O anthropos vomva (Ο άνθρωπος βόμβα) (2012) ♪♪½
Manolis Aggelakis (Greece)

What is it with the Greek popscene and their urge to set Greek poetry to music? A few months back we reviewed Athens techno duo Constitution of Pleasure reworking old audio files by poets Αndreas Embeiríkos and Dínos Christianópoulos. And now we have Manolis Aggelakis who incorporates poems by Cavafy, Souris, Livaditis and Tilemachos Tsardakis on his latest album (next to writings by his own hand). That is also where the similarity ends because Aggelakis uses the synthesizers and sequencers in a complete different manor. To create some spooky distorted noise, melancholic chaos and gritty context. Also unlike the CoP Aggelakis works further into a dark underground. Grumbling and growling he mumbles the lyrics over the music. The result makes a difficult and far less accessible album. ‘O Anthropos Vomva’ or the Bomb Man sounds aggressive and rough. The raw and unpolished character of the music actually give it a bit of a demo-vibe. Like Aggelakis wasn’t finished with the songs but was puzzled how to finish and eventually decided to leave them like this. I actually have to admit the instrumental tracks on the album, opener ‘Τα δάκρυα που χύνω’ and closing track ‘Το τελευταίο τρένο’, maybe impressed me the most. With its slide guitar, funeral drums and oppressed distortion it’s like Daniel Lanois met up with Sonic Youth under production of Vangelis. Listening to the rest of the album it will come as no surprise that Tom Waits is a big inspiration for him (listen to ‘Τα Χριστούγεννα φέτος δε θα έρθουν’ to hear what I mean). Human loneliness, love, poverty, death are all topics he touches on this bluesy album. It sounds like he took elements of rembetika and blended them with country-blues from Louisiana. With it Manolis goes even deeper introvert then he did with “Ti Kanoun I Skies Ti Nihta?» (“What Shadows Do At Night?”). For foreign ears this album, with its dark sinister voice and low key production, is not very easy to get into. But for fans of Bonnie Prince Billy and Tom Waits Aggelakis is an unknown Lo-Fi surprise coming from Southern Europe and certainly worth looking into.

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Lauvas (2012) ♪♪♪½
Astro'n'out (Latvia)

A broken funky drumbeat, airy guitars and a thomping staccato bassroll. Electronics melts the track together after the first verse and lifts the song up. Meanwhile the female voice sings her song of longing: “Everything, it seems, I know, / easily becomes meaningless / in the hundreds of world / I am mistaken / but it seems I would like to see you here / Come to me”. When sung in English this track would probably become a Pan European indie hit. But it is not. ‘Esi Man Klāt’ is one of the star tracks on the latest album by Latvian alternative popband Astro’n’out. And sung in Latvian. It confirms our message that great music doesn’t have to be sung in English. ‘Lauvas’ (Lions) is their fourth album and follow up to their locally accliamed 2009 album ‘Ģeometrija’. It is also the first release distributed through Prata Vetra’s webshop Ekase. And so came to our attention. From the original line up only singer/songwriter Māra Upmane-Holšteina remains. New for this album is the addition of DJ Rudd who takes up the production and is responsible for the fresh and international sounding course the band has taken. Further guests are Emils Zilberts (string arrangements and string quartet), Normunds Piesis (trumpet), Davis Jurka (saxophone), Kaspars Ansons and Goran Gora.The video’s for their 2012 singles ‘Tik viegli būt’ (Stillness is light), ‘Tūlīt’ and ‘Esi man klāt’ already grabbed our attention and heightened our expectations for this release and we can asure you that if you’re into European pop/rock you won’t be disappointed. Māra’s songs seem to breath a pride and energy, as if they are her personal lions taking on the world. “Lions, my lions / All - powerful and new / Standing on the precipice of the higher / And they jump / the edge of the precipice, it seems, everything is allowed to”. Everything is allowed to…it is that freedom, that energy that makes this album so alluring. It sounds like it wants to jump head on from your stereo. Only on two songs do they limit themselves to the english language (‘Bong’ and ‘Oak tree eyes’). But even then Astro’n’out doesn’t lose its flow. ‘Lauvas’ was released on the threshold of 2012 and is therefor not in our list of recommended albums for that year. Too bad, because it should be

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Peaux de serpent (2013) ♪♪♪♪♪
Axel Bauer (France)

Axel Bauer, wasn’t that a Young French singer who had a hit with ‘Cargo de nuit’ in 1983 and then delivered nice but also mediocre chanson rock? Yes it is and with this new album ‘Peaux de serpent’ he takes us completely by surprise. Since that hit he stayed somewhat in the sideline of French pop, releasing a total of six albums and a nice duet with Zazie. But with this, his seventh album, he shows how wrong we might have been. To me it makes an impact like Murat, Manset and Bashung also made in the past. Dark and intense rock. Even his voice and intonation has grown towards this trio of somber French pop. Bronze colored with an emotional charge to it. But also songs that are catchy and make you want to play this record over and over. ‘Elle est SM’, ‘La chasse a l’instant’ and ‘Aveugle’ are great tracks on their own, let alone compiled on one album. And then we did not even mention the supertrack of the album. ‘Lève toi’ is on constant reply on top of my Spotify list. Energetic, biting, agressive, uplifting, intense and exhilarating. With it’s combination of modern electronics, guitars, drums and a great melody this song mighty alluring with anyone who loves European rockmusic. An impressive comeback and five stars well deserved.

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Fantasma (2013) ♪♪♪♪♪
Baustelle (Italy)

You could review ‘Fantasma’, the latest album by Baustelle, as a tribute to famous Italian film director / writer Dario Argento. The cover art and total concept looks like it’s a radio version of a horror story set in an ancient mansion somewhere in the hills of Florence. Singer Bianconi narrates the story starting with denouncing death “Life, death kills no more than our kisses / our dreams and words / whitening in time nothing more / and not leave them lying in the sun to dry / Believe me / death is nothing / if the anxiety goes away!” And Baustelle didn’t take the task lightly to create the atmosphere of a sixties thriller. An entire philharmonic orchestra joins in (the Wrowlaw Philharmonic) to accompany this daring project. With his dark voice (Bianconi starts to resemble Fabrizio d’Andre more and more) Francesco also plays the ghost who haunts Cristina after his passing: “How are you? What kind of life do you have? Cristina, What do you dream now? Now you do what you do don’t you how to answer my ghost”.

