Interview with Gordon Giltrap (MBE)’s protegee, Carrie Martin 2019, Aug 27th
Born in Hull, Carrie developed something of a local reputation while still in her teens, as an acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter. She fronted bands in the 90s before casting her music aside in order to raise her children. Her guitar went untouched for some two decades (!) until a chance meeting with guitar virtuoso Gordon Giltrap, ... read on...
An Interview with music-loving duo Red Sky 2019, Aug 13thRed Sky are the atmospheric mellow blend of Paul Russam’s sensitive and crafty guitar playing and Samantha Briggs’ beautiful vocals. Their music is like a call of nature, taking you back in its different incarnations to what is simple and peaceful. Based in East Yorkshire, UK, the duo began writing songs together in 2014. Their ... read on...
The Peculiar Genius of Paul Pedana 2019, Apr 02ndEvery track Paul Pedana produces resolves itself into a story. The story begins with the songs, the raw material through which he channels emotion, autobiographical experience and philosophical journeys. The songs cohere into a universe. Authentic – is the most accurate word to describe Pedana. In every sound you hear the beat of real life. ... read on...
Blue Midnight: The Dream Metal Band 2019, Feb 08thBlue Midnight is the outlier in today’s world. The band’s creative blends of music choices—surprises and twists from song to song is going to be a trademark for their career. There are few artists who naturally combine the classical symphony orchestra along with grungy rock sounds of the 90s, emotions and ideas with a voice ... read on...
FUZETA – Part 1: Sound, Unlimited 2017, Oct 21stThis article retraces, via captain logs, the encounter of French band Fuzeta by ZeBoss aka as the founder of Radio Kaos Caribou #RKC who sums up the experience as:
‘Where the incredible sonic trip of your ears, heart, soul, or simply of you begins, leading to the country of the quasi automatic eargasm.’
ZeBoSS’s Logbook in the ... read on...
Re-Introducing Valentino Mitaj 2017, Sep 22ndA household name in his native country, Valentino Mitaj is already a bona fide pop star. In fact, the music he makes is best identified as “popular music” in native Albania, a genre which features traditional folk beats & instruments, set to an updated contemporary tempo. Now based in Detroit & LA, Valentino is looking ... read on...
I Write The Songs #98 featuring Michel Berger 2016, Dec 20thI Write The Songs #98 featuring singer-songwriter Michel Berger, first aired on Canalside Community Radio 102.8FM on Tuesday the 20th Dec 2016. Mixcloud podcast, featured lyrics and Playlist below:
You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come running, oh yeah baby, to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you’ve got to ... read on...
Siedah Garett, the woman behind the man in the mirror 2015, Jun 01stSiedah Garett: Artist Profile
Few artists can boast the collaborations that Siedah Garett does. Just the mention of her name reminds us of Michael Jackson. She did not just perform backing vocals on the legend’s Bad songs. She sang duets with him such as I just can’t stop loving you. She co-wrote songs for him. Two of these ... read on...
Sonja Marie: And I gave my love to you 2015, Apr 26thSonja Marie: Artist Profile
It is so easy to forget people when they are not in your face all the time> Yet, again, maybe some singer songwriters need to be in your face to be noticed. Sonja Marie lets her music do the talking.
Better known for her soulful contribution to the acclaimed “Waiting to Exhale” original ... read on...
Simon Cousins’ music: Finding love in each stranger’s eyes 2015, Feb 22ndSimon Cousins is a musician that is open to people and true to his music and a real uncomplicated pleasure to listen. He has his own style and his personality transpires in his music. His performances have a playful and conversational aspect to them that give a convivial spirit to his music and the impression that he is no stranger to his audience (and once he sings, ... read on...
Roland Orzabal is sowing the seeds of love 2015, Jan 12thThe artistry of some performing songwriters sometimes get drowned in the advances of technology or the frills of popular music. It certainly does not seem to be the case for the lyrics and melodies of Tears For Fears’s songwriter Roland Orzabal. At first sight, the public may more easily find the soul of the Tears for ... read on...
