A Fine Mess
Profiling
Alvin Purple
Apr 21st
When I first heard Alvin Purple’s “The Look” I immediately thought of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s back in their “Date With The Night” and “Pin” heydays. Singer Carly does sound a bit like Karen O in the beginning, with her voice slightly distorted against the backdrop of a simple bass drum, and the added growling guitar chords only confirm my initial impression. But as the song proceeds it becomes clear that Alvin Purple have a lighter and more composed sound. So no, they’re not another Yeah Yeah Yeahs copy, as their other track “Stare to Declare” has a post-rock/shoegaze feel to it with its swirling guitars and a fluid composition. It is also my favorite of the two.
With members hailing from Leeds and York, Alvin Purple formed in late 2008 and got their first break after only a few months with the demo “Dont’ Be Alarmed”, helping them land a supporting slot on a Dark Captain Light Captain’s tour. The gigs followed one another after that, helping the band develop their sound both on and off stage. While starting out rather Lo-Fi, they began to flesh out their sound with synths and drum machines, resulting in their current eclectic mixture of influences. The double A-side “The Look/Stare to Declare” is the band’s first release and is available for free via their bandcamp site (of course you can also nab them below but you can choose format at bandcamp, if that’s preferred). They hope to follow up with a second single within a few months, and then perhaps set out on a tour. So stay tuned.
The Second Hand Marching Band
Mar 24th
The Second Hand Marching Band are a downright flurry of people as well as instruments. According to their official website they are “a mix of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Ayr, Kincardine, Cumbernauld, Neilston, Canada, Airdrie and elsewhere”, and play “guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, triangles, accordions, trumpets, tenor horns, saxophones, trombones, glockenspiel, castanets, marching drums, melodicas, woodblocks, tambourines, bells, violins, flutes, clarinets and other stuff.”
So as you might have guessed, their music is richly layered in both talent and sound. Their brand of folk-rock reminds me of Beirut (except perhaps with a happier streak at times), especially on the title track of their debut EP A Dance To Half Death which was released in January 2009. It’s a song I currently adore, although I wholeheartedly recommend the whole EP (which is free, by the way).
They kept plenty busy during the rest 2009 though, besides the release of A Dance To Half Death: gigs, gigs and more gigs, not to mention a BBC Scotland session. As for this year they’ve already released a second EP Grit and Determination (available here) and are planning a third as well as joint EP with Benni Hemm Hemm. To keep up with this big band, I suggest you follow them on Twitter.
The Actors
Feb 16th
US trio The Actors compare their sound to “Daft Punk and DJ Shadow, Talking Heads and MGMT – hell, even Scott Walker and Blur”, but I’m not so sure if I agree. A mixture between Talking Heads and MGMT is a fair comparison, but they are too soft for the likes of Daft Punk and I’m not sure where Blur comes into the picture other than perhaps in some of the guitar riffs. Personally they make me think more of a re-vamped version of The Cars.
Originally started as a one-man project by singer/bassist/keyboardist Phil Maves, The Actors soon expanded into a trio when drummer Justin Ward (who later left the band and was replaced by Robbie Hammet) and guitarist/keyboardist/singer Dan Leech joined in. Their debut EP Anticipate Heat – which was co-produced by Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Hercules & Love Affair) – was released in late 2009 and could very well thanks to the tracks “Heat In The Street” and “The Skydiver” help the band pave their way in 2010.
The Sweet Serenades
Oct 8th
These two lumberjack-looking Swedes are Mathias Näslund and Martin Nordvall, together perhaps more known as The Sweet Serenades. They’ve already received glowing reviews in Swedish press and their previous single “Mona Lee” was apparently very popular on the web last year. (I seemed to have missed it though, hmpf!)
Their new single is the pumped-up power pop tune “On My Way”, taken from the album Balcony Cigarettes which is already out in Sweden, Germany and Benelux. You can hear the whole album on their MySpace (where you also can find plenty of purchase links) as well as on Spotify. And it sounds good! I’m definitely keeping an eye on these guys.
~ “On My Way” ~
Ólafur Arnalds
Sep 28th
I’m not quite sure what it is with Iceland that inspires such original and often devastatingly beautiful music. Björk, Sigur Pós, Emilia Torrini… they all have that chilly, yet rich sound that makes you picture the grey weather, open landscapes, intricate sounding language and medieval literature that it is associate with.
Now another Icelandic name has emerged, that of neo-classical musician Ólafur Arnalds. So far over 400,000 people have watched the fan-made video for “Ljósið” (which is fantastic, by the way), and more than 100,000 have downloaded his EP Found Songs, which is now getting an official release on Erased Tapes.
Ólafur’s intentions with his music are quite clear: “The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven’t been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don’t usually listen to this kind of music…open people’s minds.”
