Moshi Moshi is arguably the UK’s premier tastemaker label. Friendly Fires, Florence & The Machine and Kate Nash (to name but three) have all passed through the doors of their indispensable tastemaker series the Moshi Moshi Singles Club, and the second volume of their Singles Club – rounding up their latest 7”s – is released on May 3rd.
Born out of a love for the 7” back in 2006, the Moshi Moshi Singles Club has been instrumental in launching the careers of an impressively diverse range of artists. And whether viewed as the launch pad for the UK’s leading alternative pop stars, or simply an unfailing ‘one stop shop’ for the true music-lover, the success of the Moshi Moshi Singles Club is unparalleled.
As co-founders Stephen Bass and Michael McClatchey explain, “We've always had an attachment to the 7″ as a format. Releasing 7″s was how we started out and doing one-off's has a kind of instantaneous charm that appeals to us. We find something we like and we can have it in the shops on a nice-looking piece of vinyl within a matter of weeks. Doing the singles club has given us an opportunity to work with a whole range of wonderful artists we wouldn't otherwise have dealt with. And for that reason it will always have a special place in our hearts”.
On this compilation alone, the plaudits speak for themselves:
* Critics’ Choice Award ’09 and Best Album Brit Award winner Florence & The Machine
* NME Radar Award 2010 winner The Drums
* 2 BBC Sound Poll Nominees
* 2 NME Cover stars
* 4 NME Radar featured artists
* 2 GUARDIAN Guide ‘Single(s) Of The Week’
TRACK LISTING:
1) FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE Kiss With A Fist
2) JAMES YUILL No Pins Allowed
3) CASIOKIDS Grønt lys i alle ledd
4) STILL FLYIN' Good Things It’s a Ghost Town Around Here
5) THE COCKNBULLKID I’m Not Sorry
6) FANFARLO Drowning Men
7) DISJOKKE Rosenrod
8) BLESS BEATS Sex In The City
9) KINDNESS Swinging Party
10) THE DRUMS Let’s Go Surfing
11) MIRRORS Into The Heart
12) SAMUEL & THE DRAGON Diamonds On A Boat
13) SIGNALS Silverfish
14) SUMMER CAMP Ghost Train
An offshoot of Moshi Moshi Records proper, the Singles Club was intended as a platform for the label to work with new artists, but the number of now-familiar names on this list of releases bears testament to Moshi’s star-spotting skills. Volume 1. (catalogue numbers 1 to 14), included aural assault raw(k)-punk of Danananaykroyd, the leftfield pop of Sweden’s Lykke Li, the folksy charm of Slow Club, the now chart-bothering Brit Nominees Friendly Fires, and the cult Jonathan Richman-esque songwriting of the Wave Pictures. An impressive roll-call of wildly diverse and yet consistently high quality and inventive new artists. Hearing them laid side by side on a compilation is a bit like being handed a mixtape by a cooler older brother.