The renowned German pianist, composer and arranger Mike Herting is releasing his first piano solo album on November 6 2020. Inspired by the long-time work with saxophonist Charlie Mariano, Mike Herting has been involved in different music cultures for decades. As director and composer of the famous German ensemble WDR Big Band Cologne, he has been developing projects with other colleagues, such as “Sketches of Bangalore” (2000) with the soloists Charlie Mariano, R.A. Ramamani, T.A.S. Mani and other musicians. After that came other big orchestra projects with the Sai Symphony (2015), as well as concerts with the Bujazzo in India (2011-2016), Senegal and Guinea-Bissau (2013). He has carried out music studies and immersions regularly in West-Africa and this has facilitated further musical exchanges, in other words it has helped “maintain a reciprocal penetration of creativity and spirituality, and eventually, vitality in the performing process.”
The renowned Indian flautist Shashank Subramanyam was featured last week in an article published on the Indian daily newspaper Prajavani, in which his latest album Silent Breath recorded with pianist Mike Herting was recommended. The text explained how music —and music therapy—could have an instantaneous effect on the human mind and body.
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GMO - The Label is supporting the demonstrations and events taking place next Thursday on 17 September in Spain. After the activities celebrated throughout Germany, we are now also supporting the demonstrations and events that will be led by our Spanish and international partners, who will also go out on the streets and march in many cities to raise awareness about the tough situation that the music industry in Spain is going through and the threat of job losses in the sector.
SWEET BARRIO - El Atraco (The Robbery)
The young flamenco-pop duo from Madrid Sweet Barrio released their new single “El Atraco” in August as a foretaste of what is to come on their second Album.
Sweet Barrio emerged from the Madrid working-class neighbourhood Usera and was formed by singer Poochyeeh and her congenial partner Maxi on the guitar. Their first album Cinema Usera came out in 2018 and was named after a local organisation for cultural events that has been active in their neighbourhood for some time and in which they have played. With their debut album they already caused some sensation in the young Spanish flamenco scene. Their message was clear: smarten up and build your own destiny. Their tracks navigated their way through alienation, incomprehension or the search for freedom. The lyrics on their first album were soaked in suburban allusions which they mixed with sounds rooted in rumba and flamenco, but also in soul and reggae.
Electro-pop duo Poems for Jamiro (Hamburg, Germany) and Spanish singer-songwriter Alice Wonder (Madrid) got together in late 2019 to start recording an electrifying single which will see the light of day on June 19, 2020 released by GMO – The Label. The artists first met while playing a short showcase tour in Germany in November 2019. During that tour they came up with the idea of writing and recording a song together. The result is a wave of engaging electro-pop which sticks to your skin and bones and invites you to dance as you throw away heartaches and unreachable lovers. It is the matching soundtrack to a car drive at night heading for the club in an impossible chase for love and adventure. The voices of all three artists shine clearly and harmoniously “on and on” to the unsettling beat of the “white noise” and the melodies are beautifully built with synthesizers and programmed drums.
Toi et moi released a new version of their song "Camille" on 5 June, which was recorded under the spring sun by Unplugged Park Cologne. Enjoy the beautiful acoustic melodies of this two-voice duo from Cologne that play the "Nouvelle Chanson"! The song and video is already on the Unplugged Park Cologne YouTube channel! Give it a listen!
After her first single, almost a month and a half later, Ede reappeared with an emotional new single “La Raíz” on 5 June. It is the second track of a series of songs performed acoustically, only with a piano and her voice, in a live show that reflects the essence that makes this young artist one of the promising musicians to be considered for the future of the music scene. Well-structured songs, armed with a powerful meaning, and in which the empathy generated from her lyrics, always written in first person, make the experience of listening to them unique and intimate; and the icing on the cake: a superb vocal interpretation.
The Spanish artist Alice Wonder released her new single “Corazón Mármol” (marble heart) on the 29th of May and it is now available on all music platforms. On her debut album “Firekid”, published in 2018, Alice Wonder sang mostly in English. This is the second in a series of Spanish songs that temporarily interrupts her English compositions to write in Spanish, her mother tongue. In doing so, she continues on her way to explore the expressive possibilities in her mother tongue and to express herself in it through her music.
Alice Wonder is releasing her new single “Por si apareces” [In case you show up] on the 24th of April. It is one of her most loved songs at her concerts where people sing along to the line “esta guerra pide paz” [ English: “this war is begging for peace”]. This will be the first of an upcoming series of Spanish songs, putting her English compositions on hold, in order to write in her mother tongue. This has allowed her to explore the expressive possibilities of Spanish compositions and also go further after her first incursions into the Spanish field with Bajo la piel and La apuesta. Therefore, the new EP will be proof of how her writing transformed from playing around with Spanish lyrics to a possible —and actual— reality both now and in future works.
Vetusta Morla, leading Spanish independent rock band, return with “La Deriva” album and tour to Germany in November and December 2015.
Special German edition of album with two exclusive bonus tracks will be released November 20, 2105.
In autumn 2014 Vetusta Morla came to Germany for the very first time to play three shows in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. At that time they came as one of Spain's leading alternative and truly independent rock bands, backed by the continuing success of their then recently released album “La Deriva” and the power, intensity and audience enthusiasm of their live shows.
Now, almost a year on, VM have become a true phenomenon, selling out the largest halls and playing the biggest festivals in their home country, but also in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, UK and the USA. They return to Germany as one of Spain's most popular rock bands and give fans and music lovers the rare opportunity to see them in small clubs. The kind of places they have outgrown in the Spanish speaking world.
Vetusta Morla have released three regular studio albums so far:
- Un Día en el Mundo (A Day in the World, 2008, Platinum record in Spain)
- Mapas (Maps, 2011, Golden Record in Spain)
- La Deriva (The Drift, 2014, Gold Record in Spain)
All came out on their own label, Pequeño Salto Mortal, which they founded as an alternative to the usual paths of the record industry, that seemed to have no room for them when they first appeared on the music scene.
Their latest album, La Deriva, more than any of its predecessors, is a result of its circumstances, hero and victim of its process and its context.
It's been four years of intense touring since the last time Batucada Sound Machine / B2KDA released an album (Dont Keep Silent) and this October, we get to hear the culmination of that effort. The band has changed from Batucada Sound Machine to B2KDA. It's lost old members and gained new. It's been exposed to the best and worst of what life as a musician can throw at you but has emerged stronger, more determined and yet still true to what has made this band the force it has been for 12 years now.
B2KDA is Rising once again.
A new sound has been developed over the years drawing on the hundreds of different experiences the band has had. The lessons of the road and the highs of meeting great people around the world to share their music. From the clubs of Berlin to the night markets of Seoul, jam nights in London to festivals in the bush in Australia, sharing the stage with giants to meeting a new school of artists. All of this has combined into what the band has spent a year crafting. The new album "Rising".
RIMA is the 5th major album by Moana and is due out on September 26. The album was produced by dubmeister Paddy Free (Pitch Black, Nga Tae) who joined Moana & the Tribe for the first time in 2013 when the band played Europe, Korea and Australia. The 11 tracks were recorded in Piha, on the shores of Lake Rotorua and in Blair Castle (Glasgow).
Can't Give You (What You're Asking For) is the first teaser from B2KDA`s - Batucada Sound Machine's album due out later this year.
Finally "The Best of Moana & the Tribe" has officially been released in Europe. We are very proud to welcome Moana and the Tribe, this legendary singer and group from New Zealand, on GMO The Label.
