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Posts by: Kate
British singer-songwriter Jen Armstrong interviewed in today’s Sunshinecast
Born in a village home to more sheep than people, Jen Armstrong didn’t have the most competitive of starts. This gave her a shock when, moving to Leeds to study a degree in [...]
British singer-songwriter Jen Armstrong interviewed in today’s Sunshinecast
Born in a village home to more sheep than people, Jen Armstrong didn’t have the most competitive of starts. This gave her a shock when, moving to Leeds to study a degree in pop music she realised that actually, she wasn’t the only person who could write songs and sing them well. Luckily, she has developed a unique pop / rock style with catchy, tongue in cheek lyrics coupled with a beautifully powerful vocal which gives her the edge over the usual pop songwriters.
Jen finished in the top 6 in her year, being number 1 in performance, and followed this with a MA in Music Performance. Jen has written and worked with acclaimed producer and arranger Dr Richard Niles, the results of which you can experience via her Myspace page. She has also collaborated with Mark Walker (Westlife, Kelly Rowland, Five).
Here’s another little taster for you. This is Running Shoes by Jen Armstrong, produced by Jamie Muffet:
Check out Jamie’s website: http://www.jamiemuffett.com/
Having recently played Shepherds Bush Empire supporting British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot, Jen then headed off to LA in January 2012 to collaborate and play shows over 6 weeks. In the show, I’ll ask her about her adventures in LA and what her plans are, now that she’s back in the UK. Tune in today at 1pm Eastern/ 6pm UK to hear the interview and more of Jen’s music.
Check out Jen’s website:
http://www.jenarmstrong.tv/
Follow Jen on twitter:
twitter.com/jamusicuk
And check out her YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/jenarmstrongmusic
Next week, the awesome British Americana artist Rosco Levee will be live in the studio, and on May 29th, Matt ‘Sharky’ Finn and his trilby will be along for a chat and live session.
Love and sunshine!
…that’s what this week’s Sunshinecast studio guests, The Blissful Mop say about themselves.
And what exactly does that mean? No clue. I’ll ask them tomorrow, when they’re in the studio.
Who are The Blissful Mop?
The Blissful Mop is a collaboration between singer and lyricist Bliss Nayler and guitarist composer [...]
…that’s what this week’s Sunshinecast studio guests, The Blissful Mop say about themselves.
And what exactly does that mean? No clue. I’ll ask them tomorrow, when they’re in the studio.
Who are The Blissful Mop?
The Blissful Mop is a collaboration between singer and lyricist Bliss Nayler and guitarist composer Joe Inkpen, presenting songs fusing Bliss’s deeply personal lyrics and heartfelt melodies with Joe’s edgy guitar work and instrumental arrangements, forging a fresh take on female fronted rock. The Blissful Mop effortlessly flow from the aggressive distortion and soaring strings of Disappointed Eyes to the soothing elegance and grace of The Precious Few, before shaking you up with the lurching bass riff of Evil Personified. Whether playing as a duo or full band, The Blissful Mop are making a lasting impression wherever they set foot.
Have a little listen to this – this is Idolise by The Blissful Mop
Recent Blissful Mop song, recorded at the Salvation Army Hall on the 1/12/11 by Ian Button (Death in Vegas, Picturebox, Deep Cut). For the forthcoming album…
Here’s what Bitchslap fanzine had to say about the band’s debut EP Seventeen:
“This is an extremely well written and professionally recorded EP and The Blissful Mop are one of the most talented new bands that I’ve heard in quite a while. The level of musicianship on this EP is second to none and the silky creamy vocals of Bliss Nayler truly are phenomenal. From start to finish the immense song writing ability of The Blissful Mop is very evident and so is the passion and belief they have in their own ability and music. The five tracks on offer flow effortlessly and each stand out in their individuality and identity. This band are very hard to catergorise but certainly have an overall rock feel to their music which also has a more soft and intricate side to it. This really is high quality stuff indeed and will definitely have a massive appeal to the more mature music lovers out there. This band simply oozes class and talent.“
-Bitchslap Fanzine, 2011
Here’s a video of The Blissful Mop playing live. The song is ‘Monsters’ from their debut EP Seventeen available from iTunes and Amazon, on Expat Records.
Check out The Blissful Mop’s website>> www.theblissfulmop.co.uk
Check out Bitchslap Fanzine >> www.bitchslapfanzine.com
Buy Seventeen on Amazon>> Seventeen on Amazon
Tune in at 1pm Eastern/ 6pm UK on Tuesday 1st May to hear The Blissful Mop chat and play live on air. Bliss and Joe are bringing their drummer Matt and new bass player Alec with them, so expect a full, rich sound. You really don’t want to miss this one.
On today’s Sunshinecast, there’s an interview and live acoustic session with singer-songwriter Banu.
The session was recorded a couple of weeks ago, on Sunday 1st April and in it, we mostly talked about music, but the conversation did veer towards seagull poo on occasion, [...]
On today’s Sunshinecast, there’s an interview and live acoustic session with singer-songwriter Banu.
The session was recorded a couple of weeks ago, on Sunday 1st April and in it, we mostly talked about music, but the conversation did veer towards seagull poo on occasion, just to warn you…
From her website:
Banu has been performing as a solo acoustic artist for the last decade, venues have cheered, applauded and even cried when listening to the words of this folksy songstress.
