Skipping Stones Records

We were so happy to finally meet Magnus from The Charade at Popfest last November. The best part of running our label is meeting great people from all over the world. Cheers to new friends, sing an Auld Lang Syne!


New Review Highlights of The Charade's 3rd album, "Keeping Up Appearances" - click on the links for a full review:

Erasing Clouds
"The Charade’s third LP continues their path of playing melodic/catchy pop songs filled with melancholy. But it also seems an especially cogent, compact expression of that. The songs are especially melodic and especially melancholy. The first, the title track, has a great hummed harmony tune, and sets up well the notion of putting a happy face forward for the sake of social graces, of not being judged, while feeling blue inside."

SoundsXP
"Keeping up Appearances is classic Scando pop, dripping cheery sunshine melodies from a track short of a full dozen golden eggs. With boy/girl shared vocals, keyboards and even a banjo on one number, there's plenty of variety too as the influences bounce from Saint Etienne, Simon & Garfunkel, New Order, the Housemartins to that old staple, 60s girl groups. One of the best indiepop albums of 2008."

Tasty Fanzine
"There is a phrase that crops up every now and again, in reviews of albums such as this one, a phrase that, for me, always evokes the sounds and images of some half-forgotten moment of actual pop genius. 'A Flawless Pop Gem, Polished to Perfection' is the phrase, and it's my turn to use it while reviewing 'Keeping Up Appearances'."

Take the Pills indie pop blog
Yeah, time has come for Take The Pills!'s best of compilation!
Top 10 of Best Albums:
1. Twig - Life After Ridge (Plastilina)
2. Minisnap - Bounce Around (Pocket Music)
3. Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls (In The Red)
4. The Charade - Keeping Up Appearances (Skipping Stones)
5. Je Suis Animal - Self-Taught Magic From a Book (Perfect Pop)
6. The Autumn Leaves - Long Lost Friend (April Dabbler)
7. Moscow Olympics - Cut The World (Lavender)
8. The Airfields - Up All Night (Humblebee)
9. The Junipers - Cut Your Key (San Remo)
10. The Botticellis - Old Home Movies (Antenna Farm)
Download the VA - Best Songs of 2008: A Take The Pills! Compilation


"Keeping Up Appearances" is now available on eMusic.