Julie-Anne Marshall New Single Memory
"Julie-Anne Marshall New Single Memory"
A new bonus track for December is the excellent new single Memory from Julie-Anne Marshall.
Starting out with some percussion and simple piano this song quickly develops into a very catchy uptempo tune that will have feet tapping and heads nodding. Julie-Anne’s voice tells a great story of change and development we can all relate to. Some tasteful jazzy/latin acoustic guitar fits in for a nice instrumental break and rounds out the song well. Sure to be a summer favourite.
“Hailing from Adelaide, Julie-Anne is an independent singer-songwriter who is not limited by musical boundaries. Memory is her latest single release which could be considered alt pop. It’s JPY-Love is in the air, meets Lily Allen. Think Soft Rock, Easy Listening with some jazz, rock, roots and blues and a bit of folk and pop and that’s the diversity of this artist.”
Julie-Anne has had previous tunes on soundslikecafe that have all been warmly received so we are sure this one will be no different- enjoy – checkout the spotify link below for instant gratification or hear it on the Soundslikecafe Digital Playlist Track 3.
Inside the Secretly Lucrative World of Solo Piano Music – from Rolling Stone
"Inside the Secretly Lucrative World of Solo Piano Music – from Rolling Stone"
Thanks to streaming, a small cadre of independent solo pianists are making a killing.
By ELIAS LEIGHT
On October 3rd, Michele McLaughlin got some exciting news: Her music has been streamed over one billion times.
Young artists in popular genres are racking up streams like crazy these days — presumably McLaughlin is an ascendant rapper releasing 90-second battering rams through SoundCloud? Or maybe she’s the guest vocalist on the latest reggaeton posse cut to rule YouTube?
Nope: McLaughlin is an independent artist in her forties who makes contemporary instrumental solo piano music. She’s a star in her field — to the point where another pianist says, “I’m not quite doing Michele McLaughlin numbers” — reportedly making around $250,000 a year. And she’s not alone. “We have a large group of solo piano players that are making a killing, making $7,000 to $10,000 a month,” says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing for CDBaby, which touts itself as “the largest global digital distributor of independent music.”
“Some of them are making far more money from their music than the artists than you see on major labels that sell OK but are not crossing the threshold of really having an income stream for years to come,” Breuner continues. “These piano players have cracked that.”
That’s thanks to the rise of streaming services and an accompanying shift in listening habits. “It used to be that, to get signed, it had to be something that somebody thought they could sell to a mass market,” Breuner explains. “But now, music gets used in so many different ways. When we dug a little deeper, this particular genre group and a lot of other genres that tend to be mellow and instrumental perform really well on streaming — there are a lot of dentist offices, a lot of work-office environments where people are putting on quiet, soothing music in the background and just letting it play.”
“I had someone ask me the other day, ‘Are you OK with being known as sleepy music?’” says Chad Lawson, another successful solo pianist. “I think he was trying to take a jab in a roundabout way. But I said, ‘Yeah, I really am.’ I have a running joke: Don’t listen to my music while you’re driving. It needs to have a warning sticker: Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to this.”
Read the rest of the article here at Rolling Stone.
and be sure to check out some of the stellar solo piano albums on our featured page from artists such as Fiona Joy Hawkins, Rachel Lafond, Andy Iorio and Loren Evarts.
Diana Anaid – Leaving Town (Official)
John Kennedy – Second Best (Greatest Bits Vol. 2)
"John Kennedy – Second Best (Greatest Bits Vol. 2)"Facebook
Soundslikecafe is proud to feature the album Second Best by Sydney musician John Kennedy.
A second “best of” compilation featuring key album tracks from 8 albums.
Released on Foghorn Records October 2018.
Distributed by MGM. Available on CD and digital.
Released in 2001, John Kennedy’s Inner West album brought together the early vinyl singles and album selections from his bands JFK and the Cuban Crisis, Love Gone Wrong and the Honeymooners. That was his first “best of” collection. So, that makes this Kennedy’s Second Best of.
