2010FM - November Edition Two

Papercutz are new to me and I have been really charmed by their music. Atmospheric, moving and gently reminding me of Goldfrapp and the Cocteau Twins at times, the most recent release: "Do Outro Lado Do Es�pelho (Lylac Am�bient Reworks)" is ambient at it's best. Some other reviews have stated - ":Papercutz has commissioned a remix album of his work which reads like a who?s who of contemporary drone. Remix records are often, by their very nature, frustratingly inconsistent, but thankfully Do Outro Lado Do Espello represents a notably coherent and engaging exception." Drowned in Sound

"delightful ambient" Record Collector

"Lovely set of shoegazy ambient remixes" Boomkat

"Here are twelve amazing tracks by masters of ambient and modern classical composition!" Headphone commute

"Soundscapes developed into lush new ambient forms or retract into spacious drones, while the voice is in turn wrapped in textures and treated as just another sound source, or isolated as primary organic element to increase its impact." The Milk Factory

"It's wonderful to see Bruno Miguel's :papercutz project receive newfound exposure through the Audiobulb imprint and to see his electro-acoustic pop re-interpreted by an impressive cast of kindred spirits." Textura.

Featured Track: Lylac (Helios remix).
Website: Official. Buy.
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White Mountains is the project of producer and composer Peter James. Exploring texture, space, and melody, James creates electronic music with an organic feel that often reaches blissful heights.

He is currently based in New Hampshire. His White Mountains LP, Wilderness will be released November 9th.

The featured track is all I have had a chance to listen to from the new album and I am really impressed. The electronic music genre has become a crowded place and stand out music such as this is always welcomed.

Featured Track: Bells.
Website: MySpace.

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The Radio Dept, have achieved some notable success through this decade. They become Labrador Records best selling band; the first to reach the sales charts in Sweden, end up on NME's albums-of-the-decade-list, enter the Billboard Heatseeker chart and serve as soundtrack to an odd costume drama by Sophia Coppola. Quoting Johan from Labrador records "The Radio Dept. are adamantly uncompromising, ridiculously self-critical, vastly independent and, not least importantly, constantly moving forwards". The album Passive aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 is a voyage through the first eight years on Labrador. 

The album is due out on January 25th (2011) on Labrador/Caroline Records and tour dates have been announced for February 2011 (NYC exclusive shows November 30 & December). The EP "Never Follow Suit" is now available and the featured track is an incredible dub version by Pistol Disco from the new EP.

Nov 30 NYC Knitting Factory
Dec 01 NYC Bowery Ballroom
Feb 01 Washington D.C.  Rock N Roll Hotel
Feb 02 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Feb 03 New York, NY Webster Hall
Feb 04 Boston, MA Middle East Downstairs
Feb 05 Montreal, QC Petit Campus
Feb 07 Toronto, ONT Lee's Palace
Feb 08 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Feb 09 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
Feb 12 Seattle, WA Crocodile Caf�
Feb 13 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Feb 15 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Feb 16 Los Angeles, CA  El Rey Theatre
Feb 19 Mexico City, MX Teatro de la Ciudad

Featured Track: Never Swallow Fruit Dub
Website: Official.
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OK some PR words by way of an introduction. Danika Holmes is a rising star in the heartland!? says Bill Sullivan of The Rock and Roll Report. Mike Wolfe of The History Channel?s American Pickers says ?She?s a true American talent? I couldn?t stop listening!? Music critics agree that Danika is charming and energetic with a welcoming tone in her voice, which is as gentle as a breeze.

As Holmes plays shows, fans tell her how they can relate to her lyrics, which is exactly what she is hoping for. ?At first that was really scary for me. I felt like I was standing on stage and unzipping my soul!? Currently, Danika?s music is being broadcast on independent radio stations, blogs, and podcasts around the world. She performs regularly with her band, has opened for The Nadas, and her show was aired on Iowa Public Television and Radio.

