Jonas Alaska

Today's feature, Jonas Alaska, is  a discovery I made through Spotify's "What's New" section. Jonas (born 1988), from Åmli, Aust Agder, Norway, released his self-titled debut album in September on Jansen Plateproduksjon. Despite his young age, Jonas Alaska is an incredibly talented lyricist and songwriter with a characteristic sound and a strong voice. After a series of shows, including by:Larm in Oslo in February, many have their eyes on the talent from the south. As a consequence of those concerts, Jonas has played many of the larger festivals in Norway this summer. Artists like Paul Simon, John Lennon and Bob Dylan are often mentioned as references for Jonas Alaska’s music, but as southern Norwegian newspaper Arendals Tidende wrote about the 22-year old: Despite his tight trousers, harmonica, boots and guitar, he is no copycat of Dylan. Jonas Alaska has his own characteristics and his own sound, also fit for the present. The album consists of 11 songs written by the artist, most of them during the past two years. The songs range from heart-wrenching songs, to ballads with captivating harmonies and up-tempo tunes with elements of Americana, folk and pop - all with an original sound, both lyrically and melodically. Alaska’s lyrics often focus on themes such as love, politics and tragedy, but also the simpler things in life that everyone can relate to. Other than Alaska himself on vocals, piano and acoustic guitar, this incredibly talented team of well-known musicians contribute on the album: Thom Hell: Guitar, piano, organ, vocals Even Ormestad: Bass, piano, keyboards Martin Horntveth: Drums, percussion David Wallumrød: Organ, piano Marius Graff: Banjo Audun Borrmann: Electric guitar Thomas Aslaksen: Drums Marcus Forsgren: Electric guitar. Don't hesitate and give his music a try!

@ Amli, Norway

♫ Folk, Pop

♥ October (mp3)

♥ Tonight (mp3)

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▸ Official Website

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Rebekka Karijord

The last few weeks I discovered that my internship is, with its long days, quite time consuming. That's why you haven't seen updates on here for quite a while. But I still am discovering lots of new interesting music, so I'll try to share those as much as possible with you from now on. Today's feature is Rebekka Karijord. Rebekka was born in 1976, in Northern Norway (Lofoten). She lived with her mother her whole growth. Both her parents are artists. Rebekka went to several musical/performance educations such as the Norwegian Musical Theatre, Academy of ballet and she also went to the Royal Academy of Acting in Stockholm. She has a Swedish family and after four years living in Stockholm she feels she has two homes, one in Sweden and one in Norway. Rebekka composed her first song when she was 3 years old, recorded her first demo with her own songs when she was 8 years old. She also learned how to play piano and the violin during her whole growth. She started composing English songs when she was 12 years old and contributed with her talent to Children’s records and NRK (Norwegian TV) as vocalist, songwriter and actress during her whole growth. When she was 17 years old she was contracted to a major record company, but left out as they tried to control her artistic visions. Afterwards she immediately procured her own computer to start composing digitally, on her own. Rebekka’s music is probably inspired by Northern Norway, more specially Lofoten, where her family lives these days. Her dream would be living in Lofoten with her computers, microphones and just keep creating these beautiful tunes.Rebekka never intended to only sing beautifully, she wanted to project a story with her voice. She wants people to listen to the recording and understand what she went through earlier the same day. To this date, she has released three studio albums, all under slightly different artist names. In 2003 she released Neophyte (as Rebekka) followed by Good or Goodbye in 2005 with Peder Kjellsby (as Rebekka & The Mysterybox) and her latest album The Noble Art of Letting Go as Rebekka Karijord.