Let yourself go with the sounds of Coco Mbassi 2014, Dec 20thCoco Mbassi rightly describes her music as a « tree with deep African roots and branches that extend some towards classical music, some towards soul, gospel and jazz, and others towards Latin music and even pop music ». Now, discover this acoustic blend in her soulful voice, her Cameroonian roots, her ecclectic musical upbringing (from ... read on...
Coucou, here is Charlotte Dipanda 2014, Nov 05thAlready a familiar voice in the music scene, Charlotte Dipanda has accompanied the greatest musicians live and in studio including international legend Manu Dibango, Malian griotte Rokia Traore, Congolese star Papa Wemba and French star Axelle Red.
She takes her vocals to the next step when she goes solo in 2008 with her debut album Mispa followed 2 years later ... read on...
Krista Detor shares the contents of her red velvet box 2014, Oct 19thPut some laid-back tones into Americana/Country, throw touches of Jazz and Fusion elements here and there. Please don’t shake and don’t stir. Let it just marinate. You will end up with the voice and melodies of Krista Detor, of the music that slows down the human race and help you exhale the toxicity of life that humans ... read on...
Korean singer Youn Sun Nah breathes some fresh air into Jazz 2014, Oct 11thShe might be from Korea, but her voice reaches beyond her shores with a virtuosity rooted in her ability to seamlessly blend genres. She plays with it on each wave of music, with a blend of accents that root in Korean Folk and Western opera and grows into a folk beyond her own shores, including French chanson and jazzing up all ... read on...
Paul Fogarty finds his own way home 2014, Oct 06thWith topical songs à la John Lennon meets Bob Marley, the softness of Paul Simon at the tip of his tongue and fingers, the Americana/Country meets Folk troubadour Paul Fogarty is one of the most understated yet deeply expressive musicians out there.
Once you have wallowed into the ever growing musical legacy of Australia-born Germany-based Fogarty, it ... read on...
Korlan, a Polar Star 2014, Oct 01stSherlock Holmes always looks annoyed when the world around him seems complacent at the obviousness of the plot once he has unravelled it. It can somehow be debilitating that genius is late if at all recognised especially when it has the unique ability to express enigmas as if they were mere day-to-day events.
It is however ... read on...
Bella Bellow: A voice that marked a generation 2014, Sep 10thShe might not technically write her own music but her voices has lifted and enhanced so many a song that it feels like her stamp has crafted them. She might not have been around for a long time, what with leaving us at only 27, but those who have encountered her voice know that her short passage ... read on...
Karine Polwart follows the heron 2014, Apr 16thListening to Karine Polwart’s music transports the mind and heart to the autumnal woods, smelling the leaves and hearing nightingales sing. Her music is spellbinding both in the songwriting craft and the delivery. She is undeniably the Folk inspiration of her generation proving that what matters is not at what time you come to the ... read on...
Carla Bruni sings us a little French song 2014, Mar 10thIt is easy to categorise Carla Bruni as a face and body with a higher than average ability to hang make-up and clothes. It might even be easier to identify her in relationship to her passage in the French white house or to her aristocratic background. However, under music, all humans are equal and it ... read on...
Eboa Lotin, the radio (Elimb’a Dikalo) 2014, Mar 03rd“Elimb’a Dikalo” is the Duala (African language) expression for “Radio”, literally the drum of story-telling. It is also a track by Cameroonian singer-songwriter Eboa Lotin and a song that defines him: he honestly speaks (sings), like what he would expect of a self-respecting radio to broadcast, about life and its social events, good and bad without sweeping ... read on...
Jo Bywater: A Wave of Primal Hunger 2014, Feb 10thThe Review
There is music that comforts us in the cuddle of the known and the established… and there is music that keeps us at the edge of our seats, ready to take off at each release. Jo Bywater’s music belongs to the latter. Release after release, live or studio-recorded, this musician allows the listener to wallow ... read on...
