Hey my indie friend,
So many things have been moving lately. New tracks keep landing from everywhere, and on my side I’ve been improving (again) the voting system. And surprise: today at 4pm, voting opens once more.
You’ve got one vote per week, so choose wisely, and feel free to nudge your friends to join in. Votes close on Thursday at 5pm, then reset when the new Salon begins. Fair, simple, and very indie: one vote, one chance, no spam, no stress, just fun 🙂
Ready?
This week, I noticed a discussion started by Ghost of Rucker, along with some heartbreaking news from KTO. So yes, I’m inviting you to (re)read the interview I did with them last June. An amazing band, truly. And after that, as always, a fresh batch of new sounds waiting for you at the end of this email and a special Clapton/MTV slice of history...
I hope you’ll enjoy the journey.
Love 🤍, and happy reading,
Mitxoda
Your reading pleasure starts here…
A Mirror, Not a War: Building Indie Home Beyond Spotify
Ghost of Rucker opened a mirror on Facebook: “I see a lot of musicians leaving Spotify. What do you guys think about that?”
And what came back wasn’t ideology, it was lived indie truth: Neckbeard Noose hitting the nerve with “Not enough,” RedPrint naming the “love hate relationship,” Nadine de Macedo reminding us how brutally reach can collapse when you vanish, while In Your Dreams refuses the ethical compromise and reroutes attention elsewhere.
Then Cloud Blood quietly points to tomorrow, waiting for Subvert.fm before deciding, and that’s where hope lives for me: not in a perfect platform, but in artists staying honest, staying connected, and slowly building a future where our music can breathe in spaces we actually shape together…
and what if we build our own community, now?
I’ll see you all later today at 4:00 PM (Brussels time) for the 38th episode of Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda, live at salon.mitxoda.be, see you very soon.
Quick Indie News
A big thank you to Mark Overdrive for the years, the noise, and the words he shared following his departure from Kathleen Turner Overdrive.
His message was deeply punk and full of love for the band, for Lizzie, for the venues, and for everyone who crossed paths with KTO along the way.
Wishing Mark nothing but the best for what comes next.
And to Lizzie and the rest of the KTO crew: stay loud, stay sharp, stay unapologetically punk rock.
Long live the noise, in every form it takes.
Hey, wanna be listed here? help me get all that fresh indie news!
» Submit your latest songs here
» Share the latest hot indie news (email me back), and I’ll feature it in another edition!
Don’t miss this week’s historical fact, right below the track listings!
🎧 Taylor D — Survive
📅 2026-01-14 • 🇮🇪 Ireland - Rock
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/track/7qoccdPxIPu2rmmkw7Unji
A raw and determined rock track about endurance and inner strength. Survive carries the weight of lived experience while pushing forward with grit, honesty, and resolve.
🎧 Shannon D’Arcy — Control Freak
📅 2026-01-16 • 🇬🇧 UK - Alternative
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/album/4u1yUYOquwBrzzZAL6ckP4
Sarcastic, sharp, and cathartic, Control Freak was written in a moment of pure frustration. A punchy anthem aimed at anyone who thinks they have the right to control who you are, best enjoyed loud.
🎧 SFSF & Berlos Band — Berlin
📅 2026-01-09 • 🇩🇪 Germany / 🇬🇧 UK
Electro Rock Ballad
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/track/28EOGCBPAsGqlGgENZmTwi
Born from a shared road trip and creative friction, Berlin blends piano-led foundations with electro-rock intensity. A vocal duo that mirrors the city itself, electrifying, overwhelming, and unforgettable.
🎧 Voltage Reign — Into The Unknown
📅 2026-01-02 • 🇺🇸 USA
Industrial / Gothic / Electronic
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/track/4dY9G6GjLd4Wl2pKOWd0yJ
A romantic dirge set in a dystopian wasteland, following a fractured soul piecing together memory, loss, and love. Fully written, performed, and illustrated by Derek Reece, this track expands the Voltage Reign universe with cinematic depth and meticulous craft.
🎧 Renegade Train — Feet Of Clay
📅 2026-01-09 • 🇺🇸 USA
Rock
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/album/3mgHytl6PIA1iDNWc8T7PX
High-energy and anthemic, Feet Of Clay is built for momentum. A straight-to-the-point rock track designed to hit hard and stay loud.
