Archive for the 'Soul' Category

Phillip Bracken - Everything Looks Better in Candlelight

Published
by
Olivier
on September 23, 2008
in Acoustic, Folk, Singer Songwriter, Soul and blues
. 1 Comment

Autumn has come to soon ? I’ve got a solution… a one album-trip to Australia. It’s been a while, since ‘To The Dogs or Whoever‘ blog has stopped bringing me its regular dose of Australian music, that  I didn’t receive any input from the land down-under.
A moon on an album cover ; nothing more, nothing else, I was a click away to discover the most brilliant EP this year hold so far.  Phillip Bracken is a young - at least in music, so few information is available about him on the net - a young singer from New South Wales.
Beyond the first calm acoustic tags emerging on a primary listening, this short (i’m just eagerly awaiting for a full length) but intense 5 tracks collection revealed a powerful and hypnotic songwriting.  For sure, Phillip’s brilliant and unique vocal is a major instrument in this beauiful delivering. I’m also totally seduced by the beauty of his compositions : simple - pure - and perfectly arranged.
With songs format which are mostly exceeding the standard, this album is an invitation for a peaceful break… and so residing one of its prowess : peaceful and contemplative but you’ll be surprised murmuring on ‘The Boy and the Sickle’ and ‘Ishmael’ is simply irresistible for your hands to be clapped, foot-taping later - even dancing for sure !  Mesmerizing.
If you need comparisons, the likes of Ben Harper, Nick Drake, Doug Burr or Josh Garrels (for both evocative guitars and warm voice) could be cited. But be sure, you will find none of those afore mentioned listening to Phillip Bracken ; none of those, but a highly dose of unique emotions. Soon to be yours !

For a debut, it’s a monument ! Such a major act won’t be unpunished ; my curisoty, once again, pushed me to contact Phillip for an interview : an opportunity to discover this promising talent. Enjoy his music while reading his anwsers.

 

Deadman - Phillip Bracken [6:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

Ishmael - Phillip Bracken [3:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

YCD : Hello Phillip, how’s it going down-under ?
Phillip Bracken : Really well. I’ve been living in a small coastal town for the last few months and I really like the energy here.

YCD : Before asking any further question, One is teasing my curisity : Tranquil Dwarf, what does it mean ?
Phillip Bracken : It was going to be a moniker until I decided that my own name was good enough. To abbreviate the story the name came from a t.v show. I adjusted it to give it more irony and I guess for something for me to hide behind as well.

YCD : Would you mind telling us your story about music ?
Phillip Bracken : I think we all have something we’re passionate about and that we feel a connection with. Music has always been the companion that accepts and understands all my moods. I’ve always enjoyed singing and writing as separate elements but I didn’t start taking guitar more seriously until a few years ago.

YCD : ‘Everything Looks Better in Candlelight’ is your first release. How did you finally decide to merge your songs into this dense collection and bring it to an audience ?
Phillip Bracken : I wanted something to help myself be heard, remembered after gigs but something more complete than a demo. I was introduced to an amazing musician named Peter Northcote who gave me a nudge. Initially I wanted to record more songs but Pete and a couple of others told me to be patient and just put out five. We recorded the ep in his studio.

YCD : I have played ‘The Boy and Sickle’ at least a hundred times in these last 15 days… what’s your recipe for creating such a flowing song ?
Phillip Bracken : That’s so great to hear. I’m not sure that I have a recipe or set method in the way I write. Sometimes the lyrics come first and at others it’s the music which was the scenario for this song. Finger-picking is also something that feels natural to me.

YCD : Suppose, that you have been condemned to spend a full year on an isolated island. Allowing to bring with you a single object which would you choose : a book or you guitar ?
Phillip Bracken : Tough one. Probably a book and I would create an instrument out of coconuts and banana leaves.

YCD : Is there a song you wish you had written ?
Phillip Bracken : I like the idea of going largely unnoticed and developing an underground following so something like Sugarman by Rodriguez.