Yael Naim, New Soul 2014, Jan 23rdYael Naiem is more than just the Israeli-singer-songwriter and pianist of Jewish Tunisian descent who provided the soundtrack (‘New Soul’ for the Apple MacBook Air advertising in 2008 which propelled her in the US top 10, a first for any Israeli music artist. Her apparently voluntarily husked voice has lent itself to beautiful covers and some ... read on...
Marina Florance shares her own little piece of the sky 2013, Dec 19thIt is difficult to review the artistry of a musician whose voice and melodies just sit you gently in the arms of comfort. It is pure indulgence and luxury to listen to the velvet vocals of Marina Florance and to let yourself go into her own little piece of sky. Her performance alone is a ... read on...
Sa Dingding: Alive 2013, Dec 09thThe music of Chinese Ethno-folk singer-songwriter Sa Dingding offers an exciting musical tour of her own unique blend of far eastern treasures and Western Electronica influences. It showcases a creative, imaginative and free-spirited nature and reveals the richness of her inner colours. She seamlessly marries the native elements of her Chinese folk roots and other ... read on...
Camille, the voice that frees her inner child 2013, Dec 05thCamille… a spirit of freedom that resounds in a voice that just lets go of all inhibition, still in a faultless vocal performance. She does these in French and English, and in as many musical onomatopoeias and voice registers as the song inspires, from acapella to ‘fully’ accompanied by a vocal choir of harmonies or musical instruments. ... read on...
Fiona Apple, The Extraordinary Machine 2013, Nov 01st
Fiona Apple writes, composes and performs her personal songs with alternative rock and decadent jazz accents as well as world-inspired tones. She has a way with words that betrays her heartfelt and honest lyrics to their core. She sings of how she feels and this is literal music integrity: there is nothing in a Fiona ... read on...
Georges Moustaki, the Metic 2013, Aug 01stIn the title track of his debut album, Georges Moustaki describes his face as that of a metic, a wandering Jew, a Greek shepherd, a thief and a vagabond. Maybe so. But his melodic strumming of the guitar and his understated voice have overflown these appearances, his overgrown beard and that stereotype. If anything, that ... read on...
Re-Introducing Serge Gainsbourg 2010, Nov 01stIntroducing Gainsbourg…
Serge Gainsbourg is a singer-songwriter of Russian Jewish descent adopted by France then the world twice, first when fleeing the 1917 Russian Revolution that dressed his family in the yellow star garments that the Nazi regime reserved for Jews and second for his profound talent, versatility and “je m’en fous-t”ism i.e. the “I really ... read on...
Re-Introducing Georges Brassens 2009, Dec 01stIntro
French singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens was born 22nd October 1921, in Sète, a small harbour town on the French Mediterranean coast from a notoriously anti-cleric dad and a strictly catholic mum. It is one of his teacher that introduces him to poetry, and the rest is history.
Georges Brassens is as well-known in France today ... read on...
Cathy Dennis: Simply Toxic 2009, Oct 01stSitting as the cherry on top of the cream of pop singer-songwriters (even though she eventually retired to song writing only) is Cathy Dennis. Growing up listening to various musical genres and particularly jazz has made her music open and versatile and helped it contribute to giving pop a decent amount of credibility.
More specifically, Cathy Dennis ... read on...
Born in Hull, Carrie developed something of a local reputation while still in her teens, as an acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter. She fronted bands in the 90s before casting her music aside in order to raise her children. Her guitar went untouched for some two decades (!) until a chance meeting with guitar virtuoso Gordon Giltrap, ... read on...
Red Sky are the atmospheric mellow blend of Paul Russam’s sensitive and crafty guitar playing and Samantha Briggs’ beautiful vocals. Their music is like a call of nature, taking you back in its different incarnations to what is simple and peaceful. Based in East Yorkshire, UK, the duo began writing songs together in 2014. Their ... read on...
Every track Paul Pedana produces resolves itself into a story. The story begins with the songs, the raw material through which he channels emotion, autobiographical experience and philosophical journeys. The songs cohere into a universe. Authentic – is the most accurate word to describe Pedana. In every sound you hear the beat of real life. ... read on...
