Category: good to hear

Orpheus in the Underworld
Don Shirley 
This recording stands for the classical talent of the man whose story inspired Green Book, «piano jazz legend» Don Shirley. In the Greek myth, Orpheus marries Eurydice who dies of a snake bite on her wedding night. Orpheus follows her to the netherworld to win her back, and because he is a great musician (Orphic harp), Persephone & Hades, rulers over the realm of the dead, relent and let her go, provided Orpheus does not look back. In the movie, Don Shirley visits the hell of the segregated Deep South and escapes by the skin of his teeth. Unlike Orpheus, he does not look back, and Eurydice stands for his own integrity. The movie has provoked criticism from Don Shirley’s family, complaining that is it is a white man’s version of an essentially black story. However that may be, Shirley’s musical talent is not diminished, and it is a film full of love and laughter. (sgs)
Dixie Ragtime, 1956

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By The Way, I Forgive You
Brandi Carlile
This is the sixth studio album by folk singer-songwriter and producer Brandi Carlile, born 1981, in Ravensdale, Washington, a small town not far from Seattle. She started singing country songs on stage when she was eight years old, and her music reaches across a wide range of styles, including pop, blues and R&B. It won a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album 2019 and highlights Brandi’s distinctive voice. She dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music, teaching herself piano and guitar. About her songs, she says: «I stand firm behind the belief that, for me, songwriting isn’t something that I do or command, it happens to me» and «No matter what I do, I just can’t get the country and western out of my voice». She has been an advocate for causes ranging from spreading awareness for health issues to empowerment of women. (Wikipedia)
Columbia Records, February 2018

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Legends & Tales of Dolphins & Whales
The Sounding: Delphic
The Sounding are Dave Grier (Engineer, Producer, DJ), Kevin Lloyd (Producer, DJ), Ian Middleton (Producer, DJ), Max Middleton (Music Director, Keyboards) and Napier Marten (Producer, Creator), a group of friends who wish to share the stories of man’s long and intimate relationship with aquatic mammals. Their mutual admiration, love and commitments towards cetaceans is reflected is the musical rendition of myths, legends and stories old and new about whales, dolphins and porpoises from all over the world. Creation and other stories of many ancient peoples, such as the Dogon in Mali or the ancient Greeks, speak of cetaceans as human ancestors, saviours of mariners and swimmers, of their amazing sensuality and playfulness, and their surprising friendship for us. They stand for «our most potent archetypical connection with Nature, our Creator». (Eco Hustler)
Miracle Meditation Music, February 2019

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Data Mirage Tangram
The Young Gods: Figure sans nom
The Swiss group Young Gods has finally released a new album. Under lead singer Franz Treichler’s wings, huge, breathtaking panoramas unfurl like beautiful dreamscapes on the edge of sleep. Eight years without a studio album! The gods may have eternity on their side but it was about time they followed up on Everybody Knows and the period of artistic confusion – in Treichler’s own words – that followed Al Comet’s departure and his replacement with the original god, Cesare Pizzi. Rock and electro avant-gardists are not known for their backward-looking attitude. Still, thirty years of uninterrupted activity, celebrated with the publication of an 800 page book in 2017, could only strengthen the gods’ will to write a new chapter to their already impressive history. (Rough Trade)
Two Gentlemen, February 2019

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Hüh
Stephan Eicher & Trakorkestar
Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer. The son of a French mother and Yenishe (Swiss gypsy) father, his songs are sung in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss German, and Rumansh. Sometimes he even uses different languages in the same piece. Next to his success in Switzerland, mostly with songs sung in our Swiss dialect, he is a superstar in France, where his audiences touchingly even sing along his Swiss texts. Here he pairs up with the Swiss fanfare and burlesque Trakorkestar. The songs on his latest album are not new but Trakorkestar gives them a completely new twist as well as a Balkan type sound. Stephan is know for being easily bored, and he reinvents himself every few years. Here we have the result of his latest transformation. (sgs)
Universal Music, February 2019

istant Light
Massive Hang featuring Victoria Grebecz and Morgan Davenport
One more time! The founding members of Hang Massive are Danny Cudd and Markus Offbeat, followers of the Buddhist movement Balanced View. They met on the shores of Goa, where for many years they passed the winter months enjoying the enlivening and creative vibe flourishing there each season. From India they journeyed back to England, where they began living and playing music together in the historic town of Bath. Despite having been on the scene for many years, Hang Massive promotes a fresh and warm sound, unfettered by commercial demands, and here accompanied by the alluring voice of Victoria Grebrecz.
Hang Music, January 2016

