The more I read about Fanfarlo, the more I get how extensive the interest is in this young, London-based quintet. The band, formed in 2006 by multi-instrumentalist Simon Balthazar, creates highly orchestrated, swelling indie-pop filled with trumpet, violin, mandolin and majestic vocal harmonies. The result is wonderously sublime and buoyont, ripe with an injection of melodic sunshine. The band released their debut album, Reservoir, earlier this year to swelling acclaim. The endearing collection of songs is filled with near misses, but “Harold T. Wilkins” and “The Walls Are Coming Down” get it just right and feel positively good. In an effort to spread the word far and wide and make their music as accessible as possible, Fanfarlo chose to offer Reservoir as a $1 download on their site for the first six months after its release. Seems to have worked well. The band’s heavy internet presence, captivating live show, and appearances at SXSW and CMJ, haven’t hurt either. The blog found on their site homepage and diary is hysterical.

At points, I get the feeling that Fanfarlo might have the undeniable youth-inspired energy of Ra Ra Riot who broke rapidly on the scene back in 2006/07. But I haven’t seen the band live yet, so we’ll have to see if the hype has merit. We’ve got the chance as the rising band is on a highly anticipated tour, hitting intimate venues in music hubs across the U.S.

mp3: Fanfarlo – Harold T. Wilkins, Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time – Reservoir (2009)
mp3: Fanfarlo – The Walls Are Coming Down – Reservoir (2009)

Nov 13 – Moes, Englewood, Colorado
Nov 14 – The State Room, Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 16 – Knitting Factory, Boise, Idaho
Nov 17 – Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, Washington
Nov 18 – The Media Club, British Columbia, British Columbia
Nov 19 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, Oregon
Nov 20 – Great Basin Brewing Company, Sparks, Nevada
Nov 22 – Amoeba instore performance, San Francisco, California
Nov 22 – Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, California
Nov 23 – Fingerprints instore performance, Long Beach, California
Nov 23 – The Echo, Los Angeles, California
Nov 24 – The Casbah, San Diego, California
Nov 27 – Muddy Waters, Santa Barbara, California
Nov 29 – Club Congress, Tucson, Arizona
Nov 30 – Sante Fe Brewing Co, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Dec 2 – Waterloo Records instore performance, Austin, Texas
Dec 2 – The Independent, Austin, Texas
Dec 3 – The Loft, Dallas, Texas
Dec 4 – Cactus Records instore performance, Houston, Texas
Dec 4 – Walter’s On Washington, Houston, Texas
Dec 6 – The Bottletree, Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 9 – Metro Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 10 – AKA Philadelphia instore performance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 10 – Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 11 – IOTA Club & Cafe, Arlington, Virginia
Dec 12 – Brillobox, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dec 14 – Majestic Cafe, Detroit, Michigan
Dec 15 – El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario
Dec 16 – Il Motore, Montreal, Quebec
Dec 17 – T.T. The Bear’s, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dec 18 – Webster Hall, New York, New York

Fanfarlo | MySpace

Download through Amazon: Reservoir [Deluxe]

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Indie, Songs, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.