?Second Chances,? Danika?s debut album, was released in March of 2010. The title track is a reflection of Danika?s dogmatic belief that everyone benefits from a second chance, or even a third, along life?s way.

Danika's music is a mixture of Americana, pop and country rock, her songs are strong and the vocals works across a range of styles. Splendid music that can both lift you up and move you, without being overly melancholy or indulgent. Recommended.

Featured Track: Lock Me In Tonight.

Website: Official.

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The introduction Beehive Candy has for Leslie Cours Mather reads better than we can write them so here it is - It can be hard to remain hopeful when times are dark. But out of even the darkest, most testing times can come great art- profoundly moving works that give us faith and let us know we aren?t alone in our hardships.

Singer-songwriter Leslie Cours Mather has certainly endured some dark times recently. At the age of four her daughter Stefani was diagnosed with leukemia. Thankfully, Stefani, now eight, has been treated and is doing just fine. But it was a tough patch there for a bit. Out of it all, however, came an added bonus. As she and her family passed through this emotionally wrenching period, Leslie found solace and release in writing songs. Several of these songs are found on For My Children, her astonishing new album.

Given all that Leslie endured, For My Children somehow doesn?t sound sad. Vulnerable at times, yes. And soul-searching. But sad? Not at all. Instead, it?s an album that?s uplifting. Affecting. And, most of all, comforting?all qualities you don?t seem to find enough of in today?s world of overly shallow, short-attention-span music.

Having listen to the songs I was impressed that this is indeed a wonderful album that would stand the test of music critics regardless of the background story. Recently, Leslie joined with a team of doctors from Children?s Hospital Los Angeles where Stefani was treated, to establish the Parents? Advisory Council of the international consortium TACL (Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma). Together, they are working diligently to develop new treatments, support families and raise money to eradicate these diseases. Fifty percent of the purchase price of each For My Children CD will go to TACL.

Featured Track: I'll Run.

Website: Official.

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Beady Eye are Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock. Beady Eye have made available ?Bring The Light?, the first track to be heard from their debut album, as a free download worldwide to their fans as from now. The album was recorded over the past summer in London and will be released next year. So there is life after Oasis for Liam and if the song and accompanying video featured on their website are anything to go by things are looking up. The video shows the band as they will appear on tour with Liam on vocals, Gem and Andy on guitar, Chris on drums accompanied by Jeff Wootton on bass and Matt Jones on piano. 

Musically the addition of female backing vocals and the use of piano make this song sound clearly different from Oasis and although Liam's distinctive vocals will always link him to his former band I would say at this stage that Beady Eye look set to make their own mark on the world of music.

Featured Track: Bring The Light.

Website: Official.

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OK the background first - Brian Franke is an award-winning folk-rock singer/songwriter residing in the Washington, DC area. An up-and-coming artist with dynamic vocals, his music provides subtle commentary on life events, social issues, and politics, spanning such genres as rock, indie pop, and folk rock. With a sound that?s raw, contemplative and often edgy, his music appeals to fans of Elliott Smith, Pete Yorn, Vertical Horizon, and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Brian?s debut album ?Six Blocks Down? was released in the fall of 2010. ?Six Blocks Down? navigates through swells of hard rock, over meandering streams of rootsy folk, with an undercurrent of mellow indie pop. Lyrically he meditates on life, love, politics and social issues, blending lively folk-rock arrangements with colorful chord progressions and rich, raw vocals. The album?s award-winning title track is a breezy pop-rock number whose sound belies the serious nature of the song?s lyrics, about a couple struggling to find purpose in their relationship. Currently he is touring in support of the album making stops in such cities as New York City, Nashville, Johnson City, and Philadelphia.

Brian was born and raised in Fair Haven, New Jersey, where he joined his first band, Visitors Only (a fusion of acoustic rock and pop). After earning degrees in economics and public policy, Brian worked in the non-profit sector before starting his full-time music career in late 2009. Always seeking to engage others in his music, he collaborates often with local artists and involves his fans in his music career.

