My charts for 2013

Let's wrap up 2013! What a surprise: Again, in retrospect the music of last year was extremely good. I made a lot of brilliant new discoveries. This year I added 131 albums to my library, which is again less than compared to last year (171 in 2012). Within the last 2-3 years I changed my listening habits quite a bit. Nowadays, I am way more picky on the items that will enter my library. The "oldest" record to enter the charts has been Chris Thile's "Stealing Second" from 1997 which I believe is so much better than his new releases.

My trends: World Music was extremely strong and there was quite a bit of Metal as well. As a small surprise there is no electronic music record on the list even thought there have been some serious contenders.

So Ladies and Gentlemen here are my winners:

January	Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar - Covek i truba (2012)	World Music, Serbia
February	Emel Mathlouthi - Kelmti Horra (2012)	World Music, Tunisia
March	hAND - Breathing (2011)	Metal, England
April	Youn Sun Nah - Lento (2013)	Jazz, South Korea
May	Tales Of Evening - Hajléktalan Lélek (2012)	Metal, Hungary
June	Mojácar Flamenco - Mojácar at the Madrid (2007)	World Music, USA
July	Chris Thile - Stealing Second (1997)	World Music, USA
August	Alborosie - Escape From Babylon To The Kingdom Of Zion (2010)	Reggae, Italy
September	Dark Tranquillity - Construct (2013)	Metal, Sweden
October	Anush & Inga Arshakyanner - Tamzara (2006)	World Music, Armenia
November	Chico Trujillo - Gran Pecador (2012)	World Music, Chile
December	S°unduk - Наше время (2013)	Alternative, World Music, Belarus

What can I say once more a year of amazing discoveries - just hit the play button on the youtube play list below and enjoy!

La Cherga: Revolve (2011)

Balkan music and especially the fusion styles have become very popular in recent years with all kind of blends and styles. La Cherga’s “Revole” is a true jewel of this genre with its grooving mixture of Eastern European jazz tradition, Jamaican dub rhythms, a crisp horn section and powerful vocals. Based on Eastern traditions, the group is not limited to this but also integrates sounds that come from very different musical genres.

All band members are from former Yugoslavia a seven-piece with their base in Graz, Austria where they had ended up there after the outbreak of war. “Revolve”, La Cherga’s second album is presented by a new singer Adisa Zvekic and she is well known for her extraordinary voice having been a part of the crossover band “Dubioza Kolektiv”. The line up is completed by guitarist and bassist Nino Muamer Gazibegovic Skiljic from Bosnia- Herzegovina, the electronic mixer Nevenko Bucan and the drummer from Croatia, the two wind Kiril Kuzmanov and Trajce Velkov from Macedonia.

My favorites are the extremely groovy songs "Sufi Dub" and "Rise Up". If you like La Cherga please also have a look at the band's label webpage at asphalt tango. They have all kinds of other great (balkan) music assortments over there.
 

 
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Youn Sun Nah: Live at the Women of the World Festival 2013

 

In April this year I had the pleasure to attend a concert of Youn Sun Nah in Frankfurt, Germany. It was such an outstanding performance. I was especially happy because the concert has been recorded as well as it was held in a radio studio. The radio recording was streamed on a German radio station and I was lucky to record.

Youn Sun Nah is originally from South Korea and she chose Paris as a second home from where she started her Jazz career. She has been categorized as singer songwriter Jazz and in France her previous album "Same Girl", was the best-selling jazz album of 2011 where she received a couple of high ranking awards in Europe. Recently, she released her new record "Lento" which she took on a tour throughout the summer.

The concert was part of the festival "Women Of The World" and it took place at the radio studio of the "Hessischer Rundfunk" accompanied only by Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius. Given the fact that the studio was quite small the two musicians produced a very intimate atmosphere. Wakenius was an excellent match and he contributed also compositions to the new album.

The concert featured new songs from the album "Lento". One of the most striking songs was the interpretation of the new cover song "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and the excellent duet "Memento Magico". What I enjoyed the most of the concert was Nah's ability to control an expression of her voice and to perfectly articulate and reproduce the mood of her original recordings. That made it such an unforgeable experience. So if you have the chance to see her on a concert go and enjoy!

 

Preview 1 2 | You Sun Nah Live | Official

Indica: Valoissa (2008)

Here comes an "oldie" of mine: Indica is an all woman band from Finland, which has been around since 2001. The music is best described as something between pop and alternative rock with a melancolic metal like sort of appeal. Valoissa (Finnish for "In The Lights") is the band's fourth album and it was produced by Nightwish's Tuomas Holopainen (which is easily identifiable). The artist's classical music experience is also easily audible influences within the beautiful arrangements.

