David Luckin's 'ElectroLounge' | WJCT, NPR

For those in the mood to explore those interstices between Jazz, Nu Jazz, Electronica, Reggae & Dub, tune into David Luckin's 'ElectroLounge' (WJCT 89.9 FM, NPR)  - My music can be heard throughout... 

Electro Lounge, Airs:

EST 9pm tues-fri 10pm til 2am EST sat... http://www.shoutcast.com/Internet-Radio/wjct

Host David Luckin offers listeners "music without walls," a musical journey around the world and through time. Chill out with the relaxing, laid-back sounds of downtempo, nu jazz, reggae and dub. You'll also find musical surprises – specials that revisit our cultural history or celebrate music icons. 

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Plutonium Glow: 'A terrible beauty is born', again

Nuclear power is perhaps the most invisible, the most invincible force there is.

Is it curiosity, fascination, hubris - a combination of these - that has led humanity down this toxic, radioactive road? How is it that we have allowed the building of these lumbering, monstrous facilities in our towns, backyards, most especially in regions that have long histories of earthquakes and tsunamis? The latest:

Disaster in Japan: Latest developments, March 18

Japan battles nuclear, humanitarian crisis

Japan's Once-Powerful Nuclear Industry Is Under Siege

Q+A: Risks at each reactor of Japan's stricken plant explained

In 1997 I wrote Plutonium Glow, inspired by a Google search of nuclear payloads that were being sent into space. At the time, there were online forums, discussions and newspaper articles about the dangers of a possible release of nuclear material from these payloads, and concurrent calculations as to the risks of its spread and dispersal (wind speed, cloud coverage, distance, etc.)

The need to utilize these types of equations has today, tragically, sadly, become our 'unforeseen' reality.

A glowing pellet of 238PuO2

During my research, I read about The Hanford Nuclear Plant which was mired in much controversy regarding their handling of Plutonium, the element that inspired the album's title and lyrics. Plutonium - a byproduct of the process of generating nuclear energy - is both tantalizing and terrifying. The artwork for 'Plutonium Glow' was inspired by my readings and reflections on Plutonium, and the idea of a 'terrible beauty', twin qualities which are often unalterably and hideously conjoined.

While we've become adept at calculating dispersal clouds, it's the unforeseen events that we've neglected to factor in, yet, these "unimaginable" - or unimagined - scenarios keep occurring. Perhaps it's time to team up the architects who design these facilities with artists, writers and film makers? In hindsight, the imagination is, perhaps, the one missing element that could have led to a more resilient and robust design of these reactors.

Unbelievably, as of today, 14 years after the release of Plutonium Glow - a Google search of 'the hanford nuclear plant' leads me down a horribly familiar and incredulous rabbit hole:

Hanford needs $2.9 billion in 2013 for cleanup

Hanford Responds to Concerns Over Nuclear Plant: Whistleblower Daily News

From bombs to $800 handbags: Trouble stalks America’s biggest clean-up

Long outage scheduled at Hanford nuclear plan 

A question remains: where will we go from here? Forward, toward progress? Or backwards, against all common sense and logic, making the same deleterious and deadly mistakes, again, again, again...?

                                                                                               

Pictured:
The Hanford Nulclear Plant,
Polaroid from 'Plutonium Glow'

 

Best Albums of the '90s | SLANT Magazine

98. Vanessa Daou, Zipless. It's a small victory that Vanessa Daou was able to sneak "Near the Black Forest," writer Eric Jong's ode to her untended bush, onto VH1's playlist for a short spell. Daou's is a whisper of a singing voice, and her husband's jazz-house compositions would have been a challenge for any pop radio programmer, but more importantly, the content of Zipless, Daou's interpretations of Jong's poetry, was far too sophisticated for general audiences. The lyrical and musical centerpiece of the album is the entirely spoken-word "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit"; in her understanding of how restraint, imposed both from within and from without ("The very fact of her gift should cause her such pain/That she will take her own life rather than best us"), is countered by the discovery or renewal of one's sense of self, Daou empowers both herself and her listeners. SC 

Read more @ SLANT

Five Albums You Should Be Listening To Right Now | by Sal Cinquemani

4. Vanessa Daou, Zipless

 

We recently posted our long-awaited list of the Best Albums of the '90s, and this is one of our lesser known picks. It's a collection of jazz-house interpretations of writer Erica Jong's poems. The lyrical and musical centerpiece of the album is the entirely spoken-word "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit," which explores women's self-imposed restraint, both literal and figurative. Also, it's got a kick-ass keyboard solo.

