Shed likes: Eleni Mandell
Eleni Mandell has just joined the Shed playlist and we’re listening to her latest album, Artificial Fire, non-stop here in the Shed. You’ll see why…
A veteran of the LA rock scene, Eleni can be found in a number of musical guises, but it is here in her solo project that she really has developed. In fact, Artificial Fire is her most mature project yet. Gone is the angst and the anguish, and in its place is a much more well-adjusted album. In fact, Eleni Mandell is probably the artist Liz Phair could have become if she hadn’t got caught up in the hype.
She’s on V2 records over here in Europe, and you can get her latest album here: buy album
Watch Artificial Fire here:
Featured this week: Marmaduke Dando
Marmaduke Dando
There’s one artist on the Shed playlist who deserves his very own page and that’s London-based showman Marmaduke Dando. This week, two Marmaduke songs have gone on to the Shed.fm Internet Radio playlist: Who Would Have Thought, and All of Me – two songs that encapsulate the music of Marmaduke Dando and his eclectic band. So where does it all come from?
There’s hints of early Scott Walker, yes, hints of Brel and hints of Bowie, with a bit of Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon in there, too… with a strong baritone. Among his influences, he lists Portsmouth and Prefab Sprout, but we sense a little more than that.
So, hats off to Marmaduke Dando – playing live at the following venues on the following dates:
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The Enterprise – Turning Worm presents w/ Andrew Clarke | London, London and South East | ||
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The Treehouse Galleries – Power Down | Regents Park, London and South East | ||
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Windmill – Shot by Both Sides | Brixton, London and South East | ||
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Poetry Cafe w/ Monooka | London |
Three new artists on the playlist: Delays, The Hand & Michael Macri
Delays
Delays, who hail from Southampton, are somehow unsigned, but not for long as there is no doubt a long line of record labels queuing up to sign the hottest thing to come out of Southampton since Matt Le Tissier. Sounding like a cross between the Stone Roses and Fleetwood Mac (if you can imagine that), they’ve already caught the attention of the NME and The Guardian.
New album “Everything’s The Rush” is out now, and it’s bloody good, if you like proper soaring Indie music that’s a cut above the average. We do. That’s why we’ve added “Nearer Than Heaven” and “Valentine” to the Shed FM playlist.
The Hand
Bristol-based The Hand are the latest ukulele-inspired group to have wowed the Shed. Here’s what they say about themselves:
We met a couple of years ago, down Bristol harbour working on the ferry-boats, where we would sing songs on sunny days, and then suddenly it occured to us we should make some new songs and started to write together from scratch using banjo, kora, ukelele, piano, harmonium, autoharp and clarinet.
A lot of what we do is instrumental, and when we sing it is usually together and usually in harmony.
We spent two rainy weeks this summer recording in the Self-Build-Project (where our friends have built their own house) and our new album ‘Berries From The Rubble’ is now ready and available to buy.
We think they’re awesome – a mixture of ukulele, banjo, kora, harmonium, clarinet and whatever else they’ve learnt to play, it’s something completely unique on the Shed FM playlist. Go to the myspace site to hear more from them, and their album, Berries From The Rubble is available to buy there.
Michael Macri
If his website is a trip back to the 1990s, his music is a welcome trip back to the 70s and the down and dirty blues that us Shed types reminisce about. We can just imagine this one playing in this blues bar in Brussels – the type that has straw on the floor and unshaven types drinking cheap beer at the bar, looking at you as if you won’t leave the bar alive. Great stuff. Can’t wait to go back.
Anyway, we digress… we’ve added “I Can’t Drink With You” (great title) to the Shed FM playlist, and we didn’t hesitate a split second. It’s a buzzing, heady blues-filled anthem about the Melbourne Gang Wars (we didn’t even know…), and the video to go with it is just bloody brilliant.
Michael doesn’t stop with the 70s blues, he hits glam, 80s new wave, heavy metal and pop – but all with that voice (check out White Bearded Man). So Michael – welcome to the playlist, where you belong.