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Down the Road Wherever
Mark Knopfler
Created in his own studio in West London, Down the Road Wherever is Mark Knopfler’s ninth solo album. His mellow, laid-back sound reveals a melancholy musician singing «unhurriedly elegant (…) songs inspired by a wide range of subjects», as the press release states. It speaks of men on the drift. «At this point in his career, Knopfler tends to be most affecting in the former role, as the sensitive English balladeer with a knack for writing about the haunting, pervasive effects of memory and remembrance. Indeed, as he pushes 70, Knopfler has become newly reflective, from the personalised history of the Celtic-lilted One Song At A Time to the wistfully nostalgic highlight Good on You Son». (Rolling Stone) Great guitar solos!
Grove Records, November 2018

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Que Volà?
Calle Luz
«Que Vola? (What’s up?) is a group composed of three Cuban percussionists and a French jazz septet. It is a marriage between the youthful energy and virtuosity of both nations, underpinned by spiritual and ritualistic afro-cuban rhythms.When the trombonist Fidel Fourneyron visited the country that inspired his first name in 2012, he wasn’t sure what he would find. After meeting three young percussionists (Adonis Panter Calderon, Barbaro Crespo Richard, Ramon Tamayo Martinez), he returned to France inspired to delve deeper into the spiritual heritage of afro-cuban music. An idea gripped him: what if the power of ancient ritual were to be wrapped in the poetry of John Coltrane?» (Jazz World)
No Format, November 2018

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Un autre blanc
Salif Keita, featuring Angélique Kidjo, Alpha Blondy and others
This is the – alleged – swan song of one of the greatest voices in African music. It belongs to a man born, in the late fifties, in the village of Djoliba in the province of Mandé, in Mali. As a person with albinism, «a white man with the deep soul of Black Africa», he had to leave his homeland to escape from a society that was denying him his full rights as a human being. A prodigal son, he came back triumphant, having performed around the world, «perching», like he says «on the bird of Knowledge, Lony, where the rocks thrown by mean people cannot reach you». His latest album is designed for a western audience and more commercial then his other works. But Keito’s voice never disappoints: it carries us to the African dreamscape of our hearts and minds. (sgs)
Naiv, Dezember 2018

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Love and Shadow
Ean Golden featuring Jen Siah, Tulsi Bagnoli, Yemanjo, Layla El Khadri, JJ Jeffries, Daniel Miller and Richard Haughten
This is the first ecstatic dance album Ean and friends give us in over fifteen years. It starts with a dirge accompanied by throat singing, leads us down a lane where drums beckon, and the rhythm subtly picks up. «Love and Shadow is a complete journey of original music spanning several genres, styles and moods, designed to evoke specific feelings and movements felt on an ecstatic dance floor. His album was made for dancing, to bring people into their inner journey». (Evensi) Ean Golden is a  progressive performance DJ who has played a major role in the development of digital dj-ing throughout the world
Golden Apple, January 2019

Distant Light
The Hollies
«The Hollies continued to tread water as the early ’70s progressed. Distant Light offered nothing particularly new or unexpected, but the harmonies and songwriting remained at a high enough standard to refute any accusations of decline. Too pop for the album-oriented audience, and not light and frothy enough for the pop market, it would have been totally overlooked if not for the surprise success of the Creedence Clearwater Revival soundalike Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress. Released in the States almost as an afterthought, it became (deservedly) their biggest American hit, reaching number two. Its success inspired the return of Allan Clarke to the fold, after he had left the group to briefly pursue a solo career.» (Richie Unterberger)
Epic, 1972