Blue Midnight is the outlier in today’s world. The band’s creative blends of music choices—surprises and twists from song to song is going to be a trademark for their career. There are few artists who naturally combine the classical symphony orchestra along with grungy rock sounds of the 90s, emotions and ideas with a voice ... read on...
This article retraces, via captain logs, the encounter of French band Fuzeta by ZeBoss aka as the founder of Radio Kaos Caribou #RKC who sums up the experience as:
‘Where the incredible sonic trip of your ears, heart, soul, or simply of you begins, leading to the country of the quasi automatic eargasm.’
ZeBoSS’s Logbook in the ... read on...
A household name in his native country, Valentino Mitaj is already a bona fide pop star. In fact, the music he makes is best identified as “popular music” in native Albania, a genre which features traditional folk beats & instruments, set to an updated contemporary tempo. Now based in Detroit & LA, Valentino is looking ... read on...
I Write The Songs #98 featuring singer-songwriter Michel Berger, first aired on Canalside Community Radio 102.8FM on Tuesday the 20th Dec 2016. Mixcloud podcast, featured lyrics and Playlist below:
You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come running, oh yeah baby, to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you’ve got to ... read on...
Siedah Garett: Artist Profile
Few artists can boast the collaborations that Siedah Garett does. Just the mention of her name reminds us of Michael Jackson. She did not just perform backing vocals on the legend’s Bad songs. She sang duets with him such as I just can’t stop loving you. She co-wrote songs for him. Two of these ... read on...
Sonja Marie: Artist Profile
It is so easy to forget people when they are not in your face all the time> Yet, again, maybe some singer songwriters need to be in your face to be noticed. Sonja Marie lets her music do the talking.
Better known for her soulful contribution to the acclaimed “Waiting to Exhale” original ... read on...
Simon Cousins is a musician that is open to people and true to his music and a real uncomplicated pleasure to listen. He has his own style and his personality transpires in his music. His performances have a playful and conversational aspect to them that give a convivial spirit to his music and the impression that he is no stranger to his audience (and once he sings, ... read on...
The artistry of some performing songwriters sometimes get drowned in the advances of technology or the frills of popular music. It certainly does not seem to be the case for the lyrics and melodies of Tears For Fears’s songwriter Roland Orzabal. At first sight, the public may more easily find the soul of the Tears for ... read on...
Coco Mbassi rightly describes her music as a « tree with deep African roots and branches that extend some towards classical music, some towards soul, gospel and jazz, and others towards Latin music and even pop music ». Now, discover this acoustic blend in her soulful voice, her Cameroonian roots, her ecclectic musical upbringing (from ... read on...
Already a familiar voice in the music scene, Charlotte Dipanda has accompanied the greatest musicians live and in studio including international legend Manu Dibango, Malian griotte Rokia Traore, Congolese star Papa Wemba and French star Axelle Red.
She takes her vocals to the next step when she goes solo in 2008 with her debut album Mispa followed 2 years later ... read on...
Put some laid-back tones into Americana/Country, throw touches of Jazz and Fusion elements here and there. Please don’t shake and don’t stir. Let it just marinate. You will end up with the voice and melodies of Krista Detor, of the music that slows down the human race and help you exhale the toxicity of life that humans ... read on...
She might be from Korea, but her voice reaches beyond her shores with a virtuosity rooted in her ability to seamlessly blend genres. She plays with it on each wave of music, with a blend of accents that root in Korean Folk and Western opera and grows into a folk beyond her own shores, including French chanson and jazzing up all ... read on...
With topical songs à la John Lennon meets Bob Marley, the softness of Paul Simon at the tip of his tongue and fingers, the Americana/Country meets Folk troubadour Paul Fogarty is one of the most understated yet deeply expressive musicians out there.
Once you have wallowed into the ever growing musical legacy of Australia-born Germany-based Fogarty, it ... read on...
Sherlock Holmes always looks annoyed when the world around him seems complacent at the obviousness of the plot once he has unravelled it. It can somehow be debilitating that genius is late if at all recognised especially when it has the unique ability to express enigmas as if they were mere day-to-day events.
