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

Soda Fountain Rag is back, now stronger than ever, with a new 10″ vinyl album coming up on Yesboyicecream records July 5th.
“Reel around me” is the title, and this time Ragnhild Hostad Jordahl is joined by her live band for the first time on a recording. Anders Kaasen (known from The April Skies) plays guitars and Princess Niko plays bass. Ragnhild Hostad Jordahl herself plays the rest, – drums, keyboards and vocals.

Soda Fountain Rag’s music is easy to put in the indiepop-genre,- it definitely belongs there -,  but instead of the traditional indiepop references, I am reminded of the Swedish musician Annika Norlin from Hello Saferide and Säkert!. Their voices sound not too far from each other, and both Ragnhild and Annika share the ability to observe, and to write intelligent, sharp and bittersweet lyrics for songs that rarely last over 3 minutes.

The energetic and catchy “Dogwalkin’ Summer” is the perfect opener, with an irresistible easy-to-learn chorus and a beat that makes it impossible not to do some rhythmic body movements. “Are Philosophers Lonely” is another really good song, with clever lyrics and a great melody. I also love the powerful “You can’t stop me”, the super-optimistic “Give yourself a break” and “Pirate Love”, with it’s lovely, almost psychedelic chorus. Oh, – to be honest, I like all of the songs, but these more than the others.

This new release by Soda Fountain Rag is a big step up for the band, and it has made me love them even more. Highly recommended!

Soda Fountain Rag – Are Philosophers lonely (from Nrk Urört)

…and here are some streamable goodies from the new Soda Fountain Rag-release (from Soundcloud)

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.

Norwegian indiepopsters Hiawata! has a new single out today,“The Deep End”. It’s catchy as always, and this gives me high hopes for their coming album “Blondes On Blacks: Blacks On Blondes pt.II”, which is planned for release this autumn. The album is seen as a follow-up to their ep “Blacks on blondes” from 2008.