Herr Nilsson

Photo: Sandra Jecmenica

It's always a welcome surprise to find an artist we've featured in the past involved with additional music projects of which we were previously unaware. As for today's offering, we find Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Ragnhild Hogstad Jordahl a.k.a. Soda Fountain Rag, who we first featured in September 2007 and updated most recently in February 2008, now contributing to an impressive indie pop collective. Herr Nilsson is an eight piece from Bergen, Norway consisting of Terje Bringsvor Nilsen (vocals, guitar), Ragnhild Jordahl (keys, fiddle), Eirik Utne (guitar), Lars Jakob Stava (guitar), Einar Olsson (drums), Jan Otto Nerdal (drums), Mjorten Mjørlaug (bass) and Johannes Førde (trumpet). The band's third and most recent release is an EP titled Tuesday Is My Birthday that was made available through Karisma Records in late April 2008. The EP is a follow up to their previous two full length albums I'm No Elvis (2005), Downhill Thrill (2007) and, from what Terje explained to us, there is yet another full length collection of songs slated to be recorded in the early part of this upcoming year.


Photo: Sandra Jecmenica

If you've already snuck down for a listen to today's featured track, the festive warmth surrounding the music will have been an immediate ear perk as the instrumentation gives validation far beyond any thought of this band having too many cooks in the kitchen. Since the Herr Nilsson website is still a work in progress, you will need to visit the Herr Nilsson MySpace page for more information and upcoming live performance dates. Have a listen to this song from the latest EP...

MP3: Don't Put Your Money On My Horse

Daydream

Almost an entire six days away from the blog it's been, and a substantial amount of outstanding music has been filtering into our email inbox all the while. In starting the week off a bit early, a return to a city we've recently come to realize as being a hotbed for indie music is well in order. The neighborhood surrounding Hongik University, affectionately known as Hongdae, in Seoul, South Korea is where you will most likely find band mates Seung-jae Yoo (vocals, guitar) and Gye-hyun Shin (guitar) who formed Daydream in 1998 as well as more recent addition Mekong (bass) along with a number of contributing friends/musicians to complete the current lineup. In case you were wondering after listening, the band name is indeed an homage to Sonic Youth's highly regarded release Daydream Nation and there are subtle hints of SY along with plenty of other influences from the same time period to be found within the music. A Land Of April is the title for this brand new, debut gem of a long player that has been in the works since 2003 and was just made available earlier this month. For more of a listen to the new album and to view number of live performance videos, check out the Daydream MySpace page. There is also a Daydream Cyworld profile to visit and an extensive interview from February 2008 for more background information on the band.

MP3: A Land Of April

Stellarium

We really had no plans on accomplishing anything blog-related tonight, but after a quick listen this new track, our Monday hibernation session away from MML seemed less than possible. Singapore based multi-instrumentalist AZ who we originally featured a few months ago with his band Disco Ditto [June 2008 review + download], now gives us some love with the noisy new music project Stellarium and a song we recommend be heard at elevated volume levels... I think ear-bleed is the correct saying? Please take note of the unmistakable JAMC influence and how it works so well with more of a solid guitar presence in command. Impressive.

MP3: Any Day Is Fine

Le Man Avec Les Lunettes

Tonight's featured artist is one we originally mentioned over a year and a half ago and, in order to appreciate the true international flavor this troupe of musicians present, we highly suggest a visit to our previous post [April 2007 review + download]. Le Man Avec Les Lunettes is the music project of Alessandro Paderno (vocals, eastwood guitar, microkorg, acoustic guitar, diamonica), Fabio Benni (vocals, gem imperial organ, omichord, glockenspiel, theremin, tape echoes machine), Simone Gelmini (percussion), Ombretta Ghidini (vocals, guitar, synth), Giorgio Marcelli (bass) and Daniela Savoldi (cello, violin) from the northern Italian city of Brescia. The brand new album, titled Plaskaplaskabombelibom, was two years in the making and has now been released through Italian label My Honey Records (My Honey MySpace) as well as Cake and Coffee Records in Germany. The new album, with a title that sent our spell-check into a spiraling meltdown, gives another glimpse into the experimental nature of the band, while moments of dancing playfully around classic influences completes this unique sound. For more music and information, check out the Le Man Avec Les Lunettes MySpace page or, more importantly, the official LMALL website where you can order the new release without delay. The next live performance will kick off a string of regional live dates as LMALL takes the stage November 8 at Fusignano (near Ravenna) venue Brainstorm. Enjoy.

MP3: Apples

Vidulgi Ooyoo

With all of the obvious, ridiculous and often fleeting resources available online to assist us in finding new artists to feature here at MML, it really is a true comfort to have like-minded friends lending a helpful hint/clue once in a while. This time around, it happened to be Perry, of Chicago based loveliness Skylight (that we last featured here), who gave us a heads-up on an incredible band from an unexpected location halfway around the planet. Vidulgi Ooyoo is a shoegaze-influenced rock quartet consisting of musicians Ji-hye Ham (guitar, vocals), Jong-seok Lee (guitar, vocals), Ki-hun Sung (bass, vocals) and Yong-jun Lee (drums) from the capital city of Seoul, South Korea. The band name actually means "pigeon milk" in Korean language and they have been making this dream-tastic music together since 2003. Our initial thought was to describe the sound as something of a textbook shoegaze lesson for aspiring upstarts here in the west, but after listening further, today's featured submission proved to contain a building presence that escapes any simple genre classification. The latest full length album/CD, titled Aero, was released in April of 2008 and you can find more music, from what we consider an extremely solid debut LP, by visiting the Vidulgi Ooyoo MySpace page as well as the VO Cyworld profile. Oh, this is so gooood.

