Aurgasm

electronic // ambient

Scott Hansen fosters an ambiance causing me to envision a chilled-out, trippy escapade through Fraggle Rock; perhaps after eating too many Doozer buildings. Like the complex, symbiotic relationships and events intertwined in their colorful, simply-presented world, there are many elements combined in Tycho to nurture a magic, enveloping presence.

Blissfully soothing and energizing.
Tycho – From Home
Tycho – Past Is Prologue
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indie folk // acoustic pop

When I first heard the gentle tunes of Alex & Sam, it was absurd how quickly I became enamored with their jazz-influenced, indie folk sound. Throughout their debut E.P., Sounds Like This: Part One, the duo’s deceptively simple melodies and intimate vocals are paired with full strings, keyboards, horns and a gentle percussion that keeps the whole record moving. Whether it’s Alex or Sam taking the vocal lead (or both), each song is a gem, lovely and unexpected.

Effortless melodies and intoxicating harmonies.
Alex & Sam – Buy Your Side
Alex & Sam – Land Of The Free
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singer-songwriter // acoustic pop

Butterfly’s wings lift measures as Farryl’s voice strengthens chords bound to your heartstrings. From an open book on the north shore of KZN, South Africa, he sings his life in pages charted by notes and emotional highlights. Like a good friend in a local pub, watching a few beers disappear with, he’s there, standing by a mic, helping slay those grumpy distractions away. Where faint sounds of surf whisper through quiet nights, and feelings billow like smoke from campfire lights, there is cast his first chapter’s reminisce.

Simple, inviting songs, waiving to your ears.
Farryl Purkiss – Better Days
Farryl Purkiss – Times Like These
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brazilian broken beat // soul-jazz // dance

There are a lot of things happening in the Balkans’ music scene: in most cases unheard and unknown widely. While there’s an obvious lack of coverage on Eddy Meets Yannah in the blogosphere, the Zagreb-based duo was praised by Gilles Peterson of BBC’s Radio 1 and has remixed musical pieces of such artists as Elisabeth Shepherd and Bobby Caldwell. With Eddy at the decks and Yannah’s vocal and arrangement talents, the two experiment in mixing sweaty broken beats, nu-jazz and soulful house. Unless you listen closely to the lyrics, you might not even recognize “Can’t Hide Love” is a futuristically-retro version of the classic Earth, Wind and Fire track.

Blending energetic fusion and the seductive quality of sound.
Eddy Meets Yannah – Can’t Hide Love
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pop // soul

Last summer I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Stockholm, Sweden. The music scene is incredibly active there, but if you go expecting to see some DJs or global acts you know, you might be a bit surprised; the country produces so much music that it’s pretty self-sustaining. Amanda Jenssen emerged out of their Idol 2007 competition and just scored a #1 spot on the charts with this track, and yet, there’s hardly any coverage outside of Scandinavia. The chorus has an obvious pop sensibility, but her soul-driven vibe (think: Amy Winehouse) is showcased in the verses. (Thx, Christofer!)

Strong, soulful, and Swedish pop music.
Amanda Jenssen – Do You Love Me?

electro-pop

Referring to her own style as laid back electro-blues, actively performing, DJ-ing and remixing, Melbourne-born Justine Electra reflects the surreal electronic adventures of Berlin’s underground scene, techno clubs and squat parties. Using a bunch of loops and samples, Justine incorporates her experimental attempts with a doze of subtle bitterness in her standout track “Killalady”. Repeated sound effects, bluegrass harmonica riff and the trippy lyrics of “Blues & Reds” is another example of her eccentric mix of musical oddities.

From edgy to mellow folktronica nuances.
Justine Electra – Killalady
Justine Electra – Blues & Reds
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nu-jazz // lounge

By bringing together musicians from multiple generations and countries, Germany based Maxim Illion & Kitty the Bill’s Club des Belugas brainchild is contemporary, classic, and terrifically varied. On a relaxing, beautiful day, Swedish singer Anna.Luca will croon your fancy before Brenda Boykin’s California energy gets you swinging the night away. Other guests include Iain Mackenzie from London, Dean Bowman from New York, and Fred Astaire, whose “Puttin’ on the Ritz” gets remixed for their latest album, Swop!

