Select tracks from the Happy Robots record label

Happiness Patrol

Ghostly

Rock, Indie, Pop, Punk, Alternativa, New wave, Gothic, Synthpop

Mix Febuary 2025.

WL//WH - MARCH 2025 // Shoegaze /Dream Pop /Psychedelic /Indie Pop

Dream Pop - Shoegaze March 2025

cool cloud discoveries

Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Wednesday evening (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 17th March 2025: from Friday afternoon you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch563

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. 

We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud Go tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which cannot be included in playlists. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks (and remixes of tracks) that have been previously submitted, and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

Full Inbox: Batch 563

Music For Underwater Supermarkets

ROMAN ANGELOS: Swimming Through The Aisles

PRESS RELEASE
+++++++++++++
Out on 22nd July, the new Mood Taeg album ‘Anaphora Versions’ is released which presents a series of remixes and re-workings by the band and their collaborators of tracks from their sold out 2022 LP ‘Anaphora’.

 

For fans of: Harmonia, Stereolab, Neu!, Kraftwerk,  Street-sounds Electro, Adam Curtis.

 

Mood Taeg (pronounced Mood Tag) is a three-piece Scottish/German musical project split between two studios and two continents, with members’ tdk and K’ko operating out of Düsseldorf and Lowell Freeman based in Shanghai.

They have been described as neo-Krautrock but outside of their kosmische roots, they also cite John Carpenter, Philip Glass, Mastermind Herbie, Isao Tomita, and LFO, as influences. The band self-produce  between their Shanghai and Düsseldorf studios and are part of the wider Mood Taeg Kollektiv which includes musicians, graffiti artists, DJs, photographers, painters, and video artists.

​

For ‘Anaphora Versions’, Mood Taeg have combined their own re-imaginings of album tracks with those by musicians from tdk and Lowell’s hometown of Dundee and K’ko’s hometown of Düsseldorf. In doing so, they continue their approach of being part of a wider collective of artists rather than just a 3-piece band, an approach which allows for fascinating new takes on their music.

 

Album opener, ‘Happiness Fragment’ sees tdk and K’ko take a poppier path with their DanKe version. Following that, scratch DJ and Scottish graffiti artist Vera turns ‘Konkord’ into a beat heavy study of  head-nodding bliss, whilst Lowell Freeman transposes ‘Pilomotor Reflex’ from its motorik roots to nostalgic electronica. ‘Ohrwurm’ sees the Düsseldorf artist Liefergasse add a Germanic twist, followed by Jan the Man and his dystopian public service announcement version of ‘Diskonkordanz’. For the Electric Boogaloo version of ‘Pilomotor Reflex’, Lowell dusts off his Roland TR-808 and revisits his Street Sounds Electro roots for inspiration. The Alien Cormorant delivers a rockier take on ‘Diskonkordanz’ that finishes with a flourish reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s Teenage Riot. The album closer is the radio version of Squirrels Dancing Among Elephants.

 

In addition to the 9 listed tracks, the CD version features two exclusive hidden tracks, the Shanghai radio mixes of ‘Happiness Fragment’ and ‘Pilomotor Reflex’. The album cover features work by Düsseldorf photographer and ‘Kollektiv’ member Faible.

 

Mood Taeg’s two albums on Happy Robots 'Exophora' and ‘Anaphora’ received acclaim from the likes of Prog, Electronic Sound Magazine, The Dorf, Last Day Deaf, The Electricity Club, Freq Joyzine, Shindig! and more with radio play on BBC Scotland and BBC 6 Music including play from Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe, Cery Matthews and Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone.

Anaphora Versions

Mood Taeg: Happiness Fragment (Danke Version)

‘audite cæli’
Modular Eudemonism.
Track created in 2021.

