16 October 2010 - 0 Comments

Introducing one of 2010's brightest (or darkest) young hopes Zola Jesus (aka. Nika Roza Danilova). Bursting onto the scene last year with a series of brooding lo-fi productions, she spent 2010 metamorphosing into a goth-pop goddess. Listening to her international debut, 'Stridulum II' (release date TBC, but soon!), it's impossible not to be allured/romanced/eaten alive by her doomed lullabies and apocalyptic ballads - Just check out this free mp3 of "Sea Talk". A bewitching sea shanty, the music is the stuff that ghosts weep to, yurei roam to and sailors drown to... Check out the "Sea Talk" video, the single is everything that makes Zola Jesus so breathtaking: it's dark and eerie, yet intimate and nurturing all at once.
 
Swans new album, 'My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky', constitutes the collective's first work after a long hiatus, but it's just as immediate and forward-thinking as ever. This free mp3 of "Eden Prison" is loud, bleak and lyrically neurotic. Grab it below and feel the raw impact.
 
RHYTHMETHOD NEW RELEASES
 
BELLE & SEBASTIAN ~ Belle & Sebastian Write About Love
Back after a 5-year hiatus Glasgow's beloved Belle & Sebastian have returned with one of their finest albums. Marrying the intimacy of early works like Sinister and Tigermilk with the production values of their more recent releases. Write About Love is a varied, captivating and occasionally disturbing trawl through the mind of Stuart Murdoch and his colleagues. Buy this if you like: The Smiths, BritishSea Powerm, Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.
 
CORNERSTONE ROOTS ~ Future Is Now
The Raglan Roots Reggae group return with their 3rd album, Future is Now explores life issues with personal insight and an overview of looking at the big picture from a small community perspective. The album has varied moods from the classic Cornerstone sound to more modern influenced tracks. An acoustic debut by 10-year-old Reiki Ruawai, the son of bass player Naomi Tuao and singer Brian Ruawai adds to the diversity of the album.
 
EVA PROWSE ~ I Can't Keep Secrets
Meandering delicately through ten tracks of country and folk, layered on a foundation of melodic pop sensibilities, Eva (of Fly My Pretties fame) sings of the loves, dreams, boredom, heartaches and highs of living a modern life. Buy this if you like: Fly My Pretties, Chris Prowse (The Waterfront Collective), Tessa Rain (Fly My Pretties) and Anna Coddington.
 
DUB TERMINATOR & HIGH FREEQUENCY ~ SoulIsland Vol. 1
Amazing tracks by amazing artists from Jamaica to Canada, UK to Africa crafted with Dub Terminator's own distinctive mix of bass heavy roots, dubstep and downbeat. Dub Terminator & High Freequency proudly bring you 'SoulIsland Vol.
 
THE VASELINES ~ Sex With An X
Formed in Glasgow in 1987, The Vaselines released two singles and one album and then split up in 1989.They might have faded into obscurity but for the intervention of a certain band from Seattle. Nirvana covered three Vaselines songs 'Molly's Lips', "Jesus Don't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and "Son of a Gun". The Vaselines ca. 2010 is Eugene and Frances with guest musicians Stevie Jackson and Bob Kildea from Belle & Sebastian on guitar and bass, and Michael McGaughrin from the 1990s on drums.
 
BRITISH SEA POWER ~ Zeus EP
This EP acts as a wild and wunderbar-wonky precursor to the band's fourth studio album, set for release in 2011. The hefty seven-song track list either shows that BSP will work to perfect its basic-rock fundamentals of its last album on its new one or have completely gone around the twist... but, no matter where British Sea Power goes after Zeus, it should be a good ride! Buy this if you like: The Cure, Joy Division, Pixies and Arcade Fire.
 
BELLERUCHE ~ 270 Stories
Their sound is pure soulful jazz with scratches a-plenty. Their influences vary from the likes of DJ Vadim to Nina Simone to Hendrix, which results in a beautifully soulful, melodic and energetic album with a sensational voice you can't quite pin down and hooks you can't forget!
 
JANE BIRKIN & SERGE GAINSBOURG
Featuring duets and solo performances by Serge Gainsbourg and his then lover, Jane Birkin, this is a reissue of French classic pop hits - featuring the tracks that challenged airplay and sexuality across all of Europe in the 60s'. Also features brand new liner notes with French/English lyrics, insightful and telling interview with Jane B on the Jane/Serge record, as well as original renderings of the images that made the couple so notorious. Each LP features 180-gram wax, hand-numbered gatefold jacket, bonus 7", and a never before seen Jane and Serge comic drawn by artist David Lasky.
 
