We also have a mailinglist set up, but we’re in the middle of changing our mailinglist provider, so if you subscribe now, you will have to re-subscribe to our new list quite soon again (but if you subscribe now, you will at least get a message telling you when the new list is ready).

You can subscribe from this address:

http://www.eardrumspop.com/newsletter/

The original post about The Handshake may probably be a bit much to digest, so here are the FACTS about it  (For those looking for the latest news about the project, see the bottom of this post).:

WHAT IS THE HANDSHAKE? AND WHAT IS “BETWEEN TWO WAVES”?
THE HANDSHAKE has been the working title for the new EardrumsPop-compilation. BETWEEN TWO WAVES is the NEW TITLE for the album. BETWEEN TWO WAVES is a COLLABORATION COMPILATION, where all bands included will make songs together with other bands. The cover art will also be a collaboration between two illustrators, and I am collaborating with some nice, music interested people on the administrative work: Stefan, Tim and Leena.

WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED, WHEN IS THE DEADLINE, HOW MUCH WILL IT COST, AND WHERE CAN WE GET IT?
Two deadlines: All biographies and text for the pdf must be sent to us by 31st of JANUARY, but we do not need the song before FEBRUARY 28-2010. The album will be released early MARCH 2010, and like all our releases it will be digital only (no cd) and free for all. The only place to get it is here on this website.

HOW WILL IT SOUND?
We actually have no clue, which is a bit scary. The only thing we know is that it will sound “Warm and melodic“. We have asked bands in several genres, – folk pop/acoustic, indiepop/jangly pop, electronic pop, accessible experimental +++. We already know that it will sound good!

CAN I CHOOSE MY COLLABORATION-PARTNER MYSELF
Yes, that’s what we prefer. If you don’t have a partner, we can try to help, but the best is if you can find someone to work with yourself.

A PDF-BOOKLET?
Yep, – we always make a booklet with artist biographies, links and photos. We want to promote the artists the best way we can, and the listeners can read about the artists while they listen, and maybe head over to the artists’ website to find more music from the same band.
This time a professional illustrator will make it for us, so it will probably be a lot nicer than our previous pdf’s.

WHAT WILL YOU PAY THE ARTISTS?
There are no money in this project, only expenses. We can’t pay anything to the artists or the illustrators, other than with our HUGE THANKS and the promotion this will hopefully give the artist and the fun and challenge of making the song.

WILL THE ARTISTS  STILL OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE SONG, AND CAN I USE IT ELSEWHERE?
YES and YES. We like to say that the song is yours and we only borrow it for the compilation. We prefer, of course, to be the first to make it public, but again, – you’re the boss, you own it. What you do with the song after our release is none of our business, and personally, I would like the songs to be heard by as many as possible.

INTERESTED IN BEING A PART OF IT?
Read the big info-post and contact us at once! Our contact details can be found under “Contact” in the top menu.

HOW TO SUBMIT THE SONG AND THE INFO?
You can either do it directly via email, or use our convenient form here on this website to submit all info in one go.

FOR THE SOUND-PROS: WILL YOU MASTER THE SONGS, AND WHAT LEVEL WILL THEY BE MASTERED ON?
We will not master the songs, but we will do some sound-levelling afterwards. This is just basic adjusting with some free software called MP3Gain. We did this on Birdsongs, Beesongs too, and it sounded very good. It’s just to make sure that all songs have almost the same volume-level. The songs will be on a level close to 95dB. And btw, I am NOT a pro…

ANY NEWS TO TELL US?
Yes, I think so. We decided that we needed a new title after we had seen “The Handshake” so many places during our project. The new title, “Between two waves” can have so many meanings, and all of the four members in the team had different interpretations of it when we discussed it. We had lots of titles on our list, but after a long process, we ended up with this one. We still call it “The Handshake” behind the scenes, though

We are working hard with this project at the moment, and there are already lots of confirmed, interesting artists + several who are still considering. Some songs have already arrived, and they are all very good! Our shortest list is actually the ones who have said no. The first illustrator is ready to help us with one of the covers + the pdf, Julia Pax from Germany. We are very happy about this! At the time of writing this, we are trying to make up our minds on the title of the album, – which is not easy at all…

CREDITS: Collage/illustration by Knut, photos byDeniz Ongar (hand) and Julia Starr (grass) from Stock.xchng (sxc.hu)

Musicians, illustrators, painters and poets create a digital compilation album together, by collaborating with other musicians, illustrators, painters and poets. The result will be a free download. If you want to collaborate with us making this, contact us now! Read on for details.

