You Can't Win, Charlie Brown

You Can’t Win Charlie Brown - Over The Sun/Under The Water
Layers of harmony are supported by an insistent guitar pick building into synths before a marching drum beat carries you into the verse proper, punctuated by faint claps & a piano break giving a general air of Bon Iver on a beach. - Myspace UK

They are six, most of them from Lisbon, who have/had other projects, such as David Santos (Noiserv), a previous MAP pick. Their debut album, Chromatic, released in May, prompted influential French magazine Les Inrocks to call their music "sublime". If you are a fan of Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective, you will love You Can't Win, Charlie Brown too. - The Guardian

On cherche encore un qualificatif, plus fin et plus élevé que "sublime", pour décrire la musique de You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown. Incroyablement sensibles, belles à pleurer, de plus en plus ludiques depuis le premier maxi l’année dernière et en attendant, de cœur ferme, un album à venir, les chansons des Lisboètes portent en elles une telle mélancolie voilée, une lumière si belle, des idées mélodiques ou structurelles si géniales, des arrangements si grandioses que les Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear ou Devandra Banhart ressemblent, en comparaison, à de boueux pachydermes. Oui, on cherche encore notre qualificatif miracle, mais c’est dans le monde merveilleux qu’ils crayonnent que l’on trouvera probablement. - Les InRock

Hailing from North East London, singer, multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented Elan Tamara is about to self-release her debut EP.

Gold Fishes EP is produced by the always excellent Kwes and sees Elan play piano, saxophone, flute, xylophone, Balinese gamelan, bass, guitar, percussion and drums at various points throughout. I don't think I need to say much more do I? It's brilliant.

If you'd like to invest in one of the amazing handmade (and hand-drawn by Elan herself) EP's then pre-order at Rough Trade here and if you want to find out more about her then check out an interview she did for the elusive Interplanetarians.
- Illegal Tender

It's always exciting when we get blindsided by a consignment piece around these parts, and over the years we have discovered many of our favorite new artists when they walked through our front door and handed us a homemade CD-R. This one comes courtesy of 19-year-old London-based visual artist, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and ethnomusicology student Elan Tamara. Her four-song EP, produced by another talented young UK artist, Kwes, is a beautiful, mellow and surefooted debut that reminds one of the quirky singular vision of contemporaries like Annie Clark of St. Vincent and Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan.

All four tracks are built on the sort of kitchen sink, minimalist pop aesthetic often employed by the aforementioned artists, but the similarities stop there. For one, Elan's music is decidedly more "worldly," for lack of a better word. Traces of Balinese gamelan scales, bossa nova, '60s Bacharach pop and vocal jazz can be heard in the piano-based compositions and vocal style. But it's all about her voice folks, a strong, lovely instrument that dips high and low and is pitch perfect. "Oranges" (which has already been championed by Gilles Peterson) and "Oh Papa" are beautiful, expansive tunes that boast some impressive arrangements, incorporating multi tracked harmonies, gamelan and glockenspiel. "Outside" is a sunny, experimental bossa number that sounds just about perfect right now. On the whole it's a pretty intoxicating listen, which at an economical 18 minutes leaves you hitting the repeat button again and again.

This is one of the better debuts I've heard in a while and it all comes in a limited edition handcrafted package and poster designed by Elan Tamara herself. Recommended! [DH] (Released 2009) - Other Music NY

elan tamara is an experimental pop singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist from walthamstow. whilst studying at soas, she fell in love with various types of eastern music, and has added these influences to her own unique brand of primarily piano-led songs. this is her debut ep entitled 'gold fishes' which was produced by london producer kwes. (the xx, thecocknbullkid, valentina, micachu and more). it is a limited package and includes: individually hand-folded and hand drawn cover art and cd, a3 hand drawn poster lovingly done by elan herself. recorded with very limited equipment in a gamelan room in russell square, elan taking helm on all instruments has managed to unearth a quartet of heartfelt, familiar yet very original pop songs, laden with the sonic pleasantries of sonorous indonesian gamelan, sparkling chinese zithers, big japanese taikos, lo-fi drums / guitar, stabbing saxophones, alongside her deft, intricate piano playing and expressive beautiful voice, which carry her songs through. this is a very assured, exciting and colourful first release, the future for elan tamara can only be golden.
- Rough Trade Shop