Podcast: Play in new window
A couple of electronica tracks on this week’s show from a very cold Suffolk along with some fine music from around the world. A call from one of our featured artists gives an insight into the life of a hard-working independent musician.Most of the leaves on the trees outside the barn are gone now.Those Damn Things – Ahmond (Brooklyn, New York, USA)Ahmond is a singer-songwriter and instrumental composer. He has just released a self-produced debut album called A Boy You Once Knew.On the album, and in live performances, you will hear Ahmond playing a variety of folk instruments such as mandolins and woodwinds, as well as heavier electric guitars.Violins, cellos, and percussion often accompany Ahmond’s haunting voice like on the epic track Go to Africa, which is getting Graceland comparisons.www.ahmond.com/www.myspace.com/ahmondbandLittleblood – Jenny Gillespie (Chicago, IL, USA)Jenny: vocals, piano, guitarJosh Stewart: cello and bassJenny Lee: violinWendy deBias: bgvJohn Knecht: drumsOops. Correction: Jenny just got in touch to point out that the above is the
live band line-up. "This however isn’t the lineup that is featured
on Light Year (except for Josh on bass/cello and John on drums.) I
actually DID do all of the harmonies for every song on Light Year. My
boyfriend Andrew Mason played accordian on "Littleblood" and Adam
Ollendorff played pedal steel." [Thanks for letting us know Jenny.]Jenny has worked as a waitress, a nanny, a hair model, a bed and breakfast concierge, a poetry teacher, and currently, a children’s literature editor. But music has always remained her north star. Born in central Illinois, she has lived in Virginia, Rhode Island, Paris, and Austin, Texas, and currently calls Chicago home, where she performs with her band and soaks up the seasons of a vibrant city.In 2008 she recorded Light Year, her first full-length album, funded mostly by donations by fans, at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio with additional production by Darwin Smith at Austin’s Cacophony Recordings. Anticipate the release in January 2009, along with a West Coast tour in spring 2009. The album which will be available Jan. 1 on iTunes and CDbaby…and if you want to be alerted to it, to email Jenny at begtodiffa@gmail.com.If you really can’t wait, get along to Green Genes in Chicago on 18 Dec to catch Jenny live.www.myspace.com/jennygillespieA clip of a well known song …Fly like a beagle – Transient (Gloversville, USA)A prolific artist with loads of stuff for you. a sudden soft implosion of noiselessness is a special release for Dusted Wax Kingdom by Transient – your ticket for a colourful journey from oldschool breakbeat worlds through experimental trancy ambience to glittering IDM planets in new downtempo and trip-hop dimensions.I was put onto him my a fellow traveller in the land of Jamendo "sapiensfx” who describes the album as "10 stars, great tunes and a must have" He (or she)’s dead right. I could have played any track from the album, They are all quite different but hugely engaging.www.noisyvagabond.comJoin Jamendo (free) and not only will you have access to more music than you’ll ever be able to listen to (currently a little over 13,000 albums) but you could go to my page at www.jamendo.com/en/user/clithers click to add yourself to my friends and we share links to interesting finds. I know I’ll never find all the good stuff on my own!Kick and Holler – Dare Dukes (Savannah, Georgeia, USA)The songs that make up Dare Dukes’ new album, Prettiest Transmitter of All, are a striking combination of incisive intelligence and sweet, doleful hooks. Looking past the shiny surfaces of American life, the singer-songwriter chronicles the everyday world, mining the margins for the eccentric characters and bizarre events that are the heart of his music."America is a crazy, scary, and fascinating landscape," Dare says. "The reality is a lot more interesting to me than what the nightly news depicts. The way I see it, it’s a place filled with eccentric characters, all on their own strange mission–some nuts, some saner than the rest of us. These missions, these people, they are what my music is about."I was chatting with Dare earlier and he was telling me that he’s off to Vietnam for 3 weeks to eat lots of delicious food! He’s also got a couple of great shows coming up in Athens, Georgia in the new year with a couple of great bands, Producto and Don Chambers + Goat, the latter of which is a Valentine’s day extravaganza, whatever that is, but Dare’s going to have to try and write a few songs for the occasion – he says his songbook is sorely lacking in love songs.www.daredukes.comwww.myspace.com/daredukesSandy – Grace Valhalla (Nancy, France)Great to hear that Grace Valhalla has a new album out on Jamendo it’s called Summer Camp. Hello !After more than a year, I publish my new album Summercamp. I’d have liked to finish it earlier, but it isn’t always easy to find time (and inspiration!) for composing. I hope those who waited after it will forgive me, and that they’ll not be too disappointed!You’ll find many analog sounds, 8bit sounds and guitars in this album. I wanted something warm, a soft music of summer; the summer is over now, but I hope this album will remind us of its memory, and extends it a little longer.I sincerely thank all those who supported me so far, leaving me messages here and there, wrote to me, donating me, encouraged me…I wish you a very good listening.Musically,Gracehttp://gracevalhalla.hautetfort.com/http://myspace.com/gracevalhallawww.jamendo.com/en/artist/grace.valhallaTerje Nordgarden called in from Bologna, in northern Italy…Path of Love (piano version) – Nordgarden (Oslo, Norway)Almost an extra track on Nordgarden’s current album, this minimal piano version of the title track just blows me away.If you have suggestions for places Terje could play, perhaps around New York next spring, let me know and I"ll pass on the word to the man himself.www.myspace.com/nordgarden
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.