The album is also a personal coming to terms for the band. Having escaped the small town of Montepulciano they returned to write the songs for this album. In that sense ‘Il futuro’ can also be read as a cleansing with the past. “On the ring road / The boys from yesterday / have old rifles and a photograph / But their ballad ends in the middle / I smiled at my son / leaving school / I looked at the house / That I once I lived / Sooner or later I will lose him / in the autumn leaves and branches where the wind takes them / The future desertification”.  For those of you who labeled this album as some highbrow over the top project by now we assure you it is not. In fact ‘Fantasma’, in all its bombastic pretence, has become a lighter and accessible album then one might expect from above. It’s Edgar Allen Poe mixed with Ennio Morricone mixed with tantalizing pop music. The songs in itself are good but the orchestral arrangements give this album a grandeur that has become rare in modern pop music. You have to take your time to enjoy ‘Fantasma’ however. With 19 songs (interludes included) it is quite a long ride. But if you’re not scared of symphonic rock this album will thrill you as already one of the best albums of 2013 doing justice to 50 years of Italian musical history. You just have to check a song like 'L’estinzione della razza umana' or 'Radioattività' (sung by Rachele Bastreghi) in its orchestral splendour to understand what I mean. For the sheer courage of commencing such a pretentious project and pulling it off Baustelle deserves the five stars.

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Cuatricomia (2013)♪♪♪½
Fangoria (Spain)

Spanish duo Alaska and Nacho Canut, also known as Fangoria, has never been known for their subtle productions. Although tasty and festive their albums were also rather crude stomping electropop. Now you should never change a winning formula and they have been successful for many decades. Still for their new project they decided to make a slight change. The project Cuatricomia is split in four EP’s each with their own colour. Cyan, magenta, black and yellow. Each set of four songs is created together with a different musical partner. Guille Milkyway of La Casa Azul; Sigue Sigue Sputnik; Florent and Banin of Los Planetas; and Jon Klein (Siouxsie & The Banshees). And it works. The Fangoria signature is to dominant to hear the difference immediately but on closer listen the set of songs either go more to gothic rock, techno-dance, alternative pop or the sound we know from the time they called themselves Dinarama. The peculiar thing is that thanks to fact that Canut and Alaska opened the door for external influences ‘Cuatricomia’ is their most diverse sounding  and catchy album to date. It softened the edges here and there, builds in spaces for unexpected synthloops, guitar riffs and rhythm changes. And best of all the songs can stand on their own where in the past it tended to become a complete monotone compilation of tracks. Compliments to the duo that they took this step. Suddenly we hear hints of Abba, we track traces of David Bowie and Neue Deutsche Welle spacerock. Nacho explained in an interview the reasons for this step: “We liked the idea of working with different people, to work with four producers from different countries. When you get older you become more cranky and judgmental and is very difficult to change your personality. But we did otherwise we felt we would be robots.". And with that idea they may be delivered their most convincing album since ‘Deseo Carnal’ (1984). For some the 3,5 stars may sound a bit to complimentary but in retrospect to their other albums Cuatricomia stands out and therefor deserves the extra credit.

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Maailma on tehty meitä varten (2013) ♪♪♪
Haloo Helsinki! (Finland)

Finnish alternative popact is one of those bands that somehow always falls in the nice-ish section. Their previous album III was that way with a mix of great and catchy popsongs and songs that felt like fillers. The same can apply for this new album. Written by the core duo Leo Hakanen (music) and Elli Haloo (lyrics) it is still a collection of youthfull energy and enthusiasm. The band are good musicians and the production is solid without getting too commercial. They stay close to rocking indiepop.  ‘The world is made for us’ is what the album title translates to and the band thunders in head on. Opener ‘Avautumisraita’ symbolizes that perfectly, it’s almost a metal track with fierce drumwork and heavy guitarriffs and solo’s. “I'm not going to worry about the last gasp / I know you do, but it matters not to me/  So I let the roof of the world collapse and I enjoy a little Manchego And I build my head on it's own heap And knock in the SA / remember to scream. Halooooo!” Haloo almost screams her lyrics at you.

It’s a nice energetic song but somehow it just doesn’t sound spontaneous. And there are more moments like this on the album. So why doesn’t it work out on every song? They certainly know how to rock if you listening to excellent tracks like ‘Huuda’ and ‘Rakkaus’. And they certainly know how to write a good indiepoptrack. Just listen ‘Lähtövalmiina’ or to the title track where Haloo sings “The world is made for us / Anyone here to leave a trace / Even a single evening would end / the world is mine, the world is yours / The world is made for us each here to leave a mark on”. Here it works and you have to urge to jump up, fist in the air, open the windows and take on the world. Here the band is able to translate their energy to you as listener. But of the twelve tracks this does not happen all the time. Sometimes the songs have a hint of that energy but somehow leave no mark. Haloo Helsinki are a good band but with the current competition in good European indierockacts they just aren’t distinctive enough. Nice album…again.

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Black city parade (2013) ♪♪♪
Indochine (France)

Indochine doesn’t have to copy the Eighties new wave sound, they have been around since the Eighties itself. In that sense their music has always been a constant in French rock since their debut. Over the years they juggled a bit with new musical genres but overall they stayed close to what they’re good at and perfected that in the past four albums. It gave them an almost untouchable status in their home country also build on a string of convincing albums the past years with the excellent 2009 ‘La république des Meteors’ as its artistic peak. I dare to say peak because although ‘Black city parade’ is a good album and delivers all elements that we like and love about the Indochine universe, it still is somehow less convincing than its predecessor. After a triumphant tour the band took 14 months to work on a follow up. During that period 40 titles were written. Only 17 songs were eventually recorded and mixed by Shane Stoneback recorded in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and New York. Hence the mix of French, German and English in the titles. But the core language stays French, with a English chorus here and there for the international sing-a-long effect. But as said, musically the new wave electronic rock sound remains as solid as ever. That doesn’t sound very innovative but the band’s stubbornness to reinvent themselves too drastically has brought them to the point where they are now. And so Nicola sings on the title track: “So I feel your skin, your body and you / Here we stay naked against a world undone / I have slipped your empires without retaining / And already I feel ready to resist you / You know you will escape”.