@ Stockholm, Sweden

♫ Alternative, Acoustic, Folk

♥ Wear it Like A Crown (mp3)

♥ Noble Art of Letting Go (mp3)

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King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

Summer is almost over, and for me that's when the intensive music listening and discovering starts again. So that might be an explanation for the lack of updates lately! Todays post is a recommendation from a friend. Their first release Diamond Mine that was released earlier this year has been on repeat for quite a while now. Diamond mine is a collaborative album from Domino and Double Six artists, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins. Featuring lyrics and vocals from King Creosote sung over musical backdrops arranged and recorded by Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine is a genuine labour of love, recorded over a number of years without the pressure of deadlines, whenever Jon and KC could get together. Intended to be heard as a single experience, Diamond Mine produces a near classical suite of emotion ranging from cracked despair to patched-up euphoria. Described by King Creosote as a ‘soundtrack to a romanticised version of a life lived in a scottish coastal village’, the record weaves in slices of Fife life, bike wheels, spring tides, tea cups and café chatter to produce a beautiful, unique and timeless album. Don't miss out!

@ London, UK

♫ Alternative, Folk
♥ John Taylor's Month Away (mp3)

♥ Bubble (mp3)

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Amatorski

In the first few years after I discovered last.fm I visited it everyday. But when it became part of CBS and got all the region restrictions and a lot less free playable music I stopped coming to the website so regurarly. A few days ago I discovered they are finally introducing a friend finder, so let's hope it's the beginning for more innovations. What did not change about last.fm is the perfect recommendations for similar sounding artists. As a few hours ago, I discovered today's featured belgium formation Amatorski with last.fm recommendations! Amatorski is a young Belgian band formed in 2008, with a melancholic and narrative style, and some reminiscences of Portishead, Sigur Rós, or Radiohead. Amatorski consists of Inne Eysermans (songs, producing, voice, piano, guitar, accordeon), Sebastiaan van den Branden (guitar, programming, voice), Hilke Ros (double bass, synth bass, voice), and Christophe Claeys (drums, vibraphone, trumpet).Though their name means ‘amateurs’, they reached the finals of the Belgian rock contest Rockrally in 2010. The intimate song "Come Home" hit #1 in ‘De Afrekening’, the alternative hit chart on radio station Studio Brussel. In 2010 they released the Same Stars We Shared (Amatorski debut) EP. Their debut longplayer TBC was released in May 2011. You can listen them in full on their Bandcamp.

@ Gent, Belgium

♫ Alternative, Folk

♥ Come Home (mp3)

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Anna Von Hausswolff

I am having a really hard time remembering the first time I heard Anna von Hausswolff. But what I will never forget is how her music touched me from the very first seconds she started singing on “Track of Time”. With one the of most honest and expressive vocals I’ve ever heard, Anna makes you feel it in your bones. “Her voice is that of total expression” as her bio says it. On her ten-track debut album, Singing from the Grave, which was released in May after her Track of Time EP, 23-year-old Swedish pianist and singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolff sings about gloomy Sundays, lovers lost at sea, life, death, pills, and all things gloomy in between. Although Anna already has been attracting plenty of attention in Scandinavia she sadly remains somewhat obscure outside of her homeland. All genuine music lovers should give this enormously underrated album a listen and spread the love!

@ Goteburg, Sweden 

♫ Alternative, Folk

♥ Track of Time (mp3)

▸ Official Website

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Free Music: Pearl and the Beard

"Pearl and the Beard loves you the way you’ve always been". With an opening sentence like this you can't go wrong in my book! So a few months back when I visited The Family Records website, to find some info on Wakey!Wakey!, I discovered this wonderful trio. Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Former strangers Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Each had the same true love. Since then, the three have nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic songcraft continues to blossom of its own accord. When I recently found out they're now offering a free EP it seemed like the perfect opportunity to share this gem with you. So don't hesitate, and download!

