It's time for an other Dutch band, but not just another. The band members originating from Utrecht in The Netherlands, is merely the one thing that indicates Kensingston is Dutch. After having debuted in 2010, a powerful follow up single called We Are The Young was released in 2011, before the recent album Vultures was released.
Kensington lends it name from a London neighbourhood and pursues a sound that easily matches with international bands such as The Killers, The Editors or Kings Of Leon. Anyhow, few Dutch marks can be found when listening to the potent and energetic, lively songs. This may be due to the fact that Vultures was initially recorded in Berlin and thereafter postproduced in London and New York.
No Way Out is the brand single of Vultures and also has that full sound with pacing drums, catchy guitar riffs and imposing vocal harmonies. Not to the mention the attention that has been given to his special video.
Most of the articles I write about singles that I discover through playlist of others, through being played in the radio or through listening to new albums. For this one it was different. The album of this single was in my little list of new albums to try out for this month, until Tuesday morning I read a small article about synthrock band, Metric, in the Dutch newspaper. About how great their album was and how this one was certainly the best of the 5 albums so far. But more importantly, it mentioned the gig they were going to do in the Melkweg the day after.
It turned out that there were still tickets available so I called one of my friends and asked him to join me to the gig on Wednesday. It was a small gamble but it turned to be a reaaly good one as this was one of these performances that are surprisingly brilliant and qualitatively good. Especially singer Emily Haines made quite an impression on stage with her magical, sweet voice and her femme fatale appearance. (find here a link to a youtube movie of Sympathy, the song they finished their gig with) Canadian synthrock, or Indie electro ( as I like to call it), band Metric has been around since 1998 and in the last couple of years they have aquired their name within the international music industry, with their music (from their 4th album Fantasies) being used in series like House, Grey's Anatomy and the Twilight Films.
Now they're back with their 5th album Synthetica and I must say, it is a masterpiece. It rocks, it is exciting with all the electronic bits and pieces, it even contains some references to dubstep and the amazing voice of Haines completes it all. No wonder that Tiesto was keen on working with her.
Today's single is the first single of this album, and it gives a good representation of the rest of the album. Metric, one of the nice surprises of the music year 2012.
What have we here? It’s Netsky, a young DJ/producer from Belgium who succeeds in bringing a real solid piece of drum and bass. This genre nowadays is mostly heard underground, as where its younger brother dubstep get all attention today. An exquisite chance to pick it out out and highlight it at our blog. Active since 2009, Boris Daenen just issued a follow-up to his debut, called '2', showcasing tracks that are reminiscent of old school work of early drum and bass icons such as Goldie and Roni Size. As well, he blinks to the modern sound we know as dubstep, a genre spawning songs that can be as euphoric but have less focus that Netsky’s ultra tight productions. All in all, each song is crafted with interesting samples, accents and groovy basses. Perhaps as a result of living where the axes of Britain and France cross, Netsky cleverly mixes ingredients like British two-step and the ever so recognisable French electronica.
This one is a track he made with Selah Sue, who sings in consonants too nowadays and therefore really adds to the song. I myself look forward going to London in a month, where drum and bass just comes out of the speakers in any bar.
I somehow have a weak spot for music that is linked to commercials. Last year Don Fardon's - I'm alive is still a song that turns up in different playlist I regularly play and the Brand (dutch beer) commercials that feature Paul Weller's Wildwood and Aaron's U-Turn are also songs that I love to play, especially in the autumn with a nice Belgium beer in my hand while sitting in the last few rays of sunlight of the year.
And last week, I discovered another commercial -song, that wandered around in my head for several days. It's from the new Bose commercial and I love it. It's from Between Border, a Manchester, UK based band. It just gives that summery, happy, cheerfull feel. A song that you want on your mp3 player while you run along the beach or drive towards your favorite holiday-destination with friends.
I am not going to say much about the musical qualities of these guys, or how brilliantly layered this song is, or how beautiful the voice of the lead-singer is, because it's typically not that kind of song that you would want to analyze again and again. It's just a song to listen to and enjoy..