YCD : If you could share a stage with any band or artist who would you choose and why ?
Phillip Bracken : Sigur Ros. I saw them play recently and they were completely absorbing as much to the eye as ear. They looked totally lost in their instruments and came across as quite humble and unassuming.

Everything looks better in candlelightYCD : Any other projects for the coming months, a first full length ?
Phillip Bracken : I’m launching my ep in November in Sydney. Other than that I want to play more gigs and improve myself musically. I’d like to do a full-length at some point but it might still be a little way a way.

Artist : Phillip Bracken
Label : unsigned
Where to buy : cdbaby.com
More appetizers : @myspace.com

 
 Deadman - Phillip Bracken [6:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Sumner Brothers - In the garage

Published
by
Geordie
on September 20, 2008
in Acoustic, Americana, Country, Folk, New Album Alert, Soul and blues
. 1 Comment

I first briefly mentioned The Sumner brothers when I wrote about The Wood brothers on this blog here. From British Columbia they have just released their first album In the garage available here which they kindly sent me last week. A band that really wear their hearts on their sleeve especially on the track both back, a song about wanting his late father back in his life but also on the track Pain where the first line “better look over what I got cause it won’t last long” makes you immediately stop and listen. It’s not all doom and gloom though as they start off the album with a banjo led cover of a Stompin Tom Connors track called Luke’s guitar then straight into Girl in the window which is a footstomping folk blues track with Bob Sumner screaming the vocals. They have you smiling and singing along one minute then break your heart the next. Like The Felice Brothers before them I get the feeling a lot of these tracks are just one take with any mistakes just left in giving the whole album a really genuine organic feel to it. Throw in another four covers, A storming version of Johnny Cash’s Folsom prison blues, a live version of Dylan’s I was young when I left home, the folk gospel Carter family song The rock where Moses stood and my personal favourite, Sleepy John Estes‘ Good place to go, now that’s the blues. Somehow you just pick up that these guys are the genuine article, no bullshit, just straight up rootsy country/folk/footstomping blues at it’s raw organic best.

R.C Joseph wrote the following about them.

“Their music is about light, though it is not afraid to explore the dark. Their music is about hope, but it does not ignore the despair. It’s a mournful Johnny Cash, a repentant Willie Nelson, a reflective Stompin Tom. It’s the power of boozy sincerity and hopped-up honesty, and that, brothers and sisters, I can get behind”

I think I can too.


 
 The Sumner Brothers - Pain [2:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Amber Rubarth - New Green Lines

Published
by
Olivier
on September 13, 2008
in Acoustic, Folk, Free Download, Pop, Singer Songwriter, Soul, Unsigned and When artist blog
. 1 Comment

Procrastination is a word of mine when dealing to write couple lines about an artist i’m really fond of. This default proves to be a guarantee : i’m only writing about artists I love - I mean not only a single song ! And this is the case with Amber Rubarth. So, I won’t postpone for a new year this short introduction. So using the copy/paste function is an helpful easy way ! Here we go :

After 3 years of sculpting wood as an apprentice at a little shop in Carson City, Amber Rubarth had a late-night conversation with her mentor who told her the most important thing he had learned in life was for a person to follow their number one passion.  Amber said something along the lines of “Thank you, I am quitting and doing music then,” and off she went, trading her chainsaw for a guitar and teaching herself to write songs.

And what a gift to the music ! I’ve bought earlier this year - better later than never -, her first full length Something New (2005) and I’m now enjoying for couple weeks her new songs joined under the name of ‘New Green Lines‘. Amber is playing a delicious mix of folk, soul and pop and the more I’m listening to her music, the better this special blending invaded me. If you’re looking for a surprising, astonishing, fresh new and brilliant music… experience her last album. I bet you’ll be quickly addicted ! As, the release of her new album has been an epic adventure  ( read the full story )… please once again, click the where to buy links  !