What I especially like is that the songs are sung in Finnish (of which I understand only some words) and which makes this release special. Finnish lyrics have a great melody and rhythm. The band decided to re-record in 2010 older material with lyrics in English and thought this fosters international success it makes the music less special. It's hard to pin down favourites but 10 H Myöhässä (10 H Late) and Sanoja (Some words) are certainly outstanding. According to the facebook page the new album is already mixed now and waiting for the mastering. Let's hope that it is going to be with Finnish vocals again... 

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hAND: Breathing (2011)

Progressive Metal music has been around fore quite some time now. Quite often I find this genre of music too technical - missing feeling. hAND is on the contrary: it has been certainly one of my best discoveries in the metal genre for quite some time. According to their bio hAND are a 4 piece progressive, alternative metal band from Sussex, England and it has been founded by Kat Ward and Kieren Johnstone in 2004.

They produce a musical fusion that is simply breathtaking: The music consists of very elaborate sound structures with female vocals adding a Gothic element. Where other bands are getting sidetracked in their technicality of their sound compositions, hAND finds the perfect balance between progressiveness and melody. The music constantly wanders between calmer passages and more technical passages which maintain a certain level of tension in the music.

The albums musical quality is so high that it is difficult to name individual tracks that stand out but if I had to pick one "The pier" is certainly excellent. The band is currently in the preparations of their new album. While waiting for the new album I am sure the band could use all your support at bandcamp. Preview after the break.

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Etwas Unders: Etwas Unders (2007)

Ukraine again... I got quite stuck in music from the Ukraine and Russia recently. This time it is extremely energetic alternative music with female vocals from Kiev. The band name derives from German "Etwas anders" meaning something different. Thought having an English name lyrics are entirely in Ukrainian language. 

"Etwas Unders" was the first and only self-titled album, which was recorded in 2007. The album included most of the songs performed by the group in concerts between 2004 and 2007. The band is no longer active but from guessing from youtube their live performance must have been really awesome and full of energy. Convince yourself with the soundcloud set below!

Download | Web | Youtube | Myspace † | discogs

My charts for 2012

2012 is already long gone history - so it is once again time for a wrap up of the year. Musically, this year was extremely interesting and I could easily have picked more favourites each month.

This year I added 171 albums, which is slightly more compared to last year (160 in 2011).  Evaluating what I added I can identify two trends: World music was quite strong last year with surprisingly high number of excellent releases from the Ukraine / Russia (5 times). This time, the oldest top addition is just from 2007.

So here are the winners:

January	Dazkarieh - Ruído do Silêncio (2011)	World Music, Alternative , Portugal
February	Sonceklyosh (Сонцекльош) - Герої (Geroi) (2011)	World Music, Ukraine
March	Jacek Kleyff - Znaki (2009)	World Music, Poland
April	r.roo - There Is No Yesterday And No Tomorrow (2012)	Electronic, Ukraine
May	Romengo - Kétháné (2011)	World Music, Hungary
June	A Moving Sound - A Moving Sound (2011)	World Music, Taiwan
July	МЕЛЬНИЦА (Melnitsa) - The Best (2012)	Alternative, Russia
August	Tha Blue Herb - Total (2012)	Hip-Hop, Japan
September	Etwas Unders - Etwas Unders (2007)	Alternative, Ukraine
October	Ghosthill - Flying Through Imagination (2012)	Metal, Russia
November	Youn Sun Nah - Same Girl (2010)	Jazz, South Korea
December	La Cherga - Revolve (2011)	Raggea / Dub, World Music, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia

What can I say once more a year of amazing discoveries - just hit the play button on the youtube play list below and enjoy!

Good Music Is Good Music World Music Compilation (2012)

With Christmas approaching I wrapped up a very nice World Music compilation. It contains favorites that I discovered in the last three years with songs from all over the planet! There would have been at least six more hours but I will skip those for the next compilation ;) If you like any of these songs I recommend you to dig into the full albums as well! For the credits please check the full post. The youtube playlist contains most of the songs if you want to access all just hit the download button.

Happy Christmas and a happy new year!

Download | Mirror

МЕЛЬНИЦА (Melnitsa): THE BEST (2012 - my version)

Melnitsa (the Russian word for windmill - Мельница) - is a Russian folk rock band from Moscow. Founded in 1999 by lead singer and primary songwriter Natalia O'Shea the band is famous for its powerful singer songwriter songs featuring a very rich instrumentation and intensive hook lines.

