‘Middle Class Busker’ follows the life of a fictional character working in a white-collar job with a somewhat warped dream of “making it” in the music industry. This song touches upon his middle-class lifestyle, working-class swagger and his naive grip on reality. Dirty Sister had a good giggle writing this track, but what was the end result of our busker?
About Dirty Sister
Dirty Sister is an Anglo-Cypriot London duo that met through a common dislike of sharing a stage with more than one person at a time. They use guitars, loops, pads, synths and even a Greek bouzouki to tell you exactly how they feel about reality TV, their friend’s partner and middle-class buskers.
LINKS:
http://www.dirtysistermusic.com
https://twitter.com/dirtysismusic
https://www.instagram.com/dirtysistermusic
https://www.facebook.com/dirtysistermusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb7AQYVZbfb9gcV9pjtiVBg
https://soundcloud.com/dirtysistermusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/54luT9A8s3DdJc3QTkeVT7
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dirty-sister/id1102237927
https://plus.google.com/115379701955704245640
https://dirtysister.bandcamp.com
http://www.MusicGlue.com/dirtysistermusic
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Vix 20 – Me Gwanishi (No Problem)
Vix 20 are Gary Mills and CJ, two music industry veterans who grew so disillusioned with the state of every element of the music industry that they threw their guitars out of the window and sulked for a few years. Now rejuvenated, though no less prickly about the Modern Age, they return, to quote the band themselves, “we’re hard rockers turned to the dark side of pop”.
As evidenced on their previous single, Digital Age, their passion for power-pop (don’t say ‘punk-pop’ to them, it suggests too much jumping around) and dexterity with words combines to become insanely catchy 3-minute thunderbolts.
The track Hashtag Change pushes the envelope even further with the glorious cut-up tones of Donald Trump delivering a love letter to his beloved Melania.
Usually, a band would flash their pedigree and tell you about all the incredible things members of Vix20 achieved during their years in music. Regale you with stories of rock n roll decadence, tours, and air miles…from Rick Wakeman on a beach in Tenerife to L A Reid in New York City, not to forget becoming Dutch Rock Heroes…but you probably wouldn’t believe them anyway.
And so it was 25 years after their first school band and after a period of time spent apart sheltering from the music industry, label politics and amoral men in suits, CJ and Mills quite accidentally started making music again…strictly for fun, right?
Sure, right up until Mills arranged the commercial release of ‘Digital Age’. This has made CJ very angry but Mills thinks it will be fine. Each cut on the Vix20 debut album draws from their eclectic influences.
After the surprising reach of Digital Age, The second single follows up where we left off punk leaning towards pop of Me Gwanshi and the tongue in cheek day in the life of the commander and Chief.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://www.vix20.com
https://www.instagram.com/vixtwenty
https://www.facebook.com/vixtwentymusic
https://twitter.com/Vixtwenty
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuPABFfRP8fWPKkp6mA9Kkw
https://open.spotify.com/artist/01fEKKUsAN1pp9jguVrTQG?si=0cMw1OI6R6mM2iO_42M6sw -
Luis Mojica – City Friends
Confessional singer-songwriter Luis Mojica has released his new single ‘City Friends’. Earlier, he announced his new album ‘How A Stranger Is Made’, to be released in early October, while teasing the first single ‘The Ranger’.
This album features production from Mercury Prize-winning producers David Baron (Bat For Lashes, Peter Murphy, Lenny Kravitz, The Lumineers) and Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes, Dan Mangan) and mixing by three-time Grammy award-winning producer Justin Guip (Levon Helm).
Mojica’s new long-play is intimate and empathic – a beautiful tapestry of piano-driven songs that quite intimately express his healing journey through shamanism, sexuality, trauma and ecstatic joy.
“I wrote this song while walking in NYC’s East Village. The St. Mark’s bookstore had just closed, my favorite tree in Washington Square Park was severed in half, and all around me, my beloved neighborhood was changing so rapidly. I walked around feeling so much loss and, this song became a container for me to pour all kinds of loss I had experienced into it. The loss of friendships, lovers, cities, cultures, the identity of self. I finished the song years after leaving the city for Woodstock, NY. You can hear a duality in the track: a somber, lonely piano and vocals against an upbeat drum and then a full-on ecstatic sounding chorus. It was my way of celebrating the loss, gentrification, and the betrayal – in hindsight. It all brought me to a new life that was much better for me. So I became grateful for the forced growth and transformation,” says Luis Mojica.
