Browse by Label: A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)

Artist:	TEAMFOREST
Title:	Home
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 004EP

Released in 2002. "Home" is the meeting of a long-forgotten New Zealand lo-fi-pop attitude with rattling electronica beats and sounds, plus a few unhip instruments like banjo and synth trumpets that actually results in something like a classic pop song with a finely-tuned melody and just the right melancholic note. The B-side shows an even moodier aspect of Teamforest. Pure electronic melancholy with a slight shimmer of hope, all relaxed and grooving like a respectful tribute to Boards of Canada.

Artist:	JOHN YOKO
Title:	Papa Was a Rodeo
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 006EP

Released in 2005. Lali Puna's Valerie Trebeljahr and Markus Acher have resigned themselves to the joke that people often compare them to John & Yoko. This is their first joint excursion outside the familiar surroundings of their band set-up, and provides one more gem in the carefully-selected series of 7"s on Morr Music's sub-label, A Number of Small Things. Covers of songs by Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields and Bill Callahan (Smog).

Artist:	FLEISCHMANN, B.
Title:	Frisky He Said
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 008EP

Released in 2006. A supplement to the album The Humbucking Coil, released by the Vienna-based songwriter, B. Fleischmann. This two-tracker is made of space -- space to breathe and space to grow. "Frisky He Said" is a meditative piano piece, gradually surrounded by Fleischmann's typical clicking rhythm structures. The second track is an alternative version from what was on the full-length and starts with a minimal organ tune, followed up by a laid back guitar. This reduced melody is completed by tricky, adjusted beats. Digital and analog, closely-woven and wide open.

Artist:	ELECTRIC PRESIDENT
Title:	You Have the Right to Remain Awesome: Volume 1
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 009EP

Released in 2006. You Have the Right to Remain Awesome: Volume 1 begins with the organic "Good Ol' Boys," a carefully-arranged juxtaposition of soundtracks and sound signals. A track that borrows its concentration from rhythm and its electronic oscillations from digital music. A track that matures into analog vividness. "Dotted Lines" seems to be the exact opposite: almost a folk song, carried by an acoustic guitar and a likeable melody.

Artist:	ELECTRIC PRESIDENT
Title:	You Have the Right to Remain Awesome: Volume 2
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 010EP

Released in 2006. You Have the Right to Remain Awesome: Volume 2 starts with a dawn of two guitar patterns and flows into a captivating melody that is supported by tender trumpets. "I'm Not The Lonely Son (I'm The Ghost)" is a meandering pop song, a song for sunsets. "Wearing Influences On Our Sleeve-Less T-Shirts" appears equally direct but more quiet and stately. And once more there is Ben Cooper's clear and direct voice. A ballad maybe -- were there no handclaps within the chorus and if "ballad" weren't a cheesy category.

Artist:	POPULOUS
Title:	Breathes The Best
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 011EP

Released in 2006. Whereas Queue For Love enlarged the abstract-electronic foundation of Populous' debut album Quipo with reference points such as jazz, space, songwriting and soul (as attitude AND sound reference), Breathes The Best learns to stand on its own two feet, finally free of expectations. "Breathes The Best" is a digital pop song with body (in the sense of space to breathe) and soul. "Bon Bon Pour Les Rappers" begins as a game of soundscapes, absorbed by Populous' earliest passion: a nonchalant rhythm pattern. "Blood Red Bird" is a cover of a Smog classic, played by Andrea Mangia's friends, Giardini Di Mirò -- mixed and rearranged by Populous. Melancholy, indulging, rapt and close to your ear.

Artist:	BENNI HEMM HEMM
Title:	Beginning End
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 012EP

Released in 2006. "Beginning End" is an emphatic overture, reduced to opulence. A lot of instruments -- guitars, a brass section and a glockenspiel -- ensnare just a few sounds, a lively game. The second track is "Beygja Og Beygja," Benni Hemm Hemm's first hit single. This time, it is performed by an acoustic guitar and Benni's Icelandic singing fragments. Reminiscent of Stereolab, Ennio Morricone and any other good-natured dance band, sometime after midnight when the power goes out.