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Gultnes (2013) ♪♪♪
Kārlis Kazāks (Latvia)

Somehow Kazāks’ voice and music reminds me of his fellow countryman Ainars Mielavs. But then a more lighter version. Which is not that strange when you learn that ‘Gultnes’ was made together with guitarist Gints Sola who was the co-founder of Jauns Mēness and the drummer of that band Juris Kroičs. Indeed the legendary band of which Mielavs was the lead singer. And so the circle closes again. Kazāks  brings in Māris Bīmanis from his old band Oceanfall to complete the line up for what you could call Latvian singer/songwriter semi acoustic pop. The songs on the album were written for a concert at the National Latvia Theatre. This will have been a warm and intimate evening. With songs like Viens vēl slēpjas" (one more lie) and "Atstāj mani tepat” (Leave me here) the music must have wrapped you in a warm blanket. But it is not all peacefull in Kazāks lyrics. Like on ‘Lode un zieds’ he mysteriously sings: “I'm running after the ball and giving up / without me my hatred would not be alive / slug and a flower in one room / slug and flower set / Flower ball out of reach / the ball is not a flower / naked flower peace watching us / without me my hatred would not be alive”. I have no idea who owes him the grutch but the bitter song is accompanies by the guitar of Sola gradually building layer upon layer. Like the hatred building in Kārlis text. It is those guitar eruptions of Sola that carry the album to a higher interesting level. Sometimes the chords slide across the melody (like on ‘Zīmes’ and ‘Aiz aizkariem’), sometimes he just tockles like raindrops on the strings (like on ‘Nav jau tik daudz’) and now and then he erupts into a fierce solo. It is carefully dosed to give the light bronze of Kazāks enough room to sing and colour the lyrics. Initially ‘Gultness’ was released for the show only and pressed in a limited volume of a 1000 copies. We sincerely hope they will print some more copies. With this album Kazāks (and Sola) created a fine example of Europeana (as opposed to the Americana genre)

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Vaikne esmaspäev (2013) ♪♪♪
Liisi Koikson (Estonia)

Although Estonia has a long and rich musical tradition and vivid music scene, it is not exactly the centre of the European pop music business. Which is probably why young singer Liisi Koikson recently moved to London to proceed her musical and acting career. She graduated at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School and has performed in several plays and the musicals (Evita, Aida, Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar etc.). She has already released six albums and she has been awarded several Estonian Music Awards. Liisi has a strong and clear voice and her musical style can be described as accoustic folk with elements of jazz and pop music. A modern Baltic version of Joni Mitchel, one might say.

In December 2012 her seventh album, ‘Vaikne esmaspäev’ (‘Quiet Monday’), was released. The songs were composed by Ardo Ran Varres and written by Anzori Barkalaja. Some of the songs were co-written by Liisi herself. Varres, a celebrated Estonian actor and composer and the Musical Director of the Estonian Drama Theatre, is also responsible for the production of the album. The album sounds classical and timeless yet fresh at the same time. It definitely has that Nordic charm , that many of the artists from Scandinavia and the Baltic countries have in common. Do not expect big gestures or much drama – no, Liisi and Ardo Ran Varres keep it all very intimate and delicate. The arrangements of the ten songs are beautiful, with exclusively acoustic instruments. The musical accompaniment is entirely at the service of Liiss's voice. The lyrics are dreamy and colourful. The song titles speak for themselves… ‘Kevade ärkab’ (‘Spring awakens’), ‘Lõikusaeg’ (‘Harvest’), ‘Virmalised jaaniööl’ (‘Northern lights in midsummer’), Unelus’ (‘Reverie’): “Ball against your lip, everything fades away / But the colours flow, but the light burns”

It is a very credible album that perfectly fits the coming (Spring) time of year. It is also the perfect soundtrack for your Sunday morning breakfast. For me, the songs lack a bit of variation in tempo and therefore the album tends to become a bit boring after 5 or 6 songs. It is best consumed in smaller doses.

(for a recent interview with Liisi with Stuart Garlick see his blog)

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Inferno (2012) ♪♪♪♪
Petra Marklund (Sweden)

Some of you may already know Petra Marklund as the blond singer September, who has been releasing successful house-pop singles and albums since 2004 all over Europe. Now, just before her thirtieth birthday, Petra swaps her alter ego and stage name for her birth name, marking the artistic change in her career to a more serious, mature musical style and… for the first time an album completely in her Swedish mother tongue instead of English. After announcing the change in musical direction, the fans as well as the Swedish press were quite sceptic. But in the end the reviews following the release of ‘Inferno’ were very positive and the first single, the amazing ‘Händerna mot himlen’ (‘Hands to the heaven’), written by Joakim Berge, leadsinger from the successful band Kent, became an instant success in the Swedish charts. Since all Petra’s previous records were in English, they did not succeed to reach our turntable. A quick listen to her older hits at youtube did not raise our expectations very high. A bit of a Robyn-clone? But now there is an Swedish album by this successful artist and that is at least one reason to check the new album out.

