This Manchester, England-based outfit established themselves as one of the UK's most intriguing new bands with three vinyl-only releases in 2000 on Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) and Andy Votel's Twisted Nerve Records. After signing to the label in late 1999, Lee Gorton (vocals), Ian Smith (guitar/keyboards), Matt McGeever (cello), Sam Morris (bass), and Sean Kelly (drums) were recruited by Gough to tour as his support act and backing band. The Alfie EP was released in February 2000, and was followed by two further vinyl-only releases, the Bookends EP in August and the Montevideo EP in November, which mined the same vein of deceptively shambolic acoustic folk pop as their more famous label boss. By this time, Alfie were being described as leading lights of the New Acoustic Movement, a genre dreamed up by the New Musical Express to describe the resurgence of a semi-acoustic sensibility on the UK independent music scene.

Listen to Alfie at Finetune.

• Failure (Alfie Version)

• The Beta Band
• Badly Drawn Boy
• The Polyphonic Spree
• Doves
• Super Furry Animals
• Travis
• Polyphonic Spree
• The Shins
• Kings Of Convenience
• Sufjan Stevens
• Radiohead
• Coldplay
• Air
• Royksopp
• Damien Rice
• Beck
• Gorillaz
• Iron And Wine
• Zero 7
• Stereolab

• muyolab
• jwvelez