Solander - Passing Mt. Satu [ 7 ]

Style: Folk Indie

Country: Sweden

1.Porch Sitting Song 02:11
2.Generations Lost 05:15
3.Flight 04:30
4.The Garden 04:07
5.Tuuli 05:09
6.Book Of Advice 04:00
7.Rhino 03:59
8.Flod 05:19
9.Follow 03:54
10.Huckleberry Finn 03:47




I was just reading some info about this band, and is cataloged has a "pop indie". I often try to avoid the term "pop", it sounds like bubble gum, something you throw way after a bit of chewing, and i chewed a bit on this album, and I still like it, so i will drop the "pop", and just call it "folk indie".

What can you expect from this one ? Like most of the the "folk indie" genre, it has a lot of instruments going around, filling the empty spaces with melodic strings and catchy rhythms. You will find some odd instruments, like ocassional banjo, metallophones, haunting organs, lo-fi hand claps.

A small note on the string section: they really used well the strings (cellist Anja Linna), adding so much depth in each track, a good example is "The Garden" track and "Tuuli". Frederik Karisson's voice is soothing and a makes a good combination with the underlying style of Solander.

Overall: 7
Audio Quality: 7.5

Pros: You find a mixed bag of instruments, creating some fresh sounds

Preview (HQ)
MP3: The Garden

Five Corner Quintet - Hot Corners (2010) [ 8.8 ]

1 - Trading Eights

2 - Hot Rod

3 - Unsquare Bossa

4 - Midnight in Trieste

5 - Skinny Dipping

6 - Three Corners

7 -Shake It

Country: Finland
Genre: Jazz
Year: 2010
Label: Ricky Tick

The producer / DJ Tuomas Kallio reiterates that all people are jazz lovers, but still don't know it, therefore, he gathered stars like the drummer Teppo Mäkynen, trumpeter Jukka Eskola (a great new talent European), Timo Lassy (sax), Mikael Jakobsson (piano), and Antti Lötjönen (double bass) and formed the "Five Corner Quintet".

The first time I heard the "Five Corners Quintet" I realized one thing: I was missing an important piece of my musical awareness. I rediscovered my taste for modern jazz, and I'am now completely addicted to this genre.

The Helsinki Sessions:
This album is the Jazz of rock. As we proceed thru the album, we know we are going to have an hardtime keeping our feet still; the imposing piano, the sweet details of the drums, the frenzy of improvisation, just grabs your full attention.  I had never heard a live performance so intense and so vibrant, full of moments of pure musical ecstasy, leaving the audience craving for more.

This album is a reference of what is a contemporary acoustic jazz band, bringing a breath of fresh air taking jazz into new territories.The brass sections are simply brilliant and the aggressive bass in constant battle with the percussion.

Overall: 8.8
Audio Quality: 7.5

Pros: Amazing playing skills, remarkable tracks, great atmosphere at the club,
Cons: Audio recording is not the best, but is not a serious buzz kill.

Full album preview in one track (30 seconds each)
MP3 - Full Album Preview

Morphine - Good (1992) [ 9 ]

1. "Good" - 2:36

2. "The Saddest Song" - 2:50

3. "Claire" - 3:07

4. "Have A Lucky Day" - 3:24

5. "You Speak My Language" - 3:25

6. "You Look Like Rain" - 3:42

7. "Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave" - 3:21

8. "Lisa" (Dana Colley) - 0:43

9. "The Only One" - 2:42

10. "Test-Tube Baby/Shoot'm Down" - 3:11

11. "The Other Side" (Sandman, Colley) - 3:50

12. "I Know You (Part I)" - 2:17

13. "I Know You (Part II)" - 2:45

Genre: Alternative rock
Country: England
Year: 1992

What to say about Morphine to a person that don't know them? Well first forget Rock and Roll as you know it, put some deep voice covered with honey and a marvelous sax going through the songs as if it was a normal thing in modern rock, yet so delightful and deep. How the hell 3 guys can do such an atmosphere that gets you immersed into a velvet kind of feeling? A bass with 3 strings, a sax and a drum set, and all the musics are different, that's how. Beautiful velvet rock songs all over the album, what more can you expect?

Mark Sandman - 2-string slide bass, vocals, organ, guitar, tritar
Dana Colley - baritone sax, tenor sax, double sax, triangle
Jerome Dupree - percussion
Billy Conway - percussion (tracks 5 & 6)

By: Filipe Gonçalves

Album Rating: 9
Sound Quality: 8.5

Pros: Sublime rock songs with a feeling of quality.
Cons: Can't really see any...

Can - Ege Bamyasi (1972) [ 9 ]

1. "Pinch" 9:28

2. "Sing Swan Song" 4:49

3. "One More Night" 5:35

4. "Vitamin C" 3:34

5. "Soup" 10:25 – 2:06

6. "I'm So Green" 3:03

7. "Spoon" 3:03

Genre: Krautrock
Country: Germany
Year: 1972

Its amazing how 5 guys can do some of the most innovating music and avant garde compositions in the year of 1972. The Krautrock movement is on his edge and like Popol Vuh or Faust, "Can" delivers an album full of concepts from progressive rock but also drinks from Krautrock like its full of thirst. You will be amazed as you follow the songs in the album and get more and more immersed in the amazing atmosphere that they emanate.

