SnC 097 – Wed 26 Dec 2007

Podcast: Play in new window

Ready to wake up again?There’s nothing like stopping for a few hours to make you think about what you are doing and what you really should be doing.Great music again this week with tracks from North America, Europe and Africa. "Every one a winner"Note from my chum Malcolm in France (where he has some beautiful holiday cottages to let!):
"To all my friends who sent me best
wishes for 2007. It did fuck-all. For 2008, could you please send
either money, alcohol or petrol vouchers. Cheers."Living the dream – Olio (California, USA)Olio features Arif on vocals and lead guitar, DeHaven on drums and vocals, and Matt Sherrell on bass and vocals. A true example of the diverse American culture – from hip-hop to funk, soul to rock and a dash of pop.www.oliomusic.com/ Theme: Happy – Jimmie Bratcher (Missouri, USA)www.jimmiebratcher.comA sudden flurry of interesting tracks went up onto the PMN in the past few days – amongst all the banal nonsense of so called "holiday" music.I mentioned Fado music from Lisbon Portugal a couple of weeks ago and by coincidence or magic, there’s a superb Fado song on the PMNOs Búzios – Ana Moura (Santarem, Portugal)A young fadista gaining much popularity, Ana Moura has proven herself a worthy successor of great artists like Amalia Rodriguez. Ana has a whole load of shows coming up in Holland / Netherlands and Belgium from 4 Jan to 2 Feb, she"s in Paris on 5 Feb and Berlin on 8th and Valencia in Spain on 9th. Then there’s a bit of a break before she heads over to captivate North American audiences with the release of her debut album Guarda-me a vida na mao (Keep my life in your hand) to be released February 8th on World Village/Harmonia Mundi USA. She has shows at The Carnegie Hall in New York, New Jersey, Boston and California between March 28 and finishing up in San Francisco on April 13.www.anamoura.com/Ana – Vieux Farka Toure (Mali)  FIRST PLAYSon of the late great Ali Farka Toure, Vieux is a rising star on the world music scene, and frequently praised for his guitar skills.   www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/Cler Achel – Tinariwen (Mali)  FIRST PLAYFormer Taureg rebel fighters, Tinariwen’s roots music is about the suffering of their people and hope for a better world.www.tinariwen.com/Keep Movin’ – Jaik Miller Band (Brooklyn, New York, USA)Soulful, american rock and roll wilth great songs! Nothing much happening at the band websitewww.jaikmillerband.com/ however, their MySpace seems OKwww.myspace.com/jaikmillerbandIf I only had the heart – The Maine (Arizona, USA)Graduating high school early is nothing for a band when you have already graduated from the school of rock with honors. The Maine have taken no classes, were given no grades, and had no teachers.Thier new album reached #1 on PureVolume, #6 on iTunes Top Alternative Chart and 66 on the MySpace Top 100. [Blah, blah blah] Damned fine song though!www.myspace.com/themaineWaiting – Stereomovers (Montreal, Canada)Stereomovers: Alex D. and Simon Roy have been making music together over the last decade.Alongside guitarist and producer Pierre "Baz" Bazinet, they have reinvented their sound."Waiting" is a FREE DOWNLOAD for all from their MySpacewww.stereomovers.com/www.myspace.com/stereomoversI mentioned change and revolution – time to live the dream instead of sleepwalking to someone else’s pattern for you.The Shift – Jesta (Morecambe, UK)Bryan Page is the guy that is Jesta. Bryan has been working in recording studios in the U.K. since the late 1980’s as an engineer, producer, singer and musician. Now at last he has found the time to come up with some of his own music with a little help from his friends.Last time we spoke he was in Essex but now seems to be in Morcambe, Lancashire on the Irish Sea coast of England.This track is actually quite an old tune from 1997 when New Labour was the hope for a fresh start in UK politics. How times change! You can get it and (She’s so) Bitchy from iTunes, from the Podsafe Music network for direct from Jesta’s site. www.jesta.co.uk/www.myspace.com/jestauk