2012Candy - October
Background: Having grown up with two home towns, it was almost destined that Sarah Beatty would occupy the space that exists between things. She grew up in Rochester, NY and Parry Sound, ON and cut her musical teeth in Parry Sound and Niagara. This singer-songwriter now calls Hamilton home. Her first full length album Black Gramophone was released earlier this year on May 24th.
Earning her a spot at this year’s Mariposa Showcase, Beatty has gone straight to the fundamentals in her debut solo effort. In the collection of 12 original songs, she pares down the instrumentation and ramps up the contemplation, curiosity, and charm of honest-to-goodness song writing. Recorded live off the floor, hers are where lyric, melody, and rhythm exist in distilled form. Purposeful in her approach, Beatty is a courageous one, letting smart lyrics, strong melodies, and a listener’s imagination take centre stage in this intimate and conversational recording.
Sarah Beatty writes, most simply, contemplative folk songs with spacious arrangements. As a consequence, she deftly occupies the space between blues, jazz, country, soulful styled roots music. Where her music shines brightest is with her dynamic vocals, expressive lyrics, and engaging melodies. The result is a sonic landscape that is old, new, natural, and made with her hands. Using an acoustic guitar and her voice, she writes honest, emotionally rich, and charming songs that often speak of situation and circumstance. As Glen Brown of Greater Hamilton Musician puts it “With lyrics like, ‘You can steal my thunder, but I can steal your rain,’ Beatty gets you thinking. She keeps her melodies simple and beautiful. Her voice is confident, uplifting and controlled. It's easy and good to sing along. Her music is a perfect match for this room and this time.”
2012Candy Comments: Sarah described her music to Beehive Candy as 'live from the floor with her own added harmonies'. The featured song's harmonies remind me a little of Sweden's female duo First Aid Kit, a positive thing by any standard. Sarah tells stories and drives the songs with some funky acoustic guitar play. Excellent debut in our opinion.
Listen: To Be (player only) Web: Official HERE.
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Echoes de Luxe released their debut self-titled EP in March of 2009, mixed by Alex Newport (Jubilee, Mars Volta), and mastered by Pete Lyman (Mars Volta, Death Cab for Cutie). After playing shows in support of the EP, the band began work on self-producing their recordings in their home studio, releasing them as The Notremonde Demos in February of 2010.
For their forthcoming Hold On EP, Echoes de Luxe teamed up with Velvet Revolver's Dave Kushner and veteran producer Ryan Williams. As the band explains, "Having self-produced everything before, it was a challenge to relinquish control to someone, even with as much respect and confidence as we had in Dave’s talents. Ultimately and without surprise, the songs came out far better than we had hoped, and it was all down to the creative partnership and fun working atmosphere."
2012Candy Comments: This is a beautiful piece of music with captivating vocals. It's got into my head, please feel free to welcome it in to yours.
Listen: Hold On (mp3) Web: Official HERE.
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Erica came to Paris as a literature student at Nanterre University while also studying French at the Sorbonne. She started her musical career playing the folk clubs and theatres of Paris solo with a guitar. Her mesmerizing voice and songwriting caught the ear of French producer Pierre Faa (Peppermoon) and together they released her first solo album, True Love and Water in 2011. She has shared the stage with the likes of Patrick Watson, Ron Sexsmith, Warren Ellis, This Is The Kit and Emmanuelle Parrenin.
The Resident Cards’ debut album We Won’t Leave Any Trace was written and recorded over ten months in a tiny Parisian apartment high above the Seine river. Belgian drummer and singer-songwriter Boris Gronemberger (V.O., Raymondo, Françoiz Breut) was brought in to add percussion and Belgian beers. The final album was mixed and mastered in London by Charles “Chicky” Reeves at Sublime Studios who has mixed such legendaries as Johnny Cash, Tito Puente, Radiohead, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Grace Jones among others.
