I am pegging this lot as unsigned, although it seems sort of unfeasible given that they have US and UK booking agents, and their MySpace page looks as beautiful as this.  The image at the bottom of this post was by a fellow called Valero Doval, and as you can see from his website, he is a very clever little fucker indeed – that’s his artwork in the video above, too, apparently.

Anyhow, I was introduced to the band by Loch Lomond when they cam over in May to record a Toad Session and do a mini-tour of the UK, but the fact that my friend Agnes was able to download an EP and actually find out some information about the band back then suggest that a record label is now involved and has asked them to quietly remove their back catalogue in preparation for a full release.  That’s a complete guess of course, but it looks a little bit like it to me.

Anyhow, this lot are a multi-national bunch living in London, and they make rather gorgeous acoustic pop.  There’s not much more that needs saying than that really – the harmonies are lush, the instrumentation very pretty indeed (and there’s an accordion, which is an instrument I absolutely love).  Three songs are all I could find on RCRDLwhatever, and there’s no sign of the six or seven song EP Agnes describes, and no info left on their Bandcamp page.  So it’s all a bit frustratingly elusive, but lovely tunes nevertheless.

Vadoinmessico – Sisma

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Vadoinmessico – In Spain

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MySpace | RCRDLBL Downloads (That’s ‘RECORD LABEL’, except not, get it?  See what they did there?  Vowels are sooo last Christmas.)

Image below by Valero Doval.

Video: Vimeo – YouTube
Photos: Flickr
Audio: freely downloadable below…

Loch Lomond came over to the UK in May to play some dates in Scotland, so we took the opportunity to record a Toad Session with them.  We first met the band when we went out to Pickathon in 2008 and interviewed them there.  Since then we have released a split 12″ and an EP by them over here on Song, by Toad Records.

Elephants & Little Girls is actually from that split 12″ release, but the other three songs are new, and from their next album.  That album has been finished for about three months now I believe, although I have yet to hear it, so all I know about it is from these three songs.

Many thanks to Gavin Tarling for recording and mixing the session, to Matthew Swan and Fiona Buckle for their help with the photography and video cameras, and to Chris Bryant for being in the band for the day.  Feel free to help yourselves to the downloads, and enjoy the videos.  The whole interview can be heard on the podcast below, the video at the top of the page is sort of a general video of the whole day, and those of the individual songs are embedded below.

Toadcast #138 – Loch Lomond Toad Session

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Loch Lomond – Blood Bank (Toad Session)

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Loch Lomond – Egg Song (Toad Session)

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Loch Lomond – I Love Me (Toad Session)

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Loch Lomond – Elephants & Little Girls (Toad Session)

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01. Loch Lomond – Blood Bank (Toad Session) (04.39)
02. Run On Sentence – Out in the Woods (11.07)
03. Sallie Ford – Danger (14.35)
04. Loch Lomond – Egg Song (Toad Session) (22.10)
05. Vadoinmessico – In Spain (27.02)
06. Brothers Young – Good Deeds (32.35)
07. Blitzen Trapper – Black River Killer (37.10)
08. Loch Lomond – I Love Me (Toad Session) (45.00)
09. The Generationals – When They Fight They Fight (48.24)
10. Loch Lomond – Elephants & Little Girls (Toad Session) (59.35)