Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Norway. The group is made up of two gentlemen...Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe. The vibe of their music has a little brazilian flare (which of course I love) and they have such calming voices... and they use intricate and subtle guitar melodies. LOVE THEM! They both compose and sing their songs too...
Many of their songs have been added to my favorite "chill" Summer playlist...I need to give a nod to my dear friend Mademoiselle "J" who turned me onto them as we floated in her pool...Merci' Mon Ami! Everyone knows that I love discovering new music...as I am a closet DJ!
Here are a couple of my favorite tunes...Misread...LIVE!
The official video for Mrs. Cold....
Happy Friday...Hope you chill out with some fun Summer music this weekend too! XO
Cameroonian-born Andy Allo is a 24 year old singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, model and actress whose profile (I'm predicting) will soon be well known. She interestingly combines elements of soul, rock and much more with her music.
(Merci': LifandTimes.com)
She first made the music scene with her independently released 2009 debut album, Unfresh. In October 2012 she released Superconductor.
(Merci':www.Last.FM)
Her musical influences range from Erkyah Badu to Lauren Hill to Nina Simone -- as well as her mother, a piano teacher who trained her beginning at age seven. She moved to the States in her pre-teen years and has worked with Prince and many other talented artists.
She's interesting...I'm a fan! I saw her live in a little club a couple of years ago and she was fantastic! Here are a couple videos of her doing her thing!
One of my favorite songs isJust be Thankful from La Mission Soundtrack.....Enjoy! If you want to learn about another great artist Melody Gardot...click here!
I have been enjoying music from a new British singer/songwriter named Rumer and yesterday CBS Sunday Morning featured her (see the piece here)... so you will be hearing about her soon if you haven't already! I think she has a beautiful voice...click HERE to learn more about her. I have posted a few videos from her debut album below as well....
Koop is the Swedish electronic jazz duo of Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson from Uppsala, Sweden, formed in 1995. Though the music may sound as if it is played by a tight jazz group, it is actually sample-based. Thousands of small clips of drums, strings, horns, and choirs are taken from old records and puzzled together into new songs. This time consuming production process is one of the reasons Koop’s albums are released 4-5 years apart.
Koop won a Swedish Grammy Award in 2003 for the album "Waltz for Koop", and received a Gold certification for sales of their most recent album, Koop Islands.
Vocals have been provided by singers such as Yukimi Nagano, Ane Brun, Hilde Louise Asbjornsen, Rob Gallagher and Mikael Sundin.
Their song 'Strange Love' was also featured in a commercial for Coca Cola. Also in the same year, their song "Koop Island Blues" was featured as the intro music for the videogame The Saboteur.
All I know is that their songs are a MUST for any cool party playlist!! Here is a sample of their musical stylings....
I am so inspired by music from every culture and generation, so today I'm presenting a collection of some of my favorite French girls doing their thing!
Gillian Hills
Gillian was born June 5th, 1944 in Cairo, Eygpt and is known as an actress and singer. She rose to fame as a teenager in the 1960s in the British films like Beat Girl and Blowup. She was discovered by Roger Vadim who likened her to the next Brigitte Bardot. She also spent a number of years living in France, where she embarked on a singing career as well as starring in a number of French films.
zou bisou bisou
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte was bornSeptember 28th, 1934. She is a French former fashion model, actress and singer, and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.
In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer. She started her acting career in 1952 and, after appearing in 16 films, became world-famous due to her role in her then-husband Roger Vadim's controversial film And God Created Woman. Bardot starred in 47 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs.
Here she is in 1967 on a television show performing... La Madrague
Brigitte again with another favorite...Je danse donc je suis
Sylvie Vartan
Sylvie, born August 15th, 1944 is a French singer. She was one of the first " rock" girls in France. Her performance often featured elaborate show-dance choreography. She made many appearances on French and Italian TV.
La plus Belle Pour Alle
Vanessa Paradis
Mademoiselle Vanessa was born December 22, 1972. She is a French singer, model and actress. She became a child star at 14 with the worldwide success of her single " Joe le taxi". Since then, she has accomplished a career in music, movies and modeling. She has been married to American movie star Johnny Depp for years and they have two children together.
Vanessa Paradis with one of my absolute favorite songs..
La la la Song
with visuals of she and Johnny just for fun!
Alizée Jacotey
Alizee was born August 21, 1984. She is a French singer, known professionally by Alizée. She was discovered following her winning performance in a talent show in 1999. Alizée has released four albums, two of which were hits inside and outside of France.
Alizee performing live J'en Ai Marre
Zazie
Zazie was born Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes on April 18th, 1964. She is a French singer and songwriter. Zazie co-produces all her albums.