On the playlist this week: Cathleen & Sonic Ahmed
Cathleen
Cathleen
Here at Shed FM, we’re rather ashamed to admit that although we took A-level German, we don’t really understand much when it comes down to it.
We can ask the way to the Krankhaus and order a currywurst, but we get rather embarassed when asked to formulate more complicated sentences, or understand anything, really.
Which is why we’re rather embarassed to say that we don’t know much about Leipzig-based singer/songwriter Cathleen. We wish we did know more, and we don’t like to trust those automatic translators such as Babelfish because they just spew out nonsense. We think Cathleen is the next big thing in Germany, and you’ll find out why by listening to Shed FM, as she’s just joined the playlist.
We’re playing the brilliant “Hold Me” as much as we can, because we think Cathleen deserves to be heard by a wider audience. It’s rather unfair that every female singer, though, tends to be compared to the same voices – from Liz Phair to Heather Nova, Beth Orton and Patti Smith… it rather limits them, and Patti Smith sounds nothing like the other three, so it’s throwaway journalism of the worst kind. Cathleen reminds us of a female Nick Drake. Which is great stuff. Go visit her website, Deep Blue Voices.
Sonic Ahmed
Once more, we are ashamed to know very little about a German artists due to the fact that we just plain didn’t listen in German A-level classes. However, we gleaned this from his myspace page:
Since 1996 “Sonic Ahmed” ist the Solo-Project of Achim Rinderle (”A Glezele Vayn” and various other projects). He just moved to Berlin, looking for new inspiration (sticking to the harmonic-minor side of live). His main instruments are tenor-/bariton-/alto- sax and (bass-) clarinet. Apart from that he likes to blow into everything that sounds good but believes to be a drummer that has mischosen the right reincarnation last time. He also does radio drama and cooking. Past time projects: famous-freaky “!mahw” (the same song all night long in 14 versions), most weired “Kopffüßlerunion”, and died too young “Boogie Bollente” among other small nameless little tiny sonic-happenings
And you know what, we really like this fella. We went straight for his Balkan-tinged album, Balkenbraz, and picked out Mashkenka, which is now on rotation here on Shed FM Internet Radio. It’s one of the brightest, perkiest records we’ve heard in a long time and you can download it here:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/sonic-ahmed
So – two artists from Germany, and no Fantastischen Vier. Even better!
Sweet Soubrette LIVE at the Sidewalk Cafe, NYC
Sweet Soubrette
We got very excited here at Shed FM when we got these live tracks to play you. Ellia Bisker, otherwise known as Sweet Soubrette, is one of our favourite ukelele artists, in fact she’s one of our favourite artists full stop, on the Shed FM playlist, so these songs have been on the virtual turntable since they landed.
Don’t let the ukelele tag distract you, Ellia reminds us very much of Regina Spektor with an added dose of wit and charm, and is backed by a bunch of classically trained musicians.
Bittersweet and romantic, yet not in a sickly way, Ellia has received critical acclaim from the likes of Time Out New York, and has even toured France – something of a ukelele heartland, believe it or not.
This week, then, we go to NYC for four live songs with Sweet Soubrette at the Sidewalk Cafe, and then a handful of songs from her excellent album, Siren Song. She is currently working on a second album, and keep an ear out for her in October when the Shed relocates for a couple of days to NYC itself!
Hear Sweet Soubrette LIVE at the Sidewalk Cafe, NYC at these times (BST):
Monday 19th: 7pm
Tuesday 20th: 1pm
Wednesday 21st: 11:10pm
Friday 23rd: 9am
Saturday 24th: 3pm
Sunday 25th: 6pm
New to the playlist this week: Viola and Ruby Wood
There’s loads more new music on Shed FM Internet Radio this week, but we’re looking at two in particular, Finnish pop duo Viola and Huddersfield jazz singer Ruby Wood.
