LIVE WONGIE: birdy - people help the people

birdy - people help the people
[listen i love this cover of the cherry ghost anthem as much as the next person, but i'm truly curious to see what this young girl can do with original material at this point. cmon birdy!]

WONGIE (RE)DISCOVERY: cherry ghost - kissing strangers

cherry ghost - kissing strangers
[i was a HUGE fan of cherry ghost a few years back in 2007 with their heartfelt lyrics wrapped in gorgeous melodies. 3 years later, they quietly showed up back in my inbox and i almost forgot about them completely. it wasn't until i watched this brilliantly solumn sad video of a lost brute, that i remembered the storied vocals of simon aldred, and BAM the band are back in my life! with their new album 'beneath the burning shoreline' out, you have a whole album of these lush tunes dedicated to wayward souls. yaaay!]

best of 2007: fave acts so far (1/2 year report)

this has been an amazing music year so far with new stuff coming at me daily (much that i've shared back to you). but amoung the batch, a few acts have filtered through and kept on returning to my personal playlists.

since it feels like such a slow week, i figured now is probably the best time to re-introduce some of the artist highlights of 2007 from january to june (in no particular order):

[for friends and fans of wongie, you probably know the class of 2007 (so far) pretty well. but for the rest of you, hopefully you can discover some gems from the list below. also you may have noticed that wongie faves mika, amy winehouse, gossip and lily allen aren't here (since they were loved in 06, i kind of took them out of the lineup just cause i'm a stickler like that!)]

tracey thorn - raise the roof
siobhan donaghy - ghosts
just jack - i talk to much
loney, dear - saturday waits
peter bjorn & john - young folks
feist - my moon my man (boys noize remix)
rufus wainwright - sansoucci
rihanna - rehab
glen hansard & marketa irglova (ONCE the soundtrack) - falling slowly
lil mama - lip gloss (absorb the lip gloss mash up remix)
kate nash - foundations
mia - boyz
cherry ghost - 4am
sara bareilles - love song
a fine frenzy - almost lover
roisin murphy - overpowered

more new videos: cherry ghost, keren ann, just jack

cherry ghost - people help the people [link 2]
[as i mentioned a few days back, this is on serious loop for me the past few days. maybe it's the simplicity of the song, or the fact that it's little slice of americana channelled through a band from manchester. can't wait to check out their debut album thirst for romance next month!]


keren ann - lay your head down
[looking at her myspace page, frenchie keren ann is now an official new yorker. maybe that's why this song sounds very velvet underground-y to me. check out the 1st single taken off her self titled album. also, thanks to brooklyn vegan for the tip]


just jack - writer's block (seamus haji remix)
[a re-release of this wonderful single, now set to the remix of seamus haji. i'm kind of a fan of the original, but if this means more mainstream success, then so be it!]

jools holland approved: adele, ben westbeech, cherry ghost, air traffic, shy child, richard swift, bellowhead

for the past 15 years, musician jools holland has been the bandleader and host to an amazing bbc musical program called later with jools holland.

bringing together some of the biggest names in music mixed in with a collection of up and coming buzz acts, later has become THE show to be invited to perform on.

i've gathered some new and exciting artists from the most recent series that both you and i should really come to know:


adele - daydreamer (demo) (live on later with jools holland) [mp3]
[what a gorgeous voice!]


ben westbeech - so good today (yorba suite mix)
[smooth soulful vocals that deserve to be heard!]


ben westbeech - hang around
ben westbeech & dj die - get closer (lovers remix)


cherry ghost - people help the people (live on later with jools holland)
[can't explain this, but i'm obsessed with this song at the moment!]


air traffic - just abuse me (live on later with jools holland)
[any guy that plays the piano in a rock band is a plus on my side.]


air traffic - shooting star


shy child - drop the phone
[brooklyn in the house!]


shy child - the noise won't stop


richard swift - song for national freedom (live on later with jools holland)
[nice singer songwriter. gonna have to do more research of this guy]


richard swift - kisses for the misses


bellowhead - rigs of the times (live on later with jools holland)
[this is totally folky, but there's something about the gypsy style band that draws me in.]