Song of the Day: Karima Francis - "Forgiven"

Today we have for you "Forgiven" by UK artist Karima Francis. I happened upon Francis' work when I stumbled upon the music blog Just Music That I Like. Not only did I find a blog I like but, I found an artist I hadn't been privy to and like as well, so thanks for that. The song can be heard at the bottom of the post via the handy little widget embedded down there.

Francis I've learned released released an album, The Author, in 2009 though it seems it can only be found as an import here in the US. You can however find the title track from the record on iTunes as a part of a compilation album. Anyway, according to her website, her new EP Wherever I Go is scheduled for release on May 14 though I'm not sure if that applies to those of us in the US as well.

I'm looking forward to hearing more from this lady. She definitely one of those "why on Earth am I just now hearing about her" artists that I've put on my recommend you check out list.

Forgiven by Karima Francis

"Wherever I Go"

New Video From Garbage

Garbage premiered the video for their new single, "Blood For Poppies" earlier this week. The single is the first from the bands upcoming album Not Your Kind Of People. The album is scheduled for release on May 15 via the band's own Stunvolume record label.

Check out the video below.

Emily Wells To Release New Record, 4/10 + Bowery Ballroom, 4/9

Emily Wells, singer/songwriter/producer, is set to release her new record, Mama on April 10 via Partisan Records. Wells, a classically trained violinist plays nearly all of the instruments on the album.

Gig Alert!!! Wells is having her official album release show at Bowery Ballroom on Monday, April 9. Doors are at 7:30PM and it'll cost you $15.

Too whet your appetite for the upcoming record and the show, we have for you in our MP3 Grab at the bottom of the post, "Passenger." You can see the self-directed video for the song below as well.

Releasing her own music from a young age, Wells learned to keep her work close, and toured independently while developing her palate and performance across the U.S. It was in a humble garage studio in Los Angeles that Wells' recorded her 2008 breakthrough album, The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties.

Three years later, Wells returns with Mama, a collection of songs as richly hued as ever, but imbued with a newfound warmth no doubt owing to the space it was conceived in. Wells rented a tiny cabin on a Topanga Canyon horse ranch and went to work, producing Mama and playing most of the instruments herself (with a little help from longtime touring companions, drummer Sam Halterman and bassist Joey Reina). She recorded the raw tracks to tape without punch-ins or loops, often in one take. In contrast to The Symphonies, these songs are less conceptual and experimental in both sound and content, and more traditional and universal in structure and the studies of love and grief. 2012 will find Wells touring behind Mama, and preparing for the release of Pillowfight, her long whispered-about collaboration with legendary producer Dan The Automator.

Tracklist

• Piece of It
• Dirty Sneakers and Underwear
• Passenger
• Mama's Gonna Give You Love
• Johnny Cash's Mama's House
• Let Your Guard Down
• Fire Song
• No Good
• Instrumental
• Darlin'

MP3 Grab: "Passenger"

The Duke Spirit Announce US Headline Dates

The Duke Spirit announced their US headline tour. And yes New York, they'll be making a stop in our lovely city. They'll be at Highline Ballroom on June 16. Doors are at 6PM and it'll cost you $16 advance / $20 dos. Check out the list of dates below. You should probably get your tickets early as I'm sure it will sell out!

• JUNE 1 SAN DIEGO - CASBAH
• JUNE 3 LOS ANGELES - ECHOPLEX
• JUNE 4 SAN FRANCISCO - SLIM'S
• JUNE 6 PORTLAND - STAR THEATER
• JUNE 7 SEATTLE - NEUMO'S
• JUNE 11 CHICAGO - LINCOLN HALL
• JUNE 12 DETROIT - THE CROFOOT
• JUNE 13 CLEVELAND - GROG SHOP
• JUNE 15 BOSTON - BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL
• JUNE 16 NEW YORK CITY - HIGHLINE BALLROOM

New Song From Heathers

Ireland's the Heathers, twin sisters Ellie and Louise Macnamara have a new song. The song, "Forget Me Knots," is from their upcoming second album. Check out the clip at the bottom of the post and for a limited time, enter your email into the widget and get the song for free.

Following the success of their debut album - Here, Not There – one of Ireland’s most unique talents Heathers, return with a brand new track Forget Me Knots taken from their upcoming second album.

Also known as twin sisters Ellie and Louise Macnamara, the album was recorded with White Lies’ producer Max Dingel. Having recently signed to Universal Music Publishing, Heathers are now gearing up for an official release of the first single before summer.

Their debut album 'Here, Not There' achieved Gold sales status in Ireland and received a further boost when they had one of their songs placed on a major Discover Ireland tourism ad campaign. The girls have toured the length and breadth of the USA over consecutive summers and have built up a strong following there. They have also toured extensively in Ireland and the UK – and have played numerous European and US festivals over the last few years including CMJ, Eurosonic, Canadian Music Week, The Great Escape, London Music Week, Electric Picnic, Oxygen, Belsonic, Camden Crawl amongst others. They were also invited to perform as part of HMV Next Big Thing in London February 2012.

Gary Clark Jr. On Baeble

Baeble Music has put up a clip of Gary Clark Jr. performing for a hometown crowd at The Mohawk. I'm looking forward to seeing him at the Newport Folk Festival this year where he's scheduled to play on Sunday, July 29. In the meantime I'll just enjoy this clip.

