Best Kept Secret continues to be an extremely prolific, and highly recommended tape label. They've recently released a trilogy of compilation tapes called Beware Of The Ricochet. BKS is normally an indiepop label, but volume 1 shows the label diversifying into experimental but melodic electronica, rock, indie-rock, post-rock, goth, dark ambient and various other stuff that's a mixture of genres. My Legendary Girlfriend come close to indiepop but are also slightly goth tinged. This isn't a totally indiepop-free zone though; there's Mayumi, Foofie, Longhair and Moonbabies who all make variations on the atmospheric noisepop theme, and Delicate Awol who do a kind of off-centre and occasionally noisy indiepop. Songdog's Stalker starts off reminding me quite a lot of Timo, so isn't indiepop as such, but fits in OK with songs that are. Also apprearing are Mothburner who are frequently pigeonholed as goth, but whilst their music is dark it's not exactly goth. This particular track is from the quieter side of their repertoire which sounds rather folky. Also includes tracks from Luminous, Gary K, 360 Sound, Nero's Acolytes, Mugwump, Chrysler, Alien Breed, Devereux, Dakota 45, Astroboy, Reckoning and Idiot Box.

Volume 2 is more typical of Best Kept Secret overall as this is much more of a pop tape. 'Pop' is still used in a wide sense though, as the music varies between 80s-ish indiepop, 90s-ish indiepop, folky/psychey music, music that's on the borderline between pop and rock, electropop, 60s influenced pop, noisepop, and even music that borders on the mainstream kind of pop. Includes Madman's Butterfly, London Fields, Campo Mondo (a Moonbabies offshoot), Vinyl Bill, 4th Dimension, Tell Him He's Pele, Garfield's Birthday, Kidd Dynamo, Ten, Songdog (who on this occasion are a cross between 60s and 80s pop and are nothing like Timo), Xavier Mona, Gulliver, The Void, Tim Chaplin, Murph, The Last Taxi, Immediate, Twigs, San Transisto, Fruit Machine, Violafan and Casino Royal.

Volume 3 is noisepop and indie-rock, featuring Birdhouse, Dreyfuss, Scarlet Soho, Blocko, @tomika, Cinderella's Big Score, Sub Tonic, White Tea, The Vow, Vodka Camels, PS Reality, Model Ford, Lunch, Picture The Beautiful, Marlo, Lucas, Semion, Chalk, Venus In Furs, Nimo and Stresshead. This comp 'flows' well as all the bands are likely to appeal to the same audience. They're not all so alike that this sounds like a tape of just one band though, which is good.

Also on Best Kept Secret is a tape by Simpático, Of Goodbye Kisses. This band includes Jason Sweeney of Sweet William, a band who sounded influenced by The Field Mice. The same influence is evident here, as well as the ex-Field Mice band Trembling Blue Stars. Some songs are guitar/drum machine based and others are more electronic but are still indiepop. There's also an instrumental track Cloud Photos which is a slightly more experimental (but still tuneful) kind of electronica and makes me think a bit of some of the electronic stuff done by The Spanish Amanda. Daybreak is quite Blueboy-like. Winter Frame has an indiepoppy melody but its instrumentation is rather eerie and echoey and is more of a post-rock thing. They also cover Relax (yes, the Frankie Goes To Hollywood song!)

Other People's Children is another of Jason Sweeney's bands but their music, as heard on their Best Kept Secret tape Happy Friend In Frosted City, is not as obviously Field Mice influenced as Sweet William or Simpático. The first track is out-and-out electronica, as is June Telephone, but there are also keyboard based indiepop songs here, some of which are straightforward pop and others are more experimental but still melodic.

In the early 90s when I was getting into indiepop, this scene was spread across various countries, but later in the decade there was less of an interest in it in the UK. It seems it never died out in France as I've heard of lots of indiepop-related small labels, bands and fanzines from there throughout the 90s and the current decade. River are from France and their Once Upon A Time tape brings together 22 songs recorded between 1996 and 1998. They play a kind of old-style (ie good) indiepop that's sometimes melancholic and sometimes twee. One of the few songs sung in French, Tu As Beau, is more of a powerpop thing (but not the punky sort of powerpop). I think all the songs have the same singer but on some songs his voice is rather high (possibly the voice has been speeded up?) Waiting reminds me of When Morning Comes To Town by The Field Mice, and bits of Suddenly (parts of the melody and perhaps the chord changes) make me think of the early, more poppy stuff by The Sea Urchins (although overall the song isn't that much like them as it's more minimal and also more DIY sounding). A Night With Inčs is like a cross between indiepop, easy listening and 70s disco.

Swedish band Hunnypal have a tape called Everyone Carries Around Secrets. I can't quite make up my mind whether I like the stuff on side one or not - to say it's bland or objectionable would be unfair but I just feel that they may be influenced by various so-called 'indie' bands who are actually mainstream (some songs remind me of The Smiths and The Underground puts me in mind of Pulp). Although true indiepop - the sort which attracts small but appreciative audiences - is probably my favourite kind of music, the more commercial kind of 'indie' music often isn't. (I've noticed that non-indiepop fans can't seem to tell the difference between the famous and less well known types of indie music, but believe me, there is a BIG difference). On side two there are some more appealing songs - the band still sound a bit Smiths-ish at times, but there's just something about these tracks that I like more than the others. Overall, the band sound a little more undergroundy on this side I think, and they can sometimes get very noisy. Wasn't sure what to make of Hunnypal to start with, but after listening to a few more songs I can hear that they're not all that bad.

Best Kept Secret have also released a tape version of Garfields Birthday's Words & Pictures, an excellent 60s-inspired indiepop album.

Info from Best Kept Secret, Via Biron Di Sotto 101, 36100 Vicenza, Italy. bks@telemar.it www.indiepages.com/bestkeptsecret

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