Since the heady days in the 1980’s, topping the Australian independent music charts, Kennedy has released a number of albums on various labels in Europe and Australia. Whether it was lack of promotion or distribution, or his audience simply moving on that was the cause, those albums went largely unnoticed. Even those who have followed his music probably wouldn’t have known they existed.
Now, with this Second Best compilation release, the key tracks from those albums are collected to show that the beat did indeed go on. It serves the purpose of giving these songs a new lease of life and hopefully points people back to those lost albums.
An enthusiastic young music journalist once described John Kennedy as a humble genius. Kennedy is neither a genius nor particularly humble. The Sydney musician is the writer and performer of many fine songs, some of which have found a place in the hearts of music fans of the golden era of Australian independent music.
Kennedy started his music career in Brisbane in the early ‘80’s with his band JFK and the Cuban Crisis. He moved to Sydney and after establishing itself on the indie music scene the band broke up leaving Kennedy to follow a solo career with his band vehicle, John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong. Despite numerous indie hits, commercial crossover proved to be elusive leading to his decision to leave Australia. Kennedy spent the ‘90’s living and playing music in Berlin, Hong Kong and London before returning to Sydney’s Inner West in 2000. He formed a new band, John Kennedy’s 68 Comeback Special and continues to perform and produce independent releases.
Check out this great review of Second Best from respected music journalist Bernard Zuel here.
Website
Spotify
Apple Music
Tailor Birds – WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS
"Tailor Birds – WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS"
To be released Friday October 5 Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this excellent new album from Tailor Birds
WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS
Australian Release October 5
and tour dates to follow
and tour dates to follow
Sophie Kinston is Tailor Birds.
Tailor Birds newest album is music that soothes the soul, warms the spirit, and ignites your passion.
Even though the content is 6 songs they are each a 7-10 minute ‘Piece’ forming an album length body of work. Following the success of the previous work ‘Stilts on the Water’ (a single 40 minute piece) this release explores further electro/folk/world territory with more instrumentation such as Piano and Flute added to the already lush soundscape. Recorded in various studios throughout Europe while on tour and mixed and mastered at Damien Gerard Studios Sydney the sonic quality is exceptional.
In Sophie’s own words“Tailor Birds combines electronic violin, live looping, foley art, percussion, and rich harmonised vocals, to create a sound like no other. A sound that is all about the vibe and positive energy, building an audience that is as diverse as much as it is one, you could say that Sophie is a traveling troubadour. She believes that music should not just be about playing one gig after another with just the music making an impact, but is also o about connecting people to something good again, in a world that is constantly changing. Music needs to inspire and placing Tailor Birds in a space that can do just that, it makes an impact greater than you could ever imagine.”
Checkout Sophie’s Toyota Hi Ace Rebuild to a touring home and stage now at 775 000 views
Tailor Birds is currently touring through Australia and Europe
“Faint echoes of Kate Bush here, Enya there but really like neither and often much spookier”
–Michael Smith – Rhythms Magazine
Tailor Birds’ key influences are Sigur Ros, the Kronos Quartet, Bear’s Den, Chet Faker and more.
-=Sophie Kinston
Connect with Tailor Birds
Website
http://www.tailorbirdsmusic.com/
Facebook
www.facebook.com/tailorbirdsmusic
Twitter
twitter.com/tailor_birds
Hear The Album
Mark Lucas – Prisoners of The Heart
"Mark Lucas – Prisoners of The Heart"
To be released Friday October 5 Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this excellent new album from Mark Lucas
Prisoners of the Heart – A retrospective
“You never sang soap opera/ or wore your hair in curls/ you still want all the trappings of the post-consumer world/ come on now, admit it dear/ you’re a thoroughly modern girl” – The Ghost of Lost Creek Road
The trajectory of Mark Lucas’s career is akin to tracing a bird in flight. Perpetually restless, banking and diving and always observing – it is these characteristics, among others – that allow his unique lyrical view on the world.
