Expectations

Cut off your hands have an exclusive EP, Live at the Lime with... out now, only at the LimeWire store. It was recorded in Oct. 2008 for a Live at the Lime Session at the CMJ in New York earlier this year and and it includes two songs from their upcoming full-length album, scheduled for a Jan 2009 release. "Oh Girl" (my favourite track) and "Let's Get out of here" will be on the upcoming You and I full length.

Tracklisting:

1. You Still Love Me
2. Nostalgia
3. Oh Girl
4. Still Fond
5. Let's Get Out Of Here

Cut off your hands also a new video for their song, "Expections".



Cut Off Your Hands - You and I (mp3) (buy)

Since we're already on the subject of expectations, Glasgow's Bubblegum Lemonade is slightly cooler than their name leads you to believe.

It's twee-pop, combined with 60's sha-la-las but slightly darker with Jesus and Mary Chain style drumming and Byrds inspired catchiness.

Bubblegum Lemonade - I'll Never be Yours (mp3) (buy)

The Starlets are actually a bunch of guys from Glasgow who "rock it in a shy way". They're big in Japan and their songs sound starry.
Starlets - Running out of Saturday (mp3) (buy)

Swoon

Le sigh. Cut off your Hands, even with their macabre name, is something to swoon over. And it's not the fact that their debut album, You and I, which should be out in early 2009 is produced by Bernard Butler. It's because the EP Happy as Can Be already offers soaring, sweeping melodies, with a Brit-pop romanticism, and great melodies. They're from New Zealand, but their first single is already making its rounds in the UK. As NME states "what's not to love?"

Happy as Can Be Tracklisting:
01 You Still Love Me
02 Happy As Can Be (mp3) (buy)
03 Shorelines
04 Nostalgia
05 (Hidden Track)