Artist:	QRELLA, MASHA
Title:	Don't Stop The Dance/Saturday Night
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 013EP

Released in 2006. Famous and familiar songs: Brian Ferry's "Don't Stop The Dance" on the one side, and "Saturday Night" from the Berlin-based duo Komeït on the other. Ferry's smooth declaration of love with its charismatic short interruptions are also typical of Masha Qrella's music. The arrangement and production is precise, transparent, and interwoven in a complex way. "Saturday Night" charms with an emphatic closeness instead of the vibrating coolness of side A. Take me to the places that I've never seen, indeed.

Artist:	SEABEAR
Title:	The Ghost That Carried Us Away
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	LP + 7"
Price:	$19.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 014LP

Originally released by Morr Music in 2007, now re-released on vinyl by sub-label A Number Of Small Things, also including the sold-out 2007 Teenage Kicks vinyl 7". This is the debut release by Iceland's Seabear. The Ghost That Carried Us Away flatters in a rather unobtrusive way: fragile hymns of nonchalant casualness, created by Sindri Már Sigfússon. Guitars, piano, his almost bashful and yet present voice -- themes of nature, mortality and love from Iceland's musical heartland, Reykjavik. There's a violinist with her voice in the clouds, Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdóttir (violin, vocals, harmonica) and Orn (guitar, lapsteel). Other members include Eiki, Orvar, Gudni and Dóri: one plays the flugelhorn, the slide-guitar and upright-bass, one belongs to the live line-up of Sigur Rós and another is part of the sensational Múm. Some are stage members of Benni Hemm Hemm's band. Sigfusson invited them into his small studio, placed them in front of the only microphone and let them think about his musical thoughts. He likes the notion and the feeling of lo-fi, and for the recording of the drums, only three microphones were used. The result is reminiscent of the reduced stereo recordings of the 1960s. "Libraries" is tiny and gigantic, unobtrusive and exciting at the same time -- a song like blinking into the most beautiful sunrise. A tumbling piano, swinging drums and melancholy melodies. "Hands Remember" includes murmuring vocals and two violins. In "Summer Bird Diamond," birds twitter to the sounds of an old banjo and glockenspiel. It is almost like a chamber folk radio play. And "Seashell" at last, is a pocket symphony, arranged around jumping drums.

Artist:	BUTCHER THE BAR
Title:	Get Away/Leave This Town
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 017EP

Butcher The Bar is the 22 year-old Joel Nicholson, who currently resides in the north of England with his acoustic guitar and a couple of instruments such as a banjo, a melodica and an accordion. "Get Away" is a melancholy goodbye to a town, a disillusioned memory of a city that fades away while still living in it. "Leave Town" is as minimal and as maximal as a pop song could be: a guitar, a banjo and a warm voice.

Artist:	SEABEAR
Title:	Lion Face Boy/Cold Summer
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 021EP

This is the first single from the second Seabear album, We Built A Fire. While "Lion Face Boy" features the classic Seabear indie-folk-virtues, the flipside "Cold Summer" surprises with an intense and unsettling ballad that breaks new territory. Seabear started out as a one-man project of singer/guitarist Sindri Már Sigfússon, but grew into today's collective of 7 Icelanders with their debut album The Ghost That Carried Us Away (ANOST 014LP/MORR 076CD) in 2007.

Artist:	LALI PUNA
Title:	Remember
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 022EP

Morr Music brings you this perfect appetizer of Lali Puna's fourth album, Our Inventions (MORR 098CD/LP). "Remember" is the album's most jubilant track, perfectly recalling the extrovert tendencies of Faking The Books (MORR 044CD/LP). Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, this track has the kind of clever arrangements and haunting melodies that truly make a hit. "Remember" was heavily requested when it was streamed on various web sites like Pitchfork.com, and it has received heavy rotation on many radio stations. Also includes a non-album track.

Artist:	LALI PUNA
Title:	Move on/After All Stop
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 023EP

"Move On," taken from the Lali Puna album Our Inventions (MORR 098CD/LP), is a track that summarizes pretty well what Lali Puna is about: it starts with a quite abstract and kicking beat that is accompanied by Valerie Trebeljahr's voice but then the refrain comes in: and thanks to the generous harmonies, the whole song now suddenly blossoms out, but without losing focus. The previously-unreleased flipside features a long introduction that uses the voice as a transcendent instrument.

