Pickled Egg Records' first release was a 7" by The Melons, an indiepop band in the same vein as the Fat Tulips. The label didn't continue in this style though; they've established a reputation for unusual and diverse music by bands that can often be loosely called pop, but with a definite difference. Some are simply more original and genre-hopping than your average pop band; others are out-and-out experimental bands that can't really be called pop at all.

Le Bleu are an Edinburgh-based band who sing in French. Their album Out Of...Le Bleu is sophisticated, chic pop which is mostly synth-based but also features guitar, accordion, double bass, cello, marimba and mouth organ. A spacey vibe runs through most of it, and there are hints of jazz in some tracks. Words like 'hypnotic', 'atmospheric' and 'dreamlike' spring to mind when listening to most tracks here, yet this isn't the sort of music where melody has secondary importance. Trop Beau Pour Etre Vrai and La Vie Est Comme Une Fleuve in particular manage to be atmospheric and dreamlike yet still very catchy and melodic.

Farina have an album on Pickled Egg, Three People. This is lo-fi music inspired by classy 60s film music, experimental music, neo-classical music, indiepop (melancholic and non-melancholic), 60s pop, a bit of jazz, a bit of easy listening and a bit of noisy guitar stuff. As well as the more usual instruments, they play stuff like trumpet, accordion, melodica and autoharp. Trumpet appears most often and is highly effective. This is a truly excellent album - tuneful indiepop, but which adds something new and different to this genre instead of just being a straightforward replica of 80s bands. Two People and Confession TV are particularly great, as well as Shooting Stars which has a riff that puts me in mind of The Sea Urchins' My Ship Is Going Down. Don't expect this band to be a Sea Urchins ripoff band though - as I said, they do not merely replicate 80s bands but are an original version of the indiepop style.

Big Eyes are interesting as they contain members of Bouquet and Plouf!, two of the most twee bands ever (they're twee in different ways but both twee), but sound totally nothing like them. The personnel, coupled with the fact that they get their name from those kitsch prints from the 70s with children and fluffy animals with big eyes (I saw this is an interview) suggests that this band would be really twee, but this couldn't be further from the truth. They use classical instruments as well as the more usual band instrumentation, and on their Clumsy Music album they create a mostly instrumental sound which incorporates elements of classical, surf, Eastern European music, experimental music, continental film music, country and folk, all held together by the dark feel that pervades the entire album. Back Seat is a dark, sleazy instrumental with a story narrated over the top which is just as dark and sleazy. Very reminiscent of Kirk Lake. When they're in their 'French arty film soundtrack' mode they sound similar to L'Augmentation. A few tracks here are that almost atonal kind of modern classical music, but most of the time the band are more melodic (fortunately!)

Need New Body consists of members of Bent Leg Fatima and Bablicon. If you've heard those bands then you'll know to expect something pretty crazy from this band. Their self-titled album consists of weird improvisation and repetition, and random noises in the background, peppered with the occasional more melodic number, like Peppermint (a weirder version of ska), Tittiepop (basically a jazz instrumental), Gamble On/Banji (a jazzy track with vocals) and Death March Skull (off-centre synthpop meets folk meets psychedelia). They also have a rap track, Buffalo Stance, but this isn't the Neneh Cherry song, and neither is it rap in the mainstream sense. When they're melodic, they're good - no doubt about that. I normally hate improvisational, random 'music', and it has to be said that some of this is just too improvisational and/or repetitive, but at other times they manage to be improvisational and random and still listenable. For example, parts of Tittiepop are improvised by the sound of it, but this track is great. This album is sometimes too weird, sometimes excellent, always pretty wacky.

And while I'm on the subject of Bablicon, they themselves have an album on Pickled Egg, curiously titled The Cat That Was A Dog - A Flat Inside A Fog. Using piano, upright bass, clarinet, sax, violin and theremin, amongst other instruments, this album is a cross between jazz and modern classical, with occasional touches of Indian music (most noticeable in parts of Travelling) and experimental rock. I'm only previously familiar with this band's 7" on Pickled Egg, which was very bizarre indeed. According to the press blurb, Bablicon's previous albums were improvised/loosely structured, whereas this album was composed beforehand and is more tuneful. There are parts of this album that sound improvised but overall it does have a more structured sound, whilst still retaining a strong sense of experimentation. The majority of the album is instrumental, but there are also a couple of tracks with vocal parts, Blu Hawaii and Pigeon of Doom. I was expecting something extremely wacky, perhaps even unlistenably so, but whilst it's strange and different music it's also very serious sounding. This album should appeal to fans of jazz and modern classical as well as those into experimental music. The more improvisational moments here don't do much for me, but the melodic tracks are generally very listenable.

A much more song-based album is Easter Songs by 100 Pets, who consist of members of Lure Luxx, My Little Problem and Pilote who I've not yet heard, and I'm Being Good and the pre-Clearlake band Not Bit Of Wood, who I have. The few songs I've heard by these last two bands were rather quirky; this and the fact that this record is on Pickled Egg suggests that 100 Pets may also make eccentric music, but this isn't entirely the case. There are some occasional experimental sounding bits on the album but it isn't at all wacky or over the top. The album consists of melancholic, guitar based indiepop songs, with sprinklings of psychedelia, folk and post-rock. They have previously attracted comparisons to Nick Drake, Low and Galaxie 500, and whilst I don't think 100 Pets are identical to any of these, I can kind of see where the comparisons have come from. I'd add assorted Sarah bands to that list too. Imagine a post-rock band doing Sarah covers and you'd be imagining a band pretty similar to 100 Pets. Whilst it's not hard to think of bands to compare 100 Pets to, they aren't a mere copy of any of these artists - like Farina reviewed earlier, they add something new to the indiepop genre.

Following releases on their own S.H.A.D.O. label, Valvola now have a 10" on Pickled Egg, which features DJ Spectra. Entitled A Disappointed Love With A Desensitized Robot, this features the trademark S.H.A.D.O. artwork with swirly psychedelic writing and pictures of electrical equipment and 60s/70s looking people (this time with no clothes on). This is retro-futurist pop with spacey bleeps and other electronic sounds, and a 60s film soundtrack/easy listening instrumental influence, that manages to be poppy and experimental at once. Fans of Pram, Broadcast and L'Augmentation will go for this I'm sure.

Lots of originality to be found on this label - visit www.pickled-egg.co.uk for more info.

BACK TO AQUAMARINE