As I’ve noted countless times in my reviews, I am a firm believer that the sweetest and best of indie-pop from around the world comes from Sweden. While The Legends kicked off this phase, my attention was not focused on that country until I discovered label mates Acid House Kings. With the success of their cherished Sing Along With The Acid House Kings (2005, Labrador) comes the smash hit single “Do What You Wanna Do” in a Single/EP of the same name, this time on the Florida label TwentySeven Records …

In retrospect, Fishboy‘s Albatross should have garnered my #1 album slot for 2007. Seriously: the album remains one of the most-listened-to albums even today. The oft dubbed Twee Rock Opera was a truly brilliant concoction. And, as front-man Eric Michener quietly hints at a follow-up, he releases Nom, a nine-song EP consisting of rejects from the original concept album.

There are times where you just need some good ol’ fashioned classic rock. But the classics can sometimes get a bit stale — after all, they’ve been sitting gathering dust or wear for decades. I guess that’s the attraction of a band like The Lonely H; their music has the gritty rock sound of the 70s south, but it’s fresh in that it’s new.

Megafaun (MySpace) was originally birthed from the remnants of DeYarmond Edison and released Bury The Square in 2007. Gather, Form & Fly is the follow-up to that widely-hailed album, and it warrants all the hype one can give. The band consists of Joe Westerlund and brothers Phil and Brad Cook. The main Edison absentee is Justin Vernon, who now goes by Bon Iver. Despite Iver’s greatness, there’s a lot to be said about these three — the music they create, in my opinion, is just as great …

There is no describing the spectacular essence of the duo that is Bumtech. Band mates Sharon Schloss and John Walterscheid have a keen ear for art through obscurity. Combining a mixture of new wave pop and indie, with a hint of 90′s style garage rock, Beware of D-G is a must hear for fans of estranged and engrossing “get down” rock and/or roll.

I must say, I’m quite obsessed with a few select songs off Royal City‘s latest release, 1999-2004. Those tracks are 1) “Here Comes Success”, thanks to its eclectic guitar breakdown toward the end of the tune, and 2) “Bad Luck” due to a clever lead guitar riff. 1999-2004 is an album of rarities and b-sides collected over the tenure of this short-lived band.

OK, this may be an odd question: How would a mash-up between Rasputina and Tilly And The Wall sound? It’s hard to think about as one would believe the result would be a bit awkward. But it’s not; just listen to “Sleep” by Blue Rabbit. There’s the dark cello, a Rasputina signature. And pop-riddled vocals are sung by multiple individuals in a manner quite like Tilly And The Wall. And here’s the kicker: it works, and it works well.

Songs like “Young Sensualists” and “Yucatan Gold” off Throw Me The Statue‘s debut LP Moonbeams were, in my opinion, far greater in depth and personality than the song that initially garnered them fame: “Lolita”. Thus is often the curse of the first single; luckily their sophomore follow-up to Moonbeams debuts with “Ancestors”, a song that has just as much character as the aforementioned greats off Moonbeams. The new release is dubbed Creaturesque and will find a comfortable home yet again on Secretly Canadian.

Railcars is Aria Jalali and his music is heavily influences by that of Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu. Stewart, in fact, mixed Jalali’s debut single, Cities Vs. Submarines, a fact we noted in the FensePost feature of Railcars. Railcars’ latest release appears to continue in a similar vein with noise-ridden instrumentation and wild, piercing yelps.

Mat Brooke has long been a favorite musician of mine, back from the days of Carissa’s Wierd. From there he partnered with fellow Wierder Ben Bridwell in Band Of Horses, but his participation with the Horses was short lived. He dropped out of the band to focus on Grand Archives (MySpace) as well as his Seattle bar, Redwood. So the latest is that Grand Archives are prepping to give us the follow-up to their 2008 self-titled debut.