Mother Popcorn makes you wiggle, it is true. Their infectious upbeat 70s funk Motown influenced pop is just too much for your body to handle. It is party music, through and through.

But it´s not necessarily the kind of party music which has people jumping around banging their heads, more a lounged back, sophisticated party music – imagine a party of well dressed people drinking refined cocktails celebrating life and having a good time. Live, however, im sure its a completely different story. However, regardless of what setting one plays Mother Popcorn, alone in your room, or at a party, the effect of their music is undoubtedly uplfiting.

So what of Mother Popcorn themselves? Well, they are based in Swedish coastal city of Gothenburg, there are 6 members and they are all skiled musicians. The music is well thought out, technically precise and superbly executed - the elements of Vocals, Trumpet, Saxophone, Guitar, Bass and Drums coming together to produce a clean, seamless concoction of musical goodness.

Mother Popcorn have released a self entitled debut EP on Record Union. The 4 songs it contains are just enough to satisfy, but like their growing fan base, we are looking forward to hearing more!

Why not head over to Spotify and give them a listen? If you get really hooked, you will find their music on most online stores, such as Amazon MP3, iTunes and emusic.

One of the fantastic things of the new music environment is the diversity of music which is now available to those who love music. No more is this tendency proved than in the case of Dr.Sounds, who composes slow, electronic, ambient symphonies probably unlike anything you have heard before. One could describe it, strangely, as new age classical music – as there is a subtle sophistication in his music which takes careful listening to fully appreciate. Not something which you throw on at a party, but something to stimulate your mind. In fact, even without mind altering substances, it has been said to induce trancelike states.  Do not listen to while operating heavy machinery.

And what of Dr.Sounds himself? Well, the inspiration behind his music is equally intriguing. His mind values “logic and mathematics before feelings”, and he says he has always had a deep relationship with his computer. With his music he describes “experiences of flying through several worlds, changing shapes and another life context” – the experience of “coming from another planet” a common point of expression within his music.

Rather than voice and playful hooks, Dr.Sounds uses floating new age soundscapes to express his vision.  He is aware that his music contrasts with the more popular sound, and requires more interaction from listeners. However, he has found an audience for his music among new age circles and those who practice meditation, yoga or alternative healing. He hopes that with his music now available widely, he can introduce his music to a new audience – Record Union will support him in any way we can.

Dr.Sounds has released a large collection of his works via Record Union. You can listen to them here on Spotify. Or buy them from most major online music stores, such as iTunes and Amazon MP3.

Hasse Selander is a self confessed music addict – however, we wouldn’t dream of prescribing him anything for his addiction. Back in the day he played in the infamous Swedish punk band “Rabies” (who simultaneously got banned from all the youth centres in the Gothenburg area for smashing up their instruments in typical “The Who” behaviour). Now he spends his time scouring the internet for fresh sounds. He also promotes artists from his MySpace page and other online channels. His music knowledge is encyclopaedic. Hasse has always listened to a wide spectra of music styles, even when a hardcore punkster he was listening to Kraftwerk, DAF, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Beastie Boys and so on. However, one genre which he claims formed him the most is the is Punk and the DIY attitude. We caught up with Hasse and asked him about some of the artists he has been bringing to Record Union.

Which artists would you like to tips us readers on today? I have managed to sign up quite a few great artists/bands but today I would like to give some extra attention to some of them with albums released on Spotify and to my new favourite indie label Ziekte-NL an Underground label in The Netherlands. The bands are Sterile Hermaphrodite, Stolen Policecar, and The Junkies (not on Ziekte-NL)

Sterile Hermaphrodite (Ziekte-NL) was the first band I signed up and the first thing about them I liked was the cocky humorous attitude they show on their MySpace page and in their music. Their album “Walking Like A Reptile” is a totally amazing debut, loads of energy with an unbelievable honest desperation in the vocals. Their sound can be described as Stoner-influenced raw-Grunge mixed with the energy of the 80’s Punk-Rock. Imagine that blended with some Garage, Surf, Jazz, Pop, 50’s and a tiny twist of Metal. Listen on Spotify.

Stolen Policecar (Ziekte-NL) is a band full of scream and shout, talent and potential, but also loaded with bitter resignation and not giving a shit. This can actually be my new favourite band, the jury is still out. But since their album “Oh No!! It’s A…” was released on Spotify I’ve been coming back for more. So much energy, desperation and attitude! I just love it! Listen on Spotify.

Junkies (Unsigned) Yet another great band with energy, attitude and honest desperation, but what makes The Junkies special is the melodies. The music is a mix of many influences, all the way from soft acoustic tunes to raw distorted noise, always with the melodies in focus and always trying to reach those moments when nothing else matters. These guys are down to earth modest not yet aware of their own greatness. Listen on Spotify.

You can keep up to date with Hasse´s Record Union roster here.

You may have noticed the A&R section of the Record Union website, and been a little curious what it´s all about. Well! Record Union gives people the opportunity to become part of our global “A&R network”. Now, traditionally A&Rs (which stands for “Artists and Repertoire”) act as talent scouts for Record Labels. Record Union is not a Record Label, but members of our A&R network perform a similar role.  It´s the A&Rs job to help us find aspiring new artists who will benefit from digital distribution, and recruit them to Record Union so that we can liberate their music!

