Great new music from independent labels and artists all around the world

All a bit frantic this week having spent Friday driving north to Richmond in Yorkshire en route to Northumberland. Fantastic hotel in Richmond (pic) and a great time with some very old friends in Northumberland going up a ravine to a spectacular waterfall – why spectacular – rain all day had swollen the normally fairly placid beck in Hareshaw Linn to something of a torrent. Why? Jenny’s birthday celebration included a surprise meeting with best part of a dozen of her oldest friends at said waterfall. Pictures on my Flickr site if you’re interested. Alone in a Room With You – Looker (New York, USA)The Shangri-Las backed by the Pixies. “One collective stiletto heel in the Brill Building circa 1963 and the other in what used to be CBGB.” Put the top down, turn it up, sing along.Born from the collaboration of childhood friends Boshra al Saadi and Nicole Greco, Looker began as a hot summer’s experiment in Manhattan’s lower east side back in 2003. Since then the band has grown with the addition of AJ Lambert on bass and Robbie Overbey on drums.Boshra AlSaadi-gtr/voxNicole Greco-gtr/voxAJ Lambert-bass/voxRobbie Overbey-drums/voxhttp://seriousbusinessrecords.com/artists/show/13-Lookerwww.lookernyc.comwww.myspace.com/lookerGuardasecretos – Cordero (New York, NY, USA)Ani Cordero created and fronted a new bilingual indie-rock band in Tucson, Arizona in early 1999 and called the group by her Puerto Rican family name, Cordero.By 2000, Ani had moved to New York City and reformed the band with her husband, music/art star, Chris Verene (formerly of The Rock*A*Teens and D.Q.E. ) and a revolving backing band. Cordero eventually cemented the line-up by adding the sensitive horn and dramatic keyboard playing of Omar Akil (nephew of hit songwriter Frankie Lymon) and melodic and danceable bass playing of Eric Eble (Reid Pailey Trio).In 2006, Cordero inked a new record deal with the Chicago-based label, Bloodshot Records and expanded their reach with the release of their third studio album “En Este Momento” and an ever-growing reputation for blazing live shows. “Their marvelously rambunctious gigs usually wind up as street parties outside the venue.” The Village Voicehttp://corderomusic.com/www.bloodshotrecords.com/artists/cordero/Caroline – Brian Wallen (Indiana, USA)Brian Wallen is a very busy singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with six albums to his credit, 100 shows a year, and a unique sound all his own. He plays ten instruments, having picked up his first guitar six years ago (when he was aged ten).Brian has arranged, performed, recorded, produced and mastered everything you hear on his projects.He also has a band (Blue Lightning) which he leads playing alongside Glen Thurston, Avery Perry and Marty Price.http://brianwallenmusic.com/http://myspace.com/bkwallenAs I am – EMAR (Ontario, Canada)EMAR is an international world music artist. Born in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia, now Serbia) and partly raised in Canada, EMAR’s multicultural influences inspire her to sing and record in several languages including Serbian, Hindi, Persian, Arabic and Church Slavonic.On her debut album,  EMAR: Sacred Soul, released September 3rd, 2008, EMAR worked with three renowned producers to create her ethereal, spiritual sound: Genie Award-nominated Sean Eyre, Canadian Music Awards winner for Best World Music Group 2007 – Andrew McPherson of Eccodek and noted film composer Igor Vrabac. Playing on five of the album’s tracks is World Music multi-instrumentalist Boris Sichon.www.emarmusic.comwww.myspace.com/emarmusicHarry Knuckles – Project Grand Slam (CA, USA)PGS plays instrumental music that features great songwriting and masterly musicianship. Melody, rhythms, grooves and skillful improvisation combine into one special sound. It’s not rock, it’s not pop and it’s not jazz – it’s Project Grand Slam!Project Grand Slam’s debut album, Play, features “The Captain of Her Heart” with internationally renowned guest vocalist Judie Tzuke.  