London based band The Cellophane Flowers comprises the collaboration between Francesca Corradini (vocals – guitar), Ian Sumner (guitar), Luca Napolitano (bass), Nick Guy (drums). Some have attempted to catalog the band’s unusual sound as “whimsy pop,” “psycho-pop,” and “avant-garde pop personified” – if you put a gun to our heads and forced us to draw comparisons, we might refer to early Sugarcubes, Cardigans, The Cure, Love and Rockets and Ida Maria, but the reason we chose to profile this act is because their sound was not easy to pin down and yet not so outre that we were not immediately infected by its appealing song structures and refreshing instrumentation.

Francesca Corradini’s voice is both charismatic and winsome (and perhaps therein lies the comparisons to that Icelandic breakout band). The guitar play has the serpentine atonality and yet anthemic throughline reminiscent of Pixies’ Joey Santiago, and the rhythm section thumps down iron anchor grooves that help this rock harder than typical Thursday night club fare.

Check out the video for the lead off single “If I Was Girl” below.

Francesca shared some highlights from the recording of the new album: “A highlight was playing with the toys in the studio – for [the song] Freeze  - me feeding a vintage Moog through analogue delay and phaser, writing the parts live as we recorded them, and then realising that as much as we loved the sound, we’d have to include the rest of the track on the recording.  Or charging back and forth at a theramin for Yes I Am, pretending to talk intelligently about when to time the “wooh wooh wah” sound and whether that should come before or after the sustained “weeehehehehe”.  Fra dancing with a robot mask on didn’t really help…”

When asked what motivates them, Francesca replied: “Because we all love music – indeed we look forward to dedicating our lives 100% to what we love the most (which translates in telling our bosses to f… off. Music is the only thing that keeps us alive.”

The band has just released its EP “If I Was A Girl” that can be found at Itunes, Amazon, Spotify and all the other major digital distribution channels.

Vital Links:
Cellophane Flowers at MySpace
The Cellophane Flowers Flickrstream

Listen now to “Yes I Am” by The Cellophane Flowers at MusicZeitgeist.com’s free Indie Music Jukebox

To see your act in MZ’s Artist Profile, submit to our gig listing at Sonicbids today!

(not all acts are selected)

Tags: avant pop, best music blog, Cellophane Flowers, indie artist profiles, indie music reviews, love and rockets, psycho pop, sugarcubes, The Cure, theremin music

To celebrate their 30th year together, Underworld return triumphantly with their first new album in almost 3 years. Wait – is Underworld really celebrating 30 years together? Wow. Let’s pretend we don’t remember when…

‘Barking’ is the duo’s sixth studio album and the first time Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have collaborated with other producers. The record enlists the help of techno producers Mark Knight and D. Ramirez (Always Loved A Film, Between Stars) plus a whole cast of brilliant and like-minded producers from across the spectrum of modern dance music to add personal touches to the band’s original material. Enter Welsh drum and bass artist High Contrast Scribble, Moon In Water), four-time Grammy winner Dubfire (Bird 1, Grace), Bristol based dub step producers Appleblim and Al Tourettes (Hamburg Hotel) and long term Underworld team member Darren Price (Between Stars).

Underworld’s Live Schedule:

• 17th July The Roundhouse, iTunes London
• 24th July Italia Wave Love Festival, Stadio Picche Livorino, Italy
• 06th Aug Sonne Mond & Sterne Leipzig, Germany
• 07th Aug Ibiza Rocks, Cream @ Privilege w/Radio 1 Ibiza, Spain
• 27th Aug Rock en Seine Paris, France
• 28th Aug Open Air Fest Zurich, Switzerland
• 11th Sept Berlin Dance fest w/ Paul van Dyk Berlin, Germany

Artist: Underworld
Title: Barking
Label: underworldlive.com / Cooking Vinyl/OM Records
Release date: September 14th 2010
Format: CD album / CD/DVD / 2 x 12″ vinyl / Special Edition Box Set / Digital – itunes (with bonus track) / itunes LP format (same as CD/DVD plus bonus track)

The accompanying DVD will feature a new video for each track on the album.