Right after the first few songs it already becomes very clear: ‘Inferno’ is a great europop-album. Nice songs, great production and a singer with that typical Scandinavian icy-cold voice. It is all very catchy and commercial, but never cheap. The album’s first lead single, ‘Händerna mot himlen’ (‘Hands up to heaven’), is an amazing song, written by Jocke Berg, leadsinger of famous Swedish pop-rock group Kent. The song introduces us to the new artistic path Petra has taken: serious, melodic and catchy tunes with melancholic touches. The rest of the songs fit together perfectly and thanks to the beautiful arrangements and production (by duo Daniel Ledinsky and Saska Becker), the album is consistent from beginning to end. The synths and electronics blend together perfectly with piano, strings and guitars. They all serve Petra’s pleasant, melancholic vibrato. It all sounds very professional and yet authentic at the same time. Most of the songs were written and composed by Ledinsky and Becker and a few were co-written by Marklund herself.

Lyrically, the 11 songs are small, personal stories that deal with love, betrayal, hope and acceptance. ‘Sanningen’ (‘Truth’): “I have a life, my fucking successful life / A bad movie, a parody / Where no one knows anything / Where everything is full of nothing / A world of games and strategy / Where everything is up to the evidence. / But I have no witnesses, no alibi, tonight / I'm here for myself...” Apart from the first single ‘Händerna…’ there are other stand out tracks, especially the melancholic ‘Sanningen’ (‘Truth’, another gemm written by Jocke Berg), the passionate ‘Krig’ (‘War’), the epic ‘Aska i vinden’ (‘Ashes in the wind’) and the dark opening track ‘Easy come, easy go’. ‘Aska I vinden’ (‘Ashes in the wind’): “And I can see that you have reached your limit now / I can see where everything ends / I can see all the billions of stars, lit up only to die out.” With ‘Inferno’ Petra Marklund took quite a gamble, changing her musical direction from commercial dance tunes in English to credible Swedish europop. It turns out that Petra is the winner of the game – her first Swedish album is an impressive and classy europop album that deserves worldwide appreciation just like her famous predecessors ABBA and Roxette.

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Yaşım Çocuk (2013) ♪♪♪
Mabel Matiz (Turkey)

Rising star from Turkey. Singer/songwriter Mabel Matiz releases his second album ‘Yaşım Çocuk’ which Google keeps translating in ‘my age children’ but my guess is that the correct translation is ‘my generation’. A former student dental healthcare and currently doing a masters degree in human rights Matiz found the time to lay down his thoughts into a second album. Critics already labeled him as the poet of the city due to his intelligent but incompréhensible lyrics. Take the titlesong that reads like a sad hymn to the demise of summer as a allegory for youth: “However, these days last summer, children my age again / Think about it this / Torn, riddled with which to gamble again / My heart is driven into wrong Nights /Homeland night, my heart”. But the way he hums the lyrics from your speaker justify any lyrical mystification. Matiz brings something back to Turkish popmusic that has been absent for some time and that is a balanced and intimate sound.

The past 10 – 15 years Turkish pop and rock sought it’s refuge in heavy guitar rock, funkpunk and other dominant, testotheron fuelled musical styles. Matiz is not a man of grand gesture or macho behaviour but dispenses his subtle arrangements with care while his nasal voice never stands on screaming volume but rather lures you into the music. He sprinkles the album with traditional instruments without ever becoming folky. Sometimes the combination of endless rhythms and repetition of the texts almost becomes a hypnotizing mantra like on ‘Zor Değil’. Matiz created a warmblooded popalbum that makes sidesteps to reggae influences on ‘Aşk Yok Olmaktır’, goes hipswaying swing on‘Alaimisema’ or funky on 'Sefil Chiplak Korkusuz'. With this album Matiz hands over a pleasant calling card that should be appealing for a broader European audience and makes him a promise for Turkish pop.

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Güneşi Beklerken (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Mor ve Ötesi (Turkey)

“I dream of you / fell for the sake of future days / will burn us / many years now between us / Light years / there is a huge gap between us”. Over an intimate guitar chord in E-minor filled with a funeral drum Harun Tekin sings these lyrics for the one he lost, for the relationship over, for the person that disappeared. Slowly the songs builds, with drums growing more intensive, Özyeğen’s guitar riffs getting more fierce. At the fourth minute, a storm picks up, guitars cyclone from your speakers and Tekin howls: “Bullets dancing / lights up my body to dance / Come with me / leaving us / bad karma between us”. The music spins until an unexpected eye of the storm when vocals and music go in slow motion and the siren’s call of Aynur Doğan lures from below. Then the storm erupts again thrusting this epic track from Mor ve Ötesi’s new album to an end. The dilemma of a new album is always to find that delicate balance between evolving and trying new sounds and staying close to the sound and music that made you popular with the fans. On ‘Güneşi Beklerken’ (Waiting for the sun) the band takes the balance quite literary. The first half of the album is good but leaves no real surprises. Tracks like the title track, ‘Sana Değmez’ and ‘Son Sabah’ are good rocksongs but add no innovation to the band’s catalogue. But halfway they change course. ‘Bahar’ opens with a funky break and guitar riff. Repetitive Tekin sings “Hold my hand, look at me / Desem, I say, I say / Look inside, you see / the pattern, pattern, pattern / spring, frozen in again / what did we do with the time”. It’s maybe a variation to the MvÖ sound but the effect is that the album suddenly opens up and springs to life. With ‘Tamiri mümkün kalbinin’ and ‘Boş bir dünya’ they almost go symphonic rock with twinkling wavering guitars and additional female vocals. But with the track ‘Mermiler’ the band outdoes itself in an exceptional way…it’s the kind of track that if you like European rockmusic with a symphonic character will make you go wow! Maybe an entire album in this symphonic manor was a bit too much but fact is that ‘Güneşi Beklerken’ is the best album the band made since their 2004 CD ‘Dünya Yalan Söylüyor’. An album I suspect that will grow on you and eventually will be labeled as an absolute must have of Turkish rock music.