Tools :
Plaits (Pair of classic waveforms) > Mother-32 ext audio in.
Batumi (square) > Ultra-Random Analog (ext clk in).
URA A & B outs > M-32.
Monsoon (Clouds Parasite / Clouds mode).
Marbles, Ochd, Batumi (saw), Buff Mult.
Quad Vca, Black stereo mixer, Listen IO.
Recorded live and mastered with Logic Pro X.

Associated image : Petrus Major.

Canticum [modular eudemonism]

Performed by: Opera
Lyrics by: Liudmila Garmashova
Music by: Liudmila Garmashova, Craig Ronan, Eren Guler
Produced by: William Evans
Cover art by: Aedan Clark

Lyrics:
Let me tell you my thoughts something main 
All I had in my life it was so lame
I was waiting for anything anything 
It was waste of my time before you came

I escape  of myself all my life
I tried on many faces my pocket knife
Let it get all I had it was so lame 

It was waste of my time before you came

Before you came
Before you came

Let me tell you my thoughts something main 
Let me tell you my thoughts something main 
Let me tell you my thoughts something main 
Let me tell you my thoughts something main 


All I had in my life it was so lame
I was waiting for anything that came
I was waiting for anything that came
It was waste of my time before you came

Let me tell you my thoughts up in my head
All I had in my life it was so lame
I was waiting for anything that came
It was waste of my time before you came

Forget - EP

Bonanza

Opera - Bonanza

‘Ghosts’ is the debut single from South / East London band Cloud Studies.

For Fans of: The Cure, Beach Fossils, Cool Heat, Beach House, Black Marble, Galaxie 500

With plaintive vocals, a neo-krautock beat, layers of spacious reverb-drenched guitars, and a floating atmosphere that is perfect for spooky season, it is not quite shoegaze and it’s not quite goth. Apparently Gothgaze is a thing now, so let’s call it that.  

Despite being influenced initially by the Usbourne book, ‘World of the Unknown: Ghosts’, a vintage cult classic filled with screaming skulls, phantom ships and demon dogs, the lyrics tells a more human story. After the loss of a loved one, the protagonist is haunted by their memory and each night in his dreams he is visited by their apparition which dances and serenades him.

Cloud Studies was formed in 2024 and comprises of Adam Cresswell (of Saloon & Rodney Cromwell), graphic designer Martin J Langthorne on guitar and drummer Nat Guest.

‘Ghosts’ is released by Happy Robots on 18th October. The band play their debut show in London at The Castle in Whitechapel on 19th October with The Leaf Library. 

Cloud Studies:
Adam Cresswell, Vocals, bass; Nat Guest, Drums; Martin J Langthorne, Guitars.

Produced by Adam Cresswell. Mix consultant: Richard Bennett. Mastered by Toby Campen

Ghosts (Single)

CLOUD STUDIES: Ghosts (Radio Mix)

See the music video (made in VR):  https://youtu.be/Nnxe3I16FMM

We Are Not Robots

I don't know what she just did to me
I thought she was above such childish things
She said to me my truth will never change
But please don't expect me to act my age

Sometimes I just want to be child
Sometimes I want to get a little bit wild

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

She said people don't know me, they just see
My mistakes and eccentricity
When you get to know me you will see
I'm trying to escape reality

Sometimes I just want to be child
Sometimes I want to get a little bit wild

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Nah nah nah nah nah
Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Sometimes I just want to be child
Sometimes I want to get a little bit wild

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

Because we are not robots
Nah nah nah nah nah

ISRC:
usx9p2442045

We Are Not Robots

CLOUD STUDIES: Ghosts (Extended Version)

We were turning into old
Versions of ourselves
If it were only up to me
I’d get used to no one else
We were walking out on ice
Anybody’s guess
Shot the coast in black and white
Know I said I meant to

Change the film
Nothing to show for
How you felt
Sun off your shoulder

Feeling like we’re seventeen
Back where we grew up
So imperfect, in between
Probably my fault
There are days that throw us off
Haven’t read all year
Hard to finish what we start
Been too close to see it clear

