Cold Mailman has released their new single “Time is of the essence” today on Kråkesølv records. Those of you who have followed Eardrums for a while, may have heard a demo version of the song earlier, but this is the finished and final version of the song. This is the last single the band drops before the release of their second album “Relax; the mountain will come to you” on October 4.
You can buy the single on iTunes or on Platekompaniet.
Highly recommended!
I’ve mentioned this song before, so I’ll let the music and the new video speak for itself here. Lovely!
http://www.myspace.com/coldmailman
As a Norwegian and a pop-fan, I have a lot to be proud of today. I have already mentioned Hiawata!‘s gorgeous pop-single in a post here earlier today. One of my absolute favourite Norwegian artists, Cold Mailman, also released his new single today. It is called “Pull yourself together and fall in love with me”, and that’s just what I have done. I have completely fallen in love with the song, and I didn’t have to pull myself together at all. It happened instantly.
It’s too long since the mailman released his almost perfect debut-album “How to escape cause and effect”, and I have waited and waited to hear more from this artist. In 2010, Cold Mailman seems to be more of a full band than Ivar Bowitz‘ solo-project. Now I’m counting the days to the band’s second album is released on May 5th in September. Don’t disappoint me, Mailman!
BTW, This release is out on Kråkesølv records… Yes, it’s the band Kråkesølv who has their own label, and both they and Cold Mailman have their origin in the town of Bodø. There are lots of interesting artists from the city at the moment, so let’s hope we will see more of them released on Kråkesølv’s label.
You can stream the new single on myspace or wimp and buy it on itunes or platekompaniet.
Once again, the people behind the Spoon Train Audio-label have made a compilation of independent pop from Oslo. The album is called “Oslo2″ and features 16 songs from 16 bands, – most of them are bands we already know, but some are completely new to us. This is the follow up to last years “Oslo!”, and this time they have managed to refine the pop-focus they have on these compilations. Less fuzz, more melody.
Before I start commenting on the music, I must give two thumbs up for the initiative. Compilations like this, where established artists stand next to completely unknown bands, is a great way to get new bands out to the public, and also a way to make the pop-scene stronger. The way they focus on independent pop-music gives us a varied, but consistent album. There are definitely ups and downs here, but it has become an album that you can put on and listen through without feeling the need to skip songs that don’t fit in. They all fit.
So, what bands can we find on this album? Lots of good bands! You can hear wonderful tunes from “old” favourites of mine, like The Little Hands of Asphalt, Norma Sass, My Little Pony, Hiawata!, Yoyoyo Acapulco, Nomber 5s, Children and corpse playing in the streets and Firetop mountain.
My favourites, however, are the songs from these artists:
Cold Mailman starts the show with the stunningly beautiful “Time is of the essence”, a song we also had on our own compilation “Summer’s here!” a year ago. The Oslo2-version is different, with added drums and an updated sound. I was very happy to see in the inlay that the mailman will deliver a new album in 2010. Great news!
Therese Aune is an artist I have heard about, but never heard. Her song “Chameleon” is worth buying the album for on its own. She should have been on those big stages with this! Her vocals are intensely strong and beautiful, full of colour and dynamics, and the piano-arrangements on this song fits the atmosphere perfectly. Definitely one on my top experiences on this album.
Einar Stray is a hidden gem in the Norwegian pop-scene, and even if he seem to do a lot of very interesting things, his name rarely gets into the big papers. On this compilation, he’s represented with “Arrows” from last years “Favors & fields” ep, – a classic song in my ears and one of the better and most interesting songs ever produced in my little country. Stray is like a northern mix between Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, The Books, and Andrew Bird. His debutalbum will be released in 2011.
Go Fandango is one of the new names on this album, and their upbeat “End credits” leaves me wanting to hear more from the band. In all its pop-freshness it also carries some darker elements and some clear references to 80s indie.
Like Spinning‘s acoustic and folky “Crush (And Naivety)” was a song that played along without leaving the biggest marks the first times I listened to the album, but it is definitely a grower and I really LOVE this little song now. Like the before mentioned Einar Stray, Like Spinning’s main woman Kari Jahnsen leaves the melody in front, but adds a lot of interesting elements behind it. Interesting!
Casa Murilo is one of the new Oslo pop bands that I have very high hopes for. Their song “Murilo, I love you” is one of the few I actually skip back to hear again and again. A lovely and super-catchy pop song.
Seppuku Zephyr Dance is another of the unknown names on the compilation, and another good one. Their dreamy, almost shoegazy (but not) song “Carousel” makes me think of the early days 4ad bands like Cocteau Twins or Lush, but also the less noisy sides of other Norwegian bands like Je Suis Animal and Maribel.
Monzano, – Sjur Lyseid from The Little Hands of Asphalt’s main band – give us a very good new song from their upcoming album on this compilation. On the beautiful “Cold Waters”, we can hear Lyseid in a duet with Thea Glenton Raknes, the singer in Norma Sass.
“Oslo2″ should be in the shops from today.
Here’s another favourite from the compilation, My Little Pony’s “The Capital of Norway”:
One of the more interesting things to happen in Norwegian music, – at least according to me -, is the arrival of a fairly new label called Spoon train Audio. They are driven by the love of good music, and their releases so far has definitely included good music. The label has released music by some of our favourite Norwegians, like Cold Mailman‘s brilliant debut-album, the fine indie pop act My Little Pony (who will release their debut album soon), and a refreshing compilation with new indie pop from Oslo called just “Oslo!” with even more of our favourite Norwegians (like Je Suis Animal, Ingeborg Selnes, Monzano, Nomber5, Lukestar, Yoyoyo Acapulco, the little hands of asphalt and many more).
The label has recently signed Einar Stray, a very fine Norwegian songwriter. There is no release scheduled for him yet, but I’m looking forward to whatever he will do on the label. An artist to keep your eyes and ears on!
Take a little time to visit the label’s myspace and website, and listen to some of their songs. I will be willing to bet that you will like their music! How much I’m willing to bet? Well…. You will like it. Trust me.
You can buy Spoon Train Audio’s music from their website, from shops in Oslo or from digital shops like musikkonline.no.
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 Great Escape by Cold Mailman is a sweet and fragile popsong by a young unsigned artist from Norway. I could compare the song to some familiar music that we have presented here at Eardrums, but I’ll leave it to your own imagination 
Cold Mailman is Ivar Bowitz togheter with some friends and they start to record a album early next year.
Cold Mailman – The Great Escape
(from NRK)
