Velben is yet another artist on my musical radar who is due to drop a full length project anytime now. If you are unfamiliar with Velben then check out the sampler for his new album Creative Flowz below.
What I like about Velben’s music is that whilst he creates what could be called ‘progressive’ or ‘nu’ soul music, he dosn’t completely abandon traditional song structure and maintains a connection with that classic soul sound.
You can follow Velben on Twitter and get more info on his Myspace page.
I’ve already mentioned Smoove and Turrellhere before and their album Antique Soul is almost definitely going to be making an appearance on my ‘Best of 2009′ list. Above is the video for their latest track ‘Beggarman’, and uplifting, Northern Soul-style tune which talks about remaining positive and having fun during these economically hostile times.
The video is nothing spectacular, however it captures the feel of the track perfectly and is SO British!
Hi there, first off I’d just like to say congratulations on a fantastic album.
The title of the album is The Yellow Brick Journey, can you tell us a bit more about why you chose this title?
The album title was inspired by one of my favorite movies “the Wiz”. The album has many of the themes seem within that movie – it talks about love, confidence, courage – to pursue your dreams fearlessly, being smart about life decisions – basically the many themes/experiences of life. I felt that title was befitting because it represents my journey in a sense.
Can you tell us a little about your background, and how you started out in music?
I grew up in my hometown Seattle, Washington singing in the church choir. My mom is a singer and pianist and made sure my sister and I were involved in music as children. My mom was a huge contributor in my love/passion for music and the arts.
You have shared the stage with some of the biggest names in soul, such as Eric Roberson, Bilal, Janelle Monaé and Algebra Blessett. How were those experiences and did you learn anything from these artists?
Been listening to the RH Factor’sHardgroove quite a bit lately, in particular their cover of Funkadelic’s ‘I’ll Stay’ featuring the one and only D’Angelo.
I hoped to find a video of them performing the track live, however all the videos are without D’Angelo on vocals.
For those people out there who are still unfamiliar with Green Tea can you tell us a little bit about you and your music?
Sure can Basically, Green Tea fuses jazz, r&b, gospel, rock and everything else in between to give you musical medicine for the soul.
How did you first get involved in music?
I’ve been singing since I can remember. I don’t even remember a time not singing. Lol, my mom even said when i would eat good food, I’d be humming. So maybe that’s the start of it all lol.
Where did the name GreenTea come from?
Green is my favourite color and it symbolizes growth and Tea is a healing and soothing regiment that people drink to feel good. It’s good for all seasons too . So, I want Green Tea to be in every household, cuz it’s good for your soul.
You have two albums under your belt now, Dosage I: Shades and Dosage II: Choices. The sounds on these albums are quite different, Dosage I seems a little more laid back whereas Dosage II seems to be more of a ‘message’ album. Do you agree and was this a conscious decision?
It was def a conscious decision. My first album…I was so green.. lol:). It has a mixture of everything on there: jazz, r &b, go-go…lol. I was just so excited to have a project that I tried to put everything on there….that’s why there are 17 tracks lol. On the 2nd album, I knew what I wanted and I knew the sound that I wanted. Also, as a person there was a lot of personal growth from the 1st album (just getting out of college), till now….I’m grown now lol and I’ve learned alot!
Ok so there have been rumours flying around forever regarding an official follow up to Bilal’s classic 1st Born Second (after Love For Sale was shelved). Well the folks over at BamaLoveSoul have official news that he is set to release an album sometime in 2010 and not only that, they also have a video of a new track called ‘Levels’. Go get your Bilal fix now!
I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Joy Jones for SoulCulture recently, check out what she had to say here.
Excited about Angie Stone’s upcoming release, Unexpected? See what Soultracks had to say in their advance review and while your there take a listen to the album in full!
Catch up on new music with PutMeOnIt’s‘We Love …’ series.
SoulBounce celebrate the 15th birthday of MJB’s classic My Life album with their ‘Month Of Mary’ posts.
The AudioDiva provides a much needed wake up call with her review of Mpho’s new album Pop Art. Do not sleep on this talented lady!
Finally, if you havn’t heard about the release of Zo!’s…just visiting too EP then WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Get your free copy here.
Mama’s Gun are a band I discovered on my regular visits to the Sexy Never Left blog. I learned from there they were working on a debut album, but as is often the case, release dates kept getting pushed back and the band slipped my mind. Then on my daily visit over to SoulBounce I heard that the album had indeed been released and so I tracked down a copy.