The Tallest Man On Earth clearly is a moniker and it's Kristian Matsson's. This Swedish singer-songwriter issues music on his own for more than ten years now. His name and recent album 'There's No Leaving Now' caught my attention, again, by its describing keywords indie and folk. Now, indie nowadays is not very precise when indicating the sound of the music in question, other than implying it stands aparts from mainstream. Folk, here is targetting better, because Matsson's songs on There's No Leaving Now refer back to a lot of names from the past, such as Nick Drake and also Bob Dylan. For that reason, the music is not necessarily old fashioned , since Matsson, still a youngster, delivers his songs in a modern atmosphere. However, the album sounds perfectly lo-fi recorded and shows how purity can be effective. It is more relaxed than his previous albums and contains a variety in instrumentation that is interesting. The album opens beautifully with 'To Just Grow Away', with friendly chords played on electric piano and guitar and sucked me right in. But today's song is '1904', a nicely decorated and catchy up-tempo acoustic song, that does not lack on strength and might become very recognisable after a few listenings.
We know today's artist mainly from his cooperation with his sister Julia and their hit "Big Yet Plane". They had quite some success with their album Down The Way (2010). Unfortunately they made the decission to part and go in different directions. Angus told Surfing World Magazine, “Recording with Julia is cool but we both have our hands on the wheel. This was an opportunity to grab the wheel and do some burn-outs.”
And so Angus Stone was back on his own again, after his first solo debut in 2009 with the album smoking Gun. Soon he will be back with a new album called "Broken Brights" which will be released in July. Today's song is the second single of that album called Bird on a buffalo. For me it provides again that Angus on his own is nothing less (and at least as good as) then when he was still together with Julia. Pastermagazine writes about the song "While the two animals must collaborate to ensure mutual survival, the lyrics “we got together like the bird on the buffalo” describe a metaphor for a musing relationship between lovers."
What I like about it, the creativity of the lyrics, the relaxt mood of the song and the voice of Angus which makes this song complete, like there is nothing to worry about and so you just have to take the time to listen to this song.
Hot Chip have recently brought out their fifth studio album and it is already acclaimed by amongst other pitchfork.com to be their most lively ones. Producing their music in the genres of indie electronica and pop, Hot Chip is considered to be leading, so worth listening I found. In Our Heads sounds rather diverse and contains smart electronica pop tunes as well as indie dance tracks. Obviously, the eighties decade in musical sense must have been influential and inspirational, when composing the tracks, is what member Joe Goddard has stated earlier too. Not surprisingly, here and there a name such as Nik Kershaw is musically referred to, next to, as co-writer Justin mentioned, tracks that resemble the most to minimal techno.
Picking a song is not easy, since no track represents the album as a whole. So here is my favorite, a nice slow jam, sung in a beautiful melody and a right counterpart to the uptempo tracks. Listen to Look At Where We Are with a decent set of headphones to not miss out on superb production and deep bass. I Like.
Since 2 years I have a weak spot for music from our neighbours from the south. Somehow, their music always fascinates me. This is not any different with the sudden release of the new studio album of Belgium Rock Band Deus, "Following Sea".
On June 1st they announced that they would release their 7th album, which was quite a surprise as their last album "Keep you close" is only of November last year. In an interview on 3voor12 leadsinger Tom Barman announces:
"We have created numbers which we don't want to lose, numbers that we didn't want to keep in stock for 4 years, so we broke with our traditional way of working and choose to finish the songs quickly and release them. It's 2012 for fuck's sake. The idea of waiting for months with releasing them seemed so old fashioned"
This album contains the traditional Deus sound, with the great voice of Barman, who shows again that he is a great singer and songwriter. He even surprises us with a first song in French (posted below). And although the consistency between the songs sounds sometimes loose, as some of them were written before the previous album and some of them during their tour, listening to the album a couple of times confirms again that Deus is one of the finest rock bands from Belgium. And with this cd they are ready for the festival season.
Hello, there. After a couple of weeks of being absent from 365 singles we're back with some new fresh music. I had to find myself some inspiration and had to make new musical discoveries before I was motivated to write about music again. At the moment I write this I realize that this is one of the reasons for visiting concerts, venues and festivals.. To keep being motitaved for this blog. So I went to London Calling Indie Pop/ Rock festival in Paradiso with co-author Peter, danced the day away at Techno Edit festival in Haarlem and last Thursday visited Swedish Miike Snow at the O2 Academy in London with my brother. So enough inspiration for at least a while.
