Looks like it is actually happening – Hamburg’s Elbjazz festival is set to make a grand comeback this weekend in what promises to be excellent weather conditions. On June 3rd and 4th, the mighty Port of Hamburg will make room for a good handful of stages and a fine line-up of 44 international musicians and bands.
On the ticket are Dutch superpowers The Mauskovic Dance Band. The stellar ensemble produce a unique blend of psychedelic Cumbia and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, dubbed Space Disco. They released their self titled debut album on Soundway Records back in 2019, and aging like fine wine the band of brothers is eager to showcase their energetic live set on Friday, June 3rd, 6pm at Am Helgen, right in the harbor. Attached below is their marvellous single The Opposite off the Down In The Basement EP from 2018, also out via Soundway.
For the latest Poule d’Or approved tunes, follow our weekly updated Spotify playlist Journal.
Moody title photo above by Christoph Eisenmenger, and Christoph only.
Exciting times here at Poule headquarters, as we buckle up for the first festival in more than two years. Elbjazz comes crashing down on Hamburg’s mighty port infrastructure, June 3-4. With a healthy booking of 44 international musicians and bands, the first edition of Elbjazz since 2019 comes in strong. The festival takes place across six venues, including a shipyard lending a neat maritime-urban industrial charm to selected jazz music.
Team Poule ruffled its feathers through the line-up and would like to gently point you in the direction of YĪN YĪN, the Dutch ensemble melting snappy funk and tropical influences with the ease and love of the 60s and 70s. The group should be a must-see on Saturday, June 4, 730pm at Am Helgen which is right in the harbor, next to the containers and all that. They just released their second album The Age of Aquarius via Glitterbeat, find the telling Declined by Universe attached below – and also on our regular Poule d’Or playlist Journal over on old Spotify.
Title photo courtesy of main man Jens Schlenker for Elbjazz.
UK outfit Malady are predestined to feature in a Poule d’Or photo-interview so here we go! The charming group is keen on their visuals and not afraid to showcase their media and genre spanning talents. They are just about to get on stage in Brighton’s The Great Escape and luckily found the time to answer Team Poule’s clever questions beforehand.
They have lined up a respectable amount of singles over the past years of this pandemic and released a wonderful track titled Round The Bend back in March via Nice Swan Records. The piece has a mad sense for tempo and melody, gliding along the curbs, knowing when to put the foot down, like Michael Schumacher in 1990s Monte Carlo, iconic. Round The Bend is attached below, as is the interview. Hit it.
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Get your oven mitts because this one is coming in steaming hot. Mewn here just released Two Days via Simonie Records, a pure beaut of a single, conveniently attached below. The track dives in light as a feather with a clear sense for melody and direction, a natural spectacle, like a parrot with a GoPro.
The group had an EP out last year and is gearing up a next release for this summer. Excitingly, Mewn are set to support The National in August when they land in their home base of Manchester, at the mighty Mayfield Depot. In the meantime, they have UK festival dates lined up for Sounds From The Other City Festival in Salford, Get Together Festival in Sheffield, The Alt Escape in Brighton, Blue Dot Festival in Cheshire, Manchester Psych Fest as well as Left of the Dial Festival in Rotterdam.
Find this track and many more on our ever evolving Spotify playlist over here: pouledor.com/spotify
Photo credit above go to the talented Nola James, and her only.
Swedish outfit ViVii here have two albums under their little belts already, and are gearing up for the next punch in an EP titled Mavidavilon to be released in June via Dumont Dumont / IDOL. Their latest single is titled Vegas and is attached below at your convenience.
The track emerges like its namesake in between vast horizons and palmy air, stripping along nicely, carried by pure vocals and a sense for melody and songwriting only to be found North of the border – find this track and many more on our ever evolving Spotify playlist over here: pouledor.com/spotify
ViVii played SXSW last month and are just about to set off to tour relevant parts of Germany in support of no other that the heavy hitting Shout Out Louds. Before the three of them are popping their dreamy hazy spin of pop music into their little carry-ons, they took the time for a special Poule d’Or photo-interview.
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Can’t you just feel Euro spring and an all new festival season is just around the corner? Has to be. First on the ticket should be Parisians and dreamy bloomers Papooz who just released their third LP titled None of This Matters Now via the charming Half Awake Records with cover art by the talented Victoria Lafaurie.
They do spread the love and ease and optimism of the 70s. The album is a lovely joyride through tinted guitar scapes and hazy vocals, check the romantic Bonnie Rock n’ Roll below. The team is just about to set off for a big tour that’s been in the making for a while, playing London on Friday, Apr 22, then Hamburg‘s Hebebühne Apr 26, Berlin‘s Badehaus Apr 27 and Brussels May 3 before hitting the US from California to Chicago, find all dates nicely scheduled, here.
Find this track and many more on our ever evolving Spotify playlist over here: pouledor.com/spotify
