Dec 23, 2009
A pretty chirpy selection from the flowing river of new music.
Tracks from Ottawa, Venice (CA), Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia,
Rosney sous Bois (France) London and Paris.
I'm fairly fresh back from Barcelona (see photo) where I was
filming and meeting up with Luthea Salom (see lots of SnC shows).
Such a beautiful but exhausting city although not much in the way
of street music this time, probably because it was so very
cold.
Skinny Dipper - The Balconies
(Ottawa, Canada)
The Balconies formed in December of 2007 and quickly built up a
reputation for their exciting, stripped down, high energy shows.
Before long, they found themselves sharing bills with the likes of
Mother Mother, Land of Talk, The Bicycles, Sister Suvi, and more.
The Balconies’ debut album displays a unique brand of
girl/boy-fronted, harmonious, epic pop rock and has already been
met by an abundance of rave reviews.
www.myspace.com/thebalconies
If I could - Lisbeth Scott
(Venice, CA, USA) MusicSubmit
Lisbeth Scott was raised as a classical pianist, rehearsing hours a
day and headed for a concert career. She studied at The New
England Conservatory, Connecticut College and The University of
London throughout the 1990's. Lisbeth then headed to Los
Angeles where she really began to discover her voice... as did the
film world. Scott’s vocals can be heard on over 50
blockbuster films including The Passion of the Christ, Narnia: The
Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, Shrek 1 and 2, and Steven
Spielberg’s Munich in which legendary composer, John Williams wrote
a five minute solo specifically for her.
Throughout her career she has worked closely with Steven Spielberg,
John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Harry
Gregson-Williams, John Debney and many others. Her songs have
been covered by other artists, including Macy Grey and Bliss.
Hope is a Thing is her
eighth studio solo album which is available on iTunes.
"www.hopeisathing.com was originally created as a site to garner
financial support for my album of the same name. Through many
generous souls, the CD is done! The album was released on November
10th. So it's time to turn this site over to YOU and see just how
big we can make this."
www.lisbethscott.com
www.myspace.com/lisbethscottmusic
All my trials - Bottle up and
go (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Still a relatively new genre to me: blues/punk. Despite playing a
track by Bottle Up and Go about 6 weeks ago. Probably because my
life has been devoid of blues punk ever since!
Currently based out of a basement in Bushwick, Brooklyn, wedged
between 99-cent wholesale vendors, BU&G consists of Keenan
Mitchell (guitar, vocals), Fareed Sajan (drums) and saxophone
accompaniment by either Lucas or his twin Andrew Carrico (alto and
tenor respectively). The two-and-a-half piece neo primitive garage
rock band is known across NYC for their frantic freak outs,
described by various press sources as 'neanderthalic' and
'barbaric'.
There is no doubt that BU&G has a slight obsession with death
and bones, taxidermy and bootleg whiskey. Keenan writes
lyrics that mix the language of the bible with the spirit of
ancient blues hollers, western iconography, murder ballads, drunken
dreams, morning tremors, hospital visits, jail time--rhythms that
are indisputably alive as they call for their own death. They are
narratives that mix their own lives with the myths of their blues
forefathers, and that emerge as neither, a new blues form that is
as much a Leadbelly song as a noise collage.
www.myspace.com/bottleupandgoband
County - Slo-Mo feat. Mic Wreka
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
From the album Gimme what you
got.
Slo-Mo is the brainchild of Philadelphia steel guitarist Mike
"Slo-Mo" Brenner. Brenner has recorded and played on the road with
such artists as Badly Drawn Boy, Magnolia Electric Company, Marah,
Melody Gardot, G Love and more, but Slo-Mo is something totally
different. Mixing Brenner’s steel guitar grooves with frontman Mic
Wrecka’s rhymes and hip hop poetry, Slo-Mo Featuring Mic Wrecka has
become a Philly favorite, winning over fans with a slamming live
show and uniquely funky tunes backed by a tight 8-piece band.
www.heyslomo.com
www.myspace.com/heyslomo
La Complainte du Nanti -
Kapadnoms (Rosny Sous Bois and Paris, France)
From their excellent 5 track "petit maxi avec 5 titres extraits du
prochain album" Mis en
Bouche on Jamendo
Les kapadnoms developpent le concept de musique en patchwork liant
l electro swing au hiphop en passant par des chansons a texte plus
intimes ,le tout releve d'une plume hiphop engagee,parfois
enragee...la pluspart des enregistrements sont fait en
autoproduction dans un homestudio et sont composees et arrangees
par informatique,les musiciens travaillent les adaptations pour les
lives...
www.jamendo.com/en/user/kapadnoms
Can't get you out of my head - Patrick
and Eugene (London)
Altogether Now (Birds Bees
Flowers Trees) is the U.S. debut release from the UK’s
Patrick & Eugene. The album was produced by band member
Patrick Dawes. It’s being released by the Tummy Touch Music
Group.
The Patrick & Eugene sound is comprised of banjos, ukuleles and
sunshine pop vocals combined with whistles, bells and bongos to
produce unique but accessible music for post-modern vaudevillians,
with nods to Monty Python, Derek & Clive and even Woody Allen.
Try to imagine Noel Coward on stage with the Duke Ellington Band at
the Monterey Pop Festival and you’re getting close … or on a
substance which is probably illegal in most states.
www.myspace.com/patrickandeugene
www.soundsgoodinthenude.com
This sentence will ruin/save your life (Born
Ruffians) - Green Go (Guelph, Ontario, Canada)
This appears to be a remix by Green Go of a Born Ruffians track
from their self-titled EP released on Warp.
Though the stages and the audiences have expanded exponentially
with every performance, Green Go refuses to abandon the turf
that they tear up best: sweaty, dirty house shows.
Rooms keep getting bigger, but that euphoric community spirit that
launched the quintet continues to permeate every facet of their
work. When the band released their stop-gap remix EP to
satisfy fans pre-full length release (featuring tracks from
contemporary Canadian success stories Born Ruffians, Rural Alberta
Advantage, Gentleman Reg, Women and The D’Urbervilles), it read not
as strategic marketing tool showcasing their remixing prowess, but
as an earnest tribute to their peers - a love letter to everyone
who ever crammed themselves into a dark basement or garage to
support the then-fledgling band.
www.myspace.com/greengomusic
Suzy - Caravan Palace (Paris,
France)
It all started with a double bass player, a guitarist and a
violinist; all highly talented musicians who are really into swing,
Django addicts who enjoy tinkering with electro. Their project
swayed a singer, a clarinettist, a trombonist who doubles up on
percussion and a guitarist who also acts as DJ. With their “Zazou"
look (inspired by Parisian paleo-punks from the 1940s), they serve
up festive, frantic music, an improbable futuristic and melodious
Charleston fit for the dance floor.
It so often starts out like that: a gang of mates who've kicked
around together for the past ten years and who each get into music
off their own bat. In this case, it was Hugues on the violin,
Arnaud on guitar and Carlos on the double bass. A shared craze for
manouche jazz (gypsy-style jazz), played in its natural setting,
bars. Relatively serious composition, with a Zeitgeist twist: DIY
electro, house, dub and hip-hop.
The excellent Caravan Palace musicians, who are of course “gadjos"
(non-gypsies), have breathed fresh air into the timeless swing
scene without coming across as preachers. As well as listeners with
curious ears, the Caravan also has its own following, a horde of
fans totally into the electro vibe, who turn up at each of their
concerts. Caravan Palace’s reputation has rippled beyond the
frontiers too, with Europe eager to check them out.
www.myspace.com/caravanpalace