@ New York, USA

♫ Alternative, Folk, Pop
♥ Black Vessel

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The Bony King of Nowhere

The Bony King of Nowhere is the project of 24-year-old Belgian composer Bram Vanparys. His honest music, characterized above all by Bram’s distinctive voice, claims your heart straight away. Songs are built on melodic backing vocals, guitars and sound layers, as well as the frequent use of unconventional percussion inspired by the Brazilian Tropicália Movement from the 1960s. His lyrics are often theatrical: the virgin Mary addressed by a dying man exalting death from his deathbed (“Maria”), the sunset pictured in a puppet’s world (“The Sunset”), the concept of despair painfully anatomized in the schizophrenia theme from the closing song “My Invasions”. Not your usual love-theme singer, that’s for sure. The universal, yet very wayward character of Bram’s music already perplexed both media and public in his own country, but also evoked international response. After his demo got selected in The Wire Magazine’s “Domino Festival” compilation, Bram immediately got called by Kieran Hebden (aka Fourtet), asking him if he could include some songs in the soundtrack of a film he’s working on (“Boy Meets Girl”, Wildebeest Productions, New York). Also, Devendra Banhart sang Bram’s praises in a personal letter after hearing the demo. And, last but not least, Jon Kelly (Paul McCartney, Kate Bush,…) expressed his interest in mixing the first album of The Bony King Of Nowhere, which was produced by European cultproducer Koen Gisen (An Pierlé&White Velvet) in his weird 1960’s studio. In 2009 The Bony King Of Nowhere released his first album “Alas My Love” on Helicopter Records. He now is finished with his second album ‘Eleonore’ and according to himself it sounds “more direct, more in-your-face, my only goal is authenticity: my work has to be genuine and credible. I feel increasingly attracted to the folk tradition, as it was documented in ‘American Folk Anthology’ by Harry Smith.” We can only agree. Bram Vanparys is a busy bee too. He's already half way through writing his third album and is currently working on the soundtrack for ‘Les Géants’, a film by Walloon film-maker Bouli Lanners. Please let 'em all come, very quickly, since I can not currently get enough of these beautiful sounds.

@ Ghent, Belgium

♫ Acoustic, Folk

♥ The Sunset (mp3)

♥ Going Home (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Spotify

+ Full "Eleonore" Album Stream

Melodica, Melody and Me

Sometimes, submissions in my mailbox immediately convince to be featured on LMLI. Today’s feature is one of those submissions I, unfortunately found way too late partly caused by my temporary hiatus this summer, is Melodica, Melody and Me, shortly MMM. Their catchy but o so beautiful folksongs dragged me in right from the first seconds of their “Piece Me Back Together EP”. When checking their profiles on the internet, I discovered they’ve found quite a following in the two years they’ve played so far. But it wasn’t always so. All six members of MMM went to Graveney school in South London and lived in nearby Brixton. They use to meet up in Rudi’s attic to smoke weed and play guitars. Quiet, introverted, it was a way for them to communicate without having to talk. During this period they wrote some of their most beautiful songs. Delicate, heartbreaking folk ballads about the first throes of love. But the bands nervousness towards the outside world meant the songs might never have left that room. Two things happened that changed both their sound and their confidence. First, the few songs they chucked on Myspace gained an immediate cult following. Second they started to blend their Bert Jansch and Bob Dylan folk influences with the music they were hearing on the streets of Brixton. Despite their massive and growing following, the band are reluctant to get too drawn in by the machinery of the music industry. They very reluctantly have a twitter account let alone a youtube channel, they aren’t “synchronising content across web platforms”, they’re just writing and playing music. By letting the music speak for itself they’ve commanded a genuine word-of-mouth phenomenon. So don’t miss out, and be a part of it! (even if you like social media like me ;-) )

@ London, UK

♫ Acoustic, Folk

♥ Piece Me Back Together (mp3)
♥ Ode To A Mountain (mp3)

