Scary Mansion - New Music "Introducing"

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Leah Hayes is the mastermind behind the Brooklyn-based rock group Scary Mansion. After playing for several years as an Antifolk singer/songerwriter, Hayes picked up bassist Bradley Banks, and former-Fugue-member Ben Shapiro. She then found herself fronting a wild rock band. "I still write the songs and sing, but I like having boys making crazy noise behind me." Hayes has always had a unique sound, accompanying her voice with the "thunderstick", a three-stringed acoustic instrument similar to a banjo or dulcimer. When Hayes plays the thunderstick clean, it evokes Appalachian front porches. But when plugged in, the thunderstick screams through a distortion pedal for a punky, 90's grunge sound.

Scary Mansion's newest record, "MAKE ME CRY", comes out on Talitres Records in Europe

DOWNLOAD: Mp3 LINK
Make Me Cry Sample
1. No Law

WATCH:

Soap&Skin

A very recent find, I cae across Soap&Skin through last.fm (it works!) and was blown away on the first listen, a Union Chapel show in April was prompty booked.
I couldn't believe she isn't even 20 yet!

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Lastfm bio: Soap&Skin is the experimental musical project of Austrian artist Anja Plaschg (born 5 April 1990). Anja Plaschg grew up in a small village called Gnas in south east Styria, where her parents have a farm. She has played piano since she was six. At the age of 14 she began violin studies and developed an interest in electronic music. She attended the Graz Polytechnic for Graphic Design, but dropped out at 16 and moved to Vienna shortly afterwards. There she studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in the master class of Daniel Richter, but at 18 dropped out again.

Musicians like Xiu Xiu, Cat Power, Björk, Nico, Aphex Twin and composers like Sergej Rachmaninow or Arvo Pärt have had a great impact on her music.

After only playing a handful of concerts she was already being dubbed a “Wunderkind”. In 2008 she played German singer Nico in the play “Nico - Spinx auf Eis” by Werner Fritsch in Berlin and Vienna, performing several songs in it, including “Janitor Of Lunacy”, from her first EP.

Her first album, called “Lovetune for Vacuum”, was released in March 2009. It received excellent reviews and placed in the Austrian Top 10. The album also achieved chart positions in Germany, Belgium and France. Music journalists have already claimed to see in her a new star of Austrian pop
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Joanna Newsom #4

I am a happy Bunny today as I have very nice tickets to see Joanna at the Royal Festival Hall in May, very happy. I wish I was going to the ATP too but I still have The National, She & Him and now Joanna to look forward to in early May before The Great Escape festival.

So as a celebration, more Joanna Newsom! Not too long, well a week and a half till Have One On Me is out, can't wait... Get it in pre-order only £10.99 for a triple CD set! Link

Alessi's Ark - New Music "Introducing"

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This is just lovely, watch this and buy her album, fantastic:

Laura Marling #1 - Devil's Spoke

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You can watch the new single from the lovely Laura Marling below. I really want a London tour ticket!

She & Him

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I seem to be posting a fair share of Indie / Folk duo's etc at the moment, so if you don't like them you'll probably have to wait a while for the heavier stuff to return - a bit of variety is good I think.

The new CD Volume Two is out early April, you can try the new single on the listen link. T

Review of Volume One / Buy

Generally, it's a good idea to be wary of actors who make pop albums, but every rule has at least one exception, and She and Him's VOLUME ONE is an unfettered delight. A collaboration between actress Zooey Deschanel and prolific indie-folk musician M. Ward, She and Him is not merely a case of a cult musician using a more famous name as an entry into the musical mainstream: in fact, Deschanel is the primary songwriter here and sings all the lead vocals barring a pair of duets, and she scores impressively on both fronts. Deschanel turns out to be a gifted pop songwriter with a knack for penning crisp 1960s-style pop songs like the glorious first single, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" and singing them in a flirty, country-inflected style that recalls the likes of Jackie DeShannon and early Linda Ronstadt. Ward and an all-star band of fellow Portland, Oregon, indie-ites, including the Decemberists' Rachel Blumberg on drums, set Deschanel's songs and vocals in arrangements perfectly balanced between Phil Spector bombast and indie-rock cool. The entire album is a joyous, enchanting listen.