UPDATED 10. November-2009: We have done some changes with the deadline, and the deadline for text/biographies/info is now on December 31, like before, while the deadline for  the songs is on January 31-2010.

Here are some details on what the next Eardrums compilation will be like, and what the “rules” for participation are. Click on the navigation links below this text to jump directly to what you want to read. Please contact us if you are interested in any way.

THE IDEA | RELEASEPLANS/DEADLINE | FOR MUSICIANS | FOR ILLUSTRATORS | FOR POETS/WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS/VIDEOMAKERS/CREATIVE PEOPLE | HELP NEEDED | THE TITLE?? | CONTACT US!

THE IDEA

The next Eardrums compilation will be a collaboration compilation, with music and art, but hopefully also with poetry and other artforms too.
The songs on the compilation will be made by two and two artists working together to make something new. The artworks will also be made by collaboration, and I hope that the whole process of making this/these album/s will be done with a lot of help from the listeners of Eardrums Pop, the readers of Eardrums and the artists themselves. Like all our releases, this will also be released for free and digital only. There will as usual be an info pdf that follows the compilation, and all artists will get a presentation here, – both of the original bands + the collaboration projects. No money will be involved, either for us, the artists, the illustrators, anyone, – no one will get paid in money for this (but hopefully someone will discover your work), – this is just for the love of music, the art and creating something new.

RELEASEPLANS/DEADLINE

The deadline for sending us songs in now on JANUARY 31-2010, BUT, all the text and images for the pdf document (biographies, song-info++) must be in our hands by DECEMBER 31-2009.

RELEASE: mid/late FEBRUARY or early MARCH 2010
We need a lot of time to make this one, for several reasons. The work has started, and it is important that you contact me if you are interested or if you are considering this (-”We’re not sure, but maybe, maybe not”=contact me!).

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FOR MUSICIANS

HERE ARE THE “RULES” FOR THE BANDS/ARTISTS THAT WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS PROJECT:

Please contact me if you are interested! Contact details at the bottom of this article.

1. Make a song together with another band/artist.

2. Find a new name for your project, – not any of the old bandnames.

3. The song should be a new composition, not a cover song. If you want to do a cover song, it should be approved by us.

4. You can choose your collaboration-partner yourself. If you want to be a part of this, and don’t have a partner to work with, please contact me and I can try to find someone for you. I need to know which area you want your partner to be in, and how you prefer to work (face to face or via the internet).

5. Keep me informed during the process. There is no deadline yet, but I prefer to have some idea of what I can expect to get for the project.

The style should be warm and melodic. There are no defined limits in genre, but I personally prefer indie pop (and most of the styles you can put into that), folk-inspired songs, acoustic songs, melodic electronica or melodic experimental music. I like a lot, -also more than the ones mentioned -, so just test me and see if it is something I’d like to use. It’s GOT to be melodic…

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FOR ILLUSTRATORS/PAINTERS

HERE ARE THE “RULES” FOR THE ILLUSTRATORS/PAINTERS THAT WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS PROJECT:

Please contact me if you are interested! Contact details at the bottom of this article.

2. If you get an “OK, Go for it!”, you have two choices. #A is our preference:

A: Find someone to work together with, and make one artwork together as a collaboration. How you prefer to work is up to you. It could be that you meet and make something together, or it could be a digital work layer by layer, sent via email, – or something totally different. We like to be surprised, – or more correctly, we PREFER to be surprised!

B: Make an artwork on your own, with inspiration from themes like working together, friendship, collaboration, hugs, handshakes… you know….

3. The artwork should be in 300dpi and the print size must be 12×12 cm/1417×1417pixels (we need it as a digital file, jpg prefered). I am also considering the possibility for the illustrator/painter to sell a printed version of the artwork through the site, but I need to think about that. Please tell me what you think.

