Zella Day
Zella Day is a young beautiful songwriter hailing from Arizona and now based in L.A.
Expect to hear more about her in the year to come.
“Hypnotic” is from her self-titled EP.
Will Butler
Will Butler, the multi-instrumentalist and dynamic performer of the band Arcade Fire (and brother of frontman Win Butler) has a solo debut in March.
Last year he and Owen Pallett were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the film Her.
“Anna” is a free download from his album Policy.
Mikal Cronin
A couple of years ago Mikal Cronin created one of my fave albums of 2013.
MCII was solid all the way through.
He follows in the spring with MCIII.
“Made My Mind Up” is an early sampling.
Laura Marling
She’s only 24 but has already given us 4 exquisite albums.
Laura Marling’s 5th will be entitled Short Movie.
And “Short Movie” is the lead song.
Hanni El Khatib
Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Hanni El Khatib is a San Francisco garage-rocker, now based in L.A.
He moved quickly from creative director for a skateboard company to full-time musician when Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys took notice and produced his 2nd album.
His 3rd, Moonlight, is brand new as we listen to the song “Melt Me”.
Turbo Fruits
Turbo Fruits is a rock band out of Nashville led by Jonas Stein, formerly of the band Be Your Own Pet.
Their 4th album No Control comes to us in the early spring.
“The Way I Want You”, the 1st single, produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, is a sweet taste.
Panda Bear
Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) is the co-founder of the experimental band Animal Collective.
As a solo artist he has created 5 albums, the 5th, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, just released.
He dazzles us with “Boys Latin”.
“Boys Latin”
Alex Winston
Alex Winston has such a compelling voice.
Initially classically trained in Detroit, she now resides in New York.
Her first album King Con came out two years ago.
Expect to hear much more about her with the wonderful new song “Careless”.
(and yes, she does remind us of Kate Bush, which only enhances her appeal.)
“Careless”
Lili Haydn
Violinist extraordinaire Lili Haydn dropped an album in the latter part of last year.
Here are a couple from Lili Land: the single “My My, Cross the Line” and her cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”.
“My My, Cross the Line”
“Kashmir”
Winter in Toronto
These two guys are from London but they call themselves Winter in Toronto.
This lovely song “Walking in the Air” is from the It’s Coming On Christmas album with all proceeds benefiting CoppaFeel!, a charity that champions breast cancer awareness, educating young people on the importance of checking their boobs regularly and knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
“Walking in the Air”
Hanukkah
Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah.
In celebration of the Festival of Lights, we turn to DJ BC and his mashup “Challaback Girl”.
Chag Sameach!