Imagine for a second Gogol Bordello but slowed down to a crawl. Imagine each of their songs but not fueled by rampant punk energy. Instead imagine slow rich ballads and duets but still inspired by the gypsy music of the Balkans and points East. If you’ve got that picture in your mind’s eye than you have an approximation of the lush sound of the Ann Arbor band Orpheum Bell whose music coined the phrase “Country & Eastern”.

The band celebrates the release of its sophomore release, Pearls, over the next couple of months. If you live in the Midwest you should try to check out one of these shows:

Oct 10 2009 White Crow Conservatory of Music Saginaw, Michigan
Oct 17 2009 Freshwater Studio (CD Release) Boyne City, Michigan
Nov 6 2009 The Howmet Playhouse Whitehall, Michigan
Nov 14 2009 Crooked Tree Arts Center Petoskey, Michigan
Dec 4 2009 The Ark (CD Release Show) Ann Arbor, Michigan

Here’s a preview track from the upcoming record. The song is called “Money From Another Town” and features all the eclectic instruments (bowed double bass, accordion, trumpets, and various percusion) the band is known to use as well as lead singer Aaron Klein gothic (in the truest sense of the word) vocals, chanting choruses, Serge van der Voo’s double bass and slightly morbid lyrics.

Pick up their debut record Pretty As You here and keep an eye out for the followup Pearls in the coming months.

Money From Another Town

Two of the finest music blogs one the web wrote about the band’s first record. Links to those reviews – You Crazy Dreamers, Setting The Woods on Fire.

So I’ve been off for almost two weeks. And now I’m back and recharged. I’ve got lots of great music to write about already in 2009. But I also have a new puppy to care for so we’ll see how this goes. It’s great to be back and I look forward to another great year in music.

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I never meant for Songs:Illinois to become the repository for all the great proto-gypsy punk music that’s out there but over the years it has become one of the overlooked genre’s that I’ve written the most about. So it seems fitting that the first post of the year is about Brooklyn based Luminescent Orchestrii’s upcoming record for Nine Mile Records.

The band is based out of Brooklyn and while its lyrics may be about current trends (see “Nasty Tasty” below) its music is based more in the old folk traditions of Eastern Europe combined with jazz, folk, and blues styles of the new world. “Nasty Tasty” is a good example of this dictotomy with it’s rampant sexual imagery mixed with gypsy fiddle. It comes from their upcoming record Neptune’s Daughter.

Nasty Tasty

P.S. Swedesplease is back up and running for 2009 with an exclusive first listen to the new song from electronic duo Val Venosta here.