A New Discovery: Kelsey Lu

Recently I am spending a lot of my time to make new musical discoveries, especially from the younger generations. Believe me there is a great deal of innovation, experimentation and authenticity going on with these young artists. I think it is time for us (members of relatively older generations) to give up the nostalgic discourses on creativity based on retro references.
Everyday I hear very fine examples of new musical efforts, some successful and mostly not. But what is the definition of success anyhow?
Let's not judge the adventures of these young artists by the standards the industry has been compelling for a long time. This really limits our artistic vision and psychologically causes us to exclude the musical diversity that is so powerful.

Enough with the philosophy, here is a great artist that popped up on my radar very recently.

She is originally from North Carolina now living in LA. Her parents were also musicians and she was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness that probably had a big impact on her musical adventure. She plays the cello (mostly with a loop pedal).

Her debut was with the Church EP in 2016. Here is a song from this EP.

Dreams by Kelsey Lu

Thanks to her mastery in cello and pure voice she can create haunting and sorrowful songs that are very touching.

Following this 6 song EP, she just issued her first full-length album last week called "Blood" featuring collaborations with Skrillex and Jamie xx. It sounds like a transformation of her EP with a lusher sound stage. The orchestration is rich and elevates her solo sound to a new level.

Here are two songs from the "Blood" album.

Due West by Kelsey Lu

I'm Not In Love (10cc cover)

You may also check out her collaborations with other artists such as Florence & The Machine, Solange and King Krule.

"100 Years" with Florence & The Machine

Give an ear to her music and let her take you to a journey, you will not regret it...

Five Songs for the Weekend - XXVII -

Here is my selection of 5 songs for this weekend. This post series have been very rewarding for me as well, as I am constantly trying to make new discoveries to share with you. I hope you enjoy the lists and the songs as much as I do...Keep listening please, I am sure you will come up with something you like one day (I hope you already did by now!).

As Confucius said;

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which 
human nature cannot do without.”

So here are the 5 songs for this weekend;

• The Dead South - "In Hell I'll Be In Good Company"

• Pomplamoose ft.Dodie - "Shotgun"

• Linton Kwesi Johnson - "Five Nights of Bleeding"

• Péloquin Sauvageau - "Sterilization"

• Mahavishnu Orchestra - "Planetary Citizen"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

New Exhibition: "Culture Under Attack"

Normally I don't like war museums but the Imperial War Museum in London will be hosting a meaningful exhibition from July 5th 2019 till January 5th 2020. The main theme of the exhibition is "Culture Under Attack" and it will consist of 3 parts, "What Remains", "Art In Exile" and "Rebel Sounds". I am sure all three will be very interesting to see but especially one, "Rebel Sounds", should be really impressive. Here is the link to the museum.

Culture Under Attack

The new exhibition will try to explore how music is being used to resist during times of war and oppression.

Rebel Sounds

The "Rebel Sounds" exhibition covers four difficult periods of the 20th century; starting from the Nazi Germany of the 1930s, jumping to Northern Ireland of the 1970s, and from there to 1990s to the Balkans. The last stop is today's Mali. 

Imperial War Museum in London

If you are in London during this summer it might be a good idea to pay a visit to this event to witness the exhibitions, live performances and lectures about how culture, art and music shaped the societies during wartime...

Here is a band in exile from Mali whose only crime is "making music"...

Songhoy Blues - "Al Hassidi Terei"

Five Songs for the Weekend - XXVI -

Hello dear readers, another week has flown by.
Summer is coming (winter might be coming somewhere else 😜) so get ready for open air concerts and festivals and don't forget that there is no better music than live music.

As Charles Mingus once said;

“Let my children have music! Let them hear live music.”

And here is our 5 songs for this weekend;

• Akua Naru - "The Block"

• Ephemerals - "You Made Us Change"

• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - "Cheek to Cheek"

• Die Antwoord - "Fatty Boom Boom"

• John Carpenter - "Utopian Facade"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Record Store Day

2 more days to one of the most exciting days of the year. It's "Record Store Day" again on April 13th.
There will be events, parties and live music in most of the record shops around the world. On top of that we will be able to come by the new vinyls specially issued for the day.

Please check the below website for additional info and the participating stores around you and don't miss this great event...

Record Store Day Official Page

I plan to visit two great places this year (you may find them below). If you are around, please stop by at them or at any store and meet new people and enjoy the day!

• Grooveist

• Kontra Records

Happy crate digging!