 
 Show Your Weakness - Amber Rubarth [4:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download


Amber Rubarth: Sun Studio Sessions “Another Perfect Sunset”

Artist : Amber Rubarth
Label : None
Where to Buy : cdbaby.com / emusic.com
More Appetizers : @myspace / @lastfm

Kreg Viesselman - The Well

Published
by
Olivier
on September 11, 2008
in Acoustic, Americana, Folk, News, On iTunes, Rock, Singer Songwriter, Soul and blues
. 2 Comments

Since the release of Ray LaMontagne first single ‘You’re the best thing‘  from his forthcoming album ‘Gossip in the Grain’,  and some early reviews ; discussions on the ‘Acre of Land‘ message board about his new style are impassioned. Maybe due to close voices, I’ve always drawn a parallel between RayLaMontagne and Kreg Viesselman ; at least in their early releases. If the first seems to enlarge his musical horizon, the second seems to keep digging the same furrow, and time is almost there for an upcoming collect of demos for his new album : as usual with this American songwriter, absolutely gorgeous !

 
 The Well (demo) - Kreg Viesselman [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’ve discovered Minnesota native Kreg Viesselman, and now Oslo resident, with the release of his 2 years-old last album : ‘The Pull’. It’s a wonderful collection of Americana tunes, balancing from blues to gospel. It’s a must have while awaiting for Kreg’s forthcoming album.

Artist : Kreg Viesselman
Label : Red Kite Records
Where to buy : Red Kite Records / cdbaby.com / itunes
More Appetizers : @myspace.com

Lucky Jim - True North

Published
by
Geordie
on September 4, 2008
in Acoustic, Artist/Band Interview, Country, Folk, New Album Alert, Pop, Singer Songwriter, Soul and Unsigned
. 4 Comments

I little while ago Olly, my fellow friend and blogging maestro sent me an email asking if i owned any Lucky Jim albums. When I replied I had pretty much everything by him he asked why I had been keeping him a secret? Well I wasn’t really but the reason I never blogged about him was because I presumed he was an extremely well known artist and probably didn’t need a little blog like ours promoting him. I don’t keep any eye on the charts but when you hear music this good it’s easy to presume that it’s already hitting a big audience. Also his song You’re lovely to me has been played on a commercial for the last couple of years now and this latest showing of it has put him back to the number one spot in the itunes folk category therefore allowing me to presume even more. However, I seem to be wrong in my presumptions, It would seem not so many people know him as I had thought. See, I live in Brighton and Lucky Jim (Gordon Grahame) was signed to Skint records (Fat boy slim ) which is a Brighton label. In fact he was the first non-dance act to be so and I guess because he was a name in Brighton I presumed he was everywhere else. I mean, don’t get me wromg, he’s not unknown but he’s not the big artist i presumed and this for me is a travesty. Sadly, and quite astonishingly, he is not signed at all right now. How can this be? Seriously, what the fuck is going on when a man this talented is not signed? One of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard in my life, certainly two of the best albums I’ve ever heard and his voice is so diverse, rather Dylanesque on the afore mentioned You’re lovely to me as well as others like Our troubles end tonight, Nick cave like on I know there’s a god from his latest album and elements of Leonard Cohen on his previous releases. There’s something about Lucky jim that you can’t quite put your finger on, like when you come across someone so talented you kind of try and work out where they get it from, do they know they are so talented? Thing is I think Lucky Jim knows he is and so he should do. I have complete faith that one day his music will break through to a much bigger audience and everyone will be able to come back and listen to his earlier work as well as whatever he will be releasing at that given time. One feeling I get when listening to this music is that he really puts his heart and soul into it, everything, especially on the albums All our troubles end tonight and All the kings horses, two albums that couldn’t be more perfect if you tried. I could randomly pick a song from either album to offer you as an mp3 and I’m sure you would love it. He has kindly sent me his new album, True North and I’m still indulging myself in it but two listens in it’s just as good as anything I’ve heard from him yet. To me it’s a real scoop to have him grant us an interview here on YCD. One day we will be able to sit back and read this when he’s playing packed out stadiums. I can’t tell you enough how much I love his music and how talented I think he is. I think a lot of people are talented, I think Lucky Jim is a genius, simple as that. Sorry it’s taken me this long to point you in his direction (I’m sure I mentioned him on the Ray board ages ago) but now I have I’m positive you will come to the same conclusions as I. Enjoy.

