Christoph Andersson: New Album on the Way

New Orleans isn't the first place anyone thinks of when you mention electronic music. But Christoph Andersson's monthly Electronic TKVR parties that he hosts with other local acts Swiss Chriss and G-Eazy have grown to  500+ ragers in little over a year. He likes being the black sheep in NOLA where electronic is a less popular genre. He told Filter Magazine "Not being around other electronic musicians or a huge scene has benefitted me. I don't think I'd do very well in a place like New York or L.A.... I doubt I'm even cool enough."

Oh you're cool enough, mister. Andersson, despite being new to the scene, has already shared the stage with Hot Chip and Crookers at Voodoo Fest and started his own record label, Hurst Recordings (named after the Nola street where he grew up) and, over the past year,  released an EP and various catchy beat-driven pop tracks. His refreshing sound has caught the attention of other artists and bloggers with its bridge between airy pop and dance. He told LSU magazine that his main goal going into every track is to "blend really catchy pop music...with really contemporary electronic technique".

Christoph Andersson- Metropol



Christoph Andersson- Tuxedo


Christoph Andersson- Getaway

Amy Winehouse: Rest in Peace

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14th 1983 in Southgate, London. Her father Mitch recalls singing along to records with his daughter, leaving out the words for Amy to fill them in. 

Young Amy received training at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and then later instruction from the acclaimed Sylvia Young Theatre School. She began writing music when she was 13 and started a rap group called Sweet N' Sour with a school mate. She then began singing with a local London jazz band and when a former boyfriend sent one of her early demo tapes to an A&R man it led to a deal with EMI Records.

Since then she has been called the New Queen of Soul, an icon of our generation, she has won comparisons to Sarah Vaughn and Nina Simone among other talents. 

Amy's 2003 debut Frank was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won the Igor Novello songwriting prize for best contemporary song with "Stronger than Me". But it was with her second album Back to Black (2006) that she won international acclaim. The record won 5 Grammys including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She won a BRIT award in 2007 for Best British Female Artist. She then won 2 more Igor Novello songwriting awards, one for Best Song Musically and Lyrically with "Love is a Losing Game" and another for Best Contemporary Song with "Rehab". Most recently she was working on a project with Tony Bennett and working on a new album slated to come out in November of 2011. 

Amy's most beloved music was '60's soul and traditional jazz. She idolized singers like Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Etta James. Her sense of style which included what became her trademark beehive and Cleopatra eyes was borrowed from 1960's girl groups like the Ronnettes and the Pips. She said she didn't listen to much "new stuff". "I just like the old stuff, she told SPIN magazine,  "It's all quite dramatic and atmospheric. You'd have an entire story in a song. I never listen to, like, white music -- I couldn't sing you a Zeppelin or Floyd song." 

Bobby Silverman's Asian Influence

Bobby Silverman is an artist-turned-designer, and now owner of Alsio Design based in New York City. Originally trained as a potter in Japan, he has seen a variety of working methods and career paths that brought him to where he is today.

Silverman says that the forms he throws are not directly referencing any particular pot or style in general, but that he is attracted to a certain look of proportion inspired by these traditional Asian vessels. Because of his early training in pottery in Japan, traces of that experience come into his throwing inherently; his forms may not fit into a particular style but techniques he learned lend themselves to having “Asian-like” forms in a general way. As for the coloration of the pieces, Silverman says, “Chinese ceramics is about the whole idea of their ability to create extremely beautiful surfaces and particularly how the rims of the pieces are white. These vessels are definitely a homage to Song Dynasty monochromes and the way they pull away from edge and create a beautiful white line along the rims of the pieces. It is ceramic phenomena for these details to happen.” He also adds that Asian ideas about beauty are evident in his overall belief about what a vessel should be: “The whole philosophy about what is not there is as important as what is there; the fact that it is minimal, clean, elegant and refined.”

Towa Tei's "Sunny"

Japanese house/lounge producer Towa Tei has been making waves since he made his US debut in 1990 as a member of "Deee-Lite" (Groove is in the Heart!). When Deee-Lite split up he relocated to his native Tokyo and began creating bubbly yet eccentric pop melodies and working the Tokyo club circuit as a house DJ. You've probably heard music from his previous 5 releases on Olympus and Mitsubishi commercials, or on any of the movies he's created soundtracks for, or in a club in Kyoto...

His 6th release Sunny is a great one that reminds me somewhat of Stereolabs Chemical Chords. Mixing ambient textures with breakbeats female vocals from Yukihiro Takahashi and Yurico.

And here's an older track from his first album "Future Listening" (1995). Featuring none other than bossa nova beauty ...Bebel Gilberto.


 Towa Tei - Technova



"that new thing..."

Gorskii: Pioneer Photographer

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was a Russian photographer working in the early 20th century, producing images that were far advanced for his time. He started out as a chemist who quickly became devoted to advancing the technology of still and moving imaging techniques. Gorskii developed the medium of photography to incorporate color which was on the brink of discovery during the dawn of the century. 

Tsar Nicholas II supported Gorskii when he proposed a lengthy and comprehensive documentation of the Russian empire. He worked from 1909-1915 on this photo project and the color images from these highly organized images are what he is known for today. 

The Denver Post has archived a large bunch of his work on their photoblog.