Listen to "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit" & Read more @ Nerve

'Heart of Wax' | New video

YouTube

'Consequences' | Eric Kupper's Distilled Mix

David Luckin's Playlist: Electro Lounge WJCT Feb 12, 2011

Playlist: Electro Lounge

February 12, 2011

10:00) Iron & Wine “Me & Lazarus”
10:05) Fauna Flash “Mother Nature” Blue Foundation Remix
10:09) A Forest Mighty Black “Duel With A Soul”
10:12) Ennio Morricone “Rivoluzione” Butti 49 Confusion Remix
10:15) London Funk Allstars “Never Can Get Enough”
10:19) Bonobo “Recurring”
10:25) Vanessa Daou “Consequences” Terry Lee Brown Jr.Remix
10:30) Sezer Uysal & Evren Ulusoy “At Night” Karol XVII & MB Valence Remix
10:35) Till Von Sein & Tigerskin “Sirene”
10:41) Danilo Venturi& Alberto Benati feat Isabelle Antena – A Night of Infinity
10:44) Rouge Rouge – C’est Presque Ca
10:49) Tontelas Featuring Ski – On My Way
!0:52) Soulphiction] Soulprint
10:56) Peggy Lee – Fever (remix)

Link to David Luckin's Electro Lounge

'Heart of Wax' @ MAXI

Heart Of Wax Part 1

Vanessa Daou

Label: Daou Records/KID Recordings/Outsider Music

Tags: chill-out, deep, dub, nu jazz, progressive

"Get ready to immerse yourself in the second offering lifted from Vanessa Daou’s Joe Sent Me LP. The tender and romantic "Heart Of Wax" with Vanessa’s delicate vocals, has been reinvented into a soul-stirring, late-night grinder just in time for Valentine's Day. Like swimming through a dream, AlphaMotive (aka Will Thomas of Divine Index and Plumbline) bathes you in warm, swirling electronics for a narcotic, deep house groove perfect for sweaty, late night sessions. Ganga (aka Danish producer Christian Ronn) counters with spacious, dub-drenched beats that pulse at just the right sensual pace for Daou's passionate poetry. It's all leading up to her remix album Moonshine Mixes scheduled for Fall 2011."


Read more @ MAXI

About 'Calming Park' | The Essence of Beauty

Art, music, spirituality, relaxation and fire. All these combine in art and candle by designer/artist and music curator OLIVIER ROHRBACH, founder of the Swiss brand CALMING PARK, renowned for the high concentration of scented essences in its candles. 

Made in Grasse, France, the world capital of perfume, CALMING PARK scented candles are made of soot-free organic palm wax and paraffin with a 12% perfume concentration. Available online and in select shops and high-end hotel’s SPA in France, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Korea and the US, the luxurious candles have recently found a second home in Paris, in addition to the Officina Slowear store at Village Royal, they are now available at exclusive Haute boutique COLETTE. The prestigious privately-owned shop has become the premier destination for many visiting Paris.

ROHRBACH has successfully nurtured a cult of relaxation with his inviting luxurious brand. He's collaborated with several gurus from the worlds of fashion, music and visual arts to design and customize limited edition candles including famed designer BRUNO PIETERS  (whose creations are worn by A-listers such as LADY GAGA, ROISIN MURPHY, SCISSOR SISTERS frontman JAKE SHEARS and DIANE KRUGER), SABINA SCIUBBA, MELODY GARDOT and French-American singer, actress and model ARIELLE DOMBASLE (whose gothic candle with tuberose and musk notes were inspired by her album GLAMOUR À MORT). 

He's also produced a series of essential, soothing and hedonistic CALMING PARK compilations featuring tracks from GOLDFRAPP, AMY WINEHOUSE, THE BIRD AND THE BEE, SIA, CIBELLE, FEIST, GOTAN PROJECT, JORI HULKKONEN, SUZANNE VEGA and many more.

Starting June 2011, ROHRBACH will create a two hour CALMING PARK music channel for SWISS Air Lines which will be available on every SWISS flight.

