Still rather chilly here in Suffolk - a kind of deep persistent
cold that permeates the house ... and my poor old bones! A pretty
impressive sunrise this morning over the meadow with the old oak
trees against the sky.
The Winter Blues - Robin Grey
(Hackney, London, UK)
I thought I had played a track by Robin a few weeks ago, but now I
can't find it. I've certainly been listening ... a lot ... having
been put onto him, through Jamendo, by Carolyn who points out that
he was responsible for mandolin and bass on
Ruth Theodore's excellent album
Worm Food which we've
heard a couple of tracks from on this show as well as playing bass
on the
Blue Swerver album
which, again we've heard on SnC.
The Winter Blues is from
his album
I love Leonard
Cohen on Jamendo. Robin is normally located in a small white
room with a blue door tucked away in a leafy corner of Hackney,
East London, where he makes music.
Inspired by the timeless work of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Ani
Difranco amongst many others, he colours in his songs about love
and life with guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, piano, double bass,
organ, percussion toys, and any other instruments he can afford and
fit into his little studio.
Robin has asked if I can recommend any places locally where he
could come and play. He is also on the lookout for potential house
gigs, so if you have a decent sized room and can muster a
respectable size crowd give me a shout and I'll pass the word on.
Alternatively send Robin a message through Jamendo or his site.
www.robingrey.com
www.myspace.com/robingrey
Ladylike - Amber Ojeda (San
Diego, CA, USA)
I'll admit to being surprised that I really liked this. I'm not
normally a great can of soul and R&B but this is magic.
Amber Ojeda is a singer- songwriter based out of the San Diego
Metro area. Equal parts talent and ambition Amber has managed to
precisely dial into the new digital world of music. She is
continuously included on the MySpace Top 100 Artists Charts in the
Jazz/Soul/R&B division. Her music can most recently be heard on
the Style Networks new hit show "Dress My Nest" in addition to
feature film placements.
Amber's musical approach centers around the blending of jazz and
soul with hip hop undertones.. Her voice lends itself to the likes
of Jill Scott and Alicia Keys with the poetic flow of Erykah Badu.
With a growing fan base, looks and a distinctive voice, Amber is
destined to be in the R&B/Soul/Jazz annals of music. PLEASE
ENJOY FREE DOWNLOADS OF MY MUSIC AT
www.trueanthem.com/amberojeda
www.amberojedamusic.com/
www.myspace.com/amberojeda
Message from Andy Fidler expressing his appreciation for the wax
cylinder recording by Madam Pamita on last week's show SnC147
A message from
Madam
Pamita:
Hi Peter!
I love your show - thank you so much for including me as part of
such a great mix of music...and for reciting my copy with your
spectacular brit enunciation! As it should be! As it should be! As
an old punk rocker from way back, i feel like i fit right in your
show - old time music is punk rock circa 1915! That's what's
great about podsafe network... i get turned on to such terrific
podshows, such as yours! Needless to say, I've subscribed via
itunes, so i'll be listening in often!
yes, i recorded these tracks on real wax cylinder equipment from
the late 1800s - absolutely no electricity used in the process! It
was an amazing experience. i've attached two photos - one of me in
front of the recording gear and one of the actual cylinders to
prove i'm not making this up.
The pix are on the new Gallery page on the main SnC site.
I saw a production of "Marie" a one woman show which takes a look
at the life of Marie Lloyd, the Queen of the Halls around the turn
of the 19th/20th centuries, which as a review in The Stage
says:
"
Elizabeth Mansfield, as
Marie, describes the music hall atmosphere in three or four lines
of dialogue and immediately the audience can see, hear and smell a
crowded music hall.
Mansfield is as spiky and wonderfully bawdy as Lloyd was. The songs
are made very much part of the narrative and many are sung, as was
the fashion, with an opening spoken verse. Mansfield has the
audience joining in the chorus and, at the same time, enjoying her
performance and voice - the very essence of music hall. She
confides in the audience just as a music hall star would.
When the play is over, the audience leaves with a greater
understanding of the impact of Lloyd on popular entertainment."
Madam Pamita is planning a trip over to the UK to play a few dates
and hopes that one will be near Suffolk. I hope so too.
OK This is the pops - Orpheos
(Berkeley, CA, USA)
Bay Area producer Orpheos DeJournette stands poised to write the
next chapter in a revelatory musical journey with the release of
his debut LP,
The Mirror With No
Reflection. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Orpheos
first broke ground as co-founder of West Coast dance pioneers,
Mephisto Odyssey, enjoying both popular and critical accolades long
before electronic music had hit the mainstream.
After a string of seminal original productions made their mark on
dance floors and in after-hours parties worldwide, the group was
chosen to remix the Jane"s Addiction comeback single,
So What. The four Mephisto remixes
charted on Billboard's maxi-singles chart for six weeks and remain
the only remixes ever sanctioned by Jane's Addiction. A slew of
remix work for Static-X, Los Amigos Invisibles, and Soul Coughing
followed.
Never one to remain content with past achievement, Orpheos amicably
left Mephisto to begin work on his solo artist career. Four years
in the making, the LP of his new material infused with shockingly
original production work, as the producer has meticulously and
single handedly written, produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered
every song and created each sound and vocal from scratch.
