W♥M

MIKA at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/02/13)

Tour Dates 04/10 Washington DC @ Sixth and I Historic 04/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall 04/13 Boston, MA @ Royale Read More Mika Mika is the winner of the Brit Award's British Breakthrough Act 2008, and we've written about the British pop star a few times. ...…

British singer-songwriter MIKA performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the beautiful Varsity Theater on Tuesday, April 2nd, He is on currently on tour promoting his third album Origin of Love out on Republic.

Against a simplistically set stage adorned with single hanging lights, MIKA performed a stripped down set with him on the piano accompanied by two talented, well-dressed, versatile musicians who sang backup, played clarinet, piano and guitar, and drums. The trio, led by MIKA, entertained the crowd during the entire 2½ hour-long show performing songs from all three albums. Whether he was belting out songs from the piano or singing, dancing and grooving from midstage, he was engaging with the audience, performing for us, entertaining us. He is a theatrical performer, glorious and happy as he moves effortlessly through his songs. It was a glorious treat to see him in action. As a testament to the popularity of his music, those in the crowd sang along with almost every song, at times making it hard to distinguish Mika’s voice above the voices of his devoted fans. At times, it was just beautiful and lovely to hear.

Love and happiness were definitely in the air that night and MIKA even facilitated a proposal (she said yes!) during the performance and changed the order of the set list in order to play “Origin of Love” from his new album post-proposal. How cute is that? The show was magical and if you haven’t listened to MIKA and you’re looking for some new, happy dancing music done really well by an amazingly talented musician. Blast this. I'm serious.

MIKA at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/02/13)

audrey ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ mikasounds.com

W♥M173: The Varsity Theater

W♥M173 (12 mins)

Shayna from the Varsity Theater is our guest this week on W♥M Radio.

The Varsity Theater is the prettiest/best-looking venue around town; this is mostly thanks to their other business of booking wedding receptions and private events. They also get some of the best national bands with upcoming acts such as funnyman John Mulaney (03/16) , one of my favorite Britpop acts Ash (03/18), Frightened Rabbit (03/21), Mercury Prize Winner Alt-J (04/01), Pop Star Mika (04/02). We are actually covering a lot of bands at the Varsity - if I'm not there, usually I send someone else to cover it for me.

Anyway, too many good bands to mention, head over to varsitytheater.org to see their full calendar.

Shayna is really excited about Carroll (carrollmusic.net). The band won Vita.mn's fourth annual "Are You Local" contest and is heading down to SXSW:

03/14 SXSW Funk-It Rec Showcase
03/15 SXSW Minnesota Nice Showcase
03/15 SXSW Free Now Showcase

Song of the show is Jim James' "State of the Art (A. E. I. O. U)" from his album Regions of Light and Sound of God. I've previously written about James and how he's the singer of My Morning Jacket. He recently announced some exclusive "Conversation at SXSW", which I'll list all the tour dates and information below. His North American tour kicks in April.

For the latest updates, check with jimjames.com.

03/12 SXSW MTV/VH1/CMT Present 03/13 SXSW Interview w/ Bill Flanagan 03/13 SXSW Aquarium Drunkard Presents 03/14 SXSW Heartbreaker Banquet 03/15 SXSW Auditorium Shores’ show 03/16 SXSW Record Signing @ Waterloo Records 04/17: Louisville, KY @ Brown Theatre 04/19: Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater 04/20: Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre 04/21: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 04/23: Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall 04/24: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre 04/26: Boston, MA @ Royale 04/27: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 04/29: New York, NY @ Webster Hall

04/30: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 05/02: Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom 05/3: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 05/6: Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek 05/7: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues 05/9: Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 05/11: Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre 05/12: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore 05/14: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom 05/15: Seattle, WA @ Neptune 05/17: Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Fest 06/13-06/15: Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo 06/22: Dove, DE @ Firefly Music Festival 07/12-7/14: Louisville, KY @ Forcastle Festival 07/27: Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival

BONUS: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (or rather the shortened OMD) is coming to the Varsity Theater on July 8 July 22. This is a long way from now, but hopefully, if it all works out, I will be at that show. I don't want to call Shayna out on this one, but the song appeared on "Pretty in Pink". Although between you and me, I often get all of those John Hughes/Molly Ringwald movies mixed up ("The Breakfast Club", "Sixteen Candles", and "Pretty in Pink").

