La Nuit.

03 Mar 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

Airy and floating like a breeze chasing the coastline, the two-piece Le Gros Ballon from Milan, Italy play beautiful, cinematic tunes on the egde of lo-fi and ambient. By using nothing but acoustic instruments, they manage to craft together an unique and eternal sound, sometimes a little in the direction of the more minimalistic pieces of our own Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience, however with a less focus on the vocals but rather on the atmosphere behind the relatively simple, dream-like tunes, truly speaking the love they share for music and acoustics. Grab their five-track EP La Nuit from bandcamp. Le Gros Ballon - La Nuit (+ Alexandra Dadier) Le Gros Ballon - Sleeping Read more →

Airy and floating like a breeze chasing the coastline, the two-piece Le Gros Ballon from Milan, Italy play beautiful, cinematic tunes on the egde of lo-fi and ambient. By using nothing but acoustic instruments, they manage to craft together an unique and eternal sound, sometimes a little in the direction of the more minimalistic pieces of our own Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience, however with a less focus on the vocals but rather on the atmosphere behind the relatively simple, dream-like tunes, truly speaking the love they share for music and acoustics. Grab their five-track EP La Nuit from bandcamp. Le Gros Ballon - La Nuit (+ Alexandra Dadier) Le Gros Ballon - Sleeping

Sloppy Sentimentalists.

03 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

More good news coming from our favorite "North Mississippi Infotainment Cult" Cats Purring with this lush cut by Georgia, Mississippi's Tommy Toussaint, otherwise known as one part of Dent May's backing band. Sloppy Sentimentalists stays in the vein of May's own uplifting, vintage pop feel, an upbeat feel-good tune just in time for spring. Sing along. Tommy Toussaint - Sloppy Sentimentalists Read more → More good news coming from our favorite "North Mississippi Infotainment Cult" Cats Purring with this lush cut by Georgia, Mississippi's Tommy Toussaint, otherwise known as one part of Dent May's backing band. Sloppy Sentimentalists stays in the vein of May's own uplifting, vintage pop feel, an upbeat feel-good tune just in time for spring. Sing along. Tommy Toussaint - Sloppy Sentimentalists

John Maus is back.

02 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Just a quick heads-up, the amazing new John Maus track we'd erroneously featured last week is back up on the net, this time courtesy of Ribbon Music's Soundcloud for free download and guess what, it's still just as mind-blowing as it was last week. Read more → Just a quick heads-up, the amazing new John Maus track we'd erroneously featured last week is back up on the net, this time courtesy of Ribbon Music's Soundcloud for free download and guess what, it's still just as mind-blowing as it was last week.

Arches cover Julian Lynch: Travelers.

02 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Everybody's darlings du jour, the beyond wonderful psychedelic guitar pop outfit Arches from Philadelphia, recently asked lo-fi genius Julian Lynch if it was alright to cover Travelers, one of the best songs off his shortlisted effort Mare from last year. Apparently it was, and here is the outcome - staying true to the original, Julien Rossow Greenberg and Tom Herman Jr. managed to add some of their distinct flavors, gently lifting some of Lynch's muffling haze to brighten the song with their splendidly swirling guitar textures, coming up with a deeply compelling result. (Photo) Arches - Travelers (Julian Lynch Cover) ______________________________________ Also, help Arches to put their debut full-length Wide Awake on vinyl, a marvelous concept album "about a character who lives alone in a city". The guys still need a couple of dollars to make it happen, so head over to their Kickstarter page to donate a few bucks. Meanwhile, stream the whole thing on bandcamp and listen to/download my favorite track This Isn't a Good Night for Walking below. Arches - This Isn't a Good Night for Walking Read more → Everybody's darlings du jour, the beyond wonderful psychedelic guitar pop outfit Arches from Philadelphia, recently asked lo-fi genius Julian Lynch if it was alright to cover Travelers, one of the best songs off his shortlisted effort Mare from last year. Apparently it was, and here is the outcome - staying true to the original, Julien Rossow Greenberg and Tom Herman Jr. managed to add some of their distinct flavors, gently lifting some of Lynch's muffling haze to brighten the song with their splendidly swirling guitar textures, coming up with a deeply compelling result. (Photo) Arches - Travelers (Julian Lynch Cover) ______________________________________ Also, help Arches to put their debut full-length Wide Awake on vinyl, a marvelous concept album "about a character who lives alone in a city". The guys still need a couple of dollars to make it happen, so head over to their Kickstarter page to donate a few bucks. Meanwhile, stream the whole thing on bandcamp and listen to/download my favorite track This Isn't a Good Night for Walking below. Arches - This Isn't a Good Night for Walking

The Ready Dance.

02 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Completely thrown to the ground by this devastatingly beautiful lovesick ballade by Swiss-born, NYC via Black Forest artist Birdie Hilltop, two and a half minutes of purest longing and hopeless affection, a slow dance for the lost ones, an early morning lament, a simple, perfect pop song. Birdie Hilltop - The Ready Dance Read more → Completely thrown to the ground by this devastatingly beautiful lovesick ballade by Swiss-born, NYC via Black Forest artist Birdie Hilltop, two and a half minutes of purest longing and hopeless affection, a slow dance for the lost ones, an early morning lament, a simple, perfect pop song. Birdie Hilltop - The Ready Dance

Bog Talk.

02 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Brooklyn ambient outfit Lush returns with the brief Bog Talk EP, four short pieces of very contemplating sonic explorations, true soundscapes of layered synth patterns meandering through time and space, music that is only devoted to itself and to the very moment it unfolds, as if nothing had existed before and nothing would ever come into being after the last note has faded into the depths of the subconscious. Lush - Bright Horizon Lush - South Ramp Read more → Brooklyn ambient outfit Lush returns with the brief Bog Talk EP, four short pieces of very contemplating sonic explorations, true soundscapes of layered synth patterns meandering through time and space, music that is only devoted to itself and to the very moment it unfolds, as if nothing had existed before and nothing would ever come into being after the last note has faded into the depths of the subconscious. Lush - Bright Horizon Lush - South Ramp

Please Stay.

01 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

A slow and simple, subtly reverberated e-piano melody line, over and over again. A drum machine pattern that doesn't hurt anyone with its gentle base and repetitive conga percussion. Some heavily manipulated vocals. Basically, that's about it. But honestly, what this young Helsinki, Finland native who records under the name Forest Cry delivers here is all it needs to leave us hypnotized. Constant repeat. The whole Drifter EP is available for stream/download over here. Forest Cry - Please Stay Read more → A slow and simple, subtly reverberated e-piano melody line, over and over again. A drum machine pattern that doesn't hurt anyone with its gentle base and repetitive conga percussion. Some heavily manipulated vocals. Basically, that's about it. But honestly, what this young Helsinki, Finland native who records under the name Forest Cry delivers here is all it needs to leave us hypnotized. Constant repeat. The whole Drifter EP is available for stream/download over here. Forest Cry - Please Stay