As always Damo Suzuki, one of the most inventing singers of his age, gets the job done, as he follows the songs with psychedelic lyrics that are all about phonetics. Well just listen and comment, I promise you that you will be happy! :)

Filipe Gonçalves

Album Rating: 9
Sound Quality: 9

Pros: If you like music and improvisation this is the album for you.
Cons: Can't really see any cons because even the recording is sublime.

This album is available in our store in Vinyl format

Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003) [7.5]

Style: Post-Rock

Country: USA

Track list:

1. First Breath After Coma – 9:33
2. The Only Moment We Were Alone – 10:14
3. Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean – 8:43
4. Memorial – 8:50
5. Your Hand in Mine – 8:16

Simplicity ensues in another instrumental extravaganza, curiously enough in the form of yet another 3rd album by a band I'm reviewing. Just a coincidence? Most likely.

Texas quartet Explosions In The Sky present us with a constant flow of hopeful, upbeat melodies in an otherwise - sometimes - pretty dramatic and tragic genre that is post-rock. This is, by far, one of the most soothing, yet somewhat visceral pieces of music I've ever heard - myself coming from a heavier rock/metal background mind you. Its basic rock setup follows the same usual lineup of crescendos until the song's climax (explosions in the sky?), the difference being the attention to detail on its way up. And down. Everything just flows, to a point where sometimes, if you let yourself get carried away by it, you won't even notice when a track ends and another one starts. It all just blends in, layer upon layer, growing, dying down, then growing again. Over and over and over. And in that regard, it's that good.

This is, in my opinion, the sort of album you should listen to, even if just once. In the end, I believe what it really boils down to is more a matter of the mind than just plain music itself. And maybe I was in the right mood when I listened to it for the first time.

Album Rating: 7.5

Pros: music to listen to on those long introspective days; music to listen to while driving into the sunset.

Cons: it requires (demands?) the right mood to truly appreciate it.

First Breath After Coma


Your Hand In Mine

This album is available in vinyl format in our store.

Beware of safety - Leaves/Scares (2011) [ 7.9 ]

1 - Meridian

2 - Kevin Spacey

3 - Lowercase West

4 - Crooked Nails for Catching Skin

5- Moorpark Ends

6 - Small Victories

7 - Memorial Day

Style: Post-Rock
Country: US
Discography: 2 Albums
Label: The Mylene Sheath's

Everytime I put my hands in a album of post-rock I have a feeling that it's going to be great. They just have this glowing aura. I don't know if it is the cover or the bands name, but everything transpires awesomeness and this one is no exception.

All tracks start in a relatively calm way, never revealing specifically what will happen next, as if they were stories. The development emerges always in the middle, always strong and energetic, using the sheer force of raw rock.

The first track "Meridian" presents us with a set of drums and a frenetic vibrating guitar. From here the album takes its course, leaving us adrift in a sea of ​​pure rock. The guitar comes in delicate ways, breaking sometimes its delicacy and crying heavily. "Lowercase west" is one example of that, a very smooth beginning, going side-by-side with a rhythm of drums and a bass that reminds us of a ballad, but as usual in "Leaves/Scares", the dramatic atmosphere always comes in the middle of the track, changing the landscape appearance.

The beauty of post-rock is that it can excel without a voice, using a universal language of instrumental rock. "Beware of Safety" is a band to discover and to take everywhere, whenever you need to go further and get away from everyday.

Overall rating: 7.9
Pros: Once you've mastered this album, you will understand it deeply, and care for it.
Cons: The last tracks don't have the punch like the beginning of the album, but they close the album in a smooth way.

Fanfarlo - Reservoir (2009) [ 7.5 ]

Style: Indie Folk
Country: London

Track Listing:

I'm A Pilot – 4:31
Ghosts – 4:18
Luna – 4:37
Comets – 5:44
Fire Escape – 3:00
The Walls Are Coming Down – 4:15
Drowning Men – 4:16
If It Is Growing – 2:43
Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time – 4:02
Finish Line – 3:40
Good Morning Midnight – 1:26
Sand & Ice (bonus track) - 4:18

A little introduction:
Fanfarlo are a London-Based Indie Pop band formed in 2006 by the Swedish musician Simon Balthazar and Giles J. Davis.
They started recording this album in 2008 and was produced by Peter Katis (The National, interpol, mercury rev) and it was Released in february 2009.

Reservoir:
Fun Fact: One of the models in the photo is the little sister of Jón Pór Birgisson (Sigur Rós).

What I like best of the Indie genre is the hability to explore new instruments which can create new rhytmic patterns and soundscapes. This album depicts that hability quite well, the drums aren't shy, the violin strings are the backup singer, and you have small details in each song making them unique and nonrepetitive.

When the album ends, you have a feeling that you had a good time listening to it, most of the tracks are strong and uplifting, full of energy. Simon Balthazar (lead singer) carries a great voice, making this album even more impressive and enjoyable.

I'm going to give just a small remark about "Luna": It has a catchy rythm and the constrast between the slow paced vocals and the fast drums make this track one of my favourites. Special atention to "Ghost", "The walls are Coming Down (great chorus)" and "Harold T. Wilkins".

Overall Rating: 7.5
Audio Quality: 8.7

Pros: Uplitfing songs
Cons: Sometimes you don't know what music to listen first

I'm A Pilot by Fanfarlo

Ghosts by Fanfarlo

Luna by Fanfarlo

Buy the Fanfarlo - Reservoir (Vinyl Format) edition in our store