I can’t say I’m that into the Danish music scene really. Never liked Mew, and I’ve heard a couple of Danish indie bands, but they’ve usually just struck me as pretty average.
The Devil Probably, however, grabbed my attention. It’s minimalistic pop with a pinch of shoegaze. Catchy indie pop that fades into heavy guitar droning and then gracefully back again. Seriously, it’s great. I want to hear more of this.
If I were to describe their sound, I’d say it’s like Windmill had teamed up with Why? and had Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes sing. Insane, but that’s about what it sounds like.
Sunglasses from Savannah, Georgia will be an exciting contribution to the music scene this year. Interestingly, this collaboration between Samuel Cooper and Brady Keehn started through a film production. Their sound is fresh and a good example of “out of this world” music, but is incredibly difficult to describe. The crossovers and style are not something I have heard much before but are something to appreciate as music should keep expanding and explore new areas.
The brilliant Dave Mahler has made music videos for several norwegian bands, among them The Firefly Effect. His videos are great and he seems to have good taste in music too.
It is not often that instrumental music has a lasting appeal for me. This has something to do with how I see vocals as an integral part of music. I admit though that good instrumentation can cover up for bad vocals more so than the opposite. However I would like to say that the music benefits from having both sides integrated. Unfortunately a lot of instrumental songs I have come across tend to last eons, unable to find a fitting ending, continuing this uninspiring endless journey in one sitting. The melodies don’t seem to have many exciting layers and easily fall into repetition without the aid of a vocal range.
The instrumental composers that I find interesting have been film/video-game related which isn’t something I usually listen to outside the visual/engaging experiences. However, now I have finally found an independent artist that is instrumental, and seems to hit the right notes with me – while keeping the music interesting until the end.
The Tallest Man on Earth, otherwise known as Kristian Matsson, is a fantastic Swedish folk musician. He’s already released a selftitled 5-track EP, a beautiful full-length album by the name Shallow Graves as well as touring with Bon Iver.
To say we’re impressed with Matsson’s debut album is a massive understatement. He made one of the best folk albums I’ve heard to this date.
Suffice to say, we’ve been looking forward to a follow-up for quite some time, and we’ll probably end up fighting a while over who of us should get to review it.
