Cold War Kids stopped by our favorite late night show, Conan, and performed their latest single, ‘I’ve Seen Enough.’ I know being on that tight stage was killing them, because they move around with so much energy. However, it was still a stellar performance from one of the best live acts performing today.
Remember Chrisette Michelle? you know the Grammy nominated artist with the critically acclaimed debut album “I Am” as well as her key hooks for songs such as “Rising Up“ and “Can’t Forget About You.” Well, Chrisette is back with a new single and a sophomore effort hitting stores on March 31st. Title track “Epiphany” provides a different sound for the very talented Central Islip native. This tune may not be suitable for the male demographic! or should we say the soon-to-be males getting pink slips on Valentines Day.
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Jesse Boykins the III has quickly become one of the favorite male artists around here at the cafe, without question vocally he’s remarkable, and his passion for music is undeniable. Lately, I’ve been seeing him pop up everywhere! this guy is the real deal, expect to hear more news from him in the coming months. He just released a video for the song “Pantyhose” (no comment) off of the latest release “The Beauty Created” which is in stores now.
We introduced you to D. Julien way back in October. Between that time and now he’s been featured on numerous blogs and websites. To name a few, 2Dopeboyz (dope site), HiphopDX, and most recently he was artist of the week on MySpace. We aren’t saying we helped him, we’re saying this kid grind is on a whole new level. Late last year we got a chance to interview D. Julien. Take a moment and learn more about the man known as D. Julien.
The Blow is a Lo-fi/Electro duo made up of Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt. Way back in 2004 they released an EP entitled, Poor Aim: Love Songs. I first heard about this group thanks to the glorious site known as Pandora. Doing what any smitten listener would do, I download a couple of tracks (legally..of course) and listen to it. Being a sucker for poppy songs, I fell in love with their track, Hey Boy. It’s a track about a girl being left in the cold by a guy. For a better explanation I’ll let Khaela tell you how she came up with the song after the jump.
Props to Nick for tracking down this gem.
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In our latest edition of Overlooked and Underrated, we feature Natalie Williams, the Nu-Jazz/Soul songbird who has seemed to be lost in the shuffle of talented vocalist from that place we love to call United Kingdom. Before there was Adele, Duffy, Florence A.T.M. & Clare Maguire (next in line) Natalie was always on our radar here at the cafe. Overshadowed or maybe just wrongly promoted, this little treasure never really got the notice it should have. Call it bad timing or “The Joss Stone Era” for the reasoning. You remember the time when everyone went ape sh– for Joss conjuring up a new style and sound (insert side-eye) yeah, we’re all guilty of that moment.
Unlike others mentioned previously, Natalie is not controlled by the machinery that pumps out and cashes in on these commercialized artists. As we continue to focus on this “Northern Soul Revolution” take a second and give a listen to one of the better voices (underground) who should be a part of that movement. Here’s “Butterfly” a selection from her highly slept on “Secret Garden” album.
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We first heard Lillie around this time last year. Actually, it was one of Lisa Hannigan’s first couple of songs, sans Damien Rice. Well the video has finally been made (been out for a month, but you didn’t know that). Lisa Hannigan’s Lillie is a beautiful song, that has an equally beautiful video. Just when you think you seen it all, someone creates something incredible.
To the naked eye this might seem like another post on Kenna (looking at you Hollywood Q), but this is more of a post about Kenna Zemedkun. Not to say this isn’t about music, because 95% of it is. RollingOutTV sits with Kenna while he talks about why he makes music, what inspires him, his relationship with the Neptunes, why he is so private, and info on his next album. He even gave use words of wisdom I been following this guy since 2001 and found out more about him in this five minutes and thirty-three second clip, then I knew in the past couple of years. Oh yeah De-Limit your self!
Fader TV sat down with Passion Pit to talk about their upcoming full-feature album. To beef up their album, producer, Chris Zane said they added tons of hand bells to the album and have also enlisted the 46 member children choir of PS 22. From what I know about children singing choruses, you can expect the album to be addictive. (You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones, The Wall by Pink Floyd and D.A.N.C.E by Justice to name a few addictive kid-chorus songs). I feel a Michael Jackson joke coming on, but we will leave that one alone.
Lately there has been a ton of music coming in over here at the cafe! and to be honest with you all, we don’t have the time to listen to everything when it arrives. I received word about Asa (pronounced Ah-shah) late last year and had to put her album on the backburner {wrong move} due to the plethora of tunes we received as mentioned earlier.
Seriously, had it not been for a reminder {Thanks to her press team} Asa, the Nigerian born soul artist who got her start singing at an early age and praises influences such as Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obe, tunes may have gone unheard.
After listening to Asa’s album two things came to mind, it reminded me of what Lauryn Hills Unplugged 2.0 could have been with production, the joyous feeling I had when hearing India Aries Acoustic Soul for the first time. Here is 360° an impressive little number that opens up very similar to Joni Mitchells “Help Me.” A fresh voice is what we need now and that void just may have been filled.
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