I don't think if it's officially announced yet, but Diamond Rings will be opening up for OMD on their US dates. We previously covered the Thomas Hardy book lover at 7th Street Entry. Update: OMD made the Diamond Rings news official on March 6th.

04/05/13 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom 04/06/13 Seattle, WA Showbox At The Market 04/07/13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom 04/10/13 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot 04/12/13 San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom 04/14/13 Indio, CA Empire Polo Club 04/21/13 Indio, CA Empire Polo Club 04/28/13 Margate, UK Winter Gardens 04/29/13 Birmingham, UK Symphony Hall 05/01/13 Nottingham, UK Royal Centre 05/02/13 Ipswich, UK Ipswich Regent Theatre 05/03/13 London, UK Roundhouse 05/05/13 Bristol, UK Colston Hall 05/06/13 Oxford, UK New Theatre Oxford 05/08/13 Sheffield, UK Sheffield City Hall 05/09/13 Leeds, UK O2 Academy Leeds 05/10/13 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy

05/13/13 Gateshead, UK The Sage Gateshead 05/14/13 Liverpool, UK Liverpool Empire Theatre 05/21/13 Hamburg, Germany Docks Konzerte 05/22/13 Bielefeld, Germany Ringlokschuppen 05/24/13 Berlin, Germany Tempodrom 05/25/13 Leipzig, Germany Haus Auensee 05/27/13 Cologne, Germany E-Werk 07/11/13 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall 07/12/13 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer 07/13/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club 07/15/13 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club 07/17/13 New York, NY Terminal 5 07/19/13 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall 07/20/13 Detroit - St. Andrew's Hall 07/22/13 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater 07/23/13 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar

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W♥M171: Audrey y Moi

W♥M171 (28 mins)

Audrey is our guest this week at W♥M Radio.

Just some topics we covered:

■ News: The Temptations singer Damon Harris has died aged 62 (passed away February 18th) after losing his battle with prostate cancer. Harris was known for being the youngest member to join group at the age of 21.
■ Concert: Toro y Moi. Audrey reported that the show at the Fine Line Music Café on February 20th was sold out.

Not a whole lot of interaction with the audience, but lighting was fantastic. Certainly the audience didn't care as they danced away.

Toro Y Moi's third album, Anything In Return, is out now on Carpark Records. Tour ending next week:

02/24 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge ^
02/26 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret ^
02/27 Seattle, WA - Crocodile ^
02/28 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom ^
03/03 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda Theatre ^

^ w/ Sinkane and Dog Bite

■ Upcoming show: Mika. Winner of the Brit Award's British Breakthrough Act 2008, the British pop singer will be doing a series of intimate North American dates (see full date listing here).
■ Song of the show is Mika's "Celebration".

Toro y Moi at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (02/20/13)

BONUS: Deer Tick's penis, Varsity Theater and toilets…

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audrey + vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Brit Award: B&W

Did you see the Brit Awards? What the heck are Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift doing on there? Seems like the big winners were Emeli Sande and Ben Howard, both of them we've previously covered.

Below are some Brit Awards-related artists. Specifically: black & white covers!

DALEY
daleyofficial.com

R&B singer, songwriter, and performer Daley has a duet called "Remember Me" with his label mate Brit-Award winner Jessie J. The song has over 4 million views and the duo was asked to play the song on The Alan Carr show in the UK.

You can find the song from his latest EP, Alone Together. The EP also feature his first single, "Alone Together", which has reached #8 at the Urban AC.

Look for Daley to return with his debut LP hitting the US sometime this year.

BAT FOR LASHES
batforlashes.com

Bat for Lashes was nominated for Best Female Solo Artist for The Brit Awards in 2008, 2010, and 2013… you get the feeling she'll be nominated next year and not win again?

