The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #15

CASA MURILO IS ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!

Monday, December 15, 2008

FIRST POST

This is the first post from Casa Murilo. Obviously.

It´s the Monday night in December after our first gig on Friday. It went really well. Just me and Chris on acoustics at Chateau Neuf, Oslo University. The search for the rest of the musicians starts January.

We´ve got 4 songs up on our myspace, link below, that we´ve written and recorded in the past month or so. We´ve also got Yellow Umbrellas posted on an unsigned music chart site called Cherry Peel where we´ve been getting some positive responses.

We´re feeling good about where we´re at here in Oslo. Life´s looking pretty sweet for us both to be honest. We´ll be going back to Blighty for Christmas.

It is exactly 1 year since we met. How romantic. I´m off to buy flowers.

Casa Murilo

www.myspace.com/casamurilo

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #13

There is one man in Casa Murilo who towers above all others. The man is a giant. 6ft 3 inches of pure musical muscle. That man is Rudi Leo Johan Johansen.

Rudi started off as the bass player for our early gigs. He took no time at all to gel with the band and instantly became a vital member of Casa Murilo. We didn´t even know that he was primarily a guitarist, partly due to the fact that he seemed like such a natural bassist.

Soon enough Rudi spoke up about his desire to step down from the bass take to the stage as lead guitarist, once we had heard him play we could hardly say no.

Despite his menacing appearance, Mr Johansen is quite safe to approach so, should you see him out on the streets this winter, I encourage you to go over and say hello. You could even give him a high five and, who knows, he might let you touch his axe.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #12

In February, before we had manipulated the rest of the lads into joining, Chris and I, accompanied by our ladyfriends, went to see a Norwegian band with an excellent name "Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy". It was an important time for us as we were still trying to find out what it was that we wanted to be as a group (bearing in mind there was only two of us and we hadn´t found anyone who was suitable for the project yet. The afternoon of the show Tommy himself had done his back in and was limited in his movement but he still managed to blow us away. Tommy himself looks biblical and uses a loudspeaker to great effect. Here is the band playing on Swedish TV.



And live in Tromsø, kicking ass.



The album "Smear Your Smiles Back On" is excellent and does all sorts of things that we want to do. Lyrically, it´s excellent, which I have to say is not all that common for Norwegian bands writing in English, though there are a few examples of really good writers working now, The Little Hands Of Asphalt being one we´ve already mentioned a few times on the blog. What I like most about Tommy is his sense of drama, both live and on record. He´s a bloody big presence but still manages not to take himself too seriously. Quite the balancing act.

Go and buy the album, you wont be disappointed.

Merry Christmas. x

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #11

Mere moments after our first gig, at Habibis on May 8th 2009, we were approached by Mr Eivind Fadnes, a fine gent of Molde stock who made an instant and lasting impression. He politely presented himself as impresario of a Norwegian festival, "Feriefestivalen", a name that will surely echo through the ages. He must have seen something in us that night as he asked us to play that summer, not only on the main stage aside such luminaries as The Little Hands of Asphalt and El Otro Sonido.

Thus began a wonderful relationship, not only with Eivind but his whole family, all wonderful, passionate people who are something of an inspiration to us in Casa Murilo. We are very close and we continue to make oversized plans together. Eivind in particular has a big part to play in our future and we wish him all the best for his trip to Latin America in January.

Big manly hugs to all those who were at Feriefestivalen to witness the first ever cave gig and a lovely wet kiss to the Fadnes family.

Merry Christmas!

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #10

Its difficult to remember exactly, but I think this was the second song we wrote. It was certainly one year ago this week. Vaer så godt.

Murilo I Love You

With ideas on my hands and a head full of plans
Should I keep my cool, sit on my hands and just wait
I said wait a second but you left in a flash
I got the brains but you got the cash and I´ll pay

So we told a few lies just to cut around the corners
and the princess at the door says Murilo I love you
the horse is on the floor as the show goes on around him
and the newspapers report Murilo I love you

You chase the questions and I´ll set the traps
set up an escape plan and stick pins in the maps on our way
They´re all growing up and I´m still getting high
It´s hard to see straight through the red in my eyes but I´ll try

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #9

Bodø has had a pretty good year in 2009 as far as their music scene goes I´d say.

We won´t mention the football team.

There seems to be an incredible group of bands emerging from the mountainous scenery of the north at the moment and Gouranga are most certainly one of the ones making the most noise. And what a beautiful noise indeed.



Gouranga is a young band, all their members are under 18, but listening to the music they make would offer no indication of this. They have already been described as Bodø´s most visually exciting live band, a huge compliment when you consider the competition, and played one of the most impressive sets during last months Bodø Harcore Festival. Catchy guitar hooks, clever melodies and the beautiful contrast of Elise Pernille Gryt´s and Kjetil Aleksander Bjelvin´s vocals seem to be setting Gouranga up for big things in 2010. Æ gleda mæ, as they say up in those parts.

They are currently working on recording their debut EP which should be finished in the early part of next year but in the mean time you can have a listen here. Enjoy.

Casa Murilo loves Gouranga and so should you.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #8

King Of The Keys
The Cucumber
Håkon Møller

Though many vie for the title, there can only be one, undisputed ladies man in Casa Murilo. Lock up your daughters. And your mothers for that matter. That man is Håkon Møller.

I would put Håkon´s entry into the fold down to damn good fortune. We were in the studio putting together our first demo when Vegard, our producer, asked if we wanted keys. "Of course" we replied, little knowing that the angelic figure who soon floated into our ragtag midst would become an integral part of our sound and a damn good friend to boot. It didn´t take long before we realised how excellent he was and within half an hour I had what´s known as "The Business Finger" out and was telling him he should drop all other musical projects to focus on being a member of our band. Even I realised that that was ridiculous but we at Casa Murilo HQ have never let a trivial thing like objective reality get in our way.

