Vampire Weekend

Rostam Batmanglij, formerly of Vampire Weekend, has announced his debut solo album, Half-Light. It’s out September 8 15 via Nonesuch. He also shared a new track from the project called “Bike Dream.” Watch the lyric video, and see the album's full tracklist and cover art, below. It includes the previously-released “Gwan,” “EOS,” “Don’t Let It Get To You,” and “Wood.” Guests on the album include Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors, Avey Tare) and Kelly Zutrau (Wet). Rostam will also tour in support of the album throughout 2017 and 2018. The dates are to be announced.

Angelique Kidjo - Eve (2013) {429 Records FTN17968}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 303 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 429 Records / SLG | FTN 17968
World Music / Afro-Pop / Ethnic Jazz / Afro Soul / World Fusion

Eve is Beninese singer/songwriter Angélique Kidjo's first recording in nearly four years. Its title is inspired literally by her mother Yvonne's nickname, and metaphorically for the Judeo-Christian heritage's first woman. It is "dedicated to the women of Africa: to their resilience and their beauty." Produced by Patrick Dillett, the album was recorded in the U.S., France, Luxembourg, and Africa. The cast of musicians is stellar: Lionel Loueke and Dominic James on guitars, Steve Jordan on drums, Christian McBride on bass, and Jean Hébrail on programming and arrangements, plus a slew of percussionists and keyboardists and a horn section. Guests include Rostam Batmagli (Vampire Weekend), Dr. John, Bernie Worrell, Nigerian singer ASA, the Kronos Quartet, Steven Bernstein, Stuart Bogie, and, on the sweeping, nearly transcendent "Awalole," the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.

Maneuvering between grandiose retro motifs and a surprising sincerity, Michelle Gurevich’s songs are tragicomic, melody-driven, sentimental and suspended in shadowy glamour. Having released 3 albums under the moniker of Chinawoman, she now continues as Michelle Gurevich. She combines dark realism with humour in smoky and intimate ballads delivered with cutting and fatalistic lyrics. Her story began when her bedroom-produced debut album Party Girl, by some fateful unknown hand was delivered to the land of her forefathers, and soon made its way blaring from the yachts of Russian billionaires and as the ringtones of mothers all over the Ukraine. Her music has drawn comparisons to Nico and Leonard Cohen, with a voice akin to Tanita Tikaram. Decadent, dramatic and earnest, vintage keyboards and synth strings offer the solitary rendition of a grand experience, and a voice always upfront delivers motifs familiar yet impossible to pinpoint from the great soup of European chanson.

Sounding much more like a breezy U.S. college band (think Vampire Weekend) than, say, France’s Daft Punk, French rock band Phoenix have nailed their sound down after more than a decade of permutation. For all the lofty, European implications of the record’s title, the most salient feature of these songs is the accessible, radio-friendly pop tones throughout, from the bubbling opener “Lisztomania” to the galloping “Lasso” and the slightly anthemic “Countdown.” Both the opening track and the single “1901” are stellar examples of carefree, buoyant pop, full of snapping tom drums, percolating guitars and melodic hooks. Frontman Thomas Mars’ vocals are as focused and endearingly catchy as Emanuel Lundgren’s of I’m From Barcelona, or Britt Daniel’s of Spoon, and are an essential part of the band’s appeal. With clean and crisp lines, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a snapshot of a band coming together, exceeding expectations, and reveling in the wonderment of it all.

When the first Superorganism music surfaced in 2017, the group’s in-your-face aesthetic — a post-everything mishmash of psychedelic indie pop and fizzy, funky electronica — quickly began to resonate with the likes of Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend, Jehnny Beth, Gorillaz as well as finding them legions of fans across the world. Superorganism now return with their second album; entitled World Wide Pop, it is their first new music since 2018’s self-titled debut. Superorganism have mutated and are now based around the core of Orono, Harry, Tucan, B and Soul but World Wide Pop also brings in an international set of collaborators including Stephen Malkmus, CHAI, Pi Ja Ma, Dylan Cartlidge as well as legendary musician and actor Gen Hoshino.