New Release Show Notes for 7-17-07

A couple of really fine CD’s were released this week and a few singles worth mentioning as well. Let’s jump right in with the best of this week.

First CD I’d like to bring to your attention is Suzanne Vega’s BEAUTY AND CRIME. It is WTMD’s CD of the week and it is a good choice. I happen to catch the 48 year-old singer/songwriter at the music conference in Louisville, KY, and she looked and sounded great. Ms. Vega put on a fine show that blended her older, familiar songs with the outstanding material from her new album. We’ve been playing the single “Frank & Ava,” but there are several good tracks on the disc including “Bound” and the track I played last night, “Zephyr And I.”

The next disc that caught my attention is the one from Alison Sudol. Alison goes by the pseudonym A Fine Frenzy. She is a wonderful singer/songwriter and her debut release on Virgin Records, ONE CELL IN THE SEA, is a strong showing. I had the delightful dilemma again of trying to pick which song to play for the show. Track number one, “Come On, Come Out” and number 14, “Borrowed Time” both were in the running but I ended up with track number 11, “Lifesize.” FYI, VH-1 is listing A Fine Frenzy as their “You Oughta Know” artist.

Machine Translations is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and home-recordist J.Walker. He now resides in Melbourne, Australia and has six full-length albums to his name in his homeland but he is a relative unknown here in the states. We pulled down this single from the Internet; it’s called “Need A Miracle,” from the yet to be titled CD.

Next is the Magic Numbers. The two, brother and sister, duos make up the Magic Numbers: Romeo and Michele Stodart along with Sean and Angela Gannon. Their latest release, THOSE THE BROKES, was originally released in the UK back in the Fall of 2006. Astralwerks picked them up for distribution here in the US. Their US tour starts August 14th. We’re playing “This Is A Song” on our regular line-up so I wanted to give everyone a different take, so I played “Take A Chance,” which was the single in the UK.

The latest from Garbage is the album ABSOLUTE GARBAGE, which is a “Best Of” compilation with this new track, “Tell Me Where It Hurts,” thrown it to make it more interesting. And it does. TMD is actually a little ahead of the curve on this one. The CD doesn’t hit stores until next week. No tour has been announced yet but we’ll keep our ears open.

My personal favorite is the new CD from Patrick Cleandenim. This artist has put together a fine release. Patrick lives in New York but his album BABY COMES HOME was released in the UK in late May but the US debut isn’t until yesterday. And speaking of debuts, this is Patrick’s too. The tracks for his CD was recorded with an orchestra of twelve at Black Lodge Recording Studio in Eudora, Kansas, during the final months of 2005. In fact Mr. Cleandenim refers to his music as Orchestral Pop. Patrick is also an aspiring filmmaker. The little treat I played last night was called “Until You Said I’m Gone,”

Lastly is the album from Tegan and Sara. Originally from Calgary, Canada, these twin folk/rock sisters made an impact immediately in the Canadian music scene by earning the highest score in history at Calgary's "Garage Warz" competition in 1998. Then the next thing they knew, they were playing a handful of dates at Sara McLachlan’s LILITH FAIR that same year. Since that time Tegan & Sara have released four albums, the fourth being THE CON that was released today on Sire Records. This tune I played last night was “Back In Your Head.”

See you next week. TK

Jake Shimabukuro

Jake Shimabukuro From Honolulu. The video of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" has received over 1.5 million views.
He has an instructional DVD called "Play Loud Ukulele."

It's Business Time!

OK, just for laughs, I've got to share these guys with you. Have you heard of that HBO show, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS? It's two singer/songwriter dudes from Kiwi land trying to make the big time in the Big Apple. It's like Chrocodile Dundee with guitars, at least in their sense of naivete. And their songs are simply hilarious. Check out this one, and see if you can't stop laughing next time your company has a "team-building" exercise.

Bat For Lashes: A Feast for the Ears & Eyes...

Got turned on to a new multi-instrumentalist putting out her first album under the name Bat For Lashes . The music is intricate and has a flair for the dramatic and the former Nursery school teacher Bat for Lashes (also known as Natasha Khan) has a vivid way of telling her story, or in this case, capturing a song.
Bringing it all together in video shows this avant-garde artist is a sight for the ears & eyes.

Steve and Sarah Borges

I was in Reno last week with a bunch of other public radio folks stuck in three days of meetings. We learned a lot about the new technology affecting public radio and the new music programs in development. All good stuff....but by Friday Afternoon I had had my fill of Powerpoint presentations!

Luckily, we found Art Town, a very small Artscape kind of event in Downtown Reno. And better Yet!!!! Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles were playing for the crowd! I hadn't kept up with Sarah's tour schedule so this was one of the happy coincidneces.

The band put on an amazing show, rocking the crowd through dances and sing alongs. Sarah's not getting much, if any, radio play in Reno but the crowd was engaged and excited by her explosive performance.

After the show I got a chance to say say hi --decked out in my WTMD t-shirt of course--and Sarah yelled out about Our Emerging Artist Concert before I could barely introduce myself. She told me she and the Broken Singles are excited about the show.

Sarah told me they're really looking forward to playing for the first time here in Baltimore and since it will be the last show of their current tour---Sarah's expecting to let loose and celebrate. Gang, I hope you'll all be there--I haven't been this personally excited about an artist in a while and I hope you find in Sarah Borges and Broken Singles the good times that I do

Steve

Bright Eyes Latest Album Gets Animated in Video Series

Polydor Records, Bright Eyes Label, called up 5 animators to put to life songs from Cassadaga. You can check out all the videos through their media player here. It's interesting to see each animators perspective on the song, one of the videos that peaked my interest the most is "I Must Belong Somewhere"

Enjoy another one of my favorites below!

Bright Eyes
"Soul Singer In A Session Band"
Animation By: David S. Blanco

ALLGOOD!!!

So.... things are crazy around town and all sorts of events are coming up.., But... I wanted to give everybody a peek at what when down at The All Good Festival in Masontown West Virginia this past weekend. I, myself, was not lucky enough to go but friends of mine did and brought back so many stories about the cool things they saw. The one thing everybody i have talked to said was that MOE. was amazing and for their second set they had a revolving door of musicians appear on-stage with them including Baltimore's own Cris Jacobs and Kenny Liner from The Bridge. Heres a little footage of this insane JAM!!!!!

Tacks, The Boy Disaster- Blogger's Discovery

Today, I blog about blogging! Well, in this case...it's a band that's quickly become a word-of-mouth spread thanks to the blogging world.
Think Dr. Dog meets Radiohead and you'll get an idea of how TACKS, THE BOY DISASTER sounds. The music on their debut OH, BEATRICE is wide-open, keyboard-based, intrically arranged gems...A mysterious and fun band and one to watch.

Dance The Go Go

Denmark Based Band,The Breakers Latest Release Is "Here For A Laugh" Check Out
Dance The Go Go. The Video Reminds Me Of Early MTV Stuff.