And I know what you would say
And I know what you would say

Change the film
Nothing to show for
How you felt
Sun off your shoulder

And I know what you would say
And I know what you would say

Performed by Stray Fossa (W. Evans, N. Evans, Z. Blount)
Lyrics by Nicholas Warren Evans
Music by Nicholas Warren Evans and William J Evans
Produced by William Evans
Cover art by Melissa Santamaría

Change The Film

Blossomer

Buy on vinyl

28 Mar 2025

A Million Times

Buyer Beware

Get My Soul

Barnsley Market is a memory of a West Yorkshire childhood. A powerful and driving track expressing a collection of experiences from the 90s with a retrospective view. A layered but raw statement of intent for the future of Yes Chris!

Yes Chris - Barnsley Market.mp3

A Harmony of Loss Has Been Sung

Sorrow's Grip

iZZY

Worn Out and Faded (feat. Luca Celine Mueller)

THE BAD WIRES are an up and coming three piece Manchester based rock and roll band who are bringing the noise with their high octane, blues infused, punky indie belters.

Made up of Danny Waterson on lead vocals and guitar, Ellis Wilson on bass and  Tim Dixon on drums, their dirty, bluesy, guitar driven tunes are reminiscent of artists such as Jack White, The Black Keys and The Stooges, while also managing to stay quintessentially British in their lyrical and vocal attack.

There’s also a cinematic edge to their music that they credit to the same sort of vibe of artists like Lana Del Rey and Arctic Monkeys.

Having spent 2024 rehearsing, perfecting and recording their sound, The Bad Wires are now  delighted to unleash their debut single ‘Wisecracks’ into the world.
Released on the 31st January, ‘Wisecracks’ starts off as it means to go on with its straight of the bat, fuzzing, snarling guitar riffs and smattering of driving drum beats overlaid with gloriously distorted vocals giving rise to those deliciously blues infused funky base notes. 

‘Wisecracks’ immediately sets The Bad Wires apart from all their contemporaries by providing us with something that is both instantly recognisable as a banging rock and roll anthem, whilst also managing to be incredibly  fresh and exciting, skipping and jumping along through genres and blending them effortlessly…. And my god those guitar solos are simply euphoric!!

I defy anyone not to fall in love with this track and indeed this band from the very first listen. 

The band have said of the track:-

“With this tune we really just wanted a fuzzy, bluesy, guitar riff that just grabs you by the scruff of the neck and says “I’m here now, listen” but still has that surfy western twang, we always go for that cinematic feel in our songs and hopefully it’s there. The lyrics were inspired by listening to too much Tom Waits and doing our Mancunian take on it.”

‘Wisecracks’ was written by Danny Waterson and was recorded at Airtight Studios in Manchester and Produced by Seadna McPhail.

The Bad Wires - Wisecracks

i clean up the world
you fall in beside me
i’ll cover the Wuhan lab
you shore up the army

i follow the news
the news is disaster
i’ve given up on my booze
to wash the world faster

every morning
every hour

stop at the top of mountains
soul care repair

it happens this way
to each generation
the entropy cabaret
and reason’s cessation

every morning
wake up to the truth
every hour
plenty more to do

stop at the top of mountains
rest there fresh air 

every morning
wake up to the truth
every hour plenty more to do

stop at the top of mountains 
pure prayer up there

Tikkun

12 Blown Tires

The second single from South / East London band Cloud Studies. It's the follow-up to their debut 2024 single ‘Ghosts’.

PRESS RELEASE
============

For Fans of: Dreampop, Shoegaze, Slowdive, Film School, My  Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Stereolab, Beach House, DIIV

Cloud Studies formed in 2024, as means for Adam Cresswell and Martin J Langthorne to explore the sonic possibilities offered by the large arsenal of effects pedals they had acquired.

‘Cloud Cartography’ was the first song written by Adam for the band as a means to set the tone for the direction of their sonic explorations. It was inspired by visits to the Derryveagh Mountains of Donegal in Ireland, and fighting off the elements as sheets of rain beat down upon the mountainous landscape.