Well the beautiful Natasha Khan will be doing a few intimate West Coast dates as she hangs out around the Coachella Music Festival. That's the weird thing, because the Coachella takes place in two weekends - bands scheduled to play both dates ends up doing tiny "mini" tours around the area as they wait until 4/20.

04/12/13 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom
04/13/13 Indio, CA Empire Polo Club
04/14/13 San Francisco, CA The Regency Ballroom
04/16/13 Seattle, WA Showbox At The Market
04/17/13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
04/19/13 Big Sur, CA Henry Miller Library
04/20/13 Indio, CA Empire Polo Club

MIKA
mikasounds.com

Mika is the winner of the Brit Award's British Breakthrough Act 2008, and we've written about the British pop star a few times.

Last week (Valentine's Day), the artist announced that he will be doing a series of special stripped down North American dates. What this means is that the arrangement will be minimalistic, with just a guitarist and pianist. Usually this is done because the music serves only as background/backdrop to a vocalist. So expect to hear a pin drop and all attention to the Mika's voice.

If you haven't bought tickets, chances are it's already too late. Mika's 2012 tour sold out in minutes, and this upcoming tour will likely sell out as well.

Mika's third album, The Origin of Love, is out now.

Intimate North America tour dates below:

03/22 Vancouver, BC @ Venue 03/23 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater 03/25 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music 03/26 Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern 03/27 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre 03/29 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Café 03/30 Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound 03/31 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater

04/02 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater 04/03 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall 04/05 Toronto, ONT @ Opera House 04/06 Montreal, QC @ Virgin Corona Theatre 04/08 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 04/09 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge 04/10 Washington DC @ Sixth and I Historic 04/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall 04/13 Boston, MA @ Royale

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Mika, Mykki, Mikky, Mikael, Mike, Mikill

Really, what's in a name?

Read More Mika Mika isn't really the sort of musician that I normally listen to. It's not like because of my street cred, but generally once an artist reach a certain status....

MIKA
mikasounds.com

Popstar Mika is back with his new album, The Origin of Love. Since its release in October, the album sold over half a million copies in the UK, putting it #1 in France and an iTunes Top Ten in the US Pop Chart.

Find out why the Guardian gave Mika a 4 star review with this quote "Mika played the pop star to perfection" by checking out his live shows:

2012-11-09 Padova, Italy - Gran Teatro
2012-11-10 Rome, Italy - Palatlantico
2012-11-12 Paris, France - Casino de Paris
2012-11-13 Paris, France - Casino de Paris
2012-11-15 Lyon, France - Bourse du Travail
2012-11-16 Luxenbourg, Luxenbourg - Den Atelier
2012-11-18 Marseille, France - Le Silo
2012-11-19 Toulouse, France - Halle aux Grains
2012-11-20 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
2012-11-22 Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseu de Lisboa
2012-11-23 Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
2012-11-25 Bordeaux, France - Le Rocher de Palmer
2012-11-26 Nantes, France - Cite des Congres
2012-12-13 London, UK - Roundhouse
2012-12-14 Manchester, UK - Manchester Ritz
2012-11-16 Glasgow, UK - Glasgow ABC
2012-12-18 Reykjavík, Iceland - Harpa

MYKKI BLANCO
mykkiblancoworld.com

Mykki Blanco's debut mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss is out now and you can grab it on their website.

This "acid punk rapper" Mykki Blanco is also kicking off a tour today, November 9th at BEMF. You may remember that I previously written about BEMF here.

Nov 09 Brooklyn, NY – Cameo Gallery [BEMF]
Nov 12 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Nov 13 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel *
Nov 14 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
Nov 16 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair *
Nov 17 Montreal, QC – Corona *
Nov 18 Toronto, ON - Wrong Bar *
Nov 19 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
Nov 20 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge *
Nov 21 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
Nov 23 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge *

* w/ Death Grips

In other Mykki Blanco-related news: Rapper Rowdy Superstar (who previously appeared in Mykki's music video for "Haze.Boogie.Life") will be releasing his debut album, Battery this week, November 12th, via Accidental Records. Rowdy Superstar is also the newest member of Atari Teenage Riot, a noise favorite here.

