Tag Archives: Album release

Welcome to Casablanca!

Dear broads and bos, Welcome to Casablanca!

The album release party for Is This Casablanca? is getting close, and the release date is set for 6th of February, 2015. The album will be available as a CD or a digital download from our Bandcamp page and through iTunes, Spotify and Deezer. In Finland the CD can be bought from the few independent record stores still left in Helsinki, starting from the end of February. You can also get it from one of our shows, signed and doodled on by the whole mob. For international orders of the CD, please contact us via e-mail, contact[at]cafedeabejas.com.

Here are a few tracks from the new album for you to savor, Sweethearts. The first one is called Go Gently, a song on the chanson side of things. The second, Zaza, gives a feel for our penchant for all things cabaret. Please enjoy responsibly, and take a look at the photos below to really get in the mood!

The delightful Armi Von Vepp.

The delightful Armi Von Vep.

-Jere

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Filed under Is This Casablanca?, Music

New album, Lost in Music, Spotify & Deezer!

Sweethearts! It’s Sextili, or Fructidor, or August if you wish, the month of the Poppy, the birthmonth of Leo (Laura) and Virgo (Jere). It marks the transition from summer to fall, and is a common month for harvest. During the summer we’ve sown some, and now it’s time to reap!

The three big news items:

1. We’ve started pre-production for our next album! It’s going to be wonderful! We’ll keep you posted on the twists and turns of this epic saga.

2. We’re playing at the Lost in Music festival, the biggest annual showcase festival in Finland, this October in Tampere. If you missed Kammerkabarett, or the various duo gigs we played during the summer, come and see us at Lost in Music to hear some of the new songs. You can find our producer Martiina Laaksonen and the band at Lost in Music and Musiikki & Media.

We are looking for partners to work with in Europe, and most specifically a booking agency and/or distributor for Germany. We love playing in Germany, her people have always treated us kindly, the audiences have been wonderful and their feedback enthusiastic. Dear German sweethearts, we want to come to you! It’s just that we are concentrating on the new album, so we simply don’t have the time and the energy to book the gigs ourselves.

3. Last but not least: You can now download ‘Mascot Moth’ from iTunes or Google Play Store, or you can stream the entire album through Spotify or Deezer. Deezer also hosts a playlist for the artists performing at Lost in Music. There are many interesting Finnish bands there, so give it a listen!

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Playing at Korjaamo, Helsinki, this June at Töölön juhlaviikko. Picture by Pepita Kautto.

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Strawberry Gin – Live!

Another live video from the album release, this time it’s Strawberry Gin – and that’s what the ladies are drinking to the right of the camera! Our lovely Vilac toy piano makes a comeback, this time played by Martiina Laaksonen.

Happy Women’s Day ladies, don’t give up the fight for your Love’s Last Adieu!

-Laura

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News Item N:o 2 – Live footage!

We played our 1920’s inspired News Item N:o 2 for the first time with the whole band at the Mascot Moth release party. Not bad, huh?

Notice the dancing flappers and the opportune moment the bartender has selected for shaking a Strawberry Gin cocktail! Oh, what a night it was. We’ll have to host these kinds of parties more often.

Time for some song trivia! The title of the song is an allusion to a two-line poem by Dorothy Parker:

News Item

Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses.

– Dorothy Parker

– Laura

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February Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Gin

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Ah, it was Valentine’s Day! To celebrate, here’s the recipe for Strawberry Gin from our new cocktail booklet. This one is named after one of our songs, which came about as we were modelling for a portrait painting course last Winter. We were sitting motionless for over a week, Jere posing with his guitar, so we had plenty of practice and time on our hands – and no cocktail in sight!

The resulting lamentation can be heard here:


Since the cocktail plays such a prominent part in the song, it simply had to become reality. I think Strawberry Gin was the reason we thought of making a cocktail booklet in the first place: The word combination was simply too scrumptuous to let pass. So here’s what our heartbroken heroine is ordering:

Strawberry Gin

3 parts Gin
1 part Cointreau
1 part Fresh lemon juice
1 part Strawberry juice or purée

Shake the ingredients and strain into a cocktail glass. If you wish to make an impresion on a certain someone, dry marascino cherries in the oven on a low temperature, crush them into powder and decorate the rim with it.
Sip for Byronesque heartache.

Strawberry and gin is a suprisingly smooth combination, and this is a potentially perilous drink. The savviest cocktail concocters will notice that it is a variation of the classic White Lady, which in turn is a Sidecar made with gin instead of brandy. You may have to adjust the recipe slightly depending on your strawberry ingredient: We’ve been using slightly sweetened juice, but Bar Suola’s version with strawberry purée was equally delicious.

Strawberry Gin has a solid fan base after it was served in our album release party. Drink a solitary glass for Valentine’s blues or order a couple to share with your sweetheart!

Strawberry Gin at our album release party.

Two Strawberry Gins at our album release party.

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Mascot Moth album release party!

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Last Tuesday we were celebrating the release of Mascot Moth in 1920’s speakeasy style in Ravintola Suola, Helsinki. What a wonderful evening filled with cocktails, charleston and chanson! The bartenders were mixing three of our custom cocktails for our speakeasy guests: Café de Abejas, Strawberry Gin and Stepping on Roses.

After our set the lovely ladies from Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance Company showed us how to do the Charleston in style. Needless to say, we partied like we were in the silent movies! This was the first time we played live together with both Ilari and Saara, and it felt just wonderful – we’ll be posting some ex tempore live material soon. Here are a few pictures by the wonderful Saara Olkkonen. You can see more photos from the party here.

– Laura & Jere

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Filed under Cocktails, Live performances, Music, News