Anjulie
Sunday, December 21st, 2008 by Julijapop // soul
Scheduled to release in 2009, Anjulie’s forthcoming debut album is more than promising. “Boom”, from her recently released EP, encompasses classy 60’s vibe, catchy phrasing, smooth horn arrangements and overall excellent production. The seductive quality of her sound and delicately teasing style is comparable to Bitter:Sweet’s Shana Halligan. Anjulie comes as a charismatic and intriguing up-and-coming singer.Refined arrangements and sultry vocals.
Anjulie – Boom
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Several bands have called themselves Kobayashi, but for now let’s stick to the Montreal jazz/funk/hip-hop outfit that broke up (d’oh!) before I managed to blog ‘em. They’re still a gritty earful, though, with explosive blasts of horn, a plucky bass, and big, huge buckets of speaker hum that slosh around the drums; they also have a nifty female vocalist (not featured here) who sounds like a cross between Beth Gibbons and Blossom Dearie. Worth your holiday moolah!
The German-based producers and DJs of 
Recorded in New Orleans with fellow Swede, producer Tobias Fröberg, 
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Thao Nguyen’s songs leap with a frantic life of their own. Energetic, honest and raw, the songs off We Brave Bee Stings and All, Nguyen’s sophomore album, are immediately engaging. Her talents as a songwriter are more than matched by her adeptness on the guitar. This talent translates into her own brand of indie folk that recalls elements of alt-country and blues, with the guitar chops to match. Whether alone, or with her backing band of The Get Down, Stay Down, Thao Nguyen is a force to be reckoned with. “Bag of Hammers” has been making the rounds on a number of mp3 blogs, but we thought this one was too good not to post.
Lead by multi-talended producer Thomas Brenneck, The Menahan Street Band offers a solid blend of instrumental funk, late sixties sounding soul, latin grooves and afrobeat. Back in 2007, long before the group’s debut album, the Brooklyn based ensemble drew attention for their outstanding “Make The Road By Walking” track, which was sampled for the ubiquitous Jay-Z’s hit “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)”. “Home Again!”, a mid-tempo composition from the recently released Menahan album embodies warm guitar melodies and tightly structured horn arrangements.
The debut album of an 18 years old Quebec-based musician 
Obi Best’s debut album, Capades, is a startling and addicting collection of refined pop songs. Whether it is the more orchestral ballads or synth-driven electropop that make up Capades; the record is equally dreamy, witty and infectious. Alex Lilly’s capricious lyrics are tempered by tight musical arrangements, resulting in a playful and most importantly, fun sound. Lilly’s sweet and pellucid vocals, backed by Bram Inscore (keys), John Wood (keys) and Barbara Gruska (drums), elevate the carefully composed and surprisingly complex songs of Obi Best.