Viola
Viola
We like this Finnish duo, whose music can be found here: http://www.violamusicclub.com. Why? Well, it’s not just because their latest single, Shimmery Summery (Sha La La Love) has been spinning almost non-stop on the Shed FM turntable, it’s because all of their music is completely and utterly free. And here at Shed FM, we salute any band that puts their entire discography up for grabs, undoubtedly accepting the fact that selling CDs and mp3s is in the past and all your money’s in gigs and stuff like that.
So what of Viola themselves? They are, in their own words:
Two guys influenced by beautiful heartfelt music, ass-shaking beats, sub-par humor and hidden messages.
We’re the ones sitting in the corner of a hot discothèque, watching others have fun.
We make music to dance to – for people who seldom dance outside the dancefloor of their minds.
We’ll no doubt be hearing more from the poppy Finns in the months to come!
Ruby Wood
Ruby Wood
We didn’t think we’d have to go as far as Huddersfield to find a British jazz singer to rival the American greats, but we think we’ve done it. Ruby Wood (listen more here: http://www.myspace.com/rubywoodmusic) is a prolific singer-songwriter who works with the likes of Extra Curricular, Voicebox, Solaris and Wooden Ark, and travels as far afield as Croatia to get her music heard. Indeed, sometimes she goes as far as the Marsden Jazz Festival.
Ruby managed to turn the ear of legend Humphrey Lyttleton on BBC Radio 2, who appreciated the way she took old songs and made them her own.
An early starter, Ruby played in a West Indian steel band at the age of seven, learning different styles before settling on jazz. Perhaps jazz was pre-destined, though, as she was named after a Thelonious Monk classic, Ruby, My Dear by her jazz-mad parents.
Look out for Ruby on Shed.fm – and visit Ruby’s site. We think she’s awesome.
New on rotation this week: Carrie Haber, Bidgie Reef, and Marmaduke Dando
Carrie Haber
Carrie Haber
London-based Carrie Haber won Paris Link magazine’s EuroVirtual song contest back in 2007, and has come on leaps and bounds since. From pop princess, she has matured into a singer of huge potential, along the lines of Fiona Apple, Bjork and Tori Amos.
Carrie’s latest song, “These 3 Words” is currently on rotation on Shed.fm, and if you want to see Carrie live in concert, then get yourself to London, or any of these venues:
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The Bedford | Balham, London | ||
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The Regal Room | Hammersmith, London | ||
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The Source Below | Soho, London | ||
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Wavelength @ the Regal Room | Hammersmith, London | ||
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Summer Fest @ The Tabernacle | Notting Hill, London | ||
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Cavendish Arms | Cavendish, London | ||
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Harpus Cellar Bar | Bedford | ||
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Blag Club | Notting Hill, London |
Marmaduke Dando
There’s a hint of the Neil Hannons about Marmaduke Dando, but that would be simplifying things – he’s a performer, a crooner, and a baritone with pirate heritage. “Odessa” is currently on the Shed.fm playlist, and it’s a great introduction to the world of Marmaduke and his band.
See him live here:
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The Swan at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre | Southbank, London and South East | ||
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The Camden Head w/ Andrew Clarke | Camden | ||
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The Camden Head w/ Andrew Clarke | Camden |
Bidgie Reef & The Gas
Bidgie Reef & The Gas
Ultra-cool Bidgie Reef & The Gas hail from Reading, which is not their fault. They’ve attracted the attention of the BBC, and the Guardian confirmed their ascendancy by claiming that they are “bidding for rock immortality”.
We agree – and we’ve put three of their songs on rotation here on Shed.fm, including the brilliant, epic “Umbrellas”.
If ever you have the fortune to be in Reading, make sure you catch them here:
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The Big Day Out, South Hill Park Arts Centre | Bracknell | ||
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The Big Untidy | Reading | ||
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Rising Sun Arts Centre | Reading, London and South East |