Category Archives: Music

no:carrier | Music Profile

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Artist: no:carrier
Location: San Francisco, California, USA/Ingolstadt, Germany
Styles: Electro Noir, Electropop, Synthpop, Darkwave
Similar to: The Crüxshadows, Wolfsheim, Portishead, Depeche Mode
CD: Confession EP

no:contact music profile

Members/Instruments:
Cynthia Wechselberger – vocals
Chris Wirsig – keyboards, vocals

Production: Chris Wirsig

Tracklisting:
1        Confession – Single Mix
2        Hero To A Fool
3        Confession – 1st In 14 Mix
4        And Sometimes – RMX 2011B
5        Confession – Inspired By F.P. Mix
6        A Bright Room

Websites:
Official
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter

Bio:
Electro Noir Pop – a description that fits no:carrier best. “We can’t be compared easily. We have our very own sound that includes elements from several styles – from Dark Wave to Synthpop, from Acoustic to Electro,” says Chris Wirsig, main songwriter and producer of no:carrier. “We found our own way, we are not going on the trodden paths. We stay true to our ideals and write exactly the songs we want to write.”

no:carrier, originally founded in 1995 in Germany, but active in its current line-up since 2001, is now a long-distance musical affair, with Chris Wirsig living in San Francisco while singer Cynthia Wechselberger still resides in their home country Germany. But as with all long-distance relationships this can add some spice to the mixture.

After two critically acclaimed albums, “My Own Dream” in 2002 and “Between The Chairs” in 2011, the duo is back in 2013 with even more variety. Still firmly rooted in Dark Wave and Synth Pop, no:carrier’s sound and topics are broader than ever, incorporating Arabic instruments, drums and percussion from different cultures, with topics ranging from melancholic introspection to defiant declarations to tragic real-life biographies.

First harbinger of the new songs was the 5 track single “Last Scene”, released in June 2013. The song reflects a dubious past, a “last scene of a play we shouldn’t have staged”, and was praised in magazines like Side-Line, Nachtaktiv, Amobss-Mag and ReGen. The follow up single, “The Nine Days’ Queen”, released in December 2013, deals with the tragic life of Lady Jane Grey who ruled England for nine days and later was beheaded. A third precursor to the new album “Wisdom & Failure”, the “Confession EP” is released late February 2014 with the album following late April/early May.

 

Fire and the Romance | Music Profile

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Band/Artist: Fire and the Romance
Location: New York / Los Angeles
Styles: Alt Pop, Alt Rock, Indie
Similar to: Postal Service, Atlas Genius, Bastille, Owl City
Track: Way Down Below

fire and romanceAccolades:
1. Fire and the Romance is a brand new band fronted by Dion Roy. Dion over the past year has independently toured the US extensively, as well as most major Canadian Markets. Last year he also toured Europe on a 13 date run.

2. Dion has had his music and production featured on networks MTV, A&E, Lifetime, Oxygen, and many others.

3. Jenn Stone (Keys for Ke$ha),  performs keyboards live with Dion in LA and is in the “Way Down Below” Music Video.

Members/Instruments:
Dion Roy – Vocals, Guitar, Writing
NYC: Leo Fraire – Drums / Jamie Pitrelli Bass / Peter Roessler Guitar
LA: Jenn Stone Keys / Topher Mohr (Mayer Hawthorne) Guitar / Tom Breyfogle Drums

Production/Writing : Produced by Steven Miller, feat. songs written/produced with Steven Miller, David Hodges, Teddy Geiger.

Steven Miller:  production/mixing credits include: Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne, Colbie Caillat, Christina Perri, Tristan Prettyman, David Cook, Tyler Hilton, Haley Reindhart, etc.

David Hodges: (Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Daughtry, Evanescence, Javier Colon, Tonic, Grammy wins).