First off, those expecting anything remotely Badu-like need to think again. I’m not sure if the reference to the neo-soul Queen’s second album is intentional or not but the sounds on Routes To Riches are very different. Their style is best described as pop/soul with elements of rock and a little funk thrown in to the mix. Many of you will be thinking ‘ok, but what does that mean?’, well as they say ‘a picture song is worth a thousand words’…
Pot Of Gold (snippet)
Big Betty (snippet)
Overall the album is a pretty solid effort, however at times it veers a little to close to the ‘pop’ end of the spectrum for my personal tastes. There are glimpses of what the album could have been on ‘Big Betty’, ‘Psycho Territory’ and album highlight ‘Bitch’, but these glimpses are too far apart to make this a must have album for 2009.
I can’t help but think (I’m more than likely completely off target but hey this is my space so I’ll indulge myself) that this slightly watered down sound may be the reason behind the delayed release? In those brief glimpses I’ve already mentioned you can hear that the band have funk/soul at their heart, so maybe the pop elements were thrown in last minute to try and gain some traction with commercial radio and MTV? Of course this is all just speculation on my part.
Probably the biggest redeeming feature of the album is lead vocalist Andy Platts‘ voice. His range puts many male vocalists to shame and it’s his voice alone which saves some of the albums weaker tracks from becoming completely forgettable.
All in all this is a good debut which, in its brief moments of brilliance, gives me hope that the band’s second effort can be a funk-filled delight.
Sometimes I come across an artist or music that seems to fill a void that I wasn’t even consciously aware was there in the first place. One such artists is Nadine Charles (and the music is her Introducing Nadine Charles EP).
The ‘void’ in question is great female R&B, without the gimmicks, vocal effects, pop-crossover elements that seem so prevalent in today’s R&B starlets. If I was forced to draw comparisons with other artists I would probably choose someone like Faith Evans, Brandy or Monica.
I have been aware of Nadine for some time and many of those ‘in the know’ have been singing her praises at every opportunity, so she was definitely on my radar.
A chance visit over to her blog informed me that she had attended the Atlanta International Soul Summit, and finished up her debut EP. The cheeky curious side of me decided to drop her an email to see if I could get my hands on the EP and see if everything I had heard was true …. it was!
The EP is 7 tracks long and it’s obvious that the tracks were chosen carefully. There is no ‘filler’ (I know it’s an EP but it does happen) and the songs flow well, unlike a lot of EPs/mixtapes that seem to be cobbled together and released with no thought at all about how the finished project will sound as a complete package.
You can check out snippets of two tracks from the EP below:
Nadine Charles – Special (snippet)
Nadine Charles – You Are The One (snippet)
At the moment the EP isn’t available to purchase, however copies will be for sale at gigs and you can also drop Nadine an email at nadinecharlesbiz@googlemail.com if you want to get your hands on a copy. In the video below the singer discusses her journey so far and talks about some of the artists that have influenced her.
Daptone Records, home of some of the most authentic soul and funk acts around, are set to release a 23 track compilation containing unreleased recordings, rarities and some of the classics from their impressive back catalogue. The compilation will include, amongst others, Lee Fields, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens.
Take a listen to Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co.’s ‘Stand Up’ below. This track is also available for free from the good folks over at Fader Magazine.
Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. – ‘Stand Up’
The compilation will be released on 24th November and will be available from the Daptone Store.
Lydia René (Myspace) creates real, grown folks R&B music, the type that we rarely hear nowadays unless your privy to the ever-growing indie/underground scene (and if your reading this I guess you are). She is one of those artists who actually make me feel sorry for those stuck in the commercial radio/MTV rut … they are missing out on so much.
Lydia was brought up listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder and was heavily influenced my her music-teacher father and music-loving mother from an early age. She is a classically trained pianist, was a member of her school jazz band (playing piano) and also played drums and xylophone in the marching band so it should come as no surprise that not only does she sing on My Love Is My Life, she also wrote the songs, played keyboard, arranged the songs and had a hand in production too.
As well as the excellent writing and vocals present on the album, the fact that it is recorded live with an audience adds a touch of authenticity or realness to the album. You can sit back, relax and almost imagine you were present when the recording took place. The songs themselves deal with those staples of soul music, namely love and relationships, however the interesting arrangements combined with the jazzy soulfulness of her voice ensure that the material sounds fresh and interesting.
You can take a listen to a couple of tracks below and purchase via iTunes.
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STATEMENT:
This blog was set up with the sole intention of helping promote the artists and music featured here.
If for any reason you would like any music/picture/graphics/information removed from this blog, please send an email to souluk@inbox.com with the reasons for your request.
If you would like to submit your music to be featured here, again send an email to souluk@inbox.com and we will take it from there.
Velben is yet another artist on my musical radar who is due to drop a full length project anytime now. If you are unfamiliar with Velben then check out the sampler for his new album Creative Flowz below.
Basically, Green Tea fuses jazz, r&b, gospel, rock and everything else in between to give you musical medicine for the soul.
