Buke and Gass

When artists send a physical copy of their offerings to us in the post, the music comes in a wide range of impressive and sometimes amusing forms. We've received everything from beautiful glossy resume-type folders to a modified Blockbuster movie rental box (labeled in crayon, as I recall) containing music that always gets a thorough listen. This time around, we have our hands on one of the most eco-friendly submissions to date with a simple, seemingly hand-stenciled foldout of the recycled paper board variety. All packaging discussion aside, we now have our hands on a lovely and elaborate collection of songs, one of which can be previewed below. Buke And Gass is the multi-instrumentalist duo of Aron Sanchez (gass, drum, vocals) and Arone Dyer (buke, voice, bells) from Brooklyn, New York. Although they have only been writing and performing this music together since 2008, there is already a brand new EP, simply titled +/-, that was recorded at Polyphonic Workshop and is currently available for purchase. The handful of tracks that make up this new release are filled with asymmetrical transitions that could easily have any listener imagining another three or four songs within each one, yet the overall flavor presented requires each little piece remain intact. The consistent portion of building musical tension combined with Arone's beautiful vocals easily finds us with another early favorite for 2009.

More music and information on snapping up your copy of the +/- EP can be found by visiting the Buke and Gass website and there is also a Buke and Gass MySpace page for additional sounds. The next live performance will take place this Saturday, February 28 at local Brooklyn venue/gallery The Glasslands. Have a listen.

MP3: Sleep Gets Your Ghost

Throcke

We've been receiving an extraordinary amount of great new music via email directly from artists that have checked out our little MML-world, but have unfortunately been neglectful in enjoying it away from the computer instead of sharing with our regular visitors. Can you imagine? This all changes tonight as we get back to business in bringing you an impressive solo musician to take in. Christopher Mollineaux Carson is a traditional instrumentalist as well as an established purveyor of experimental electronica who has roots in both the North/South Carolina cities of Chapel Hill and Charleston. After seasoning himself as a songwriter and drummer for several music projects over the years, Mr. Carson now resides in Brooklyn, New York where his main focus, aside from short film scores and commercial television editing duties, is his solo music endeavor simply known as Throcke. Chris has a brand new, full-length collection of songs, titled Sometimes Not Unpointful, that were just self-released and that we are fortunate enough to have been listening to for the better part of this past week. The tracks contained within this new gem are an inspiring balance of conventional implements, original field-recorded samples and a series of downright bounce-tastic electronic beats we can recommend without a single caution.

This is where it gets good. The entire new release Sometimes Not Unpointful is currently available as a free download (for a limited time, of course) for those who visit the Throcke website. While spending time there, you will find a ton of additional music from previous releases and some more detailed bio/contact information. For those like our outdated e-selves who refuse to completely give up on a certain social networking standby for music exploration, there is also a Throcke MySpace page to check out... enjoy.

MP3: Starry
MP3: Yes, Inform

**Bonus** From the Throcke debut CD Advance Longing:

MP3: The Un-answerable

The Monument

It hardly seems at all like two years-n-change ago since we first featured a Swedish band known as Backslick in October 2006. We followed up with another update in February 2008 and there is some good news to report as of late. Band members Khaled Saibi (vocals/guitar), Peter Valtersson (guitar), Dan Holmgren (bass) and Adam Petersson (drums) recently decided to change their collective identity and now this indie rock quartet from Gothenburg, Sweden can be introduced as The Monument. Along with the name change comes a handful of songs that make up a brand new, self-titled debut EP. The sound remains focused on energetic beats and Khaled's off-kilter vocals that continue to float in a lovely place somewhere between classic 80s stylings of frontmen Andy Partridge (XTC) and David Thomas (Pere Ubu). Additional information can be found if you visit The Monument MySpace page and the debut EP can be heard/purchased through The Monument website. Please do yourself a favour and have a listen to the lead track...

MP3: Journey To Joy

Hirasakana Oyogu

After a brutal start to the week with eye-stressing hours looking through endless spreadsheets at work and some premeditated physical exertion (local disco gym) afterwards, tonight's featured music is a welcomed and rejuvenating sound. Thanks to Royce and Sam at Melbourne, Australia-based world/folk-pop label Brother Sister Records (Bro-Sis MySpace), we have a preview of one of the most recent musical discoveries to grace their lineup. Hirasakana Oyogu is a street musician from Tokyo, Japan who utilizes traditional hand drums to create both regional and international rhythms as well as the ukulele, djembe and flute to add a series of simple yet effective backdrops for his soothing vocalization. The brand new international debut is titled S/T LP and the songs were recorded at different locations around the Japanese countryside. You can find more information about this March 2009 release at the Hirasakana Oyogu label page and there is also (surprisingly enough) a Hirasakana Oyogu MySpace page for your listening pleasure. This is exactly what we needed... goodnight and enjoy.

MP3: A White Car

Purplespace

In order to avoid any confusion that might result from reading the subject line for today's feature, we need to explain that this is not an attempt to peddle any sort of colour-themed social networking community. What we have instead is an incredible listen in the form of an ongoing side-project from the Jacksonville, Florida trio Starring Me (Starring Me MySpace) who we first presented in October 2007. The spin-off endeavor in question has been dubbed Purplespace and it consists of primary contributors John Kathsah (music, vocals), Tara Golden (vocals) and Reed Clendenen (bass, vocals) along with musician friends Emily Erin (vocals), Jim Singleton (drums, synth), Todd Weise (guitar), Mary Stewart (vocals) and Rob Frerman (more beats). The lovely result of this loose collaboration has been a 2006 debut CD in Broken Bells and now the brand new full-length release titled A Tiny Little Spark. After receiving A Tiny Little Spark in the post and having listened repeatedly for the better part of a week, we can easily recommend what should be one of your first music investments of 2009. The sound within any given track floats somewhere between post-shogazers Ride and 80s-tastic classic Book Of Love with an undeniable, yet subtle similarity to Her Space Holiday from beginning to end. Additional music and information can be found and most definitely should be explored on the Purplespace MySpace page. Let's have a first listen to a track from the new release... shall we?

MP3: I Needed You