Natalia being an academic and a specialist in medieval European languages and cultures by day creates complex fantasy-laden Russian lyrics and also masters harp.

Within Russia the bands seems to hold a pretty big fan base but there seems to be a fair amount of fans  abroad as well. This compilation is a modified version of the official "The best" album released in 2008 as selected by me. With the last two albums the band took a different route stylistically by heading more into a rock direction and thus "The best" does not feature any songs from this period. On her solo project Natalia still performs folk rock under the moniker "Хелависа" (Helavisa) and the 2009 release "Леопард в городе" (Leopard in the city) is an equally outstanding record as well.

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N.O.H.A.: N.O.H.A. (2012)

Usually, I don't get a lot of inspiration from the radio: this is one of the few exemptions: N.O.H.A. from the Czech Republic. They utilize a pretty wide range of styles with drum n bass being the most prominent one. N.O.H.A. received a lot of airplay for the 2007 song "Tu Café" with its extremely sense making lyrics ;)

The project was founded by Philip Noha with different singers and MCs and they started with a self titled album back in 1997. The band itself is extremely diverse with members from Prague, New York and Sao Paulo.

N.O.H.A.'s releases cover a pretty wide range of styles from trip hop to drum n bass and this is a self compiled selections of their best songs distilled out of their regular releases. On this compilation my favourites are the extremely funky "No Slack" and the pop track "Nasty".

N.O.H.A. appears to be also an excellent live band and you can convince yourself with the live tracks at the end of the youtube list. Unfortunately it appears that they are only performing in the Czech Republic this year.

The cover of this compilation is "stolen" from a Reed Danziger painting which I found through the amazing inspiring blog Basic Sounds.

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Krepuskule: Krepuskule (2006)

This is the self named demo of the French band Krepuskule released back in 2006. Krepuskule (“crépuscule” being the French for “dusk”) crafts music which is best described as gothic or dark metal with a dense atmospheric touch. This is emphasized by female vocals and the use of a violin.

 

This great demo consists of three tracks and in my opinion they are all equally brilliant. Checking their myspace site I can only guess that the band did not release more since 2006 due to line-up issues.

The band is still touring occasionally (in France) so let's hope that they can add something to this hidden gem in the future.

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Göksel: The Best Of Göksel (2009) (my version)

Yes, Turkish pop music! Göksel Demirpençe born in 1971 is a pop music artist from Turkey.  I've got aware of Göksel through a Putumayo compilation "Turkish Groove" which was interesting enougth to let me dig deeper. She sings and performs the guitar and her songs feature typical pop instruments but also typical Turkish elements such as violins etc.

What makes her songs special is the timbre and the presence of her voice. This "Best Of" compilation was released by Sony after she changed the record label back in 2008 and it was released possibly without her consent. After listening to some songs from her releases I wasn't particularly fond of the ballads and I felt that other songs were missing so I modified the song selection and kicked out some songs and replaced them with songs that should have been on this compilation.

My favourites of this compilation are Depresyondayım ("I am depressed") a song over a lost love, the uplifting Karar Verdim ("I decided") and the pushing hip hop duet Taş Bebek ("Stone Baby") a collaboration with Dursun Zaman from the Turkish New Metal band maNga. Nowadays, with her last two releases her style of music changed towards more classical Turkish folk music which is not my cup of tea but it'll be very interesting to see how her career continues in the future. Enjoy this excellent compilation!

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My charts for 2011

As 2011 is history now it is time to look back. In total, less music entered my personal library compared to last year. An evaluation within foobar2000 showed me that I added this year 160 albums, only which is considerably less than last year (583 in 2010). Musically, this year is equally interesting but I think I have been far more selective with new additions.
Interestingly, there is only one album which made it on the list which is from an artist that I followed for a longer time (Leaves' Eyes - Meredead). All the other ones were artists to which I did not listen to previously. I also got more critical towards discographies: Quite often one album of an artist is outstanding while others are simply mediocre. With the increased influx of new artists and releases on the Interwebs the necessity to bound to an artist (as a brand) for a longer time does not exist any more. So here is the list:

January	Dazkarieh - Hemisférios (2009)	Alternative, World Music, Portugal
February	Rotting Christ - Aealo (2010)	Metal, Greece
March	Zengineers - The 5th Realm (2010)	Electronic Music, Germany
April	UnSun - Clinic For Dolls (2010)	Metal, Poland
May	Suhov - Heartbox (2011)	Electronic Music, Hungary
June	Leaves' Eyes - Meredead (2011)	Metal, Germany, Norway
July	Gipsy.cz - Romano Hip Hop (2006)	World Music, Czech Republic
August	Longed for Fusion - Salvation (2009)	Metal, Germany
September	Haydamaky - Ukraine Calling (2006)	Alternative, World Music, Ukraine
October	Göksel - The Best Of Göksel (2009)	World Music, Turkey
November	Circo Vulkano - La Vida es... (2011)	Alternative, World Music, Venezuela
December	Elina Duni - Lume, Lume (2010)	Jazz, World Music, Switzerland

So, once again a year full of amazing discoveries - just hit the play button on the youtube playlist below and enjoy!