4. I am still a bit unsure about the title of the album, so the words on the cover-art is still not 100% ready. It will probably be “The Handshake – A Compilation of Collaborations – Eardrums Pop 2009” or “Hugs & Handshakes – A Compilation of Collaborations – Eardrums Pop 2009” … or something else… I will update you as soon as I get this ready.

I’ve had several ideas on how to do the art-part, and I am still not 100% sure of what will be best. The liveblog-session gave me a few more ideas. Please tell me what you prefer:
A) I contact just the number of illustrators I need for each volume, – one cover for each volume. OR B)– A lot of illustrators are contacted, and one artwork is picked for the cover, the rest will be shown with biographies and presentations in the pdf-booklet. – or C) A lot of illustrators are contacted, and none of them are picked officially as the cover artwork, but all are presented on the site as equal candidates. The user/listener can pick the cover-art he likes the best for his copy of the compilation.

So, if you are interested in doing any of this, please contact me as soon as possible!

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FOR POETS/WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS/VIDEOMAKERS/CREATIVE PEOPLE

I want to include other artforms in this project as well. If you write poetry or short stories (professionally or as a hobby), like to take photographs (pro/hobby), like to draw, or want to participate in any other creative way, please contact us. We would like to show your artwork in the pdf-document of this album, with a short presentation of you.

All the creative works should either be done as a collaboration, or inspired by the theme of this compilation (“hugs and handshakes”, working together, friendship, +++).

The written work should not be more than one A4 page (contact us if it is more than that). The photo should be big enough to fit on one A4 page. The drawing must be scanned and sent to us as a jpg file. Contact us if you have other ideas.

All written words must be in English.

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HELP NEEDED!

This time, I need a lot of help! I need help especially with promotion and getting the word out to the world about this project. Please spread the word to friends and family. If you run a blog, a website, a radio programme and would like to help me, please contact me asap. If you have ideas and would like to help in any other way, — contact me!

I also need help making the pdf-document, finding artists, +++. Contact me!

—-to the top—-

THE TITLE??

The working title for this project is “The Handshake”. I’m also thinking of “Hugs and Handshakes” and several other things may come into my mind as the work progresses. What do you think? Do you have any ideas that may fit a compilation like this? Contact me or add a comment below.

CONTACT ME!

You can contact me on info@eardrumspop.com , on twitter (@eardrums) on myspace (www.myspace.com/eardrumsmusicblog) on last.fm (http://last.fm/user/eardrums ). You can also just add a comment below if it doesn’t matter that it will be visible to other people.

—-to the top—-

(The illustrations on this article is made by me, but the photos I have re-worked, of the hands, the “dolls”, the instrument and the pencils are from www.sxc.hu, users lusi, cobrasoft, Henkster and jana_koll).

4 volumes with free and legal spring-time pop has now been made ready for download. I would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all the bands, artists and labels involved in this project, and to all the wonderful illustrators who have spent hours and days to make these fabulous paintings and illustrations for the cover art. Also, a big thank you to everyone who have spread the word about this project, through word of mouth, their blogs, their radio stations, twitter, myspace, lastfm, facebook +++

And to everyone else who have helped, given their advice, commented and in other ways helped me with the project.
I am so so so so thankful for your help!

I will be very happy for all the help I can get now to get the word about volume c and d out to people who might be interested. Please!!!!

You can get the albums from here:

Volume A | Volume B | Volume C | Volume D

ENJOY!

COVER ART BY KNUT B. / EARDRUMS
RELEASED APRIL 2009  | [epop003D]

This is Volume D of our Spring compilation “Birdsongs, Beesongs”. In the PDF document included in the zip, you will also find a brief description of the next Eardrums Pop project. Please contact me if you would like to take part in it in any way.

The compilation is free and legal. All artists/labels included have approved the songs.

With Volume D, we’re probably back where we started on this journey through spring, with the sunshine and the warmth. This is a POP-volume, definitely.

You can download Volume D here:

Download problems? Look at our help-page.
(You can find the other volumes here: Volume A | Volume B | Volume C)

Our compilations are always free, but if you like the music,  we advice you to give something back to someone else than us:
Support the artists, – buy their music, their merchandise or visit their concerts,  or you can donate to one of the good causes our co-writer Lotte has picked  for us. (It’s up to you!)