2012Candy Comments: Wonderfully flowing music with complementary vocals that seemingly skip across the music. The sort of music to have on at breakfast time to ensure the day starts well.
Listen: Pyramids (mp3) Web: Facebook HERE.
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Showing no signs of slowing down, the band is already in process of recording a second full length album. After teaming up with independent label Blue Box Records in 2011 the band has high hopes for their sophomore release. The new album was released on September 27th, 2012 at the Pygmalion Music Festival.
2012Candy Comments: Fresh and energetic and simply refusing to sit in any particular musical genre.
Listen: According to Ancient Alien Theorists (mp3) Web: Official HERE.
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The Silver Snails 2012 debut offering 'The 7 Melodies' constitute an integrated musical spell designed to unlock joy and unleash magic within the lives of those who listen. Revealed by inspiration, diligently sculpted, recorded and mixed over a 2 year period, The 7 Melodies incorporate English, Italian, and French, with touches of Mandarin and Sanscrit. Fresh and melodic, the songs are stylistically adventurous, yet firmly rooted in post-Beatles pop. Like the 7 colors of the spectrum, each song is shaded by a different frequency of emotion. Taken together, the songs form a powerful audio Love bomb.
The Silver Snails are supported by a community of musicians, artists, dancers, and friends, each of whom has added their personal inspiration and talent to the project. Using music as a platform, the Silver Snails aspire to open a channel of Love from the human family to the Sky, inspiring and supporting others to do the same.
2012Candy Comments: Euro-pop this most definitely is not despite the international flavours. Great pop it most definitely is, with a whole host of other musical elements carefully crafted in.
Listen: Beatrice Russo (mp3) Web: Official HERE.
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Sóley has received over 7 million YouTube views for a fan's uploaded stream of her song 'Pretty Face.' It's hard to believe this is the same artist that did not deem herself a proper singer until she had been around the world and back with Seabear. We Sink is 13 tracks of intricate compositions where she combines seemingly disparate elements with stunning ease. Sometimes incredibly catchy and other times amazingly quirky, the album has a carefree quality reminiscent of earlier Icelandic acts but also calling to mind the sounds of Joanna Newsom, or the Casady sisters circa 2004.
Oct-31 - Reykjavik, Iceland - Iðnó^
Nov-15 - Toronto, ON - Kool Haus (sold-out)
Nov-16 - Toronto, ON - Kool Haus (sold-out)
Nov-17 - Montreal, QB Metropolis - (M for Montreal) (sold-out)
Nov-19 - Boston, MA -Orpheum
Nov-20 - New York, NY - Terminal 5 (sold-out)
Nov-21 - New York, NY - Terminal 5 (sold-out)
Nov-24 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower
Nov-25 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (sold-out)
Nov-29 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle (sold-out)
Nov-30 - Orlando, FL - Beacham (sold-out)
^FM Belfast, Sin Fang, Prins Póló, Pascal Pinon
*All US dates with Of Monsters and Men.
2012Candy Comments: I was simply captivated by this song. Atmospheric with enchanting vocals, the various references with the likes of Joanna Newsom, Coco Rosie and fellow native Bjork are well deserved and like these artists Soley has many unique attributes.
Listen: I'll Drown (mp3) Web: Morr Music.
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Backed by Jorge Elbrecht of Violens on percussion and as producer, she has taken elements of her band's sound and spun them into her own brand of bittersweet, sun-bleached pop. The EP has seen praise from Vogue, Pitchfork, and MTV Hive among others.
Erica is performing at CMJ 2012 this year as below.
Wednesday 10/17- New York, NY - Le Baron
(Ghostly & Cascine Presents: CMJ Showcase)
2012Candy Comments: I nearly missed this song as it was packed in with a number of artists promo's all appearing at CMJ 2012 this month. It's the only solo song I have heard by Erica and to use that well worn cliche again, I will be checking her music out some more based on this.
Listen: Hidden (mp3) Web: Facebook HERE.
