03
May

Friday at last! I hope everyone enjoys the weekend! If you need some help for that here are 5 new finds from around the web!

Fritz: wow, this Newcastle, Australia, band sounds great. Their latest song is called “Ghost Poke” and it is an infectious rush of p!o!p! The song was written by Tily Murphy last year and for the recording she got help from Cody Brougham and Darren James. So far the song is only available digitally but I see no reason why in the near future it will get a physical release.

The Umbrellas: Morgan, Keith, Nick and Matt form this band from San Francisco. They have just released a tape EP called “Maritime” that has 5 songs. It is out now on the Discontinuous Innovation label. The 5 songs are great and they even include a very fine cover of “Dance” by Strawberry Switchblade.

Flowerbed: what is it with this Denton, Texas, band? Their two songs have flower names. The band name obviously has to do do with flowers. Their latest one is called “Daffodil”, their previous was “Hyacinth”, and they have been released online a year apart. Why? I think I’d like to hear more by these dreampoppers.

Planet Loser: this duo formed by Amber and Ethan from Tampa, Florida, have a new song out called “Too Cool” which sounds pretty cool. This is their first recording since last year’s debut EP.

Patience: “Living Things Don’t Last” is the latest single by Roxanne Clifford’s new project. The ex-Veronica Falls is releasing pretty soon her debut album “Dizzy Spells” and so it is a good opportunity to release new videos and new songs for everyone to enjoy. I caught her live a few months back and all I can say is that this is a very promising album. Maybe it will end up on many year end lists. I wouldn’t be surprised!

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Now the letter G with My Guru Says!

Their sole release, a 7″ titled “3 Seasons Are Enough!”, lives happily in my record collection. Many times I don’t own the records I mention on the blog, but this time I do. It feels good.

Marsh-Marigold released this 7″ in 1991 with the catalog number GOLD06. Three songs, that were recorded in 1990 at the Soundgarden Studio in Hamburg by Carol von Rautenkranz, were included: “Sally & John” and “Something” on the A side and “Blue Days” on the B side. The three songs were mastered at Tonstudio Pfanz by Günter Pfanz.

The sleeve gives us some details about the band like the band lineup. They were formed by Wiebke on vocals, Florian Braunschweig on bass and guitar and Henning Fritzenwalder on organ and vocals.

We know too that Florian had been involved in another top band from Hamburg, Red Letter Day. While Henning was in the legendary Die Fünf Freunde and the band Camping who had releases on Marina Records.

Three compilation appearances are listed. The first dating from 1991, on the pre-Firestation Records label Smuf. It was a tape called “It’s All About Love” (SMUF 003) and it had many great songs. My Guru Says contributed the song “Sweet Clouds”.

In 1993, on “The Marsh Marigold Review Gold 01-10” (MARSH1) the band had their songs “Something” and “Blue Days”.

Lastly there is the tape “Nachtsonne – The Noise and the Melodies” that came out on Pearl Records. There is no information though about when was the release nor where the label was from. What I do know is that there are top bands in it like The Cudgels, The Ammonites, Ruth’s Refrigerator and more. My Guru Says contributes “Sally and John (Long Version)”.

My friend Alex has actually dedicated a post to the 7″ on his blog 7iete Pulgadas. So by no means I’m the first to dedicate them a post!  His favourite track on the 7″ is “Sally & John”. Actually this song was covered by The Magic Whispers on their 2007 album “Carousels & Music Boxes” that Siesta put out.

Sadly there is no more information about My Guru Says. There are a few mentions on posts about Camping, the band Henning would later be in, but about My Guru Says, nothing really. Like as if it was a footnote in German indiepop history.

And I don’t like that of course, I think this is a great 7″ and the band deserves a bit more recognition. I would love to know more about them. If they recorded more songs or if they played many gigs. Any information would be appreciated!

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Listen
My Guru Says – Something