Watch the full video at Baeblemusic.com

NJPAC & WBGO announce The James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and WBGO Jazz 88.3FM the inaugural James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival. It's a celebration of jazz and the legacy of jazz musician James Moody. The festival will take place October 15 - 21, 2012 at NJPAC and other community-based venues. Bassist/composer Christian McBride serves as the Artistic Adviser of the festival.

Tickets for the Festival, available now, may be purchased by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark (open Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 6pm, and Sunday, noon to 5pm), or online at www.njpac.org.

The James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival:

Mainstage Concerts

Two all-star concerts in NJPAC's Prudential Hall will be the headline events for The James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival - the first, on Friday, October 19, 2012 at 8pm is titled For Love of Moody: A Jazz Celebration. Moody's legacy will be celebrated with a night featuring his favorite musicians and friends including George Benson, The Manhattan Transfer and David Sanborn, plus special guests Kenny Barron, Jon Faddis, Jimmy Heath, John Lee, Paquito D'Rivera, Christian McBride, Paul Lieberman, and Todd Coolman, Adam Nussbaum and Renee Rosnes (long time members of Moody's group).

On Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 8pm, the Festival will feature Miles Davis and Gil Evans: Still Ahead, an all-star recreation of the landmark original Gil Evans arrangements of the classic Miles Davis recordings of Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain, and Miles Ahead. The Prudential Hall concert will feature a unique cast of jazz greats including Terence Blanchard on trumpet, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Peter Erskine, tuba master Howard Johnson (a member of the original recording sessions with Davis and Evans), trumpeter Sean Jones and a jazz orchestra under the direction of Vince Mendoza.

The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition

From Sarah to Whitney, Newark has been the birthplace and proving ground for great jazz vocalists. As homage to a master, NJPAC will introduce its inaugural Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. An international talent search will culminate in a special concert on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 3pm in NJPAC's Victoria Theater by the finalists, with rare concert footage of Sarah Vaughan. Presented as part of NJPAC's Jazz Roots Series with consulting producer Larry Rosen. Details on contest entrance rules and regulations will be announced in May.

Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans

The Moody Festival will also feature the world premiere of a new jazz musical, Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans, based on A Good Night for Ghosts, book #42 in the phenomenally popular Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.

Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans will play a series of free performances in the Newark Public Schools for all 4,300 of the City's fourth grade students. Two additional performances for the public will be featured in NJPAC's Victoria Theater on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 1pm and 4pm.

Jazz House Kids Gala

On Wednesday, October 17, 2012 the Arts Center will host Hitting the High Notes, the 10th anniversary gala event benefiting Jazz House Kids, an acclaimed community-based arts organization with a mission to provide year-round musical, educational, and cultural programs to students in grades K-12, teachers, adults, and families from diverse backgrounds.

Information on the comprehensive Festival lineup will be announced as part of NJPAC's 2012-13 season lineup in May.

Upcoming: Lexie Roth at Rockwood Music Hall, 4/14

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Lexie Roth will be taking the stage at Rockwood Music Hall on April 14 at 10PM and it'll cost you nada, yep, that's right FREE. The gig happens to be the album release show for her self-title record which will available the same day. Check out the handy widget below and listen to "I Wanna Run." Roth also has a Kickstarter project; if you like what you hear and want to show your support, visit the project page HERE.

I Wanna Run by Lexie Roth

Flashback: Kasabian - "Vlad The Impaler" at Terminal 5

In case you missed it, Kasabian took over Terminal 5 last Thursday. The Bowery Presents streamed it live on their YouTube channel and have posted parts of it. Because I like Kasabian, because I find "Vlad The Impaler" insanely irresistible and because The Bowery Presents Live provided this nifty clip, I make this my video of the day.

Cowboy Junkies New Album, The Wilderness, Out Now + MP3

The Cowboy Junkies have a new album out, The Wilderness. It's Volume 4 of The Nomad Series. The full album can be streamed on AOL Music, HERE. We also have for you at the bottom of the post in our MP3 Grab, "Damaged From The Start" from the album and if that wasn't enough for you to feast on, grab "Angels In The Wilderness" using the handy widget.

The group’s Michael Timmin says of the new CD, “The title, The Wilderness, in some odd way seemed to define what these songs were actually “about”: fragility, emptiness, loneliness, beauty, chance, loss, desperation - the delicate balancing act that makes up a life. They are about being lost in the wilderness of age, the wilderness of parenthood, in the wilderness of just trying to find meaning and substance, happiness and truth in ones day to day life. They are about standing alone in middle of it all, breathing in the cold still air and wondering.”

The preceding album, Sing In My Meadow, a collection of songs recorded over a four day period that evokes the psychedelic, blues-inspired forays the band is fond of exploring on stage was hailed by Metromix as “showing yet another side of one of the most versatile, underrated bands of the last 25 years.”

The first volume of the series, Renmin Park, released in 2010, was inspired by Michael Timmins’ two-month stay in China with his family in ‘08 and was called “their most ambitious yet” by The Boston Herald. Demons (2011), the second in the series, is a collection of songs by the late Vic Chesnutt which Canada’s National Post called “…a celebration of both the Junkies and Chesnutt and one of the year's best albums.”

MP3 Grab: "Damaged From The Start"