Mazzy Star is an American band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback’s friend Hope Sandoval became the group’s vocalist. They began by using the Opal name and material but. Sandoval stated that she was unhappy with the material, and expressed an interest in wanting […]
Khruangbin
Khruangbin (pronounced Krung-bin and means flying engine in Thai) are an American musical trio from Houston, Texas, with Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray “DJ” Johnson Jr. on drums. The band is known for blending global music influences, such as classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Speer and Johnson met in […]
MozART group
Something fun for a weary Wednesday. The MozART group is a cabaret and comedy string quartet based in Warsaw, Poland, known for their unique approach to classical music. The MozART group make frequent TV appearances including international galas and concerts. All four members are well educated instrumentalists who graduated from prestigious Academies of Music in […]
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) was an avant pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band’s sound is not easily categorized, having elements of exuberant folk and a minimalist aesthetic occasionally reminiscent of composers such as Philip Glass. The group […]
Amélie-les-crayons
Amélie-les-crayons (born 1981) is a French singer-songwriter, with an emphasis on theatricality and humour in her performances and that of her group. Amélie started in 2001 in bars and cafés in Lyon, as a solo piano singer. A 6-track CD, Le Chant des Coquelicots, was released in 2002. In 2003, she put a real band […]
March on Washington 2
On the 28th August 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave his legendary ‘I Have A Dream’ speech during the ‘March on Washington for Job and Freedom’ in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of […]
Flanders & Swann
Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together. So we begin with one of their […]
Ace of Base – Discology
Earlier in the week I drew your your attention to the works of Abba, the Swedish pop phenomenon. This put me in mind of the two other great Swedish musical exports Roxette (more of whom in a later post) and Ace of Base. So today I want to remind you of Ace of Base andtheir […]
Der Holle Rache – Which is the Best Version?
“Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen” (“Hell’s vengeance boils in my heart”), commonly abbreviated to “Der Hölle Rache”, is an aria sung by the Queen of the Night, in the second act of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It depicts a fit of vengeful rage in which the Queen of the Night […]
Seven Nation Army
“Seven Nation Army” is a song by American duo The White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, Elephant, and was released in March 2003 as the lead single. Written and produced by Jack White, the song consists of distorted vocals, a simple drumbeat, and a bass-like riff created by playing […]