Among the many gems in the Record Union catalogue there is United We Stand. Currently the band composes of two guys living in Gothenburg, who play energetic punk influenced acoustic rock.

According to the duo, the aim of United We Stand is to “collaborate energetic punk rock with the sound of acoustic guitars - to create a personal, rockish’ sound”. This is an aim they have achieve very well in their album “Mind Trap”.  The songs are captivating; with alluring upbeat overlapping chord sequences, elevated choruses and great vocal ability combining to form a sophisticated yet easily listened to sound which has you coming back for more. These guys are seriously talented.

You can find their album “Mind Trap” on most major online music stores, or you can always give them a listen on Spotify – you won’t be disappointed.

Andrew Bright creates pumping electronic dance/progressive house compositions, guaranteed to get any club in uproar. Playing the saxophone for 10 years, he is a versatile musician with several library productions for “Selected Sound” (part of EMI Publishing Germany) under his belt.  Now, he concentrates his efforts on producing independent dance tracks and commercial dance productions – and this he does very well.

Influenced by artists such as DJ Virus, DJ Orbit and MicroQ his tracks are infectious, intelligent and highly listenable - exactly what one would expect from a seasoned dance DJ. This is the kind of music you blast at the Saturday night after party to keep it going till the wee hours – at least, that´s what we do.

Check out his debut Record Union release “Rocketfiction” on Spotify and you will know what we mean.  His releases are also available on Juno Records and most other online music stores.

Dear friends, a few weeks ago we blogged about Morton Valence, an intriguing pop band based in London who have been getting amazing reviews from all over. This is just a quick note to let you know that you can now listen to their single “Chandelier” on Spotify. It was recently featured as BBC 2´s single of the week.  Hope you like!

Record Union are big fans of Morton Valence, not just because of their music, which we think is fantastic, but because they embody the independent spirit. Morton Valence can surely be considered as part of the new music generation, using the possibilities in a changing music environment to empower themselves and their art.

There was a lot of buzz surrounding Swedish rocker Nomy´s release of his album “Song or Suicide” on Spotify, and it definately wasnt hollow. Since arriving on Spotify, his album has been performing seriously well, with his hit “Cocaine” pulling the same popularity rating than the song of the same title by Eric Clapton. Record Union are really pleased for Nomy, and we are glad his album is now accessible to the many Spotify listeners who were awaiting its arrival on the service. You can check out what all the fuss is about and listen to Nomy´s album at the following Spotify link.

MIKE play melodic California punk rock, and are sometimes compared to the likes of No Fun At All, Millencolin & NOFX. They formed in 2006 and after only one year and after getting a new drummer and bass player the listeners of the Swedish rock radio station, Bandit, voted MIKE as the best unsigned band in the Stockholm area.

In the beginning of 2008, the release of their first album “Save the day”, was completed. When the album was still under production one of the songs, “Life in a Small Town” was already being played on the radio in Sweden.  MIKE also went on its first tour abroad, and quickly gained renown for their energetic live performances and quality delivery.

“Pretty much every song on “Save The Day” has infectious choruses, catchy, singalongable verses and an instrumental landscape guaranteed to give any melodic punk rock fan drooly lips from start to finish (…) With “Save The Day”, Mike has undoubtedly made it on my list of great punk rock releases in 2008“ - Rockfreeks.net

You will find “Save the Day” on online music stores around the world, or listen to it on Spotify here.

Morton Valence, hailing out of London and named after a town in England, are a pop band in the best sense of the word. Singer Robert Jesset takes the view that “The word ‘Pop’ has become sullied by boy bands, girl bands and Simon Cowell etc… but beautiful pop is magical, escapist music that gives you a larger than life feeling” and this shines through in their unique style of music.

The band were previously signed to an independent label but after being forced to use artwork they didnt like and feeling they were losing control over what they were doing, decided to go it alone in the big bad world of music. They decided to sell shares in their album directly to their fans via their myspace page and have raised over £20,000 to date. Robert states that “Fans are the lifeblood of any band, We’ve been gigging for a long time, we’ve built up a solid group of fans and we are collaborating with them”, a view we here at Record Union could not agree with more. The band has proved that through hard work and innovative use of internet services, an artist can fund their records and make a living doing what they love without sacrificing any control.

