Posts Tagged ‘Jools Holland’
The what is Later…with Jools Holland and the who is Sharon Van Etten.
Incase you missed it last night and are wondering what or who everybody is talking about today; the what is Later…with Jools Holland and the who is Sharon Van Etten.
I first featured Van Etten on here back in March, just after the release of her third studio album, ‘Tramp’ (February 7th, 2012). Her track ‘Serpents’ had been used in the now cancelled U.S. neo-noir TV drama Ringer. I’m still pretty miffed at the cancellation to be honest, not least because the soundtrack to each episode had been consistently brilliant (Mikky Ekko, Laura Veirs).
Van Etten has been touring the UK over the past month or so and is about to return to the U.S. before visiting Australia in late December/early January 2013. After last night’s performance, I fully expect ‘Tramp’ to soar up the UK Album Chart and so it should.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Enjoy the sounds and the sun this summer with ‘Every Kingdom’ by @benhowardmusic
Britain is set to bask in temperatures of up to 25c this week; what better reason could there be to purchase a copy of Ben Howard‘s debut album ‘Every Kingdom.’ These are two subject matters that are not as unrelated as you might think : both deliver an element of surprise yet immediate pleasure to the ear, both are more likely to be seen around the southern counties of Devon and Cornwall and finally, both make a much-needed and refreshing change to the norm.
Ben Howard is a 25 year old rootsy/acoustic folk singer-songwriter from Devon, UK. Some of you may have caught Howard’s appearance on ‘Later…with Jools Holland’ at the weekend and what a performance it was. Howard performed ‘The Wolves’ and ‘Old Pine’ from his Gold-certified debut album and simply stunned the audience with his vocal tone and musicianship. Howard’s tone reminds me greatly of my favourite male singer-songwriter, Damien Rice; a compliment of the highest order from my lips. Howard has a loyal and dedicated fanbase in the UK, garnered during his many intimate gigs up and down the country.
Howard is confirmed to play at a number of UK festivals this summer, including T In The Park, V Festival and Latitude, before embarking on a larger scale tour of the UK in November. Most dates are already sold out, but you might just fall lucky on a couple if you’re quick. I’ve included a video below of Howard performing a cover of Lana Del Rey‘s ‘Video Games’, another track which I love at the moment. If it’s possible, Howard makes the melody and lyrics sound even more haunting and beautiful.
Do yourself a favour; treat yourself to this record, put your feet up and enjoy the sounds and the sun.
‘Every Kingdom’ track listing includes: Old Pine / Diamonds / The Wolves / Everything / Only Love / The Fear / Keep Your Head Up / Black Flies / Gracious / Promise.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Top tips for 2012, featuring First Aid Kit, L.P. and Various Cruelties @firstaidkitband @LPROCK @v_cruelties
First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo, consisting of sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg. The siblings formed their band and began writing in 2007, aged just 17 and 14 and have since gone on to release their debut album ‘The Big Black & The Blue’ (2010) and to support Fleet Foxes in Europe. They have a great deal in common with the aforementioned folk septet, particularly with regard to their tight vocal harmonies and earthy songwriting style. The band are set to release their second album ‘The Lion’s Roar’, on January 23rd, 2012, from which I have selected one of my favourite tracks, ‘Emmylou.’
L.P. or Laura Pergolizzi to the over-familiar amongst us, is a rock singer and songwriter from New York. Since signing to Warner Music Group, she has amassed considerable songwriting credits, including tracks penned for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Rihanna and… ahem, Heidi Montag. Currently working on her debut release for the major label; I have selected the track ‘Into The Wild’ to give you a taste of what’s to come from this fiesty rock frontrunner.
Various Cruelties are a four-piece band based in London, who make ‘Motown-influenced indie’ music. The band centres around songwriter and frontman Liam O’Donnell who, inspired by his Northern Soul roots in Leeds, moved to London to write about his experiences to date and stumbled across some bandmates along the way. Fast forward two years and O’Donnell and co are set to release their debut album in the Spring of 2012. They have found themselves on several ‘must watch’ lists and have enjoyed high praise from several notable TV performances, including Jools Holland at the back end of last year. I think this band have a great deal to look forward to in 2012, particularly with their USP (O’Donnell) at the helm. My favourite track to date would be ‘If It Wasn’t For You’ which I have loaded below. The band are currently touring the UK.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
www.thisisfirstaidkit.com / www.twitter.com/firstaidkitband
Currently listening to…Miley, Mumford and Metric
I didn’t even plan for the triple M’s there…
I like to consider myself as having an open-minded and therefore wide-ranging musical taste; my friend calls me fickle, I say no, I just like what I like, sometimes there doesn’t have to be reasoning!
I am currently listening to three songs which I really like: a big screen teen angst power ballad, a contemporary yet classic sounding folk beat and a stadium-rock belting number from Canada. That is; Miley Cyrus’s ‘When I Look At You’, Mumford and Sons’ ‘The Cave’ and Metric’s ‘Gimme Sympathy‘.
With regards to Cyrus, I have to say that I really enjoyed the film that this is featured on, ‘The Last Song’. My friend and I went to see it expecting to be surrounded by tweens but alas no, just a few fellow Miley fans, eager to see her big screen outing in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ new book of the same name. I have to say I love Nicholas Sparks’ writing too, you can’t beat a love story set in the deep south with floaty characters, elaborate declarations and hidden secrets. I also love a power ballad and this is a great one to sing at fellow drivers on the mundane trip to your 9 to 5…just me then?
Metric are a Canadian indie-rock band who are really big stateside, but have only recently made the jaunt over this way to chance their arm. I saw them on Jools Holland and loved this song, I can imagine it going down a storm at festivals…or perhaps blasting out on a pier as Liam and Miley do the slow jog towards each other, grinning like Cheshire Cats, love it.
And as for Mumford, well I just love all the tracks on their debut album ‘Sigh No More.’ This is probably my favourite and never fails to get me tapping away (feet, fingers, QWERTY keyboard) to the brilliant beat.
Enjoy!
shelleyhanveywriter 