So don’t let the “neo-classical” tag scare you off; Ólafur’s is simply too haunting to be missed.
Found Songs will be out November 10.
Ólafur Arnalds – Ljósið (Official Music Video) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.
~ “Ljósið” ~
Real Ones
Sep 17th
Real Ones are a couple of Norwegian gents (there’s a bad pun in there that most likely only will make sense if you know Swedish/Norwegian) who have been playing music together since their teens. Crafting a warm and rich sound of folk, alternative country and psychelica, Real Ones’ history long history with one another has obviously payed off. Their music may be ricocheting several genres at a time but still manages to sound completely intact. “Every Dog Has His Day” for example is a bouncing and beautiful song at the same time, with cheerful banjos and striking violins blending nicely with the usual guitar, bass and drums.
Real Ones currently have an US debut EP out called All For The Neighborhood, as well as an upcoming instrumental album that will be out September 28.
The Background Front
Sep 10th
Well here’s something I wasn’t expecting: Joshua James of folk group Letters has an “electro-acoustic genre-hopping” project together with Gumar of Gumar and His Magical Midi Band called The Background Front. They just made an album featuring a flurry of guest as well as music genres: there’s trip hop, electronica, folk, soul, ambient… As a whole the album is a bit too scattered for my taste but it has several highlights that are worth checking out on their own. To purchase, head over here.
~ “Yr Spell” (ft. Cindy Wonderful), “Fallen” (ft. Endless Sunder) ~
Audionom
Sep 4th
When writing about Happiness last year I mentioned the up-rise of krautrock – the experimental rock genre that started in Germany during the early 1970s – here in Sweden, especially in Stockholm. Audionom are another of these krautrock inspired bands to come out our state capital, although I should point out they also have some rather heavy punk influences woven into their sound.
Formed in 1999, Audionom lasted about three and a half years the first time around, with several band members coming and going before splitting up. Reformed since 2004, the band currently made up of Andreas Bergman (guitar), Martin Malm (films), Mårten Holmberg (guitar), Johan Hinders (synth & vocals), Paul Sigerhall (drums), Henrik Hannebo (synth), and Pelle Backman (bass).
While they’ve played at a couple of festivals, the guys have mostly done club gigs around Stockholm, as well as a few shows in the US during 2007. As for their discography, Audionom have so far released a self-titled EP (200/2001); a split LP together with Sickoakes (2002), the retrospective album Retrospektiv (2005, re-released in the US 2007); and their new full-length Superior, which seems to finally give this band the praise and attention they deserve.
~ “Run Into Sun” ~
Little Dragon
Sep 1st
Little Dragon‘s soulful electronic pop only caught my attention recently, but when it did, it grabbed it. Currently on their second album, Little Dragon debuted in 2007 with a self-titled record and had their double-A single “Twice/Test” dubbed as “Single of the Week” by Rough Trade.
Made up of Gothenburg-natives Yukimi Nagano (vocals), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards), Little Dragon list everything from Depeche Mode to Prince, LCD Soundsystem to James Holden, dancehall to R&B, jazz and soul as inspirations, a combination which is quite evident on their new album Machine Dreams.
Their songs are calm as well as danceable: the smooth intro track “A New” is followed by the more upbeat “Looking Glass” and “My Step”, which lead to the gorgeously languid single “Feather”, creating a bit of a pattern that is pretty much consistent throughout the album.
Besides the already aforementioned, best tracks are: “Runabout”, “Swimming”, “Blinking Pigs”, and “Fortune”.
Machine Dreams is out now.
~ “Feather” ~
An Axe
Aug 25th
Describing themselves as “a melancholy blend of Nick Cave melodrama, Shadows twang and Roy Orbison croon”, An Axe no doubt have a dark flair to their music. Fittingly, their debut EP Some, When Alone, Cease To Exist (which, as you can above, has some seriously gorgeous artwork) was recorded in a church crypt no less in the midst of winter.
The EP is the first of a trilogy; the second already recorded and slated for release in December, and the third written and currently in production. A full album is also in the process of creation.
Formed in Autumn 2008, this four-piece came together with a ‘less is more approach’ to song writing: they wanted to scrape off layers and effects and make the music stand on its own thanks to the melodies and writing. This resulted in a whole album’s worth of songs, which were then narrowed down to the four tracks appearing on the first EP.
As you might have guessed by now, Some, When Alone, Cease To Exist is rather dark and gloomy, but in a beautiful way, like The Black Heart Procession or the already mentioned Nick Cave.
Although they haven’t been around for long, An Axe have already shared the stage with bands such as White Denim, Hjaltalin, Tall Firs, Trachetnburg Family Slideshow Players, The Twilight Sad, De Rosa, Rose Kemp, and are planning on doing their own UK tour early next year. They currently have a lot of shows coming up, so make sure you check their MySpace for dates.
~ “Island” ~