The song is about trying to make sense of a constantly changing world and our efforts to document and understand it.  In a library, the protagonist meets someone attempting to map and catalogue the clouds. They find themselves standing together on a mountainside battling the elements, their undaunted optimism constantly challenged by the impossible nature of their undertaking. 

Sonically the song presents a panoramic, full-spectrum wall of sound; dreamy synths, layers of reverb-drenched guitars from Adrian Taylor and Martin J Langthorne, ethereal vocals from Adam Cresswell, underpinned by a tight insistent rhythm from drummer Nat Guest.

Cloud Studies:
Adam Cresswell, Vocals, bass; Nat Guest, Drums; Martin J Langthorne, Guitars; Adrian Taylor, Guitars

Produced by Adam Cresswell.
Mastered by Toby Campen Mastering.
Recorded at Nan's House Studios (Liverpool) and Bellasonic Sounds (London).

Cloud Cartography

CLOUD STUDIES: Cloud Cartography

Dog OK

Fully remixed album (from March 2024 demos) updated with live drums by Martyn James. Contains midlife reflections on many things, belated bouts of outrage and billions of backing vocals.

Say it now

FIFTY ON RED

“The world is becoming increasingly unstable. We wanted to reflect on this in the context of protest songs from the past and how they’re seen in the 21st century. Modern oligarchs condemn Flower Power, peace and environmental movements, and human rights protesters, for the troubles of the world. But it’s actually these despots’ own lies and greed which are to blame for what’s happening in the world right now.”  - Richard Pierce

"It's a travesty that songs like this still need to be written, if only we could sing about love, peace and happiness whilst living in a world of love , peace and happiness, where everyone treats everyone else as an equal and with kindness, love and compassion, but in Richard's words: this is something yet to be seen..." - Marina Florance

were they really golden years
as we drifted through our joy
what ever happened to our smiles
the peace we took for granted

not because the past was best
or that the grass was greener then
it's because what we really need
Is something yet to be seen

don't blame the flowers,
don't blame the girls,
don't blame the colours
don't blame the universal soldiers
he marched away without goodbyes
don't blame him for your lies

we didn't see the warning signs
as we held our eyes closed
the bombs, the blood,
the loss of meaning,
the hate, the deaths, the grieving

don't blame the flowers
don't blame the girls
don't blame the colours
don't blame the universal soldiers

don't blame the flowers
don't blame the girls
don't blame the colours
don't blame the universal soldiers
they marched away without goodbyes
don't blame them for your lies

we did not see the warning signs
as we held our eyes closed
the bombs, the blood,
the loss of meaning,
the hate, the deaths,
the grieving

don't blame the flowers
don't blame the girls
don't blame the colours
don't blame the universal soldiers
they marched away without goodbyes
don't blame them for your lies

don't blame the flowers
don't blame the girls
don't blame the colours
don't blame the universal soldiers
we marched away without goodbyes
don't blame us for your lies
don't blame us for your lies

not because the past was best
or that the grass was greener then
it's because what we really need
is something yet to be seen

Credits
Words: Richard Pierce
Music: Marina Florance
Spoken word: Richard Pierce and Marina Florance
Vocals: Anna Bass, Ray Taylor, Marina Florance
Guitar: Ray Taylor
Instrumentation: Marina Florance
Recording/Mixing/Production: Marina Florance
Mastered by: Tonalex


without goodbyes

An updated version of this uptempo instrumental

The Safetool Sessions

Go Chase

Written by James Geer

God provides a remedy 
Bestows it from the sky
Heavy laden are the clouds
Till  Finally they cry
Pristine tears envelop me
Soothe me when I’m dry
His gift makes me well again
Thank you I reply

I am covered, sanctified and sane
In the rain

Water pouring over me
Deep into my soul
Purge me of transgressions 
Wash and make me whole
Take me back to simple times
That age and baggage stole
Stills the fires that scorched me
When Ambition took its toll