Circo Vulkano: La Vida Es... (2011)

This is true madness: Circo Vulkano is a crazy combo from Venezuela. I discovered La vida es.. recently at the great balkana.ru blog and it got me immediately infected. The band itself defines its music as Gipsy Cumbia Balkan Punk and when I listened to the record for the first time I thought that this is the how I wanted to have Manu Chao's music sounded all the years (though lyrics are in Spanish, only). It is so full of energy that it makes dance on the spot! One of the great strengths of Circo Volkano is the ability to slow down songs and then to catch up again. 

The first song "Mambo (Italiana)" gets the party already started. From there on till the instrumentals there is no breather to come. My favorite is "La Cachumba" a funny song with great none sense lyrics about a skull. A special thing about Circo Volkano is the usage of the melodica. I don't know how common this is in Latin American music and it definitely adds a very distinctive lo-fi note to the music.

Covers never have been that much fun as on La vida es...: in the middle of the song "Aire Jiri / A Caballo" the theme from pulp fiction pops up and sounds so right here. The king of covers though is the song nirvana: This is an amazing adaption of Nirvana's Love Buzz.

When I saw the live videos on youtube I wished I could have get into an airplane and fly over to Venezuela and join the party! I hope to see this amazing blend of music in Europe one day :)

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Vespera: Desert Of The Real (2011)

Having lived for quite some time in Romania the country surprised me many times with its artistic potential. Especially Cluj, the capital of Transylvania where I lived featured an excess of creative talent. Almost every weekend one had the possibility to attend great concerts of local and national acts.

By chance, on a recent trip to Cluj I attended a concert of a local band Vespera at the Irish Music Pub which is a great venue for concerts in the city. The concert itself was mediocre mainly because of sound quality problems the band had (the male singer was hardly audible) and they did not impress me too much. A few days later I listened to the CD that was given away at the concert and to the contrary it took me much by surprise.

 

With a rock music style similar to Lacuna Coil they succeeded in creating some really catchy tracks. The vocal lines bounce nicely between the two singers Dorin Panduru and Teodora Bârla. In addition the got some really great keyboards and samples. For a band without a label and management in the back the quality of the songs and production is really great and it still leaves space for further improvements. My favorite songs from the record are "Mary of Bethany", "Behind my smile" and the brilliant "Through the neon lights".

Luckily, with the advent of the Internet possibilities of distribution and promotion hugely increased, even though Romanian bands usually lack resources in order to get (big) label deals and record sales. As Vespera's bio states their next step is to promote their music worldwide, wanting to excite listeners from various genres of metal music. And, indeed they did impressed me!

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Haydamaky: Ukraine Calling (2006)

Recently, I discovered a new Ukrainian jewel. Haydamaky combines an excellent blend of Balkan style music with rock, Reggae and ska music influences.

The band was formed in the 1990s and grew in popularity during the Ukrainian orange revolution in 2004. The band specializes in combining the Ukrainian musical heritage with modern sounds.

As I've learned from Wikipedia the band name originates from "haidamakas" (Гайдамаки) meaning "to pursue" in Turkish. These were paramilitary units in the 18th-century Ukraine. The haidamak movement was formed mostly of local Cossacks and peasantry (kozaky and holota), fighting against the Polish nobility in the right-bank Ukraine.

The album was originally published 2005 with the title Perverziya and was republished a year later by the German Eastblock label with a new title and artwork.

Besides classical rock instruments the record features a flute and an accordion together with a really great voice. My recommendations are "Nemae Hliba - Spivai!" (Sing, Even If You Got No Bread!) and the absolutely amazing "Lystopad 2004" (November 2004).

Ukraine Calling is a very strong musical statement and I fully support the band's frontmen Olkesandr Yarmola with a statement he made at a concert:

"Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine it doesn't matter where you come from anymore - Eastern Europe is the driving force of Europe the west is no more the best!"

Enjoy!