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Inno (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Gianna Nannini (Italy)

Gianna’s last two albums made us feel that the days of Latin Lovers, Puzzle and Cuore are long gone and Italy’s rock mama basked herself more in genuine motherhood for daughter Penelope then being the matron of Italian rock-youngsters. One listen to the raw and uncompromising track ‘Dimmelo che sei’ from her latest album ‘Inno’ proves we couldn’t be more wrong. Nannini is back, raw and dirty. The track is a thunderbolt of positive energy while her characteristic raspy voice screams: “It is wonderful to be alive we are saved / we are saved there is no way back /from it over with you not listening / to any reborn life and you throw me / down always / shakes the earth / between the spasms and the quakes.” On this her 18th record Nannini shows new elan, maybe under the influence of becoming a mother two years ago. The songs on the album almost all handle the theme of being a hymn (what the album title means) to life, love and sharing the world together. The orchestral opener ‘Indimenticabele’ (Unforgettable) written with Luigi (Gino) De Crescenzo (aka Pacifico) sums this up perfectly: “love, love is beautiful and unforgettable ... great truth after a night of unforgettable happiness / is the happiness unforgettable / passes the sky and goes / see how easy it is to lose the sky with the 'eternity eternity lose ... lose eternity ...”. The good thing about this album is that Nannini is able to translate that positive energy to music and create a convincing album.

Musically it goes from classic Italorock to orchestral extravaganza. Like on the single ‘Nostrastoria’. Written by the omnipresent songwriter for female singers Tiziano Ferro Nannini sings over string section and multilayered guitars : “My heart is beating against yours, a penance that always touches in a difficult relationship to truncate. A life together, one beat, our never-ending story.” But Gianna is also aware that life does not last forever. But even then she is able to give a positive turn to somber subject like the recent death of her father. On the ballad ‘Tornerai’ she sings the intimate and emotional text written by Isabella Santacroce:”Sooner or later, wherever you are you will return / from the place of your moonless silence under a splendid desert sky / The stars resist the wind / we are all fragile that is why / we love / you come back you cannot get lost because / we swim in a river of clouds / maybe I'll catch you where you are / screaming loud I can hear you”. After 13 tracks she closes the album with the standard 3-minute rocker ‘Sex, drugs and beneficenzia’ revealing that she is aware she is not the youngest anymore but that she is still sincere in making music from the heart: “no no no I'm not saying that I do not believe it / I'm not a new saint of rock 'n roll / I'll give my heart of gold.” Excellent return of the diva of Italorock.

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Ici et ailleurs (2013) ♪♪♪½
Nicoletta (France)

French legend Nicoletta is back with a brand new album, her 23rd! The album has been produced by Kimfu (Karim Lafif), a young French dj and producer from Toulouse. He also composed all the songs, lyrics have been written by Julie Sogni Daroy, who has already contributed lyrics to songs for earlier Nicoletta albums. Nicoletta wrote lyrics to two songs: ‘Fleur de jasmin’ and ‘Tu es libre man’. The famous lyricist Boris Bergman wrote the lyrics for the opening track, ‘Tu seras un fils…’. The album contains two duets: the first one is ‘Tu es libre man’ with famous French singer Florent Pagny, the second one is ‘La voix des anges’ with JoeyStarr, a rapper originally from Martinique who has quite a controversial personal and professional career with many confrontations with the police and several convictions. Nicoletta and JoeyStarr already worked together on Starr’s 2011 cover of Nicoletta’s biggest hit single, Mammy Blue’.

It is clear that Nicoletta once again dug into the roots of black music, this time with a young and modern team around her. And one can only have respect for the 69 year old diva with the black voice (apparently Ray Charles once proclaimed she was the only white singer with a black voice) releasing such a modern album, avoiding clichés and re-re-working her older successes. The production of the album is very 2013 indeed, and it definitely has a black, urban vibe. Nicoletta’s singing is still magnificent and very recognizable. This lady definitely still has the blues!

Tu seras un fils…’ (‘You’ll be a son…’):
“Do not look down to anyone / And continue to be a man / This morning is yours to play / You have everything on hand even the dice / Do not look down to anyone / You'll be a son, my man / And if you have to lower them / It will be for better dreams”

The songs on the album diver from r&b-ballads to soul to gospel, the musical genres Nicoletta has visited mostly throughout her career. Some are instant classics in the Nicoletta songbook, like ‘Tu seras un fils…’ (‘You’ll be a son…’), ‘Fleur de jasmin’ (‘Scent of jasmin’) and ‘Petite soeur’ (‘Little sister’). But not every song is a success. ‘Game over’ is blatant and annoying, ‘Le bal de vampiers’ (‘The vampires ball’) deals with injustice and violence, but the melody fails to create emotional impact. ‘Plus que tout’ deals with the same theme, but works out much better. ‘Tu es libre man’ (‘You’re free man’) is a slightly different song from the rest, not only because Florent Pagny joins in for a duet. The song sounds less black, but has nonetheless a dramatic yet catchy melody and strong singing from the two veterans.

‘Ici et ailleurs’ is overall a very decent album and a very welcome come back by this French singing legend with that remarkable and unique voice. And that voice still sounds impressive!

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Quasiland (2013) ♪♪½
Quasiland (Belgium)

Young seven-piece band from Tienen (near Leuven, Belgium) makes college airy bric-a-brac pop. That was almost the summary we gave this debut of the Flemish collective Quasiland based on the first two songs. With half rounded chords, playful - silly sounding guitar riffs, semi-intellectual lyrics and no-budget production it seems "Driebaanslaan" and "de Brug" as burned straight from the rehearselshed on CD. However, there is progress in the selection of ten songs. From the third song 'Goochelaar' something changes. Quasiland picks up the spirit of the old Talking Heads and creates a polder funk vibe that gets catchier with every spin. The dialogue-like way of singing between Wannes Deboes and Abigail Singo-Magou is therefore changed into an advantage. Wannes' low humming voice lays the foundation and Abigail drapes a clear top layer. Remains the dilemma of the texts witch can be dubbed vague to say the least. As if Wannes had a dream journal in his bedroom in which every morning he quickly wrote down what happened that night on the inside of his eyes. But mostly he remembers only fragments of the dream and thus the texts are structured like that. If loose shreds are woven together by chance into a cohesion to something that seems incomprehensible doggerel. It makes this debut is not the more accessible. By as the light musical entertainment with occasional horn section or an organ as an accent Quasiland keeps it fortunately quite pleasant to listen to when you don't understand the lyrics. Like the Dutch counterparts Spinvis or Roosbeef Quasiland moves somewhere between pop, cabaret and rehearsals in. Fans of Low Countries lofi know enough.

