KTU - Quiver

KTU -Kimmo Pohjonen - accordion, voice
Trey Gunn - Warr guitar
Pat Mastelotto - beats, noises, rhythmic devices



"Sometimes warrior sometimes mystical, between fire and ice, in an unending horse-ride through the planes of northern Europe. Convulsive, ghostly music, capable of releasing gargula from its concrete skin - scaring, slow waltzes, improvised gothic jazz, rehearsed available funk, muscular and overwhelming."

Kronos Quartet - "Floodplain"

"Kronos' new album Floodplain features music inspired by the idea that areas prone to devastating flooding will experience creative rebirth after a catastrophe."



"For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos' work has also garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.
In addition to composers, Kronos counts numerous artists from around the world among its collaborators, including the Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man; legendary Bollywood "playback singer" Asha Bhosle, featured on Kronos' Grammy-nominated CD, You’ve Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood; Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; genre defying sound artist and instrument builder Walter Kitundu; the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks; renowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw; and the unbridled British cabaret trio, the Tiger Lillies. Kronos has performed live with the likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Zakir Hussain, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, David Barsamian, Howard Zinn, Betty Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as Nine Inch Nails, Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading and Don Walser."

James Carter - The real quiet storm

Jazz is a funny thing.
There's so many sides from where you can approach it, that it's confusing to give a straight answer when people ask you if you're into Jazz.
You see, you've got Free Jazz, New Orleans Jazz, Bebop, Old Jazz, New Jazz, Fusion (which is a kind of Jazz thing), New York Jazz (I never got where this one classification came from), Bossa Nova (this is streching a bit but, you know, they called it brasilian Jazz, so it might as well be here), Diana Krall (just for the sake of argument) and it goes on and on and on.

All of this to say that Jazz ballads and Jazz musicians that play mostly Jazz ballads were never my thing (to the extent that I still don't like most of what Chet Baker played). That is until I listened this album. And in this album James Carter blows the hell out of everyone that just happened to be in front of the speaker.



Also check out his "Layin' in the cut" album.

Monstro Mau

Well, this is my first post here. I've been considering for long what would it be... and today I found this: Monstro Mau, a band from Braga, with a good sound. Just to say that one of the members was from Feed (bassist) and the rest from Big Fat Mamma.

Check out their MySpace...

Kaki King - TED talks

having never heard of this girl, was suprised when I saw her at the TED talks:



Seems interesting, so if anyone has her album (playing with noise), just give a shout out

Digitalism

Digitalism is a German dance punk duo founded in 2004 in Hamburg and consisting of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi.

 In 2007  this electro maestros , released  Idealism,  an album  between rock and dance that every electro and rock lovers  were waiting for. 

Though songs range from killer dancefloor anthems like “Zdarlight” and “Idealistic” to more conventional indie vocal tracks like “Pogo” and “I Want I Want” and a reworking of the Cure’s “Fire in Cairo,” the album always maintains an organic cohesiveness. 

 This 2 boys give us a high-energy journey through faraway galaxies, foreign lands, other dimensions -- and eventually back to the dance floor. Here, they provide some insight into the concepts behind the album as well as their views on today’s indie-electro scene.

For the lucky ones who saw them at Dance Station- Lisbon 2007, they know what I am speaking about.

Check them on:http://www.youtube.com/user/digitalism?blend=1&ob=4

antony and the johnsons

I believe they dont need any presentations. However I was not sure if everyone already knew them. So here it goes:

 Antony Hergarty gave voice to this project in 1998. Their first album was released in 2000 and in 2005 they won the mercury prize with "I am a bird now". In 2009 they released "The crying light".

2 weeks ago I went to see their concert and I have no words to described such a beautifull, penetrating, inspired I dont know what!! Just amazing. I also went to their concert in Lisbon when they present "I am a bird now "and I had exactly the same feeling. 

It's impossible to describe such feelings. Just listen as loud as possible.

In my opinion, the jonhsons are wonderfull musicians and Antony is one of the best voices ever.

Since I am speaking about Antony I will just gave some names of some other projects he is in, that are also really amazing:

- Coco rosie

- Hercules and love affair

Enjoy