Free me from anxiety and pain
In the rain

The patter of the raindrops
On the rooftop comforts me
Furnishes a reset and
My old vexations flee
Nurtures my recovery
As it nurtures a tree
Quells my noxious attitude 
In all that I foresee 

Hours of serenity I gain
In the rain

In the rain

This is a bit of a change from my last happy song , it's a tad sobering ! It's not an anti war song by any means , I know they do have to happen from time to time to when tyrants are involved , sometimes we have no choice and have to rid the world of a monster . But it's always a sad state of affairs and this song reflects that , I do hope you like it though ! On a happier note , me and Kim have a cracking song out on the 21st , and after that are two belting songs , one a tongue in cheek rocker with Axel Menningen , and a huge song with Gaz Brownie . Thanking all you guys and gals for the continued support . Remember me and Charlotte have an album out , give it a whirl if you get chance !
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nWWNcrIRv08J_eEbL7MJ_1UTdMo0MjJLM
https://open.spotify.com/album/78ewrWZjS41XvHT9mFWd6O?si=yDMcRADSSrOdWlanz6UPMw

The Weight of War

Eleanor

There’s a promise in the day’s early light, the possibility felt in the morning. Excerpts, is about pouring all your thoughts into one place, making sense of the fullness in your mind. It’s the spaciousness we crave and the clarity that comes with writing them down.

Excerpts

PRESS RELEASE
++++++++++++

‘Dreams About’ is the third single from London / Leeds based Cloud Studies, and the first release with new member Kirstin Isolde Lavender on vocals.

For Fans of: Dummy, Deerhunter, Alvvays, Beachwood Sparks, The Cure, Pulp, shoegaze and dreampop.

With an instrumental introduction lasting over a minute, Cloud Studies are not a band to be rushed, nor are they willing to pander to streaming algorithms on their latest single ‘Dreams About.’ 

Although until now the band have described themselves as ‘gothgaze’, this new track leans towards the brightest, breeziest end of the genre. ‘Dreams About’ is Cloud Studies at their most uplifting; shimmering guitars with melodic arpeggios that throw-back to classic periods of indiepop, layers of lush reverb and bright harmonies, propelled by an insistent driving beat.

The band’s darker aspects are found in Adam Cresswell’s lyrics.  ‘Dreams About’ is a song about escaping the drudgery and loneliness of the daily grind by dreaming of unrequited lovers, while dropping prescription drugs to numb the pain.

Cloud Studies formed in 2024, as a means for Adam Cresswell and Martin J Langthorne to explore the sonic possibilities offered by the large arsenal of effects pedals that they had acquired.  Their debut ‘Ghosts’ was released to acclaim for Halloween 2024. It immediately won the band devoted fans and received rave reviews. ‘Ghosts’ also resonated on social media, not least on TikTok and Instagram where it quickly hit a million views on release. Their follow-up single ‘Cloud Cartography’ won them new fans, with a Spotlight feature from leading industry service The Unsigned Guide who described the track as a “deliciously dark shoegaze affair”. 


Cloud Studies are: Adam Cresswell, Vocals, Bass; Martin J Langthorne, Guitars; Kirstin Isolde Lavender, Vocals; Adrian Taylor, Guitars.

Recorded at Old Chapel (Leeds), Nan’s House Studio (Liverpool), Bellasonic Sounds (London). Drums by Nat Guest. Written and produced by Adam Cresswell. Mastered by Toby Campen Mastering. Design by Martin J Langthorne

CLOUD STUDIES: Dreams About

Goddess

London based electronic robot-pop label. 

Contact: info@happyrobots.co.uk
Web: www.happyrobots.co.uk

Releases include those by artists CLOUD STUDIES, ALICE HUBBLE, MOOD TAEG, ROMAN ANGELOS, HOLOGRAM TEEN, RODNEY CROMWELL and ARTHUR & MARTHA. Distributed by Cargo Records.