Where the food sounds good, and the music is pretty tasty too.
I first reviewed Zulu Winter way back in October ’11, and today I’m just as impressed with the band as the was then. Now, with the band’s latest single release “Silver Tongue,” I’m just plain excited! The new song is taken from the band’s forthcoming debut LP Language out on the veritable Arts & Crafts label. You can also pre-order the new album Language at Amazon and iTunes. Peace. Continue reading “Zulu Winter // Silver Tongue”
It is said joy comes in the morning, perhaps even on gossamer wings whilst blowing a golden trumpet. But there are also other, perhaps more mundane and pertinent ways to experience joy in the morning, afternoon or late into the night. And just as with the fictive heavenly trumpets heralding the coming of something phenomenal, the pure-honey voice of Anneka proclaims the coming of wondrous musical magic. Anneka claims my speakers as the medium which to deliver her sound slivers of heavenly delight. I’ve been filling up my ears with the sumptuously fulfilling sounds of Anneka and her various (intentional?) takes of torturing me leave me wanting to listen to her all the more. It’s a strange thing to fall hard for a voice, but not just any voice. This voice is effortless, and how it floats lightly (mayhap the air beneath an angel’s wing), but plummets straight into your heart like Cupid’s proverbial arrows, and alas you’re helpless. I’ve got a couple of gems from her Brighton Electric Studios rehearsal sessions, with Anneka singing the songs “Promise” and “Indigo Run”. As you watch this young Englishwoman perform, it is easy to see and hear how gorgeously talented she is. Hope you enjoy. Peace.
Jade Elizabeth Pybus bka as Py has been my “go to” chanteuse of choice as of late. And really it’s impossibly difficult not to like her, not that I’m trying “to not like her” either. You may have noticed that I keep posting songs on which Py appears. And you can expect more of the same in the future, hopefully to no one’s chagrin. Basically, my ears do somersaults at the mere mention of her name, and I’m utterly and completely enthralled with the way she delivers her musical voice; her vocal range is caught somewhere in-between the whispery voice of an angel and the last drop of a very good red vine on the devil’s tongue. Badilicious. Listen to the song “Whispers” (Ft. iO) or get totally seduced by her contribution to the song “Moments” taken from When You’re Gone EP by Lapalux. Rock them both with the lights down low, it’ll be total afterglow. Peace. Continue reading “Py & iO // Whispers”
Jules De Martino and Katie White definitely have a good thing going, especially with the mega awesome Sounds From Nowheresville LP on their hands. My ears are finicky listeners but they’ve practically salivating for much more when I play the latest from The Ting Tings. This new joint is practically jumping off the player and onto the dance floor. Now, here is my disclaimer, if you break something while dancing to this I am not liable. Check out the “Hang It Up” Banana Dynamite Remix plus more after the jump. Peace. Continue reading “the ting tings // soul killing”
Londoner Jade Elizabeth Pybus does one thing extremely well, and that’s opening her mouth and letting pure sun-sound wash over your eardrums. As Py she is known to lay the vocals on thick and relentlessly plush, and currently she has teamed up with music guru Damu and together they’ve conjured up 100% magic. Check out the track “Blind” and you’ll be all in, and maybe a bit undone by the sheer beauty of it. You can get the download on SoundCloud and play it to your hearts desire. Be on the lookout for Py’s mixtape Tripping On Wisdom on May 21st. Peace. Continue reading “py & damu // blind”
“Our Hump Day… Ergo Our Wednesday Spotlight Favorite!”
More often than not, whenever you talk to someone with any degree of success in any given field, and you ask the secret of their success, you will usually get an answer that goes something like this: I was born to do this, or I started with the basic principles, or I worked really hard and learned everything about (insert passion).
So, it comes as no surprise when the musical auteur known only as illy symphony gives us a similar formulaic response. But, here it sounds like the truth only because it is, or rather he is, the real McCoy. Like the well-worn adage goes, “The proof is in the pudding,” and in this case, I’ve not only sampled the pudding, but my ears have licked the damn bowl clean as well. Needless to say, the results are downright euphonious!
Recap, illy symphony started with the basics, he fell head over heels for percussionistic sounds, mainly the kick and the snare. Later, he become enamored with vinyl and the art of synthesizing and excavating the ghosts of beats into the twin atmospheres of rhythm and groove. In short, with an innate skill illy symphony has mastered his chosen craft and is now poised to make a debut. A debut not given to someone unworthy of review. No, this one has put in work. And yes, I hope you like pudding, the rich chocolatey intensely rhapsodic variety, because this won’t just stick to your ribs, it’ll coat your eardrums with joy. After the jump, check out what illy symphony had done with the works of Lana Del Rey, Little Dragon and Jack White, and if they’re pleased with his work, like me you’ll be utterly ecstatic. Peace. Continue reading “illy symphony (Our Wednesday Spotlight Favorite!)”
On some personal level it is always a great feeling to get in on the ground floor of a bands career before the major rags start blaring their supercilious horns proclaiming, “Look what we discovered!” I mean really, how hard is it to sing praises after the little guys have been trudging away spreading the word and delivering the goods? Rhetorical question: really no need to embarrass the establishment by answering. But, after listening to the now London-based band Ideals it doesn’t take much of an imagination to hear their potential. Kind of like it’s no surprise when after downing a few pints you just feel better. Well, the music of Ideals is similar; in that after a few listens one is able to relax inside the music well enough, and let it just wash your worries away, or at least temporarily hold those worries in abeyance.
With this band, admirers and pundits alike, could spend long hours making comparisons to well-established bands and cross-checking sonic references endlessly. But that’s not my style. You know me; I just let the music stand on its own two feet and bear the full force of your critical ear. However, what you won’t hear from the band Ideals is empty posturing or trite lyricism. Rest assured, Andrew Major, Ben Ward, Simon Wilson, and recent recruit Ben Smith are not soulless mannequins mouthing blather into the atmosphere. These guys tow the line, by delivering hard-nosed fare like the blazing, “Let Your Anger Leave” which opens with scathing full-frontal guitar atop palpitating drum work, before settling down around Andrew Major’s stalwart vocals. And just when you thought the guys from Ipswich, Suffolk gave you their all, they deliver a track like “Altar” and the increased helium in their airship of sound takes them to greater heights. Yes, I’m a fan, but I’ve a strange feeling I’m preaching to the choir. Peace. Continue reading “Ideals // Altar”
Time for planting and tending the crops is over. The season for harvesting is too long past. It is the dead of winter and the birds have south flown. Now, we must avail ourselves to live on what is at hand, nothing more. Tug on those long-johns, and upon those go the tweed trousers. Tuck in your thick flannel, pull on a weighty sweater too and don thine cap. Stoke the flames and have a bit of whiskey. Still, even then the cold gets in without a lover to love. Right now Dear Winesburg is my chosen bedmate, and their incredible EP Light & Deft is the howling wind and the falling snow of the season, but the beautiful music is also the antithesis of this barren season too. Beautiful and hopeful. Peace. Continue reading “Dear Winesburg – Light & Deft EP”