Mitxoda Weekly #34: Between Peace and Sabotage, The Indie Pulse This Week

Song of the Week : Menekulok by Pegazusok Nem Léteznek (released on September 26, 2016)

Hello Dear Friend!

Welcome to Mitxoda Weekly #34! it’s great to have you with us!

I just received The Flying Beets stickers and YES, pure joy!
Meanwhile, I also saw the tough news about Benjamin Russell’s upcoming battle with cancer. Sending him all the strength and positive vibes in the world.

On another note, I was completely blown away by the incredible tracks you sent in for the Salon Indie de Mitxoda radio show, more than 60 MP3s in one week! I truly didn’t expect that, and of course, I won’t be able to air them all at once... but this just fuels my desire to keep the show going strong - every Friday 4PM Brussels time.
Little nods like Torture Colombe’s shoutout, and the amazing feedback from OTAT247 and LZMP members, that’s the boost I needed.

I’m writing this while listening to To Die in Beauty, rocking out like a yeti, but in my living room. I’m sharing the story of this powerful duo in this issue, and yes, the SABOTAGE series continues. Get ready.

And don’t forget to scroll all the way down (sometimes it’s too long for your email client, sorry!!) for this week’s new indie releases. Yours might be in there too, and if not, submit it here: submit.mitxoda.be

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Enjoy the read!

Mitxoda

Au menu, this week:

• Long Play: When the Yeti Bought Headphones, Inside …

• SABOTAGE — Part 2 of 6: Reading the Red Flags

• Nadine's Indie Treasures: Cintale

• Quick Indie News

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Long Play: When the Yeti Bought Headphones, Inside the Electro-Pop Odyssey of To Die In Beauty

Schwerin-Wismar railway, twilight. A pale Baltic sunset leaks across endless rapeseed fields as the local commuter rattles north. If you’re lucky, you might spot two familiar figures on the platform: Maïk Bather, leather jacket zipped against the sea wind, and his bandmate Allie Lane, waving from behind a stroller that holds the newest member of her family. Congrats, Allie!

This is where their music is forged, between lake-dotted forests, salty air and small-town calm. But press play on Peace of Mind, the duo’s debut LP, and that calm detonates into shimmering synths, trip-hop shadows and choruses you swear you’ve known forever. It’s a record that tastes, in Maïk’s own words, “like a good whisky: made to be savoured”.

And somewhere, according to the most trustworthy folklore, a headphone-shopping Yeti is savouring it, too.

A fire rekindled

Maïk’s story begins a three-hour drive southeast, in the satellite towns that orbit Berlin. In 1992 he joined his first synth-pop outfit, fingers glued to a second-hand keyboard. By ’98 he was drumming in another band, hammering out four-on-the-floor grooves until that project fizzled in 2004.

Then came the long silence. Life, bills, the usual. The instruments gathered dust, until a circle of friends, hearing ancient demos, delivered the gentle shove every dormant artist needs. “The fire was ignited” Maïk says, smiling like it’s still crackling in front of him. Old songs were rebuilt, new ones erupted, and the solo project To Die In Beauty came to life.

Enter Allie, whose crystalline voice and melodic instincts turned a one-man mission into a bona-fide duo. She joined the project, then promptly delivered a daughter on 11 May 2025, a release even more momentous than any album drop. Touring can wait; lullabies and fresh coffee call 🙂 !

Lines etched in light and noise

Spin Peace of Mind and you’ll hear the decades-long arc of Maïk’s taste: the cathedral-grade synths of Depeche Mode, the heartbeat bass of Massive Attack, the stadium melancholy of Editors and Snow Patrol, the widescreen shimmer of vintage U2. But these ingredients never congeal into cosplay. Instead they orbit around Maïk’s own curiosity, drum machines skewed just left of centre, guitar lines that arrive like northern lights, lyrics that slice straight to the pulse: life, loss, hope, repeat.

There’s “Ghost”, a postcard to Baltic dawns; “Time”, where jagged bass line cage a plea for honest conversation; “Hourglass”, whose intro drops like a stone into trip-hop depths. And there’s “Stumble”: a rythmic-burn synth guitar theme that finally hands Maïk the inner rest he’s been chasing since those Berlin suburbs.