I keep it short today. Just looking outside makes me feel crappy. It's rainy, windy and the temperature has dropped till around 9-10 degrees Celcius. I need some energyzing, sunny, feel-good music to warm me up and make me dance inside my room.
This South African group is not really new, although they have found a new form of making music by working together with another great band from the UK. I'm am talking about the cooperation between Goldfish and Morning parade with their song Washing over Me. I fell in love with it while I drove home yesterday evening, the sun setting and the radio full open. Have a great summer... ;-)
When I was doing my internship, 2.5 years ago, I used to travel quite a lot by public transport. Equiped with my mp3 player and my favorite songs on it, I actually enjoyed this a lot. One of the records I listened to at that time was the self titled album of a small Belgium band called Absynth Minded; the song I preferred the most was one called Envoi (as a tribute to literature writer Hugo Claus). I could sing along with every word and one day I even wrote out the text on paper, so much I liked it. '
Now the band is back with their new album "As it ever was", a record based on heavy themes, with songs that are easy to listen to; yes, quite a contradiction but so great. Quite often I like albums of artists/ band because of their musicality and the feel a song gives you, without paying attention to the lyrics. This one is different as I discovered that there are also a lot of beautiful secrets hidden in the lyrics of this album. I think my co-writer Peter would call this something like layers that build up the song.
Today's song is called Space. It is the single of the album that was released in february this year. It took me a few times to discover the fantastic aspects of this song but for me that makes a song only more valuable and is always an aspect by which I would recognize a great song.
Please give this "hidden secret from Belgium" a chance.. I bet you will love it.
This fine song isn’t as much beautiful, as it stands out for
being firm and relaxed at the same time. I’ve listened to it for a little while
already and did not really know where to put it. ‘Nothing Is The News’ is the
opener of Damien Jurado’s 2012 and eleventh album Maraqopa, so Jurado isn’t a newcomer.
He is claimed to make music as a singer/songwriter in the tradition of Seattle
indierock, yet this song refers back a lot more to, as you like to put it,
seventieslike psychedelic rock music.
What I find so cool is the guitar solo that kicks in very
early and lasts for almost the whole track. My
co-writer Justin likes to attach his posts to some kind of feel or mood
you have in some occasion or moment of the day. This one I think is perfect for
late night, just at that switch point between hanging back and eventually coming in
action. After sitting down on some Friday night, having a couple of drinks.
Taking in the laidback atmosphere of the song, but loading the firmness and
confidence at the same time, when making up to go out.
A new song from one of my recent discoveries from Belgium, to start your weekend with a very relaxt mood. It's from Isbells, a melancholic pop-folk band that is centered around lead-singer Gaëtan Vandewoude who started this group in 2009. After singing in many small bands as back-up singer he decided to start his own band. And he did an amazing job.
When I heard on the DWDD show last week I was convinced. I listened to the second album of the group (Stoalin', 2012) and loved it. It reminded me of the self titled album of Bon Iver (2011) but also of Fleet Foxes, not only the music but also the quality of the music. Dreamy, Arabic, Introvert pop-folk songs that suck you in...
This song, Elation, makes you totally feel at ease, creates a smile at your face (especially the part with the singing little children) and makes you think about how great life can be. And the part with which the song starts also ends the song... Slow, quiet and really relaxt...
And we're at number 100. We did it. In less than a year we posted 100 songs on 365 singles. But that doesn't mean that we're ready, that we will stop. We will continue; the day after tomorrow song 101 will follow, and after that 102, 103, 104 etc..
On the other hand, soon, within the next two months, we will present you with with some changes to our site: a refreshed style, a new address, another name, a new... who knows. Because we think that we certainly need to upgrade our blog to make sure that it represents the vision and mision we have with our blog. Soon more on this..
But first, let's celebrate day 100, with a happy song, a song that make me feel great and immediately brings up all kind of springlike summery feelings inside my head. And I think it will certainly become one of the summer-songs for 2012.