In Sydney, Australia, his home since 1981, Lucas wears an awful lot of hats. Venue manager. Band booker. Activist. Adding yet another cap, he is a prolific singer-songwriter whose productive output is as inspiring as it is diverse.
Since the 1980s, Mark experimented with rock and pop, before returning to his country and folk roots in the 1990s. These are not just stories; they are as much observational as they are impressionistic. True to his English heritage as a songwriter to match Graham Parker or Elvis Costello, he also has cynicism to burn.
With the forthcoming release of Prisoners of the Heart, Mark draws deep from his 22-year career as a solo artist and bandleader, as songwriter and masterful lyricist. His songs, like those of his heroes, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Guy Clark, do not always tend to the personal over the abstract. In fact, sometimes the opposite is just as true.
The 20-track CD Prisoners of the Heartdraws from Lucas’s ten-album output, with the focus on his adroitly authored songs. His inspirations come from the worlds he inhabits, the people whose lives brush up against his.
This retrospective album tells many inspired stories of different lives, contrasting almost impressionistic lyrics with the more direct story song approach, like the cautionary tale of ‘Between The Ditches’ against ‘Shopping Town’, a meditation on commercial enterprise taking on real lives.
Whether working with his long-time backing group, the Dead Setters, or crafting his own guitar-and-voice meditations, he captures something special from the crumbs of the everyday. Like one of his inspirations, Guy Clark, he makes plain the idea that “some days you write the song/ some days the song writes you”.
Prisoners of the Heart is out 5thOctober through MGM
Track listing
Another Town Along the Road
Rosie
The Ghost of Lost Creek Road
Walk in Beauty
Between the Ditches
Monsters Ball
Canal Road
Dryland Sea
Sisters of Mercy
Shopping Town
Until She’s Mine
Soldier’s Row
Federal Highway Blues
Small Town
Rider
All the Bonnie Birds
Prisoners of the Heart
The Onion Song
Hear the new album-
Check out more info and live dates
Finally Check out A Fine History of Releases below
Discography:
1996 ‘Bootheels of Desire’ (The Parwills) Larrikin TWNG 001
1999 ‘Jukebox Jury’ Laughing Outlaw Records LORCD 003
2001 ‘The Ghost of Lost Creek Road’ “ LORCD 028
2005 ‘White Man Soul’ TWNG 002
2007 ‘Sideshow Alley’ TWNG 003
2009 ‘Eat at Joe’s’ (Live at Joe Maguire’s Pub) TWNG 004
+ Live at the Cooks River Motor Boat Club dvd
2011 “Putting on the Dog Laughing Outlaw Records LORCD130
2014 “Sin City Blues” ep TWNG 005
2015 “Little Town Blues” Laughing Outlaw Records LORC174CD
2016 “The Continental Drift” TWNG 006
Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now
"Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now"
Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now
Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this International Tune on the new September 2018 playlist
“I originally wrote Grace as a piano instrumental and it ended up on a Grammy winning album in 2014. I wanted to add words and record my own singer/songwriter version as I really connected with the message in the song “To be with Grace, To live with Grace, Always with Grace’. A slower acoustic recording was followed by a chill mix which featured on the first Say Yes To Love album in support of marriage equality. This current remix of Grace is punchier Dream-Pop.
The track features Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) playing NS Bass, Marc Shulman (Jewel & Suzanne Vega) playing Electric guitar with a little Beat-Box by my son Nick Hawkins.
The song has genre hopped from World to New Age to Pop and it’s been covered by a number of other artists including Flutist Sherry Finzer and Grammy winners Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman.
Connect with Fiona:
Website
Facebook
Joseph L Young – New Album – Every Moment
"Joseph L Young – New Album – Every Moment"
Joseph L Young – New Album – Every Moment
For his fifth album, acclaimed flutist Joseph L Young returns to the instrument which first awakened his muse—the saxophone.
