(Annuals - mixing up a big bowl of Experimental in Raleigh)

My bad. I've been meaning to post this band on Newstalgia for many months now. I've been a big fan ever since their first album Be He Me came out in 2006. It's bands like this that keep proving to me over and over that the good music ain't on the charts and it ain't on your local Mainstream radio station.

As usual, I ran across Annuals during one of my browses on MySpace in 2006. Got sucked in within the first 30 seconds and I've been checking on their progress ever since. They come from Raleigh North Carolina and they've been around since 2004, and doing it like so many bands these days are doing it - slowly, but staying at it and getting good word of mouth going.

This track, Brother opens their first album. They have a lot of new material out (or newer), but this track was the first one that got me and I suppose we could call it an oldie. But like my theory goes - if you've never heard it before, it's new to you.

So, if you're familiar with them, I'm preaching to the choir. But if you've never heard them before - take a break and check them out. As always, they can use your support and I hope their fortunes take them to many places and turn on many people.

(The Futureheads - Sunderlands finest - from humble beginnings to Glasto)

When Newstalgia first got started, one of the bands I featured on the Roundtable was the relatively unknown Futureheads. They had been kicking around for a while and had their MySpace page and were just starting to get some notoriety. Well, a year later and they're now about to release their fourth album. They've been touring a lot and this new track Struck Dumb is getting massive amounts of airplay on BBC6 Music (what do you mean you aren't streaming them 24 hours a day?). So I think it's safe to say "we knew them when" . . .which is pretty good and speaks volumes about doing it yourself and what MySpace is capable of - and it also helps that support comes from readers like you who just don't think much is happening in the mainstream. Good on you.

If you didn't get to hear them the first time around, check out their pages and see what they're up to now. All their albums and eps are available and this single is available as a free download. So fall by and give them some face time.

(Grand Archives - should be landing in Madrid right about now)

I haven't heard from Seattle in a while. Not that it's dead up there - I've just been preoccupied with the flood of bands from Europe at the moment. But Grand Archives has been around for a while. They're on SubPop and are getting ready to do a huge European tour starting in the next day or two. This track, Torn Blue Foam Couch is one of their earlier tracks off their first and I was turned on to them by my friend Pati in Madrid. At any rate, Grand Archives is a new band to me and they've been getting a lot of repeat plays over here at the Newstalgia Think Tank.

If you feel the same way, by all means check them out. If you happen to be in Madrid, or any one of a number of cities they're playing in Spain this month, fall by and hear them live.

Exposing yourself to new stuff always does a body good.

(Cranium Pie - melting minds 2010 style)

I've always heard rumors the Psychedelic movement never really went away, but went into hiding or morphed into a combination progressive/experimental/indie/shoegaze. Cranium Pie makes no apologies - they are your diehard psych/experimental band from Bath England who have been around for a few years (at least since 2006 when they first appeared on MySpace). Not too much is known about them, aside from their location and that they are as yet unsigned to a label. It hasn't stopped them. They have a couple of ep's and a live album (which you can download for free at their site), recorded at Glastonbury this past month) and a bunch of video's.

This track, Drying In The Sun, is one of their earlier efforts (at least according to their site) and I am assuming it comes from 2006, although there's no confirmation of that and I could probably be wrong.

But in any event, this gives you a taste of what they are about and, from what I am discovering, there are literally hundreds of bands out there doing Psychedelia proud.

So don't put the tie-dye away just yet.

(Eldia - nicely dark)

Eldia are a French Alternative/Experimental band I ran across a couple of years ago during one of my "six degrees of separation" experiments on My Space. Hitting Browse on MySpace is a little like playing the slots - sometimes it comes up jackpot and other times it's all lemons. There are just as many creepy, boring bands hoping to get your attention on MySpace as there is anywhere else. Fortunately, Eldia isn't one of them. They are an interesting band with an engaging style and completely top-notch production. It's pretty clearly obvious they have their sites on a more worldwide market than the French one, since all their vocals are in English and, if I didn't tell you they were based in Paris, you would never have known. Not that it makes any difference. I'm a big believer that music is the universal language and if they sing in English, French or Bulgarian, that shouldn't prevent you from experiencing something good. Remember, there's only two kinds of music - good music and bad music (thanks Louis Armstrong).

So tonight's track On Top Of The Cliff is off their new album, Yayaya and I would recommend checking out their MySpace page or Facebook and hearing what else they have going on. Don't take my word for it.

