Yuna is a Malaysian singer-songwriter who at first I thought had a touch of Erykah Badu about her sound and vocals, but Yuna describes her music as “a cross between Mary Poppins and Coldplay”, which is amazing!
I love this track for it’s chilled out vibe and it’s inspiring lyrical content. It’s a no nonsense, ‘get up, get out, go and live your life’ type of attitude and it does makes you think more about yourself… well it did with me anyway! The track was produced by Pharrell Williams and she was quite sought after by labels in the US after making a name for herself in Malaysia already.
I believe her debut album is released Spring 2012 but I don’t have an exact date.
Have you heard of Mama’s Gun? Allow me to introduce you to a soulful band with some groove, funk, rock and lots of presence live. Billboard described their record as “a kaleidoscope of a record that travels through genres.” They are huge in Japan and it is about time they were recognised over here as well.
Here is their pretty impressive cover of Bicycle Race by Queen.
And here is one of their original tracks, Finger On It.
Note: I saw these guys live years ago when they supported a little known singer songwriter called Laura Izibor (who you should also check out), recently saw her singing and acting in American TV show One Tree Hill… just some random facts for you!
The Alexi Murdoch gig at The Borderline was by far the quietest show I have seen at the venue, which in some ways was great as the atmosphere was perfect for Alexi’s style of music. However, a couple of downsides were the constant running water flowing through pipes overhead and the fact that a lady behind me felt the need to prove she knew the lyrics to most of the songs! (It was amusing when Alexi held a rather long note… she struggled.) The venue was packed and very respectful of both the opening act and Alexi. The support act was Peter Gregson, a cellist using an electric cello, backing tracks and a multitude of effects to create atmospheric instrumental pieces.
Alexi’s set was a long set consisting of a mixture of tracks spanning his various releases. A couple of the more popular tunes were received with some excitement from members of the audience but however much they chanted it out, Orange Sky (the track made famous by The OC) wasn’t played. My favourite tracks were the ones where he substituted his guitar for other instruments such as playing a violin like a mandolin in Crinian Wood. In another song called The Light he performed using a wooden box, which after some research turned out to be a Shruti Box. The droning sound of this instrument coupled with his vocals drew in the audience into an almost trance-like state in which there was a slight pause at the end of the song before the audience erupted!
One thing that was glaringly obvious was the appeal Alexi has to a range of people from young London city workers, older bohemian couples to teenage girls who know all the lyrics! The fact that he spends his spare time working on his boat completes the whole picture you make when watching his melancholy performance and listening to his mellow voice.
For a solo acoustic singer songwriter he easily commanded the attention of the audience with very few spoken words and intense performances, despite the karaoke going on behind me I really enjoyed the intimacy of the gig.
We had the pleasure of having a chat to talented singer songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff before his gig supporting Delta Spirit in London. He even played a couple of songs for us and the empty echo filled backstage room was a perfect place for an intimate performance.
Singer-songwriter Matt Costa will release his new album Mobile Chateau through Island/Brushfire Records on October 4th. To mark the launch of his 3rd album release, Matt, the lovely man has made the opening track The Season available to download for FREE! And Milky Tea Kid provides you with the link below… ta dah!
I love this quote from Matt… “You can hear those space oddities intertwined with the Beach Boys sunshine pop of Drive and the Byrds-on-acid slink of Next Time.”
