Browsing Tag folk
Werner’s Weekly (week 38)
Last week was a great week for new music. Only in the past seven days I added great new songs by David Gray, Foo Fighters, Honeyblood and Shout Out Louds to my 2017 container playlist Carte Blanche Music. Even Skipper Wise, who scored his last (and only) hit Standing Outside In The Rain in 1990, is back with a beautiful new track.
As every Monday morning, you can find my favourites of this whole bunch – in alphabetical order – in Werner’s Weekly, below. The tags underneath this post indicate the variety you will experience while playing these songs. You can do this through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. For more information about any of the tracks, simply click the respective link. Enjoy!
- Sol Heilo – America (Wildcard this week)
- Calogero – 1987 (Wildcard last week)
- Frida Sundemo – Gold
- Girli – Hot Mess
- JohnnySwim – First Try
- Pacific – Life In Short
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Wildcard (week 37):
Sol Heilo – America
With her band Katzenjammer on hiatus, Norwegian artist Solveig Heilo embarks on a career of her own. Playing guitar, trumpet, banjo, harp, flute, accordion, mandolin, ukulele, drums, bass and many other instruments, she isn’t only a singer, but a multi-instrumentalist, as you will hear on her first solo album Skinhorse Playground, which she releases on 6 October.
America is Sol Heilo’s new solo single. It featured here before, but I like it so much, I made it this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, giving it the most prominent place on the blog for seven days in a row.
Make sure you watch the video, it took 744 hours to make! The raw material, all shot with her iPhone, is 27 hours long and she filmed 42 locations in addition to 24 close-ups in her living room and garden.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Frøkedal – Cracks
Norwegian folk singer Frøkedal only released her debut album Hold On Dreamer last year, but she has just put out a double A-sided single with two brand new tracks: LTF and Cracks. Both dig into the (chaotic and painful, but also often liberating) nature of desire. “LTF and Cracks are similar in the sense that they both describe the almost-physical fear that comes with being in love”, according to Frøkedal.
The latter of the two is my favourite. “Cracks suggests that the problem lies in our nature”, the singer says. “Nothing is more scary than exposing our weaknesses and imperfections. But to truly love, and be loved, it is necessary to take the risk.”
Frøkedal is signed to Propeller Recordings, the same label that brought us Sløtface, Imitating Aeroplanes and Sol Heilo.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 37)
It looks like one of the results of the popularity of streaming is that more new music is being released than ever before. Streaming being a worldwide phenomenon, more and more artists want to take a shot at stardom, even if it was only at a ‘one hit wonder‘ level.
In my Carte Blanche Music container playlist I collect what I think are the best tracks in any genre. Last week I added Beck, Dangers Of The Sea and Stereophonics, to name but a few of the better-known artists. But I added even more (as yet) unknown bands, that are just as much worthy of your attention. They may be the megastars of the future. If you’re curious, just follow that playlist and I’ll keep you updated on a day to day basis.
My ‘best of the best’ playlist is called Werner’s Weekly. Needless to say you can follow that one as well. The latest example of my cherry picking is below. You can listen to each of these tracks through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and if you want to know more about a song, just click the link for additional information.
- Calogero – 1987 (Wildcard this week)
- AKA George – Stone Cold Classic (Wildcard last week)
- GoldFish – If I Could Find
- Public Service Broadcasting (feat. James Dean Bradfield) – Turn No More
- Sløtface – Backyard
- Sol Heilo – America
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Sol Heilo – America
Since Norwegian quartet Katzenjammer released their latest album Rockland, in 2015, the four multi-instrumentalists took a break from the band. Marianne Sveen left the band altogether, and now, Solveig Heilo uses the new freedom to start a solo career as well. She already released a solo single Hold On in 2012, but her first complete album Skinhorse Playground only comes out 6 October. Don’t expect many guest musicians on it, as she knows how to play guitar, trumpet, banjo, harp, flute, accordion, mandolin, ukulele, drums, bass and many other instruments.
America is Sol Heilo’s new solo single. A song she wrote in New Orleans, and which addresses liberation from a downward spiral. By the euphoric sound of it, it looks like her career will only go upward from here…
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Daughter – Burn It Down
Burn It Down by Daughter is the first single from Music From Before The Storm; the original soundtrack for the game ‘Life Is Strange: Before The Storm’. The album will feature three songs by the British neo-folk band, alongside licensed tracks by Syd Matters, alt-J, Bright Eyes, Mogwai and José González.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 10)
It’s impossible for me to write about all good music that comes out each week. So I must make a selection for this blog. With a few exceptions to the rule, I usually choose brand new artists to feature on Carte Blanche Music, tracks that you probably haven’t heard yet, and that would run the risk of passing by unnoticed if I wouldn’t place them on a pedestal.
But there is so much more… Thankfully, there is Spotify. My Carte Blanche Music playlist has enough room to feature all great new tracks that appear each week. Not only by brand new acts, but also by more established artists like Little Steven, Bush, Lorde, DJ Premier, Di-Rect and Spoon. All of them great acts, with great new songs. Subscribe to that playlist and you’ll never miss any good new music anymore. Promised!
Which brings me to this week’s alphabetically sorted list of my most highly recommended tracks: Werner’s Weekly (which you can subscribe to as well, of course). Listen to these eight songs via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and read my recommendations by clicking the links.
- San Fermin – No Promises (this week’s Wildcard)
- MisterWives – Machine (last week’s Wildcard)
- Banner. – Compass
- Disciples – On My Mind
- Dreadzone – Area Code
- Groenland – Healing Suns
- Kid Francescoli – The Player
- The Curious Incident – Honey Hunger
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Banner. – Compass
In the ‘About’ section of this blog you can read: ‘Carte Blanche is all about great new music’. I like to live up to that promise. Therefore, today I proudly present Banner., a new Dutch singer-songwriter, who was born and raised in The Hague. He is a self-taught musician since he started playing guitar at the age of 14. His songwriting career began when he was 18 and currently, he is studying vocals at the Herman Brood Academy in Utrecht.
Banner. names Queens Of The Stone Age, Fink and Sticky Fingers as his influences. But Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Japan and David Sylvian are never far away either. This makes it difficult to describe his music. Something like ‘indie folk’ or ‘indie pop’ comes close, but doesn’t do right to the outbursts of guitar that are present as well.
You know what? You’d better listen! To whom? To Banner.! That’s Banner with a dot. Point taken…
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Laura Marling – Next Time
Laura Marling (not to be mistaken for Norwegian singer Lene Marlin) is a British (nu-)folk singer-songwriter who also plays guitar, bass, piano and ukulele. She was part of the original line-up of Noah & The Whale and collaborated with the Mystery Jets, while her own band included Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane and Winston Marshall, who would go on to found Mumford & Sons.
In March, Marling will release her sixth album Semper Femina. Next Time is the beautiful new single off it. The clip is the second (after Soothing) from a trio of Laura Marling’s self-directed videos.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Mighty Oaks – Be With You Always
All good things come in threes, they say. Mighty Oaks are a trio, consisting of three guys from three countries: Italy, Great-Britain and the United States. But they consider Berlin, Germany as their home. The three share the love for authentic indie folk, played on a guitar, banjo and mandolin.
After two EP’s (in 2010 and 2013) and an album (in 2014) they are now ready to make their definitive mark. 24 March Mighty Oaks will release their second full length, which already spawned the singles Horsehead Bay and Dreamers (the album’s title track). But of course, the third single is the best: Be With You Always sounds like a hit to me. And although this blog is not about hits (per se), there’s no need to look down upon them. So let’s joyfully sing along with this one!
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