It is however ... read on...
She might not technically write her own music but her voices has lifted and enhanced so many a song that it feels like her stamp has crafted them. She might not have been around for a long time, what with leaving us at only 27, but those who have encountered her voice know that her short passage ... read on...
Listening to Karine Polwart’s music transports the mind and heart to the autumnal woods, smelling the leaves and hearing nightingales sing. Her music is spellbinding both in the songwriting craft and the delivery. She is undeniably the Folk inspiration of her generation proving that what matters is not at what time you come to the ... read on...
It is easy to categorise Carla Bruni as a face and body with a higher than average ability to hang make-up and clothes. It might even be easier to identify her in relationship to her passage in the French white house or to her aristocratic background. However, under music, all humans are equal and it ... read on...
“Elimb’a Dikalo” is the Duala (African language) expression for “Radio”, literally the drum of story-telling. It is also a track by Cameroonian singer-songwriter Eboa Lotin and a song that defines him: he honestly speaks (sings), like what he would expect of a self-respecting radio to broadcast, about life and its social events, good and bad without sweeping ... read on...
The Review
There is music that comforts us in the cuddle of the known and the established… and there is music that keeps us at the edge of our seats, ready to take off at each release. Jo Bywater’s music belongs to the latter. Release after release, live or studio-recorded, this musician allows the listener to wallow ... read on...
Yael Naiem is more than just the Israeli-singer-songwriter and pianist of Jewish Tunisian descent who provided the soundtrack (‘New Soul’ for the Apple MacBook Air advertising in 2008 which propelled her in the US top 10, a first for any Israeli music artist. Her apparently voluntarily husked voice has lent itself to beautiful covers and some ... read on...
It is difficult to review the artistry of a musician whose voice and melodies just sit you gently in the arms of comfort. It is pure indulgence and luxury to listen to the velvet vocals of Marina Florance and to let yourself go into her own little piece of sky. Her performance alone is a ... read on...
The music of Chinese Ethno-folk singer-songwriter Sa Dingding offers an exciting musical tour of her own unique blend of far eastern treasures and Western Electronica influences. It showcases a creative, imaginative and free-spirited nature and reveals the richness of her inner colours. She seamlessly marries the native elements of her Chinese folk roots and other ... read on...
Camille… a spirit of freedom that resounds in a voice that just lets go of all inhibition, still in a faultless vocal performance. She does these in French and English, and in as many musical onomatopoeias and voice registers as the song inspires, from acapella to ‘fully’ accompanied by a vocal choir of harmonies or musical instruments. ... read on...
Fiona Apple writes, composes and performs her personal songs with alternative rock and decadent jazz accents as well as world-inspired tones. She has a way with words that betrays her heartfelt and honest lyrics to their core. She sings of how she feels and this is literal music integrity: there is nothing in a Fiona ... read on...
In the title track of his debut album, Georges Moustaki describes his face as that of a metic, a wandering Jew, a Greek shepherd, a thief and a vagabond. Maybe so. But his melodic strumming of the guitar and his understated voice have overflown these appearances, his overgrown beard and that stereotype. If anything, that ... read on...
Introducing Gainsbourg…
Serge Gainsbourg is a singer-songwriter of Russian Jewish descent adopted by France then the world twice, first when fleeing the 1917 Russian Revolution that dressed his family in the yellow star garments that the Nazi regime reserved for Jews and second for his profound talent, versatility and “je m’en fous-t”ism i.e. the “I really ... read on...
Intro
French singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens was born 22nd October 1921, in Sète, a small harbour town on the French Mediterranean coast from a notoriously anti-cleric dad and a strictly catholic mum. It is one of his teacher that introduces him to poetry, and the rest is history.
Georges Brassens is as well-known in France today ... read on...
Sitting as the cherry on top of the cream of pop singer-songwriters (even though she eventually retired to song writing only) is Cathy Dennis. Growing up listening to various musical genres and particularly jazz has made her music open and versatile and helped it contribute to giving pop a decent amount of credibility.
More specifically, Cathy Dennis ... read on...
