outside the window spring is here.

but we´re gonna hibernate all year, under a pile of a4 snowflakes. (stornoway - "we are the battery human")

 if you don´t own this album yet, buy it!

my friend flora posts some interesting music videos on her blog from time to time under the category "i´ve been listening to..." and i thought i´m gonna pick this idea up and share some of the songs that are on constant repeat on my ipod lately. and by the way, it´s not necessarily the video that´s great (which is rarely the case anyway) but more the song that is amazing. so here we go:

first up is jonathan jeremiah with his new single "happiness". i´ve mentioned him before but he sure deserves more attention. i absolutely love the string arrangements in this song. the whole album "a solitary man" is basically full of them which makes this record simply a pleasure to listen to.

up next is richie syrett with "mondays always come". now richie actually is the perfect example why i like social networks like facebook and twitter, despite all the trouble they may cause. they just make it easier to get in touch with musicians or find new music in general. i can´t tell you much about his music yet but after listening to "mondays always come", i ordered his debut album which should be here soon. so far, all the songs i´ve been listening to, had some sort of country-blues flair which sure was nice. so we´ll see how the new album is coming along some time soon hopefully.

then we have joe mcadam with "sweet sister" and "going to new york". really, his music is addictive. after seeing him at the odd bar almost two weeks ago, my itunes is full of all the live performances i could find. i absolutely love "going to new york". his own vocals combined with the backing vocals - it´s heaven on earth. so below you can find a live version of "sweet sister" from 2009.

i was born in 1990 but i really think this can´t be right. my birth certificate may say that but i´m so much into 90s music that it should say 1980 instead. i was too young to actually appreciate music in the 90s and no, i´m not talking about take that, backstreet boys or any other boy/girlband that emerged out of bad taste and thousands of collapsing 14-year olds. 

i´m actually talking about bands like mike and the mechanics or new radicals.  "over my shoulder" (1995) by mike and the mechanics is one of the most played songs on my itunes. this song and "you get what you give" (1999) by new radicals simply have this 90s charme that i cannot resist. when i saw the video for "you get what you give" for the very first time, i actually thought they were joking. i never thought a guy like that would have voice like that. lesson learned.

again, thanks to facebook and some record labels/organisations/websites i´m following on there, i heard of ahab. and it seemed like it was meant to be, because i found out they did a session for songs from the shed (always worth checking out!). so here´s a wonderful acoustic session of "lightning bug" filmed for songs from the shed in april 2011.

moving to manchester was probably the smartest move ever - music-wise for sure, otherwise i probably wouldn´t know anything about some amazing bands. one example: blind atlas. they played a wonderful acoustic session for mcrscenewipe last year. not to be missed!

there is a reason for my new tattoo and this reason is, of course, the travelling band. i´m rambling on about them but believe me, i´m only doing this because i really think they´re brilliant. i haven´t been this excited about a band since stornoway and keane, so yes, the travelling band is special. they did a small acoustic version of one of their songs from the new album "screaming is something" for secret sessions which was filmed somewhere in the woods at the shambala festival this year. so here´s the soundtrack for my new tattoo: "sundial".

and while we´re on the subject of stornoway. here´s "the old blind man". it´s not an official video from the band or anything but i love the song. if there´s one song out there that makes me smile every single time, it´s definitely this one.

second to last, here we have other lives with their new single "tamer animals". they were fantastic at the haldern pop festival this year and i seriously can´t wait to see them again at the end of october. and the video is actually fantastic too.

and last but not least, here´s ben howard with "keep your head up", mainly because i´m more than excited for his album "every kingdom" which will be released next monday. i know my deluxe edition has been shipped today, so there´s definitely an album review coming up some time during the next week.

that´s it for today. lots of gig reviews coming up in october and november. here´s an overview:

*bombay bicycle club + dry the river (7 oct) @apollo, manchester
*ben howard (20 oct) @the ruby lounge, manchester (sold out!)
*ahab (21 oct) @band on the wall, manchester
*ash (23 oct) @hmv ritz, manchester
*other lives + young galaxy (30 oct) @the deaf institute, manchester
*the travelling band (2 nov) @academy 3, manchester
*the travelling band (5 nov) @telford´s warehouse, chester
*agnes obel (9 nov) @the ruby lounge, manchester
*wild beasts (17 nov) @cathedral, manchester (sold out!)
*wild beasts (19 nov) @anson rooms, bristol

by the way, if anyone wants to join me for any of these gigs, let me know... 

oh, and i usually don´t do this but here´s a huge shout-out to my friend amy who´s on the way to chicago right now to see fleet foxes tonight! :)

ben howard album review next week. till then, have a great weekend. xx

music makes me wonder: julia marcell "june"

i sure don´t feel bad when i admit that i probably judged julia marcell a little too soon. after seeing her at the haldern pop festival back in august, i really did not intend on giving her new album a chance. of course it´s always hard for artists to impress their audience when they´ve clearly never heard of you before. it´s even more difficult to win over your audience when your music is quite different to what they usually listen to. and that was exactly the case with me. but after having julias new album “june” on repeat for a few days now, i stand corrected. “june” is a great album that has many different sides to it.

