Tag: 2013
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If you liked electronica, as everyone was calling it, back in the ’90’s then chances are you were a fan of Curve. If I had to describe the duo from London today I would call them electro-pop with an edgy slice of alt rock and a hint of industrial thrown in for good measure. In…
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Well, well, well, this is an interesting album. When this duo — Joy Williams and John Paul White — were riding the surprising success of their 2011 album Barton Hollow, which won them three shiny Grammy awards, they kept insisting that they weren’t romantically involved with each other. In fact, they were both happily married…
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Chances are you already know this if you read music blogs and check out the music they recommend accordingly (as you should), but for those who don’t know, Annie is a Norwegian singer/songwriter and DJ. She first generated chatter in the blogosphere with her underground 1999 single “The Greatest Hit,” but it was her 2004…
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interview by Michael McCarthy If you grew up in the ‘80’s or early ‘90’s then you probably fancied heavy metal and you likely had at least a hundred cassette tapes to prove it. Your collection was surely populated by bands like Poison, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue. But there was probably one tape by a…
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INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL MCCARTHY, PHOTOS BY KIMBERLY METZ Last week I profiled the lovely April Kae, a charismatic rising star who can apparently do anything that she sets her mind to, having already successfully tackled pop, dance and R&B with her first three singles, “The Writings on the Wall,” “Runnin’ (Let Me Go Away),” and…
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I was curious to hear this 5 piece Los Angeles metal band after learning that they have two female lead vocalists. I figured their sound would have to be pretty unique, that the women would be singing in different styles. After all, what would be the point in having two singers if they were both…
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Marnie is the immensely-talented lead singer, and one of the songwriters and keyboardists, of the popular electronic pop outfit Ladytron. This album — her solo debut — was produced by Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt, along with the Icelandic musician Barði Jóhannsson, and so it sounds an awful lot like a Ladytron record. And that, of course,…
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Word around the campfire is that We Are Scientists recorded their forthcoming fifth album, but their creative juices were still flowing after they’d finished it, so they kept on writing and recording songs. Apparently, this double A-side consists of two of those songs, which supposedly won’t be on the album. “Something About You” is a…
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You may remember April Kae from season 10 of American Idol. The gorgeous blonde singer auditioned in San Francisco and impressed the judges with her potent voice and star quality, successfully moving on to “Hollywood Week.” But her musical journey began many years earlier when she took vocal lessons and studied classical piano as a…
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Eliza Doolittle’s catchy new single, “Big When I Was Little,” finds the pop singer/songwriter cheerfully reflecting on the past, reminiscing about growing up. Against hopped-up, punchy beats, reggae flourishes and grooving horns, Eliza sings some of her wittiest lyrics yet. “Sorting through my memories / got naked on the floor / my diaries and scrapbooks…
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If you count her live E.P., Live Take, Way in the World is Scottish singer-songwriter/guitarist Nina Nesbitt’s fifth E.P. Like many before her, Nina began her career informally by recording songs in her bedroom and posting videos on Youtube, where she quickly garnered millions of plays. Early on, she met Ed Sheeran and he asked…
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The Joy Formidable’s new Silent Treatment E.P. opens with a William Orbit remix of the haunting ballad, which probably sounds exactly how you’d expect a William Orbit remix of the song to sound. If you’re not familiar with the original, which appears as track two here, it’s a very mellow, acoustic ballad without any percussion.…
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In spite of the fact that they co-produced it with the brilliant Stuart Price, I was not expecting much from this album. The duo’s previous album, Elysium, which was released just 10 months ago, just wasn’t very impressive. It was more than a little ambient, lacking the sort of catchy beats we’ve come to expect…
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Although they’re Berlin-based today, Aniaetleprogrammeur (pronounced: Ania et le programmeur) were formed in Paris in 2005. The trio consists of Hanrigabriel (direction/guitars/vox/synths), Tata Christiane (synths/machines) and Valquire Veljkovic (lights/synths/bass). (I recently reviewed Valquire Veljkovic’s fascinating side project Deer Howling.) They are a “multidisciplinary art collective” involved in music, fashion design (with the brand Tata Christiane),…
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Usually I’m in the know when it comes to up and coming pop stars, but I have to admit that Lorde totally flew under my radar until today. She released an EP called The Love Club during December 2012 — I just bought it from iTunes — but I don’t recall seeing any reviews or…
