The Nightfly

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Royal Canoe: Bathtubs

Living in Southern California by the beach where below 70 degrees Fahrenheit is considered downright freezing, I have a lot of respect for Canadian band Royal Canoe who cite their hometown as "a core influence for their work, in particular, Winnipeg’s extreme perpetual cycle through euphoric summers under gigantic prairie skies, to near-debilitating winters..."

Brrrrrrrrr.

Two EPs entitled 'Extended Play' and 'Purple & Gold' were released in 2012 and were followed up with the full-length 'Today We're Believers' last year.

The sextet will be touring North America with Bombay Bicycle Club between April 11 and May 19, but also have close to a dozen headlining dates scheduled this winter, spring and summer.

https://www.facebook.com/RoyalCanoe/app_123966167614127

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Rhodes: Raise Your Love

Now 25 and based in London, singer-songwriter Rhodes from the town of Hitchin in Heartfordshire picked up a guitar only a year ago but quickly found his voice, resulting in the popular demo track "Always". In late October Hometown Records released his four-track debut EP 'Raise Your Love' and he kicks off the first of nine dates of his first solo tour in March 28 in Sheffield.

Rhodes will be showcasing at the SXSW Festival (March 7-16). The Mahogany Series session video below is ample proof that audiences attending his Austin, Texas performance as well as his headliner UK tour have much to look forward to.

https://www.facebook.com/rhodesmusicuk/app_123966167614127

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/raise-your-love-ep/id700713691

Friday, January 17, 2014

Poolside: Slow Down + Next To You

During a visit to San Francisco in 2004 Danish DJ/producer/multi-instrumentalist Filip Nikolic met American D.J Jeffrey Paradise. Due to both of them being busy with other projects, it wasn't until 2010 that the two friends got around to releasing their debut EP/single "Do You Believe" using the sunny California moniker Poolside. They followed up a year later with the track "Take Me Home" and in 2012 dropped the debut full-length 'Pacific Standard Time' consisting of sixteen tracks of their signature ultra chill sound brilliantly described by Nikolic and Paradise themselves as daytime disco.

The L.A. based duo will be showcasing at the SXSW Festival (March 7-16) and will also be performing in April at this year's Coachella Festival (April 11-13 & 18-20). For additional dates, check the FB link below.

https://www.facebook.com/poolsidemusic/app_308540029359

http://soundcloud.com/Poolside

http://poolsidemusic.com/store/#filter=.Album

Monday, January 13, 2014

Tanya Morgan: Worldmade + Eulogy

Founded in 2003 as a trio with past member Ilyas, now a duo consisting of Don Will and Von Pea and still Brooklyn based, Tanya Morgan - chosen to trick hip-hop crate-diggers and sample-searchers into thinking it was the name of an old-school soul singer - released their third studio album 'Rubber Souls' in late September. Several videos have been published since then, the best of which accompany the outstanding tracks "Worldmade" and "Eulogy", produced by their not-so-sleeping partner 6th Sense.

Tanya Morgan will be showcasing at this year's SXSW Festival (March 7-16.)

www.facebook.com/TanyaMorganMusic

Monday, January 6, 2014

Josef Salvat: Every Night + Hustler + This Life

Having written songs since he was in his early teens and deciding not to practice law after all, Australian singer-songwriter Josef Salvat, now 25, relocated to London in 2010. The Sydney native brought a bunch of demos with him to the UK and eventually found his own unique sound in the studio. Last year his two EPs 'This Life' and 'Hustler' as well as the single "Every Night" were released. Salvat's outstanding voice and haunting songs are quickly winning him new fans and 2014 will no doubt be a big year for him.

Stellar videos accompany 'Hustler' and 'This Life'; they were directed by Oliver Kember and Sophie Tabet, respectively.

Salvat will be showcasing at this year's SXSW Festival (March 7-16.)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/josef-salvat/id597848067

www.facebook.com/JosefSalvatMusic

http://vimeo.com/oliverkember (director)

http://vimeo.com/user5495299 (director)

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Luke James: Strawberry Vapors

HAPPY NEW YEAR to my lovely readers around the world!!!!!!! (one hundred countries and counting). Thank you for taking the time to "tune in" and read The Nightfly music blog. May your 2014 be filled with...Strawberry Vapors?!

29-year-old New Orleans native Luke James is getting high on love in his new clip, published earlier this month. James has the voice, the songs and the videos to make it big. Beyoncé even chose him to open for her on the big 'Mrs. Carter' tour this year. But for some reason the word is not getting out there to the extent that you'd think. If that were the case, his videos for example would have a far higher view count on YouTube. This could be a label and/or manager issue; it often is, but it's difficult to know.

Here's hoping that all the talented folks out there get their breakthrough in 2014, be it Luke James or the busker singing in the New York subway.

I first blogged about James back in June after hearing his superb track "I.O.U":

http://latenightdj.blogspot.com/2013/06/luke-james-iou.html

PHOTO NOTE: New Year's Eve fireworks by the RMS Queen Mary, now permanently moored here in Long Beach where it functions as a museum/tourist attraction. The stately ship made one thousand trips between 1936 and 1967, primarily across the North Atlantic (Southampton, England-New York City.)

www.facebook.com/whoislukejames