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Distant Light
Violin Concerto by Peteris Vasks
Marc Bouchkov, violin, directed by Michael Guttman, Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra 
In a single-movement canvas of nearly forty minutes’ duration, Latvian composer Peteris Vasks (1946) traverses motions from bare-faced rage and serene contemplation to icy despair, achieving a vast, uneasy quietude at the close (‘a sense of light-filled sorrow,’ in the composer’s words). Stylistic echoes are plentiful: Shostakovich, Kancheli, Górecki and Pärt; folk-music, birdsong and hymnody are further ingredients in this approachable cocktail set to repeat the popular and critical success of Voices, its hugely effective 1991 predecessor for string orchestra. Here, Belgian violinist Marc Bouchov (shown here) plays the 1865 «Cheremetoff» J.B Vuillaume, on generous loan from Brigitte Feldtmann in Hamburg. (Grammophon)
GJHS Music, 2018

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Distant Light
Charles Fenckler
Born in Le Mans, Charles André aka Charles Fenckler is a young French producer and the latest artist to join the well-known Scottish Soma techno and house label. «Passionate about electronic music from a young age, he has matured into a full-fledged producer composer of an interesting style of Techno gliding between deep and melodic dub infused Techno, integrating influences stretching between Detroit and Berlin, and drawing inspiration from such icons as Juan Atkins, Dereck May and Shed.» (Resident Advisor)
Soma Records, 2018

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Distant Light
Psychedelic Sun’s
The album Distant Light is a studio recording in the Psychedelic/Space Rock/Progressive Rock tradition. The Finnish one-man band Psychedelic Sun’s was founded by Alex Hahn in Tampere, in 2015. He likes to experiment with varying instruments as well as singing. The songs are recorded at his home studio in one take to make them sound more like live music. This is the fourth album of the solo musician, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd or Santana.
Aumega Project, 2018

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Distant Light
Naibu 
This is the second track on Manoevres, the new album of the soulful French drum & base performer and producer Robin Leclair, better know by his artist name, Naibu. Having grown up in the suburbs of Paris, Naibu started his journey through music as a child who loved The Beatles. Later he fell in love with sampled music, and abstract hiphop in particular. He spent many hours listening to other people’s music before drum n base came to him, around 2000. Once he was introduced to a sequencer by a friend, there was no turning back. Robin Leclair is one of the most important figures in this field, whose work distinguishes itself by a scarcity of flourish and a lyric romanticism that is usually missing in the drum n base community
Cold dimensions, 2018

Ritmos del Sur
El Búho – Mix – Great Northern Forests Shambala Mixtape
Sounds of the rain forest, flutes, and melodious xylophone beats alternate to make for relaxing and inspiring tapestry with a touch of drum ’n base. More than 100 minutes of Andean dance & trance music, subtle and lovely.
Club rhythms, July 2018

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Duduk Meditation – Memories of Caucasus (Armenian Flute)
Mediative music of the first order with the full sound of the duduk flute adding local color and sentiment. «Traditional Armenian folk music as well as Armenian church music is not based on the European tonal system but on a system of tetrachords. The last note of one tetrachord also serves as the first note of the next tetrachord – which makes a lot of Armenian folk music more or less based on a theoretically endless scale. The duduk is an ancient double-reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood.» (Wikipidia) It sounds somewhat like a double horn. The earliest instruments similar to the duduk’s present form are made of bone or entirely of cane. Famous dudk players are Armen Grigoryan, Levon Minassian, Djivan Gasparyan or Arsen Petrosyan
Greenman Valley, September 2018

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Aterciopelados – Dúo
Aterciopelados (The Velvety Ones) is made up of Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, and one of the first Columbian bands to gain international success. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions.  Andrea, born 1965, is the lead singer and guitarrist of the group (and a ceramicist): «It’s possible to chart the development of Latin Alternative music by following the career of Andrea Echeverri.» (Felix Contreras) Héctor Buitrago came from a hard core rock band and played in Bogota’s sole rock venue where Andrea had been drawn by tips from art school friends. Their musical partnership is hugely succesful, and both artists have also produced solo albums.
National records, November 2018

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The HU – Yuve Yuve Yu (How Strange)
This state of the art video by the folk rock band HU shows the vast expanse of the Mongolian landscape and is a testomony to band’s love of their country, as ist he Mongolian thoat singing this song is intersperced with. As so often in Mongolian music, horses are also present, and you can hear them in the beat. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information about the band and its charismatic lead singer but Yuve Yuve Yu is definitely an exotic earworm!

