For my first contribution to this blog I thought I'd delve into the local music scene here in Oxford, England. I guess everyone knows Oxford for Radiohead and Supergrass but there's a wealth of underground music that's as diverse as you could possibly imagine. There's also a whole host of venues for bands to play, free music magazines and small labels cropping up. Oxford labels include Vacuous Pop, Quickfix, Truck Records and of course my own Freedom Road Records. To give you a taster of what's on offer I've picked some of the bands closer to Acoustic Woodlands sensibilities. Who knows I may get to the drum n bass, metal and unclassifiable stuff later...

Trademark make deliciously bright, bouncy electro-pop, wear labcoats when they play live and released their debut album proper 'Want More' on local label Truck Records last year. They're currently recording new material which will hopefully capitalise on their ever-growing following, with more converts being garnered ever since their tour with the Human League late last year. They're living proof that electronic music can have a human heart.

Trademark - Hold That Thought
Trademark - Sine Love

Trademark will be playing at Truck Festival in July, a much more laid back music festival with a strong roster of local and international acts.

undertheigloo produce experimental rock dreamscapes and are working on their debut album as we speak. They've have been more of a secret than Trademark, not having issued any CDs yet. But their live shows are a big draw, pulling in lots of people to see their music which lies somewhere in the middle ground between Radiohead and Four Tet. It's at turns intense and effortlessly beautiful. MP3 downloads aren't working at the moment, but you can listen to them via their Jukebox. If you like what you hear on their jukebox e-mail them and they may even send you something.

Script play post-proto-pop (their own words) which is good a description as any. The best thing about their songs is their tendency to take you by surprise, either by a change of direction as on 'As I Do' or by utilised a rarely used time signature as on '6.5'. Both tracks feature on their recent 'Triptych' EP which is not yet available for download. Tracks from the previous EP 'White Goods' are though.

Script - Run The Paths
Script - A4

• | •