▸ MySpace

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Dark Dark Dark

A few days  ago when I asked a friend [click for his website] for new music I should not miss out on, he recommended me Dark Dark Dark. This Minneapolis based chamber-folk sextet began in 2006 as a collaboration between multi-instrumentalists and singers Nona Marie Invie and Marshall LaCount. These two inspired songwriters bring together disparate influences – including minimalism, New Orleans jazz, Americana, Eastern European folk, and pop – creating something altogether singular and absolutely epic. This diversity is their greatest strength. They use contrast - in texture, tone, and imagery - to build their own deeply-experienced world into the songs. For Wild Go, their beautiful sophomore album, which arrives October 5, 2010 they expanded the sound they captured on their 2008 debut, The Snow Magic. They’ve continued with the line-up that solidified on their critically-acclaimed Bright Bright Bright EP (March 2010), and pushed further with more nuanced arrangements and more personal content. Making Wild Go, an album you should not miss out on!

@ Minneapolis, USA

♫ Alternative, Folk

♥ Daydreaming (mp3)
♥ Bright Bright Bright (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Official Website

Gregory Page

Sometimes the love of music goes from one person onto the other, and Gregory Page is a perfect example of that very process, a friend of a friend of mine recommended Gregory to him and not much later that friend told that "I had to listen to this new artist" So, now it's my turn of pointing you to this amazing singer-songwriter, that should've been way bigger in the (music)world by now! Enjoy and don't forget to spread the love! Gregory David Page was born in England to Armenian and Irish parents who met while they were on tour with their bands en route to the Middle East. Page was brought up in North London into a musical family where he studied classical guitar and composition at Trinity College Of Music. Upon moving to America he began a series of odd jobs, namely as a cab driver and cook he also began tirelessly writing and recording his own brand of music. It's hardly an exaggeration to observe that the voice and music of Al Bowlly had a definite effect on Page's career. Mr. Gregory Page's new album "Promise of A Dream" a collection of his earlier albums, that was released for the European market, is one you should not miss out on.

@ San Diego, USA

♫ Jazz, Acoustic, Alternative

♥ Bon Voyage, Mon Cheri (mp3)

♥ Love Made Me Drunk (mp3)

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▸ Official Website
▸ Bandcamp

Dylan LeBlanc

Not too long ago, a friend introduced me to the music of Dylan LeBlan and I've been listening to his debut album ever since. LeBlanc grew up hanging out amongst the session musicians at Fame Studios. By age 7, LeBlanc was already learning how to play a picking style on the guitar and began writing his own songs when his father bought him a guitar for his 11th birthday. When he turned 15 he began to hone his songwriting by playing live whenever he could, often traveling hundreds of miles on his own to play to just a handful of people. His musical influences include Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young and Spooner Oldham. As soon as he was of legal age, LeBlanc was signed to Fame Music by Rodney Hall. Part of the deal was that LeBlanc got access to the studio, where he recorded his debut album. In early 2009, Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis was introduced to LeBlanc's music and signed him to Rough Trade. LeBlanc's debut album Paupers Field was mixed by Trina Shoemaker and features guest vocals from Emmylou Harris.It was released on August 23rd and quickly became one of my favorite releases of the year.

@ Shreveport, USA

♫ Folk Rock, Acoustic

♥ If the Creek Don't Rise (mp3)

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▸ Official Website
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Alina Orlova

When I stumbled upon Alina Orlova's music on Spotify, I immediately knew that I found something spectacular, that would end up high in my  year's top list. Alina's high, hrilling vocals combined with the indescribable beautiful piano parts provides an unique musical experience of balkan folk pop, you will not easily forget. Orlova's fame preceded her first studio album when she was awarded an alternative music award A.LT back in her home country, whilst at the same time also being named a "Breakthrough of the year 2006" Her song Nesvarbu was voted by the readers of highly popular Lithuanian youth magazine Pravda as the best debut of the year. In 2008 her debut album Laukinis šuo dingo (The Wild Dog Dingo, named after a Russian book (by Ruvim Fraerman) for school children about teenage love) was released under the MetroMusic label Later the same year Orlova held concerts in Russia, London, Liverpool. According to her fansite, she is going to perform in Poland, Ireland, participate at Europavox festival in France, and elsewhere. Orlova received positive recognition both worldwide and in Lithuania where she is seen as a huge success - her "cozy" gigs are highly anticipated there. "Mutabor", Orlova's second album, was released last month in Lithuania, while her first album got a re-release in the UK.