Feel free to comment and say what you think of these releases! I am also very grateful if you spread the word about this in any way you can.

TRACKLIST VOLUME D:

01       The Audiobooks   – Goodbye Purple Girls
02       Socialist Leisure Party – Head in the Hay
03       Girl Alliance  – Frances and the dancing fairies
04       Spaghetti Anywhere   – girlfriend with boyfriend
05       Thunder Power  – Balloons
06       Roly Poly Rag Bear – brandnewday
07       Brotherhood Of Broken Hearts    – Together Lonely
08       The Middle Ones   – Good As New
09       Andreas Gode  – Alternate take 2
10       The Good Natured – Rose
11       Colin Clary  – i miss the bubblegum
12       Hiawata!    – Labrador
13       The heartbeat of Krakow – The heartbeat of Krakow
14       The Glasses  – Paper Airplanes
15       teeny grownups  – Campfire
16       The Lieutenant’s Mistress  – The Light Is On (But You’re Not Home)
17       Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin  – the clod and the pebble (demo)
18       ANT   – Magpies (acoustic version)
19       Music for dead birds -  Burning Cinnamon Trees

If you want to be notified about the next Eardrumspop project, please join our mailinglist:
Send an email to mailinglist-subscribe@eardrumsmusic.com

INFORMATION AND BIOGRAPHIES (pdf-file included in the zip):

COVER ART BY SIMON WILLIAMS A.K.A CRAYOLA / DRINKMILK
RELEASED APRIL 2009  | [epop003C]

This is Volume C of our Spring compilation “Birdsongs, Beesongs”. In the PDF document included in the zip, you will also find a brief description of the next Eardrums Pop project. Please contact me if you would like to take part in it in any way.

The compilation is free and legal. All artists/labels included have approved the songs.

Volume A represented the sunny side of Spring, volume B the rainy days, and what about volume C then? Well, if we stick to the weather-terms, this represents the windy days. Volume c is warm, rough and full of life, – probably rougher around the edges than volume a, b and d, but with the same pop-feeling as all the Eardrums compilations.

You can download Volume C here:

Download problems? Look at our help-page.
(You can find the other volumes here: Volume A | Volume B | Volume D)

Our compilations are always free, but if you like the music,  we advice you to give something back to someone else than us:
Support the artists, – buy their music, their merchandise or visit their concerts,  or you can donate to one of the good causes our co-writer Lotte has picked  for us. (It’s up to you!)

Feel free to comment and say what you think of these releases! I am also very grateful if you spread the word about this in any way you can.

TRACKLIST VOLUME C:

01       The Paper Merchants – The Lovers (In The Face Of)
02       Burning Hearts  – Various Lives
03       Sugarspun  – Kite
04       Snippet  – Lovely Ugly People
05       Zipper – Saturday
06       Kids Love Lies  – Morning After
07       Uniforms and Dropouts – Dunno
08       The Greencoats – Hello
09       The Pristines  – We let you joke
10       Dub Noir  – The Careerist (demo version)
11       The Candy Twins – Sad-Glad Song
12       TWIG  – Please don’t turn me into a murderer
13       Miles Stevens  – Capture/Release (Mix 16)
14       miaBeane & The Asthmatic Scene  – Chapel gravel
15       The understudies – chip pan glam*
16       jellybean!  – Sensual Seduction
17       My Raining Stars – Head over heels
18       the Bumblebees – Tha Way
19       The Puncture Repair Kit – The Motorcycle Song
20       Televise  – Loves

If you want to be notified about the next Eardrumspop project, please join our mailinglist:
Send an email to mailinglist-subscribe@eardrumsmusic.com

INFORMATION AND BIOGRAPHIES (pdf-file included in the zip):

The compilation is free and legal. All artists/labels included have approved the songs.

While volume A showed the sunny side of Spring, volume B is a bit more dreamy and relaxed, – maybe more fit for the evening or a rainy Spring day?

You can download Volume B here:

Download problems? Look at our help-page.