Every Moment marries soulful sax with flowing new age melodies, lightly sprinkled with elements of ambient textures and chilled rhythms. All of this is wrapped up in Young’s usual top-notch production quality. Prepare to hear Joseph L Young in a whole new light, where every moment is musical bliss.
The critics weigh in on Every Moment
The many layers of instrumentation make the 12 tracks on this CD a delightful journey for the listener. The use of the synthesiser layered between the sax is brilliant. The atmospheres are a combination of new age and smooth jazz. I love that combination and most certainly would like to hear more. The variety is what draws me and keeps me interested… Joseph L. Young gives us another masterpiece of sound and colour to listen to…say or Every Moment of this gift of music and spirituality and thank Joseph when you can.5/5 StarsKeith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
As I move into my 30th year of writing music reviews, I continue to be amazed by the high quality of music coming in here each and every day… and Joseph’s high quality work on his new release[Every Moment] is one of the best examples of that perfection…I give this album a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of 4.99… it is definitely an album worth owning and will give you aural pleasure for years to come. Dick Metcalf/ Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Every Moment by Joseph L Young is one of the finest albums I have heard this year, there have been a few now but it’s so pleasing to hear so much quality out there. Young…has opened his heart and embraced his original muse, the Saxophone, and manifested something so pristinely beautiful, that it will flourish in all corners of the musical world.
Music composed, performed, engineered and mixed by Joseph Lee Young, except as noted on the album. Album artwork by the artist. Produced by Joseph Lee Young and Lenise Redding. Mastered by Andy Mitran at Mitran Studios, Chicago.
TRACK LISTING
Prism 5:38
Falling Through Time 4:49
Every Moment 5:07
Twilight 4:21
Time Traveler 5:18
Once In A While 4:26
Vicariously Blue 5:07
Continuum 4:44
Chronos Dreams 5:56
Letting Go 4:30
Eleventh Hour 5:46
Evening Repose 6:11
Ivona Rose – New Album – So Modern
"Ivona Rose – New Album – So Modern"
Ivona Rose
Central Coast based Ivona Rose is a raw, evocative, dreamy, honest and uncompromisingly unique artist. Her music is where eccentric melody marries poetic song writing. Hand carved like insignia on pavement, her tales of suburban life are as being lead through an enchanted garden, by a haunting hymn.
Currently only available in cafes her debut album “So Modern” will be released worldwide July 27. Produced with Brian Campeau at “The Plex” recording studio, it is a collection of 10 carefully selected and crafted songs. Featuring Zoe Hauptmann on Bass (Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, King Curly), Evan Mannell on Drums (Sarah Belkner, The Alcohotlicks, Self Titled Artist), Emily Palethorpe on Cello (Sarah Blasko, Accent Strings), Casey Nicholson on Trumpet (Ngarukuruwala, The NEO, The Boom Band Krewe) and Brian Campeau on Guitars and Synth.
The Album will be Launched in Sydney on the 13th September at Django Bar (see link below for tix)
QnA
What is the first record you bought and why?
It was Joni Mitchell “Hits and Misses” and it was a tape. Purchased to learn every word by heart.
Favourite artists of all time?
I have to say Bjork. It’s a hard question to answer and it doesn’t necessarily mean that my music is in the same genre or that I am aiming for a pop sphere but the truth is own all her albums, admire her creativity and boldness and when I feel that I’m just a bit too weird for the word, I take solace in Bjork.
What are your future plans for 2018/2019?
I plan to release and promote my debut album “So Modern” and do lots of yoga.
Ivona talks about So Modern “So Modern” the title track of the Album.
“If we live our lives as an avatar of ourselves, what are we giving up of our true self to uphold that image and where do we go from there as a society?” (Ivona Rose) So Modern questions the impact of technology, how we are using it and what we are losing as a society in the process. A dance between Autoharp, Guitar and Zoe Hauptmann’s expert Double Bass licks, take us to a time reminiscent of 60’s Go Go.