More information about Underworld Live at:
www.underworldlive.com

Tags: live event listings, Underworld Live, underworld on tour

When one looks at Kamilah Marshall’s CV, it belies a very hard working, almost ubiquitous performer and must wonder how she is not yet a certified household name.  She has collaborated with some of the top producers in the industry, including Salaam Remi (Amy Winehouse, Jasmine Sullivan) and Nile Rodgers (Madonna, David Bowie) and enjoyed appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The View, and Oprah.

Since 2003, Kamilah has been one of the Staggering Harlettes, singing backup for Bette Midler, recently closing in The Showgirl Must Go On at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas performed on Broadway in RENT, Hairspray and Disney’s The Lion King, and then moonlit around her native Los Angeles at venues like Molly Malones and the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip.

The recent release of the soundtrack for Sex and the City 2, finds Kamilah singing an old standard “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” and she is featured on The Original Cast Recording of the Broadway musical, Hairspray and the soundtrack for the film, Hairspray, The Musical.

But beyond all of these accolades, we chose Kamilah Marshall in our blind taste test for the coveted MusicZeitgeist.com Indie Artist of the Month profile for July 2010 because we loved the funky, soulful and altogether unique sound of her recordings.  That is ultimately the most important testament to her talent – the ability to deliver the goods to back up the press kit.

Here is a point and shoot Q&A with this refreshing indie artist:

WHO: Kamilah( ka.mee.la) Marshall

WHAT: Debut CD, GYPSY MOONSHINE . A fusion of Country/Blues/Funk. I call it FUNKABILY , a phrased coined by Nashville singer/songwriter Joanna Cotten.

HOW: I fell in love with Country music at an early age. When I started to make this record I found that I had a lot more than just country music in me. It became a beautiful fusion of everything I love about music in general.

WHY: Because what’s more fun than a black girl singin’ FUNKABILLY.

WHEN: Come July 9th you can get my CD everywhere possible. iTunes, CDBaby, amazon etc

WHERE: I’m in LA but hopefully in the fall I will be coming to a city near YOU!

VITAL LINKS

www.kamilahmarshallmusic.com
www.twitter.com/kamilahmarshall
www.facebook.com/kamilahmarshall
www.myspace.com/marshallkamilah

Listen now to “Sis Shaw” by Kamilah Marshall and other artists we have featured at the MusicZeitgeist.com’s free Indie Music Jukebox

To see your act in MZ’s Artist Profile, submit to our gig listing at Sonicbids today!

(not all acts are selected)

Tags: best new indie music, Broadway artist, funkabilly, indie artist, music showcase, Oprah Winfrey music act, Original Cast Recording, soul singer

Iranian musical virtuoso Mohsen Namjoo is set to play the gorgeous Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles’  in a special concert engagement, ‘Namjoo in A Minor’. The event will take place on June 20, 2010. Namjoo will be accompanied by classical percussionist Pezhham Akhavas and piano virtuoso Tara Kamangar in addition to a full backing band.

Nicknamed the “Bob Dylan of Iran” by The New York Times, though perhaps not due to the sound but the candid poetic nature of his lyrics, Mohsen is credited for single-handedly revolutionizing the Persian music scene with a daring artistic fusion that transcends national boundaries. To our ears his output is more akin to Captain Beefheart, David Byrne or the Black Heart Procession.  Drawing from Iranian folk music traditions, while incorporating elements of Western rock and blues, Namjoo adds his own clever lyrical wordplay and Neo-Classical poetry verses borrowed from the works of Rumi, Hafez, or Saadi. This unconventional, sophisticated approach has won over younger generations of music listeners.

Mohsen’s contemporary and controversial work has increasingly generated interest on the international stage. On September 11th, 2009 Namjoo was the only musical performance during the Venice International Film Festival. On October 8th, 2009 Namjoo made a surprise performance at the world famous Sala Verdi of the Milan Conservatorium in Italy. In December 2009, he gave his premiere live television on the Persian News Network of Voice of America in Washington DC. His music was featured in the indie film festival documentary, ‘Sounds of Silence’, as well as the feature narrative film ‘Few Kilograms of Dates for the Funeral’.

Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com

Resources:
http://www.payamentertainment.com
http://www.mohsennamjoo.com

Tags: Iranian Bob Dylan, live concert listings, Los Angeles concert tickets, Mohsen Namjoo, special engagement, Walt Disney Concert Hall

When he was seven-years-old, takashi Kamide lost his left foot shorty after having been diagnosed with cancer.  By seventeen he had conquered the disease.

Not long after, another illness befell him for which there is no known medical treatment and by all appearances was terminal; he couldn’t eat anything, and lost weight from half of his body. It was another arduous journey to recovery, but as the artist states, what saved him was simply saying “LOVE”.

At that stage in his life, he was angry at everything and everyone, but his mother, father and many friends rallied for him, and never stopped believing he would fully recover, praying for him all the while he was fighting these illnesses. When at last it seemed he had beaten the disease forever, his doctor proclaimed it miraculous.

Now, takashi KAMIDE believes there are many miracles all over the world, and they can be realized readily, when you realize the potency of love.

But there is a parallel story that took place for KAMIDE: that of music. At six years of age, he was diligently practicing classical piano until discovering Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett which eventually led him to switch to jazz piano and subsequently an interest in the accordion. Working from a humble studio in his native Japan, he creates minimalist original masterpieces that evoke everything from Yann Tiersen or Penguin Cafe Orchestra to lost takes from Vangelis’ score from Blade Runner.

Music Zeitgeist chose the artist known as KAMIDE as the June 2010 Indie Artist of the Month, fresh from his debut showcase at Austin’s South By Southwest Music Conference. We had the opportunity to interview him and here is what we got:

Music Zeitgeist: Where in the world are you based?
I live in Japan, in the very beautiful city of Nara near Kyoto.

MZ: What inspired you to take up the accordion?
Because I practiced piano every day when I was young, when I picked up the accordion it felt like it could be a hobby. But when I heard Richard Galliano and Stegan Hussong playing an accordion, I realized it was not just a hobby, but that it had many other possibilities.

In fact, I am not using a standard accordion, but instead something called a “free base system.”

(The old accordion is from the 40′s or 50′s and the buttons are shell, not plastic, that’s why I love it.)

MZ: Listening to your music evokes so many genres, moods and eras not typically associated with traditional accordion music. Who are other influences?

As I mentioned I started really to play the accordion after listening to Richard Galliano and Stefan Hussong, but it was Keith Jarrett that inspired me the most. He plays so many styles of music that he seems like different people, but the emotion he invests is always of the same depth. His music goes into the center of his emotion and then he channels that out to move his audiences. I wanted to attain that same effect, that sound, using the accordion.

MZ: Talk about where and how you go about recording your music?

I recorded all the albums in my private studio using a very old Mac that is about fifteen years old. [smiles] Ironically I use my new Mac book for the internet.

MZ: You played the SXSW festival in Austin in 2010, tell us about your showcase

That was the first time I had ever been to SXSW. It was a fantastic experience for me. I didn’t really have a lot of time to prepare for my show. If I have a chance to do it again I will be more organized for that festival.

MZ: Where will you playing live next?

I play a small cafe in Japan every month. But my larger plans include the release of a new album on September 22nd of this year, and another October 27th. One of them consists of classical solo accordion music the other not only accordion but also piano and many other instruments.  All of the material consists of my original compositions.

Discography and Release Dates

“Solo Solo Accordion” – Release Date: Nov 11, 2009
“My Grandfathers Clock” (EP) – Release Date: Feb 18, 2009
“KAMIDE” – Release Date: Mar 19, 2008

Vital Links

Official Website:
http://kamide.net/eng.html
Myspace
Facebook
Amazon
iTunes (opens app)

Listen now to “Pure and Dark” by KAMIDE at MusicZeitgeist.com’s free Indie Music Jukebox

To see your act in MZ’s Artist Profile, submit to our gig listing at Sonicbids today!

(not all acts are selected)

Tags: accordion player, Artist of the Month, best new artist, best new indie music, Bill Evans, indie artist, KAMIDE, Keith Jarrett, music showcase, overcoming cancer, Richard Galliano, Stefan Hussong, SXSW showcase, Vangelis, Yann Tiersen