🎧 Jay El Dee — I’ll Be Fine, Right?
📅 2026-01-16 • 🇺🇸 USA
Pop
🔗 https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jayeldee/ill-be-fine-right/
Written during a period of burnout, this song tells a story of exhaustion, escape, and resilience. Produced by Austin Davis, it captures the rebellious courage needed to reignite your own flame.
🎧 Rollin Jewett — You’re A Walk In The Park
📅 2025-12-10 • 🇺🇸 USA
Big Band / Swing
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/track/2Rl5dzfm7seRvSA8j7ZAqj
A smooth, original big band swing track written by Bo Hoss and performed by Rollin Jewett. Classic charm, effortless groove, and timeless elegance from the upcoming album My Kinda Cool.
🎧 Kier — Soul (La voie de l’âme)
📅 2025-12-11 • 🇫🇷 France
Folk
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqTlX_6EmS0
Inspired by the words of painter Konrad Mägi, Soul blends poetry, visual art, and music into a reflective folk piece. A contemplative opening track from the album Le temps ébloui.
🎧 Black Marine & MX THE AMERICAN — HAIR KILLER
📅 2026-01-09 • 🇦🇹 Austria 🇺🇸 USA
Alternative / Experimental
🔗 https://open.spotify.com/album/4OOjEheTxm1p6RKdjy6qLD
A genre-defying collaboration merging avant-garde composition, heavy music, and rap. Inspired by a real event in Belgium, HAIR KILLER evolves into a powerful blend of humor, intensity, and uncompromising artistic vision.
🎧 Lunar Paths — Afterlight
📅 2025-11-15 • 🇺🇸 USA
Post-punk / Alternative
🔗 https://lunarpaths.bandcamp.com/track/afterlight
Crunchy percussion, hypnotic drones, power-tool samples, and soaring vocals collide in this dark yet hopeful post-punk track. Inspired by grim political realities, Afterlight ultimately leans toward resilience and sanity.
🎧 PINHDAR — RED
📅 2026-01-16 • 🇮🇹 Italy
Trip-hop / Darkwave
🔗 https://soundcloud.com/user-117562932/red-24-44/s-ZOazXa37TPI
A song of tension and collapse, RED explores anger, violence, and emotional scarcity. Deep trip-hop rhythms meet darkwave guitars, anticipating PINHDAR’s forthcoming album with quiet menace and elegance.
🎧 Mathias Oskarsson — Fracture
📅 2026-01-30
Instrumental / Cinematic
🔗 https://linktr.ee/mathiasoskarsson
An emotionally charged instrumental exploring rupture, vulnerability, and reconstruction. Built for deep listening and visual storytelling, Fracture unfolds with restraint and cinematic intensity, ideal for film, trailers, and sync use.
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.
Historical Fact: When Silence Spoke Louder Than Amplifiers
On January 16, 1992, at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England, Eric Clapton stepped onto a bare stage for an episode of MTV Unplugged, and quietly rewrote live music history.
No walls of sound. No distortion. Just wood, strings, breath, and space. Songs like Layla were stripped to their emotional core, while Tears in Heaven turned the room into a collective pause. What happened that night wasn’t a performance chasing relevance; it was an artist choosing vulnerability.
The recording went on to win six Grammy Awards, became Clapton’s bestselling album, and remains the bestselling live album of all time. When an artist dares to remove the noise, the truth gets louder.
Sometimes the bravest move in music is to unplug, don’t you think?
Keep the Historical Fact?
Until Next Week: Before you scroll away, vote, or hit play again…
Take your time.
This Weekly isn’t meant to be rushed.
One vote per week.
A few tracks that crossed paths.
A conversation that started somewhere else and landed here.
A band worth rediscovering.
And a small reminder that music history still echoes into the present.
That’s the rhythm I like.
Slow enough to feel real.
Open enough to stay alive.
Thanks for being here, for reading, listening, voting, or simply passing through.
If something resonated, feel free to share it, or, no… keep it just for yourself. But I ask you to enjoy it as much as you can.
See you later today in the Salon.
And until the next track…
🖤 Mitxoda
Did you like this weekly?
END 😆