Bandprofile

Lulu & The Lampshades – Feet to the sky (new single)

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases, Reviews | Comments Off

lulu and the lampshades

“Feet to the sky” is the debut-single from UK indie/folk/pop-band Lulu & The Lampshades, and the wonderful cover-art made by Kate Slater is as colourful as the music on this single is. Some of you may remember that we have presented this band earlier here on Eardrums, and I was quite excited when I got my hands on their first single. The single is out today on the new London label Voga Parochia, a label I have high hopes for.

The girls and the boy in Lulu & The Lampshades seem to be playful people, and it’s also easy to hear in their music. Unexpected tempo-shifts, bottle-percussion (?), glockenspiel, fun arrangement details and lots of handclaps colour their music. Although I love the other musical elements, it’s the warm and soulful vocals of Lulu and Heloise that gets most of my attention. Beautiful! I suspect that all members in the band take part in the backing vocals, and on “Rose Tint” we can also hear some nice male vocals in one part of the song (is this their drummer, Dan?).

Both songs on this single are very good, and they show two sides of the band; – “Feet to the sky” is upbeat with lots of things happening in the background, while “Rose Tint” moves more slowly and manages to say a lot with very few elements. This little two track taster leaves me wanting more, much more, so please Lulu & The Lampshades, can we get an album, – soon?

The 7″ is only available in 200 copies, but there is also a download option, and you can find links to where you can buy it on their myspace page and their label-page.

Here are a couple of live-videos from Bandstand Busking:

Little Comets

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile | Comments Off

Little Comets

The energetic indie band Little Comets hail from Newcastle, UK, and they will release their first single ‘Adultery’ on 26 October through Columbia Records. The single is self-produced, and mixed by Rich Costey (MGMT/Muse). Here’s the video:

Piroth – Safe Haven

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music, Recommended Releases | Comments Off

piroth_portrait_2-copy-2

The last few days, I’ve been listening a lot to a beautiful and very special album from the Swedish sister-duo Piroth. The album is called “Safe Haven”, and it is released on the sisters’ own label Oma Gusti Records today, the 21. October. Piroth are sisters Nina (vocal, percussion) and Johanna (vocal, guitar), and the two have previously self-recorded, produced and released the ep “Alternative Tour” and their debut album “Prima Ballerina”. Now, it’s time for “Safe Haven”, and they have at least one new fan…

The music is warm and highly melodic, but with a dark and melancholic undertone, in a good way. The closest genre I can put it in must be “folk”, but this is clearly influenced by a lot of different styles, also more noisy genres like punk and alternative rock. Most of it is based on acoustic instruments, and the general feeling is quiet and calm. Sometimes the duo’s sound grows louder and rougher, like on the haunting “When the night is over”, with pounding drums and rough guitars laying the ground for Nina and Johanna’s voices. Other huge favourites are especially the quiet and beautiful “Hurt little birds” and the piano-driven “Smiling Streets, Singing Cars”.

Ah, the voices… this is definitely the most important element of Piroth’s music. Nina and Johanna’s vocals are incredibly beautiful, and the way their voices spins around and play with eachother in amazing harmonies are… well, – ahhhh!

“Safe haven ” is a very, very good album, and it is highly recommended from this writer. You can buy all of Piroth’s releases, including this one, on Klicktrack.

Here is the video for their track “Fog Dancers”:

New free single by Tender Trap!

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases, Songs | Comments Off

Tender Trap waiting for a train Photo by Alison Wonderland.

Tender Trap are finally back with a new release! After being on hiatus since their wonderful second album “6 billion people” from 2006, indiepop legends Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and John Stanley (DJ Downfall) have added two members to their line-up and released a new, free single on the fine label Fortuna POP!.

For those of you who are not familiar with these names, Amelia and Rob were once in some of my favourite indiepop-bands, first in Talulah Gosh, then in Heavenly and after that they were joined by John in Marine Research. This time, they have been joined by Elizabeth Morris from ‘Allo Darlin’ (who have released very good singles on her own on WeePop! records) and Katrina Dixon, who has played in a number of indie bands (Police Cat/Sally Skull/Garden City Project).

The new Tender Trap-single features two songs, “Fireworks” and “Grand National”, both very good songs. Ah, it’s so nice to hear Amelia Fletcher’s voice again!