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YOLLO
Matterhorn Project
Featuring singing cows and tingling bells, yodeling and alpine horns, all supported by an infectious Eighties disco-beat and a slightly spaced-out sense of humour, MUH! by Matterhorn Project is unique in pop history. The track stormed the Swiss and international charts in 1985 and got known and loved for its sense of comedy and tongue-in-cheek citing of Swiss clichés. MUH! is also known as the «moo song» in South Africa, Japan and other parts of the world and the French call it «meuh». In the same year musicians PJ & the late Stella Wassermann produced another album called Matterhorn Project, and it made the charts in Switzerland too and contained another top ten hit called Yo-Lollo-Diuh, the first yodeling disco track ever. The link leads to the remix.
PJ Wassermann, November 2018

Dreams
Gábor Szabó 
Gábor István Szabó (1936 – 1982) was a Hungarian American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock and Gypsy music. After attending the Berklee College of Music, Szabó became a member of a quintet that was led by Chico Hamilton and included Charles Lloyd, playing what has been described as chamber jazz. Szabó was influenced by the rock music of the 1960s, particularly the use of feedback. The song “Gypsy Queen” from Szabó’s debut solo album Spellbinder became a hit for rock guitarist Carlos Santana. During the late 1960s, Szabó started the label Skye Records with Gary McFarland and Cal Tjader. He continued being drawn to more popular music in the 1970s and regularly performed in California, combining elements of Gypsy and Indian music with jazz, returning regularly to Hungary to perform. It was there that he died just short of his 46th birthday. (Wikipedia)
Skye Records, 1968

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Warzone
Yoko Ono
85-year-old Yoko is always radical. Then there is that voice of hers, as Japanese as it is haunting. Yoko is always courageous, an artist who acted things out when nobody knew what a performance was, who conceives herself and everything she does as a total work of art, with a consequence only few can afford, let alone live. When Yoko Ono married John Lennon, it was fine by me. In Toronto, she spent a week in bed with my favorite Beatle at Rochedale College, where I also happened to live. With Klaus Voormann and the Plastic Ono Band, at the famous Rock & Roll Revival, she performed the entire act screaming in a bag. I thought it was groovy. The rest is history. Here we are dealing with a fabulous late work. Bravo! (sgs)
Sony Music, Juli 2018

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Wanderer – Stay
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall (1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall’s first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Wanderer is her tenth studio album. She says: «The course my life has taken in this journey – going from town to town, with my guitar, telling my tale; with reverence to the people who did this generations before me, folk singers, blues singers, and everything in between. They were all wanderers, and I am lucky to be among them». Marshall broke with cycles of substance abuse and stage fright in 2012 and has reinvented herself many times.
Domino Records, October 2018

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La Fenice (trailer + other pieces)
Keith Jarrett
This double album, long anticipated, presents Keith Jarrett’s concert at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, from July 2006. La Fenice (the phoenix) finds him channeling the flow of inspiration into a suite of eight spontaneously created pieces referencing everything from the blues to atonality. From the first flurry of notes, it is a consistently captivating journey. Between Part
VI and Part VII, Jarrett surprisingly but very touchingly segues into «The Sun Whose Rays», from Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera The Mikado. Encores are the traditional tune «My Wild Irish Rose», previously recorded by Jarrett on The
Melody At Night With You, the timeless standard Stella By Starlight. The concert ends with a tender version of Keith’s tune «Blossom».
ECM, October 2018