“For the first time since the inception of recorded music the pendulum of power has swung away from faceless corporations and towards the people who matter the most in the industry, the fans and artists”

The band have been receiving a lot of media attention and are using this to their advantage to book gigs and build their following further. The boxed version of their album comes with a 100 plus page story book as the album (Bob & Veronica Ride Again) is a 40 minute musical narrative about the coupling of Bob and Veronica after a chance meeting; another chance for fans to own something unique and getting away from the standard jewel case releases that labels still push in peoples faces and expect to pay unrealistic prices for. Making a unique product and offering it directly to your fans, allowing them to in essence become a part of the band is a great idea, and in todays musical climate it makes more sense than ever to distinguish your releases from others and make them interesting.

The band have now released the single ‘Chandelier‘ via Record Union, which was recently featured as BBC Radio 2’s Single of the Week. MV were also selected as music chain Fopp’s most promising newcomers of 2006 and were tipped by UK newspaper The Guardian in 2007. A lot has happened since then and now is the time for you to fall in love with their country influenced pop for yourself. Give them a listen over at their myspace. You will find their music on most major online music stores. They will be playing gigs all over Germany in October.

“After listening to this album several times I’m convinced that nothing else as moving, charming and wonderful will be released in 2009. Neither will there be another release financed by fans through selling shares of the album. 4.5/5″ - shakenstir

“It’s an album that redefines pop opera… Financed by the band’s fans, the Londoners’ debut is a sound investment.”

- Fatea Records

The Record Union expedition to Peace and Love was a huge success. The Record Union team had great responses from all the people coming to chat to us at the Record Union tent. However, the highlight of the festival for us was undoubtedly the 3 extraordinary performances by Boris Valdes, Frantic Sunday and Lissi Dancefloor Disaster, who took the stage at the Record Union P&L Showcase on Saturday. The turn out was impressive and the bands definitely did not disappoint.

The crooning accoustic melodies by Boris and his band captured the audience as if in a spell. Frantic Sunday, with their incredible onstage energy and quality delivery certainly gave their audience more than they could ever have bargained for. And Lissi Dancefloor Disaster, well, their talent combined with the guest appearances of Sophie Rimheden and rapper Henry Bowers quickly turned the dancefloor into a riotous effervescent frenzy.

Check the slideshow below for some pictures. We would like to thank Joakim Kvist ans Oscar Omne of Rock Foto for taking them. If you are having trouble with the slideshow, you can check them out on our Flickr page.

Lissi Dancefloor Disaster are the third band joining us at Peace & Love this week. The Uppsala based electronic dancepunk duo of Josefin Lindh and Johan Tilli have been making infectious, danceable music since November 2007. They have been described as “punk meets sleek electronica” and create enough energy in their live shows to power a small african country. Here is the video for their latest offering featuring Henry Bowers who will be joining them on stage at P&L.

Check out more of their music over at their myspace then put on your dancing shoes and head over to the Orion stage on saturday at 1:15am to catch them. Oh, and don’t forget to come find us for a chat at the Record Union tent in the middle of the festival ground… we have snacks!

Here comes a little update on the second of the bands playing for us at Peace & Love, Swedens biggest festival later this week.

Frantic Sunday are a four piece from Uppsala in Sweden who have been making people jump around to their brand of explosive pop-rock since 2008. They have just released their new EP ‘Sunday School’ via Record Union and the boys have been getting compliments left, right and center from the bloggers and critics over here. We can’t wait to see them on stage later this week!

If you can’t make it to the festival then you can listen to the new EP “Sunday School” here … turn it up, close your eyes, jump around, throw some beer over yourself and imagine you are there!

They will be gracing the Orion Stage at 23:15 - 23:45 on Saturday night.

Check out more at their myspace

As you may know by now, we have a few artists from the Record Union camp playing at the Peace & Love festival in Borlänge next week. We want to introduce those of you who are lucky enough to have a ticket to one of our acts Boris Valdes. We will be introducing you to the other two acts over the coming week.

Malmö native Boris plays acoustic guitar and will be joined on stage by a full band at P&L. The music is made up of soulful, acoustic melodies, his voice filling each song with emotion and depth. Fans of José González, Ben Harper etc will find their influences in his music, but it is fair to say Boris brings something quite special into the mix. You can give him a listen in the video below.

Boris will be releasing his new album via Record Union later this year for those of you who want to get your hands on some more of his music. He will be playing on Saturday the 27th at the Orion stage from 21:15 - 21:45. Make sure you come find us at the RU festival tent, near the center of the festival ground!