“I asked 25 of my friends in Woodstock, NY to each lip-sync one line from the song to create a diverse cast of individuals threaded together with the same sentiment: “I lost something”. The song, originally about NYC, became an anthem for us in Woodstock as we’ve experienced so much change in class, culture, and business. Woodstock is quickly evolving and that old, messy, timeless wild that attracted us to the area is disappearing. I shot the video at the last dive bar, now closed and abandoned, that graced Woodstock’s main street. The video features all locals of Woodstock, most of them my dearest friends, as an almost anthropological project to preserve and document this fading era of people and place”.
‘How A Stranger Is Made’ follows up Mojica’s first studio album ‘Wholesome’, released on August 2016 after two years of touring with the avant-garde cello band Rasputina. He toured this album, which features his unique style of live looped beatboxing and rich vocal harmonies, both as support for Rasputina and as a headliner. The album’s limited pressing sold out quite quickly and now is only available digitally.
A pianist and vocalist now based in Woodstock, New York, Mojica began developing his unique musical style in the crowded apartments and crumbling theaters of NYC’s East Village. In 2012, he moved upstate to the mountains of the Hudson Valley, where he’s become renowned for both his holistic healing work, as well as his musical compositions.
Piano-based, his songs blend his 3+ octave vocal range to create choir-like textures, as well as utilizing unusual character voices and harmonies that explore androgyny, spirituality, and unorthodox male identity. Mojica’s music and sound esthetic is inspired by Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, Patti Smith, Joanna Newsom, and Kate Bush.
The scenario, filming, and direction for this video were all handled by Mojica himself. Video editing was performed by Joel Patterson at Mountaintop Studios in Petersburgh, NY. The accompanying video was written, filmed and directed by Kelly Merchant with editing and compositing by Fredo Viola. Merchant also took the photo for the cover artwork, while Viola designed it.
SOURCE: Official Bio
“Perfect for those who enjoy the visceral sound of Bjork, the hypnotic vocals of Thom Yorke and looking for something new in the scene”
– Music Existence“Mojica’s music requires refined aesthetics and discernment and is damn near a new wrinkle in the sonic territory”
– Mark S. Tucker“Convincing delivery, it seems he is speaking right to the listener in the same way Tori Amos, Devendra Banhart, Kate Bush and Ani DiFranco manage to. His muse has obviously led him into some deeply personal, vulnerable places. Through his music, Mojica radiates creative joy, making this a thoroughly enjoyable listen”
– Big Takeover Magazine“Luis Mojica’s vocals really are an instrument unto themselves and the pinnacle of what makes this album a jewel among the thistles”
– Band Blurb“The harmonies are exceptional. From the opera style to the beatboxing. I haven’t been this impressed this much with vocal harmonies since I heard Fleet Foxes”
– No More Division“Mojica’s voice is an instrument in itself; it soars as he sings and his beats are like bullets puncturing through the track”
– MookychicLINKS:
http://www.luismojica.com
https://www.facebook.com/luismojicamusic
https://luismojica.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/luis.mojica.music
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl-Z3peOvHwczSYyv4J-IVA/videos
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/luis-mojica/763703531
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0kqaE6tmzfgC4hk6CKXlr7 -
Micky Diana – No Bells This Christmas
Micky is a singer-songwriter from London, who’s performed professionally as an actor since he was in small trousers and plimsoll shoes.
His acting pursuits have taken him around the globe in various productions and some closer to home in London’s west-end.
Songwriting and performing his own material has always been his first love and he is now taking the plunge and intends to make his mark in today’s music industry.
Micky’s brass clad, style of indie pop has a well-balanced mix of intoxicating vocal melodies, fast-paced and quick-witted lyrics which are a must hear for music lovers of any genre, with an almost urban element to his vocals, think Jamie T mixed with Maverick Sabre, with a hint of Ray Davis and a pinch of Damon Albarn’s observant wit and you’re not far off.
Following on from Micky’s debut release “Run With Me” which is available on iTunes and had rave reviews and airplay on countless radio stations including BBC London, Micky is now set to release a Christmas single “No Bells This Christmas” which is available now.
Ultimately Micky’s passion is to entertain, whether that be a small intimate setting for a crowd of 50, or selling out Wembley Stadium, or preferably Loftus Road, home of his beloved Queens Park Rangers it makes no odds.
Either way, Micky Diana is definitely a name to look out for in 2018 and beyond.
With Micky Diana’s quick-witted lyrical prowess and intoxicatingly catchy hooks and melodies out in full force once more.
LINKS:
https://facebook.com/michaeldiana01
https://youtube.com/channel/UCuEIsMnaQhs4HonLA7ikPpQ
https://twitter.com/michaeldiana01