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L'hiver et la joie (2013) ♪♪♪
Robi (France)

International fans of the so called ‘sighing girls’ might mistake young singer Robi (real name Chloe Robineau) for belonging to that breezy mellow form of French pop. They’re in for a surprise because Robi is a fairy with a dark and cold streak. She rather taps into the French dark wave scene. And with help of Eighties cult group Trisomie 21 and Dominique A she delivers an interesting debut with the all saying title ‘Winter and pleasure’. The contradiction that lays in that title was already present on the preview single ‘On ne meurt plus d’amour’ or translated ‘One does not die of love’: "We have not learned anything whenever / If we do not die”. The album continuously sets you on the wrong foot. With catchy poppy choruses like ‘Tout ce temps’ which is distorted by a gritty guitar loop and monotone bass line. Sometimes it is enough to build a song from only three chords and a repetitive rhythm. A spooky organ does the rest. Meanwhile Robi whisper-sings her lines over it like a schoolgirl in a haunted mansion. Unaware of the danger that lures in the shadow. From that dark corner Dominique A sings to her “My road is the same / I do not have time” (Ma route). There are monsters in that shadow and eventually Robi faces them head up. Towards the end, the album takes on a softer tone. On ‘Ou pour toujours’ she whispers soft and sensual over a low rumbling bass. Somehow there is light in the darkness, there is fire under the ice, the joys of love and death in winter captured on an album.

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Kuća časti (2013) ♪♪♪
S.A.R.S. (Serbia)

The third album by Serbian ska-pop combo Sveže Amputirana Ruka Satrijanija or in short S.A.R.S. is ‘On the house’. Literary because like the previous album ‘‘Perspektiva’ they again offer it as a free download on the MTV Serbia website. That’s good news if you want to get to know this seven piece ensemble that is sure to lighten your alternative party. The local public already had the teaser singles "Mir u svetu" ("World Peace") and "Mitohondrija" ("Mitochondrion") to enjoy. Again their mixture of pop, rock, reggae, hip-hop laced with elements of traditional Serbian folk music is fit for the summer festivals. My guess is that this is where the band earns it’s daily bread, ever since they debut single ‘Budjav lebac’ launched them into the Balkan alternative scene. On this album the band gets help from Shamso 69 (of the band Brkovi), Montenegrin hip hop duo Who See, Alejuandro Buendija and Dailup Lama. But these are mere friends that drop in, fact is the band has become so well atuned to each other that they can easily carry an album on their own. Listen to the rocking ‘Zimski san’, the reggae induced merry poptune ‘Lud’ (including whistles) or the psychedelic album closer ‘Praštaj’ which carries you into space (my personal favorite). These tracks show they don’t need any help. In fact single ‘Mitohondrija’ is even one of the weaker of the 11 tracks. Noisy, punky and a bit too demo-like. If Serbian alternative popfolkrockreggae isn’t a genre yet it should be soon. With their countrymen Darkwood duba and Keckec & Acid folk orchestra, S.A.R.S shows that Serbia owns this genre. So hurry to get that free download on MTV.si

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Dobrodošao u klub (2012) ♪♪♪
Severina (Croatia)

Severina Vučković published the single ‘Brad Pitt’ in the summer of 2011 with the announcement she was expecting a baby from her Serbian fiancé Milan Popivic. In November 2011 the single was followed by another single-release, the beautiful ballad ‘Grad bez ljudi’ (‘City without people’). Having her baby forced her to take a break, that would last even longer due to the couple breaking up in the fall of 2012, Severina moving back to live in Zagreb. At the nick of 2012 her new full length cd ‘Dobrodošao u klub’ (‘Welcome to the club’) was released. It contains 13 songs including the two 2011-singles.

Should you ask yourself whether Severina would continue the path she took with her previous album, a folk-pop album in collaboration with Goran Bregović, the opening track provides the answer immediately: NO! This is back to the Severina we know from the up-tempo pop songs, very uplifting yet extremely commercial and made for the parties and night clubs. I have no doubt she will continue her superstar status in Croatia and the other countries of the Balkan. And yes, the album does bring a smile to my face and sitting still is not an option with this album. Yet, I feel a bit disappointed since I had hoped that Severina would produce an album a bit more serious, mature and credible. I have no doubt she has the talent for it, she might not have the best of voices, still she can sing a tune very decently, with her distinctive sound. And she does know how to bring a song, just listen to ‘Grad bez ljudi’ or ‘Kamen oko vrata’, when the emotion grabs you by the throat. But songs like ‘Ko me tjero’ and ‘Slaba na slabića’ are really too superficial and are detrimental to the quality of the album.

Many songs on the album have been composed, written and produced by the duo Miloš Roganović and Filip Miletić. A wise choice since they are responsible for the better songs on the album. Furthermore, they created a sound that perfectly supports Severina’s voice and that never sounds cheap, a problem that regularly occurs with other artists from the Balkan region. This is pure pop with smart touches of Balkan folk. Certainly a successful mix for Severina resulting in a contagious album that will be played intensively at parties. Still I keep hoping for that perfect album from the more mature Severina on which she really shows us all that she is capable of. Maybe next the one?

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Solide (2012) ♪♪½
Sheila (France)

Throughout her career people her singing abilities (of the lack of them) have been subject to many public and private debate. After having celebrated her 50 anniversary as a singer/performer the question whether she can sing or not somehow does not seem so relevant anymore. At least she had the ability to build a long lasting career of more than 50 years, attracting fans from many subsequent generations. And throughout her career Sheila devided the French into two camps: the ones that adored her and the once that hated her.

One of the activities to celebrate her anniversary is the release of a new album – ‘Solide’ - containing ten brand new tracks. It has taken more than thirteen years (!) for Sheila and Yves Martin, both her husband and main songwriter, to come up with a successor to ‘Dense’, her previous album from 1999.

