Sandie's Music Minute

Zee Avi - Bitterheart from naz on Vimeo.


The cover that stole my heart, and made me a fan.


Izyan Allrahman goes by the name Zee Avi, and obtained her first record deal by broadcasting herself on You Tube. She was born in the small town of Miri, on the island of Borneo, Malaysia. As a child she was encouraged to be a lawyer, but her passion was music.

Avi studied fashion in London for four years, but then after she graduated she picked up the guitar and starting performing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She recorded herself playing the guitar and placed the videos on You Tube. Kris Rowley, a U.K. singer-songwriter, found them and started to place them in his channel. Before she knew it, Zee was on a plane to L.A. to record her debut with producer Robert Carranza. 
References:
http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Zee_Avi/bio/
http://www.zeeavi.com/bio/


Image Source:
http://www.zeeavi.com/photos/ - Photo by Autumn Dewilde

Royal Baths - "After Death" live from moogie on Vimeo.

This is a San Francisco band formerly known as the Baths. They are currently with Woodsist Records, and they came out with their debut album "Litanies" in September of 2010. Some of the band's influences are groups like The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3. The band focuses on the darkness and dismay in their song writings with titles; Sinister Sunrise, Bad Heart, and After Death. Their albums has been welcomed with mixed reviews; some rave about them, while others find nothing special. I personally feel in love with the with the dark lyrics and garage rock.

References:
http://www.last.fm/music/Royal+Baths
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/14548-nikki-dont/
http://www.woodsist.com/
http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/11/01/album-review-royal-baths-litanies/
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14843-litanies/
http://eburban.com/reviews/albumreviews/id.2574/title.review-royal-baths-litanies
http://styrofoamdrone.com/2010/10/26/royal-baths-baths-7/


Image Source:
http://www.last.fm/music/Royal+Baths/+images/48415501

A small video taken in a concert filming a new song found in the album

My favorite song in the album:


Playfellow is a band from Brandenburg, Germany, that has been together since 2004. They released theit first album Penumbra in 2008 with great reviews. In the spring of 2009, the band signed with Sweet Home Records. Carnival Off is their second album that continues to show the energy that this band has. 




References:
http://www.last.fm/music/Playfellow
http://www.thesirenssound.com/2010/11/10/playfellow-carnival-off/
http://www.rocstar.co.uk/agency/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67&Itemid=60
http://www.myspace.com/playfellowband


Image Source:
http://www.last.fm/music/Playfellow/+images/34651473

Another great song also found in her new album RUTA 9...


...and my favorite song of the album.


References:
http://www.myspace.com/florenciabernales
http://ruta9enflor.blogspot.com
http://soundcloud.com/florencia-bernales
http://www.youtube.com/user/florbernales


Image Source:
http://cantopopularuru.blogspot.com/2010/11/presentando-florencia-bernales-demo.html

Isa GT - Pa' Las Mamasitas karaoke + vox


This is one of her remix that she has done.



The best of luck this young lady.

References:
http://www.myspace.com/isagt
http://www.last.fm/music/Isa+GT
http://www.edilmatoro.blogspot.com
http://www.remezcla.com/2010/latin/isa-gt-pa-chikirri-ep
http://music.diesel.com/bands/overview/10
http://generationbass.com/2010/04/06/isa-gt-new-release/
http://www.manrecordings.com/


Image Source:
http://www.last.fm/music/Isa+GT/+images/27565417

Lia Ices "Half Life" from Rare Book Room Records on Vimeo.

Single just released on November 29, 2010 from her upcoming album


Brooklyn artist, Lia Ices, will released her second album with her new label Jagjaguwa on January 25, 2011. Her first album called, Necima, was released in July 1, 2008, and rated 7.4 out of 10 by Pitchfork. A great start for this very talented young lady. What attracted me to her right from the beginning is her lovely voice. The three year gap between her albums has given her music time to mature, and take confidence. Thought, she doesn't like to be compared to any one artist in particular, she is going to win a place right next to my Tori Amos, and  Regina Spektor albums.

References:
http://www.liaices.com/
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12222-necima/
http://www.windishagency.com/artists/lia_ices
http://encoremag.com/new-york/articles/9725/interview-lia-ices
http://jagjaguwar.com/blog/2010/08/lia-ices-signs-to-jagjaguwar-download-gorgeous-tune-grown-unknown/
http://altmusic.about.com/b/2010/10/20/lia-ices-second-album-grown-unknown-out-on-jagjaguwar-in-january.htm
Image Source:
http://www.liaices.com/#76773/Contact