“Now that the album is out” he tells us, “I really have peace of mind. I can close one chapter, and maybe smash open the next”. I do love that inside spirit…

The craft behind the catharsis

Ask Maïk which part of the process thrills him most, sound design, arranging, mixing, performing, … and he refuses to choose. “Each stage is its own adventure” he laughs. “Finding the perfect snare click, layering 40 vocal takes until it feels like a choir, watching the whole thing bloom in the mix… then one day, you’re onstage and you see someone singing along. That’s the day it’s real”.

Still, his favourite tool might be contrast. Glittering synth pads brush against dusty field recordings; warm analogue bass underpins frigid digital reverb. It’s the sonic equivalent of the Baltic itself; icy, luminous, full of hidden currents.

Of whiskies and Yetis

Another question for Maïk: If your music were a dish, what would it taste like? His answer? “a good whisky”! Whisky invites contemplation. It sneaks up, burns just enough, leaves smoke-sweet afterthoughts on the palate. So does Peace of Mind.

But my last question is where mythos and mischief collide: Imagine a mythical creature discovers your album. Which one, and how does it react?

Cue the Yeti, stomping through an electronics super-store, politely testing every high-fidelity headphone on display. The creature settles on a pair of open-backs, slides them over snow-white fur, and nods, slowly, blissfully, to the pulsing intro of “Follow The Echo” The sales clerk pretends not to notice the glacier footprints; the Yeti swipes a loyalty card, because even abominable audiophiles respect warranty policies.

What comes after peace?

For now, To Die In Beauty’s live ambitions are on pause while Allie’s lullaby tour conquers one cradle at a time. But write this down: when the duo does hit the stage, be it a Warnemünde beach festival (I googled it, my bad 😛 ) or a neon-lit Berlin loft, every synth swell will carry extra voltage, charged by months of quiet creation.

Maïk is already sketching new demos, curious where Allie’s vocal colours will steer the ship next. He talks about “collaboration” the way some people talk about oxygen. We can almost hear him rifling through presets, sampling seagulls, shaping the next kick drum that will punch holes in the horizon.

With playlists bloated by algorithmic safe bets, Peace of Mind reminds us that pop can still bleed, still dare, still seduce listeners into self-reflection. These songs want to hijack your headphones, route you through memories you’d buried beneath spreadsheets and grocery lists.

If you let them, they might even lure you down the hi-fi aisle of your local electronics store, where, legend insists, a certain Yeti is still comparing frequency responses. Offer a nod. Share a knowing grin. Then slip on a pair of cans, cue track one, and join the beast in its snowy groove.

Because great music, like great myth, refuses to stay frozen. It thaws, thrums and roars, until every heart in earshot vibrates at the same impossible frequency.

And that, dear reader, is why To Die In Beauty was born: to prove that somewhere between Berlin neon and Baltic mist, between whisky warmth and glacial footprints, peace of mind really can dance.

End of Line.

SABOTAGE — Part 2 of 6: Reading the Red Flags

Michael Botte’s single “Soulfully Appreciating” landed on fifty playlists overnight; ten he recognised, forty were total strangers. Forty-eight hours later DistroKid yanked the track for “artificial streaming”. The smoking gun wasn’t money changing hands, it was a suspicious graph.

Fraud filters hunt three red flags: (1) sudden spikes, (2) low engagement (streams high, saves low), and (3) traffic from unlikely geographies. Chartmetric’s audience graph shows legit playlists climbing like a hill, while botted lists look more like a cliff-face. If a spike is paired with a skip-rate above 80 % (listeners bail before 30 s), prepare for trouble. Musosoup’s primer bluntly states: “dramatic spikes upward or downward usually mean bots”.

When you spot a meteoric rise, copy the playlist URL into Artist.Tools Bot Checker; the service weighs follower history, listener-to-stream ratios and save counts, then spits out a “Likely Botted” badge if things smell fishy. Reddit’s music-marketing regulars echo the advice: “huge dips in followers the day after a spike? Those were bots being purged”.

Spotify itself admits its detector merely “infers” fraud and can’t tell whether the artist paid for placement or not. Translation: you must monitor your own data or be blindsided like Botte. Set a fifteen-minute calendar block each Friday to scan plays, saves and geography, cheaper than re-uploading your catalogue.

Screenshot everything. If a playlist surge turns toxic, you’ll need dated evidence of where the streams came from and how engagement behaved. Next week we’ll turn that paper-trail into an appeal that actually makes a support agent answer.