 "june" album cover

 

julia marcell released her first 5-rack ep “storm” back in 2007 which was followed by her self-funded 12-track debut album “it might like you” in 2009. and now her new album “june” is about to be released in two days on september 30^th (in germany; on october 3^rd in poland via mystic productions) on haldern pop recordings.

the album kicks off with the title track “june” which is actually one of the songs i distinctly remember from haldern and a great choice to start the album with. especially the glockenspiel in the beginning and during the last 40 seconds, makes this song so interesting.

the new single “matrioszka” follows. not much to say here. “never trust the palest girls” pretty much says it all. i just love that song but see or better hear yourself below. 

 "matrioszka"

up next is “since” which eventually has the piano/double bass (sounds like a double bass at least) intro i was waiting for. the entire song is kept on one level including some rather confusing but somehow fitting backing vocals. it ends with a beautiful string section which stands in contrast to the rest of the song (since that´s slightly (!) more upbeat). 

“ctrl” has by far the most impressive vocals if you ask me. the lyrics and the entire song actually, seem so simple but this song is the one where julia really shows off her vocal talent. the vocals in “ctrl” cover every single vocal range she has to offer. in other terms, this song probably is a fantastic song to dance to and should be played in every single night club some time soon.

the fifth track on “june” is “gamelan” which has a short but wonderful intro that leads perfectly into julia´s vocals. “gamelan” is one of the quieter tracks on the album but equally good nevertheless. the balance between the stronger lead vocals and the calmer backing vocals really stands out compared to the rest of the album. and the fantastic glockenspiel lends something magical to this song.

“shores” is a 90 second instrumental masterpiece. well, maybe not exactly a masterpiece but a really amazing piece of music. no vocals but one of the most beautiful string arrangements i´ve heard in the last couple of months. it gives the album a pleasant break.

following “shores” is “echo”, the only song on the album that actually has polish lyrics (i´ve only studied russian but i reckon it is indeed polish since julia is from poland). and here we have the piano and the strings again. i absolutely love the mix of those instruments. it always gives  a song something elegant even when that´s not really the case with the rest of the song. the choir that sings in polish in the background even drowns out julia´s english lead vocals in the first half of the song but that doesn´t make it wrong. it sounds right (if you know what i mean). the choir sounds huge and gives the listener some sort of church feeling which totally fits here. 

track number eight is “i wanna get on fire” which has an awesome dance sound to it. it´s not that crazy, “dance like you’re on meds” kind of dance sound but it has a serious female james blake twist. it´s a pretty slow song but it´s still quite powerful because of the hypnotic effect it has on you. the vocals are fading out without even noticing till the song ends with a stunning minute of instrumental brilliance. 

i can´t help but think of harry potter every time i listen to “crows”. the glockenspiel and the minimal use of instruments in the beginning totally give this song some sort of hogwarts feeling (a rather strange comparison, i know) but that´s only the case in the beginning. as soon as julia joins in with her loud and fast vocals such as “let´s go, be in love tonight”, there´s not much left to do instead of dancing and singing along. if you sit still when you listen to “crows”, you might want to check if your legs still work.

“shhh” is definitely not the most meaningful song title ever but you´re sadly mistaken if you think that´s the same case with the song. next to “shores”, “i wanna get on fire” and the last track “aye aye”, this has got to be one of the best songs on the album. starting with vocals and a simple beat only, you get into the song more and more with every second that passes by. once the chorus “what´s there in my soul, you will never know; what´s inside of me, you will never see; what´s my heart made of, you will find out my love” hits you, you´re totally into the song and can´t turn it off. it´s the perfect pop-dance number to have an amazing sing-along to. it´s addictive, so be prepared to have it on repeat for a while (i sure have for a few days now).

the album ends with “aye aye”. as i just mentioned above, this sure is one of my favourites, probably mostly because of the great brass elements that are used here. it starts off rather slow but the pace picks up fairly quickly with more and more instruments joining in and once the chorus (including trombone) hits you, you´ve got this brilliant big band moment before the song becomes a little (!) quieter again, pointing out the amazing violin. the trombone then highlights the last minute of the song and therefore creates an outstanding ending for the song and the entire album. “aye aye” is definitely no jazz song at all but sure knows how to pick up the most essential effects of it. highly recommended and the perfect track to end the album with.

"aye aye" live at the haldern pop festival 2011

overall "june" is a great dance-pop record with some sort of dark-mystic twist, nothing ordinary though, so definitely worth a listen – or two if you don´t mind. 

i certainly learned my lesson and i hope to see julia again next year at haldern. i promise i´ll be more prepared too. 

i´m off to look out for her first album now. meanwhile you should check out her website for more information or if you prefer, julia is also on twitter and facebook.

“june” is out on friday but you can pre-order it on the german amazon site or in the german itunes store. and by the by, amazon ships worldwide, even to you, wherever you are. so no excuses, go ahead and pre-order the album. and most of importantly, enjoy!

julia marcell (photo by jacek barcikowski)