Håkon is a gifted pianist, organist (plenty of practice), accordionist, harmonica player and come to think of it, a better guitarist than me or Chris. He is involved in numerous other bands as a session player, writer and fronts his own band by the name of Jocelyn. Go and listen to his band here without delay.

Should you spy this fine specimen of a Normann on these wintery streets then give the man a high five. Ladies are likely to find themselves instantly pregnant.

Merry Christmas Håkon. You are loved.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #7

Drunken Promises

Wake up, shake up, smoke a cigarette
Have a coffee, take time trying to forget
All the things you said you´d do,
When last night´s drinks were coursing through.

Stop dead, sit down, have a look around
Have a think about exactly what it is you found
Move where you gotta move, sit on another roof
Staring at the world that turned when she walked in.

Give up the weed the wine and the white for you,
You know that I´d fight for you
Give up the white the wine and the weed for you
And I´d probably bleed for you
Give up the white the weed and the wine for you
I´m not sure if I´d die for you, but I suppose no one ever is
Oh girl
Is that what love is?

Stop thinking about that swimming pool
Penthouse, Esmeraldo
All of the cheap drinks and all of the cheap drugs
Could never replace the things that she does no

Wind blows snow flakes at my window
Hey mans Murilo very power will he ever know
That I´m freezing under the moonlight
They´re catching the sun
Throwing round wild plans for a party

Give up the weed the wine and the white for you,
You know that I´d fight for you
Give up the white the wine and the weed for you
And I´d probably bleed for you
Give up the white the weed and the wine for you
I´m not sure if I´d die for you, but I suppose no one ever is
Oh girl
Is that what love is?

Til Astri.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #6

The biggest man you will ever see.
So good they named him twice.
Vice President Fredrik Baden is a god among men.

The first Norwegian member of Casa Murilo and the first man that we ever worked in a studio with. Is there anything he can´t do? No. Simply, no.

We never thought that finding a drummer for the band would be easy, so when Mr B arrived at a party at my place in February of last year and told us in no uncertain terms that he didn´t want to be in our band, we were not surprised. However, a few weeks later and many a business finger pointed VP Baden was in. The best drummer in Oslo was in our band.

Most of you in Norway will have heard of and listened to a band from Bodø called Kråkesølv and be aware of how good they are, Fredrik Baden recommends them. Listen to their song Privat Regn here and then go and buy their record here in a range of formats. You won´t regret it.

Casa Murilo are a better band because of Fredrik Baden so, next time you see him, make sure you give him a nice big hug and say thankyou. I always do.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #5

Word.

Just about dried out and warmed up after this afternoon´s gig. Thanks to Rhona, Thea, Sjur and Kari, excellent work.

New Spotify playlist for you today, its a pretty random mix of music but I hope you likey.

Good Saturdays. x

Under The Yellow Umbrellas 2

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #4

How about a free download today?

We recorded some songs from our set at Samfunnet in Oslo a few weeks back. This one, Drunken Promises, was our final song. You should be able to listen to it below but failing that, you can download it by clicking here


Lykke til. x

• Drunken Promises - Live @ Samfunnet, Oslo Nov09 by Casa Murilo

More Casa Murilo music on iLike

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #3

I saw this for the first time a few days back, didn't realise we had it. We played at Feriefestivalen earlier this year and played two sets, one of which was in a cave built by Nazi prisoners of war. This, as you can probably tell, is from that very set. We covered 'Dancing in the dark' by Bruce Springsteen. Hope you enjoy it.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #2

Unfortunately I have had Mac issues all day, but better late than never. I promise I shall work harder tomorrow, got something very special lined up.

Low Marie

You forgive and forget,
and you lie to your friends
cos your gold and you own them.

And you give what you get
Chopping up another empty threat
And you´re sure that they´re watching

You´re a tired little girl

You drown in the sound
Your saints are choking under the ground
Are the wheels coming off? are you losing your plates?
Tripping up from the weight of these old feet of clay

You´re a tired little girl

Now your mind, is alight
You´ve fucked another empty night
And you´re cold and you´re homesick

So you wish and you wait
And you wish and you wait
And you wish and you wait
And you wish and you wait
But the bottom never comes and you´re still on your way

Hold tight little girl

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #1

Is it that time of year again already? Judging by the surprisingly tasteful lights popping up in windows around Krumgata HQ, it would seem so. If you haven´t already written your Christmas lists and posted them off to Santa then perhaps some of the suggestions we give over the next month can help you out.

Every day between now and "the big day" we will post a little something, be that links to bands we like or pictures & videos from past gigs. I think we have been pretty good at keeping this blog regularly updated this year so I have confidence that this latest venture can be seen through.

Shall we begin? Okay.

The Little Hands Of Asphalt

Sjur Lyseid is, in our opinion, one of Norway´s best songwriters. His band, The Little Hands Of Asphalt´s record "Leap Years" was released at the beginning of March 2009 and received great reviews across the board. Some described it as Norwegian record of the year, others believe that Lyseid outclasses most Norwegian songwriters these days, one reviewer even compared Sjur´s melodies to those of Springsteen. High praise indeed.

Sjur will be playing a gig in less than a week at The Bedford in Balham on Monday 7th December. Those of you in London would do well to find a better option than this. In fact, you won´t find one. So go. The Norwegians among you need only to wait until 18th February when Sjur and co. will take to the stage for By:Larm 2010.

Visit The Little Hands Of Asphalt on Myspace here
Listen to them on Spotify here
Better still, buy the record here , here and here

Excellent.

See you tomorrow, CM