Visit Calming Park

Valentine's day 2011: Calming Park candles brighten Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax"

Valentine's day 2011: Calming Park candles brighten Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax"

"Calming Park gets enthralled by the spirit and the purport of Valentine's Day, celebrating in music. Calming Park candles will illuminate Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax", available from February 14th, 2011.

Music, love and being with your significant other, aren't they after all the real luxury?

Vanessa Daou, the high priestess of all things smoky, jazzy and provocative continues her love affair with the dancefloor and those more intimate spaces with the release of  "HEART OF WAX (THE REMIXES)" PT. I.

Issued just in time for Valentine’s Day and hot on the heels of her fiery single "CONSEQUENCES (THE REMIXES)", the single is destined to become an essential home listening companion for those long winter nights (or the theme song for your next great love affair).

In the music video that accompanies the song "Heart of Wax", the dim light of a Calming Park candle accompanies her performance, reflecting a global ambiance. Pack of Cactus, Vanessa's favorite scent from the CALMING PARK ‘s collection, were sent to New York for the video."

Calming Park

MusicMonday on WomensRadio

By Brian Ball, Host of WomensRadio Music Review

"As there are twenty-four bottles or cans in a case, there are twenty-four fantastic selections here for our listeners to 'crack open' this MusicMonday on WomensRadio!  There’s new music coming in from every angle imaginable, including submissions from AMALIA (Tokyo Dawn Records), Lena Prima Louis Prima), Vanessa Daou (our current downtempo crush) and longtime WomensRadio favorite, Deborah Crooks. (daughter of legendary Jazz singer,

...

If you're on Twitter, you probably are already hip to the use of hash tags (#) to identify topics and trends ... and you probably see the same ones every Monday, “#MusicMonday", "#musicmonday" and "#MM".  These hash tags facilitate worldwide recommendations / promos / plugs / playlists / reviews / concerts / gear and MUCH more throughout Twitter, and now the entire web! 

Here at WomensRadio, we use these networks to give an added boost to the world's finest Independent Female (and Male) Musicians submitting to our studios.  Here are a couple of submissions we picked up early Monday morning:

#1: all in the golden afternoon Psychedelic from Austin, TX

#2: Erika Fatale Pop from Los Angeles, CA

#3: AMALIA Sci-Fi Soul / Punk from Stockholm, Sweden

#4: DJ Sunshine World / Reggae from Jamaica

#5: Lena Prima Jazz / Adult Contemporary from Las Vegas, NV

#6: Phenice Arielle Hip Hop / Pop / R&B from New York, NY

#7: The Lives of the Monster Dogs Swamp Rock / Southern Rock from Pine Lake, GA

#8: Hugh James Hardman Singer-Songwriter from Los Angeles, CA

#9: Steve Belkin Songwriter / Publisher from Los Angeles, CA

#10: Teresa James Blues / Country from Los Angeles, CA

#11: The Academix UK Funky House from North London, UK

#12: Shea Soul Eclectic Soul from London, UK

#13: Vanessa Daou Down-tempo / Electronica / Nu-Jazz from New York, NY

Read more @ FEMMEBOX

'Consequences' - FemmeBox review by Brian Ball

By Brian Ball, Host of WomensRadio Music Review

"We're literally jumping out of our seats to share a HUGE selection of amazing video content with our viewers this week!  There’s shoegaze from ELIKA, downtempo from Vanessa Daou ...

Vanessa Daou : Consequences – If our viewers are fans of anything even remotely classified as downtempo or 'Trip Hop', they're sure to enjoy this slow and sultry love song out on Daou Records. The lyrics are suggestive and the visuals are nothing short of invigorating. Fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, Artemis and Divasonic take note…"

FEMMEBOX

'Consequences' - Timewriter’s New Ways Mix

Link to djmsky's YouTube channel

'Weird Tales for Winter' 2011

Weird Tales for WInter 2011

It wouldn't be winter without Johhny Mugwump's 'weird tales' radio series on Resonance 104.4 FM (UK)...
 
For lovers of what's dusky and lurid - of murky & miasmal mindscapes - don't miss this year's grim & glorious offerings...

Link here

V

'Consequences' - Pop In stereo review

New York's Vanessa Daou is back with a brand new single, "Consequences," out now on iTunes.