MIKKY EKKO
mikkyekko.com

Mikky Ekko (real name John Stephen Sudduth) just released "Pull Me Down" with the help of Clams Casino.

You can hear the song on Soundcloud.



Look for Mikky's debut RCA album next year, probably around the same time as his tour with Jessie Ware:

03/06/13: Cambridge Junction
03/07/13: Manchester HMV Ritz
03/08/13: Glasgow 02 ABC
03/09/13: Birmingham HMV Institute
03/11/13: Oxford 02 Academy
03/12/13: Bristol 02 Academy
03/13/13: London 02 Shepherds Bush Empire

MIKAEL JORGENSEN
www.mikaeljorgensen.com

Odessa Records is releasing Wilco's keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and Greg O'Keeffe's limited 7" called Armz.

According to the biography, this is a "synth-fueled instrumental space odyssey that would make AIR, Mouse On Mars and Stereolab proud."

Look for Jorgensen and Travis Thatcher to release an upcoming instrumental LP called M4S in 2013. You can probably hear the songs at tomorrow's North Star Bar show.

11.09.12 - Brookly, NY @ Littlefield
11.10.12 - Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar

MIKE JAMES
admirers.tumblr.com

The most boring name here: Mike James.

Not to be confused with the basketball player or the Michael James Band, the impossible to Google, Mike James is the guy behind other impossible to Google band names like The Demos and Admirers.

You can check out his song "Strange Children" by Admirers on Soundcloud:

MIKILL PANE
mikillpane.com

Mikill Pane is releasing Dirty Rider EP on December 10th on Mercury Records.

Don't really know much about him, except he's described as a rapper from London. He's also a keen cyclist, which would explain the 'rider' title in the forthcoming EP. Watch the video on YouTube.

Since the EP is announced so far in advance, I'm not given the cover artwork for it, so I'm using the cover from "Stripped Back Ffwd", featuring Ursa Minor (Little Bear).

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

EZ EPs VI: All Leather, The States, Wolfmen, Mika, Nancy Newlis, Puzzle and Total Babe

All Leather - I Don't Hate Fags, God Does All Leather 10/30/09 Slims San Francisco, CA 11/01/09 Black Lodge Seattle, WA 11/02/09 Satyricon Portland, OR 11/03/09 3 Parkside San Francisco, CA 11/06/09 Black Market El Paso, TX 11/07/09 Fun Fun Fun Fest Austin, TX 11/08/09 Rock Bottom San Antonio, TX 11/09/09 Lounge on Elm St Dallas, TX 11/12/09 Modified Phoenix, AZ 11/13/09 Che Cafe San Diego, CA 11/14/09 Club 1979 Baja CA 11/15/09 Smell Los Angeles, CA Discography [Aug 2009] Hung Like A Horse EP [Aug 2009] Hung Like A Donut - Remix Album

Here is the latest collection of Singles and Extended Plays that's come across my desk. Reviewing EPs is simple, as usually it's focused on the main song, but it's also very hard to write about. You can only write so much about one song, which is why I've stopped accepting single songs (we get a lot of these), remixes, edited, videos, streams, or demos. I am also not uploading every song for streaming, just my main song of choice (mostly for hypemachine audiences).  Read more EZ EPs articles.

ALL LEATHER
allleather.org ♥ myspace.com/allleather

All Leather's origin is from the ashes of the California punk band Some Girls (not to be confused with the less-than-punk band Juliana Hatfield's Some Girls), where two of the band members (bassist Justin Pearson and guitarist Nathan Joyner) came from.

The band recently featured on rcrdlbl and Alt Press Magazine. The later gives a glimpse of what All Leather sounds like: "[dance music] had cool elements, but was always ruined by lame lyrics, poor vocals and not enough balls. Ironically enough, the balls I wanted came from my exposure to it while working at a gay bar."

What he's referring to is probably their songs "Please Jesus, Send Me Someone To F*ck" and "I Don't Hate Fags, God Does" from their EP Hung Like a Horse, released in August on Dim Mak Records. The title alone is sort of controversial, but since I cannot, for the life of me, understand what Pearson is singing about, I don't know how I should feel about the songs.

