Toman - "Deportivo"

"The tomàn is an old Persian currency which nowadays is still used in Iran. Besides it's a young West Flemish group consisting of Jens, Wouter, Lode and Bram. They fancy old analogue synths and an organic sound. Voice is an instrument just like a guitar and the texts are hermetic. The setup is basic (2 guitars, bass and drums), with the addition of analogue keys. tomàn loves tension build-up and eruptions, subtle arrangements… If you love namedropping, think of the American Analog Set meets Explosions in the Sky with a touch of Grandaddy.
The demo EP 'Malin Head', released by the band itself, was the start of something bigger, something like more concerts, out of Flanders, up to more lively places... Two tracks had been recorded at the Trax Studio in Ghent, the other tracks were DIY pur sang.
The single 'Red White Tears' from 'Malin Head' has been played at both Studio Brussel (Duyster and Radar) and Radio 1 (Belgian national radio stations) and got nice comments. The Dutch musiczine Oor made a review of 'Malin Head', which is something they rarely do for demo EP's! They wrote "Add another 6 atmospheric tracks to this EP and you get an album full of growing diamonds!...It is unbelievable that this West Flemish quartet has no record or distribution deal.". Oor decided to put tomàn in their underground top20 of the best bands of 2004 (as the only Belgian band and without an official release!)
September 2004 the band set off for a small tour in Spain featuring club concerts in Gijon, Madrid, Malaga and Sevilla. Next to some idea of the tour life, the band gained a lot of fans in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Luxemburg.tomàn also played some support acts for bands as Death Cab for Cutie (Ancienne Belgique, Brussels), Twinemen (Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing, France) and Windsor for the Derby (4AD, Diksmuide), The New Year (Nijdrop, Opwijk) and David Eugene Edwards of Woven Hand (Music in Mind festival at Concertgebouw, Bruges).
tomàn's first full CD 'Catching a grizzly bear, lesson one' will be released in Benelux on April 18th, 2005.Jürgen De Blonde, of the fantastic De Portables, did the mixing part!"

I downloaded a track by Toman from Lupatarkastaja a few months back. The track just grew on me. It also grows in structure. Starts very quietly and the track adds layers of washy guitars, clanging bass guitar and splashy hi-hats. The tune repeats - listen to it!! Mogwai but uplifting!! Better!!! Here is the tune:

Toman - "Deportivo"