The Sisters With Voices (aka SWV) are back to bring their great sound to the new decade. Yes, the have been gone for a while, but the voices behind “So Weak” and “Right Here” are ready to take on a different market. The buzz single is called “Co-Sign.” Most bands of the same ilk, like En Vogue and TLC, failed to deliver, but let’s hope they will crack the market this time. The album’s called I Miss Us and its slated for an April 10th release!
Just when we episodically forgot about the lovely Joan Osborne, we are sent a link to some great news. The “One Of Us” singer is ready to give the world more music and more covers, which is what she is well-known for. This time her new album Bring It On Home, is a collection of blues classics. The first single is now out on iTunes. It’s called “Shake Your Hips.” Let’s hope it packs the punch!
Andrea Simms-Karp is an indie roots powerhouse, drawing on folk, pop and classical vibes to create a sound both fresh and familiar. The Ottawa native grew up taking classical voice lessons, singing in choirs, and getting steeped in folk music. She’s been stunning local audiences with her clear voice and unique musical style in live shows for over a decade.
In 2004, the Ottawa Folk Festival recognized her talent by awarding her the Beth Ferguson Award for songwriting. With her debut album Sleeper, however, she garnered national attention.
Powering through album charts at campus and community radio stations, Simms-Karp then won the hearts of people across the country with an appearance on Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café in September 2009.
Her upcoming album Hibernation Nation promises to deliver more of what people love. Soaring harmonies, a sweet banjo sound, and finely-tuned storytelling make this an album to anticipate. As the title intimates, it’s an album for people holed up, watching fierce winter weather from inside. It’s an album borne of wind and snow, of a deep appreciation for the stillness that comes with frigid weather.
The dance group that got you the highly infectious, yet absurdly-overplayed “We No Speak Americano” are back with another track that slightly missed the summer. To ensure its success, the band got dance-dive extraordinaire Crystal Waters to provide vocals on the track. Click below to listen to it.
When it comes to pop, Robyn is at the forefront of the times. Too bad she is not getting as much exposure as the USA/UK artists, but she is stellar at what she does and does it all by herself. This is a monumental track and it should do well given the right airplay.
Everyone favorite rock band R.E.M. have announced today that they have split up after 21 years together. The band has lost a member in the middle of their height but continued on to release several album. So, it comes as surprise that the band has finally called it a day! The announcement comes a couple of weeks before the release of their new greatest hits album, which makes you wonder. It’s the end of R.E.M. as we know them!
Click below to read the full official message on REM’s website!
Velveteen goodness.
The chocolate majesty.
Miss Jill Scott is back!
If anyone remembers the Vengaboys, they will know how catchy their cheesy pop songs were. In fact, the might be shrugged off as an advent of careless pop with Eurotrash arrangement, but not many bands can say they came up with catchier hooks than this group. We don’t know if they have enough to fill a whole disc, and we are guessing there will be many remixes and half-hits of this one. But, their big hits are still as infectious as they were before. Now, the cover art, that’s a different story. 1/10.
We are currently on a sbinge to find great female singer /songwriters from the olden days. We are very familiar with some, yet in comepletely unaware of others like Joan Baez, who we have been sleeping to everyday. If you know of any female vocalists from the 60s, 70s or 80s tell us. We doubt we will find many that we don’t know of, but it’s always great to explore old catalogues of great artists.
Oh Land’s trying to shake up the recording academy. The Singer/songwriter recently participated in an installment of 5 Questions With… at The Recording Academy New York Chapter office. Following the interview, Oh Land performed an intimate set featuring songs from her self-titled debut album, including “Wolf & I,” “White Nights,” “Rainbow,” and “We Turn It Up.”
Amina Bryant got us from first listen. Not only because her new single sounds like one of Rihanna’s best moments, but also because she has the voice and musical ear to back it up. We hope to hear from her a lot this year. Having recently leapt into the BBC 1Xtra Playlist, exciting new singer/songwriter Amina Bryant is set to release her self-penned debut single ‘Jimmy’ on 7th March 2011.Working with her long time producer WhiZz K!D, ‘Jimmy’ is an ode to Motown’s Martha and the Vandellas 1967 hit ‘Jimmy Mack’. An undoubtedly infectious pop delight, on ‘Jimmy’, Amina delivers a punchy, while sweetly melodious ultimatum to a lackluster lover.
South London born Amina Bryant has been writing and recording from a tender age, coming from a musical family of Jamaican origin, her influences stretch from Motown and Reggae to R ’n’B and Pop. Working as a completely independent artist, Amina spent her teens finding her musical footings, with short spells in emerging girl groups, before deciding to go it alone and hone her craft. A committed songwriter and hands on recording artist Amina’s passion for music is evident in all her endeavors, from popular YouTube covers of current artists, through to the precision of her original song compositions.. Her playful melody driven music, coupled with candid, relatable lyrics, give Amina a universally appealing sound.
This is a shaky shaky song and the message is cute. No wonder it’s the next single off Keren Ann’s haunting 101.
Robyn did Live Lounge recently and covered Coldplay’s “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.” Dare we say it sounds better than the original? Because it does. Click below to listen to it.
Down To The Bone’s groove gets harder, funkier and juicier. Their music encompasses all that is funky, soulful and jazzy. As founder and producer of the band, Stuart Wade states that ‘it’s all about the groove….that is what gets people dancing, their toes tapping and their heads nodding.’
‘Wade formed the band several years ago, where previous musical and business projects such as ‘Internal Bass Records’ and ‘Think Twice‘ had given him the necessary experience to reach his musical goals. In 2001 Wade decided to go solo with the band and split from Internal Bass Records. With eight Down To The Bone Albums receiving critical acclaim and chart topping success in the US contemporary Jazz Billboard charts, and three compilation Jazz/Funk albums, he hasn’t looked back.
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Monica is ready to bask in the glory of Still Standing further but releasing another album this year tentatively titled New Life. The Grammy-nominated singer has worked with Missy Elliott and Polow for the new album. She explained: “My family and I are doing some really fun things this summer. My husband and I have been experiencing some really great things. We’ve only been married 6 months. Having someone to share everything with has been so much fun and so refreshing and so uplifting for me. Sometimes, being in the music industry for as long as I have can feel like the weight of the world. It’s lifted so much off me to have someone to genuinely love.”
Fourth album underway, Vanessa Carlton is now independent and she will do whatever music she wants to and you can tell this festival-morning music and her signature piano playing is doing here. We want to hear more.
In true May compilation fashion, we have opted for a more organic, laid-back folk-tinged feel on this one. This ones for the rest before the summer hoopla. It’s the kind of music we like to listen to on our in days. There undiscovered gems in there, oldies and some tracks that will knock you off your feet, lofties. This is 100% percent organic. Xylemony comes from the merger of “Xylem” and “Testimony” with context to personal growth and self-nurture, in case you didn’t know.