The Babysitters Circus (TBC) is a four piece New Zealand Electronica/Bass and Funk/Groove freak show that was born when the quartet began throwing sounds and ideas together while babysitting for a friend. They came up with some great creative stuff and thought that it would be a waste if they would not share their creative, shaky tracks with the world. And they did.
The four members of TBC are not new to the music industry; no they all have quite some experience in areas ranging from hiphop to musicals combinded with entertaining expertise. This means that they will not only make great music, they will also put on a great show; so hopefully we will get the chance to see them live this year. And celebrate 100 days of 365singles with them.
(Ps.. Have a look at the video, a lot of fun... ;-)
Jason Mraz has his new album out and I am glad about that. I’m
always glad to hear his songs. After having heard the two preview songs I Won’t
Give Up and The World As I See It, which was my favorite, I was curious to
hearing the full album Love Is A Four Letter Word. It sounds different than its predecessor, but holds
again a collection of songs which are all very well crafted. The overall pace
seems to be a little slower and Mraz doesn’t show so much of his speech skills
(think of The Dynamo Of Volition). Still he definitely knows how to deliver a
fine (soft) pop song. Outstanding is always the tight production and his
beautifully clear voice. The songs are calm, but without being too laidback or
vague.
Here’s a live performance of The Woman I Love. He traded
nylon strings for western ones. The song might not be very special, but I love
the chords as well as the subtle details on different guitars. And, while not
as present as on the album version, those soft organ tones always carry me
away.
On Friday I always have make a choice. I will either write about a nice, touchy, one that moves me song or one with a beat, to celebrate the start of the weekend. It depends on the mood I'm in and the plans I have for the weekend. This weekend will be relaxt, with some nice stuff to do (drinking a couple of beers, a nice meeting with friends tomorrow) but also some studying on Sunday.
And because I also feel quite relaxt at the moment it's time for a beautiful, relaxing song. It's from Marlon Roudette, a 29 year old singer songwriter from London, who is a former member of the 'one hit wonder' band Matafix. This song has already been a # 1 hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Especially the piano loops are one thing that make this song special. Add to that the lyrics and the sweet, soulful voice of Roudette, which even come better to the fore in other songs of his debut album, and a great song is born.
This version is recorded in the morning show of dutch DJ Giel Beelen and I wanted to share this version today as this one is even better than the original.
Have a nice and relaxing weekend...
Artist: Marlon Roudet From: London, UK Album: Matter Fixed (2011) Single: New Age (2011)
This Norwegian band makes happy indie pop from an addictive kind. They are a band that was accidentally formed when frontman Marius Hagen entered a band context and when he was released into the finals had to form band. Their music is fresh and really energetic and I personaly find this really attractive.
In the Netherlands they did already did a great performance on Eurosonic/ Noorderslag in January, they have been support act of the Wombats and now they are ready to conquer Europe. I am really glad that they are coming to London Calling festival in Paradiso (18/19 May, Paradiso, Amsterdam), which we as 365 singles authors will visit.
Show me is the first single from their debut album "To the Treetops", which in Norway has been mentioned as one of the best debut albums ever. According to skopemag.com it is "A playfully experimental album full of depth and warmth, with each track bound together by rich musicality". Enjoy your weekend with this song and album.
Today is about one of my favourite singer/songwriters. Considering the fact that I'm a fan of many artists, singers, songwriters or both, this might sound open-ended. Therefore I will state that I love his work so much, Daniël Lohues is in the top 3, amongst John Mayer and the Rolling Stones. Why is that? Lohues combines sincerity with a great musical talent and therefore writes songs that are moving, straight to the heart (or mind) and here and there entertaining. The instrumentation of his songs vary from a sole guitar or piano to a 3- or 4-piece band, but is always supportive to the message and structure of these songs. Lohues can be seen as a storyteller, who knows how to bring forward his miniatures or opinions dressed in superbly musical form. Having a childhood background as the organ player in his local church, Lohues not rarely makes use of semi-classical elements and church scales. Add up the sort of songwriting that resembles a lot to that The Beatles too used and be pleased with a whole collection songs that are accessible and at the same musically very interesting.
