Now we've got two suns! Thanks to Bat for Lashes

In 2007 Natasha Khan, alias Bat For Lashes, released her debut record Fur & Gold to some rapturous reviews which had the critics drawing comparisons to Kate Bush or a more restrained Bjork. Her follow-up proves there was much substance to the reputation garnered from that first effort. The haunting opening track 'Glass' sets the pace beautifully for what amounts to a deeply affecting, sonically rich record that resonates long after the music ends and the silence begins. Khan’s voice soars and swirls through the gorgeously ethereal soundscape. In short, an album that is sure to please those in the know and newcomers alike.

Finally "We have Band"

The self-dubbed ‘disco-rock trio’ make We Have Band, the name that has been hovering on the lips of taste-makers and the electro-followers for the last few months, ever since 50 Bones released 300 limited edition vinyl copies of their debut single ‘Oh!’ in November. Their sound is as equally DIY as their origins – they mix, dark bass lines reminiscent of the raw post-punk of ESG with the brighter feral funk of Can and the more modernist, electro-pop hues of New Pony Club or Hot Chip. A sound which, let’s be honest, there’s quite a lot of around at the moment in various electro-pop-band guises.

“I’m not going to claim we’re doing something totally different,” Darren says of ‘the scene’. “I think that’s unnecessary. We don’t really care much about all of that stuff. People are always attaching themselves to any given scene, but I think it’s just what people have decided to focus upon at any given time, you know?”

Times for a new empire : "The Empire of the Sun"

The Empire of the Sun is an electronic music duo formed by Luke Steele and Nick Littlemosre. The duo's name comes from a novel from the 80s.

Their first single titled "Walking on a Dream" was released on 30 August 2008. The single received airtime from many Australian radio stations and has since reached #10 on the Australiansingles chart, breaking the record for the longest time taken for a single to reach the Top 10 (23 weeks).

It has also made the iTunes charts' top ten. In reference to the book/film "Empire of the Sun", the music video for the song was filmed in Shangahi, China and was directed by Josh Logue.

They have released a second single, entitled "We Are The People", which was an exclusive iTunes pre-release single, the video for which was shot in Mexico.

"God Has A Voice, She Speaks Through Me" and they are CoCoRoSie

Cocorosie is an American duo formed by sisters Bianca Leilani "Coco" and Sierra Rose "Rosie" Casady in 2003

Cocorosie have been classified into the new range of "Freak folk", in the band Sierra mainly plays the guitar, piano and harp, and contributes vocals. Bianca sings and manipulates various children's toys/electronic & percussion instruments.

Their new single, God Has A Voice, She Speaks Through Me intends to act as a hopeful light and a reminder of simple joys. With a springtime dance-floor sound, CocoRosie narrates a suicide story that takes place in a tender and elated moment of innocence, focusing on releasing and returning to Mother Nature.

They said they found inspiration when going to the beach in south of France and seeing Muslims women wearing their dresses and not being allowed to even lay comfortable under the sun whilst their husbands were dressing speedoos.

Kiwis are cool: LADYHAWKE is here!

"Hi, my name is Ladyhawke. I'm a lady, not a band. I'm a lady who loves to play. I love video games. I love my guitars. Synths. Cats. Makin' noise, pressing buttons, wires, cables, solitude, staring at screens, movies, collecting stuff"

Phillipa Brown , was born in New Zealand in 1981, coming from a musical family, her mother is a singer and her stepfather a drummer.

She started to show a big interest for music since childhood, in high school she made part of numerous bands.

It wasn't until 2007 that she started to work on her personal musical project and persona she named this after 1985 Michelle's Pfeiffer movie 'LadyHawke'; because she sees herself as a sort of pop superwoman creating radio-friendly songs with a single bound.

She is being noted as being influenced by 1980s music and musicians like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Nirvana, Prince, The Beatles among anothers.

During 2009 she will be on tour in the USA and the UK, for more information visit www.ladyhawkemusic.com

Music on demand for free!

I’m always excited about how internet modifies the way we live our lives, like for example listen music.

I used to find myself quite often in the next situation: you go and visit your friends, have a good fun and when talking about music you remember this new band you' just love and want to introduce their music to your friends but unfortunately you just have on your computer and for music words are just not enough.

