This is the first single of the album "Love Is Not Enough"
(Murmürio Records, 2014)

Written and played by Birds Are Indie
Produced by Henrique Toscano
Recorded in Coimbra at Estúdio UCV
Lettering and artwork by Joana Corker
Photo by Luís Belo

Birds Are Indie - High On Love Songs

Pre-order Terrible Things Happen & The Last Match: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/aislers-set

Pre-order How I Learned To Write Backwards: http://suicidesqueeze.scdstore.net/

The Aislers Set occupy an enviable place in the pop pantheon. Brimming with drunken romanticism, sharp pop sensibilities and timeless melodies, The Aislers reveled in the history of great POP, spiking their classicist 60s-tinged tunes with pure post-punk energy and originality of bands like the Fire Engines and The June Brides. Every song is a meticulously constructed sound world, where the arrangement and instrumentation sublimely, uncannily bring each tune to completeness.

The Aislers Set began in 1998 as a vehicle for the songs of Linton, who had most recently co-led San Francisco's legendary Henry's Dress and drummed in Go Sailor with her pal Rose Melberg. With Henry's Dress she had helped guide the band from it's noise/drone beginnings to the explosive mod/punk fusion that made them such a force to be reckoned with. With The Aislers Set the original goal was just to write, record and document.

The result was the first Aislers Set album, 1998's "Terrible Things Happen." Not content to merely (!) write some of the most sublime pop tunes this side of Ray Davies, Linton got busy in her garage studio and recorded and produced almost the whole record by herself. It's a remarkable feat, and a love for such producers as Phil Spector and Brian Wilson shines from each and every groove. This is no shameless 60's pastiche, though, with the echoes of classic pop past filtered through a totally 90's aesthetic. It's a beautiful,  multi-layered record and a genuinely great achievement of home recording.

During the course of recording TTH, Linton was joined by some friends who became the full-band Aislers Set line-up: Alicia Vanden Heuvel on bass, Yoshi Nakamoto on drums, Wyatt Cusick on guitar and Jen Cohen on keyboards. It's this fantastic line-up that toured in 1999 and put together the second album, 2000's "The Last Match." Where "Terrible Things Happen"s synthesis of 60s mod-pop, 70s punk and 80s/90s indie flavors provided an end-of-the-century summation of where pop had been and where it was heading, "The Last Match" upped the ante even farther.

More ambitious in conception, "The Last Match" expanded the band's sound into more orchestral areas. While the songs are still driving and catchy as a fish hook, the arrangements are far more sophisticated. The instrumentation has been augmented by a Jen's vintage keyboards/organs and various horns, giving the tunes the timeless feel of classic groups like the early Bee Gees, The Zombies and The Millennium. Still preferring to record in the garage where they are allowed unlimited time for experimentation, the band had no problem crafting an amazing sounding album that could have sprung fully-formed from the hallowed studios of Gold Star. This is no murky lo-fi production, but a fully-rounded and rich-sounding recording with a warm, analog sound.

"The Last Match" was a roaring success, garnering fantastic reviews and spurring the band to tour the US, Japan and UK multiple times, with bands (and fans) including as Belle & Sebastian, Black Dice, The Gossip, Erase Errata, Comet Gain and Sleater-Kinney. The band even achieved the ultimate badge of indie honor, recording a session for the legendary John Peel. Even more, "The Last Match" established The Aislers Set as one of the most beloved indiepop bands of their generation. It was a must-listen album, one that fueled fond memories, sparked love affairs, set off spontaneous dance parties, and reminded us all of the power of songs and song-craft and POP. It's chiming guitars and indelible melodies were heard everywhere from London to Tokyo, from Glasgow to Malmo: The Aislers truly came into their own with "The Last Match."

2003 saw the release of the band's final album, "How I Learned To Write Backwards." At once more baroque and edgier than its predecessor, "How I Learned To Write Backwards" expertly wound together so many strands of pop history with such personality, atmosphere and style that there's never any doubt that you're listening to a band with vision. Far from being a "name the reference" game, The Aislers used the past as inspiration rather than a blueprint, so the echoes you might hear of, say, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound or Laura Nyro's soulful lyricism are so well-integrated into the Aislers' sound that they're more akin to the spice in the stew rather than the stock of the soup.

While the band had stopped playing and recording together by 2004 thanks to life commitments, their reputation has only grown and sporadic reunion shows and mini-tours have met with rapturous response. Now Slumberland and Suicide Squeeze are proud to join hands to re-release these fantastic, seminal albums in remastered form, and on vinyl LP again for the first time in over a decade. All three albums will feature new liner notes, updated art and sharp sound. Further, the band will play a select set of shows this Fall, and a new album of singles and rarities is being prepared for release in early 2015.


The Aislers Set - Mission Bells

Made a little loop with some sounds I was programming for playing a new B&S song live. Nothing like the song they will actually be used on.

Farfisa and Jen

A sentimental interpretation of the beautiful song Shine Like a New Pin by Camera Obscura off the album Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi c.2002 on Elefant Records

Shine Like a New Pin (Camera Obscura) *bedroom demo*

Pre-order the limited edition 12" here: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/285

Baltimore’s premier indie-pop trio Expert Alterations have one eyebrow arched as they survey the surrounding pop landscape -- they know they can do better. Strip it down, keep it lean, sweat off the fat. Despite their propensity for reducing the elements of pop to its essential core, Expert Alterations are minimal, but not skeletal -- their bones are strong and their songs linger long after the music is over. Deadpan vocals mingle with sparkling, chiming guitars (that’s Patrick) and an insistent rhythm borne out of the tenacious, nervous energy of The Fall (that’s Paul and Allen, drums n’ bass respectively). Expert Alterations’ influences range from the well-trod (TVPs, Wedding Present) to roads less traveled (Yeah Yeah Noh, Close Lobsters) and they process them into songs that can stand side-by-side with such standard-bearers. Please do not confuse these gentlemen with dilettantes -- Paul curates the Baltimore Popfest and hosts Pay Your Rates, a monthly party devoted to UK DIY and post-punk. In addition, the band has toured with a reformed Flatmates and has shared the stage with the likes of The Clean, Crystal Stilts and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

While their influences may be anglocentric, Expert Alterations are partnering with some of the finest labels on this side of the pond. Possessing one of the most vital catalogs in the history of the form, archetypal indie-pop label Slumberland will be releasing Expert Alterations’ 2014 self-released cassette as a one-sided 12” this summer. With five songs of such high quality, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be on the preferred format, and there is no label more suited than Slumberland to bring this fantastic EP to their dedicated fans worldwide.


Expert Alterations - A Bell

PZL073: Plastic Bubble - In Kaleidoscopic View

Belle and Sebastian keyboardist and founding member Chris "Beans" Geddes carried a box of 45s on tour so he could unleash them on you! Here's his set from the April 25, 2015 Hungry Beat at Ham and Eggs Tavern in downtown Los Angeles, enjoy!

20150425 Chris "Beans" Geddes

Charm Bracelet are bringing back the sweet & sad indiepop hits you've never heard of, one tug of a heartstring at a time. 
It's ok to cry.