Lots of great new music out there these days. We just received the new LP “Apart” by Allen Stone. It’s his own personal lockdown album, so to say. Arrangements of tracks from his previous three albums totally stripped down, down to their core. Mostly highly vulnerable, tender, and oh so deep. From the grand opening…
The much anticipated Diana Ross LP “Thank You” was finally released last Friday. 15 years after her last album “Blue” came out, she’s back with a songbook of love, as stated in the notes on the album. Notes by the way are the first major disappointment: at a time where vinyl is back in full…
All of the necessary security measures in place, we entered Gretchen last night after what seemingly felt like a lifetime without any live concerts. The Dutch singer, songwriter, and producer primarily played tunes from his last two Stones Throw LPs, “City Pop” (2019), and “Music” (2021). The group met an overwhelming and hyped-up crowd at…
UK based Z Records just released the 9th volume in their “Under The Influence” series, this time compiled by Alena Arpels. The London-based DJ and record collector, who also has her own show on Global Soul Radio, has come up with 19 totally obscure soul, dance, boogie, funk tracks, put together on double vinyl, with…
A Christmas album by Norah Jones? At first I thought it doesn’t really suit Norah because even though she released some very pop-friendly vocal jazz albums in her earlier phase, she then drifted off to more alternative and folk/jazz oeuvres which I think is much more Norah than the easy-to-the-ear stuff like “Don’t Know Why”…
We’re really looking forward to our first live concert after such a long time. Benny Sings will play at Gretchen in Berlin on October 24th. Expect a review on these pages. Meanwhile, our 2020 Album of the Year artist Jarrod Lawson is starting his European tour at the end of the month too. Check out…
I know it’s not really politically correct to start out with the negatives, but I have absolutely no understanding for the fact that the vinyl version of “Love For Sale”, presumably Tony Bennett‘s last album of his unusally long career, only has 10 songs instead of the 12 tracks which ended up on the official…
Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick releases his fifth album for ECM as a leader. We reviewed his still beautiful album “Midwest“, a collection of songs about the voyage of Norway coming to America, on these pages in 2015. He also released “Ravensburg” in between. The album and its protagonists, including two drummers, is the backing again…
Hard to categorize Nigerian singer, songwriter, and performer Wayne Snow, who now resides in Berlin, has come up with his sophomore album “Figurine”, released on the French Roche Musique label, based in Paris. Hailed by some music mags as the next breakthrough artist, “Figurine” comes three years after his debut “Freedom TV”, which came out…
Here is another album which proves that those long lockdowns we were all facing since spring of last year, also led to some very positive, creatively effective outcomes. Norwegian singer Silje Nergaard explains on her website that she had to clear her head through daily walks around her neighborhood and that she started to “fantasize…