@ Vilnius, Lithuania

♫ Alternative, Folk

♥ Vaiduokliai (mp3)

♥ Lijo (mp3)

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Phosphorescent

And here's another one that I have been listening to quite a lot during the last few months, it was his last album "Here's To Taking It Easy" that made me start listening to all of is his amazing albums and music. Don't miss out! Phosphorescent, fronted by Matthew Houck, is an indie folk/alt country band that is often compared to Iron and Wine, Will Oldham, and Neil Young. Phosphorescent currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and is signed to independent label Dead Oceans. Houck's career began in 2000 when he released the Hipolit album under the name Fillup Shack. A tour of England and Spain followed, and while the European press drew comparisons to Bob Dylan and Will Oldham, the London Evening Standard declared him "the most significant American in his field since Kurt Cobain." Houck's first release as Phosphorescent, entitled A Hundred Times or More, appeared in 2003 on the Warm label. The 2004 EP The Weight of Flight was his last release for the label, as the 2005 full-length Aw Come Aw Wry landed on Misra. Two years later the release of Pride began a relationship with the Dead Oceans imprint. To Willie, Phosphorescent's tribute to Willie Nelson, arrived in early 2009, followed by the all new Here's to Taking it Easy in 2010.

@ New York, USA

♫ Alternative, Indie, Folk

♥ The Mermaid Parade (mp3)

♥ It's Hard To Be Humble (mp3)

▸ MySpace

+ Spotify

Beach House

A lot, I actually think most of you already heard from the amazing dream pop duo Beach House, but since they weren't on LMLI yet and the fact that I have been listening to their last album "Teen Dream" quite a lot the last few months and have seen them play in Amsterdam, I had to share them with you. No one should miss out on the music of this  amazing duo. They formed in 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The group consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, organ) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboards). Legrand is the niece of french composer Michel Legrand. The group has released three albums: 2006’s “Beach House”, 2008’s “Devotion” and “Teen Dream” in early 2010. Within a year of formation, the group charmed indie music enthusiasts across the blogosphere with their languid songcraft. Two months later, Beach House issued their eponymous debut album for Carpark. In September of 2009 Sub Pop Records announced that Beach House had signed and that a follow up album to 2008’s “Devotion”, “Teen Dream” would be released in early 2010

@ Baltimore, USA

♫ Alternative, Dream Pop

♥ Zebra (mp3)

♥ Norway (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Official Website

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Nic Dawson Kelly

Sometimes you discover great new upcoming talents by attending gigs of your favorite artists. (sometimes you don't haha) The same happened when I found out that a Nic Dawson Kelly is going to support Laura Marling in Amsterdam this coming monday.

Born up north in Sheffield, and now residing in the south where he switches his time between Brighton and Reading, Nic has lived all over, travelling from place to place and taking in Derby, Leeds, Reading, Brighton, Galway, London, Argentina and France along the way. “Due to all the moving about I didn't get too much of a solid education, what I did learn was from my father’s bookshelf and the records that I'd hear from the back of the car. My first tapes were Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and Dylans "Street Legal" but I suppose influences would run through a wide range of people. Dylan and Waits the obvious. Describing himself as “a polite tear-away in youth who saw enough courtrooms to thankfully grow out of it!” Nic has worked more crap jobs than he cares to remember, “just to keep myself afloat and carry on doing what I loved doing...writing.” It is this experience which brings such a refreshing sense of honesty to Nic’s songwriting. “I try and write, musically, what I see. I suppose it's a simple as that. Writing how I feel or react or suppose is ongoing, conflicting almost. The songs on the record are changeable, a snapshot of the last few years.” Having already gained a reputation as a mesmeric live performer, Nic has played on bills with the likes of Jamie T, Laura Marling, Adele, Jason Molina and Richard Hawley, and a UK tour is currently being planned to coincide with the album’s release, although don’t expect the live show to be a carbon copy of songs from the album: “When they're played lived they may be different. That's a show after all, right?” Well I honestly can say that I'm really looking forward to seeing the live interpretations of his songs this monday. Meanwhile I'll continue on listening to his amazing debut album called ‘Old Valentine’ that was released last October. Thanks Laura, for introducing me to this incredibly talented singer-songwriter.