‘Solide’ does not reveal anything new, which is probably good news for her long-time fans. Sheila does what she does best: present us with a collection of light pop songs, mostly mid-tempo, a ballad or two and an occasional song created for the dance floor. At the same time, ‘Solide’ is nothing for Sheila to be ashamed for. The songs obviously have been composed and arranged for Sheila’s singing voice, which is somewhat limited and has its technical flaws. But somehow Sheila sounds as if she really had a lot of fun returning to the recording studio, singing these new songs. She sparkles and sings her heart out. Husband Yves Martin is responsible for the larger part of the music and lyrics, but me songs have been contributed by other songwriters, for example the duo Nina Bouraoui and Jacques Venerouso, that wrote the beautiful ballad ‘Une arrière-saison’ (‘A late-season’) and Florian Gazan and Bruno Dandrimont, who wrote the seventies-pastiche ‘Mon Eldorado’. ‘Je pardonnerai’ (‘I forgive’) and closing track ‘J’avais envie de vous revoir’ (‘I wanted to see you again’) are other nice songs on the album. Unfortunately there are also some fillers, like ‘Si je chante encore’ (‘If I still sing’) and ‘Pour un bout d’chemin’ (‘For the end of the road’). Still, the choice of songs is very clever, resulting in a diverse album that does not get boring like some of Sheila’s previous albums. The arrangements are mostly very modest with lots of acoustic instruments, thus placing Sheila’s voice in the center. And if you are one of her long-time fans, that is exactly what you want (and if you are not, that is exactly what gives you goose bumps or makes you want to climb in the curtains…).

‘Solide’ is another chapter to Sheila’s long career and extensive discography. Nothing new, yet respect for the lady that she is still on the scene after so many years. Her energy is contagious and the pleasure she obviously has in singing and performing are undoubtedly the main reason for her the fact that she has been able to build a career spanning more than 5 decades.

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Wie wir leben wollen (2013) ♪♪♪♪♪
Tocotronic (Germany)

On their 2010 album ‘Schall und Wahn’ Lowtzow warned us that there were "No more masterpieces”. We are glad to inform you that this statement turned out to be untrue. With the new album ‘Wie wir leben wollen’ (We want to live like this) the band celebrates its 20th anniversary with no less than 17 new tracks. That sounds like an overkill but rest assured you’re gonna enjoy every minute of this album. With the selection of songs Tocotronic adds up all the experience they gathered over the past years and cook up something that is better the sum of all parts. Locked up in the Candy Bomber Studios in the old airport halls of Tempelhof they emerged with some great stuff. From an acoustic opener like ‘Im Keller’ the band easily switches to the more uptempo single “Auf dem Pfad der Dämmerung (“On the path of dawn”) before coming to the first highlight of the album, the beautiful song ‘Abschaffen’ (“Abolishment”). In the first three songs the central theme also becomes clear. Growing old, fear of death and but also the fear of leading an unexciting everyman’s life in complete interchangeability. And then fade into obscurity. “The Revolution will abolish the dead at the end, they say” Lowtzow sings on ‘Abschaffen’. Not joining the revolution, whether a personal or a global one, is a choice of disappearing into anonymity.

Tocotronic wants get more out of live: “I want to throw stones, tear me apart, I want to have different names every day, waving / I want to drown in the swimming pool / the devil says, you've got to go on the path of the dawn”. Musically the band switches easily between Deutschrock, dreamy shoegazing, to International flowing Eurorock filled with swinging bass loops and heavy psychedelic guitars. ‘Warm und Grau’ is an excellent example with the Rick McPhail letting his distorted guitar chords erupt from below and a thunderous drum pattern by Arne Zank. Going from ballads to uptempo the band creates a variety of vibes without becoming forced nor boring. Each song stands on its own but also fits the central sound and flow of the album. Some artists would seize an anniversary for quietly ruminating their old material. Tocotronic does not, the album exudes a vigor and urgency that surpasses their previous records easily. The masterpiece that wasn’t promised anymore came with this album. With ‘Wie wir leben wollen’ Tocotronic perfected the delicate and complex conglomeration of text, melody and emotion. The only thing you want to do after listening is play it again, again and again.

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Nel giardino dei fantasmi (2013) ♪♪♪
Tre allegri ragazzi morti (Italy)

Almost unnoticed the masked trio from Pordenone returns with a seventh album mysteriously titled ‘In the garden of ghosts’. Again the band mix ethnic rhythms and reggae with Italian song. In that sense this album is a logical prolongation of their ‘Primitivo del future’ album from 2010. Songwriter Toffolo takes you along the path where the ghosts of teenage rebellion linger. Here you can 'enjoy' the remaining turbulent years of adolescence (I cacciatori) are find the trauma’s of repressive authority (Il nuovo ordine) or the cooled, or rather frozen, relationship between parent and child (Alle anime perse)  
The influences from African blues are very present on this album. Listen for instance to the hypnotic, ringing guitar sound of opening song ‘Come mi guardi tu’ and you’ll find yourself south of the Sahara listening to Malinese musicians. Or the funky ‘La fine del giorno (canto n. 3)’ where a children’s choir sings along : “ I will be so in the beginning of the day, I will take with me what I need.” The mix the blues with reggae proclaiming the new World order near the end of the album: “Have you heard the new order, no guy on the street. Get the new order, no guy on the street”. But it is not all blues. The band sometimes erupts into a poppy song like ‘Bugiardo’ or ‘Bene che sia’. But for me it’s the Africa-connection that makes this an innovative and alluring album. And an interesting continuation of the catalogue this Italian indiepop band is building.