Bio:
Fire & The Romance is a band, founded on one principle – the desire to create a sound that is new, unique and relatable. Though most of the band has been writing music and touring for most of their life, this new collection of songs came from an epiphany that founder Dion Roy had while on tour in Europe as a Singer-Songwriter – and his vision of this larger musical idea needed to be put out into the world.

When inspiration hit, Dion reached out to some of his most trusted music collaborators with the goal of recording this new material as a band, borrowing from each member’s varied inspiration and influences during the process. As a group, they found a voice, and the final product – the eclectic “Adaptations” EP – mixes sparse, bass heavy pop production with arena-ready alt-rock anthems, placing Fire & The Romance somewhere between Atlas Genius, Postal Service and AWOLNation on the genre map.

Now living in New York City, Front-man Dion and his bi-coastal band are anxious to unveil their new material, starting with the single Way Down Below. Says Dion “Way Down Below was born out of a pretty vocal melody idea I had in the middle of the night, but grew in just a few hours into this untamed emotional demon, complete with teeth and a killer haircut. You just can’t look away”

The Adaptations EP will come out Spring 2014, In the meantime, they are excited to see the world react to the new music and have begun touring. “Its been an incredible experience developing this project with my band; the process was both fun and intriguing. The Adaptations EP was an experiment in sound that really turned into something special for all of us – and I love what we found.”

Blunda | Music Profile

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Artist: Blunda
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Styles: Indie Rock, Synth Pop, New Wave, Lo-Fi Indie, Electronic
Similar to: Wild Nothing, Beach House, Neon Indian, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure
CD: “Messages” digital download only

Blunda

Accolades:
* Guitarist for Fastball 1997-1999
* Guitarist, Keyboards for Paloalto on American Recordings 2 albums with
producer Rick Rubin 1999-2004 opened for Supergrass, Johnny Marr, Collective Soul, Stone Temple Pilots
* Guitarist for Jason Falkner late 2000’s 2 Japan tours including Fuji Rock
* Composer for many TV shows including theme song for Showtime series
“Polyamory: Married and Dating” also Storage Wars, American Hoggers and
most recently Appalachian Outlaws on History Channel
* Winner of ASCAP Film and Television award in 2013 for music in highest rated show “After the Catch” on Discovery

Members/Instruments: Andy Blunda all instruments except tracks 4 and 5 drums played by Fernando Sanchez.

Production: Recorded and Mixed by Andy Blunda out of professional home
“Studio B” in North Hollywood
Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge NYC
Assisted by Rich Morales

Tracklisting:
1. A Broken Case
2. If You Want Me
3. Messages
4. Devil Inside
5. The Money Side

Websites:
Official
Facebook

Bio:
Blunda is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Andy Blunda. A classical pianist at University, Blunda landed a touring gig with the texas trio Fastball at age 20 where the success of their song “The Way” kept him on the road for 2 years.

Shortly after he joined Paloalto, who recorded two albums with producer Rick Rubin on his American Recordings label. After years of touring and recording in bands, Blunda made the decision to start recording his own material which he had been writing off and on for the last decade. Messages is Blunda’s second solo EP, and it is his most focused effort to date. It was recorded, produced & mixed by Andy out of his home studio in North Hollywood. The sound is a blend of 80’s new wave & moody indie pop delivered in a very unique style.

 

Miley Cyrus Almost Unrecognisable On W Cover: Pictures And Quotes

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Miley Cyrus looks almost unrecognisable on the cover of W Magazine. Miley is on the cover of the March 2014 issue.

W-March-2014-Cover_miley-cyrus_mert-marcus

Shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot exclusively for W, the pictures are very high fashion and show a different side to 21-year-old Miley, with bleached eyebrows and a blonde bob.

W-March-2014_miley-cyrus_glamour_3feb14_mert-marcus_b_960x1440

Inside Miley is interviewed by Ronan Farrow. Here are the top quotes.

On her parents: “I never had, like, a nanny that took care of me. My mom always fed me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My dad, like, he’s the most trusting human in the world. He trusts everybody, basically, until they fu*k him over. And my mom, too, holds no grudges. She’ll let someone, like, fu*k her over twice, and then she’ll let it go, and then she kind of forgets about it. And I used to be like that. And now I just keep it in the back of my mind.”