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The Gypsy Fairy Queen
Marianne Faithfull
Since her latest record, Negative Capability, featuring Nick Cage, will only be released on November 2nd, here is the lead single. Faithfull has promised that her twenty-first album, the most honest to date, will have a «folky» feel. «Marianne has long been unsurpassed when it comes to reinterpreting other people’s songs, gifted in making them her own as she digs into the words to grip the composition’s heart, then provides her own unique spin by injecting every syllable with clearly enunciated but a gut level emotional response. Even if she wasn’t yet aware of it, this process started with As Tears Go By as she plugged into its character looking back at her life. The album emphasises her unique place as a force of nature in the beating heart of modern music». (Total Entertainment)
Panta Rei, September & November 2018

European Heartbreak
Amber Arcades
Born on 15 December 1988 as Annelotte de Graaf, the Dutch singer-songwriter from Utrecht holds a master’s degree in law and worked as an assistant for the war crimes tribunal at the United Nations. Her music career began when she recorded an album in New York City, funded by money she had saved since her teenage years, and attracted the attention of Heavenly Recordings, leading to her début album, Fading Lines, in June 2016. European Heartbreak is her second. About its first track, Simple Song, Amber says: «This music video forms part 2 of a trilogy which tells a modern European (love) story, touching on various thoughts and feelings that inspired my new record. Using the medium of film to tell this story ties it to one of the central ideas of the record, which is the essential nature of storytelling in understanding our lives».
Heavenly Recordings, April 2018

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Elephants on Acid
Cypress Hill
The first track of the first new release of Cypress Hill after nine years, and their ninth album, was filmed in Cairo and displays an oriental touch but every track on this far out „hallucinogenic“ album is different and features unexpected visual ideas and effects performed on a great variety of instruments. «Full of sitars, guitars, organs, Nuggets-rhythms and vinyl crackle, Elephants, is a bad trip of 1967-72 imagery; a hip-hop blunt rolled on vintage rock’s gatefold vinyl sleeves. Muggs says there’s only one sample on the record – courtesy of Japanese smooth jazz group Hiroshima – and the rest was played by musicians and the producer himself». (Rolling Stone) As good and as humorous as ever.
BMG, August 2018

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An American Treasure (4 CD Box Set) – Keep a Little Soul
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
After Tom Petty’s death, about a year ago, his wife and daughter and his bandmates, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, discovered a wealth of unreleased material in Petty’s archives, mostly from concerts. We are presented with a posthumous Best Of of the unassuming and prolific rock musician. Born in Florida in 1950, Thomas Earl Petty was a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record-producer and actor. Best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, he was also a founding member of the supergroup The Travelling Wilburys featuring himself, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra. This track shows us a mischievous Petty, on stage in the seventies.
Reprise Records, Juli 2018

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Selection
Frédéric D. Oberland
Born on 18 August 1978, the French musician, photographer, artist, multi-instrumentalist and experimenter tackles every instrument that he comes across with the same passion (fender rhodes, harmonium, banjo, found objects, toy instruments, saxophone, theremin, pantophone, computer music). As a composer and musician he has collaborated with a wide range of talent. Since 2009, much of his time has been devoted to a project entitled FareWell Poetry, a collective comprised of Parisian musicians and the poet/filmmaker Jayne Amara Ross. Attracting attention from their first live performance, this experimental film / poetry / music related project has since performed in film festivals, churches, concert halls and other experimental acoustic spaces, inviting a wide-range of musicians to join them.
VoxVox 2015

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Henry Dutilleux – Symphonie No. 1
Orchestre national de Lille with Jean-Claude Casadeus
First recorded by the National Orchestra of the city of Lilly, in 1977, it was one of the first orchestrations in a series of French and other orchestras to render this wonderful modern classical composition by Henry Dutilleux, composed in 1951 for 85 instrumentalists. Dutilleux (1916-2013) came from a family that produced several artists and scientists. Mainly active in the second half of the twentieth century (between Messiaen and Boulez), he worked as Head of Music Production for Radio France from 1945 to 1963 and out of his studio on the Île St.Louis in Paris. Among his works we find sonatas, chamber and piano music, vocal compositions, music for ballet and theatre or film scores. He also arranged other people’s music. Dutilleux’ 1st symphony is about half an hour long and written in four movements: 1. Passacaglia; 2. Scherzo molto vivace; 3. Intermezzo; 4 Finale con variazioni.
Naxos Classics, 1977

