WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Music
Now this is music 25: Cathedrals, Glass Animals, Great Good Fine OK, Young & Sick, Fujiya & Miyagi
Ah, the thrill of the new! Not everyone craves it admittedly but for those of us who do, it is the elixir of youth, the magical ingredient that infuses the mundane, the banal and the downright ennui’d with all the fun and sparkle of the circus. Well, perhaps that Continue Reading
Music review: “Wonderland” by ceo
If there is one thing that good people of Scandinavia have mastered to an almost elemental degree, it’s the ability to mix the dark and the light, ecstasy and misery in one seamless, reality-embracing package. In the case of ceo, the moniker used by Eric Burglund, one time member Continue Reading
Now this is music #24: Betty Who, Neneh Cherry/Robyn, Annie, Mr Little Jeans, Peking Duk
Music is good for you. According to Psychology Today, “listening, and creating music of any kind will provide an immediate biological and psychological benefit for everyone. In fact, music can be a salvation and antidote to most psychological challenges: that’s why people sing in the shower and while driving Continue Reading
The delightfully quirky indie joy of Pomplamoose
Could making the musical acquaintance of a pair of talented multi-instrumentalists from California, real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, who have named their combined entity Pomplamoose after a delightful play on the French word for grapefruit pamplemousse, possibly have made my week, month and year just a short while Continue Reading
This is Ulaanbaatar calling! Coldplay’s surprise new song Midnight
I have felt it … and it seems many others have too. The sense that we know too much, too soon and for too long before it appears in this digital age. That all the fun, the element of surprise has disappeared in a world where we have teaser Continue Reading
Now this is music 23: Låpsley, The Golden Pony, Neneh Cherry + Four Tet, Rae Morris, Solander
It’s Friday! (Pretty sure you’ve worked that too.) And while it’s always good to let your hair down and dance up a storm, it can also be good to sit back, chill and take in lovely meandering tunes that feed the soul and ease away the stress. So this Continue Reading
Now this is music: 5 non-syrupy but heartfelt tunes for Valentine’s Day
Ain’t love grand? And thus by extension, songs about love even grander? Perhaps but do we necessarily want to listen to them all day long? Not necessarily. Even an ardent romantic like myself finds too many love songs, and especially those with enough syrupy, cloying sentimentality to give you Continue Reading
Now this is music 22: Maria Sejer, YACHT, Phantogram, The Pass, RDGLDGRN
Hark! What’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down … No it’s not “Something’s Happening Here” by Buffalo Springfield (released 1967), though that is a very fine song indeed, but five brand new, amazing songs to enthral and delight your ears, and fill your download streams with sweet new Continue Reading
Now this is music #21: Vök, Katie Herzig, Paper Moon, Neon Cloud, Little Bear
A new year dawns my friends and with it the promise of more music that your ear drums can possibly take in. But fear not! I have laid in the path of all those oncoming tunes, iPod pressed firmly in my hand with the thumb unequivocally on PLAY and Continue Reading