Monday, October 26, 2009

Music Monday: Fanfarlo (London by way of Sweden)



Last week the Hype Machine churned out this sweet little gem of a band for me. Fanfarlo formed in 2006 but I'd not heard of them until CMJ 2009 was approaching. I'm not sure how this one escaped my attention because, as is well documented, I love Swedish musicians, even if they later move to London, like Fanfarlo's Simon Balthazar.

The band plays around with lots of instruments - mandolins, drums, xylophones, horns. Balthazar's voice is an instrument in and of itself -- very unique and, at times, haunting. This summer they offered their album for $1 online (kind of like "pulling a Radiohead," if I can say that and get universal understanding) and I hope they sold a bunch of copies.

"Finish Line" (posted by BrooklynVegan) makes me to be a shoegazer.

Here are some other good tracks using a MySpace pop-out player

For fans of Matt Pond PA, Belle & Sebastian, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, trumpets, lazy days

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