On the haters: “I don’t give a sh*t. I’m not Disney, where they have, like, an Asian girl, a black girl, and a white girl, to be politically correct, and, like, everyone has bright-coloured T-shirts. You know, it’s like, I’m not making any kind of statement. Anyone that hates on you is always below you, because they’re just jealous of what you have.”

On Godmother Dolly Parton: “What I love about Dolly is she says hi to the person that’s doing the catering on set before she goes and says hi to the cast.”

On her upbringing: “We never were inside, and we never wore shoes. I think it’s why I like wearing no clothes so much and I’m always naked.”

On why her reluctance to trust has made her stop dating: “Guys watch too much porn. Those girls don’t exist. They’re not real girls. And that’s like us watching romance movies. That’s girl porn, because, like, those guys do not exist. The kind that do exist just try too hard with me, and it’s just like, ‘I don’t need you to impress me. I don’t want you to, like, take me to fancy restaurants.’ I hate sitting down for dinner! You don’t have to do that to me! You don’t have to take me on trips! I literally just want to chill here! That’s why I’m, like, not trying to jump into a relationship…I love my music so much, and I love what I’m doing so much that that has become my other half—rather than another person. And so, yeah, I feel like I had to be able to be 100 percent”

The full article is here.

What do you think?

 

The Plum Magnetic | Music Profile

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Band: The Plum Magnetic
Location: New Orleans, LA, USA
Styles: World/Fusion/Rock
Similar to: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Umphrey’s McGee, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Talking Heads,Grateful Dead
CD: Terra Animata
Accolades: Have opened for NoHayBanda Trio (Italy), World Service Project (UK), The Magnetic Ear (New Orleans)

Members/Instruments: Trent Ciolino- electric 6-string banjo,vox; Andrew McLean- guitars, tabla; Jon Solomon- bass; Oliver Burke- drums

Production: Trent Ciolino and The Plum Magnetic; Engineered by Andrew McLean; Mixed by Andrew McLean and Kevin Sweet; Mastered by Paul Marinaro at Piety Street Studios, NOLA

Tracklisting: Spring; Trece Leches; Sweet Confusion; The Electric Jungle; Shesh Besh; Parallax; The Delicious; Terra Animata

Websites:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Reverbnation
Twitter

 

Bio:
The aim of The Plum Magnetic is to blend elements of music from all over the world into a synergistic whole and through this genre-melding approach to both represent and promote a harmonious unity-through-diversity. The depth of emotion, melody, The Plum Magnetic musicand structure of Indian Classical music; the ecstatic pulse and rich, repetitious, patterns of Africa; the manifold great American forms, including Jazz, Blues, Rock, Folk/Bluegrass, Fusion, and beyond; all of these are deftly interwoven to produce a sound that is broad in scope, rich with intent, and full of surprises.

The Plum Magnetic was formed in late 2011 out of relationships built over years of involvement in the New Orleans music scene. Trent (banjo/vox) and Oliver (drums) met while playing in super eclectic local group Eve’s Lucky Planet, and over years of extended jams based in African, Reggae, and Afro-Cuban styles developed a unique musical bond which serves as the backbone of The Plum Magnetic’s developing sound. In considering personnel to expand the project’s line-up, Andrew McLean (guitar) was the obvious first choice. Trent and Andrew met through a shared love of Indian Classical Music; Andrew (having studied raga and tala for over a decade at the esteemed Ali Akbar Khan College of Music) as teacher, and Trent as a beginner sitar student. Last but not least, the group needed a bassist, and after experimenting with a few different players, Jon Solomon (founding member of Gravity A and bass player about town) was a natural fit. With his great feel and sensitivity he rounds out the sound, allowing the group to present music that though at times exceedingly complex, is always firmly rooted in the groove.