MP3: Seeing me Through Your Eyes

Satin Gum

In consuming our Sunday beers, while also making plans for another week of music here at MML, we happened to be listening to a number of bands and stumbled upon one that deserved our immediate attention. If already listening, or if you are even remotely aware of our current midwestern location and penchant for a lovely wall of guitars, today's showcased artist will come as no surprise where featurability is concerned. Satin Gum is a true-to-form rock trio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania consisting of Brian Spekis (vocals, guitar, keys), Dan Vavro (drums, backing vocals), and Travis Craig (bass) who just so happen to have a brand new, self-titled EP to share. After listening to this new EP release, our initial thoughts involved locking the band securely in a studio, with occasional raw meat rations thrown under the door, in order to induce the best full-on rock record in future memory... or something along the lines of Amusement Parks On Fire at the very least. All fantasies aside, you can listen to more music at the Satin Gum MySpace page and check them out live, this Thursday October 16, as a performance is set to take place at local Pittsburgh venue/varnished treehouse Lava Lounge. Oh yes, this is a good one... and probably the longest title for a song ever.

MP3: No, We Are Not Naming Our Kids After Ikea Products

Now that I am out of review mode (whew)... I have to say, this band fucking rocks. As a non-related bonus, we are also giving you a similarly themed track from Copenhagen, Denmark trio The Floor Is Made Of Lava who we previously featured in 2006 and 2007. For some strange reason, I have the feeling these two bands would get on just swimmingly.

MP3: The Floor Is Made Of Lava - Ikea Did A Job On You

Photons

As promised in far too many of our earlier posts, more attention has been paid to messages sent our way (well, sort of) and today this new practice pays off nicely. I have to be honest in saying that when a music project includes any more than five, or even six members, our interest fades into skepticism rather quickly... so listening before reading was probably for the best in this instance. Photons are an eight piece collective from San Francisco, California who formed recently and now have a self-released/titled debut EP ready to share as of tomorrow, October 10. From what we learned after checking out the brief communication they sent, one of the guitarists in this band was, at some point, a part of now wildly famous UK trio The Wombats who we featured way back in July 2006. The band also shares a practice space with fellow bay area outfit The Dodos (Dodos MySpace). There will be a CD release party tomorrow night as Photons take the stage at one of San Francisco's oldest bars House Of Shields. The debut EP is nearly 18 minutes of downright enchanting guitar pop that is effective in escaping the background clutter that can sometimes result when multitudes of musicians are involved. Very nice... and we highly suggest taking a few moments to listen. Here is the lead track for you...

MP3: This Must Be Love

Church

So we spent another Sunday morning, with beers, sitting on the front porch watching elderly couples gently helping each other down front steps for church. It really is one of the charming aspects of calling middle-America home, regardless of the fact we would most certainly burst into flames upon entering any house of worship. Not to worry though, this time we remain non-combustible and only needed to visit our email inbox for great new music. Church is the experimental trio of Brandon Laws (vocals, guitar, moog, taurus, banjo), Richard Laws (vocals, drums, sampler) and Cristof Hendrickson (fender rhodes, minimoog, omnichord, glockenspiel) from Portland Oregon. A first listen to today's featured track, Happiness reveals exactly what the title suggests. From the initial keys that build into something of a quick guitar tribute to both Big Dipper and Bow Wow Wow in under two minutes, Church managed to capture the warmest depths of our ears... and then some. The featured song we now adore belongs to a So-Hi-Tek Records release, titled Gold and you can listen to more upon visiting the Church MySpace page. Happiness is more than alright.

MP3: Happiness

Sharesprings

Ok... this one is beautiful, so we will spare everyone another extended blather-fest. MML friend Az, of previously featured music project Disco Ditto, gave us the heads-up on what we would consider a textbook example of how to make the both of us melt in our house slippers. Sharesprings is a Jakarta, Indonesia-based quartet consisting of members Abdul Wahid Sabilillah (bass, vocals), Rusli Budianto (drums), Riftyza Gestandi (guitar, vocals) and Ardhi Yudho (guitar, vocals) that formed as a complete band in 2006. There is more music to check out upon visiting the Sharesprings MySpace page and we highly suggest taking a few moments to do so. Since the myspazz music player is down for an extended repair session at present (completely fucked forever), we only needed to skip down the street in order to borrow a cup of sugar from neighboring music blog Coast Is Clear. Today's featured track is listed as a demo but it really is difficult to imagine anything else needing to be done here... just lovely!

MP3: Ceiling Blossom

Rademacher: ERA EP

One of the cool things we encounter in maintaining this music blog is occasionally e-bumping into people who also spread the word and sounds of good music. This time around, we received a nice message from JAX who runs the west coast music blog Rock Insider. Aside from her long time blog, JAX also runs a Los Angeles-based label, aptly named Jaxart Records (Jaxart MySpace), that just released a brand new EP from a band we originally featured back in March 2006. Rademacher is an ever-evolving music project from Fresno, California which has undergone enough lineup changes to leave us hard pressed in giving an accurate headcount at present. There are plenty of releases available, beginning with an outstanding series of EPs as well as the band's first full length album Stunts that we recommend checking out. Now included in their discography is the most recent (as of three days ago) offering, titled ERA EP, which brings to mind an initial, however unexpected, comparison in something of a middle ground between unlikely bookends Polyphonic Spree and Yo La Tengo. Whether or not you agree after listening to today's featured track, the sound works well and ERA EP is more than a good reason for us to hope for another full length release... some day soon?

MP3: If U Know

*Bonus* From the 2006 EP Heart Machine:
MP3: You're Never Gonna Hear From Me