Kids Of 88 - Just A Little Bit

Introducing slutty new wave/electro duo Kids Of 88, who are Sam McCarthy and Jordan Arts. They describe their music as "a cross between a late 80s police drama intro theme and a sophisticated super hussy". With sleazy basslines and mind-numbingly catchy hooks, Kids Of 88 are all about poking tongues and making sweaty suggestive inuendos.

Arts and McCarthy have been best friends for ten years. They attended St Peter’s College in Auckland where they first formed the band Incursa and ended up winning the 2004 Smokefree Rockquest. Sharing a passion for music, they then decided to become professional musicians. Both McCarthy and Arts were in a band named Cap Gun Hero before KO88, and McCarthy was also a member of Goodnight Nurse.

Kids of 88 are best known for their 2008 single, My House. They have since signed through Dryden Street to Sony Music and released the album Sugarpills in August 2010. Just a Little Bit won 'Single of the Year' at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards.



Kids of 88 @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: LastFM, Kids of 88

Headphone - Woods

Headphone is the musical project of Belgians Nico Steenkiste and Ian Mariën. Their sound can be described as rock with electronic beats coming straight from the 80s. When asked to describe their music, “Pop with a definite dark side” is the standard quote.

Woods is the first single of the upcoming 2nd album, due to be released in September. Download Woods for free here.



Headphone @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: LastFM, label:INDIE

Heartbeat Hotel - Windowsill 1

Heartbeat Hotel (formerly Mariposa) observes no boundaries when melding the popular song with psychedelic soundscapes, creating music that is at once both mesmerizing and involving. Band members Chris Lyons, Andy Smith, Dave Connolly and Matt Mitchell have spent the last 10 years together having arguments, writing music, and staying up all night in fits of laughter.

Under all of their 3 previous band names, their mission of finding a new inventiveness (both on stage and in studio) has stayed the same. The debut full-length and self-produced album Fetus Dreams was released in March 2010.

Heartbeat Hotel recently released a video for Windowsill 1, a collaboration of istoica, Mary Gerretsen and James Cooper. Their second full-length album will appear in the summer of 2011.



Heartbeat Hotel @ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: LastFM

Arquettes - Crafty

Arquettes are the next best thing from Belgium, and consists out of Koen Wijnant, Jan Borremans, Tine Gernaey and Mario Govaert.

They released a first single called It's A Relief in 2007, followed by an EP later that year. In the slipstream of this debut-EP they did support acts for Built To Spill, The Veils and played numerous festivals (a.o. Pukkelpop).

In March 2010, Arquettes started recording their first full length album Wave on with French topproducer Stéphane 'Alf' Briat (Air, Phoenix, Alex Gopher). The album was released in September 2010 and contains their new single Crafty.



Arquettes @ Twitter, Facebook, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Myspace

Source: Ancienne Belgique

Walter Meego - Starlight

Chicago-based indie electronic duo Walter Meego began when Colin Yarck and Justin Sconza met at the University of Illinois in 1999. Sconza played in a number of bands during college, dabbling in a number of styles. Yarck, who was influenced by Chicago's electronic music scene, became a beatmaker and DJ in 2002 while collaborating with his friend, Pat Pelligrini.

When Yarck brought some of his musical equipment to school in 2003, he and Sconza began playing together for fun. After graduation the same year, the two went their separate ways, but continued to create music separately, with Sconza making tapes and Yarck and Pelligrini continuing their partnership.

Sconza eventually joined them, and in 2004 the trio began performing as Walter Meego. Their first release, Walter Meego EP, was released in 2005 and earned praise from Rough Trade and Internet bloggers. In order to concentrate on his full-time job, Pelligrini left the group and was replaced by Jarrett Spiegel. Spiegel parted ways with Walter Meego in 2006.

Starlight is taken from their second full length album, Wondervalley, released in November 2010.



Walter Meego @ Myspace, Facebook, Blogspot, Twitter

Source: Allmusic