Jenny Gillespie

A dash of Joni Mitchell, a dollop of Stevie Nicks, a little helping of Joan Armatrading and a whole heaping of talent and you have Jenny Gillespie. Her smoky voice will send shivers down your spine, and bring on the goose bumps.

Jenny Gillespie’s new EP Belita is an intoxicating blend of folk, indie pop and post-rock, produced by Jenny and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. Belita features turns by Sam Amidon on vocals and violin and Marc Ribot on electric guitar. A nuanced and modern approach to the folk genre—globally influenced, but intimately rendered, with precise yet imaginative instrumentation.

I am just digging this EP, it sounds superb. But then so does pretty much everything Jenny sings.


Sunshine Blood

"Sunshine Blood" from Belita EP
Live at Joyride Studio, Chicago
Jenny Gillespie + Shahzad Ismaily
Directed by Todd Tue

From that same session, I'm guessing.
Mariposa

Not on the EP, but here's a stripped back cover of a Bon Iver song, performed with the only instrumentation being the dulcimer. A true thing of beauty.
Beth/Rest


Check out the rest of the EP right here.

And finally today, I could not resist this beautiful video with the awesome remix.
The Pierre Pascual Remixes

"Golden Central" (Remixes) + "Hearts for Eyes" (Remixes) by Jenny Gillespie.
Out on June 15 2011 (Madame Visage Records)
Arranged & Produced by Pierre Pascual.
Images by Milk Product.

All Will Be Quiet

Helsinki-based postrock band All Will Be Quiet will release their debut album on Wednesday 2nd of May. This is preceded by a single release Wide Eyes and Space
Flights, which introduces the band and its way of stretching the borders of this genre. The single and debut album are released by Lionheart Records.

After working for eighteen months on the upcoming album, the band is finally
ready to release it. They waited until they were totally satisfied with the outcome. This can be heard in Wide Eyes and Space Flights, which is truly is a polished piece. Distinctive rhythm patterns, Alex Kauffmann's ethereal voice and the violin and the cello playing in the background make this song particularly interesting and powerful. And we all know how much I love the violin and cello.

The apocalyptic theme and atmosphere in Wide Eyes and Space Flights is a great
foretaste of the upcoming album On the First Day. With their debut album
All Will Be Quiet tells a story of a new beginning, change and opportunities
the humankind will face after everything is lost.

This is almost prog rock. Why do we need tags? But sometimes I hear a little Barclay James Harvest here. All in all I am really digging this band, and can hardly wait for the album to be released in May.

So meantime, in between time check out the aforementioned single.
Wide Eyes And Space Flights

released 24 February 2012
Aleksi Kaufmann - vocals, guitar, cello
Tatu Halonen - bass
Iiro Säynäjärvi - piano, keyboards
Joel Tobias Sädekoski - drums & percussion
Kane Kaspar Heinonen - guitar, sampler
violin: Sofia Kosonen
backing vocals: Tanja Korkka

recorded, mixed and produced by Kane Kaspar Heinonen
mastered by Matias Ahonen / Audiamond

Then I found this really cool live piece
Writing History

All Will Be Quiet live at Torvi, Lahti June 22,2011
produced by Riikka Huuskonen & Kane Heinonen
camera: Riikka Huuskonen, Simo Järvelä, Eeva Ronkainen, Otso Vartiainen
edit: Kane Heinonen, Riikka Huuskonen
music: recorded, mixed and produced by Kane Heinonen
mastered by Matias Ahonen / Audiamond

Also check out their earlier self titled EP

Soko

Today we welcome Soko a beautiful young lady who once wanted to quit the music scene, see review below, and just stick to her acting. Boy am I glad she changed her mind. Despite her misgivings I think she has an unusual and beautiful voice.
If you listen to these first three songs, all from Soko's new album, there is a vulnerability about her that is just wonderful to behold.
I am thinking that her album I Thought I Was an Alien will be a permanent resident on my Winamp playlist for some time to come.

I Thought I Was An Alien

Directed by : Soko
With : Alien / Surfer : Maxime Sokolinski
Alien Lovers : Sam Spiegel and Soko
Filmed by: Soko,
Additional Filming : Maxime Sokolinski, Spike Jonze
Edited by : Marie Charlotte Moreau
Alien created by : Alterian ( million thanks to Tony Gardner )
Shot in Echo Park, CA, in august 2011 on my iPhone.

This song could possibly break your heart, achingly beautiful it is.
I've Been Alone Too Long

I've Been Alone Too Long, live //Filmed by: Matthew Gray Gubler, in Nevada in July 2011.

First Love Never Die

Directed by: Soko & Matthew Gray Gubler
Co-Edited by: Matthew Gray Gubler & Soko & Matt Murphy & Laura Gonzalez
First Lovers: Emilia Sterkel & Trip Star Moon.
Shot in Nevada in August 2011.
Big Thank you to everyone at the Ranch ( humans & animals ! ) for letting us have such a wonderful time with you.. Thanks to Derek, Persephonie, Andre and the kiddos for being so great !

Listen to her earlier hit from 2007, when Soko achieved a hit single in Denmark with her song "I'll Kill Her" after the radio program The Black Boy Scouts began to promote it. The song reached number one on the chart of the Danish version of the iTunes Store and was the number one song in rotation on radio.
I'll Kill Her

Stéphanie (Soko) Sokolinski is a César-nominated French actress who had a minor hit in 2007 before announcing that she was “dead” as a musician.
Now “reborn”, any reservations you might have about her debut album are scuppered at the start as she whispers: “You will discover me through my songs…/ Hear all the cracks and the lack of talent/ And I hope that you don’t hate me by then.” Think Daniel Johnston with experience in place of innocence. Touching and strangely beautiful.
Soko started recording in her bedroom, just a girl with an acoustic guitar and GarageBand. But her debut album, recorded with Elliott Smith collaborator Fritz Michaud, looks beyond such puppy-eyed whining. The likes of ‘For Marion’ and ‘I Just Want To Make New With You’ have a knack for making sadness sound sweet, and sweetness sad; and while there are clichés here that love songs struggle to escape from, ‘I Thought I Was An Alien’ dumps twee cold and hard, running into pop’s warm embrace. [Exystence]