Good musicians not only play very well themselves, but also know to pick fellow artists to play with or form a band with. In brief, after having stopped to play with his pop/rock band Skik about a decade ago, Lohues pursued his wish to play blues music with American blues musicians. He sought and found in Southern US and locally recorded two albums. After, he started on a project of solo albums (appropriately titled, freely translated 'Alone'), that spawned four albums, each in the theme of a season, containing songs of Lohues on solely piano, acoustic guitar and mouth organ. After that, he again teamed up with some musicians to play songs that are musically, but not lyrically, a bit more comprehensive. I forgot to mention before that, except for just one Skik-album, he writes and sings in Dutch dialect language, which make his tone even more distinct. It is notable that, despite singing in a small dialect, he has listeners and fans throughout all of the country, showing his music must bring forward some kind of universal emotion and message all the same.
Here's one song of his latest release and second album with his two fellow musicians. I like the bright and ringing tone of the twelve-string guitar he his using here, accompanied by the growling sound of a double bass. The music should speak for itself, when not listening to the lyrics (if it is only for not understanding the language). There happens a lot and the song only takes barely two and a half minutes.
March has ended, April has started and we are celebrating spring. The closing of the month also means that we can close off our 365 singles spotify playlist March 2012 month and that we can start creating a new playlist for April. The March list contains all tracks that have been posted in the last month + some additional tracks that have been released in or are significant for March, as we discovered them in March.
Tracklist: Moss - What you want Alex Winston - Choice Notes King Charles - Love Lust King Jack - Take me Home Team Me - Show Me Lola Kite - Tokyo Love New Build - Do you not feel loved Keane - Silenced by the night Of monsters and men - Little Talks Iron & Wine - Godless brother in love We have band - Where are your people ? Case Mayfield - The Title Lola Kite - Energy Could be Our closed friend
Please see the link below for the link to the spotify playlist, enjoy:
A couple of weeks I visited a brilliant concert of Raphael Saadiq in Paradiso. I really enjoyed the concert. And it was not only because the concert itself was that brilliant. It was also because I was able to go there with an old colleague of mine, who also likes music a lot. The good thing about hanging out with her is that she also loves music a lot and that you spend a big part of the evening discussing new music, new band and concerts/ festivals that you are going to visit.
She reminded of a new band called New Build that she would visit soon in Bitterzoet in Amsterdam. So, in my enthusiasm I immediately looked for the album in Spotify and started to give myself some nice ear-candy to try. "Yesterday was lived and lost."
I really liked the cd. It is an exciting album that consist of several songs that do have some similarity but not a lot. And that keeps surprising and makes the album refreshing, like a full 7 course diner and you don't know what to expect with the next..
My favorite song is the second release of this album "Do you not feel loved".. I honestly think this will be one of the alternative big summer hits of 2012.
And the best thing, with their release of the album in 2012 they also announced that they will probably do a tour in the NL. So watch out for clubs and festivals where they will star and make your summer even better..
Statistics: Band: New BuildPlace: London, UK Members: Felix Martin, Al Doyle, Tom Hopkins (electronic composer)Genre: electropop Since: 2011, first track "Finding Reasons"
Let me put it straight forward, this song is very likely, if
not certainly on my favorites list at the end of the year. I’m not sure how
exactly I picked up Iron & Wine, but it once more proves the fact that
music is an ocean where the more beautiful fishes do not necessarily swim near
the surface. The album that holds this song was issued already in early 2011,
however I really feel the urge to share the track with you, all the more since
Godless Brother In Love seemed to be issued as a single just lately.
Iron & Wine, which is Sam Beam, has made several studio
albums and EP’s since 2002. Fascinating is the consistent high level of the
music on these works. Most tracks stand alone in their character, brilliance
and creativity, where Beam often uses different layers to make his songs
interesting. At this point in my knowledge of all of his songs, the one
similarity between most of the songs is the fact that the all songs are intelligent
and yet accessible. Whether they're calm and acoustic or louder and more uptempo.
Godless Brother In Love is a song that really welcomes to
hold still for a little less than four minutes and be quiet, listening to Beams
voice singing a calm and wonderful melody and being smoothed after by a
beautiful choir. Without saying he cleverly combines his falsetto with his regular
singing voice.