You can find more information about Banu at www.banumuzik.com and you can say hi to Banu on her Facebookpage: www.facebook.com/Banu.Loves.Muzik
Here’s a lil’ taster for you. This is ‘Summer’ from Banu’s Soundcloud page
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There’s more new music in the show too, of course, including songs from 18 year-old singer songwriter Teetotal, who I just discovered today. The freshest new music from the best UK independent artists, that’s why I love doing this show 
See you at 1pm eastern/6pm UK.
Today’s Sunshinecast sees the return of the electrickeral, technomagical one-man blues band Funke and the Two Tone Baby to the sunshine studio.
That’s enough of a reason to tune in, right there. Watch this video of
Today’s Sunshinecast sees the return of the electrickeral, technomagical one-man blues band Funke and the Two Tone Baby to the sunshine studio.
That’s enough of a reason to tune in, right there. Watch this video of Funke playing Now You See Me and tell me you’re not impressed:
Have a listen to his new six track EP Injustice and Queen (the two things he hates most in the world, so he tells me). My favourite of the moment is Tomorrow Brings a Better Day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to this when I’ve been feeling down. It’s at least as good as chocolate (I’d say it was better, but I really love chocolate) at helping with surviving the blues.
You can buy the EP from Bandcamp – name your own price: http://funkeandthetwotonebaby.bandcamp.com/
What’s that? You want more? You’re a tough crowd, but okay then…
There’s also some very exciting, very new music on the show this evening, with tracks from a couple of the acts I saw playing live at Bar Vinyl in Camden on Easter Sunday (I was there playing a little acoustic set at Zarathustras Presents Sunday Live at Bar Vinyl, and almost ran away before my stage time, the other acts were so amazingly good). Let me introduce you to two of them right now:
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David Humeda is a mexican singer-songwriter who came to the UK for a five day mini-tour to promote his music. Beautiful voice, beautiful songs and oh, those eyes. Take a listen; this song is called At the Station:
And now listen to this. I don’t speak any language other than English (shame on me), so I have no idea what David is singing about here, but frankly, so long as he sounds like this, I don’t care if he’s singing the phone book. This is Me Queda Estar Vivo.
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Steve Dagleish is a versatile singer-songwriter whose unassuming nature when he takes to the mic rather hides a wealth of experience and talent. He has layers to his songwriting and his performance that reward careful listening in ways that more instantly accessible pop music might not. Check this out, this is called World of News (Petroula Dagelfish Remix):
and this. This is Looking for the River Man:
Yeah. Everybody says they’re influenced by Nick Drake, coz it makes ‘em look cool, but this man is the real deal.
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Also very impressive were Poeticat (sometimes hilarious, sometimes shocking, always thought-provoking words) and Veronica Ely (such an amazing voice, I don’t understand why she isn’t world-famous already, accompanied superbly on guitar by George Self). I’ll get some tracks from them and share them with you, as soon as I can.
Visit these artists’ facebook/soundcloud/reverbnation pages or websites by clicking on their names. Come say hi on the show’s page, too: http://www.facebook.com/sunshinecast
Come join the chat room and say hi. 1pm Eastern/ 6pm UK.
On the show this Tuesday, Ben and Robert from lofi pop band Picturebox will be in the sunshine studio, playing live.
Ian Button, musical hoe and sometime drummer for Picturebox, can’t make it (you’re starting to wonder if I’ve made him up, aren’t you?) [...]
On the show this Tuesday, Ben and Robert from lofi pop band Picturebox will be in the sunshine studio, playing live.
Ian Button, musical hoe and sometime drummer for Picturebox, can’t make it (you’re starting to wonder if I’ve made him up, aren’t you?) because he says he has to be at ‘a validation meeting in London’ (I didn’t ask what a validation meeting was, I just nodded and said “Oh, okay, yes”. What is a validation meeting?) so the band will be somewhat reduced and, in the spirit of live radio, Robert has asked me if I’d play some flute in the song ‘The Sweetest Girls’. Fun times
Here’s the song – tune in on Tuesday if you want to hear my contribution to it (I should just stay in the shed and keep polishing your radishes, if I were you, mate).
‘The Sweetest Girls’ by Picturebox
Robert is a big fan of Juliana Hatfield (formerly of bands Blake Babies and Some Girls), and recently wrote a song about her, as a kind of tribute to her work. It’s called ’Juliana Hatfield’. This is what the blokes themselves say about it:
A brand new song, “Juliana Hatfield”, is available to download at Bandcamp with the option to name your own price (or even get it for free). From the song info at Bandcamp:
“This is about the thrill of hearing something great on the radio for the first time, trying to find out who it’s by and get hold of it in the pre-Internet days. Also saying how great it is when someone you like keeps making great music after such a long time!”
It was recorded February – March in Canterbury, with Ian Button on drums (ably recorded by Dave).
The song was featured on the respected Live On Tomorrow Juliana Hatfield fan site. If you want to find out more about her music and to find out what she’s been up to lately, this is definitely the site to go to.
You can listen to the song on Bandcamp and can download it on a ‘name your price’ basis:
http://picturebox.bandcamp.com/track/juliana-hatfield
This song was released on March 26th, so it really is the very latest UK independent music. Go take a listen, then come join me and the chaps from Picturebox on Tuesday for more lofi pop from the cathedral city of Canterbury and to hear me make a fool of myself live on air with a big silver whistle.
Show airs 1pm Eastern/ 6pm UK.
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