Pitstop: Agnes Obel

One of the things I did in my early days of music blogging was sign up for a bunch of mailing lists for a bunch of New York City venues. Sure, some venues already add you on a mailing list if you buy tickets online to go to them (looking at you Bowery Presents) but I welcomed what some what see as annoying intrusion. Or I did at the time. The idea behind it being that I would totally use it to keep up on shows happening I might otherwise miss (I haven't) or find artists I might not have seen (I didn't). While I'm too lazy to unsubscribe from the majority of these mailing lists I did finally find an artist exclusively through an email sent promoting hers and other shows at Le Poisson Rouge. Enter Berlin based Danish songstress Agnes Obel.



While I couldn't make it to her show I found that the name had managed to stick with me. Something about the combination of its symmetry as well as the press photo used - Obel in profile silhouetted in red (the album art for her latest album Aventine) seemed to stir something in my very core. You want to listen to this. Obel's music manages to be at once totally straight forward and yet totally hard to classify. A classically trained pianist, Obel's music seems to reflect this (especially in her instrumental turns) while there's a definite push for a pop-like accessibility. As good as they are, Obel has more to offer than lyrical piano-driven ballads. While piano and Obel's vocals always maintain the main focus and in impresively equal measure, Obel allows a bit of orchestral flourishes on the new album and songs like "Dorian" and "Aventine" manage to show her pivoting from the occasionally folk-inspired turns of her debut album Philharmonics to her more seriously plotted nascent art-pop of Aventine while still retaining at last the hint of pop momentum.



And yet, on Aventine Obel's music retains a pervasive introspection - melancholic at times, merely contemplative at others. It's hard to label Obel a pop artist when the music is so definitively solemn. In that regards Obel has more in line with artists like Efterklang and Sigur Rós - much more content to just make the music they want to with little thought for what to actually call it. Not only does Obel strengthen her songwriting chops but she also refines her creative process in a way that's totally genre-blurring.



The most exciting thing about Agnes Obel is that she's knows either consciously or instinctively that in order to avoid stagnation there needs to be more happening than merely being beautiful or catchy and in her own quest for interesting musical routes provides music that's engaging and rewarding to listen to while also offering these things. Obel is the kind of artist that you can count on to evolve from album to album and while her current output is endearing an solid, I'm intrigued at the possibilities.

Watch: Efterklang - "Sedna"

Consummate artists in their own right, Danish trio Efterklang always make sure to spread the love and enlist and varying set of talented, interesting artists to collaborate with. For their video for "Sedna", the third track off their fourth full length album Piramida, Casper Clausen' supple baritone and craning falsetto, Rasmus Stolberg's sumptuous bass lines, and Mads Brauer's ethereal synths are paired with footage of Croatian youths captured by Brussel based photographer Hana Miletec. Brooding teens and a slow-burning understated rock ballad come together to make an incredible pairing.

Watch Efterklang's video for "Sedna":

Watch: Efterklang - "Apples"

One of my favorite things about Danish trio Efterklang, aside from putting their own innovating at at most time orchestra spin on pop music, is that the trio often combine music and visuals in such a stunningly artistic way. Their latest video for "Apples" is no different: the first music video to ever feature the band themselves, there's a bit of a twist as Efterklang's members turn their bare torsos into canvas for footage of their Piramida excursion  shot by Andreas Koefoel, art created by frequent collaborators Hvass&Hannibal, as well as footage of the band in their new Berlin base shot director duo Oodls. All of it is blended up enough to create this pretty remarkable viewing experience where your eyes are glued to Efterklang's backs as you watch scene after scene and shot after shot play out on their skins. It's a pretty engaging video that takes a rather simple concept and really runs with it in an enticing way.

Watch Efterklang's video for "Apples":


Efterklang's fourth studio album Piramida is out now on 4AD. You can purchase it here or stream it on Spotify.

Efterklang - "Apples"

As the release date for Efterklang's upcoming album Piramida looms ever nearer, we're getting more and more tastes of what the end product will be like. We've heard "Ghosts" albeit in the orchestral arrangement of their ongoing Piramida tour, then first single "Hollow Mountain", and if you were paying any attention to the Danish trio yesterday they premiered a brand new track "Dreams Today" (which you might recognize from the Piramida trailer) over on a Dutch radio station which you can listen to here.

But all of these exciting album previews all sort of pale in comparison to newly revealed track "Apples". The new track doesn't have any of the fancy dressings of a women's choir like "Dreams Today" or "Hollow Mountain", instead it's Efterklang at their most simple with a swaggering bass groove and piano-centric counter melodies that meander in and out of focus. And yet while the simplest Efterklang song we've heard so far, it's by no means sparse - featuring brass swells and layers of intoxicating instrumentals surging beneath Casper's pleasant baritone. "Apples" alone is enough to make me want to pre-order the album right away.



Listen and download Efterklang's new song "Apples":
 Efterklang - Apples by Efterklang



Efterklang's fourth full length album Piramida is out September 25th in the States and 24th everywhere else.

Alcoholic Faith Mission - "Running With Insanity"

One of the first blogs I ever read, much less with any sort of regularly (read: religiously) was Eardrums - a delightful indiepop blog based out of Norway that tended to focus on music no one much did over here in the states. It was through them that I discovered the Music Alliance Pact a collection of blogs from various countries that would put forward one song a month to represent their country on what turned out to be fantastic eclectic homegrown batches of delectable tunes and through it I found a host of wonderfully blogs to check out (I Guess I'm Floating being one of them, though it took me years to realize this).

