Per Gessle - Son of a Plumber

In 2005 the Swedish singer and composer Per Gessle (from Roxette) released a solo record named Son Of a Plumber. It may be my favorite album of his.

The idea was to go on a trip back to the 1960s and 1970s.  Per wanted the record to feel like an LP where you must turn the vinyl after half the record. That is why it consists of 2 CDs with a overall play time of 63 minutes for 25 tracks (!) - including a 5 song spanning junior suite.
Sounds quite different than a standard 12 track album, isn't it?

If you don't want to try out the full record, start with:
- Drowning In Wonderful Thoughts About Her
- I Have A Party In My Head
- C’mon

... or listen to the whole record here (I strongly recommend headphones):

Rest in Peace, Marie Fredriksson! (the voice of Roxette)

Some days ago sad news surfaced: Marie Fredriksson, the voice of Roxette died after a 17 years long fight against cancer.

Her bandmate and friend for decades - Per Gessle - wrote at his Facebook page:

 "Time goes by so quickly. It’s not that long ago we spent days and nights in my tiny apartment in Halmstad, listening to music we loved, sharing impossible dreams. And what a dream we eventually got to share! 

Thank you Marie, thanks for everything. You were an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer. Thanks for painting my black and white songs with the most beautiful colours. You were a wonderful friend for over forty years. I’m proud, honoured and happy to have been able to share so much of your time, talent, warmth, generosity and your sense of humour. 

All my love goes out to you and your family. Things will never be the same. 

P." 

Mike Viola - King Kong Hand (Hootenanny 1 Mic)

CATT - Moon

CATT is a 23 years old German singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. 

She grew up in a North German three-house-village mainly surrounded by woods and classical music before she moved to Berlin.

First she’d played and composed for several artists. In June 2019 CATT released her debut album "Moon". Musically it is situated somewhere in the area Indie-Pop, but that's far too short to describe her style. CATT has already a musical style other artist have to build up within several albums. There are minimalistic parts alternating with a wall of sound - which is quite compelling!

Listen to two of the songs below. And if you like it, buy it!

www.catt-music.com

Bleu - New Album? Warming up...

So, there is talk about a new album by Bleu (by the man himself) in the near future.

To warm up a bit, I'll start with one of his most iconic songs and maybe the first one I listened from him.

The fabulous "Somebody Else":

Jamie Cullum - Drink (official video)

Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Video Reaches 1 BILLION VIEWS on YouTube!

The "Bohemian Rhapsody" Video Reached 1 BILLION VIEWS on YouTube! 

The new re-mastered video is available now exclusively on Queen’s YouTube channel.

The Band also launches an exclusive ‘you are the champions’ campaign for fans to become a part of Queen history with a starring role in three new user generated videos.
 READ MORE: http://tiny.cc/5ph19y

Jamie Cullum - Taller

Jamie Cullum is back. Five years after his (also highly recommended) last record "Interlude", his eighth album "Taller" is out June 7, 2019.

Cullum, British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist mixes different genres - primarily Jazz and Pop, but also Gospel and Funk. Aside from vocals and playing piano he handles a variety of other instruments like drums or guitar.

Listen to the following three songs to get an impression of the record:

Bill DeMain - Made You Laugh

Eric Barao - Obsolete

“Obsolete”, the follow-up to Eric Barao's 2013 debut album, will be out on April 2, 2019. 

The new album features guest appearances from power pop icons Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck, Imperial Drag) and Mike Viola (The Candy Butchers, The Major Labels, L.E.O.). 

Once again working with three-time Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Ducky Carlisle, Barao has aimed for a more nostalgic production style that takes it's cues from the Magical Mystery Tour / White Album period of The Beatles, but updates it with modern guitar sounds and some very 21st century lyric writing. 

Working largely in '60's stereo' (every track panned hard left, right or center), Barao and his bandmates have layered pianos, harpsichords, vintage organs and Mellotrons with hardhitting Queen-style guitars, orchestral instruments and tight vocal harmonies to form a lavish collage of everything that was good about power pop of the 1960's and 1970's. However, some modern production tricks help to make it all leap out of the speakers in a way that few records of the time could achieve. 

The best compliment you can give to the record is: it's pure fun and joy to listen to it. This will be on heavy rotation or the next weeks.

Barao's 2013 debut album, which was produced by power pop darling Bleu, earned him extensive praise in the press, and landed on more than a dozen 'Best of 2013' music critics' lists across several countries, including the United States and Japan. 

In the early 2000's, his previous band The Cautions released two albums and played throughout the Northeast. 

For more information or to buy the album, visit his website: ericbarao.com (get it on CD, digtial or exclusive USB-Stick with bonus stuff)

Jenny Lewis - On The Line

Jenny's fourth solo album, 'On The Line,' is out now!

Recorded at Capitol Records’ Studio B, On The Line boasts a backing band of incredible talent featuring Beck, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr and Ryan Adams.