• From the southern part of Sweden we introduce Anna Jadeus & the Miracle Orchestra and their brand new song Army Révolutionnaire. A hooky folky vibe we double dare you to resist, a feet stomping zealous ride.
It’s unsigned, homemade and a fresh breath of mountain air. It’s Regina Spektor drinking Scotch on the rocks with The Head And The Heart on the banks of Öresund. Give it a swing!
Sometimes I hear a song, or some kind of songwriting, that surrounds my soul in a special way. It’s always hard to know why these minutes of music affect me this way. Maybe I don’t even wanna know.
I do know that the mighty Gothenburg duo of Castlewoods hit that nerve deep inside of me, that emotional epicenter of severe satisfaction. I’m officially moved and enjoying the ride, to say the least.
Castlewoods are Sofia Assarson and Maja Fredriksson, both freakishly talented singer/songmakers from Sweden. They make folky indie music that surges from the green treetops and down below ground. Songs light as a feather and heavy as the black rain of a revolution.
Try these songs below, a demo called Little Black Sparrow (just imagine this one fully produced…) and a cover of the Springsteen tune I’m On Fire.
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PS: I can’t help of thinking of First Aid Kit, the breathtaking Swedish duo who is (well-earned) conquering the world. Castlewood is the next big thing. Are you reading this and owning a record label? Well, sign them up.
Kickstarter help a lot of great musicians to fulfill their dreams. One of those is Patrick Norton. He’s releasing his debut album in November, thanks to Kickstarter and the people who has funded his project. While listening to a couple of his tracks, for the upcoming album, it became very obvious why. This is sweet sweet Americana, Western Rock, whatever you wanna call it, it is great stuff. This is a dedicated man.
As he puts it himself ”In addition to recording my own songs, I also engineer and produce for other artists in a recording studio that I co-own.”, and from what you can tell from the music, it is done very well indeed. I sincerely hope that more people get to meet Patrick Norton, and his great music.
Take a listen to what it sounds like for yourself:
Links:
Penny Blacks is the songwriting vehicle of Jason Ogden. Penny Black is also a stamp, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, but thats another story.
It´s the folky vibe we love and very Canadian (Great Lake Swimmers, Wolf Parade). It´s something special with the big tree-filled country. A lo-fi Swedish touch jammed with an country & western twang. Jason Ogden is from New Brunswick, a frenchy southeast part of Canada that borders to the Stephen King state of Maine.
Penny Blacks is something very special. Something you wanna put in a box and mail to your best friend. Something you wanna keep as a secret – as your own – but also scream out on the top of your lungs to the rest of the world. This is sincere and for real and a force to reckon with. I´m pretty blown away.
Every once in a while you stumble upon something different. Something overwhelming. Something that – to coin a phrase – fucks you up.
Maxim Ludwig was born in New York, moved to Germany and played blues harmonica live in beer tents at the noble age of nine. Back in the States, Ludwig moved to the hipsterville of Silver Lake where he finished his self-produced debut album.
On stage, Maxim Ludwig walks the walk of great men. The Dylans, The Cohens, The Reeds, they all spring to mind. The band is hard-working, energizing and there for the rising. This is folk music, so good that people should get arrested. Or just set free.
March 16-18 they play SXSW in Austin. They will explode. It will change stuff. Of that, I´m sure.
Rumbling through twitter, bandcamp, myspace and other great sites, you sometimes stumble upon some great stuff.
The Echelon Effect is one of those. Dave Walters the man, is creating some exciting and beautiful post-rock instrumental soundscapes. Like huge clouds of sound soaring through the sky, ripping tears into the mainstream lightblueish mash.
Currently Dave is working on a project called Seasons, which will document the year in a film and four EP’s. First one to be released in April.
Bad Panda Records will release the single ”We Will Spin Forever” this monday 7th march, be ready to check that out, and download it for free.
This is really something to crawl into, just turn up the volume, sit back, enjoy.
Check out The Echelon Effect @ The Echelon Effect and while waiting for the single, just watch this:
Kentuckyseven has a mission. A mission to spread the word on great music. Here are some guys you pay close attention to.
Galapaghost
Casey Chandler from Woodstock NY, with his creation Galapaghost. Living in Austin TX, he has released 2 prior Ep’s and now releases his third, for free.
Casey has toured with John Grant, and played with such Kentuckyseven-favourites as Alessi’s Ark. The man has got something, something to tell. Listen.
Galapaghost is the singer/songwriter-styled music that is all what Kentuckyseven is about.
George Glass
The call themselves a pre-apocalyptic rock band, from L.A. A hard working band, doing all on their own budget and time. By the way they just had a vinyl release party for the EP.
If you wanna listen to George Glass live, you should be traveling to AZ or northern Cali, where they will be @ LaBrie’s Lounge in march. The full lenght will be released early 2012.
Meanwhile listen to the tunes on bandcamp, iTunes, spotify, amazon.
Anthony Ruptak
Singer/songwriter from Colorado, who is dedicated to music. For real. Influenced by Charles Bukowski and others in his writing, and has a thing for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes.
A young writer born in the Rocky Mountains. Schooled by his mother and scorned by his father. He began to associate himself with music, realizing that it was the one thing he could control and contribute. The lyrics of the most recent songs deal with thematic issues and storyline that try to breach the gap between life and death, and capture the listener with the raw, acoustic feel.