 
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Zack de la Rocha: Keep It Zipped (2004, 2011)

The former Rage Against The Machine front-man Zack de la Rocha doesn't need a lot of introduction: After leaving the band in the year 2000 he went on to focus on a hip hop career. He appeared on a variety of projects. However, he never released a solo hip-hop record on his own. In 2004 de la Rocha started a collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which about 20 tracks were produced but never published (maybe if either one runs out of money one day). Thus, the rock oriented One Day As A Lion project together with Jon Theodore remains de la Rocha's only inter-RATM release.

In the absence of an official release I prepared this compilation back in 2004 and added some minor updates for this version. My favorites are the great Blackalicious' "Release (Part 1,2,3)" and the excellent collaboration with KRS One and the Last Emperor on the track "C.I.A.". Lyrically, most tracks deal with various aspects of politics: "Mumia 911" for instance is about the ill fate of Mumia Abu-Jamal who is on the death row right now and "March Of Death" is a strong anti Iraq war song.

Surprisingly, I discovered that someone else made a simple cover for this compilation and now, in the wake of the RATM reunion I don't think that an official release is highly likely so please enjoy the track listing after the break!

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Rona Hartner: Nationalité Vagabonde (2008) (Update)

Rona Hartner is an Romanian artist of German descent living and working currently in France. Nationalité Vagabonde is thus not only a title of record but also a phrase that presents her personal lifestyle. Born in 1973 she got popular with the 1997 movie "Gadjo Dilo" alongside with the now very famous French actor Romain Duris. Rona Hartner portrayed a Gypsy in the very same movie and this might have contributed to the perception (in Romania) that she is a Gypsy aswell. Unfortunately, she is not recognized very well in Romania. However, I think RH has overcome terms like nationality nationality best expressed by the title track's great lyrics:

“Nationalité vagabonde

Mes voisins je ne les compte

Plus à Rio, Prague ou Hong Kong,

Un passeport dans tous les ports

Nationalité vagabonde

J’ai la terre beaucoup plus ronde

Que tous les résidents du monde

Et dans la peau

Tous les drapeaux…

J’ai une âme rebelle

Emigrée universelle

J’ai toutes les tracesDe toutes les races

Dans mon sang et sur ma face

Je suis citoyenne

De la nation humaine

Je suis … ( ?)

A la page vagabonde”

The record is a great mix of different languages (French, Spanish, English and Romanian), moods and genres. I like a lot the great track “Chocha de la vida” which is a brilliant blend of reggea meets Africa accompanied by a magnificent clarinet. The upbeat "Gadji boh`eme" and also "Vagabond remix" are favorites of mine as well. Besides music RH does a lot of theater appearances as well. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to do a lot of concert touring outside of France right now but as always I hope that this fact is going to change very soon!

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Richard Devine: Lipswitch (2000)

This album was a revelation for me: something new opening my world to a complete new sort of music. While there was an Ambient explosion in the early 1990's (which I did not experience myself) the end of the millennium saw the IDM or experimental electronic music explosion. A major driver to this "revolution" was the increased capabilities of computers as musical instruments and the abundance of software samplers. These allowed the dissection and reassembly of any sound resulting into totally new pieces of music. One of the pioneers of this genre is surely Richard Devine. His soundscapes are extensively crafted forming complex structures and amazing results. A majority of the tracks of Lipswitch are beat-less and require active listening. My favourite tracks on this record are Kepter and Route, Increment.

Today, ten years later things have shifted again and a new generation of laptop artists appeared but this release still sounds very fresh to me. Nowadays, with no official release in five years Richard Devine focuses on his own sound design company and film music and some new tracks can be found at soundcloud.

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Alternosfera: Orasul 511 (2005)

There are always surprises: Though I have lived quite some time in Romania I had never heard of Alternosfera before until recently. The band is from Chisinau, Republic of Moldova and it was founded in the it late 1990's and their sound could be best described as alternative rock.

The songs of "Orasul 511" (Eng. city 511) sung by the melodic voice of Marcel Bostan are in Romanian (mostly) and Russian (some). These are also Moldova's major languages and I am of the opinion that these songs are also very appealing even if you do not understand either language. I am still amazed by the melodies and the fantastic keyboard hooks. My favourite from this record is "Wamintirile" which approximately means Memories in English. I hope that I'll have a chance to attend a concert next time I visit Romania or who knows maybe they'll are going to tour in Western Europe one day...  

If you like this record I also highly recommend to check out the band's second release "Visatori Cu Plumb In Ochi" (2007) (Eng. vistors dreamers with lead in their eyes). Luckily their new album "Virgula" (eng. comma) is just about being released right now. Yippee!

Alternosfera: Orasul 511 (2005)

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