I try to include at least one follower in Twitter in my weekly contribution to Mundo Musique. However, with the number of followers growing, I decided to create a special edition focused solely on some of the emerging and talented bands that follow The Revue and me on Twitter. For this edition, I’ve included two independent, female producers about to release new albums in the new year; a fantastic, woman-fronted electro-rock band; another EDM band; and a young folk-pop-rock artist.
KRISTIN HOFFMANN (http://www.kristinhoffmann.com/)
New York-based Kristin Hoffmann is a multi-instrumentalist who describes herself as an “Ethereal Renaissance pop composer”, combining classical music with subtle, rhythmic beats. She has composed dozens of songs, including 170 songs targeted at young children while she was with the non-profit organization Songs of Love. She has shared the stage with many great artists (Feist, The Wallflowers, to name a few), and she was the voice the multimedia theater experience, Bella Gaia, that was done in conjunction with NASA, so you may have heard her before.
In addition to all this work, Hoffmann released in 2012 her self-produced album, The Human Compass. She is now set to release the follow up to her debut, The Human Compass: New Directions, early in the new year (date TBD). Her intention is to produce music that is soothing and healing. You might be thinking Enya or Enigma, but I think her work more closely resembles Austrian producer Stefan Obermaier, but with vocals like Kate Bush. Her voice is possessive and her music is haunting yet engrossing. Here is the first single, “Let Go (Rise of Troy Remix)”, to give you a taste of what is to come from this emerging talent.
I AM SNOW ANGEL (http://www.iamsnowangel.com/)
I Am Snow Angel is the project of Julie Kathryn. Like Hoffman, I Am Snow Angel is a synth-pop producer that combines cool, entrancing beats with calm yet mesmerizing vocals. In listening to her soon-to-released album, I am reminded of Imogen Heap and Lykki Li.
Her self-titled album will be out in February 2014, which is a a cool, rhythmic four-track EP. Her album is the culmination of years of work and experience she has gathered from working in the studio with such luminaries as Felix McTeigue (Carrie Underwood, Lori McKenna) and Drew Guido (Lady Lamb the Beekeeper). Here is the first single from her upcoming EP, “Grey White December”
OF VERONA (http://ofverona.com/)
When I get a new follower on Twitter and listen to their stuff for the first time, I often react, “How did I not discover them before?” Such is the case with of Verona, an indie, electro-rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 2010. Their debut album, The White Apple, was released in July 2012, making me further wonder where I was when this was released. The album is dark, hypnotic, and completely captivating. The albums is reminiscent of Daughter and Fiona Apple with Mandi Perkins’ driving vocals combined with the rifts and rhythms of Dillon Pace and Jeff Sojka.
For the English lit buffs, their name is taken from William Shakespeare’s, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
From their debut album, here is the fantastic “Dark in My Imagination”.
BR1GHT PR1MATE (http://brightprimate.tk/)
Lydia Marsala (vocals/songwriting) and James Therrien (gameboy programming/production) are the entertaining electronic-dance duo, BR1GHT PR1MATE. Based out of Boston, their music borders on trance and electronica as oppose to the pop-synth that is becoming more mainstream and prevalent in EDM. Their debut LP, Night Animals, was released in August 2012 and contains 10 trippy songs that will likely have you at a minimum bopping your head if not dancing in the kitchen. The album was four years in the making since the two joined forces after their previous band, Fugitive Kind, broke up. While BR1GHT PR1MATE was originally intended to be a hobbyist pursuit, their widespread fan support, especially in the Boston area, has encouraged the two to pursue this as a career.
Here’s a video from one of their live performances. The song is called “Energizer”. You have to love the Star Trek outfits.
HARBORS (http://harborsmusic.bandcamp.com/)
Harbors is the project of David Shayne with the help of some of his friends. While Shayne is from Los Angeles, his self-titled debut album was recorded in Victoria, British Columbia. Released in May 2012, the 9-song LP of indie folk, pop, and rock tunes is filled with catchy chords and melodic rhythms along with Shayne’s soft vocals. “Stranger” is one of the best tracks of the album, and it represents the sound and image that Shayne and his friends aim to achieve.
https://soundcloud.com/harbors/stranger
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