The first thing that strikes me as I start to listen to Klifton Filente’s album “Common Ground”, is the sound from the thin, somewhat mechanical drums and the undefined, rolling bass, with the impression like it’s programmed on one of those all-in-one-keyboards. But soon enough the songs open up and reveal excellent pop songs, with beautiful melodies and chord variations.
The sound becomes a part of the charm with the songs, which remind me of pop and country pop from early seventies or maybe like a more humble Magnetic Fields.
Marcus Wallner puts the microphone on the piano, sits down and plays and sings. Afterwards he adds the choirs. As simple as that. When I ask him why he hasn’t aimed for a bigger sound with a better production he answers that he’s tried that, but that inte the end he likes this way the best.
And the songs and the sound create a special feeling, I agree with that. Like a small choir gathered around a piano singing modern hymns in front of us. Less is more? Judge for yourseld in a couple of songs from his latest EP, “A Needlework”.
It’s been a while since I heard from Gocart System, ever since they released their first EP here on Meadowmusic. Thankfully they are back with a new one, called “Across the Nation”.
And yes, it’s the same crazy playfulness, jump between genres and with contagious songs. Here’s one that could be a modern lo-fi version of early Velvet Underground, another a disco flirt, and, well, you tell me. I recognize the music, but at the same time I don’t.
On Spotify you can listen to both EP:s as one release, or you can head over to Myspace and listen there. Here’s “Heavy Rotation”, and also the video to “Always Been the Same” from the first EP:
It’s easy to smile when you listen to the synth pop collective Vampyramiden’s EP “Tåglånet” (“The train loan”). It’s a tale in five parts about a couple of guys that escapes their boring hometown by “borrowing” a train. Told in a naïve and charming way with bizarre elements. Inevitably I come to think about Torsson in the way they sound, with some party ambience, lofi and synths added.
And it’s Vampyramiden’s ambition to deliver these kinds of stories in this format. They have promised a singel on the same theme in the end of the summer and you can keep track of this at Vampyramiden’s Myspace page.
Here are the two first chapters of “Tåglånet” (in Swedish). The following three is available on their Myspace page where you can also download the EP for free.
It’s time to start again after a short summer break. And I begin with Shotgun Language, aka Gustav Berry.
This May he released the single “It Leaves Me Worried”, a song that breathes fifties rock, and earlier this year the album “Nerve”, a collection of songs with the same lo-fi sound, caught on his tape recorder at home, and serves us pop gems, country and fifties rock. A little like if Buddy Holly, Neil Young and John Lennon met in someones home and recorded outtakes for their new album.
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