I wouldn't exactly classify All Leather as "dance music" as described in Alt Press, this is more like experimental DIY noise - especially with the first two head trauma songs, "As The Hog Pisseth" and "We're Skrewed". Both songs seems to want to drill holes in my head.

Based on the songs and reading about the band, All Leather's fan base will be best built on their live performances. Usually these kind of high-energy sound just translate better on stage. Fortunately, it looks like they're doing a ton of dates in the south-west.

THE STATES thestatesonline.com ♥ myspace.com I've said this before, and I'll say this again: bands really need to pick better names. It's impossible to search for 'states' without having to put 'music' or 'band' in the search box. I'm sure this is the number one complaint whenever someone write about them and/or doing research. Still, that didn't stop the rock trio from being heard on national television on Fox's Fearless Music Show last night. I guess I don't really watch television (do I even have Fox on my TV?), I didn't know there were even music shows! I'm kind of excited about that, knowing that traditional media is still interested in music promotion. Well, We Are The Erasers, released September 22nd, is the third release from this band. With the exception of the ballad-ish "The Fight", the rest of the five-track sounds pretty much solid rock music. I think the best song on the EP is "Erasers", with Chris Snyder singing its catchy lyrics of "we will be erased", followed by "you have been erased". The State are currently on tour, I'm sure they'll get some better exposure with their official CMJ showcase coming up! 10/03/09 Rusty Rudder Dewey Beach, DE 10/15/09 Fusion 5 Night Club Foxboro, MA 10/16/09 TT The Bears Cambridge, MA 10/17/09 Rack N’ Roll Cafe Stamford, CT 10/18/09 Vibe Lounge Rockville Centre, NY 10/21/09 CMJ Showcase New York, NY 10/23/09 Stone Church Newmarket, NH 11/05/09 Puck Doylestown, Pennsylvania		THE WOLFMEN thewolfmen.net ♥ myspace.com/thewolfmen I've never heard of The Wolfmen before this promo single, Jackie, Is It My Birthday?, to be released on October 5th on their label, Howl Records, but their two main band members singer/bassist Chris Constantinou and guitarist Marco Pirroni have been in the industries for ages. I know that the two of them worked for Adam Ant, and Pirroni's been associated with Siouxsie & the Banshees and Sinéad O'Connor. It is with the O'Connor connection is that she sings duet with Constantinou on their new single. While the press release quoted this "For thirty years Fairytale of New York has dominated the Christmas playlists and festive radio for anyone looking for hardcore Christmas whimsey. But Jackie, is it my Birthday? is a worthy contender to The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's throne." to describe the song - I'll have to politely disagree. While I did love both the A-Side ("Jackie, Is It My Birthday?") and B-Side ("Blushing God"), "Jackie" doesn't really hit the same sad note as with "Fairytale of New York". Surely, I can think of some better O'Connor duets (just look at "Visions of You" with Jah Wobble or her album Collaborations featuring nothing but duets with O'Connor). Still, the song is championed by a variety of British DJs and musicians, among them Dandy Warholler, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, calling the band "f*cking brilliant... I guess The Wolfmen just sound like heavy weights because they are." You can hear the song for yourself on their myspace, along with "Jackie Says", which I hear is their breakthrough hit song.
MIKA mikasounds.com ♥ myspace.com/mikamyspace Mika isn't really the sort of musician that I normally listen to. It's not like because of my street cred, but generally once an artist reach a certain status, the PR companies stops answering our calls. Which is why it was weird that I was sent his latest single, We Are Golden by his record label, Universal Records. The single comes with essentially the same song - a radio edit and the full song. The radio edit cuts the song three and a half minutes from its original four minutes epic. I'll have to admit that the song is pretty catchy and inspiring with its uplifting piano. It's a youth song, it sends out the message that old geezer like me would never understand it. Having just appeared on "Later...with Jools Holland", it's a good indication that he'll be heading out on his tour - heading into 2010! 