"The single, which features production work from Piet Blank, Jaspa Jones and Andy Kaufhold, has been given remixes by house music legend Eric Kupper, The Timewriter, Terry Lee Brown Jr, Harlum (aka David Harness and Chris Lum) and German trance & chillout duo Blank And Jones, so there is something for everyone here. From ambient to deep house, the "Consequences" remix package does not disappoint.

The release of "Consequences" marks the first of several new songs Vanessa will release in a series of inspired works from Joe Sent Me, Vanessa's 6th solo album and first release on her current imprint Daou Records.

I have been a fan of Vanessa's since first seeing the music video for her single "Near The Black Forest," which was taken from her solo debut, Zipless. I find it really easy to connect with her music because the songs are so easy to relate to."

Read more

CONSEQUENCES **New Video & Mixes**

CONSEQUENCES is now available iTunes & all digital outlets with mixes by: Blank & Jones, Harlum (aka David Harness and Chris Lum), Eric Kupper & The Timewriter, and is a featured release & the featured video at MAXI, the online hub for DJs and the club community.

FEMMEBOX says: "If our viewers are fans of anything even remotely classified as downtempo or 'Trip Hop', they’re sure to enjoy this slow and sultry love song out on Daou Records. The lyrics are suggestive and the visuals are nothing short of invigorating.  Fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, Artemis and Divasonic take note…"

We live in a great time to be making music! Technology is freedom!

XOVanessa

'Love Among the Shadowed Things' now on iTunes

Poetry, sound & music for 'Weird Tales for Winter', a collective radio series curated by Jonny Mugwump for his Exotic Pylon radio show on Resonance 104.4 FM

Now on iTunes

Broadcast January 31st 2010
Total playing time 30 minutes

Other featured artists contributing to the "hauntological dream project": Moon Wiring Club West Norwood Cassette Library and Matthew de Abaitua Dolly Dolly Belbury Poly and Lawrence Norfolk Radio Joy Mordant Music John Foxx

Featuring 'Snow':

Music that moves me: Dive Index - 'Agatha (feat Patrick Cooper)'

Dive Index - 'Agatha (feat Patrick Cooper)' HD from Neutral Music on Vimeo.

UN Report: New Technologies in Emergencies & Conflicts

Emergencies & Disasters, by their very nature, catch us by surprise. The most we can do is be prepared for the unforeseen. Take a few minutes of your time to read this report, it might just save your life one day, or the life of someone you love.

Link here & pass it on.

Art of the Song: Fever Ray's 'When I grow up'

What is a great song & what makes a song GREAT....?

It's about transformation, it should tell a story, present its own unique, unmistakable & unshakable reality; it should provoke, insinuate itself under your skin & reveal "the secret ranges of the voice" as Colette writes in Vagabond

There are many layers & facets to a good song: what is a great song & what makes it GREAT?

I asked this question on FB - 

• Alex said: "A great song has claws, or fingers, or tendrils that work their way inside you, grab hold, and never quite let go."

• Benjamin said: "That is a good definition...somebody i met recently said that they felt it was a kind of abuse to use a song repeatedly to bring back an emotion."

Words, music, melody. These 3 components constitute a song. Complexities arise with the addition of the human voice which communicates manifold layers of emotion, intimacy or distance, intention, implication, urgency or nonchalance.

'Fever Ray', the voice behind The Knife, uses all the weapons at her disposal to relay various messages through her voice: angst, regret, hope, refusal. She can be accusatory and self-deprecating all in the same breath. Brilliant, beautiful, caustic, commanding.

 

Lyrics:

When I grow up, I want to be a forester
Run through the moss on high heels
That’s what I’ll do, throwing out boomerang
Waiting for it to come back to me

When I grow up, I want to live near the sea
Crab claws and bottles of rum
That’s what I'll have staring at the seashell
Waiting for it to embrace me

I put my soul in what I do

Last night I drew a funny man
with dark eyes and a hanging tongue
It goes way back, I never liked a sad look
From someone who wants to be loved by you

I’m very good with plants
When my friends are away
they let me keep the soil moist
On the seventh day I rest
for a minute or two
then back on my feet and cry for you oooh oh

You've got cucumbers on your eyes
Too much time spent on nothing
waiting for a moment to arise
The face in the ceiling and arms too long
I wait for him to catch me

Waiting for you to embrace me

Link to Lyrics