Enta Omri (You are My Life)
Umm Kulthum
Born as Fatima Ibrāhīm as-Sayyid al-Biltāǧī on an uncertain date (December 31, 1898 or May 4, 1904 – February 3, 1975) in a small village in the Nile Delta, Umm Kulthum was an internationally renowned Egyptian singer, songwriter and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s She equalled Aretha Frankling or Ella Fitzgerald not only in popularity but also in the range of her voice as well as in her emotionally expressive way of singing. The ‚Star of the Orient’ (Kawkab El Sharq) was an icon far beyond her native Egypt. Here we hear her accompanied by a classical Arabic orchestra comprising traditional as well as modern western instruments. Long introductions are habitual.
ca. 1965

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Sardanapalo by Frantz Listz
How Liszt’s Lost Opera was Rescued
Based upon a narrative originally written by Lord Byron, as well as a painting by Delacroix, and another unexpected recent discovery in music after John Coltrane’s lost recording turned up (introduced in the August issue of our goodnews), Sardanapalo, a lost Opera by the mature Frantz Listz, transports the theme of war and peace to ancient Assyria, where the people are conspiring to overthrow the King. We don’t know why Liszt – far better known as a virtuoso pianist and symphonic poem composer whose celebrity status in Europe at the time led to the coining of the term Listzomania – failed to complete his only, wildly romantic opera.
Cambridge University, June 2018

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Top 100 Brand New Country Songs and Hits
Great sound, crystal clear, accompanied by strong, melodious and convicing voices. We hear Scotty McCreery, who won the tenth season of American Idol, in May 2011, Keith Urban, an Australian with a strong career in the US these days, Jack Owen, from Florida, Clay Walker, from Texas and many more. They are all excellent and play the entire gamut of what I like in country music. But where are the ladies, Kayla Heeney? Does she know? It’s her compilation. 120 songs and not one woman’s voice! Or am I wrong?
Vevo & others, June 2018

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Indie/Pop/Folk Compilation
Alex Rainbird is a one-man-industry – recently joined by his girlfriend. He started the Alex Rainbird Music youtube channel in the 2011 as a hobby while still in school. The channel currently receives around four million video views per months, deservedly so, I’d like to add. The sound promoted by alex is upbeat, varied and of high artistic quality. Even if you don’t like each and every track, you are going to find sounds that agree with you, and you will be introduced to music you might not have found by yourself – just like me, of course. There is a lot to chose from here.
www.alexrainbirdmusic.com,  September 2018

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Collapse
Aphex Twin
Richard P. James is always good for s surprise – this time the hard and fast beats making up the core of this upcoming new production, meaning that the middle section of this track is extraordinary, the rest reminding us that we are listeining to Aphex Twin’s indiosycratic style of ambient music. It’s alter ego, Richard David James, was born in Ireland but grew up in the English countryside. He began publishing music at age 12, inspried by a prize he won the year before for a «composition», of which he says that was just diddling around, As meticoulous as always, Aphex Twin’s Collapse EP will be released digitally as well as on CD, cassette, vinyl, and a limited edition LP in a Procédé Heliophore silver foil sleeve.
Warp, September 2018

The Prodigal Son
Ry Cooder
«In a very real sense then, The Prodigal Son lives up to its title, a return to his earliest archival sounds». (Lee Zimmerman) Whether playing folk rock with Taj Mahal in the sixties in the Rising Sons, as a member of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band on Safe As Milk, recording with Mali’s Ali Farka Touré, working with the Chieftains or gathering Cuban musicians to celebrate the island’s music as the Buena Vista Social Club, Cooder has showered our ears with unusual and delectable vibrations. The Prodigal Son takes him back to the beginning when he recorded old blues, gospel, folk, and swing tunes reflecting his musical past as an example of the historical present. Though not obviously so at first, Ry Cooder continues on the road of political involvement by inciting us to fight for justice while proving once more that there is no better rhythm guitarist.
Fantasy, May 2018