10/12/09 Toronto, ON Sound Academy 10/13/09 Montreal, QC Place de Arts 10/15/09 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre 10/16/09 New York, NY United Palace 10/18/09 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory 10/20/09 Chicago, IL Riviera 10/23/09 Los Angeles, CA Palladium 10/24/09 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre 10/25/09 Seattle, WA The Moore 10/27/09 Vancouver, BC Orpheum Theatre 03/12/10 Antwerp Sportpaleis 03/13/10 Amsterdam Heineken Hall 03/15/10 Copenhagen KB Hallen 03/17/10 Oslo Spektrum 03/18/10 Stockholm Annexet 03/20/10 Dusseldorf Phillipshalle 03/21/10 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle 03/23/10 Hamburg Color Line Arena 03/26/10 Leipzig Haus Auensee 03/27/10 Munich Zenith 03/29/10 Vienna Gasometer 03/30/10 Stuttgart Schleyerhalle 04/01/10 Basel St. Jakobshalle 04/02/10 Luxembourg City Rockhall 04/16/10 Lisbon Coliseum 04/18/10 Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi 04/19/10 Madrid Palacios Deportes 04/21/10 Milan Mediolanum Forum 04/23/10 Marseille Le Dome 04/24/10 Lyon Halle Tony Garnier 04/26/10 Paris Bercy 04/29/10 Nantes Zenith 04/30/10 Toulouse Zenith 05/01/10 Nice Palais Nikaia 05/03/10 Strasbourg Zenith		NANCY NEWLIS nancynewlis.com ♥ myspace.com/nancynewlis Nancy Newlis is a New York singer/songwriter. Yes, we get a lot of these sort of submissions, especially of the singer/songwriter variety. What makes Newlis stand out is that she's from Moscow, originally studying under composer Irina Vladimirovna. A bit of a prodigy, she found herself studying jazz with a full scholarship in the University of Miami. Her recording break came with the release of Universidad Navidena, featuring the University music orchestra. Bitten by the recording bug, she went on to release Moments last year, and her latest release is Dreamers 2009 EP, released last May. I think what she's trying to do on the EP is a mixture of traditional jazz and pop music. Generally, the way I look at jazz is that it's usually an instrumental form, usually with improvisation (especially played by a veteran). In order for traditional jazz to be accepted by the mainstream audience, it has to have catchy lyrics or pop sensibility. Songs like "Dreamers", "Social Standing" and "What Is It?" on Newlis' EP does a good job fusing the two genre, featuring some acoustics, pianos, and Newlis' unique Russian-esque vocals. If you want to hear her for yourself, check out her free download of "Dreamers" at last.fm.
PUZZLE myspace.com/puzzlepuzzle OH MY! I think I am in love Puzzle. They have this indiepop sound, sort of feels like they are all old school friends in a small, small town, obsessing over their favorite bands. As it turns out, according to their biography, this is a "female-fronted" band from Liverpoool who started in 2007. Their debut album, Sometimes, all of the time, released the same year, is sold out... however their latest MiniCD (the first 30 features a holographic cover, limited to 100), is called We Left, released September 28th on Lightning Heart Records. I don't know what else I can add to this, except that I really like the way Lucy sings her songs. It reminds me of a bit of Tanya Donelly. If I were to live in Liverpool, you know what I'll be doing on October 13th (stalking): 10/13/09 Bumper - with Cats and Cats and Cats & maybeshewill		TOTAL BABE myspace.com/totalbabeband A little closer to home, is Minneapolis' Total Babe. Generally whenever I see band names like this, I think "they must mean the opposite, I'll bet they're heavy metal dudes ... with beards!" Well perception kept me away until I added this EP to my work queue. Guess what? They're alright! In fact, having just looked over all their cheesy photography collection, including the hilarious OMG picture, I'll have to say they are cute/dorky normal. The six song Heatwave EP, is full of indieness. My favorite is "Shape Up", featuring some whistling action. Since they are from around here, I'll try and catch them play after their CMJ debut. 10/04/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota 10/20/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/21/09 CMJ FESTIVAL Public Assembly Brooklyn, NY 10/22/09 CMJ FESTIVAL Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York 10/23/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/24/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/30/09 PERSONAL BEST RECORDS Minneapolis, MN 11/14/09 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis, MN

 10/03/2009 12:41:08 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com