365singles is all about bringing special songs to the
surface to give the attention they deserve and so open up a little that
beautiful depth of the sea. Here’s one perfect example.
The second cd of a dutch band within 2 years time. That's certainly something.. A band that decided to give a popular soda "Cola Light" a twist to name their band. Especially when you give the album a chance and you decide to start to listen the whole album through.. Then realize this is an album made from music lovers. The album has an overall psychedelic feel and contains a lot of great songs from which you can feel the experience of the creators..
If you like Bon Iver, Washed Out, M83... This album will certainly become one of your favorites of 2012.
Today my favorite song from this album: Energy could be our closed friend.. (And not only because of the title which I absolute love..)
Name: We Have Band Album: Ternion, 2012 Genre: Electropop Place: UK, London Since: 2006 Song: Where are your people
Every month I create a playlist in Spotify with my personal favorite new songs that I discover in that particular month. I search the internet, read OOR magazine and the Plato cd reviews, search other persons playlist in Spotify. Most of the time, I listen to a whole album and I pick the song from the album that I find the most interesting. Because I travel quite a lot in my car, most of the times this playlist is played repeatedly untill the next months arrives and I can start creating a new playlist. For this month, this song would be my favorite. It gives me a lot of energy for the day as I get into my car, early in the morning.
We Have Band is not an average band as they already won the Glastonburry Emerging Talent Competition in 2009 and have been touring around ever since. Ternion is their second album after their debut album "We Have Band" which was released in 2010. The album keeps surprising me and I would definitely put it onto the 2012 promosing album list. And I hope to see them life at one of the summer festivals. (see on the right: 2012 - promising albums) The sound of this album, and in particular this song, is really refreshing. It combines a great "rock-band" voice of the male lead-singers with a totally different female voice of Dede Weg-Prosser. Add to that an extremely, but also very exciting, danceable beat and interesting guitar and synthesizer loops. It has a dreamy feel but this song is also like a soundtrack of a really thrilling action movie of which you don't know what is going to happen next. If I had to summarize: a song with a lot of exciting, interesting layers that keep surprizing you.
Yesterday I got smashed in the face twice by the name of Case Mayfield. In the first place by listening to his recent, 2012 album The Many Coloured Beast for the first time and in the second by reading a ruthless interview he gave to Dutch magazine Nieuwe Revu. Mayfield comes from a place in the Netherlands called Volendam, a town spawning a fair number of singers and musicians over the years, who are all alike but sound a lot different than Mayfield does. In the interview he claims his co-residents and fellow musicians may have talent, but merely use that talent to produce ‘vomit and shit’. He regrets that and heads for another direction.
Mayfields album is very interesting to listen to, especially having associated his name wrong for a few weeks. He seems to seek for experiment, since the tone of his songs vary from dramatic, sad and sour to contemplating and more joyful or cheerful. He turns from modest to more expressional, between twenty to thirty percent consists of almost silence, building up to a climax. Not so much technical skills, but strong songwriting the more. All in all, Case Mayfield sounds genuine. Very genuine, considering the lines in his interview as well. I like to hear more from him and I think he deserves to be heared by many other people too.
I wanted to show 'You Should Have Seen The Way You Danced', but there isn't a good video version available. Though, the song has a hooky intro and a chorus which seems to be the verse at the same time. Go check it out yourself.
Here's 'The Title', which is the first single of the album.
In 2008 this band had a breakthrough with their performance in the dutch tv -show "De wereld draait door". 3 years later they released their second studio album with SONY BMCG, which I discovered a while ago. And when I started listening I soon realized that this was a Dutch rock band. And not one one of the many Dutch rock bands we have in the Netherlands, but a bloody good one.
It would go too far to call this band the Dutch Black Keys but there are certainly similarities, of which the main would be the rockin capabilities of both bands. A firm rhythm section, with ex-Anouk band member Boaz Kroontjes on the bass and drummer ferry Kunst, certainly makes this possible. On the other hand this band sometimes reminds me of one other great Dutch band which is quite popular at the time, Go Back To the Zoo. The lead-singer, also Boaz Kroon, has the same kind of roughness in his voice as Cas Hieltjes, which I really like. The fact that he is also able to sing more subtitle, slower, songs on the album, tells me that this guy is a great singer with a lot of experience.
