Soda Shop

Soda Shop is the Brooklyn, New York collaboration of musicians Drew Diver, from Horse Shoes [featured here in September 2009], and Maria Usbeck of Selebrities who have recently completed a pair of songs which are set for release as a single through international label Shelflife Records in January of 2011. Just in time for blustery winter days, Soda Shop provides a warm interpretation of sparse 1960s pop, with Maria's beautifully distant vocals accented by a tambourine and bells to touch each flake of snow landing on our windowsill. Have a listen while we happily pop our caps and slip straws into glass bottles... lovely song.

MP3: Farewell

Morpheme

Often times, we have the fortunate opportunity to re-visit previously featured musicians and the various new endeavors or directions they decide to explore. In the case of today's MML offering, we find ourselves with a compelling debut single that might just send a few chills up the spine for those familiar with the artists involved. Morpheme is a brand new transatlantic collaboration of Chicago, Illinois duo Perry Pelonero and Kim Welsh from long-time shoegaze outfit Skylight as well as their current band Bliss City East and London, UK musician/programmer Dean Garcia of Curve (yes, that Curve) who also has a lovely trio of his own in SPC ECO. The newly released single, simply titled Infection, presents the perfect combination of danceable dream-pop and swirling guitars that both seem to beg for ear-bleed volume levels. Perfectly suitable for cocktails by a strobe-lit dance floor or resting the side of your head against a billowing stage amplifier, Morpheme provides a glimpse into the endless possibilities that could and should stem from this formidable introduction. We look forward to more from this music project... much more.

The song for you.

MP3: Infection

Related MML Features:

Skylight: March 2008
Skylight: September 2008
Bliss City East: December 2008
Bliss City East: May 2009
Bliss City East: April 2010

Tomihira: Blackout EP

MML Quick Trivia:
Q: The very first artist ever to send a physical copy of music to MML?
A: You guessed it... Tomihira.

Nearly five years ago, we excitedly opened our first envelope to find music that would end up forming a long-distance and continuing bond with today's featured artist. For those not familiar, Tomihira is the aptly-named music project of San Francisco, California songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Dean Tomihira, who we first reviewed in March 2006 with a track from his incredible full-length album Play Dead. After following up in May 2006, then again in March 2008 with updated music, a prolonged silence settled in that had us both wondering... where is Dean? Rest assured, we've found our old friend and there is now a brand new release we can enthusiastically shout from rooftops about. Blackout EP is an upcoming mini-collection of four beautiful songs that will be made available for early 2011 consumption through a label not yet disclosed. A mystery for all at this point. As an exclusive preview, we bring you a first listen to one of our favourite songs from the EP...

Exclusive MP3: Flutterbie



With noticeable additions in electronic accompaniment, crisp new acoustics and moments of borderline-shoegaze layered guitars, Tomihira manages to exceed any relevance-factor, evolving without losing a single ounce of the original sound we first fell in love with. However smitten we are with Blackout EP, the mere thought of these tracks serving as firm footing towards a possible 2011 long-player is enough to keep our collective imagination rolling for quite some time. The next live performance takes place this very evening as Dean Tomihira takes the stage along with percussionist Markkus Rovito at Seattle, Washington venue The Josephine. As if you needed any more convincing, we also have a few previous recordings to share. Enjoy and stay in touch for updates as soon as the new EP drops.

From the New Order tribute album Community 2 (2006)
MP3: Mr. Disco

From the release Play Dead (2005)
MP3: World Class
MP3: Pillbox