Irresistibly hip.
Club des Belugas – It’s A Beautiful Day
Club des Belugas – It Don’t Mean A Thing
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french folk // indie

French ensemble, The Delano Orchestra, use everything from the bouzouki to the glockenspiel to craft their elegant understated tracks, but it’s the soft-spoken, whispered vocals that create their intimate sound. Scratchy electric guitars and soothing trumpets fill out the somber “Between Day and Night” while the melody of “Spread Our Little Wings” exudes a warming charm. Both tracks are from their endearingly-named debut album A little girl, a little boy, and all the snails they have drawn.

Fragile innocence meets textured instrumentals.

The Delano Orchestra – Between Day & Night
The Delano Orchestra – Spread Our Little Wings
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lounge dance // chill-out

Legendary Serge Gainsbourg’s works have been interpreted, sampled, re-recorded and used as inspiration by countless talented artists. Focusing on the dance floor enjoyment, French producer, musician and DJ, Minimatic a.k.a. Pascal Houpert remixes “Chez Les Yé-Yé’s”, celebrating his fatal love for stylish tunes and retro soul-funk. Reworking the 80′s music, Minimatic’s cover of successful A-ha’s synth-pop hit “Take On Me” is more about finesse: laid-back grooves of the beach and the sunny coast, smooth arrangements, sleazy hints and romance. [via]

Efficiently and excellently produced.
Serge Gainsbourg – Chez Les Yé-Yé’s (Minimatic Remix)
Minimatic – Take On Me (With A Martini)
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With her charmingly eclectic compositions and whimsical songwriting skills, a graduate of Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, now a Norwegian Grammy winner, Hanne Hukkelberg attracted our attention back in 2005. She was first featured on Aurgasm with her beautiful song “Ease”, and second time — for her powerful live version of the Pixies’ track “Break My Body”.

After gaining a reputation as a wonderful live performer, collecting positive reviews all over Europe, Hanne Hukkelberg is finally releasing her second, highly anticipated album Rykestrasse 68 in North America.

The recording process is something very different from the live performing to me. First I compose alone. Often a half year. Then I go in studio with my producer KÃ¥re Vestrheim for some months. Then I sort of translate this for a live session. But in studio I present my songs and my ideas for KÃ¥re and after that the two of us work with the material. Always in a different way with every song.

For six months you’ve lived in Berlin, Germany where you worked on your second album Rykestrasse 68. How was it? Would you share your impressions on how was it working far away from home?

It was great living in Berlin. Berlin is full of contrasts and inputs. But the most important is to just move away from my everyday life, to something else to reach thoughts and depths in my self I normally don’t have the time and pulse to get down to.

Your lyrics are wonderful. At times they seem to have certain ambiguous meanings. What are your inspirations?

In my creative processes, writing lyrics is the most difficult. But I just have to do it myself, because I have a need to express myself through text also. So I get very flattered when you think my lyrics are wonderful. My biggest inspirations are just what happens around me and thoughts I get out of it, books I read or stories others tell me.

Your version of The Pixies’ “Break My Body” is probably one of the most striking covers I’ve ever heard. Does this song have a special meaning to you? How did you come up with an idea covering The Pixies?

It was a pure coincidence that “Break My Body” became a cover. I was in my early days as an artist and I needed more songs. My stereo favourite was Pixies and Break My Body, so I brought it to my band, I told them to play it 3/4. And it became what it is today. It got its own life.

We would love to hear about your musical influences. Anything in particular you could name as your biggest influence and inspiration?

Radiohead, Wildbird & Peacedrums, Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Cornelis Vreeswijk , Stevie Wonder, J.S. Bach, Funeral, Chopin, Thurston Moore, Pixies, etc..

Your song “Searching” (from the debut album Little Things) was used as the soundtrack for Space NK’s TV and cinema advertising campaign. In the future, would you be interested in working on film scores? Do you have any upcoming collaborations and projects planned?

Absolutely. I am working right now with music for two short films. I like working and giving music to films.

We provide the readers of Aurgasm with great music they’ve probably not heard. Are there any tracks that you’ve been listening to recently that you’d recommend? What new music are you excited about at the moment?

Wildbirds & Peacedrums, my god, they are fantastic! But you need to hear them live…

Hanne’s recommended artists:
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – I Can’t Tell In His Eyes from Heartcore (2008)
Cornelis Vreeswijk – Polaren Per Är Kärlekskrank from Guldkorn Fran Master Cees Memoarer (1966)

Thank you so much, Hanne.

Thanks You Aurgasm!