And that's what this album (and this song) tells me: This is a band with a lot of musical experience. That, and the great variety of songs on this album makes it a pleasure to listen to.
Today's song is also used in a commercial by Vodafone and it has a catchy refrain, it rocks and it is pleasure to listen to. And one particular thing I like are the hammonds that are used in this song. And I posted the live version played with Gerard Ekdom in the FreakNight at 3FM, one of the best versions available on the internet. Have a nice saturday !!
Two months ago some good friends came up with the name Lianne La Havas, an artist of which I never heard before. She was going to play on Eurosonic/ Noorderslag festival but she would also do a gig in Rotterdam, and my friends were going to see her. As always, I listened to some of her songs and soon became quite enthousiastic.
But what I listened to was recorded, so I asked my friends: When is this gig ? And unfortunately I couldn't attend. If I wouldn't have been in the plane to Thailand, I certainly would have joined my friends to watch this young talent.
La Havas, a young, only 22 year old, a black singer songwriter from London, UK, is relatively new in the music business. She released her first single "No room for doubt", featuring Willy Mason, last year oktober and will release her debut album later this year. This year she will be touring with Bon Iver in his North American Tour as his support act. She already worked with Gary Barlow and Bon Iver as wel.
What's so special about La Havas is her unique, vulnerable, smoky, pure voice, combined with her lovely, quiet, relaxing singer-songwriter songs. Her songs never become dull as she has enormous reach and variation in her voice (comparable with Rihanna/ Beyonce on one side and Erykah Badu on the other hand)
Enjoy your weekend with this promising talent of which we will definitely hear more this year.
Boy & Bear is a
remarkable name for a band, but I chose to listen on the basis of the band’s
sound’s description. For example, VPRO’s Luisterpaal ('Listening Pole', at www.3voor12.nl) uses words as indie, pop and folky, which is
a combination, maybe not too outspoken, but interesting enough for me to give
it a try. Listening to their songs, Coldplay, once again, pops up in my mind.
That happens more often and I believe for mainly two reasons. Firstly, because
Coldplay have been influential enough to let lots of
bands make sound themselves as they do. Their songs are far from copies of
Coldplay’s songs, but marks of Coldplay’s first two and best albums are
slightly and more or less noticeable. Secondly, these bands all shows what
Coldplay could have been like, if they would not have chosen the path of constantly
fabricating stadium songs. That is: too loud, too resonant and too predictable.
Amongst many, many
others, Boy & Bear keep their attention to the art of playing attractive,
yet subtle and intelligent pop songs. Their 2011 debut LP Moonfire offers a
joyful mixture of modest songs and uptempo folk songs. One of them, Part Time
Believer, stands out and for me personally, that is as a consequence of that
striking verse, in which something so recognisable and pleasing is sung. Per definition, every remark to the Rolling Stones refers to
the spark that occurred when my father did his part of musical education.
1,5 years ago this group was introduced to me when I read about their cd "How I got over" in a little booklet from a local music shop. I decided I would give their cd a try and I was surprised in a positive way. Like when you're surprised to receive a postcard you didn't expect, when you eat something and taste something that's just delicious. That kind of surprise it was.
And for the last 1.5 year this cd was one that I kept on listening too. Especially during evenings, too relax, too chill with, together with friends or girls.
But in August this year their came another surprise, I saw this band live at a music festival in the Netherlands. And it was a great performance. This group gave a show away that was absolutely fabulous, better than you would expect from a hiphop band. Jamming, slamming, they knew how to turn the Alpha tent upside down, and they did.
And when I didn't expected it, there came another surprise this January when I read about their new album "Undun". It's their thirteenth studio album and they're still going strong. A solid album with good music combined with strong texts (about the life of gangster Redford).
Today's single is my favorite from the album and I have to be honest with you, although it sounds really good, this time it's about the text, which moves me..
