Griff says; Mykonos Flame - setting the world on fire!

You may remember that back in November (see 'here') I got very excited about a band, Mykonos Flame (pictured), who were gradually releasing their eponymous debut album, track by track, on their soundcloud page. At the time of writing that first piece, they had only posted four songs, but these were so intriguing, and seemed to promise so much, that I couldn't hold back in writing about them. I'm now pleased to inform you that the completed album, as of 18th December 2011, is now officially released. The finished article contains eleven tracks in total and I'm delighted to say that the early promise suggested by the initial tracks has now been wholly fulfilled.


For those of you who missed out originally, Mykonos Flame emerged in 2010 between Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro, and is formed by Johnny Kao (vocals, ukulele and banjo), Daniel Schmidt (backing vocals, guitar and piano), Daniel Hawk (drums, backing vocals), André Falcão (guitar), Danilo Moura (bass, baixolão) and Alex Little Roach (trumpet). I initially described the band's sound as being characterized by a merging of international and Brazilian folk-styles and rhythms; a cross-pollination of MPB, pop, indie-folk, samba and the dance music of Eastern Europe and suggested a similarity to the likes of Beirut or DeVotchKa. Having had a good opportunity to now listen to the whole of the album I'd say that the tracks we first showcased on the blog, 'Jeanne D'Arc' and 'Tutti', are at the more folky end of the Mykonos Flame sound spectrum and that this extends into guitar-based indie-rock, very successfully too, when the spirit moves them.



I'm going to embed three excellent songs from the album (below) to demonstrate the versatility of the band's sound.
First up is Wolfmother Lover, which rather reminds this listener of Gomez:

Wolfmother Lover (official album version) by Mykonos Flame

Next is Joe Doe, which has the ghost of Franz Ferdinand flitting about it:

Joe Doe (official album version) by Mykonos Flame

Finally, here's the bouncy, pyschedelic folk of Sally Joint:

Sally Joint (official album version) by Mykonos Flame

Not unsurprisingly, given that they're too good to stay a secret for long, the band have just signed to the Astronauta Discos label in Brazil. You can order the new CD from their or from the band's Facebook page. In the meantime, the tracks are sstill all available as free digital downloads from their soundcloud page. Mykonos Flame are currently looking for a UK/European distributor so if you're interested get in touch with me here at The Streetlamp or directly with the band.

If you're in Brazil this month you may be interested to know that Astronauta Discos is planning a launch event for Mykonos Flame. The event is part of the project 'Som em 4 Tempos' , and takes place in the Sidney Miller Hall, in Rio de Janeiro,on January 18th. The event kicks off at 18:30 there is free admission, with distribution of passwords an hour beforehand. See the Astronauta Discos site for more details.


Griff
xx

Griff says; Burn, baby, burn! It's Mykonos Flame.

I may be junping the gun a bit here, as tonight's band seem to be in the process of gradually releasing a debut album in dribs and drabs and have, up until now, only released four songs from it. However, I decided to write about them anyway as;
Firstly, as regular readers will know, I love to write about mysterious, unknown bands who have very little presence on the internet.
Secondly, I'm proud of The Streetlamp's reputation for sniffing out a quality band and giving our readers the chance to get into their stride before other blogs are even out of the starting blocks.
And third, this band are too good to sit on any longer, I just have to tell you about them.

The band is called Mykonos Flame and what follows is absolutely all I know about them. The band members are: Kao Kazlauckas (known to his friends as Kao Johnny), Daniel Schimdt, Daniel Falcão, André Falcão, Alex Baratinha and Danilo Mouragrandson



Kao appears to be the main song-writer and frontman and is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, although his family is of Eastern European extraction. He has since relocated to The Netherlands, and that is presumably where he picked up the rest of the band. Due to his family background and nomadic lifestyle Kao's musical heritage is rich and eclectic, as is immediately obvious from his own sound. He grew up with influences from MPB (Música Popular Brasileira), as well as from more avant-garde artists, such as respected left-wing political activist and composer Caetano Veloso (The Streetlamp salutes you!). As a teenager, Kao was influenced by the freak-folk and new weird America movements. At 26, while living in the Netherlands, he discovered the ukulele, banjo and the folk music of Eastern Europe, thus bringing his story back to its beginnings.



So, how would I describe the music of Mykonos Flame? As you should have gathered from the above, their style is characterized by a merging of international and Brazilian folk-styles and rhythms (in this, the influence of Veloso is apparent).The way they cross-pollinate their numerous influences, including MPB, pop, indie-folk, samba and the dance music of Eastern Europe is quite delightful and I genuinely believe that The Streetlamp readership will be just as smitten as I am. In fact, I sincerely believe this band could go on to have substantial crossover appeal. Think of other recent musical hybridisation successes like Beirut, DeVotchKa or Andrew Bird to get where I'm coming from. Anyway, just remember, you heard them on The Streetlamp first. Below are a couple of tracks, available as free downloads from their soundcloud page, to give you a flavour of their style. Check out their page for more tracks and more free downloads.

Jeanne D'Arc (official album version) by Mykonos Flame

Tutti (official album version) by Mykonos Flame



Griff
xx