Zazie with..... Etre et avoir
(Merci': YouTube and Wikepedia for all biographic content)
Melody Gardot is one of my absolute favorite musicians. She is as inspirational as her music and her hair!
Melody Gardot/ɡɑrˈdoʊ/ (born February 2, 1985) is a Grammy-nominated singer, writer, and musician from Philadelphia Pennsylvania (although she considers herself a "citizen of the world"). She has been influenced by such blues and jazz artists as Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz, George Gershwin and Caetano Veloso. Her music has been compared to that of Nina Simone. Gardot follows the teachings of Buddhism. She is a macrobiotic cook and a humanitarian who often speaks about the benefits of music therapy. She has visited various universities and hospitals to speak about it's ability to help reconnect neural pathways in the brain, improve speech ability, and lift general spirits. In a recent interview she was rumoredto be working closely in a university in the United States to help develop a program for music therapy and the management of pain, something she has spoken about establishing in the future on her own.
((Merci': lastfm/music.com)
(Merci': fayeandco.com)
Gardot was born in New Jersey, and was brought up largely by her grandparents. Her grandmother was a Polish immigrant and her mother a photographer who worked and traveled frequently. They moved around often and as a consequence had very few possessions, often living out of suitcases. Gardot studied fashion at the Community College of Philadelphia. While cycling in Philadelphia in November 2003 she was hit by a Jeep whose driver had ignored a red light. In the accident she suffered serious head and spinal injuries and her pelvis was broken in two places. She was confined to a hospital bed for a year and had to remain lying on her back the entire time. As a further consequence of her injuries she had to re-learn simple tasks like brushing her teeth and walking. The most noticeable effect of the neural injuries she suffered is that she was left both hyper-sensitive to both light and sound, requiring her to wear dark sunglasses at nearly all times to shield her eyes. The accident also resulted in both long and short term memory problems and difficulty with her sense of time. Gardot has described coping with this like, "climbing Mount Everest every day" as she often wakes with no memory of what she has to do that day.
Initially prompted by an attending physician who believed music would help her brain injury drastically improve, Gardot began writing music after her accidentand since then often speaks and advocates in favor of using music for therapy. The accident had damaged the neural pathways between the brain's two cortexes which control perception and higher mental function, and made Gardot (in her own words) "a bit of a vegetable." As well as making it very hard for her to speak or communicate properly, she found it difficult to recall the right words to express her feelings.
Music involving listening and making a verbal attempt to sing or hum is thought to help the brain form new pathways. At first, Gardot learned to hum and was eventually able to sing into a tape recorder. She made good progress and was eventually able to write original songs that sometimes referred to her rehabilitation.
(Merci': thehelplessdancer.wordpress.com)
For several years after the accident Gardot traveled with a physiotherapist and carried a TENS machine strapped to her waist which released pain reducing impulses.
She was introduced to macrobiotics by a friend who lent her a book on its benefits and she began to experiment and cook for several hours a day. As well as reducing her pain levels, she feels that macrobiotics helped her mental ability to cope with pain, helping her relax as the routine of cooking helped take her mind off her physical condition, and she found she was able to sleep more easily.
(Merci': threeimaginarygirls.com)
Gardot started music lessons at the age of nine and began playing piano in Philadelphia bars at the age of sixteen on Fridays and Saturdays for four hours a night. She insisted on only playing music she liked, ranging from standards from The Mamas & the Papas to Duke Ellington to Radiohead.
During her time in the hospital she learned how to play the guitar and began writing songs, which were made available as downloads and released in Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions in 2005. She began to play these songs at venues in Philadelphia and was spotted by the radio station WXPN operated by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, which helped to launch Norah Jones. As well as playing her songs, WXPN encouraged her to assemble a demo, which was quickly picked up by Universal Records.
Released in 2006 and then re-released by Verve Records in 2008, her first full-length album was entitled Worrisome Heart. After meeting her in NYC in 2008, producer, Larry Klein began working with Gardot and they released her second album, My One and Only Thrill, on April 28, 2009. From this album, the song "Who Will Comfort Me?" became a top 10 hit on the radio. Also in 2009, Gardot released a live EP, Live from SoHo. Gardot is a recipient of the 2007 VSA International Young Soloists Award.
(Merci': wikipedia)
Albums
Some Lessions: The Bedroom Sessions (2005)
Worrisome Heart (2008) (Billboard Top 200, #2 Jazz Album, #14 European Jazz Album, #4 Top Heatseekers)
Live from SoHo (2009) (#2 Jazz Album)
My One and Only Thrill (2009) (Billboard Top 200, #2 Jazz Album)