Artist:	SCOTT, ROBERT
Title:	Too Early
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 025EP

As singer of The Bats and bass player with The Clean, Robert Scott is one of the main protagonists of the New Zealand indie scene. Songs pour out of Robert Scott constantly, collected in exercise books and on cassette tapes over the years. "Too Early" is a short and fuzzy pop song garnished by Scott's laconic vocals. "The Moon Upstairs" will thrill you with its slightly psychedelic guitar arrangements. The 7" comes with a silk-screened cover designed by Julia Guther.

Artist:	PASCAL PINON
Title:	I Wrote A Song
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 026EP

Pascal Pinon are Icelandic twins Jófríður and Ásthildur. When they were only 14, they decided to start a band with two of their friends. Using a guitar, a glockenspiel and of course, their voices, Pascal Pinon produced a twee mixture of acoustic neofolk and lo-fi pop with a remarkable sense for songwriting. It was nominated for The Icelandic Music Awards as Newcomer of the Year, 2009. This 7" contains three tracks from their self-titled album. Sleeve design by Julia Guther.

Artist:	SIN FANG
Title:	Landslide/The Only Living Boy In New York
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 027EP

Iceland's Sindri Már Sigfusson used his time off from touring the world with Seabear to write and record an album of his solo project Sin Fang (formerly Sin Fang Bous). The album is preceded by this 7" featuring two all-time-classic non-album conversions: "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac and Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy In New York." Sin Fang's versions withdraw some of the glossy sweetness of the originals and replace it with a pinch of heartbreaking weirdo-folk.

Artist:	SIN FANG
Title:	Because Of The Blood/Two Boys
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 029EP

Icelandic king of lo-fi layered lushness Sindri Már Sigfússon aka Sin Fang (formerly Sin Fang Bous) brings you a 7" as a foretaste of his album Summer Echoes. "Because Of The Blood" encapsulates the essence of the forthcoming album in a euphoric, orchestral pop song that manages to merge epic tune-sculpting with several layers of choir. "Two Boys" is a heartbreaking ballad, like the essence of pop music in two minutes.

Artist:	FM BELFAST
Title:	Underwear
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 030EP

To celebrate the signing of the wonderful Icelandic supergroup FM Belfast, A Number Of Small Things presents "Underwear," the biggest hit from their debut album How To Make Friends (KRCD 012CD/KRLP 012LP) with an exclusive additional version that was recorded live in their backyard and a version from Prins Póló. "Underwear" perfectly captures FM Belfast's carefree and enthusiastic attitude and provides a glimpse into the joy surrounding everything the band gets up to.

Artist:	FENSTER
Title:	Oh Canyon/White To Red
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 032EP

Fenster plays deconstructed pop music, layering subtle distortions, melodic chords and city soundscapes under dream narratives and schadenfreude. The two songs evoke a futuristic nostalgia -- playing with Tom Waits percussion and Velvet Underground guitar riffs with a nod to the macabre Dada sweetness of early Beck and Cat Power. Their instruments include slamming doors and trashy synths, utilizing the analog warmth of their instrumentation to underscore the interaction between the two vocalists.

Artist:	MUM
Title:	Gleoileg Jol
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 033EP

Iceland's Múm send seasonal greetings with this 7", containing two interpretations of conventional Icelandic Christmas songs: "Nú er Gunna á nýju skónum" ("Now Gunna is wearing her new shoes") and "Babbi segir" ("Daddy Says"), both of which are traditionally sung around the tree at Christmas dances. They are arranged for guitar, autoharp, kazoos and voices and are sung in (charming) terrible-beautiful style. Slightly festive stuff yet melancholic, floating somewhere between pure naiveté and lucid kitsch. With the addition of artwork by lead singer Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason and a coupon for a free download (with a a digital bonus track), this is the best Icelandic Christmas 7" put out all year.

Artist:	MUM
Title:	Toothwheels
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	ANOST 041EP

Electronic pop fruitcakes múm return with a single, before coming up with a whole new album later in 2013. "Toothwheels" starts off with echoes of their millennium-era rhythms, which morph into shadows. Flourishing strings and teeming arpeggios elevate the track, which spins along in a cyclical motion before being washed away. The lulling vocals disguise the song's fatalistic lyrics, evoking an eerie sense of immateriality. "Cranes Like Ships" is built around booming electronic beats and confused synthesizers, but it's a much happier affair.

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Artist:	SEAVAULT
Title:	Mercy Seat
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 015EP

Artist:	IT'S A MUSICAL
Title:	The Music Makes Me Sick
Label:	A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	ANOST 018EP