8 months 1 week ago
For this second instalment of the Netflix TV series ‘Queer Eye’, Australia-born and Los Angeles-based pop star Betty Who revamped the original theme song. Her version clocks in at 1’44. It doesn’t happen often I wished a song lasted double its time. bit.ly/CBMbettywho
8 months 1 week ago
One of the most important success stories in this week's European Border Breakers Charts comes from Albin Lee Meldau (pictured). Not only is his song Try one of the 8 first-timers, he also sees 2 of his tracks re-enter the chart.
For the full Top 100, check http://bit.ly/CBMebbc
From no other artist I attended as many ‘farewell tours’ as from a-ha. And luckily, they decided to extend their career even further.
Last summer, on 22 and 23 June, the band played MTV Unplugged sessions at Øygardshallen (Giske Harbour Hall) on the Norwegian island of Giske, which will be released 6 October on the live CD/DVD/Blu-ray Summer Solstice. A-ha was accompanied on stage by Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen), Ingrid Helene Håvik (Highasakite), Lissie and Alison Moyet.
Among the 21-song setlist were two brand new tracks (one of which, This Is Our Home, is released as a single) and stripped down performances of all of the band’s classic tracks. One of these, a re-arranged version of The Sun Always Shines On TV, featuring additional vocals by Ingrid Helene Håvik, has been released as a single as well.
Following these MTV Unplugged sessions a-ha will go on an acoustic tour throughout 2018. Their third farewell tour? ?
acoustic | pop
Please meet this week’s champions, in alphabetical order:
You can read my writings about them by clicking the links, and listen via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Even more great new music is awaiting you in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music. Feel free to subscribe to either or both of them!
acoustic | electronic | pop | rockAs a new track for his most recent outtakes & rarities album Underwater – the last to be released under the Mist moniker – singer Rick Treffers re-recorded the beautiful track Fade In Fade Out. Originally from his 2002 debut album We Should Have Been Stars, the song now appears as a duet.
Co-vocalist Alondra Bentley, born in the UK but raised in Spain, adds an extra touch of delicacy to the already beautiful song. It’s plain and simple, just like the video.
acoustic | melancholic | popBloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, who so far released his solo material as Kele, just put out the first song under his full name. It’s the beautifully intimate, acoustic track Yemaya.
Okereke says about the song: “In the west African Yoruba religion, Yemaya is the mother goddess of the ocean, she is kinda the patron saint of pregnant women and fertility. According to myth, when her waters broke, it caused a great flood creating rivers and streams and the first mortal humans were created from her womb. When I knew we were having a baby she started to be appear in my thoughts and dreams a fair bit.”
The singer recently announced a seven date acoustic solo tour through Europe.
acoustic | melancholic | popIt’s that time of the week again, when I re-evaluate all of the great tracks that I added to my container playlist Carte Blanche Music the past seven days (like The Amazons, blink-182, Dua Lipa and Paramore). So many good songs, so diverse, listening to them once again is always a highlight of the week.
But – talking of highlights – then the tough part comes… Which ones are the absolute top tunes and deserve to be in my alphabetically ordered Werner’s Weekly playlist?
This is my verdict (listen to them via the player in the side bar and click the links to read my recommendations):
The Rifles are incredibly prolific. Only in August 2016 they released the double album Big Life, and as soon as 28 April, they come up with their new project: The Rifles Unplugged Album: Recorded At Abbey Road Studios.
The acoustic record (yes, it’ll be on vinyl as well) features 15 tracks from across The Rifles’ back catalogue. One of them is a brand new track, The Key. Also included is their new single; a beautiful Unplugged version of The General, that appeared in its plugged form on their 2009 album The Great Escape.
acoustic | pop | rockCold War Kids are quick to follow-up their single Love Is Mystical. The second set-up song for their upcoming album L.A. Divine is called So Tied Up. It features Bishop Briggs, a British singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles, California. Her real name is Sarah Grace McLaughlin, but she was born to parents from Bishopbriggs, Scotland, which inspired her professional name.
The official video for the single showcases a live acoustic version of the song with a beautiful string arrangement and a more prominent role for Bishop Briggs.
This is what the original studio version sounds like:
acoustic | pop | rock
Als er in een week – naar mijn maatstaven – niet veel echte uitschieters uitkomen, ga ik het overzicht ook niet willens en wetens lang maken. Daarom is Werner’s Weekly deze keer een uiterst bescheiden lijstje dat de zeven beste releases van de afgelopen week bevat. Overigens houd ik ook de playlist Werner Tipt bij. Nog altijd een zeer kritische lijst (ik heb een naam hoog te houden 😉 ), maar wel eentje die de lat iets minder hoog legt. Dus als je wat meer keuze wilt, is een abonnementje daarop het overwegen waard.
Pet Shop Boys en The Divine Comedy vallen op de Nederlandse radio tussen alle mogelijke vormen van wallen en schepen, maar zijn voor mij een no brainer. Luister maar waarom. De Noorse zangeres Dagny heeft onlangs haar debuut-EP Ultraviolet uitgebracht. De eerste single daarvan, Backbeat, was begin dit jaar Remschijf en is nu ook uit in een fraaie akoestische versie. Tip: 26 oktober staat ze met haar prima bandje in de kleine zaal van Paradiso.
Ook de debuutsingle van Zuzu maakt deel uit van het zevental. Haar invloeden Pavement en Courtney Barnett zijn een goede referentie. En als je wilt weten hoe een samenwerking tussen EDM-duo Knife Party en ex-Rage Against The Machine-gitarist Tom Morello klinkt (supervet namelijk), klik dan snel hier.
Geniet er weer van!
acoustic | electronic | pop | rock
