Sep 4, 2008
A very different location for this week's show since I was on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza getting an education about dance music including an unforgettable visit to Pacha and the VIP area at El Divino.
Absolutely stunning and a real ear opener. My thanks to Jessie and her colleagues in Sant Antoni for arranging everything in a packed flying visit from Monday to Wednesday. Picture shows the mobile "studio" set up by the door to the apartment. Yes, that's the sea right outside the door - beautiful, and right next door to Savannah, nextdoor but one to Cafe del Mar and next door but two to Mambo - how cool is that!
Tumbleweed Blues - Howlin' Tumbleweeds (Illinois, USA)
Chicago Rhythm & Blues that sounds like 4 boys conceived, born, and raised in a swamp on the Mississippi Tennessee Border.
www.myspace.com/howlintumbleweeds
For Centuries - Roger Eno/Plumbline Remix - Dive Index (New York)
A collaboration featuring vocals by Natalie Walker, Merz, Cat Martino, and Ian Masters (of Pale Saints). Produced and co-writtten by Will Thomas (aka Plumbline) who releases albums on the Hydrogen Dukebox label.
www.neutralmusic.com
www.myspace.com/diveindex
Drop my end of the bone - Jean Synodinos (Austin, TX, USA)
Jean is always out to push the envelope a little bit more with each song and each show. Energetically. Enthusiastically.
With songs that skate between genres, Jean jumps from rock to jazz to pop in order to find the right groove and tone for each song. Known for her dynamic performances, she lives to "read the room" and deliver shows that keep audiences returning for more.
Following up on her acclaimed debut CD Lucky, Jean has just released Breathe. Picking up where Lucky left off, Breathe's eleven tracks groove even harder musically and dig even deeper lyrically. The disc features thoroughbred performances by Charles Rieser on guitars (The Scabs, Boombox), Brad Houser on bass (Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians), and Rob Hooper on drums (Guy Forsythe, Colin Gilmore).
www.jeansynodinos.com/
www.myspace.com/jeansynodinos
Si Si Bueno - Riboflavin (San Diago, California, USA)
They would describe themselves as 'skhitzophreninc rockers' - not because they suffer from any specific mental illness. Its simply because they refuse to be boxed into a specific genre, in one song they can be thoughtful and serious, both musically and lyrically - in another they produce a rabble rousing row. "As good as a million Zimbabwean dollah”
www.myspace.com/riboflavinsd
The River Song - Amelia Ray (Madrid, Spain)
From her album ON.
Amelia Ray's music is at once rock, jazz, country, gospel, pop, and blues. "Once you realise how closely connected different styles of music are, you can start to play with the boundaries of those styles, and create something new and invigorating. But at the root, I'm always trying to make good, old finger-snapping music that makes you perk up your ears, and move your feet."
California-born vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Amelia Ray currently resides in Madrid where she performs original soul rock music solo, and with her band, The Conjugal Experiment. A young music scene veteran, Amelia has been performing in the United States and in Europe for almost 20 years. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was a featured artist for Radio Campus Lille in France, and even performed in Iceland. She has shared the stage with Chuck Rainey, Elliott Randall, Rob Bargad, Maia Sharp and Kenny Aronoff, to name a few. Since her arrival in Spain, she has graced such renowned stages as Sala Clamores and The Bourbon Cafe in Madrid, and the Casa de las Conchas in Salamanca.
www.ameliaray.net
www.myspace.com/ameliaray
http://cdbaby.com/cd/ameliaray3
5-0 Blues - Corey Harris (Illinois, USA)
A native of Denver, Colorado, Corey Harris fell in love with music at an early age, and made his own music with a toy guitar he received at the age of three. 5-0m Blues is from his 1997 album Fish Ain"t Bitin'.
"After a debut that established his mastery of the Delta idiom, [Harris] does something really hard - proves he's big enough to fool around with it...His virtuosity springs to life."
_Robert Christgau, The Village Voice
Corey Harris is now half of Vu du Menz with Henry Butler, also on Alligator Records.
www.alligatorrecords.com/
It's just how it seemed - Plunkett (Italy)
Been played by all the usual suspects Dark Compass, Orobouros, PC Podcast et al.
The independent alternative folk rock duo formed in 2004 by singer-guitarist Ian Plunkett and ex A&R and producer Lara Bartocci.
The first album of this independent band is 14 Days, released in 2006. The overall feel here is acoustic, but with more sophisticated arrangements and deeper musicianship than most work in this genre. Warm, melodic, and artfully crafted songs are in the best tradition of British Folk-Rock, a succesful cross between Nick Drake, Mark Laneghan and the Beatles. Standout tracks include the starry-eyed "Picture" as well as "The River", "Up A Hill" and "Breathe".
Ian and Lara Plunkett - a world-class singer-songwriter team
A highly poignant and engaging album. In 2008 the duo releases the second album Folk Songs, music made and enjoyed in the interstices of a working life, in fast lunch breaks and short evenings and bone-weary weekends, music to lift up the spirit, open up emotions, reconnect people to the profound undertow of feeling that labour in the field or factory can dull and numb. Most of all, though, the music offered to us here stirs the soul: the vocal blend of Ian's warm East Anglian timbre with Lara"s dark, gently inflected Italian accent, combined with a treasure trove of punchy tunes and soaring harmonica and crunching guitar will set you up for the day.
www.plunkett-music.com
Fait néant - Systylé (Grenoble, France)
In existence since : 01.2003
Un cri explicite qui dénonce et malmène les travers d'une vie, un appel à la conscience et à la responsabilité de chacun, une musique piquante et saccadée.
Une caresse satirique qui stimule et éveille les sens d'un homme, une invitation à la communication et au partage, une musique relaxée et dynamique.
Neuf musiciens, amis, dont l'envie est de diffuser une musique positive et festive, sans se voiler la face sur ce qui nous tracasse. Frapper pour se détendre, danser et s'entendre, s'étendre sur les choses qui nous touchent, toucher les durs comme les tendres. Partager...
Systylé [sistailé]:
auteur compositeur interprète
Groupe de neuf grenoblois mélangeant le ska, le rock, le reggae, la funk, pour le plaisir des petites et des grandes oreilles => festif, coloré, pêchu, engage
(Group of nine resident of Grenoble mixing the ska, the rock'n'roll, the reggae, the funk, for the pleasure of small and the large ears = festive, coloured, pêchu, engaged.)
www.systyle.org
Screen to screen (Beat Pharmacy remix) - Dive Index (New York)
Second (and very different) track from Dive Index.
Thanks to Jessie, Sarah and Nik for the "studio" facilities in Ibiza today.