We think it is important that everyone enthusiastic about music should be able to get the chance to participate in what music makes its way onto the global market. Also important is that people all over the world should be able to take advantage of the new distribution possibilities that the internet offers.  We are pleased to say that since launching the Record Union A&R network has been expanding rapidly and A&Rs have been responsible for bringing a diverse selection new music to Record union. We now have A&Rs all over the world in countries ranging from the UK, Canada, Jamaica and Spain. We are also pleased to see that people from every corner of the music industry have become involved,  ranging from artists, producers, recording studios, independent labels, managers, venue owners, bookers and others all united by their passion for music.

We will begin to feature more of this new music on the Dog Blog, and may even interview a few of our A&Rs so they can tell you all what they have been up to recently and what artists they have been working with. Watch this space!

If you are interested in becoming an A&R, why not head over to the A&R page and apply. You will find more information about the A&R on our FAQ page.

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.

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!

Dear Friends,

Record Union is proud to announce that a BETA version has now been launched! Yes, that´s right, we are now LIVE! We welcome all artists who wish to digitally distribute their music to visit www.recordunion.com, create a profile and upload their tracks! And for all you music enthusiasts, we welcome you to go and sign up for the A&R role!

This is a pinnacle moment for Record Union, and the beginning of our mission to democratize the access to digital distribution. We hope that our offer to artists, with no start up fee or maintenance costs, will encourage all aspiring artists to take advantage of the distribution possibilities the Internet offers. We believe that this will not only benefit artists, but also listeners. By giving the opportunity to all artists to distribute their music globally, listeners will have the chance to discover and appreciate music which has been hitherto unheard!

We have done our utmost to make sure the site is functioning smoothly, but if you encounter any problems please contact us on beta@recordunion.com and we will do our best to fix it as soon as possible. Please bear in mind that this is a BETA version, and that over the next few weeks we will be making adjustments to the website. If you have any other feedback or suggestions for how to improve the website, we would be glad to hear from you!

Dear friends. Record Union is pleased to announce that we will be collaborating with the Peace & Love festival this summer, selecting artists to perform at infamous P&L Showcase. Peace & Love is the second largest music festival in Sweden, drawing tens of thousands to the cosy Swedish city of Borlänge to enjoy 5 days of music and festivities.  The festival runs from the 22-27 June, and this year´s line up is looking as good as ever, with a diverse selection of quality acts taking the stage.

The P&L Showcase expresses Peace and Love´s commitment to nurturing up and coming independent and unsigned talent. This year, three organisations are collaborating with Peace and Love to fill the P&L showcase scene with the best upcoming artists in Sweden – Record Union is honoured to be one of these organisations. We are looking forward to giving 3 artists the chance to take the stage and show their stuff in front of thousands of eager festival goers.

We call on all bands wanting to hit the indie stage at Peace and Love this year to contact us at the following email address: peaceandlove@recordunion.com. Please cite the motivation for why you would you would like to be chosen for this opportunity, and provide a link to your myspace page or website. Record Union will evaluate each application in correspondence with our A&R network, and announce our selection at the beginning of June.  For all the rest of you, see you at the festival!

We dont want you to start thinking we worship Stebe Albini, no no. But browsing a few of the clips of him on You Tube we found this one, and we thought it was well worth posting. In it, he advises artists and bands to handle and manage as much to do with their band as possible, as this leaves you in control to make the decisions which will have a large effect on how you develop your music. The “system”, by which he means the industry built up around providing services to bands (booking agents, tour managers, publicity people) is designed largely to support itself. A provocative clip, to be sure, and a somewhat prophetic one. 5 years ago maintaining control over your music through “DIY” management would be a harder feat that it is today. With all the new services popping daily to help artists and bands with not only managing their band (Bandize), but marketing it (social networking sites, music sharing platforms, reverbnation) and distributing their music, the tools and support for artists who which to “go it alone” have never been more available.

Today we would like to write about a new service which has got the Record Union team quite excited.  Introducing Bandize!  Managing a band can be notoriously difficult, and what Bandize aims to do is bring clarity and calm to such a complex and often time consuming venture by making the whole endeavour more organised, efficient and focused.  When they launch to the public, Bandize will boast a set of well thought out tools which will make most aspects of managing a band much easier and more transparent.

So what do Bandize offer? Well, a lot. You will be able to manage everything surrounding upcoming shows and tours online, including dates, locations, hotels and contact persons. Badize´s digital ledger will make the accounting side of things more transparent by helping you keep track of all your transactions, who is owed what and who needs paying.  On top of this you will be able to keep track of your inventory, synchronise your social networks, manage that ever expanding “to do” list and keep a tab on how album releases are fairing. For a more detailed explanation of their set of tools we recommend checking their website. One gets the feeling that Bandize could be one of those services that once you begin to use it, you will wonder how you ever coped without it.

We like Bandize because it is yet another example of how Internet based services can and are empowering artists and bands. Though Bandize will surely appeal to professional tour managers and high profile management agencies, it will most likely be bands and artists without large management teams who will profit the most from this service. Either way, it has the potential to become an essential weapon in the independent musician’s arsenal. This is a service to keep an eye on.