FÜFAVIERZG

Asgeir Trausti

Ásgeir Trausti (born Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson in 1992) is an Icelandic solo singer whose music is described as melodic folk. He performs with his own band Ásgeir Trausti Band. He also plays guitar in the Icelandic band The Lovely Lion.

Sumargestur

Ásgeir Trausti's debut album is Dýrð í dauðaþögn, the lead single from which, "Sumargestur", made number two on the Tónlist, the official Icelandic Singles Chart, followed up with the single "Leyndarmál" (six weeks at number 1 on Tónlist) and the title track "Dýrð í dauðaþögn" from the album (three weeks at #1 on Tónlist). His song "Hvítir skór" in collaboration with Blaz Roca stayed at the top of the Icelandic Singles Chart for 9 consecutive weeks in 2012 and 2013.

Leyndarmál

He may only be 20 years old but last summer he already made his mark on the Icelandic music scene with his two singles, Sumargestur and the smash-hit Leyndarmal. Both singles belong to his debut album Dyrd i daudathogn, released in September.



A digital presale on Icelandicmusic.com, a week before the release of the album, broke all records and showed clearly that Asgeir Trausti had already created a name for himself. Born and raised in the countryside of Iceland, Asgeir Trausti comes from a family of musicians. He trained on classical guitar but was aiming for a career in sports when he suddenly made a U-turn after being encouraged to take his music more seriously.

Hljóða nótt

He took his demos to producer Gudmundur Kristinn Jonsson and several months later his debut album was released in Iceland with great critical acclaim. The album has so far only been released in Iceland but an English version of it is in the making with lyrics written by American musician John Grant.

Heimförin

When performing, Asgeir Trausti’s friend Julius joins him on stage for the lighter version but for a full-blown version Asgeir Trausti is backed-up by a band made up of experienced Icelandic musicians, including three from reggae band hjálmar.

Live from the Little House of Music

(Thanks to wikipedia)

ZWOAAVIERZG

The Great Park

Five of the all time favourite albums from The Great Park alias Stephen Burch.

Lambchop 'Is A Woman'
Josh T. Pearson 'Last Of The Country Gentlemen'
Bonnie Prince Billy 'Ease Down The Road'
Blind Willie McTell 'Atlanta Twelve String'
Damien Jurado 'And Now That I'm In Your Shadow'

Lover o Lover

So, from just looking at this list, which kind of music would you expect from Stephen?
Yep. You're close. :-)



"...this is a journey, a misadventurer's odyssey; it's vivid, it's elemental and the wounds are exposed. The road is pitted and merciless, stark and unyielding. The engrossing imagery will draw you in and repeated listening reveals new musical and lyrical nuances." (Nigel Johnson)

Portugal

Stephen Burch is an English songwriter currently based in Germany.
He began making music whilst living on a remote farm in rural Ireland - using acoustic guitars, the family's piano, brooms and chains. His lyrical, narrative songs bear the influence of the fields of County Cork and the old streets of Berlin. Images of persecution abound, songs of urgent travel and a search for home - the unifying theme is that of grave drama within 'The Great Park'.

I do wrong

Stephen has played over 150 concerts each year for the past several years - touring Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark and the UK. He has released over 12 albums on the DIY label Woodland Recordings, a compilation through the German label Timezone, has provided music for several films and his songs have been covered on releases by Liz Green, The Sons of Noel And Adrian, Thirty Pounds of Bone and others.

When I was away

He likes rooms with echo, train journeys, trams and girls on bicycles.

Enjoy The Great Park always somewhere near you...

Homepage

For Vorarlberg take a closer look here...

Ländle-Live

NÜNAZWANZG

Haldern feature three:

How old are you? Do you know who Johnny Cash was?
Of course you know. But, do you know who Jamie N Commons is?

Born in Bristol, Commons moved to Chicago with his family at the age of six after his father's job transferred there. The first gig his father took him to was the Allman Brothers: "I have strong memories of strange-smelling smoke and the guy next to us howling like a wolf."

Nina

Returning to the West Country at 16 with a skewed accent, he taught himself the brass tacks of the guitar and, aged 18, moved to London to study music at Goldsmiths in New Cross.

For You To Learn

Singing the blues at 22 is a tough call. It's not just the baggage and breadth of the subject matter: you also need the right pipes and without them you risk parody.

Devil In Me

Fortunately Commons has them. After spending years trying and failing to imitate Gregg Allman, he found a substitute and the resulting sound is both rasping and lovely but inevitably studied, something he defends: "If I didn't think it was genuine I wouldn't sing in that way."

The Preacher

Can’t await the album. Give us some more blues Jamie!!! And thanks to The Guardian.