You can download the single, incl. artwork, from http://www.fortunapop.com/tender_trap_free_download.php

Tender Trap will play several shows this Autumn and an album will follow in early 2010.

The first concerts will be:
* Oct 22nd How Does It Feel To Be Loved? @ Jamm, Brixton, London FREE!
* Nov 15th Indiepop Alldayer, Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop, Nottingham

For a dive into the history of Amelia Fletcher & co, check out these Spotify links:
Heavenly | Tender Trap . Dj Downfall and Amelia Fletcher recently did “If I should fall behind” on a Bruce Springsteen cover-project by indiepop-artists. For Talulah Gosh, listen on Myspace.

Tender Trap have also made a video for “Fireworks”. Enjoy!

Let’s meet the Darling New Neighbors!

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases | Comments Off

Let’s meet the neighbors, the Darling New Neighbors! This Texas-trio has just released their second album, “Rocket”, on their own label. The music is a strange combination of rough rock with sharp guitars, folk and indiepop, and sometimes they take a step into the 60-girlgroup territory with sha-la-la’s and shubidu’s.

The press-release kind of takes the words out of my mouth when they write that they hear bits and pieces of stray influence in the Darling New Neighbors: “the soft-hard derby crash of the Pixies, new comers like The Vivian Girls and even indie slack auteurs Beat Happening come and go in fleeting glimpses”. I very much agree, but if you expect to hear something that sounds like The Pixies, Vivian Girls or Beat Happening, DNN is not it, – not at all, – but as the press-man says, you can hear the influence “…come and go in fleeting glimpses”.

Darling New Neighbors are not new at all, and have been around since 2004 when Elizabeth Jackson, a classically trained violinist met “bluegrasser with a heart of rock-and-roll” Amy Moreland. Drummer Karl Lundin, who also sings on a couple of songs, became the band’s third member recently.

After hearing Saint Etienne’s cover of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, I was sure that I would never hear a better version of the song. I think I have now:

MP3: Darling New Neighbors – Only Love Can Break Your Heart

MP3: Darling New Neighbors – Stars

Firefly Effect, retro-futuristic sunshine pop

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music | Comments Off

Firefly Effect

The Oslo-quartet Firefly Effect is a band I’ve had on my to-blog-about list for some time now. They recently released their brilliant debutalbum “Everything is beautiful and you are the reason” on Perfect pop/Solerød records, full of charming indiepop-songs with organs, boy/girl harmonies and jangly guitars.

I’m sometimes slightly reminded by older, perfect Perfect Pop-acts like The Tables and The Blind Bats when I listen to Firefly Effect, – other times I get a feeling of Je Suis Animal or Stereolab, – and the 60s references are always there. In their biography on NRK Urört, they call their style “Retro-futuristic Sunshine pop”, which is a definition of their sound that I can agree on. The members of Firefly Effect are also a part of other good bands, like Eardrums’ favourites Children and Corpse Playing in the Streets.

You can listen to both Firefly Effect and Children and Corpse Playing in the Streets on Spotify here and here, and both albums are also available on iTunes and other good shops. You can also download several songs from Firefly Effect on NRK Urört (Norwegian site, “last ned” means download).

Here’s a new video by Firefly Effect, made by the amazing David Mahler, who have drawn and painted 1640 pictures for this video during 4 months:

Firefly Effect – All The Jokes Are On Me from Dave Mahler on Vimeo.

Julie Peel – “Near the sun”

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases, Reviews | Comments Off

Julie Peel is a Canadian folk artist I have enjoyed on several tribute compilations for some old favourites of mine. She has done a wonderful version of “A night like this” by the Cure, The Pixies’ “The Happening”, The Breeders’ “Fortunately gone” and “Divine Hammer” and “I believe in you” by Neil Young. Now, she is here again with her own songs, and they are good!

Her music must not be compared by the bands she has covered, – they are from another musical universe. If you like Feist, Sharon Van Etten, Laura Gibson, Jenny Owen Youngs, Amie Mann, Anna Ternheim or the acoustic Lou Barlow, they all have the same kind of “happy-melancholy” inside their songs as Julie Peel has.

Julie Peel’s debut album, “Near the sun”, was released yesterday on American Laundromat Records. It’s full of sweet, warm acoustic pop songs, perfect for the dark and rainy autumn days. Peel has written, recorded and produced the album herself, and she also plays most of the instruments here (vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, bass, piano, ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel, lapsteel, violin keys, melotron, moogs, kazoo, drums programming and tambourine). My favourite on the album is the beautiful title track, where Peel really touches me with her wonderful songwriting. The chorus is intensely beautiful. Also “In slow motion”, where she performs all on her own, is a real gem.