Lucky Jim - Oh my love

05- Lucky Jim - lesbia

11-Lucky Jim - ode to blue


YCD -  Hello Gordon, how’s it going?

LJ - Hiya,  It’s going fine , stick it in a pot , stir it around , see what happens

YCD - Ok, might as well ask you now, promoting anything right now or recently released anything?

LJ - I just put out a new album called True North , it’s the fourth Lucky Jim album and the first i done entirely by myself.

When Lucky Jim came out I released Our Troubles End Tonight which was planned and thought out then Let It Come which wasn’t then All the Kings Horses which was and now I’m being spontaneous again . Don’t let this put you off - the spontaneous ones are the most original.

I think the best songs on it are I Know There Is A God and El D’Orado - I wrote I Know… as it was recorded and didn’t give it any thought but El D’Orado was a considered effort and - I think - really gets to the heart of my deeply flawed personality

YCD - I see you made number 1 on the iTunes folk list. Must be chuffed are you?

LJ - Yeah . That is nice - it’s not the first time - because of the advert my track is on . As soon as I get heavy rotation on telly I go up the chart . Of course the down side is hardly anybody actually knows who the song is sung by and I hear David Gates is very happy.

YCD -  I also see you are currently not signed, I find this astonishing considering that I think you one of the most musicians I’ve heard, how frustrating is it for you and are you hoping this changes soon?

LJ - Tell me about it. I have had about four deals now so I wouldn’t say I’ve given up … but I do think it is a strange world we live in where instead of heaping the praise on Warhol we heap it on the soup cans .

Artists do change the world - not for the better - always for the worst.

And that is because they reveal a little more each time and the clever dicks bottle it and re-sell and re-sell and oh fuck I’ve lost my thread…

YCD - What are the biggest obstacles you feel an artist like yourself faces today?

LJ - Ego and the desire for wealth - there’s nothing funny here , it is simply true I am of course focusing on the word - Today -

Because it is a new phenomenon that , an artist , sees success as a very real possibility - and further more I mean artist in the broadest possible sense. And I also would like to add that I am talking about obstacles to the quality of the work…

YCD - What’s your guilty pleasure?

LJ - Smallville - totally addicted

YCD - What’s your best musical experience so far and why?

LJ - I played a gig with an Israeli musician called Aviv Geffen in Tel Aviv - he was very much a fan and organised a string section for me and brought me on halfway through his set to introduce me and have me play four or five of my songs

He outsells U2 in Israel.

I was interrogated for three hours by airport security when I was leaving the country - I tried not to let it spoil the experience

YCD - Who’s currently rocking your turntable?

LJ - I just bought some Nico , some Steve Earl and some Santana?! but I have been listening mostly to Songs For Silverman by Ben Folds which for me is very up - to - date .

YCD - What band/artist would you most like to play with?

LJ - Any artist with any sense would have the same answer as me - and that is The Stones or Bowie . I would love to do a rock and roll album with Angus Young on guitar . This is a serious ambition - I have the songs - I just don’t have Angus .

YCD - What are your hopes and fears for you in the future, musically?

LJ - That I don’t have enough time to Record my songs - when I say Record I mean that I in fact have done a hell of a lot of writing but I reckon recording is the hardest bit - let’s face it that is how we’re judged - not on the song - but on how it sounds .

I realised this when I was sat in a trendy bar years ago getting into Lenny Kravitz Mamma Said album - It sounded great but

I’d Walk Through Fire

Stand In the Rain

Go To Hell And Back

In A Plane

Ain’t to clever

If you’re gonna go to hell and back for a woman - don’t do it in a plane - it proves nothing - do it on your knees

YCD - What did you think the last time you looked in the mirror?

