It’s a Song Contest! Kind of…
The following is a selection of songs from artists who:
a) I’ve been listening to lately.
b) All just happen to be from some diverse places around the globe.
c) Are brilliant.
Camille – Ta Doleur
This amazing French singer produces some of the most original vocals from a throat I’ve heard in a long time. Not afraid to overlay vocals, use effects or put emotion in her voice, her latest album ‘Le Fil’ which translates as ‘The Wire’ or ‘The Thread’ is exactly that, a collection of great songs with an underlying vocal hum from Camille throughout. She’s huge in France already, but deserves to be huge everywhere. If you like this Tim from the Face of Today and founder of the excellent Contrast Podcast, has Camille live from Later with Jools Holland from last weeks show.
[Buy]
Juana Molina – Rio Seco
Beautiful acoustic-folk music from Argentina with some underlying vocal effects and electronics. She kind of reminds me of Camille, which is a very good thing, although not as obviously mental. Her fourth album is out on the 5th of June entitled ‘Son’.
[Buy]
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacum
Originally from Mexico, Rodrigo and Gabriela were in a heavy metal band in their native land before moving to Ireland where they busked on the streets of Dublin with Spanish guitars. Gigs on the live circuit soon followed along with critical acclaim for their first album ‘re-foc‘. After playing a stormer at last years Oxegen festival (The tent was so packed we couldn’t even get in), and a live CD release, they released their second album, produced by John Leckie entitled just ‘Rodrigo y Gabriela‘ in March. They are currently receiving loads of attention in the UK. The track here is from the newest album, but I cannot stress enough, you have to SEE these guys in the flesh to really appreciate how talented they are. To get an idea, have a look at the video on their website.
[Buy]
Sebastian Tellier – La Ritournelle
From Paris and signed to Air’s Record Makers label comes a song which received quite a lot of attention last year via radio play and blog sites with praise like ‘one of the most beautiful, symphonic dance tracks you’ll ever hear in your lives‘ . I had completely forgotten about this track until some time a few weeks ago. What a song.
[Buy]
Au Revoir Simone – Through the Backyards
From Brooklyn , New York, this song from this three girl group is simple, affective and charming. No prizes for guessing why they called their album ‘Verses of Comfort, Assurance and Salvation’. They’ve got a lovely set of synths too…
[Buy]
The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health
From Stockholm, Sweden this brother and sister duo have been on constant rotation in the house and on the iPod. They are an intriguing lot, first coming to everybody’s attention thanks to Jose Gonzalez’s cover of Heartbeats, secondly because they like to wear masks and costumes in press shots. Their latest album ‘Silent Shout‘ is one of the darkest album’s you’ll hear this year. Luckily, it’s brilliant. Mixing elements of electro, techno and ambient genres with distinct vocals has produced one of my favourite albums of the year so far.
Silent Shout [Buy]
Related Tags:
The Knife
Juana Molina
Camille
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Sebastian Tellier
Au Revoir Simone
