Tune: epo-555

epo-555 - Harry Mambourg
from the new album, Mafia, on Crunchy Frog
Buy here

epo-555 - Le Beat's on Fire
from the album, Dexter Fox, on Crunchy Frog
Buy here

You can also download these two tracks from their myspace page, but I am hosting the songs since I find myspace downloads to be rather slow. You can also download the track "Il Presidente" on myspace.

Another track you can download is "Hyperschlieb" from the SXSW page. If you prefer lovely female vocals, this is the song for you.

You can stream additional songs and watch their beautiful music videos on the audio/video page of their website. The animation of "Le Beat's on Fire" is particularly lovely.

Ok, so here's the deal: one of my favorite bands, epo-555, is coming over from Denmark to play NYC and SXSW.

They play 2 shows in New York:
Sunday, March 12th (tonight!)
Mercury Lounge
$10, no advance tickets
10:30 TRICK & THE HEARTSTRINGS
9:30 FILM SCHOOL
8:30 EPO-555
7:30 BUTTERFLY EXPLOSION

Monday, March 13th
Mercury Lounge
$10, no advance tickets
10:30 EPO-555
9:30 GUILLEMOTS
8:30 CORINNE BAILEY RAE
7:30 THE GRATES

And one show in Austin, Texas at SXSW:
Thursday, March 16th
Pecan St. Ale House
8pm

Back in 2004, I was reading the blog Mystery and Misery where he was talking about this band that had a diy-New Order--ish feel to it. If I hadn't come across that blog entry, I may never have heard this unique band. If you like any of the tracks I have linked to, please check them out. They are even better live!

I have waited so long to post this entry (remember how I was whining about my work schedule a while ago) that I think it might be better to look to the wisdom of others (plus as I have complained before, I am not that comfortable writing descriptively about music):

"Maybe it’s the “adorable foreign band radar” talking, but this ensemble of kids from Denmark inspire one adjective: ADORABLE! SO happy to be playing music, EPO-555 have nearly perfected their formula of crystal-clean electronic pop music. " - Glass Animal Index

"The press release for Dexter Fox, the debut album, mentions bands like the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Velvet Underground and Calexico, but these aren’t obvious to my ears. The band has a distinctively clanging rhythm section, though, and wonderfully understated vocals (always something to be appreciated!). Their sound is big without being in your face, diverse without being self-indulgent. A good way to get a quick feel for epo-555 would be to play the three tracks “Dakota” (a driving song with both real drumming and electronic-style percussion), “Pioneers” (a sweetly melancholy indie-rock tune with a distinctive shimmery keyboard part) and “Sugar for the War Machine” (heavily atmospheric tune with a bit of acoustic guitar, gripping, multi-layered instrumentation and the female vocals of Camilla Florentz joining guitarist Mikkel Max Hansen, drummer Ebbe Frej and bassist Jakob Nielsen) in sequence. This nice little trio of tunes can’t help but make a great impression on a new listener. There’s something rather grand about epo-555; they sound like an important band for the new millennium, but in a way that’s hard to put your finger on. I certainly hear it in powerhouse songs like the amusingly titled “L’Art Pour la Fart,” which kicks considerable ass (I can just imagine the audience goin’ nuts when the band plays this one live), and the R.E.M.-meets-Yo La Tengo jangle of “Sophia,” a tune that’s right as So. Central rain. Better than half the American bands mining similar territory, epo-555 are the real deal, a top-notch outfit that deserves to be popular overseas. Call the Crunchy Frog people, someone, and get these kids a U.S. distribution deal." - Playbackstl.com

"A delicate balance between intricate pop sensibility and the occasional sweeping distortion-fuelled outlets distinguishes the music of epo-555. Easy-going and playful melodies team up with more sombre and dark atmospheres in several of the songs, and epo-555 are quite conscious about this duality."I think the harmony in our music comes from the foundation. The outlines that Mikkel makes are, with all due respect, kind of pop-oriented and sing-able. The noisy elements are something that we in unison probably need to add to the nice piece of pop music in order to give it a certain edge", Ebbe explains." - Roskilde Festival

"Although their occasional mangled guitar whirls will draw inevitable comparisons with My Bloody Valentine, it would be unfair to confine EPO-555 to the current Shoegazer-revival trend. Their music is far too rich, varied and personal for that, mixing noisy-pop, twanging guitars, old-school electronics and the mellow voices of Camilla Florentz and Mikkel Max Hansen to an arresting effect." - Rockmondo.com

Mikkel and Jacob with the beloved epo-555 giraffe. Jacob used to play bass for the band. This photo was taken by Misscaro. Please check out her Flickrstream. She is a wonderful photographer. This photo is used with the permission of Misscaro and Creative Commons. I've never referenced a Creative Commons photo before, so I hope I am doing it right.

You can find some more press photos of the band here. Did you look? Aren't Camilla, Hans, Mikkel and Ebbe pretty?