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Mauro Scocco 50 - Kom ut ikväll! (2013) ♪♪♪
Various artists (Sweden)

When you turn fifty you give a birthday party. And you obviously get lots of gifts. Last year Swedish songwriter Mauro Scocco reached that respectable age. Appropriate for an artist who has been part of the Swedish pop scene (first with Ratata, then solo and as songwriter for many) he gets appropriate gifts. Sweden's foremost artists and musicians have made respective interpretation of Mauro's classic songs. And so we here Eva Dahlgren sing ‘Till dom ensamma’, does Anna Järvinen  a latinvibed version of the Ratata classic ‘Paradis’, Sophie Zelmani singing in Swedish for a change on ‘Hjärtat dröjer sig kvar ‘ and we hear Petra Marklund sing ‘Himlen’ to a new higher height. Sometimes the versions differ entirely from the original like Newkid singing "Sarah" (Scocco’s first solo single back in 1988), Moneybrother & Elin Ruth mixing up ‘Så länge vi har varann’ or  Kleerup interpreting ‘Himlen runt hörnet’. It’s like a giant karaoke at Mauro’s birthday party. Not every version ads something to the original but who cares, as long as we’re having fun and next up is Peter LeMarc, Plura or Fibes, Oh Fibes! (who interpret the first Ratata hit ‘Jackie’). And it’s much more original then the regular obligatory compilation. Kjell Andersson, A&R manager at EMI, came up with the idea, a birthday gift from one friend to another, and ended with one of the artistic accolades assemble on the CD. The disc was produced in great secrecy and given to one unknowingly Mauro on his 50th birthday in september 2012. Mauro responded “If it's something I'm proud of, except for a few songs, is that I have kept me there. I debuted when I was still in school, today I am 50 and work with what I love and do it on my terms. Everything goes faster today and artists with 'staying power' is something very rare” So come out tonight (what the title of the project means) and celebrate Mauro’s 50th every day.

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Kralice (2013) ♪♪½
Hande Yener (Turkey)

With album number ten the self crowned Queen of Turkish Pop teams up once again with Dutch-Turkish producer and songwriter Sinan Akçıl. The result is mix of Dutch housemusic and Turkish pop. ‘Görevimiz Aşk’, ‘Kraliçe’ and ‘Bir Şey Var’ are examples when the balance flips more to Eurodisco with a phat dancebeat and compulsory Ibiza club-effects. But then ‘Hasta’, ‘Bir bela’ and ‘An meselesi’ takes you the other way, mid tempo ballads with traditional drums patterns, synthesized semi-acoustic instruments and appropriate drama. Fact is that Yener’s voice can carry both genres. In that sense the title Queen has been well earned. But despite Yener’s vocal capacity lifts the songs above the average it does not mean the same can be said on a musical level. Although catchy and upbeat, it is nothing more than a merry popalbum. In fact the only that really surprised me was tribal ‘Tribe gir’ with its dubstep signature. It’s a track that is not so clean as the other tracks. There is something dirty there, like Yener has gone to this dark basement club somewhere off Taksim square where hedonistic things go on. A place where you can be yourself no matter who or what you are: “Subscribe now now now  / you're away from me / register now now now / be trapped in someone else / I realized how beautiful this life now / celebrate the great entertainment loneliness”. ‘Kralice’ is a nice album and holds the memories of the summer of 2012 going when the singles of this album where hits in the beach clubs. Especcially with the additional remixes making up song 10 - 12 on the album (the alluring DJ Pantelis remix of 'Hasta' does make you want to hop on a plane to the Turkish sun). But it is also a bit superficial and in that sense Yener’s voice deserves a more worthy musical palette as challenge.

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Cyclo (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Zazie (France)

Three years ago Zazie lost herself in the megalomaniac monster project ‘Za7ie’ containing the ridiculous amount of 49 new songs spread over 7 mini albums. It underlined the creative overflow she has, but it also gave the impression that she was unable to kill her darlings. To be honest half of the songs wasn’t really very memorable. ‘Za7ie’ was maybe also a celebration of basking in urban life and domesticity. As stressed that all recordings were made in the coziness of home and the artwork of the project was a dollhouse. How different when ‘Cyclo’ dropped in our mailbox. With its somber cover the eleven songs are the opposite of the bourgieux euphoria of the last album. Central theme on this album is doubt. Doubt in the relationship, doubt if you have made the right choices, doubt if life is not about to pass you by.

Opening track "Les contraires" is an example of a song about a couple estranged by "disastrous attractions": “The same breath, the same cry / Why does not one or the other? / You pretend as if / the same blood flows in our veins / You dream that you lose / I am nailed to the ground / What unites us escapes us / And I keep smiling / And you keep silent / You fear the worst / I hope opposites attract”. Maybe Zazie is dreaming of escaping the comfort of home that suddenly feels like it’s suffocating her. She wants to travel again and discover the world anew, maybe meet new people (Mobile homme). It is like a cycle. You have to keep moving, standstill is killing “I'm right, yeah I'm wrong / All goes well, I still cry / Cyclo / Decay and splendor / I dive and I take the height / Cyclo / I always shine in the sun / I am a shadow of myself / Yes I'm afraid I still advance” (Cyclo).

Still she also realizes she is not twenty anymore. “And when silence is too heavy, I take my high heels / And I run / I am the shadow that follows me,/ When tightening the noose I go out / Change in gold dust,/ And I dance / Shake, shake the world falls asleep / Okay you lied, I'm not the love of your life / And then, too bad / I am twenty years, until the end of the night.”. On ’20 ans’ the hints of the end of a relationship are as poetic as obvious. Just as on ‘Temps plus vieux’: “He gives me one last chance / On your lips one last kiss / Time to pack / Farewell, my angel, farewell / We are passing / Time older”.

The somber rather introvert character of the songs is also translated in the mainly electronic soundtrack. Responsible for the production are Olivier Courier, half of the duo AaRON, and Tony Hoffer (M83, Depeche Mode and Beck). They delivered a sound on which the emphasis is on the keyboards and Zazie’s voice (getting more huskier by the album) and which creates an intimate atmosphere. Despite the rather dark tone of the album ‘Cyclo’ convinces much more than its predecessor. With it Zazie shows that she is still in the midst of her creative peak but is also able to channel it more. The album has a pleasant mix of up-tempo tracks and ballads. Let’s just hope that for the next album she sees light at the end of the tunnel.

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