Coming in Part 3 – “Appeal, Escalate, Persist”: the bullet-free checklist that gets takedowns reversed and royalties restored.

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Nadine's Indie Treasures: Cintale

Carefully selected by Nadine de Macedo

If you’re nostalgic for the golden days of 90s R&B, soul, and a sprinkle of gospel, Cintale is your new favorite discovery. His album Roaring Courage flows beautifully from start to finish, balancing smooth vocals with deep emotion.
Listen now: Cintale on Spotify

Continue the discussion with Nadine here!

💬 Introducing Nadine’s Indie Treasures a new chapter where Nadine de Macedo handpicks and spotlights exceptional artists. Subscribe to her Bandcamp to support her work, enjoy exclusive singles, and be part of her evolving story!

Quick Indie News

• I wonder by no ordinary fish – Rock (UK) – 30 May 2025. A slow-building introspective track from a woman’s perspective, discovering trust in her partner.
  👉 Listen on SoundCloud

• Loathing by Shedheads – Alternative (New Zealand) – 11 May 2025. From heartbreak to healing and the fear of loving again.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Afterdome by Afterdome – Rock (Portugal) – 11 May 2025. A thunderous hard rock awakening about finding clarity through chaos.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Don't Let Me Die by Andrew Dean and The Farm Machine – Folk (USA) – 8 May 2025. An upbeat country story of faith and redemption.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Birth by Sargas – Metal (Iran) – 8 May 2025. A brutal vision of youth crushed under outdated traditions.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Eudaimonia by Morgenrøde – Alternative (Denmark) – 6 May 2025. A raw, anarchic tribute to freedom inspired by a 3-year-old.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• I'll be there by The Communal Well – Folk (France) – 4 May 2025. Warm folk tune, part of a heartfelt EP.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• New Moon by Sax Man – R&B (USA) – 1 May 2025. Smooth collab with LeVan The Man, dreamy and groovy.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Sad Ole Songs by Brad Thomas Project – Country (USA) – 25 April 2025. Nostalgic fireside country track that hits home.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• To Find the Blue by The Modern Clouds – Alternative (USA) – 25 April 2025. Reverb-drenched alt-rock with a message of hope in bleak times.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Happy Endings by Nikola Zenko – Rock (France) – 19 Feb 2025. A bittersweet post-breakup reflection with poetic lyrics.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• มือถือใจน้อย (read it like “My phone is so sensitive; the battery dies without warning. Such a drama queen!”) by Crayon Tabibito – Pop (Thailand) – 14 Feb 2025. Emotional Thai ballad, powerful and rhythmic.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Daddy Was a Soldier by Emily E. Finke – Folk (USA) – 8 Nov 2024. Tender tribute to her father and veterans everywhere.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Walking Through the Ruins by David LaRosa – Alternative (USA) – 29 Oct 2024. Reflective alt-rock on current world issues.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• A World Without Mercy by Vinlörd – Rock (Canada) – 4 Sep 2024. Society criticism wrapped in heavy rock.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• The Empty Drive by The Self Help Group – Folk (UK) – 5 Aug 2023. Haunting indie-folk inspired by the “Leaving and Waving” photo series.
  👉 Listen on Bandcamp

• Meteor by Rollin Jewett – Alternative (USA) – 18 Jul 2022. Trippy, spaced-out rock journey across galaxies.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

• Maybe by Emily E. Finke – Pop (USA) – 4 Mar 2022. Classical-meets-pop introspection on dream, faith, and self.
  👉 Listen on Spotify

If you'd like to introduce your latest release, just click here to submit all the details. I’d love to hear about it! 😇 Submit your track here.

Until Next Week: Peace, Pixels, and Playlists

This week brought it all, joyful stickers, tough news, overwhelming support, and a flood of indie gems. You reminded me why this little corner of the music world matters.

To Die In Beauty lit the way, proving that even after silence, sound can return; vivid, bold, and full of heart. Meanwhile, the SABOTAGE series continues to pull back the curtain on the hidden risks artists face.

So here’s to the ones who keep creating, despite it all. The ones who send their songs, who tune in, who believe. The Yeti’s still out there, headphones on, peace of mind spinning.

Let’s join him.

With love,
🖤 Mitxoda

END 😆