Today he is a permanent fixture on the music circuit in Washington, DC, with numerous residencies, and invitations to play top venues in the area such as Jammin? Java, Iota Club and Caf�, and the Washington Nationals Ballpark.

The music is a mixture of indie rock and pop and stands out as both crisp and sharp musically, however what really makes it for the Beehive are Brian's vocals which suit perfectly the punch and delivery of his songs.

Featured Track: Never Let Your Guard Down.

Website: Official.

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This is one band that have really grabbed my attention this month and their album has been played more than any other since I received it! Official words state - With only an aim to create emotive music, Exit Calm channel a wall of immense and anthemic sound that evokes the mood and spirit of 90?s shoegaze heroes like the millennium never happened.  However not a nostalgia act, hipster music site Drowned In Sound said that ?Exit Calm are so far out in front of the rest of the competition at present it's frightening. In fact, you can almost imagine bands forming in their wake as we speak.? This band of Northern Englishmen have also been embraced by UK alternative heroes like Liam Gallagher of Oasis and Alan McGee of Creation Records who tapped the band to play events they hosted in October.  Clint Boon of Inspiral Carpets and David Francolini of Levitation and Dark star are regular attendees of their shows as well. 

?Exit Calm are the best British Indie band we?ve heard in years? - UNCUT

?Pure Genius-The assembly of iron and wood because temples must be made. And the avoidance of all that whiny, sexless bullshit passing for rebellion at the moment? - Todd Eckhart, producer of the JOY
DIVISION film "CONTROL"

?Proper f##kin? music? ?Mani of Primal Scream/Stone Roses

We can only add that this band are awesome and that's not a word we use often. Exit Calms S/T debut full-length on Sonic Unyon has now been released for the U.S. and Canada. Tour wise the band have supported such artists as Echo & The Bunnymen, The Charlatans and Modest Mouse. They have played through Europe and Japan and plan to hit up the U.S. in the coming year.

Featured Track: Youve Got It All Wrong.

Website: MySpace.

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I love the way the intro for this band has been written so being ever so lazy right now as we finish this edition here it is - Yes, Acid House Kings are back. Finally! Almost six years since the release of the highly acclaimed album, Sing Along with Acid House Kings, Sweden?s #1 pop perfectionists are ready to release new material.

The first single ?Are We Lovers or Are We Friends?? is a drive in the Swedish countryside with nothing planned and a feeling that anything can happen. The radio is playing lush and heavily orchestrated 70s soul with huge arrangements and a distinct sentimentality. It's a blistering pop explosion inspired by the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, Tommy K�rberg and flamenco percussionists with a chorus that will stay with you.

Stemming from huge elitist?s pop record collections and a slightly embarrassed admiration of ABBA, Stock Aitken Waterman and Swedish ?dansband?, Acid House Kings have continued their slow, but steady fine-tuning towards perfect pop music. And with half a decade of song writing the fans are in for something extraordinarily fabulous.  ?We?ve allowed ourselves to be extremely self-critical. Songs good enough for any of our other albums have been singled out repeatedly?, says Niklas Angerg�rd.

Acid House Kings are brothers Johan and Niklas Angerg�rd and Niklas? sister-in-law Julia Lannerheim. ?Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?? is taken from Acid House Kings? forthcoming fifth album Music Sounds Better with You, out on Johan's birthday, March  22nd, 2011. An album that during a short period was tentatively and logically named A Family Affair. According to the band, the new album is ?sharper, catchier and livelier?, a ?goodbye to genre obligations? and ?it?s got castanets on every single song?.

This is just a wonderful pop song and I love it!

Featured Track: Are We Lovers or Are We Friends?

Grab It: HERE.

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Featured Tracks:



For reasons beyond me the White Mountains track needs a separate player to work properly, these mp3's can be as fussy as A list celebs at times, anything to get noticed....

Source: http://www.beehivecandy.com/2010/11/2010fm-november-edition-two.html

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