ODE RECORDS NEW RELEASES
 
HUMAN INSTINCT ~ Midnight Sun
The band's seventh album Midnight Sun features new and re-recorded versions of old favourites with Maurice Greer on drums and vocals, Neil Edwards on bass and Joel Haines on guitars with guest musicians Eddie Rayner, Billy T.K and other Kiwi artists... With shades of Pink Floyd and hints of Jimi Hendrix, Midnight Sun fuses the elements of Psychedelic Rock with the soul and feel of Blues Rock defining a rock sound unique to Human Instinct.
 
SONGS WRITTEN FOR & INSPIRED BY THE INSATIABLE MOON
After much demand, the fabulous soundtrack from the movie is now available! The OST contains all the songs from the film from artists such as Luke Hurley, Mahinrangi Tocker, Johnny Matteson and samRB, some beautiful music written by composer Neville Copland and more!The album also contains some bonus tracks from the artists featured in the film and a bit more besides! Watch the trailer to this awesome movie 'The Insatiable Moon' here.
 
AFROCUBISM
Problems with passports hindered producer Nick Gold's first attempt to bring together Cuban and Malian musicians to record in Havana 14 years ago. With a studio full of people still eager to play, they made a record off-the-cuff which became the Buena Vista Social Club.Now Gold has brought the story full circle and gathered together the original invitees to make an album mixing the tight rhythms of Cuba with the snaky guitars and desert drums of Mali. Eliades Ochoa, the cowboy-hatted Cuban singer and guitar player, and his Grupo Patria blend seamlessly with Malian lutist Bassekou Kouyate and guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, among others including Tomani Diabaate , on the album AfroCubism.

DOUGLAS MEWS ~ GREAT AUSTRALASIAN ORGANS VOLUME EIGHT THE ORGAN OF WELLINGTONTOWN HALL
Recorded in the WellingtonTown Hall, 25-26 January 2010. This fine Norman and Beard Organ stands untouched in Wellington Town Hall in New Zealand.  Douglas Mews, the Town hall organist plays an exciting progamme of little recorded music to suit this fabulous instrument.
 
PERGOLESI ~ Stabat Mater ANNA PROHASKA / BERNARDA FINK
On this Harmonia Mundi recording Pergolesi's Stabat Mater for strings, basso continuo, alto and soprano is the most stunning baroque work ever heard and is framed by three more masterpieces; Antonio Vivaldi's Sinfonia RV 169("Al Santo Sepolcro") and Pietro Antonio Locatelli's Concerto #4 ("Il Pianto d'Arianna") and we are also treated to Pergolesi's Salve Regina for 2 voices, all performed by the baroque orchestra Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin with soprano Anna Prohaska and alto Bernarda Fink hailing from the pianto genre.
 
SCHUMANN ~ Dichterliebe
MARK PADMORE / KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT
Schumann dedicated himself almost completely to songwriting in 1840. Out of that "year of song" came both Liederkreis and Dichterliebe.  Tenor Mark Padmore and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout perform these settings of poems by German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine, along with five songs on Heine poems by a Schumann contemporary, that deal with the relationship between art and love.
 
STEPHAN MICUS ~ Bold As Light
Stephan Micus is a German musician and composer, whose musical style is heavily influenced by his study of traditional instruments and musical techniques.In this CD - the nineteenth for ECM - Stephan Micus' three main sound protagonists are the raj nplaim (a free-reed pipe made of bamboo) from Laos, the nohkan (a bamboo flute) from Japan, and the many male voices, which, of course, are all sung by Micus himself - possibly in a made up language!
 
MOUSSU T E LEI JOVENTS ~ Putan De Cancon
Moussu T e lei Jovents consists of the founder of Massilia Sound System together with its guitarist and a famous Brazilian percussionist, Moussu T e lei Jovents famous for their revival of Occitan, the ancient language of southern France. The group takes its inspiration from Marseille in the thirties; mixing provençal styles with a dash of chanson against black musical influences from the Americas. They do so using guitars, banjo and Brazilian percussion.The mostly upbeat, melodic songs include simple, rousing singalong pieces such as 'Empeche-Moi' and 'Mon Ouragan'.
 
JOHN CHEN ~ In Recital DVD
In 2004 at the age of 18, John Chen became the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Sydney international Piano competition. In the years since, John has become one of the very few whose career has matched its auspicious competition beginnings.  This DVD features John Chen in recital complete with Johns notes and thoughts on what these wonderful masterpieces of piano mean to him.

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