Both Directions at Once
John Coltrane
How lucky we are to be gifted with a full new album by the giant of jazz, based on recordings made at Rudy van Gelder’s legendary studio in Englewood Cliff, NJ, in 1963! The 14 track, two-disc album sounds as fresh as if it had been recorded yesterday, featuring John Coltrane’s classic quartet: McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Next to previously released tracks such as Nature Boy and Impressions, it is entirely comprised of new material showing Coltrane at the height of his solo career and his brand of abstract, yet melodious jazz at the pinnacle of popularity and meaning. «Listening to Coltrane, particularly in his prime, in the nineteen-sixties, is among the best musical experiences that exist.» (Richard Brady)
Impulse, June 2018

Feels Like Summer & Summertime Magic
Childish Gambino
Part of a two-track package called Summer Park, these two new creations by Donald Glover, aka as Childish Gambino, highlight the exceptional vocal talent of the musician who might be seen as the successor of Marvin Gaye. They stand far apart from his last, highly political release This is America, which we introduced in our last goodnews. Summer Park was written and produced by Gambino and his longtime collaborator Ludwig Göransson as a promotional single announcing the release of his forthcoming album. Their breeziness and happy mood make these tracks ideal summer hits.

Guitar Boy Superstar, Full Album
Victor Uwaifo 
«Prof. Sir Victor Uwaifo, born 1 March 1941, is a Nigerian musician, writer, sculptor and musical instrument inventor. He also served as commissioner for arts and culture in Edo State and records under the name Sir Victor Uwaifo». (Wikipedia) Known as the «Highlife Music Legend», he created a guitar with eighteen strings, which he also plays with his feet and even his tongue. The then 77-year-old musician made history in 1996 when he won the first Golden record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa for his song Joromi. Uwaifo is currently the Chairman of Joromi Organization, a multi-track recording and television studio in Benin City and was recently inducted into the Living Human Treasure circles, an honour bestowed by UNESCO.

Get It Now Remix
Tiwa Savage ft. Omarion
Tiwatope Savage-Balogun, born 5 February 1980 in Lagos, better known by her stage name Tiwa Savage, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, performer and actress. When she was eleven years old, Tiwa’s parents had to relocate to London, and she went along with them. Tiwa also lived in the United States of America at some point. There, while she was in the High School, she was a highly active member of the school’s Orchestra band, where she played the trombone. Her life as a professional musician started at age of sixteen when she did back-up vocals for a number of artistes as well as building a strong career of her own in her native country.

At the Uprising Reggae Festival 2017
Nneka
Nneka Egbuna, born 24 December 1980, sings in English, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin. As a young singer she first gained public attention in 2004 while performing as an opening act for Dancehall Reggae at  Hamburg Stadtpark. After much acclaim, Nneka was given the opportunity to record her first album. She has performed all over Europe, Nigeria, Japan, South Africa and the US. Even though Nneka sings more than she raps, she names hip hop as her primary musical root and most important source of inspiration, while citing artists such as Fela Kuti and Bob Marley as well as contemporary rappers like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Lauryn Hill as her primary influences. Nneka has also acted in several movies.

This is America
Childish Gambino aka as Donald Grover 
The new video by Donald Grover has amassed 31 million clicks in 4 days. The satirical rendition of the black man’s plight in the USA over the last 200 years is a must see. Underscored by a fantastic choreography, Glover parodies gun violence and American racism, playing Jim Crow, stereotyping black musical performances and mimicking the police. Just great!
RCA Records

Recent «Mondialité» performance
Miho Hatori Compilation
Miho Hatori is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and musician, primarily known as the vocalist of the New York City group Cibo Matto. She is also known for her work with virtual band Gorillaz, as she is the first person to provide the voice of animated member Noodle. Here she has gifted us a compilation of preferred sounds ranging von minimal to classic.

Fatou
Fatoumata Diawara 
Fatoumara is a Malian singer who currently lives in France. She has given  many European concerts as well as performing in South America, Asia and Australia and on multiple trips to the US. A movie star in France, she has continued to work in film, with numerous roles, appearances and musical input in a number of feature films, such as the seven César Awards winning and Academy Award nominated Timbuktu (2014). Her music is best described as a mix between African tradition and jazz.
World Circuit