But you can if you want.

(The Ganjas - word is getting out)

In case you weren't feeling like going the mellow route tonight (i.e. if the Mid-Week Concert just wasn't making it for you right now) I thought I would toss in a new track from a band I've posted here before. The Ganjas are Chilean and have been gaining momentum since I last posted them. They've been playing all over, not only South America but heading into Europe and playing a few gigs in the states, most notably SXSW earlier this year.

This track, a new one is from their MySpace page which also features a few other new tracks is Motoqueiro.

They've been getting a lot of good word of mouth going lately. And you heard them here first.

(of Montreal - strangely familiar)

of Montreal have been around in various forms for at least a decade. They have a slew of albums out with only the latest one (slated for release in September) to be actually recorded in a state-of-the-art-studio. Mostly it's been the Indie road of grabbing situations where you can and doing a lot of recording on home equipment and achieving astonishing results.

If of Montreal sounds familiar, it's because of a lot of their stuff has been going the TV commercial route the past few years. Everyone from Outback Steakhouse to NASDAQ have enlisted their tracks for their campaigns. However, that hasn't exactly made them a household name in the Mainstream world, but it has kept them funded and able to record and tour (a lot) and be a pretty much self-contained unit.

If you're familiar with of Montreal, you know what you're getting into. If you're not, prepare yourself for an interesting musical adventure. The track I'm featuring tonight is Gronlandic edit off their "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?" album from 2007.

If it piques your curiosity, I would urge you to check them out on MySpace where you can get all their albums and check out their tour schedule (they're hitting the road later this month) and check them out live.

(Prince LaLa -publicity shot in 1962 - and you thought musicians were a bit quirky now . . . . )

It occurred to me that I've been spending a little too much time of late over at MySpace and not enough time digging through my own vaults for music you may have missed out on the first time around. Music that wound up influencing a lot of musicians throughout the world just by its sheer originality and audacity.

One of those artists came by way of New Orleans. Prince LaLa recorded precious little before his untimely death in 1963 at the age of 27 from a drug overdose. I'm sure we could go into overtime with "might have been" scenarios on, not only him, but a lot of musicians of the time who met premature deaths at the hands of "accidents", and Prince LaLa was no different.

This was his first single, She Put The Hurt On Me. It's presented here for the first time in honest-to-god STEREO, so that should cause a few fans to hyperventilate. Even if it was in mono off a scratchy 45, it would still be pretty sensational.

And a nice way to kick the week off.

(Efecto Moare` - until the group photos happen . . . . red lips and jawbreakers)

Back to Mexico tonight. An Alt/Shoegaze/Prog band called Efecto Moare`. As usual, I ran across them on MySpace and thought I might turn you on to them. Interesting band - in fact, I'm finding a lot of interesting bands directly south of our borders right now. I don't know if it's the water or they've come out of hiding, but there's a lot of talent coming out of Mexico, and it has nothing to do with Ranchero or Nortena. Fancy that.

This track, not off an album or an ep is called Bloody Mary, which I'm not too clear the significance of. Nevertheless, it's a nicely done track from a band that can use some support.

So fall by their page and check out their other stuff.

(The Morning After Girls - the hotbed of talent is coming from the Pacific Rim . . who knew?)

I am amazed The Morning After Girls haven't gotten picked up by at least one major label since their inception in 2003. Every one of the many songs on their MySpace embed player is well written, well executed and well produced. They meet every single criteria of a potentially major act in the music world. But maybe because of that they are going it alone and doing it themselves and achieving better results than they would if they were signed to a major label and offered up like so much sausage casing. Maybe that's it. Going it alone and doing it yourself and insuring your direction and believing that what you do, you do well may be the magic ingredient for a successful band these days.

What ever the reason, The Morning After Girls are a band from Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. From what I've been able to gather from their website, two of the principle members have relocated to New York and the rest of the band have followed, so they are all now on the East Coast. They have toured almost constantly, even appearing on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in 2009 with a live set. They have three eps and three albums available via just about every download service as well as cd's for sale.

This track Part Of Your Nature is off one of their eps and it would probably do your peace of mind and eardrums wonders to check out the rest of their material and pick up some of their wares (even t-shirts!). They can always use the support.

I am a big fan of this group, not only for what they are doing but how they are going about doing it.

The future, as they say, can be rather cool indeed.