For those of you who choose to buy the album via iTunes or other digital shops, Julie Peel has been so kind that she has made the cover-booklet available as a pdf on her site. Well done!

Here’s a track from the album:

Julie Peel – Unfold

Julie Peel will also be a part of American Laundromat’s upcoming compilation “Sing Me To Sleep – Indie Lullabies”, due for release in May 2010. The proceeds from the sale of this compilation will be donated to a non-profit charitable organization that provides support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. The amazing list of confirmed artist includes Dean & Britta, Tanya Donelly, Stars, Jenny Owen Youngs & Greg Laswell, Neil Halstead, The Leisure Society, The Real Tuesday Weld, The Rest, Say Hi, Julie Peel, Sigur Ros, Snowbird, Telekinesis, Casey Mecija (Ohbijou), The Antlers, Trespassers William, Papercuts, Peter Broderick, Laura Gibson and more will be added before the release.

Get everything out of [Nothing]!

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases | 2 Comments

Ingenting cover art

There are some bands that I love too much to destroy them with words.
Writing long posts about a band, – analyzing their music -, may take away the pure joy of JUST listening and enjoying the music as it is. I would never write a review or a long, analytic post about Sweden’s [Ingenting] (Labrador records), that’s why I will stop now. I’m just writing this to share my love for this band, their new album and their old albums. Get everything! (…and I also recommend the singer of [ingenting], Christopher Sander‘s soloalbum). Was that too much of [nothing]?

[ingenting] – Halleluja

[ingenting] – Julia (syster dyster)

[ingenting] – punkdrömmar

[ingenting] – Här kommer solen

[ingenting] – släpp in solen

(all mp3s from labrador records website)

Video: [ingenting] live on the Tram sessions:

Video: Anna Järvinen + Christopher Sander – Äppelöga
(a song that you will find in different versions on both Anna Järvinen’s beautiful album and on Christoper Sander’s album.

Ohvaur

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile | Comments Off

Ohvaur is a band based in Chicago, originally from Miami, who play very organic, melodic electronic-based music. If you’re one of those who stops reading at the moment you see the word “electronic”, you should definitely read on. Ohvaur has a lot more in common with a lot of melodic, dreamy and sensitive indie-bands than with beat-based electronica-projects. In Ohvaur’s music, it’s the organic, “real” instruments who provide most of the rhythmic foundation, while the electronics provide the more melodic elements in the songs. Ohvaur’s music is melancholic, but at the same time also light and optimistic. Beautiful double harmonies, fine melodies, great dynamics and a very nice balance between the organic and electronic elements. This is warm music. References may be as diverse as Death Cab for Cutie, The Album Leaf, David Sylvian, Depeche Mode, Radiohead…

I mentioned The Album Leaf, – a clear sound-reference on some of the songs. Ohvaur’s Timothy Den has played with the Album Leaf on their tours in the USA several times, so that may be an explanation for the similarities in sound.

You can buy the EP on CD Baby, and listen to one of the songs from it here:

Ohvaur – Not what this century wants

Race Horses – "Cake"

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Recommended Releases | Comments Off

I’m quite in love with the debut-single “Cake” from the Welsh 4-piece Race Horses (- and look at that cover art! Amazing!). It’s released on Fantastic Plastic on the 27th of July (but at least here where I live, you can get it on iTunes already now). It’s a wonderful tune, and in the middle of all the obvious 60s influences from several bands beginning with B, I hear sounds that reminds me of Super Furry Animals and a rougher version of Clientele. The single’s second track is a Welsh song “Cacen Magmu” (with an English chorus) with lots of psychedelic elements, strangeness, “lalala’s” and some kind of circus atmosphere. Really good song, that one too. A breath of fresh air, definitely, and I am already looking forward to their debut album. Both of these songs are streamed on the band’s myspace, so head over there for a listen. The single is also available on Spotify, if you have access to the service.

I thought you could spend some of your money on the single, and instead of giving you that, I’ll give you a demo by the band of the song “Daughter Nowhere”, – also a goodie!

Race Horses – Daughter Nowhere (demo)