The music of Lisbon-born and London-based songstress Carmen Souza is hard to categorize, but easy to love. In her recent studio-album Kachupada (2013), Carmen embodies the influences of traditional Cape Verdean sounds, American jazz, Latin, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and more. Carmen’s remarkably soulful voice is the center of it all, as she easily swings through exotic beats and mellow jazz tones with a feeling of saudade. Her version of Charlie Parker’s bebop classic “Donna Lee” sounds festive, danceable and extraordinary original.

Jazz-tingled tropical musical adventure.

Carmen Souza – Donna Lee

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Life isn’t always sunshine and double rainbows. In my hunt for a loud abrasive sound, I found Waylon Thornton’s raw guitar riff drum pounding garage surf Lake Butler, Florida grit to finally satisfy. After listening to the 20+ albums he’s unleashed over the span of five years, the instrumental Black Salt became my favorite.. for a time. Eventually storms subside and I mosey along; catching inspiration or simply exploring until I’m somewhere. Drifting down New River Vol.1, parting clouds shape imagination and cooling water splashes my face as I lay on a raft of improvised twangy acoustic tunes. Their scenic, contemplative spirit holds wisdom, struggle, freedom and genuine splendor. I feel the essence of music’s magic in Waylon’s craft.

Musica delenit bestiam feram.Waylon Thornton – Sulphur, Tobacco, and Whiskey
Waylon Thornton – Coffin Nails
Waylon Thornton – Four (New River Vol.1)
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If the ’50s had sampling, New Zealand export Willy Moon would be a flashback. But at the age of 23, his brash mix of rock & roll’s early days and contemporary sampling turns the clock forward to a bold new charm. Before settling into his new home of London, UK, this autodidact ditched school at 16 and shaped his raw sounds with sojourns in Valencia, Morocco, and Berlin; evolving from hip-hop and club into sonic sledgehammers having sole-blistering effect. Willy’s supercharged collage of well-known samples, combined with his unique retro vocals, makes a fiercely catchy package, and his visual style looks equally well mastered in a slick ‘Rat Pack’ refined naughtiness.

Smokin’ hot throwback beat explosions.Willy Moon – I Wanna Be Your Man
Willy Moon – Railroad Track
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The avant-garde pop songstress Lia Ices possesses the theatrical glamour of Florence Welch, while her husky, half-whispered vocals are reminiscent of Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush and Cat Power. Lia’s album Grown Uknown (2011) offers minimalist folk music with hand clap percussion, baroque strings and her cuttingly sweet voice. It’s the kind of record probably best listened to as a single coherent work and it’s been my soundtrack for the long cold winter nights.

Majestically haunting folk.

Lia Ices – Grown Unknown

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Designs similar to Atupele’s Pictures on Silence have intrigued me, but there is a quality in this 20 y/o’s Michigan Malawi purpose that lava lamps me to a greater plane – Liquidating my conscious inside an orb of electronic bass and faint promiscuous echo. Slow down Koreless to a hibernating burrow then resurrect in soulful bounty.

Heavy beat patterns your mind spotless.
Atu – Let Me
Atu – The Duo ft Sango
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Nourished by Sierra mountains, wilderness, and home; cherished by sharing joy through wedding stories; Drew Barefoot renders a threshold baring nature’s cathedral in tone.. and in tune with finding hidden felicity. In a sermon from rustling leaves, or remedial gossip between wind and Forrest Creatures, there is an ageless desire for comfort and trust that is searching for awareness of Heaven from one’s touch. Spiritual union carrying you to a new world; or, for now; simple notes combining soft Iron and acoustic Wine into gently triumphant Explosions in the Sky above underground springs of piano and banjo.

Soothing, exhilarating, inspiring.
Drew Barefoot – Follow the Porcupines
Drew Barefoot – Enjoy the Calm
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Daughter, the trio of London-based vocalist and guitarist Elena Tonra, electric guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella, brings to the world painfully beautiful songs. Their sound is a refreshing mix of folk, tender acoustic and ambient soundscapes. However, it’s the wistful lyrics and Elena’s haunting vocals that create the magic, which will send shivers down your spine.

From heartbreaking folk to moody ambient.

Daughter – Smother
Daughter – Youth
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Producer Crypto.Jori (Jori Collignon) and vocalist/visual artist Cata.Pirata (Catarina Aimée Dahms) wrote and recorded “Riots in the Jungle” while traveling urban townships of South Africa, forming an unheard melting pot of original music that blends traditional sounds from Africa, South America and Europe into explosive electro-punk attitude and modern day wobble. Showing a typical Dutch blunt open-mindedness, coupled to schizophrenic traditions still present in South Africa, Skip & Die draws from their personal experiences to tell a story spanning multiple continents in a waterfall of languages.

World music on acid brings the noise.
Skip&Die – Jungle Riot
Skip&Die – Lihlwempu Lomlungu (with Driemanskap)
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Firey Soul, Doo-Wop, Rhythm n’ Blues are smashed together by Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes to create a big sound with an 18-carat edge. These cats mix retro styles like a bartender with 2-day stubble in a juke joint, breaking down ’40s and ’50s Jive into a modern flare. Clairy’s voice lets through emotion in gasps and wails, supported by her gang of Rackettes spitting out background vocals you don’t wanna mess with. The band delivers smoking licks through Australian airwaves resulting in a hot plate that’ll surely blow your top.

Finger snappin’ ooohhss and bop-bop she’do-bops.
Clairy Browne – I’ll Be Fine
Clairy Browne – She Plays Up To You
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Mitchell Nordine describes his Mind Tree outlet as “expressing the blissfulness of child-like naivety and nature, mixed with the beautiful and raw emotion connected to nostalgia. A journey of new perspective that subtly yet strongly guides thought and emotion.” Set sail on a glitchy, spacey, cinematic Melbourne sea.

Endless possibilities.
Mind Tree – Mother Nature
Mind Tree – Glóa Stafur
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