But that doesn’t happen to me anymore since I’ve discovered Deezer; this site offers FREE of charge and LEGALLY all kinds of music, from rock to hip hop,jazz, electro and world music, all this just one click away!

Deezer was created the 22 August to 2007, after their creators signed an agreement with French royalty collecting agencies SACEM and SESAM; less than two months after its launch they announced the acquisition of the catalogues of leading major and independent record companies: Sony BMG, Because Music, and Believe.

Next year the website announced the signing of an international agreement with the giant Universal Music.

Deezer counts now with a library of more than 2.000.000 songs. Their site is really user-friendly and has amazing features that allow you to create your own Playlists and share them, you can also create a “Smart Radio” which is a self-generated playlist based on one song/singer previously selected.

So there’s no excuse, do you want to listen to one determined song or artist and you don’t have time to download it? Go now to Deezer.com, remember it’s free and legal!

'The Creek" Antony and the Johnsons

Antony Hegarty, more known as the leader singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons, is presenting his first art exhibition in the UK.
The city selected for Antony has been London and from January 17th to February 28th all his fans will be able to enjoy, in the heart of the city, of this exhibition absolutely free.                                                                                    

Isis Gallery has been the spot choosen anad the name of the exhibition is 'The Creek' and there's exactly where this paintings bring you to: dream landscapes that seems to map his own dreams; marks and scratches give us traces of conscious and more abstract images and ideas.

When talking when one of the managers from the gallery about the techniques used for the paintings he explained to me "The primary elements go through many stages - drawn on, burned, soaked in the rain, thrown away and reclaimed, drawn on again, stained or dried over a fire. These are then arranged and photographed."

Isis Gallery is a hidden and really unique space just behind of Tottenham Court Road Station, the intimacy of the place will surprise you, instead of being a huge opened space, as galleries normally are, this place is more like going to visit someone's home to have a cup of tea while talking about art.

For his work in this exhibition, Antony has collaborated with performance artist Johanna Constantine, model Dr. Julia Yasuda Ph.D, photographer Don Felix Cervantes, and artistic advisor Joie Iacono.


Isis Gallery 20 Hanway St. London W1T 1UG, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-6pm"

(The picture above is named 'Mountains and the Sea' (2007) 48" x 71" C Print (primary materials -newsprint, ink)

When Morning Becomes Eclectic...

When my friends come over, after a night out, or just to chill out in the evening, they love to go to my Itunes library and have a look for music... that's because I have more than 500gb of music on my hard drive.

Then is when they are amazed how can you find since the hollow simplicity of lyrics from Britney Spears to the superb complexity of sounds and poetry of Björk, passing from the latest tunes from Ibiza to the everlasting and hypnotizing Gnossienes from Erik Satie.

Well I have to recognize that not all the credit is mine, besides the word by mouth I have my secret and it is called KCRW.

KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, they constantly remember during they Station Identification "In KCRW our Dj's play the music they love" so that's what makes this radio station so special.

The station has also become widely known because of nationally distributed programming, streaming Internet radio broadcasts, and podcasts.

KCRW is for me one of the most influential independent music radio stations around the globe, they often referring to themselves as the "tastemaker for the world". Harcourt (KCRW's music director) particularly touts his clout in the music industry, often pointing out that many music executives listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic whilst stuck in Los Angeles' infamous morning traffic.

KCRW has introduced its audience to many artists, including Radiohead, Coldplay, Dido, Sublime, Peter Gabriel, and Norah Jones. In addition to playing previously unknown artists on his radio show, Harcourt invites artists to visit the Santa Monica KCRW station for in-studio recording sessions and interviews, typically before they've had any exposure to the US listening audience.

KCRW have three different channels, one with music other with news linked with NPR News (National Public Radio -USA-) and the third one is an emulator of the actual station live from Santa Monica.

If you want to discover new music day by day, if you want to be up to date in all referent to new and underground, folk musicians just stay tuned!




This is Sia Furler, one of my favourite singers, performing The Girl You Lost To Cocaine on Wednesday October 24, 2007 at KCRW, Morning Becomes Eclectic. Host: Nic Harcourt filmed in Santa Monica College