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Jun
5
Image via Wikipedia
Sometime last year I blogged about Freshlyground, shortly after Dave Lucas drew my attention to them. I have been listening to Nomvula most of this week and I think they deserve another mention. I love the ease of their music, and the way it gently creeps up on you… and no, not in any cheesy way. One that I especially love is Doo Be Doo. You can watch it on Youtube here.
Mar
6
I woke up this morning with Nine Million Bicycles playing in my head, and I thought that it might be a good idea to share a bit about Katie Melua, the artiste who did Piece by Piece, the album that has the Nine Million Bicycles track. Ketevan ‘Katie’ Melua is a Georgian-born British musician. She has released two albums.The first one, Call off the Search, was released when she was 19, and Piece by Piece, the second one, was released two years later, in 2005. She was the biggest selling female British artiste of 2006.
I really enjoy her soft, almost carefree, style of singing. If you have the time you could check the video of the Nine Million Bicycles here. If you are interested in her taste in music - which, by the way, I find very nice - you can click here. And if you want to read more general things about her check her website and the wikipedia entry on her.
Feb
22
Re-Visiting Asa
Filed Under Music | 2 Comments
Sometime last year I wrote about Asa’s album. At that point I had only listened to a few of her songs, because, as I wrote, I was not able to buy the album on iTunes. I got it a couple of weeks ago in the market here in Cotonou, from a Nigerian-owned electronics/VCD/DVD/CD stall. I didn’t have time to listen to it until Sunday, and I haven’t stopped listening to it since then. I normally wake up with one of 360 and No One Knows singing in my head, and take a shower with Subway lurking somewhere in the bathroom. Settling down to check my mail, I stick my iPod in my ears to listen to the whole album. So Beautiful now tops my list of the songs on the album.
If you don’t have the album please get it; I promise you will love it.
Nov
15
A friend introduced me to Asa’s music sometime ago - actually, I listened to her Bi ban’ ke and instantly liked the sound of her voice. I stumbled on her Myspace page today, and from there went to her website. I tried out samples of her songs and I really liked it. I tried to buy the album on iTunes, but it was only available in the French store. Someone should tell iTunes to make their stores available globally.
Asa (pronounced asha) is a Nigerian lady who was born in Paris but grew up in Lagos. She later returned to Paris, where, according to her bio, she played with Les Nubians, Manu Dibango, Doctor L, and Tony Allen. Her first album was released on 16 October 2007. Sometimes, her lyrics are unpretentiously didactic, like in Fire on the Mountain and Jailer, but then, even those who don’t like ‘preachy’ songs will find her melody enchanting. Here is her Myspace page, and here is her website. Let’s know what you think!
Oct
13
Sometime ago, my younger brother gave me a copy of Sarah Chang’s Debut album. The album has, among others, Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, from Bizet’s opera Carmen. I love the liveliness of Carmen the opera, but before Sarah Chang, I had never listened to Sarasate’s violin Fantasy. I instantly loved it when I listened to Sarah Chang’s rendition. I recently stumbled on the video on Youtube and I was surprised at how young she was when she did the album.
Sarah Chang was born in 1980 in Pennsylvania, the USA, of Korean descent. Her father is a violinist and her mother a composer. She started learning the violin pretty early, and auditioned for Juilliard at the age of 6. Her debut album, Debut, was released in 1991. I jave just seen her recording, along with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on iTunes and I am thinking of buying it. Whoever gets the chance should check her out, at least the Youtube video; I promise, you will simply love her.
Sep
6
On Amy Winehouse and Self-Destructing
Filed Under Music | 2 Comments
She is 23, and she is on heroin, cocain and a host of other drugs, and I find myself wondering why this is happening to her. Somehow, it just sounds really sad. She is so out of control that her family is begging her fans not to buy her album till she cleans herself up. Maybe if I didn’t find her music as nice as I did I would simply write her in the Britney Spears group and forget about her….
Aug
2
Olorioko….. Infinity
Filed Under Music | 4 Comments
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZOUQAzQlpDI&feature=related
Jul
26
Jul
17
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHoQFWF3bEg]
Jul
17
Nneka… Victim of Truth
Filed Under Music, Reviews | 2 Comments
One of my colleagues told me today that she had a CD for me. About an hour ago she walked into my office with a copy of Nneka’s Victim of Truth. I have since been listening to the CD, and I am finding the music really charming. I have googled her,found her website and her Myspace page. Please guys, check her out.
Nneka was born in Warri in 1981 and she now lives in Germany. She says that Fela, Mos Def, Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill are her musical role models. One can hear the Lauryn Hill influence in her music. I still think she reminds me of someone I can’t really place right now… if you guys can think of someone please leave the name in a comment. You can also check some videos on youtube and on her Myspace page I am really looking forward to more good things from her.
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