Tag Archive for los angeles

City City

Can man love machine? It’s a theme that’s been explored exhaustively, from Blade Runner to Small Wonder. Time and time again, the answer seems to be a resounding yes. Chalk City City up as more evidence to build the case. The LA electro-pop outfit builds towering monuments of synths, samplers and laptops. Within seconds of listening to the ultra-cool “Of Sands Beneath,” listeners are introduced to The Machine: wiry, grinding guitar gives way to an exploding cascade of synths and skittering, ersatz drum beats. Analog is dead, technology is king and resistance is futile. From the crystalline, slightly precious “Oh Chandelier” to the hyper, delirious “Ring the Bells,” City City marries their looming synthetic textures and beats with cool, ethereal (and thankfully human) vocals. Theirs is a match made in heaven … or in some lab in Silicon Valley.

Alain de Courtenay is no newcomer in the world of folk, spending nearly a decade perfecting his craft.  Both inspiring and distinct, Alain’s music is evocative poetry at it’s finest.  A few years back, he joined forces with violinist, TJ Callanta and has been producing deep, poignant compositions ever since.  In the vein of Alexi Murdoch and Nick Drake, Alain draws from experience to create organic music that pulls at the emotions.  It goes without saying, the young star shows great promise in his future.

OurStage got the chance to catch up with Alain de Courtenay about working with TJ Callanta, opening for DeVotchKa and what’s to come.

Continue reading ‘Folkin’ Around: Alain de Courtenay’

Ife Soul Music

Sometimes respect is won not by showing others what you can do, but rather what you won’t do. Like demonstrating your vocal chops with self-indulgent acrobatics, or showcasing your production skills by overloading a song with bells and whistles. If restraint breeds admiration, Ifé (pronounced “ee-fay”) Thomas deserves a round of applause. Under the moniker Ifé Soul Music, the LA-based chanteuse melds jazz, R&B and pop into simmering slow-tempo numbers that say a lot about who she is without overstating anything. “Mocha Mellow” features only two instruments: Thomas’ expressive voice and an acoustic guitar. On “Aim to Please,” a steamy groove about the art of seduction, multi-tracked Ifés sing backup and soft synths set the mood without eating up any space. Thomas’ delivery is always cool, belying the heat of her words. And yes, sometimes those words are a little inelegant (“When I talk in your ear / Nasty words that you’ll hear”). But hey, Sade once sang, “When you require streetcar desire for higher heights” and no one stopped making out to question her lyrical choices. Groove is in the heart, not the pen.

Did you know that “not all break-up songs need be depressing”? That’s the philosophy behind LA singer-songwriter Jenna Bryson’s song “Me Minus You.” The tune tugged at all the right heartstrings of the OurStage community with fans voting it to the top of the Pop Channel charts last month. Jenna was sweet enough to fill us in on the backstory of the tumultuous relationship that inspired her.

Jenna Bryson

I wrote “Me Minus You” in November of 2007. It was one of the first songs I wrote that was NOT related to or inspired by something personal in my life. Up until then, I had been very dependent upon my own experiences to give me inspiration to write.

And then one day, I was talking to a friend of mine who was trying to rid himself of a toxic relationship and failing horribly; she was no good for him, and he was totally wrong for her. But every time he had convinced himself that it was “really over this time,” she’d come-a-knockin’ and off they’d go again.

I remembered what it was like to be completely hung up on a person… you’re so entangled in each others’ lives that you just don’t know how to be without one another. So, I wrote a song for him, the lyrics being the words I wished he would say to her once and for all. And to give the words strength and the song a positive spin, I kept the melody up-beat and fun; I figured not all break-up songs need be depressing. I wanted this to be a song about moving on from a relationship with a smile on your face, as opposed to wishing there was a way the sinking ship could be saved. And I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

“Me Minus You” was produced & mixed by Gary Tharp and featured the talents of some incredible musicians, including Craig Stull on guitars, Jamie Muhoberac on keys, Chris Chaney on bass and Matt Laug on drums.

Last month OurStage launched one of its first premium channels in celebration of New Music Seminar heading to Los Angeles. The groundbreaking music industry seminar will be making its first west coast appearance after successful events in New York and Chicago on February 2nd. The NMS founders Tom Silverman, and renowned manager and touring expert, Dave Lory, wanted to make this edition of the seminar extra special by inviting pop, rock and urban artists to compete for several exposure opportunities with some of the industry’s most connected leaders. Eight artists were narrowed down from hundreds in New Music Seminar’s Artists on the Verge New Winter Artist Search to have an A&R package sent to top US labels. Of those eight, three were selected to be flown out to LA to attend New Music Seminar and compete for a career-making grand prize package worth over $25,000 in gear and consultation services from NMS partners.

Find out who the finalists and runners up are after the jump…