Fiona Bevan

When Spotify was introduced in the UK, I tried it for a few days and immediately loved it. A free legal, way of listening to new music, can't get any better than that right? That's why I was very excited when it finally was available in the Netherlands and have been using it, since. Fiona Bevan might be the first discovery I made through Spotify that's posted on this blog, but expect many other great music, found through Spotify to follow soon! The sweet, fiery warblings of Suffolk singer-songwriter Fiona Bevan have been compared to Erykah Badu, Joni Mitchell and Marc Bolan. Her band simmer and shimmer, her folk songs are inflected with jazz, and her award-winning lyrics pry into the dark corners of love, with a cast of stumbling party-girls, fickle sailors and forlorn lovers sleeping out in trees. Fiona Bevan has been steadily flouncing her blonde afro round gigs in London / Brighton / Manchester / Zurich / Berlin / Glastonbury. She recently faced the judges on Channel 4's "Orange Unsigned Act" with trembling knees and a cheeky grin, and won over Blur’s Alex James with her melodies and guitaring.  After a Spring jam-packed with gigging, including the acclaimed Vortex Tour East for the Mayor of London’s East Fest 09, Fiona released her debut solo album called "Plant Your Heart"

@ London, UK

♫ Acoustic, Folk, Jazz
♥ The Revel and the Devil (mp3)

♥ The Balance (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Official Website

▸ Spotify

Josefina Sanner

Not too long ago I discovered this talented female singer-songwriter through a last.fm group called  "Scandinavian Girls" Imagine a magical fairy-tale forest, in Värmland (in the middle of Sweden) - soft dark green moss, large gray boulders, stars and sunlight, which is screened through the dense pines. And then move reminiscent of a noisy back street in Paris, with weary steps on rain-soaked sidewalks, cigarette smoke from the small crowded cafes and a false playing saxophone with a few coins in the open saxophone case... there are two distinct environments with Josefina Sanners voice and her songs becomes a very own world. A world full of opportunities, on the border between fantasy and reality, where unexpected things can take shape and form. Josefina Sanner is one of Sweden’s most prolific female singer/songwriters with over 700 written songs. When she now releases her second solo album “Love Case Scenario”, she has drawn inspiration from her childhood landscape. The result is a collection of glittering pop songs that, while being readily available also holding willfulness and exciting secrets and really touch in depth. She and producer Andreas Dahlbäck (who previously collaborated with Anna Ternheim, Thomas Andersson Wiij and Eskobar among others) together have created a minimalistic and enigmatic sound, where Josefina’s unique voice emerges more beautiful and headstrong than ever.

@ Stockholm, Sweden

♫ Pop, Acoustic, Folk

♥ Beatiful Day (mp3)

♥ Row Your Boat (mp3)

▸ Myspace

▸ Official Website

▸ Spotify

Free Music: Christine Hoberg

Christine Hoberg was recommended by Dieter, a reader and friend. Christine is a singer-songwriter originally from the Great Lakes region of the US. Her LP ‘Nice’ which she wrote, produced, & co-arranged, was released in October 2008. Christine recorded ‘Nice’ backwards according to most album standards, laying down vocals first a cappella to a click track, and later adding piano, guitar, upright bass, cello, and strings. The credits are a complete mash-up of local metro Detroit talent. ‘Nice’ mixes dreamy vocals and throwback jazz with cheeky shots at Hoberg’s exes. It has been described as ‘a mix of vivid orchestrations and gritty vocals’. Her past pieces focused on a pop-head meets the blues mentality often times focusing on intense melodic layering and extensive vocal vamping. The good news is that her album "Nice" now can be downloaded for FREE from here.

 

1. Nice

2. White Ass (mp3)

3. Nutcase

4. J'aime

5. Mon Chat Amour

6. Foolish

7. Whatever You Want Me To Be (mp3)

8. Fish Lips

9. Take Me Away

10. Weaknesses

11. Wore It Down

MYSPACE | DOWNLOAD | FACEBOOK