Aurgasm

jazz // singer-songwriter

Kate Schutt’s debut studio album No Love Lost (2007) stretches from Jazz standards to American singer-songwriter tradition. A guitarist, producer and songwriter, Kate shifts throughout her album from slow-paced and melancholic ballads to slightly more up-tempo moments, often accompanied by her 8-string guitar. “Wrecking Ball” is a sweet display of pre-World-War II continental jazz influences such as tender gypsy-like arrangements and melodic trumpet hooks alongside southern-style harmonica riffs and heartfelt vocals.

Clear vocals, old-fashioned jazz instrumentation.
Kate Schutt – Wrecking Ball
+ Purchase/Visit

swing-jazz // balkan // swedish hiphop

“Django guitar, windy street swing; music for both art directors and for your mother” is how MOVITS! describe their sound. Well-known in Sweden, but unheard of elsewhere, they fold together elements of 1930′s big band swing, roma swing and rhythm & blues, then drop hiphop vocals on top for some serious energetic firepower. The ability to seamlessly interweave a number of genres reminds me of The Cat Empire, but while MOVITS! could relax on their catchy beats, they expertly drop variations (i.e. 2:00 in the video above) that’ll keep you smiling throughout the song.

Music for art directors and your mother
MOVITS! – Äppelknyckarjazz
MOVITS! – Swing För Hyresgästföreningen
+ Purchase/Visit

jazz // rock

Aaron Parks was born in Seattle “” though he currently lives in Brooklyn with the rest of his taste-making hipster brethren “” and you can almost hear the city in his music. The pitter-patter of rain in the cymbals, the grey swoop of fog in the guitar, and the occasional glimpse of sun in the piano; “Nemesis” is a Mt Rainier in the haze, and “Roadside Distractions” is a fish flying through the air at Pike Place Market. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it all. But either way it’s a nifty album “” take a listen and see for yourself.

A city’s worth of sounds.
Aaron Parks – Nemesis
Aaron Parks – Roadside Distraction
+ Purchase/Visit

jazzy downtempo // remixed minimal

Sonar Kollectiv is the label-home of about a dozen of Aurgasm’s features. Their roster consistently churns out top-notch rhythm and jazz. Recently an ensemble of fifteen musicians got together to cover some of the label’s catalog. The result, Guaranteed Niceness, is like the MTV Unplugged of the jazz & downtempo world, turning comprehensive arrangements into organic jazz jams. Âme’s minimal techno epic, “Rej” lent itself perfectly to a re-imagining by the group.

Thick and epic. From synth to string.
Âme – Rej (Sonar Kollektiv Orchester cover)
+ Purchase/Visit

global // folk // jazz

Gaida is one of those (*yawn*) dime-a-dozen singers who also makes a living as a speech pathologist, and has a similarly dull list of cities that she’s called home: Damascus, Kuwait, Paris, Detroit, and now, New York. Barely worth mentioning, right? In the meantime, she’s received classical voice training, recorded a couple of tracks for Jonathan Demme films, and at the end of last year dropped her first full album, Levantine Indulgence, a spooky mix of traditional Arabic and Syrian sounds, plus her own, jazz-like vocals, and the occasional hip hop beat for good measure. She’s currently shopping for a distributor; until she finds one, the full album is available at her shows, or via MySpace message.

Sultry voice, spicy instrumentals.
Gaida – Almaya
+ Purchase/Visit