Puget Sounds
Halina Larsson is an expat from Sweden who has lived in LA and now resides in Brooklyn. She has a diverse sound and a variety of influences including Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Feist and Elliott Smith. Halina is a trained jazz vocalist who, on her latest Fires & French Horns EP, falls somewhere between indie folk songstress and new soul chanteuse. It’s an odd combination but on certain songs and in certain styles she can pull it off.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
laFayette – Heavy Rain (feat. Lena Fennel)
Since their launch in 2009, Basel boys Jascha Dormann and Simon Hauswirth have found their place in the Swiss electronica scene. Musically, laFayette boldly go into the deep end of a pool filled with electronica, hip hop and techno music. Their debut EP Sputnik was released in September.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Saskatchewan – Skinny Dipping
Orlando, Florida’s Saskatchewan are masters of slow-built dream pop, lush vocal harmonies and melodies that are damn near impossible to ignore. Skinny Dipping is their latest single, available for free on Bandcamp. Look out for an album sometime in early 2012.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Carlos Angola – Hasta Mañana
I first saw Carlos Angola at a festival called VirgenFest which was being held in a public square. The atmosphere was magical, it felt like Woodstock. On stage there was this boy with glasses, an acoustic guitar and a great voice. Carlos Angola used to be part of a ska band called Skabiosis, but now he is displaying his talents as a solo artist with his album Rompecabezas which guarantees total relaxation no matter when you listen to it.

FRIDAY 11 & SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER
Paradiso

The line-up for London Calling might be described as eclectic to say the least – Dum Dum Girls mixed with Hard-Fi and Washed Out – but it surely just means there’s something for everyone, no? With many of the acts already quite cemented in the underground scene, it’s about time for them to bring their heads above ground a bit more and play along side the big guns.

Labelmates Veronica Falls and Spectrals both play on the Friday night, giving anyone a bit of a warm indie pop lift after the bitterly cold week we’ve had in Amsterdam. Wind down with some chill-wave from Washed Out, before bringing yourself right back up again with Wise Blood and the Dog Day Disco afterparty to get your weekend started.

If you’re lucky enough to have bought a passépartout then Saturday night won’t disappoint you either. Look out for Friends, with their punchy drums and woozy guitar, as well as Caged Animal, chill-rock with a hint of surf doo-wop to bring it all together.

The main surprise is bound to be Hard-Fi, who most people would agree were up-and-coming about six years ago and are now, well… just there I suppose. But it adds a familiar name to the programme and they’re bound to deliver bag-fulls of energy – or they’ll pay.

SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER
Museums in Amsterdam, 19.00-02.00, €17.50

Another year, another night, another Museumnacht. Yip, despite an unaffiliated PR stunt declaring 2010 to be the final in its line, the annual cultural event is back, bigger than ever. Forty-five museums are onboard this year, proposing an array of music, performance, dance, art, alcohol and more.

Having written about Museumnacht for numerous years and acted as a programming judge last year, I recommend just a few hearty rules to stick by.

1. Go to more than one museum. Many people don’t. They’re missing out.

2. Don’t go to five museums. Even with a pass that lets you skip the queues, five museums is an exhausting challenge if you intend to make the most of the programming.

3. Don’t be afraid of the bigger museums that attract queues. Just catch them earlier or later when there’s less waiting time.

As for programming tips…

Scheepvaartmuseum

It’s been closed for renovations for years, but it’s back and it’s where this year’s party officially launches – hopefully with a bottle of champagne crashing onto the hull. ‘Sonic Architecture’ is the theme, and from 6.30pm visitors can enjoy a 360 degree soundscape designed by Robin Koek.

Foam

Covering the future of photography (with Jefferson Hack, Lauren Cornell, Erik Kessels and Alison Nordstrom) and the future of objects in a handy 3D printing workshop. Subbacultcha! people will also be on hand to make good noise and bad noise. (Don’t forget that there are multiple Foam locations at the moment.)

Van Gogh Museum

One of the bigger names and bigger queues, but not a museum to be taken for granted. Their Friday Night programmes mean the museum is experienced at mixing up their exhibitions with other cultural entertainments. This year ties in with their Snapshot collection, so be sure to have fun with their camera obscura experiments. Plus there’s live music from Capeman and Renkas – one of which you’re likely to find interesting.

Castrum Peregrini

This former WWII hideaway is now an intellectual playground. The actors of ‘Het Geluid’ will be working hard all night, there’s authentic wartime beer, plus live contemporary classical music.

NIMk

This wonderful yet threatened museum of the digital arts has been criticised in the past for not fully branching out of its known ‘friends circle’ for Museumnacht, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a fine time here. You can build a little robot from a toothbrush, experience the new world of CrowdDJing (but you may have to dance in public), and there’s music from Atom TM, the DNK folks and some, erm, fruit.

For the complete programme see www.n8.nl.

TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER
Muziekgebouw, 20.30, €26

So I once made Owen Pallett cry. I’m not quite ashamed of it. Sometimes I’m almost proud of it, seeing as so many words I’ve thrown out into public in the past decade have faded away rather than splintering and wounding. You take what you can from this job…

The occasion was a Final Fantasy show in Paradiso, too many years ago to remember. Andrew Bird was playing in Haarlem on the same night. Of the latter, I was a huge fan and he was still innovating with his loop-layer violin techniques and heartfelt singer-songwriter moments. On the other hand, I had seen Pallett’s Final Fantasy being thrust up into indie stardom due to his hook-up with Arcade Fire and I just wasn’t impressed. I’d even seen him in support of Arcade Fire in Rotterdam and found his counter violin looping to feel utterly flat in comparison to Bird. As I still had Amsterdam Weekly as a voice in those days, I told my modest readership quite bluntly to jump on the train to Haarlem instead. Funnily enough, Pallett somehow came across the article and later blogged about the crisis in confidence I had caused.

Don’t worry, there was a happy ending, of sorts. Both shows found their own audience and confidence was restored. What’s more, I’m older, wiser (even more jaded) and both artists are suitably separate in their careers that I can recommend this orchestral night in Muziekgebouw. As part of the series ‘Listen to This’, Pallet is teaming up with the Noord Nederlands Orkest to showcase the potential of mixing experimental pop with experimental classical. The blend is aided by Berlin conductor/Gorillaz collaborator André de Ridder. Plus there’s extra performances in the foyer before and after.