Her hit Stay With Me Till Dawn was chosen by the British public as one of the 50 best British songs from 1952-2002. “The Captain of Her Heart” was an international Top 10 hit in 1986 for the group Double. “Captain” was produced by Haim Cotton and Jan Roeg. An instrumental version is also included on the album.The rest of Play features 11 original compositions by Project Grand Slam produced by the legendary Frank Filipetti (Grammy Award for James Taylor’s Hourglass).The musicians of Project Grand Slam are:Robert Miller – electric bass and composes. Haim Cotton – keyboards and composes. Ron Thaler – drums Gilad Ronen – saxophonewww.projectgrandslam.comLow Tide – O Death (New York, NY, USA)New York outfit O’Death’s third LP, Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin, feels like a giddy junkyard hoedown, from the panicked fiddle screeches of opener “Low Tide” to the celebratory gallop of closer “Lean-To.” At times it sounds morose or contemplative, but underneath the melancholy is a gospel fervor – bashed from paint buckets, banjos, guitars and anything else in kicking distance – that defines their sound. Since 2007’s buzzed-about Head Home, the quintet, which contains vocalist/guitarist Greg Jamie, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Gabe Darling, fiddle player Bob Pycior, bassist Newman and drummer David Rogers-Berry, has evolved the possessed americana-meets-gypsy-punk of recent years into a more urgent, unrelenting celebration of life, death and everything in between. http://kemado.com/ http://odeath.net/ www.myspace.com/odeathHasa – Abiyou Solomon (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)AIT Records proudly presents the celebrated Ethiopian musician and arranger, Abiyou Solomon, and his latest CD, In Search of My Roots. This one-of-a-kind recording truly captures the soul and spirit of eight distinct Ethiopian tribes. The traditional songs and harmonized sounds demonstrate the beauty and diversity of the Ethiopian people, comprised of many tribes that have lived in peace and harmony for thousands of years. In Search of My Roots is Volume 1 in a series of CDs showcasing unique tribal songs from throughout Ethiopia.AIT Records, Inc. is the first and leading producer of Ethiopian music outside of Ethiopia. The melodies, rhythms and instruments of Ethiopia have forged a rich musical tradition – one of the oldest in the world. Since 1990, AIT has sought to shine a spotlight on our unique culture, offering Ethiopian performers the opportunity to showcase their talents and share their country’s history with the global community.Available now as a six-CD set or as individual CDs, The Ethiopian Millennium Collection features breakthrough performances by Mahmoud Ahmed, winner of the 2007 BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music; and Alemayehu Eshete. The complete set immerses the listener in an eclectic mix of signature Ballads, Chic-Chic-Ka (Iskista), Dance, Instrumental, and Traditional Ethiopian music that blends Ethiopian and Western instruments.www.aitrecords.com/www.myspace.com/aitrecords3 for 10 – SaReGaMa / Triplexity (France and Israel) Put out as a single this is a product of the ever fruitful collaboration between Nikila, SaReGaMa and Hamelin Bérengnier. This is actually the enhanced version in Triplexity’s album Between Light and Shadow.SaGeRaMa says on his Jamendo page: “I’d like to say special thanks to all those listeners who have expressed their appreciation through donation. Besides that it’s really encouraging it also helps me to purchase instruments and equipment and improve the quality of music. The best method is DONATING DIRECTLY TO ARTIST , because this way the artist gets your donation immediately with less fees.”The word Triplexity is combined of two words: triplex and complexity. Triplexity is a virtual band, its members never met each other face to face, all the collaborations came to live thru the Internet. Every member comes from a different musical background, together, they blend their knowledge and inspiration and give life to their unique music with a fresh new sound.He also points out that “Audio quality of the music offered on Jamendo in best case reaches 190 kbps, which is quite reasonable for evaluational purposes but definitely  not enough to experience the richness of original sound (1411 kbps). If you’d like to feel how this music sounds for real you can obtain a lossless FLAC version of this album on my website.”http://saregama2.blogspot.com/http://triplexity.blogspot.com/