Mark Northfield is a very interesting musician and composer, - maybe not exactly in the genres we usually write about here in Eardrums, - but his music really makes me feel good, and that’s a good enough reason for me to recommend this artist to all of you.

Northfield’s music has been defined by himself as “Alt Classical”, which in my opinion describes it all very good. The arrangements are mostly classical, - strings, piano and classical orchestration. The vocal melodies are closer to alternative pop/rock, but you will never question where Northfield has his heart: This is classical music. And it is more than that.
His style may remind of the music of Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy, or artists like Clogs or Max Richter, - all of them artists I like very much. For some strange reason, I am also reminded of more electronic musicians like Dave Gahan/ Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and Marc Almond, especially in  some of the vocals.

In march this year, Mark Northfield released an album called “ascendant” on his own label Substantive recordings (available at Rough Trade or CD Baby, and I’ve also seen it on iTunes). The album is composed to be listened to from start to finish, and I assure you that 50 minutes with Mark Northfield’s music is well spent. The album features nine different vocalists, and according to the press release, this is his discreet tribute to 4ad’s collective This Mortal Coil and Stephin Merritt (The 6ths and The Magnetic Fields) as well as Hector Zazou and Craig Armstrong.

Northfield regularly works as an accompanist for ballet and contemporary dance classes at Arts Ed, London Contemporary Dance School and the Royal Academy Of Dance.

Listen to one of the songs on the album, and if you like his style, get the album!

Mark Northfield - Waiting for Green

The Oaks has the most fantastic biography I’ve ever read…I hardly ever bother to read bands biographies, except from a quick glance when I’m writing about them. This band has a really good story which kind of intrigued me. Two years after 9/11, The Oaks’ Ryan Costello sold everything he owned, joined a humanitarian organization and moved to Afghanistan. He lived there for two years, spending his time working with returned refugees, teaching them agricultural techniques and becoming fluent in their native language. He documented his experiences with a series of portraits which can be seen here.

When he returned to the United States, he joined back with his songwriting partner, Matthew Antolick. The result was “Our Father and The Things They Left Behind”, an album influences by roots-folk and jazzy melodic layers.

I won’t give you the whole story about the band and the process making of this about-to-be-released album “Songs for waiting”, but I’d like to encourage you to read it, because it really says a lot about their music. The jazzy character is still a huge part of the Oaks’ music, and I think Costello’s experiences from his years in Afghanistan really left marks on the bands lyrics and music. In this new album they’ve been quite inventive with selection of instruments, and they’ve used, among others, trumpet, trombone, synths, classic and acoustic guitars, shakers, tambourines, handdrums, and electric piano. In addition to this, the vocals are just fantastic.

“Songs for Waiting” is a soothing album, with lots of feeling and history. The changing beats fit perfectly with the composition of the instruments, and the vocals really move me.

I also want to mention another fact that makes this band worth taking a closer look at. Throughout the mixing process the band was mentored and guided by Alan Douches, whose hand has been on great recordings from Paul Simon’s “Graceland” to Sufjan Steven’s “Illinois”.

This is music made for LISTENING, and the songs really ARE songs for waiting. ENJOY… The album will be out in stores the 3rd of May

The Oaks ecard

The OaKs - Masood

We have written about the Norwegian project Cold Mailman earlier here in Eardrums, and now we are very happy to tell you that CM’s debut album will be released on the fifth of May. I said debut, but it’s not really his debut. Cold Mailman has released several homemade cd-r albums in very limited editions, but this is his first “proper” album.

Cold Mailman is basically Ivar Bowitz, and whatever friend he’s got around at the time of recording. The last year, the Cold Mailman-crew has been more stable than ever, and at the moment, these people are most often present on his live shows and recordings: Ivar himself plays guitar and vocals, his brother Martin plays bass (ex-Spectacle), the drummer is Stian H (Käthe Kollwitz), Ingeborg Selnes does a lot of things and sings, Martin Larsen (Scarlet Monroe) plays guitar and Torbjørn Hafnor (Lukestar) plays guitar.

Several of the musicians who is and has been involved in Cold Mailman has a background from the hardcore-scene in Norway, but in Bowitz’ project they play delicate pop, sometimes close to acoustic folk and other times louder and more noisy, but always with the pop-structure in focus. References may be as diverse as Nick Drake/Joni Mitchell/Iron & Wine on one side, and Pavement/Motorpsycho/Sonic Youth on the other side.

The fine pop melodies are always present, but not always as obvious and immediate as you would get them in a hit song. They can arrive late, or be hidden under other elements, just waiting to be discovered by some serious listener.

The album is called “How to escape cause and effect”, and it’s released on a small (but very interesting) Oslo-based label called Spoon Train Audio. For those of you who are interested in new, Norwegian indie, they have just released an impressive high-quality compilation with lots of new, young Oslo-bands. Order it from their website.

Here’s the first single from the album, “The great escape”. Can you hear the hardcore-people in there?

Cold Mailman - The Great Escape (from nrk urört)

The Smokey Pines is a popband from Brooklyn, USA, led by songwriter/singer Jacob Sloan, who also happens to be a part of Levy, Surefire and Reno Bo Band. I first heard them through their cover of one of my favourite Lloyd Cole songs, “Charlotte Street”, and got charmed by their jangly homerecorded sunshine pop. Have a listen!

The Smokey Pines - shoot out

The Smokey Pines - charlotte street

Sebastian Litmanovich is the main man behind Cineplexx, a very interesting project for lovers of melodic, friendly and warm pop music. Sebastian is from Argentina, but lives and works in Barcelona as a musician and as a graphic artist.

On June 24th, he will release his new album, “Picnic”, on Portia Records. “Picnic” is Sebastian Litmanovich’s fifth overall album and his debut on Portia, and here he is helped by Duglas Stewart (BMX Bandits), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Jad Fair (Half Japanese) and Federico Aubele (all of them have co-written songs or performs on the tracks on the album). Sebastian’s music has a lot in common with especially Stewart’s and Blake’s music, so they seem to be the perfect collaboration partners for Cineplexx.

If you like Belle and Sebastian, The Radio dept, BMX Bandits, Camera Obscura, Little Name, Jens Lekman, Flaming Lips, Teenage Fanclub or the Beach Boys, you’ll love Cineplexx. It’s a wonderful album, and a perfect companion to the coming days of Spring. The albumtitle is perfect. “Picnic” is the exact image I get in my head when I’m listening to this album. I see myself resting on the grass on a warm spring day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and Cineplexx is playing somewhere in the background…. Mmmm!

“Picnic” is a wonderful collection of pop songs, with Sebastian’s warm and almost whispered Spanish vocals in front (except on “Tiger Trap” where Duglas Stewart sings). The album is full of pretty melodies, lush strings and harmonies, but far underneath all the niceness, you’ll discover more noisy, fuzzy and strange elements, - sometimes also darker - , which makes the album more interesting in the long run. The title track, where Jad Fair is involved, is almost psychedelic in its playful and dreamy arrangement. Wonderful!
This is one of the album’s really strong sides: The more you listen to it, the more you’ll discover.

Cineplexx - Espiral
(you can listen to more songs from the album on Sebastian’s myspace or on his nice website. The website also includes some free mp3s from his other albums and a free livealbum).