"And no one’s in the lighthouse You’re face down in the ocean And no one’s in the lighthouse And it seems like you just screamed It’s no one there to hear the sound And it may feel like there’s no one there That cares if you drown Face down in the ocean"
Sometimes you need to take a while off to get some inspiration, to create some new fresh ideas, to listen to and read about a lot of new great music that's around. So you have enough energy and motivation to start the musical season 2012 and keep continuing writing on 365singles.
And that's what I did while travelling through Thailand for 3 weeks. With my iphone + spotify, a notebook, the latest release of OOR magazine and my earphones I was a really happy man and I must say, the musical energy is back after this amazing trip.
Today, I would like you to listen to a single of one of the greatest albums of 2012 already. It's from Bart Constant, a Dutch musician/ producer who works in Berlin, and created this magnificant album (Tell yourself whatever you have to) The songs together form a musical journey, that takes you away from the "allday" live for a while..
With different sounds, pace, various instruments (horns, violins), interesting drumbeats Bart Constant really shows that he is a musical master with vision and passion.. With today's single standing out as my favorite, as it is complex and simple at the same time.. And it makes me laugh as well with sentences like ""If you see the cookie crumble, blow the candles and take the cake"
Spinvis issued his
first album more than 11 years ago and many were pleasantly moved by the sound
of his tunes. The most interesting fact was that he ‘assembled’
all of the songs on his own in the attic of his house. At that time, he had no
public musical background and he held up the image of an all average, boring type
making at the same time apparently brilliant music. In the years he has
developed his music making, but throughout his albums always has kept the
signature to his songs.
Here’s the first
single of his 2011 release ‘Tot Ziens Justine Keller’ (Goodbye Justine Keller),
named ‘Kom Terug’ (Come Back). What I find most fascinating is that the apparent
simple songs come across as so touching. Simple here means no complex chord
schemes or virtuoso play of instruments. It’s the skill of giving his songs a
certain sound that lifts them and while not a brilliant singer, the lines add a
dimension too, in form and in meaning, when you’re able to understand the
language. That sound, again, may come from him fabricating the songs together
on his very own. While performing them on stage with a band.
Spinvis is a very
special one in the landscape of Dutch music, as not to say unique. Therefore I
need to share this one, if it’s only for being one of the more accessible songs
of his and inviting for more to listen.
Sometimes you just hear something of which you think "Wow", that's unique.. A sound that's really relaxt, that's sweet and innocent, thats sensitive.. which also makes you think about the important stuff in life and moves you.. And which at the same time you really enjoy..
James Vincent McMorrow is an artist of which music critics have predicted that 2012 will be the year of his breakthrough.. And with THE release of his debut album "early in the morning" I think he gives a good shot at it.. I certainly think that this year we Will certainly hear a lot from him.. I think that he will be one of the artist that we Will see a lot on the dutch summer music festivals..
Right now, during my trip in Bangkok and the southern parts of Thailand this is a pleasure to listen too.. It completes THE Holiday feeling..
The saying 'never
judge a book by its cover' implies one needs to take further reading of matter,
even though it's tough on the beginning. As for music, quality songs will only
reveal their beauty after several listening sessions. Instantly likable songs
may seem nice, but all the same seem to last less longer. This is my rule of
thumb when consuming music. But, to every rule is an exception. On a Saturday
morning in December I got track of William Fitzsimmons´ songs, a singer
–songwriter I had never heard of before. I started listening and decided it to
be ´the music for the weekend´. The songs I heard from different albums were
amazingly beautiful: well crafted, well played guitar and instruments, straight
to the heart and visualizing (but that may be personal). My rule of thumb did
not apply here. The evening I had two tickets booked for his concert, which
happened to be in weeks from then in Groningen.
This song is the very
recognizable opener of his last, 2011 album, Gold In The Shadow. As with many of
Fitzsimmons’ songs, they might not seem highly complicated but are therefore
very effective in putting forward the emotion of the song. Yet there is a lot
to discover in, from subtle percussion to his delicate playing. As he, not once, jokingly put it himself, most of the songs have a little bit of a sad feeling,
but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This one is a ‘live’ version in an Amsterdam hotel
room (mind that detail on 3:15).
