International music, Video of the Day

Video of the Day #51: Charles Bradley

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This blog needs some SOUL. It’s april fools day, but Charles Bradley ain’t fooling around. This 62-year-old man is singing his heart out. Watch his stunning performance below (live on KEXP). Charles has a fascinating background story (bio on facebook). His debut album No Time For Dreaming was released by Daptone Records in january.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6slbqEMiKsI]

This music video is equally wonderful.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTy7ugrSFz4]

Charles Bradley Website

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International music, Video of the Day

Video of the Day #50: Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children

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I can’t say I’m the biggest expert on the Greenlandic indie scene, but recently I stumbled upon Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children and their songs are pretty marvellous. The album Nive Sings! came out in december 2010 and you can listen to it on their bandcamp. The album was produced by John Parish. Howe Gelb features on a couple of tracks and in one interview she named bands/artists like Townes Van Zandt, Michael Hurley, Giant Sand.. as her influences. So she definitely has a great taste in music. But enough with this pointless namedropping. The thing that matters is that she writes captivating folk songs and has a really beautiful voice. What a lovely album and what a lovely video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9iC0rNELyw]

Nive Nielsen at bandcamp
Nive Nielsen at myspace

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International music, Reviews

Review: Malcolm Holcombe – To Drink The Rain

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Malcolm Holcombe: To Drink The Rain (Music Road Records, 2011)

To Drink The Rain is Malcolm Holcombe’s eight album, but the first one that I’ve heard. Well better late than never (if we start to celebrate the cliche), because this is pretty amazing stuff. Some of the rawest country-blues of the record might slide out of pop fan’s comfort zone, but this is only an issue with a couple of the songs. On most parts, To Drink The Rain easily floats into the core of my heart and songs like Becky’s Blessed (Backporch Flowers) and One Man Singin’ also finds a place to stay there. Especially Becky’s Blessed is one of the best songs of the year so far. This man is definitely a hardcore troubadour and able to write extremely captivating country, folk & blues songs and the album is full of down-to-earth & rough beauty. Maybe the album is not stylewise my closest companion, but Malcolm sounds so convincing all the time that I just have to throw all the prejudices away and just listen to one man singing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYifln4Gyuc]

Malcolm Holcombe Website
To Drink The Rain at Spotify

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International music, Reviews

Review: Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath The Willow

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Daniel Romano: Sleep Beneath The Willow (You’ve Changed Records, 2011)

I got Daniel Romano’s new album Sleep Beneath The Willow through reviewshine, but it’s such a fabulous album that I really should buy a physical copy as well. Daniel Romano is a country singer-songwriter from Welland, ON, Canada and he has written a wonderful traditional country & folk album. Press release namedrops Glen Campbell and Lee Hazlewood, but it should have mentioned solo Gram Parsons as well, because some of the songs like Lost (For As Long As I Live) sounds a lot like Gram’s solo country balladry. While the focus seem to be on the 60’s and early 70’s influenced old-fashioned country songs, there’s definitely some variation. For example the opening track Time Forgot (To Change My Heart) throws some darker (and almost gothic) americana sounds into the picture.

This is really good stuff altogether and the greatest moments like Hard On You and Lost (For As Long As I Live) are just brilliant. Daniel should tour with another amazing troubadour Pete Molinari. They are both so wonderful at updating old country & folk sounds and making them sound as fresh and beautiful as they did back in the day. Plus they both have a fantastic song about a girl named Louise.

Listen to Time Forgot (To Change My Heart)
[audio:http://onechord.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/01-time-forgot-to-change-my-heart.mp3]

Daniel Romano at myspace

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