Music Recommendation #11: Double Dan

Double Dan hails from Malmo Sweden. These days it’s remarkable seeing all the band names already in use, and that it is so hard putting together a band name unless you think “irony”. And irony there is, there is two Dan’s in this band, Dan E. and Dan L. Anyways now that we are through with the band name thing, let’s talk about their music. When I first heard this band a few years ago, I was not immediately aware they consisted of members whom have/are playing with Double Dan, Acid House Kings, and Starlet among others.

That fact was clearly a pleasant surprise. I liken their sound to a quality that is just as good as all three of those bands, and perhaps just a little better. Sadly it is not uncommon for “side projects” to slip through the cracks and achieve less notoriety, but an artist like Double Dan is more than just another “side project”, they are deserving of your ears attention. Purveyors of Swedish pop can expect to be wowed by this band.

Recommended if you like: The Honeydrips, We & Lisa, The Embassy, Club 8, Acid House Kings, SKWBN, Sambassadeur, Radio Dept, Felt, Field, Mice, Belle and Sebastian, Erlend Oye, Most Valuable Players, National Bank, Ivy, Junior Boys;

Check them out here: www.myspace.com/thedoubledan

Bamboo House "s/t"

Bamboo House hails from Annandale, New York. Some of the most interesting lyrics that I’ve heard in recent memory are conveyed within these songs. Though at times the lyrics appear to have a little gloom and doom feel to them which is reminiscent to Elliott Smith’s in some ways, some of the songs do have humor attached to them, which when thinking of some of the lyrics days later, can make you crack a smile or chuckle. There are many creative lyrical phrases within the songs of Bamboo House, many phrases which I’ve not quite heard before which is an extremely rare quality these days with a lot of music having excessive usage of derivatives.

The vocals surely evoke Erlend Oye and Jose Gonzalez which is an interesting combination. The melodies have a post modern Nick Drake feel to them, but with the way the vocals are displayed along with the melodies, that eerie feel you’d hear from Drake’s songs is nearly non existent.

Check them out here: www.myspace.com/bamboohousemusic

Music Recommendation #10: Malkovic

Malkovic hails from Moscow Russia. The group features prominently two members, Alesha and Sasha, both of which have an interest in creating sounds, as described by them as “indie-lounge”. Ever since I became aware of their music sometime in 2006, I’ve been a consistent fan of their work. Their most recent release “Little Estrada” is highly recommended by me, and to date is their sole full length album.

Little Estrada is a diverse album, which would most definitely appeal to fans of lounge, pop and bossa nova. Malkovic draws a lot of influence from such artists as The Free Design, Kings of Convenience, and The Notwist among others. There are a lot of great qualities to the music of Malkovic; I’ll name three such qualities: their lovely melodies, their lovely vocals, and the diversity of their sound. Another notable contribution behalf of Malkovic is they have songs written in English, Russian and French.

They do have some interesting videos to go along with their sound scapes, you may check them out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am2I9h7aAOA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_SrOv9Z9uU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWDowFwVNMM


The music of Malkovic is highly recommended for fans of the following:

The Free Design, Kings of Convenience, The Notwist, Ivy, Prefab Sprout, Acid House Kings, Stereolab, Anthony Rochester, Swedish Pop, Soviet Retro pop, Field Mice, Sondre Lerche, The High Llamas, Air France, Chamber Music, Bossa Nova, Lounge, Pop, etc.

Check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/malkovic

Music Recommendation #9: Mammoth Life

Mammoth Life hails from Lawrence Kansas. This “big” band includes synthesizer, violin, drums, keyboard, guitar, bass... along with soaring male and female vocals. Some of their most favorite artists include the Beach Boys and Devo. In their new song “Boy Blue, An American Lion”, their guitars evoke The Smiths’ “Meat Is Murder” and the vocals remind me a lot of the finest moments from Mew’s “Frengers” album. The genre of Mammoth Life is best described by them as Orchestral Western Pop, Kaleidoscopic Art Pop, and Western Pop.

Their music comes highly recommended by me, especially for fans of: The Beach Boys, Camera Obscura, Sondre Lerche, Belle and Sebastian, Thunder Power, sincerity and individuality.

Mammoth Life goes on tour June/July and will be playing over 3 weeks of shows in Midwest and West Coast of the USA.

See a Mammoth Life video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loxn_ES4kII

For more info see:

www.mammothlife.net
www.myspace.com/officialmammothlife

Music Recommendation #8: The Odd Fiddler

The Odd Fiddler hails from Stockholm Sweden. Within his lyrics, main member Pell P. Arvidsson conveys charm, naivety, desperation, frustration, depression, love and death, among other things. What makes The Odd Fiddler unique is that his music is nearly incomparable to other artists, and the way in which he projects himself is a style that has allowed many listeners the ability to fall in love with the songs, or hate them to pieces. The obscurity in style is surely what attracts listeners to The Odd Fiddler, in addition to his charm and his overwhelming humor. See “The Odd Fiddler” video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B9BXSrXPHU

Check out The Odd Fiddler here: http://www.myspace.com/theoddfiddler

Check out Pell’s newest creations here: http://www.myspace.com/pellparvidsson

Normandie Wilson

Normandie Wilson hails from San Diego, California. Recently she mailed me a full length CDR of her songs, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had so much joy in hearing her songs that I allowed the album to be played a few times before I caught some sleep. The joy from listening took me back to a time when I discovered the sounds of Sondre Lerche.

The vocal styling reminds me a lot of standards’, the confidence within the vocals is nearly unmatched today. At other times her vocal styling reminds me of the youngsters/twins Miriam and Johanna, of which make up Taxi! Taxi!. The lyrics are very remarkable; at times they evoke Cole Porter. The piano playing reminds me a bit of Elliott Smith and Schroder from “The Peanuts”.

In all, everything from the percussion, the piano, the trumpets, etc. all appears in the right place. Normandie’s songs are all over the place musically most obvious the lounge and pop feel, but also at times perhaps borderline jazz? Anyways I’m very happy that my ears met them.

Hear more here: www.myspace.com/normandiewilson