The Mirror With No
Reflection LP possesses a sense of craft and an
individuality sorely lacking in most contemporary music. That said,
listeners will note hints of Massive Attack, David Bowie, Nine Inch
Nails and Pink Floyd supercharged with a groove-oriented attack
that is immediately accessible, but, ultimately, unique to Orpheos
alone.
www.orpheos.net/
www.myspace.com/orpheosmusic
Pat
Steir - Cagey House
(Maryland, USA)
Cagey House has been releasing free podsafe music since
2005--through Umor-rex, Nishi, and Jamendo.
"There's a new Cagey House album on Jamendo. [which I couldn't find
last month] It's called
Earth
Covered A-Frame. Most of the tracks have been up here
before. Lots of them have computer-generated vocals. It's pretty
nice, if I do say so myself.”
www.myspace.com/cageyhouse
www.jamendo.com/en/album/33394
I'm always here for you - Josh
Charles (Brooklyn, New York)
I played Josh"s song The Answer a month ago on 144 but thought
you'd be interested to hear something a bit more bluesy with a
brilliant deep south piano sound. A very straight recording with no
discernable enhancement to the voice - what you hear is what you
get.
"Since I was a kid, I've played the gamut -- the worst dive bars
with piano keys so jagged that I cut up my fingers every night,
some amazing concert halls, outdoor festivals, great clubs and even
floating theaters at sea. My mentor/teacher and friend is Dr. John
and I can say that I am blessed to have had the opportunity to
learn from a master."
Josh has just released his debut Josh Charles EP which features
members of Dr. John's band, his touring band, and was recorded in
New Orleans and New York.
www.joshcharlesmusic.com/
www.myspace.com/joshcharlesonline
I want your love - Axisgallery
(UK and Italy)
The nucleus of Axisgallery are Brit Nick C and Italian Paolo
Baldini who met in Florence in 2004 while DJing the local
nightclubs on a European Tour . Both have a leftfield approach to
music and soon started working together on remixes of old rock
songs such as Billy Squiers 'Stroke' and Black Sabbath's 'Neon
Knights' which rocked the local dancefloors . Drafting in old
friend and socialite Princess Anya LeGalle on vocals and a boozed
out Scottish guitarist Pip 'maddog' Kiernan - they set out to
create their first album 'Dynamics Of Synergy'
Axisgallery have just released their third album
Disturbing Behavior which references
their experience of 'Haut de la Garenne' and refines their sound to
a more mainstream Rock/Dance crossover.
www.axisgallery.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/axisgallery
Message from Jez, guitarist, percussionist and formidable harmonica
player with the
Dana Wylie
Band.
We're touring in Asia at the
moment, Taiwan to be precise.
I just got back from listening to a fantastic Finnish Jouhikko
(kind of sarangi/fiddle-like thing) player here in Taipei. He's
called Pekko Kappi, and is quite something.
I finished listening to show 144 and will check out some other
episodes when I wake up. It's a great show. Contrast! Colour! Yes!
The whole idea of podcasting was immediately appealing, but yours
is so f*%king good. Glad to hear such a wide taste in
musicks.
St James Parish Bus and One Lucky Bastard - Dana Wylie
Band (England, Canada, Taiwan)
Graham Holland at
It's a Frog's
Life Acoustic Podcast suggest that the band contact me.
Moving to Taiwan in 2003 in search of a quiet place to write, she
was surprised to find herself immersed in a thriving ex-pat music
scene. When she played her demo for Englishman Jeremy Hellard, he
said, "I'd have liked that better if I had played on it", and the
Dana Wylie Band was born. A swinging drummer, guitarist, vocalist
and uniquely expressive harmonica player, Jez proved the perfect
accompanist, moving seamlessly between the various idioms in which
Wylie chooses to compose.
After more than a year of touring Taiwan, including two long-term
residencies in Taipei nightspots, they moved to England and joined
forces with virtuosic and in-demand jazz bassist, Nye Parsons. Nye
has developed a formidable reputation over the last decade, and his
lyrical, melodic style hovers between jazz and folk and perfectly
complements Dana's fluid song-writing.
www.danawylie.net/
www.myspace.com/danawylieband
Do Rasta Works - Jah Jah Yute
(Jamaica)
From the 2007 album
Words Power
on Sound.
Jah Jah Yute was born with the name Steadman Shearer, in the parish
of Hanover, Jamaica in a little district called Rock Spring.
His father owned a nightclub with a sound system called Sir King B.
Jah Jah was first performing as a DJ, on this sound system.
One evening Jah Jah heard the Sound System of Black Star playing
and during entertainer time, instead of dj-ing he started singing
free style of his spiritual meditations.
Jah Jah went to Kingston and was introduced by a friend to the
owner of Mixing Lab Studio where he met Bunny Wailer, Yellow Man
and others.
While visiting Montego Bay he was directed to African Symbol Studio
where he recorded his first couple of songs, "Do Rasta Work" and
"Too Much Slackness Inna Di Music".
www.jahjahyute.com/
www.myspace.com/jahjahyute68
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jahjahyute