LJ - “Yes It’s True - How’s Your Blue Eyed Boy Mister Death - Ah The Lines Of Age - Have You Come For Me - How’s The Enemy? - Is There Time? - ” stuff like that

YCD -  I remember a while back reading your MySpace blog when you were having difficulties with a girlfriend and you stayed in the Abbey hotel for a while. I live in Brighton and know what that hotel is like, sounds like times were pretty rough back then. Better now?

LJ - Yeah . That was a lower point . Highly recommended for those of you who think going without breakfast is a hardship . Then again those of you whom have lost limbs , family members etc may wonder the great hardship in living in a Hotel

YCD -  And finally, are you working on anything at the moment? Tours, new albums etc?

LJ - I am recording 2 albums

One is a double called The Lovers

I have been sitting on it for Ten years and it is my Magnum Opus - I am releasing it for posterity .

Also I am recording another throwaway album ie spontaneous which you can hear demos from on www.myspace.com/luckyjimmusic

Many thanks for the interview and we here at you crazy dreamers wish you all the best for the future.

 
 Lucky Jim - Oh my love [4:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Lucky Jim - Lesbia [6:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Lucky Jim - Ode to blue [6:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Olle Nyman - Behind the Clouds

Published
by
Trini
on August 27, 2008
in Folk, Indie, On Youtube, Singer Songwriter and Soul
. 7 Comments

I’m in love.

Let me introduce you to the beautiful Olle Nyman. Olly, fellow blogger not to be confused with Olle, has been on a roll lately. He introduced me to Olle Nyman recently and already I can’t stop listening to this album. I love the soul feel this album has. It seems to be the direction most singer song writers are taking as of late. Both Amos Lee and now Ray LaMontagne with the release of his new album both have a more soul sound.

I love this little excerpt from his myspace page , Olle has a “timeless” sound, one that I can certainly relate to. Love, loss, pain, grief, to simply state it … life. I really love this song “Take A Breath” - there are times I catch myself not breathing and I often have to remind myself to slow down. Great song, hope you enjoy this album as much as I do.

Nowadays words like timeless and sincere are looked upon as tired clichés and people tend to use them only in an ironic context. But you know what else is timeless? Sorrow, grief, pain, loneliness. And all their antidotes. Olle Nyman brings the antidote. He does Timeless like you and I do our daily chores, seemingly without any effort at all, when actually there is hard work behind it all. It’s the getting up, the holding back of tears, the finding of solace. Not to mention all the rest: the dishes, the cleaning and the cooking, the paying of bills and the everlasting getting-by. And here is where art and real life meets. We need help, we need company. Olle Nyman is the guy. Music becomes flesh. He provides the soul, he gets us by. It’s rare but he reminds us. We’re all in this together. It’s beautiful, it really is.

Where to buy : CD Baby
On Last FM

 
 Olle Nyman - Take A Breath [3:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Benyaro

Published
by
Olivier
on August 26, 2008
in Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Rock, Singer Songwriter and Soul
. 1 Comment

I’ve still got those aunts in my feet that requiring me to find something else than my alt-country / chamber pop /pseudo-blues stuff. So I won’t bother you, I’ll do it short… but if you want to move with me, I’ve just find some delicate tracks that can match our nights…

Influenced by Wilson Pickett, Brooklyn-based acoustic soul/folk/rock Benyaro leads by the great voice of Ben Musser released a 9 tracks collection last year that requires my mood attention. Comparisons have been drawn with Ray LaMontagne (hehe), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (hehehe) ! And they’ve also had the opportunity to supported the legendary Malcolm Holcombe (!!!).

Here’re the occasion to feel the ryhtm of soul and enjoy at the same time the power of acoustic music.

 
 Bullet-Like Belief - Benyaro [3:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Humble Child - Benyaro [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Artists : Benyaro
Label : Mohinga Music
Where to buy : cdbaby.com / itunes
More Appetizers : myspace.com or check their EPK @ sonicbids