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Private Violence takes a turn for the macabre, adapting its title from criminologist Richard Rhodes’ book, Why They Kill, which describes criminals as “differ[ing] from the rest of us in following through with private violence.” Nowhere is that more evident than through frontwoman Mali’s primary inspiration behind the EP: Perry Smith, misunderstood murderer from Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Capote described the 1959 murders as “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives.” Mali and Jaggery opted for a more musical approach to the tragic Kansas crime scene. “Hostage Heart,” the first song written on the EP, works as both a tribute to Perry Smith and an identification with the murderer. “I was looking at myself, and looking at Perry, yet also expressing the wonder and horror over what his hands were capable of,” explains Mali. “Oh my god” is a dark, gritty jazz recounting of Smith’s hanging, and the EP ends on the aptly titled “End Song,” a wistfully sung ballad to Smith as a confused and abused child.
Jaggery found its footing in New York, writing and performing under different monikers until 2004 when the band began to take its current shape: songstress/pianist Singer Mali is flanked by a rotating lineup of musicians and instrumentation, including Daniel Schubmehl’s West African and jazz approach to the drum kit, Tony Leva’s often prepared upright bass, Rachel Jayson's avant-classical viola, and Petaluma Vale’s glistening Celtic harp and backing vocals.
2012Candy Comments: Having read all of the above, I was ready to be disappointed as the promo set expectations so high. I am now delighted, do I need to say any more....
Listen: Hostage Heart (mp3) Web: Official HERE.
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Harmoniously gifted, the Buffalo, NY native's music was showcased to a respectable judge panel of industry insiders and pulled through triumphantly. Based in Toronto, Canada the singer-songwriter released his song as part of his debut EP North, last year, which was received well by fans and music writers. The EP propelled Daniel's fan base and established him in his home town. Honing his skills since the tender age of 5 years old, Daniel's iconic influences, such as Elton John and Bruce Springsteen, ignited a relentless desire in him to write his own material and become a musical prodigy. Maneuvering from genre to genre during his self-discovery, the electric performer finally found his niche and has been soaring ever since. His unique, soothing but powerful vocals serenade crowds and has gotten him named as iHeart Radio's Artist to Watch.
Overly impressed by the work they created together in the last year, it was Daniel's songwriting partner and producer Mark Zubek submitted the song to the online contest without telling him. The synth-heavy song boasts a fun, bouncy beat with light-hearted lyrics about finishing the summer off with a bang. Melodiously dynamic and dominant, the song landed Daniel the Grand Prize in his category.
The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international contest, which began in 1997. Year round, the contest is open to both professional and amateur songwriters who wish to produce their best songs. Among the thousands who entered, there are 12 categories. By looking mainly at melody, composition and originality, the judges decided that Daniel's song "The Last Night" was flawless in all three aspects.
Listen: Heroes In The Sky (player only) Web: Official HERE.
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Self-produced, The Growl’s debut EP Cleaver Lever is a worthy addition to a stunning body of work emanating from the current pool of musicians in the West Australian city of Fremantle. With Cameron Avery’s other band Pond (in which he plays drums) having recently released their new album to a stunning reception across Europe and the US, and with Tame Impala doing all of the amazing things they are doing, the Fremantle music scene has produced some of the most interesting and imaginative music of the last few years - and that’s just looking at the bands the world outside of Australia knows about.
Back at home, The Growl have had a fairly speedy rise to prominence. In addition to being championed by Australian radio’s most influential figure, Richard Kingsmill, The Growl found a very strong grassroots following upon debuting as a live act in 2010. Community radio loved them, other bands loved them, and within a year The Growl were capable of selling out big shows to an increasingly diverse audience.
2012Candy Comments: No nonsense timeless rock, that appears to have been fired out of a Bourbon soaked cannon.
Listen: With the Sharp End of a Trowel (mp3). Web: Official HERE.
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