Sacred Music - the songs of the Trembling Blue Stars (Dufflecoat CD album)

It was about time Dufflecoat Records produced a long player, and here it is, and its brilliant but then again what else could a double album of Trembling Blue Stars covers be? Pop perfection reinterpreted by 20 modern day twee pop bands from around the world, some already familiar to me and already covered on this site and some not. Where to start?

Lets start with Leach Me Lemonade's take on "Slow soft sighs" which will reverberate through your soul with an essential jangly pop rush, maybe the best song on the album though there are plenty of rivals for that crown. "Letter never sent" by Annemarie (which starts off proceedings) bumps along with sheer delicateness. The Arctic Flow's "Until the dream gets broken" effect-pedal driven guitar sonic attack which merges into a glorious pop noise. Sound of the heavens, or should be anyway.

Sundae's "Moonlight on snow" is a sweet pop journey, keyboard driven with tinkly bits. Archaster's "I no longer know anything" is a relaxing smooth track. Skittle Alley's "Abba on the jukebox" is a delicate and intricate pop treat, with a somewhat 70s feel too. Bubblegum Lemonade's "My face for the world to see" is done really well, great playing. Finishing the album off is Pop At Summer's "the sea is so quiet" another great song. You then turn to disk 3... but alas thats all folks!

So many wonderful moments, i've only picked out a few in this review and they are just the tip of the ice berg. A double album of (nearly) never ending pop dreams.

The Sound of Young Java 3 : We'll Be The Summer

Concluding this amazing series of Indonesian C86 indie pop collections we have, as before, 4 songs by 4 bands, some familiar to me and some totally unknown. Starting off with the known is Annemarie with a typically excellent piece of girl vocal led jangle pop "Blue sky on holiday". An infectious melody and some great harmonies. Sunny Summer Day return (they were also on volume 1) with "In summertime". Now this song is absolutely fantastic, a perfect pop song in every way.

Pop At Summer also return with the keyboard led "Sunny day parade" which has a great backing though the vocals sound like they were recorded in a shed. Still not a bad song. Finally Sharesprings "I love to see you" bring some noise and indie thrash to proceedings, they are a bit Boyracer and bands of a similar ilk. So another brilliant collection of Indo twee pop. Bring on volume 4!

Skittle Alley / Annemarie

I really do like Dufflecoat Records' multi-national split singles, bringing together twee pop bands from around the world, if you haven't got any of them yet then hurry and do so!

This one brings together 2 songs each by France's Skittle Alley and Indonesia's Annemarie. Skittle Alley first, a mellow and acoustic heavy indie pop on "Its hard to find love", sounds a bit Field Mice which is never a bad thing. "Out of breath" is a bit more jangly but is also good solid C86 indie pop. It reminds me of a NZ band though can't remember the name off-hand. Both songs are really good pop songs.

Annemarie is an ethereal indie pop group with female and male vocals. "Living in my dream" again has classic C86 tones and melodies in the song's DNA but like Skittle Alley its not a copycat but feels like it would not have been out-of-place on Sarah. "We do" has a bigger sound that the first song which is fairly stripped back. Its jingle-jangle pop perfection. Not all globalisation is a bad thing, the globalisation of twee indie pop is truly wonderful.