You can get the albums from here:

Volume A | Volume B | Volume C | Volume D 

Our compilations are always free, but if you like the music,  we advice you to give something back to someone else than us:
Support the artists, – buy their music, their merchandise or visit their concerts,  or you can donate to one of the good causes our co-writer Lotte has picked  for us. (It’s up to you!)

Feel free to comment and say what you think of these releases! I am also very grateful if you spread the word about this in any way you can.

TRACKLIST VOLUME B:

01 Promise And The Monster – Words
02 Parachutes – Tree Roots Turn To Forts
03 Charlotte & Magon – I Love You, You Are My Friend
04 Martin Carr – Why You Gotta Bring Me All This Rain
05 Monobird – Exploding view
06 The Jealous Sea – A Boy, A Girl & A Rendez-Vous
07 No Kids/Mount Eerie – Prisoner Of Desire
08 The Electones – The Huntress
09 Cryptacize – Mythomania
10 Seeland – Pretty Bird (alt. version)
11 Looking Glass – Ah La La
12 Blue Roses – Doubtful Comforts
13 tailor made for a small room – Pleasant Hill
14 Montt Mardié – Castle In The Sky
15 Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam – Inside the Egg
16 Arthur and Martha – Japanese Kiss
17 Wild Honey – The House By The Sea
18 Wisdomtooth – Bandits
19 Tramontana – Low Rise
20 Aquella Illusion – Buscador
21 Jonathan Johansson – Du Sa

If you want to be notified when the next volume is ready, please join our mailinglist:
Send an email to mailinglist-subscribe@eardrumsmusic.com

INFORMATION AND BIOGRAPHIES (pdf-file included in the zip):

COVER BY JAMIE BALL
RELEASED MARCH/APRIL 2009 | [epop003A]

TRACKLIST VOLUME A:

01      – Hari and aino  -  On My Usual Catch Up With Cecilia
02      – Cor’delle -  Summer 17
03      – The Starfolk  -  Into The Clouds
04      – Hexicon  -  Narissa I Won’t
05      – Monzano  -  Yes, We Can’t
06      – The Harts Naive  -  We Don’t Feel
07      – BMX Bandits  -  Ally Ally Oxen Free -With YeonGene
08      – Victoria and Jacob  -  Castle At Pendenni
09      – Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck  -  The Divine Comedy
10      – Bonne Idée -  glassbåten
11      – 2 out of 3 rule  -  Your line
12      – Dear Reader  -  Dearheart
13      – When I Was 12  -  Make Believe Hearts
14      – The Golden Rule -  Now I Hear the Train
15      – Heart-Sick Groans -  In a Small Kitchen Song
16      – Saturday looks good to me  -  Caught (live at Schuba’s)
17      – Let’s Whisper  -  all happy endings
18      – Jules Etienne -  Trouble Again
19      – St. Philistine  -  Last Time
20      – Luke Donovan  -  Farewell

DOWNLOAD
"Birdsongs, Beesongs" Volume A - -The first volume of our spring compilation.

Download problems? Look at our help-page.

You can get all the volumes from here:

Volume A | Volume B | Volume C | Volume D 

BIOGRAPHIES
(Included in the zip above)

COVER ART BY KNUT@EARDRUMS
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2008 | [epop002D]

THE TRACKLISTING:

A GOOD CROP – Eardrums Autumn Compilation 2008
VOLUME FOUR. Cover by Knut @ Eardrums.

1. Monsieur Mo Rio – My Friends
2. The Heart Strings – Her New disaster
3. Hello Seahorse! – Won’t Say Anything
4. Firekites – Same Suburb Different Park
5. Hjaltalín – Þú komst við hjartað í mér
6. Sambassadeur – Crooked Spine
7. Einar Stray – Arrows
8. The Tiny – Too Heavy a Burden
9. Choir of Young Believers – Claustrophobia
10. The Asteroid Theory of Death – Where have all the blankets gone?
11. Julie Venus – Stumbling again
12. Vapnet – Jag lät bara sanningen gå
13. Detektivbyrån – Om du möter Varg
14. Robotboy – Night Surf
15. Kråkesølv – Hjørnebrikke
16. The Lorimer Sound – Notre Chanson en Francais
17. Parker Lewis – Trouble

DOWNLOAD
PART A | PART B

BIOGRAPHIES
PDF Document here