Vlado Nosal & The Avedons - “Sweet Barbarian”

For those of you shopping around for a folksy little waltz akin to The Beatles and The Kinks, feast your ears upon the vintage-tinged sounds of Slovakia’s Vlado Nosal & The Avedons and their newest release: “Sweet Barbarian.”

Pressing play invites you directly into the intimate and lo-fi sonic space of the tune, first starting with some gently plucked acoustic guitar before expanding into a full band production. The most prized attribute of the number is its ability to remain completely organic, sounding as though Vlado Nosal & The Avedons have simply popped by your flat for a private production.

Another gloriously flavorsome feature of “Sweet Barbarian” is the vocal performance. The lyrics enter your ears with all the magic of the mid-1960s British Invasion, marinating in the resonance that caused us all to later fall in love with the sweet sounds of artists such as Elliott Smith or Nick Drake.

Marvelous highlights here include the astounding morsels of backing vocals, adding an ethereal twist to an already stellar arrangement. “Sweet Barbarian” is simultaneously a walk down memory lane, while also providing listeners with some hope for the future of music.

This is the first submission we’ve ever received from Slovakia, but if “Sweet Barbarian” is any indication of the sounds brewing over there, we certainly hope it’s not the last. And, for that matter, we encourage Vlado Nosal & The Avedons to send us all of their future releases.

-HD