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In my humble opinion the very best performance of the Oscar nominated song " Lost Stars " by the man who wrote it - Gregg Alexander :

Astrid North 's voice is sheer beauty.  In the 1990s she was the voice of The Cultured Pearls . For almost a decade and five stunning records they were quite successful by mixing influences from Soul, Pop, Funk and Jazz into their very own kind of music. After the last record of The Cultured Pearls in 2003 there were ten long years of silence. In 2013 the first solo record of her surfaced (simply called " North ") and now Mrs. North just started a crowd funding campaign for her second album. Rightfully after the first day almost 50% were already financed! Way to go! Here is the English video for the campaign:   And if you don't know The Cultured Pearls - listen to this: You can preorder the new record " Precious Ruby " at Pledgemusic (digital, CD or signed CD, House concerts, lyric sheets and much more!).

Taylor Locke co-founded the L.A. based band Rooney  in 1999 and was signed to Geffen Records at the age of 18. After 3 albums and a number one single in Germany he is ready now for a solo career. His debut solo album " Time Stands Still " will be out at  Lojinx  on February 23, 2015. The record has 10 songs and not a single filler - Time Stands Still is full of highlights: There are songs of pure beauty - like the opener Burbank Woman , the title track Time Stands Still or The Art Of Moving On. Running Away From Love travels back to the 70s, So Long is the perfect track for radio airplay and the heavy  Call Me Kuchu occupies the middle of the LP. There are lyrics from the late  Kim Fowley , as well as co-writing with singer-songwriter  Kelly Jones  and  Chris Price  (a member of  Taylor Locke & The Roughs ). Time Stands Still  has its band parts, but there are also intimate acoustic parts where the b...

Sometimes you discover a record which comes out of the blue and you have the feeling you know it already for years. Or at least you SHOULD. Learning Love from the Detroit based  Bobby Emmett is exactly this kind of record. After three LPs as a member of  The Sights this was his debut solo record - released in 2010. With a length of just 33 minutes it contains 10 tracks of intense Rock 'n' Roll and PowerPop. The opener Queen Of Hearts is the perfect outlook of what you can expect from the LP: rough guitars, claps, and an extremely 70s vibe! Still Want To Be With You may be the catchiest tune I listened to for months! This is maybe my personal highlight of the record. Broken Hearted  would be a perfect radio song - in a good way. Songs like  Not Gonna Take It . (pure rock!) or the Lennonesque  Never Waited So Long  should not be missed! It's just a shame it's not available on CD or digital anymore (the only way to find samples was ...

There's a new record of Ron Sexsmith , it's named Carousel One . Listen two two of the new tracks (" Saint Berndard " and " Can't Get My Act Together " ) HERE . Track list: Sure As The Sky  Saint Bernard  Loving You  Before The Night Is Gone  Lucky Penny  Getaway Car  Nothing Feels The Same Anymore  Sun’s Coming Out  Lord Knows  All Our Tomorrows  No One  Can’t Get My Act Together  Tumbling Sky  Many Times  Bonus tracks (available in different countries) The Other Side  Is Anyone Going To San Antone Carousel One will be out March 17, 2015. Watch this space!