Drawing comparisons to groups ranging from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, The Grateful Dead, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Talking Heads, and Umphrey’s McGee, The Plum Magnetic is one of the most diverse, engaging, and original up and coming groups in the New Orleans scene and beyond.

2013 Top Music Moments

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top music moments of 2013, Miley Cyrus, wrecking ball, naked, music, video, The Rolling Stones beat One Direction to claim music moment of 2013

· Rock icons beat pop princes in 2013 music review

· 8 out of 10 Brits think it hasn’t been a ‘golden year’ for pop

· Prince William belting out Livin’ On A Prayer beats Miley Cyrus’ twerk at VMAs

· The Big Reunion tour voted a bigger music moment than Beyonce’s surprise album

The Rolling Stones’ performance at Glastonbury has been named the biggest music moment of 2013.

With a combined age of 273, the Stones have romped to victory and shown the pop stars of today how to put on a show. The rockers not only came out top in a review of the year’s music high and lows by free music streaming service blinkbox music, but trounced pop sensations One Direction.

The Best Song Ever singers – with a combined age of 97 – came bottom of the top 20 list with the launch of their movie. To add insult to injury, the only other entry featuring the boys is Taylor Swift’s swipe at Harry Styles as he spoke at the MTV Video Music Awards, coming in at number 19.

Proof that a Rolling Stone gathers no moss, Mick and the gang’s epic performance at this year’s festival topped the survey by a landslide, with 1 in 4 putting them on top – EIGHT TIMES more than those backing the 1D boys.

In another sign of respect for the elder statesmen of music, the death of music icon Lou Reed came in second, followed in third place by the return of legend David Bowie with his new album Where Are We Now?.

2013 was a year of comebacks and reunions, including news that McFly and Busted would form a super group (4th), Eminem’s epic return (8th) and 90s pop band B*witched with The Big Reunion gang going on tour (10th) – a bigger moment than Beyonce’s surprise album (11th).

The future King of England can take a bow after his performance with Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift (6th) eclipsed Miley Cyrus’ twerk-tastic We Can’t Stop/Blurred Lines show stopper at the VMAs (7th).

The summer time smash hit Get Lucky by Daft Punk was the only song entry in the survey (15th) whilst the naughty video to Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines was the only video entry, but failed to make it into the top 10 (12th).

Despite huge music moments over the past 12 months, 8 out of 10 Brits didn’t think 2013 was a golden year for pop music.

Over 2000 British adults were surveyed by One Poll for blinkbox music. Here is the full list:

1. Rolling Stones headline Glastonbury

2. Death of Lou Reed

3. David Bowie comeback album

4. McFly and Busted form McBusted

5. Adele wins Oscar for Skyfall

6. Prince William sings with Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift

7. Miley Cyrus twerks at the MTV VMAs

8. Eminem’s comeback album

9. JLS announce they are breaking up

10. The Big Reunion tour

11. Beyonce releases a surprise album

12. The Blurred Lines video

13. Emeli Sande named UK’s biggest selling album artist for the second consecutive year

14. Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro appear on The Graham Norton Show

15. Daft Punk’s Get Lucky reigns over summer

16. Jay Z rides the London Underground

17. Beyonce’s performance at the Superbowl

18. Metallica play a special gig in Antarctica

19. Taylor Swift has a dig at Harry Styles as he collects MTV award

20. One Direction’s movie

Beyoncé Releases Visual Album

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With the secret release of Beyoncé’s self titled visual album today, Queen Bey is the woman that everyone is taking about. Get Beyoncé’s music video looks from Soft Paris, as featured in ‘Jealous’ and ‘Haunted’.

beyonce

Beyonce released her new album which went straight to iTunes without warning in the middle of the night. She announced it on Instagram. Bearing a brand new music video for each of its 14 tracks as well as four bonus videos, we are pretty excited and just in time for Christmas too. Let’s hope someone puts it in our stocking (metaphorically anyway)  A 30-second preview is below. What do you think?

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