Morning Wake Up Playlist

Well I haven't been tending to my blog lately, but I've a great excuse...I've been busy making lots of music!

The album still isn't finished but thank you to everyone who's been showing interest and asking how its coming along! I'm working on it I promise! I have however been in and out of studio with Dig A Little Deeper recording new material with a completely new sound. I wish I could post up some tracks coz they're sounding very exciting but none of it is ready to be let loose yet, and probably won't be for a while. All I can say is we've been working with some brilliant producers in incredible studios.

I've also been gigging away with my own  trio: Cormac OBrien, Julien Colarossi and myself. We've been missing the ladies but the guys have been learning the vocal harmonies in their absence and turns out they can really sing! Who knew? We've been playing about Dublin in places like The International and Anseo so keep an eye out for gigs.

So for the first blog post of the new year I thought I'd tell you about some of the music I'm listening to lately. Here's my morning wake up playlist:

The Old Bush by The Gloaming

Have you heard The Glaoming's new album? It's beautiful! This mellow, floating tunes eases me out of bed and by the time the (prepared?) piano kicks in I'm feeling more like a human and less like a sleep zombie. The fiddle sound confused me at first, it sounds almost like an overblown trad flute, but steadier and gentler. So I checked  it out and it turns out he's playing a Hardanger Fiddle. Never heard of it before but it sounds incredibly haunting.

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Ami O by Lionel Loueke and Angelique Kidjo

If this doesn't get you singing and nodding your head along I don't know what will! I have no idea what 'Ami O' means but, judging from the way she sings it, I imagine it means something along the lines of 'Holy crap I'm so godam happy I could explode with joy right this second!".

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Orange Coloured Sky sung by Betty Hutton

I came across this song while reading a biography of Betty Carter. Apparently while she was in the Lionel Hampton band she wanted to make the transition from scat singer to singing songs with lyrics (something she did rarely with the group, her role the ensemble almost like a novelty scat performer) and this is the song she wanted to perform. Hampton never did allow her to make that transition in his group (one of the reasons she left) but can you just imagine it? Carter does incredible things with lyrics in standards: pushing, pulling and molding the lyrics till a seemingly simple ditty becomes an existential essay on the meaning of love and life. Don't believe me? Have a listen to her rendition of Trolley Song!

I'd love to hear what she would have done with this tune but in it's absence this Betty Hutton version is pretty damn hilarious.

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Kill The Boy by Emile Sande

I don't love everything Emeli Sande does but I do love this song and also Heaven. They've both got incredible drum grooves, and the rhythmic delivery of the lyrics is infectious. What can I say I'm a sucker for a song about murder.

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Can't Hold Me Down by Soweto Kinch

Listening to this song I can take over the world! I become an ass kicking, invincible super hero! Crusader of justice, speaker of truth, impervious to insecurities and ready to take on the day...for the duration of the song at least.