@ Brighton, UK
♫ Acoustic, Folk Rock
♥ Marilyn (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Fallulah

Fallulah is one of my most recent discoveries. Fallulah, 24 year old Maria Apetri, will surely join the ranks of Bat For Lashes, Jenny Wilson and Marina & The Diamonds, as part of the new emerging wave of proud, bold and adventurous female popartists. Fallulah creates popmusic with finesse, integrity and a fiery, hot- tempered feel of Central Europe. Her songs defy genres and contain subtle elements of classic pop, rock´n´roll, indie, balkan, jazz and r&b. They are energetic and highly physical, which is reflected live, when Fallulah is backed by a tight quartet that plays with a teenth-grinding, feet-stomping bluesy rawness. Fallulah´s debutalbum “The Black Cat Neighbourhood” is a minimalistic horn-of-plenty; extremely ambitious and focused, but at the same time organic, personal and with an infectious, rogue energy; The catchy melodies are arranged around propulsive beats, playful percussion, folkloric strings, piano, choir, glockenspiel and dry, stabbing guitars. The album was released in February 2010 and succeeds the single “I Lay My Head”, which immediately became “Song of the week” on the highly influential Danish P3 Radio.

@ Kopenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ Use It For Good (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Sarah Jaffe

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this amazing singer-songwriter from Texas through Myspace. Sarah Jaffe was born on January 29, 1986 in Lufkin, TX. She currently lives in Denton, TX, a city where the musical talent runs deep (it’s also the home of Brave Combo, Midlake, and Robert Gomez). Sarah released her Even Born Again EP in August 2008. She just finished recording her first full-length album, Suburban Nature, in December 2008 that will be released this April. Last week I managed to get my hands on Suburban Nature, that is filled with 14 amazing songs that sometimes remind me of PJ Harvey or the more recent Emily Jane White. Sarah Jaffe's vocals are so intimate and real that I can feel it in my bones. I easily dare to say that this might actually be the discovery of the year for me and that "Suburban Nature" definitely will be in the higher regions of this years top list. I can't wait to see what this year has in store for her, when someone manages to deliver so much quality with a first album, I'm sure it will all be good things. Don't miss out!

5/5

Key tracks: Better Than Nothing, Clementine, Summer Begs, Pretender

@ Denton, USA
♫ Indie, Folk, Alternative
♥ Better Than Nothing (mp3)
♥ Clementine (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Signe Tollefsen

Was it ‘An American in Paris’? No, this is about an American in Amsterdam. But the story has elements of a fairy tale too. Picture this; an American tourist in Amsterdam gets bored with staring at the wallpaper of his hotel room and decides to take a stroll through the famous Vondelpark where a young female singer/songwriter is just finishing the last song of her ‘open-air concert’. All he hears is the last verse of the last song. Nevertheless he is very impressed and takes a recording of the young woman home. Friends and music industry professionals listen on his request to the tape and the verdict is unanimous: ‘beautiful, and an enormous potential’. The American invites Signe Tollefsen to Los Angeles to record a number of songs in Linda Perry’s studio. Two of these recordings, You, Me & the Brewers and My Old Man are included on Signe Tollefsen’ s CoraZong debut album. You, Me & the Brewers features legendary violinist Jerry Goodman, famous for his work with The Flock and John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra. When the half-American singer moved from the UK to Holland to study music at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 2004, she also started successfully performing for a constantly increasing and, as it turns out, very loyal audiences. As a support act for established artists Signe is very much in demand too. She shared the stage with amongst others Alela Diane, Ane Brun, David Sylvian, and former Pavement member Stephen Malkmus with whom she performed in Germany and Italy. Signe’s music has already been noticed by well-known musicians such as famous Dutch chanteuse Mathilde Santing, who recorded Sweet Tears for her latest album. In 2006 Signe Tollefsen was both the winner of the Best Musician Award and got most votes from the audience at the Grote Prijs van Nederland, Holland’s most prestigious New Talent competition for Alternative Music. From the first note in It Smells of You, with a beautiful contribution on pedal steel guitar from Urban Dance Squad member René van Barneveld until the very last note of This Is It, you are listening to an extremely gifted artist. This is it, but we already want more!

