'Doctor, those Weepies are all very well but my ingrained indie sensibilities won't let me go all the way with you on that one [You'll learn - Doc]. Can you recommend anything else in the way of cool strummy pop loveliness with which to get through what remains of the winter? You know the sort of thing - floaty female vocals, Mazzy Star/Sundays stay-in-bed-at-the-weekend-cos-its-just-too-horrible-out-there kind of stuff.'
A Doctor writes: Hmm...how does this sound?: 'Gentle and lush guitar pop..swooning music for the big hearted..Mojave3-meets-Aimee Mann-meets-Throwing Muses,' it says here of a Canadian indie release from last year by Maplewood Lane. Admittedly, there's a lot of this sort of stuff about, much of uninspired, and ML don't completely pull it off. The phrase 'deceptively simple' often attaches itself to slow-tempo numbers in this genre when there's not really anything deceptive about it at all. They really are that simple, not songs but merely chord changes; stretching them out over five minutes rarely helps.
Maplewood Lane fall into this comfort zone/trap over almost half the album which throws it's brighter side into even sharper relief. Three cuts particularly stand out here: No words to say with it's fat twanging guitar line and handclaps, and the shimmering perfect pop of Colour and the gold and Wildwood drive. You will want these and you are in luck. Somewhat rashly, they've left all three lying around over here...

And, if the sample provided by Darla is any indication, Dreamer's book, the new album from Mascott aka Jane Kendall Meade (out Feb14) will yield yet more dreamy pop goodness. 'If Aimee Mann had fended off cynicism, she might sound like Kendall Meade. These serenely tuneful songs turn folk-rock into stately pop, wrapping vulnerability and longing in quietly radiant arrangements,' said the NewYorkTimes this week...
Mascott | Red Panda Records

So, this Blake Sennett solo thing, what's it like?
'Me First is what happens to L.A. kids who grow up listening to Joy Division and the Beach Boys while staring at the Pacific moon. The debut from the The Elected is drenched in the laid-back, pedal steel vibe of original stardust cowboy Gram Parsons. He never sang about girls who cut their arms or pill-popping moms but this album, dedicated to Elliott Smith, taps both artists' rare breed of exquisite sadness.' That's Rolling Stone, this isn't: 'Solo projects often allow a glimpse of the individual writers who make up full bands, and we can now surmise the mellow, country-inspired songwriting of Sennett - a nasty cocktail of alt-soft-rock and alt-country - is made palatable in Rilo Kiley only because of Lewis' input.'
Hmm, critics eh? Perhaps The Onion's more forensic approach will help us: 'Two seemingly disparate producers leave the most obvious fingerprints: Jimmy 'Postal Service' Tamborello and Mike 'Bright Eyes' Mogis. When the two sides meet, something special emerges. While playing spot-the-influences isn't hard - Grandaddy might be due a royalty on "C'mon, Mom," and Badly Drawn Boy could find something to whistle along with on "Don't Get Your Hopes Up" - it's also pointless in light of the album's genuine warmth.' Oh, go on then...
The Elected | on Subpop

Anyone in London Saturday (14th) should detour to Rough Trade's Covent Garden bunker where, at 5pm, there is to be an intimate in-store by Sufjan Stevens no less. The upcoming March release Seven swans gets an early notice over at Bandoppler...

And Babysue is first out of the blocks with a view on the imminent release from Gingersol, Eastern: 'Gingersol blew a lot of people's minds with their last album...and 'Eastern' has absolutely the same effect. Playing beautiful pop music the way it ought to be played, the guys in this band really have their act together...' That'll be high-fives all round, then...

...likewise The Weepies: 'Listening to 'Happiness' I get the feeling I’m on to something'. Indeed, indeed...