Efterklang

Efterklang ('reverberation' in danish) comes from Copenhagen, Denmark. The four core members - Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen, Thomas Husmer and Rasmus Stolberg have been playing together since 2001, but the band has been joined by many more artists along the way since. You could almost say that Efterklang has become more of a community than just a band.

They have been descirbed as post-rock, indie, ambient, pop, electronic, but i think that to set any boundaries for these guys is difficult and frankly - useless, couse Efterklang are here to break them.

These two videos that i have chosen for you to appreciate are outtakes from 48 min long film "An Island". Its a music documentary about Efterklang directed by an award-winning french filmmaker Vincent Moon who has also worked with artists such as R.E.M., Tom Jones and Arcade Fire.

First song is an acoustic version of Efterklang's "Modern Drift" from their latest record "Magic Chairs". Pianolicious.

The second song is called "Alike". I think that this video precisely embraces what Efterklang is all about - interacting with one another, spontaneous creativity and power of music to unify people.

Moving Mountains

MM is an indie rock band originally formed in Westchester, New York in 2005. I first stumbled across these guys couple of years ago and my initial thought was - why i haven't heard them before? They're awesome. And then i tried to figure out what their sound was. Indie? Yes, but there's quite a lot of post-rockness going on aswell. Add a little bit of punk, a little bit of hardcore elements, lead singers Gregory Dunn's pellucid voice and the only thing that springs to mind, besides similarities with Appleseed Cast ,is the expression - intensively brilliant. I've added a couple of videos for you to understand what i am buzzing about.

This first peace of youtubness is a live performance of "Ode we will bury ourselves" from their debut album Pneuma. I can only imagine how it must have been actually being there. 

From their new album "Waves" i've selected this live version of the song called "Cascade". Now i want not just to be there to listen but to play with them. Such an intensive performance. Ou and you should check out the official music video of this song that was shot in Iceland. Just beautiful.

Dirty Goods

Next up we have three-piece indie/electro/disco/rock blend from Newport, South Wales - Dirty Goods. Ok, i know that some of you have probably heard about this lot and that for them i think is an achievement. An achievement  not because they wouldn't deserve your attention, quite the opposite, but simply because they haven't been on major international tours and their debut album is still to be released some time soon.(looking forward to this) My prediction is that they will be big so i guess they fit not in the not-so-well-known but the not-so-well-known-yet category. Still since that is yet to be proven they have have found a place in my blog.

Ok, lets get crackin'! Although most of their songs that i've heard contains a decent amount of sound effects, synthesizers and so on, i've chosen these two tracks for their back-to-basics, minimalistic concept - one guy's singing, one guy's playing, in this case, a guitar and a piano. No button pressing here and for me there is something so appealing in this simplicity. You don't need any equipment, this could take place anywhere, anytime. It's real.

First performance from them is a tune called "Clap Clap". Brilliant, poetic lyrics. You can feel there's a lot of thought gone into this. Not a groundbraking concept, but an outstanding execution.

The second song is called "Krayola" and you don't have to be a genius to understand that this is a love song. But its not cheezy or banal, its more like a letter written as a poem and then read following the melody. I think this is really a case of less-is-more.

Inouwee

And we will start off with electro/indie/pop duo from Denmark - Inouwee. This is the live version of their song "Liquids playing misty games". It was the first song that i listened to when i first came across this duo. It was a studio record and i instantly fell for it. I loved the instrumentals, the lyrics and the vocals. Brilliant. But i also like the live version of this song because even without drums, bass, keys and all the effects it hasn't lost its appeal. It differs from the studio version but its not a different song, just a different interpretation of the song and for me that is one thing that makes a great live performance.

From Last.fm:

The creative duo behind Inouwee consists of Kaare and Signe who both are well versed in the music scene of Copenhagen. They met by coincidence in 2007 and have since been working on expressing their feelings, thoughts and ideas. Later this year the debut album “Based on an untrue story” will see the light of day.