@ NL
♫ Acoustic, Folk, Alternative
♥ It Smells Of You (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Gemma Ray

Essex born-and-bred beauty Gemma Ray is a singer-songwriter with a difference: her songs beguile you in the same way classic melodies do, yet somehow defy comparison. The heart-on-sleeve craftswomanship of her tunes allows full rein to roller-coasting intensity and twisted humour as she wraps her velvety vocals around little gems of pop, country, blues and gospel-inflected beauty. Such is the breathtaking scope of this album that its epic multi-layered sound has, you assume, the dedicated workforce of a full blown orchestra behind it, yet this beguiling mix of pop, country and blues is the work of Gemma Ray at home with co-producer Michael J Sheehy. Gemma’s first album, ‘The Leader’, though critically acclaimed, was fraught with setbacks. Recorded against a backdrop of illness, tours were cancelled and for the sake of her sanity the only way to abate the frustration was to keep recording and writing at home in London. Despite the circumstances, the darkness of her songwriting is seamlessly interlaced with humour, playfulness and beauty throughout. Make no mistake, doubters and stragglers will be converted and convinced by the kick-ass live show in which Gemma (now back on track and in good health) and her band take the songs to an even heightened level of hypnotism and drama. Recent shows saw audiences captivated by Gemma and her band, not least when she plays slide guitar not with a slide, but with a very intimidating ‘Psycho’-style knife. The album is preceded by the single 100 mph (in 2nd Gear) released on September 7th, and backed with 900 Miles, the Odetta cover that was used as the soundtrack to the BBC psycho-flick Mum & Dad.

@ London, UK
♫ Alternative, Folk, Pop
♥ 100 MPH (in 2nd Gear) (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Free Music: Emilie Lund

Emilie Lund from Stockholm, Sweden. Emilie is a young and talented singer/songwriter who is inspired by musicians like Nick Drake and Coco Rosie. Listening to music of others is by far not her only inspiration: Studying theatre at daytime and taking long walks through the nightly streets of Stockholm is part of her musical recipe. But the most important ingredient for her music is a remote area, far away from the city, somewhere in the Swedish countryside. The woods around that area can be seen as one of her main sources of inspiration. She spent half of her life in a house, practically in the forest – where she used to live with her parents. Whenever she gets there, creative things happen. She doesn’t need much to sound as wonderful as she does: “I like to make music with simple tools, whatever I can find in the house, my voice and my guitar.” Emilie sees beauty in simplicity. Things, just like music, have to have a soul, she says. “The music has to come from somewhere, a feeling that you just need to express. I love simplicity and intimacy and I try not to think too much about the sound.” After Emilie recorded a handful of songs in 2007, we stumbled upon her via Myspace. We immediately fell on love with her music and asked her whether she would like to release an EP with us. We can’t tell you how glad we are she agreed. The 5 tracks of the Emilie Lund EP can be downloaded for FREE – you are also free to copy and redistribute the songs for non-commercial purposes.

@ Sweden
♫ Indie, Acoustic, Pop
♥ Childhood Friend (mp3)
▸ Myspace
+ Free Emilie Lund EP