Artist of the Week – Kimberly Anne

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The first thing you should know about Kimberly Anne is that you need to be careful online looking for her music: there is a female bodybuilder called KimberlEy Anne. She’s just as exciting, but maybe not as nice on your ears. We are genuinely really happy to announce Kimberly Anne as our Artist of the Week. I actually met Kimberly a couple of years ago when she was a support act, and she came into the crowd. Not only did I get the usual fan stuff (autograph; photo; EP) but I also got to touch her afro – I think that’s a solid claim to fame, no? Perhaps the most chilled and friendly artist I have ever met, she used customised teabags as promotion for her EP. Now that’s a true Brit if ever I saw one. If you’ve not heard of her then don’t worry, her tunes will be no rare visitor to guitarleaves over the coming week. Enjoy her single “Bury It There”:

Song of the Day – Papaoutai

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Music_Photo_of_Stromae_047124_It feels like there’s a foreign theme to Song of the Week, following from yesterday’s “Jubel” – welcome to the continental world of Stromae, a Belgian artist (who wears the happiest-looking clothes I have ever seen) with a Rwandan father and Flemish mother. Just to confuse matters even further, his single “Papaoutai” is in French. Apart from repeating “Papaoutai” very loudly in the chorus, your guess to the lyrics are as good as mine, but the track is really very nice on the ears. Plus, if played out loud it makes you appear all cultural.

Artist of the Week – Commencing 29/05/2014

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tumblr_m5086kvVQM1r9v9xxo1_1280The nominations for the next Artist of the Week are taken from guitarleaves’ favourite four of the last week’s Song of the Day. It is then up to you guys to vote for your favourite. The winner will become the Artist of the Week and have one of their tracks published as the upcoming Monday’s Song of the Day. They also get a nice little header under the blog title. The winner will be contacted and hopefully write something for guitarleaves if they’re not too busy. Artist of the Week winners are published every Thursday with a feature on them.Voting ends the night before at midnight. Enjoy!

The nominations for next week’s Artist of the Week and the songs which put them on the shortlist are:

  • HOZIER – From Eden
  • TOURIST – Patterns
  • KLINGANDE – Jubel
  • SAINT RAYMOND – Bonfires

 

 

Song of the Day – Jubel

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Klingande-Pressefoto-2013-611“Jubel” is the latest single by French deep house duo Klingande following on from the success of “Punga”. Featuring the saxophone heavily and simple vocals, “Jubel” has made its way around the alternative music scene and dare I say ‘hipsters’, although I believe the record has only remained off mainstream playlists because of its lack of lyrics. I don’t think that’s a problem, though, and would happily not-sing along to it any day of the week. The video is equally euphoric, too. Check out the pair’s “original mix” of the song for a continental twist if you want to hear more.

guitarleaves Unearthing – Ashok

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2Bringing you the best of undercover and lost music, guitarleaves Unearthing today focuses on Ashok. Before Florence and the Machine was formed with Isabella Machine, Florence Welch was part of the 7-piece band Ashok. Not much is known about Ashok – by pretty much anyone. Luckily though, after lots of tracking guitarleaves has managed to get an old promotional album of their album “Plans”. The music is unlike anything we were expecting: there are neither hauntingly beautiful chords nor harps, just strong rhythms and blues. It’s such a bizarre find but you’ll be pleased to know about it. Unfortunately Ashok no longer exists because of vocalist Florence’s decision to leave in order to pursue her own career. Take a listen to the song “Sunday” taken from it:

Song of the Day – Bonfires

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42191aI first met Nottingham-born singer/songwriter Saint Raymond at a tiny warehouse gig in Hull a couple of years ago, when he was just a support act. Since then he has rocketed in popularity, being Track of the Day on Radio 1 and headlining gigs at Scala. He’s a talented musician – both on guitar and vocally – and besides the fact he’s a genuinely nice guy, his music is relatable  on some sort of level to everyone. Today’s Song of the Day is “Bonfires” – not from his most recent EP but a record nevertheless that has been stuck in my head from all those years ago when I first heard him play.

Live Music – Clean Bandit Cover Lorde

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Clean-Bandit1-700x420Wow. I stumbled across this late one night whilst doing work, and having heard it once decided to stop the work I was doing and listen to this on repeat for half an hour. Mixing and matching synthetic beats, “Walking in the Air”, “Royals” by Lorde, Clean Bandit really outdo themselves. You won’t believe it’s live or the talent these guys have. I think we know what the person who said “music is a drug” was on.

Artist of the Week’s Song of the Day – Wet Gold

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the-octopus-projectIt’s Monday – yes, it’s back to work, but it also means that today’s Song of the Day comes from guitarleaves’ Artist of the Week – The Octopus Project. If you liked “Sharpteeth”, which we featured on Thursday, then I think you’ll like “Wet Gold”. A bizarre song (although the sanest out of the band’s collection) in its own right, it experiments with a unique set of harmonies and instruments, giving the band their wonderfully odd trademark flavour. Have a listen and let us know what you think.

guitarleaves Vintage – I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free

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103961-Nina_Simone_617_409Written by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas but given fame by the 1967 recording featuring Nina Simone, “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free” has made today’s guitarleaves Vintage feature because of its soulful lyrics and bluesy gospel. With our only criticism being the incredulously long title, it seems a terrible shame to let this song die with age. Miss. Emeli Sande is also a fan, and  performed her cover of this very song on her UK tour last year.

Song of the Day – Waves

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Mr.ProbzTwo words: Mr. Probz. Does it really need an introduction? If you haven’t heard  the Robin Schulz remix of “Waves” by Mr. Probz,  then you need to go outside. A true continental mash-up, with Mr. Probz (or Dennis in his spare time) being Dutch and Robin Schulz a German DJ, “Waves” unsurprisingly reached the UK No. 1 towards the end of April. If you’re heading to anywhere vaguely music-related this Summer, then be prepared for this insane record to be on repeat – a lot – although that’s not a complaint.