SECHSUNDZWANZIG

Today I get to do a short article on EFFI - first, it's a Haldern feature, second, it's Austrian and third it's perfect to pass the time waiting for summer and the desperately needed holidays. And to top it all off, the name EFFI is a reference to Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, which for me as a German teacher is quite intriguing. ;)

There's not much to say about 1, except that I'm starting to look forward to this year's Haldern.

About 2: Thomas Petritsch is a singer/songwriter from Graz using electronic and acoustic instruments, and a large variety of those. Fortunately, he sings in English, and even better, he does so without a detectable accent (at least to me, this is something that always annoys me with German-speaking bands...).

About 3: Just check out Summer Sun to get a taste of happy tunes and refreshing simple, clear music.
For an even greater treat, check out Bye Baby and its video. I think the visuals are just ....cute.

Same is true for my favourite song of the day, Mars. Artsy stuff, but very childlike. I think his music has a childish, playful touch - and that's meant in a positive way. So, in case the sun and therefore summer have not yet arrived where you live, get a glimpse of the sun and listen to EFFI for a bit.

Which brings me to EFFI as a name again - as some fervent readers might know, Effi is not really what you'd call a light read. A stark contrast to the band!

His debut album is called Astronaut.

DIX-SEPT

I am a Jack Johnson fan for a very long time. I was very into his music when his first album was hardly available in Germany. This was back in spring 2003.

That same year the second album “on and on” came out. But it was not before “in between dreams” in 2005 he had his big break through worldwide. And when suddenly everyone knew about him and his guitar, that even the Berlin metro news would talk about him, something about his magic was gone. Don’t take me wrong: I still think he makes great music but something from the fascination is gone. “Gone going” just like Mr. Johnson sang. Of course the first albums are much better than the later ones. The first fans always know better, believe me!

I wondered if it was something about the age. The older you get, the more you become an adult, the more you lose of the fascination for things and the magic for them as well. I listened to great music in the previous years but not much touched me again in the same way.

Until now (of course!)! And this person actually reminds me a bit of Jack Johnson: he is from an island and is a surfer. His island is surrounded by cold waters and gets through long cold and wet winters, nevertheless his music has all the Hawaiian heat Jack was able to create with his simple hymns.

The mystery man is called Ben Howard. He is from Devon, UK and enjoys the company of his guitar too. However he has a more sophisticated recording with violin and background vocals.

I am probably not a fan from the first hours in that situation. Maybe it’s because I am getting older and I am not spending enough time listening to music in such depth as I used to do. Maybe Ben made me over think this all tonight and reminded me that some passions should not be left along the way.

I hope that the following appetisers will also give you this warm positive and energetic feeling in your chest just like in mine. If spring is taking time to arrive, my spring just arrived in my heart through my little earplugs and I imagine myself running between flower fields and dancing to the sunset!

That’s enough of cheesiness for today!
Peace!

ACHTE

We Are Augustines – but why?

Because the two masterminds are born in August, that simple. Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson first had a band called Pela, but due to problems with their record company and some familiar issues they decided to start a new project.

Here they are – coming from Brooklyn, New York – bringing us the finest Indie Rock on their debut album “Rise Ye Sunken Ships”.

"The old man turned and scratched his chin
He said "Son I wouldn't know where to begin, but your daddy's gone,
he's gone down south.. It was all he would talk about""

Juarez

It’s packed with intense, pure and electrifying songs, bringing out the roughness of songwriting. It was produced by Dave Newfield, best known for his work with Broken Social Scene.

"On a park bench sat a crimson beating heart
and behind him the girls played double dutch in the park
The sun began to burn his snow white skin
I guess your either headin' somewhere or endin up somewhere..."

Book Of James

This is their first single released in the UK.

They got recognized by a greater audience through the amazing snowboard movie “The Art Of Flight”. (I could write a story just about this outstanding piece of art, even as a non-snowboarder)


Art Of Flight Uno

Art Of Flight Dos

And this is the song from the soundtrack:

"Well there goes my girl
Into the chapel
Now she's walking down the aisle
And it feels just like a mile
And I shake shake shake like a leaf
And I'm lyin' lyin' lyin' through my teeth
I got a pocket full of handshakes
And it don't mean nothin'"

I want to see them live. Do you?

FÜFE

Clap your hands and say :“Blaudzun“. Then start dancing and singing. And finally let your mind float into beautiful places.

Flame On My Head

This happened to me when I was listening to the new album of Johannes Sigmond aka Blaudzun. Heavy Flowers is a masterpiece of singer/songwriter art.

Coming from the Netherlands and being very well known there, he now starts to take over the rest of the world.

Heavy Flowers

Maybe you can check him out on some festivals this summer.
Haldern maybe??? Definitely Lowlands.