When Eardrums dropped out I more or less forgot about the amazing MAP but this week when those awesome fellas at We Listen For You sallied forth to represent the United States, it was once again brought to my attention. While We Listen For You's pick of Houndmouth's "Penitentiary" was an excellent contribution, the track that really knocked me off my feet was Denmark's choice of Alcoholic Faith Mission's "Running With Insanity" from their fourth studio album Ask Me This. 

Dimly aware of Alcoholic Faith Mission's existence from their slot on the Old Flame Records roster it wasn't until the palatable strains of Thorben Seierø Jensen's rousing vocals over an equally earcatching and pleasant accordion in "Running With Insanity" that I was even remotely aware of how special this band is. It was love at first listen. 

And there's certainly plenty to love. Arguably the best track on the new album, "Running With Insanity" has just about anything you could want. A Jackson Pollock of vibrant tonal colors, it shifts gears quickly but always smoothly. A bit of chamber pop goodness one moment, a bristling jam the other, one thing remains constant:  An infectious energy and smile-inducing sense of wonder as the song's textural landscape shifts before you. A highly lovable gem and a perfect display of the awesome making its way out of Scandinavia. A surefire favorite.



(via We Listen For You)

 

Watch: Efterklang - "Hollow Mountain"

After giving us a taste of their upcoming album Piramida with a live video and album trailer, Danish indie rock trio Efterklang are well and truly back and giving us a true glimpse at what we'll be hearing on their new album with a video for album opener and first single "Hollow Mountain".

One of the things the band are most excited about is the field recording they recorded in the arctic ghost town of Spitsbergen and "Hollow Mountain" gives you your first taste of that with the opening crafted from hitting and recording the sound of a oil tank. "Hollow Mountain" also sees the return of frequent Efterklang collaborators Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick providing wurlitzer and strings respectively. Efterklang also goes a bit bigger and more in line with their recent orchestral tour by employing a 60 piece women's choir.

The result is a work of orchestral pop deliciousness - a sauntering arty gem that pairs the mysteriousness of the ghost town which inspired much of the album with Efterklang's pop stylings. There's also a pretty nifty video directed by Oodls that combines the bands photos from Spitsbergen with the album artwork designed by Hvass & Hannibal.



Efterklang's fourth studio album Piramida is out September 25th in the US on 4AD.

 Efterklang - Hollow Mountain by Efterklang

Watch: Efterklang - Piramida Album Trailer

After what seems like forever since the official announcement of their upcoming album, Danish indie rock trio Efterklang's Piramida has a release date. Are you ready for this? Brace yourself, take a seat. Efterklang's fourth studio album is out September 25th here in the States on 4AD and a day before pretty much everywhere else. And that's not all: In the exciting move I've been waiting  for, Efterklang are bringing their orchestral tour overseas. There's a handful of European dates but the most exciting news is Efterklang are playing the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Full orchestra. September 22nd. Mark your calendars.



You can read more about the creation of Piramida here as well as grab yourself a pre-order.

Until then, the band have also released the live in Sydney version of "The Ghost" for your listening pleasure so take a listen.

Watch: Efterklang - "The Ghost" with Sydney Symphony

After Danish indie rockers Efterklang announced the completion of their upcoming fourth studio album Piramida, I've essentially been watching their every move with laser precision. A fact made all the more painful by the fact that the Danes seemed totally content not actually sharing any tunes from it; instead announcing a slew of dates where Efterklang would be teaming up with symphony orchestras to perform the album in full. All of which were not at all here in the US where I'd be guaranteed to be in the audience. Instead Sydney was the first date and updates from their attempts to properly notate all the music for the orchestra and rehearsals streamed in periodically enough to make my heart ache. And somehow, someway I completely missed the band posting up a live video from their recent Sydney performance of new track and probable lead single "The Ghost". I call shenanigans.

So while the group prepares for a slew of other dates with orchestras far and wide (and not here where I want to see them) for their lucky lucky fans in Europe and abroad at least we can enjoy this brand new track off Piramida. While not in its studio-recording form, it's a good track nonetheless. Enjoy it. I know I am.



Also, good news: Piramida will out sometime in September on 4AD.

Efterklang - Magic Chairs (2010)

Danish indie pop rock group Efterklang released their third studio album Magic Chairs earlier this year in February. Though the band has been performing since the early 2000s, this was the first I had heard from them, after reading about them in a magazine (either Under the Radar or Spin, I think). Beginning with "Modern Drift" which has lyrical, flowing melodies accompanied by drum beats, violin accents, occasional brass florishes, and piano in addition to guitar and bass; the album starts off lively and fresh and while their penchant of the use of tons on different instruments might draw comparisions with the numerous indie orchestras around, Efterklang style with its sweeping vocals, in-no-rush song build up, and syncopated African-esque drumbeats puts them (and the album) in a league of its own. Not surprising for a band that's been around for about 10 years. Efterklang manages to use percussion to remarkable music effect like on "Raincoats" where clapping intertwines with the vocals and guitar riffs to create an infectiously engaging and charming gem. The album as a whole is rather mellow, not attempting to grab your attention with any over-the-top melodrama but rather catch your ear and move your heart with its lovely melodies. Lovers of mellow indie pop and stellar string arrangements certainly won't be disappointed by Efterklang's most recent full-length release. I know I wasn't!

Give Efterklang a listen with their lead single off 4AD label debut Magic Chairs, "Modern Drift":