Is it just me or there's a new wave of interest towards trip-hop these days? New websites emerge out of the blue (like this self-proclaimed "#1 source of Trip-Hop music" - we all know ho's #1 source of Trip-Hop music ) every other musician is trying to squeeze in "elements of trip-hop" in their portfolio one way or the other. It's getting harder and harder for me to find my way in this ocean of kindatrip-hop and almostrip-hop, and even the actual straight-up trip-hop, which is also being produced in copious amounts. Honestly, I'm not even trying anymore, and in choosing releases for reviews I follow two criteria - releases provided by friends and releases that are so outstanding that should not be left without attention. Ideally, those two parameters merge into one. I cannot say that it happened with this one. But it was close. I'll explain - Forbidden EP from PlayGame (Yekaterinburg, Russia) is an excellent record with many things going for it, some of which I'll mention later on. I didn't regret getting it into my hands and writing this review with a great pleasure. But. It this wasn't a release by my good friends Ru Trip Community, would it make it onto the pages of my blog? Not likely. In part because, yes, simply genre-wise it's rather a rock record. And this is, strangely enough, the biggest compliment. It's very refreshing to hear among all this total "indiocy" (just came up with this myself) with shriek-y genderless vocalists and barely audible noises that serve as music, a band with a powerful vocal and musicians that obviously know what they're doing, while uncompromisingly staying clear from mainstream (don't get me wrong - most of the songs from the EP would sound great on the radio, the thing is that there is no chance in hell any of them would ever end up on the modern bought-and-sold-radio, and that doesn't seem to bother the band). Uncompromising would probably be the main epithet that I would use to describe Forbidden EP. It's an honest and clear album, it's not a political statement, it's a personal statement of a human being and an artist, and just try to argue that this is less important in art. It's a dangerous statement - it divides listeners into two categories - ones who understand and share everything that the band is trying to say, every note, every line, and the ones who "don't get it". And the first category will be much smaller because of how intimate PlayGame's music is. But I suspect that this doesn't bother the musicians, they're looking for listeners who will become friends. It's not a complaint (even though I'd like to hear more wordplay instead of playing with words in the lyrics), my main complaint is the following, - the keyboards sometimes (pretty often actually) turn from the most interesting and original element of PlayGame's music into this ear-depressing irritant. The track "Shiver" was among my favorites on RTC compilation Letters exactly due to the killer keyboard parts that took the track to a whole new level. But on the EP version of the track keyboards dominate, they're everywhere and, as Mayakovsky said are "stepping on their own song's throat". I do realize that I sound like a grumpy old lady and in general, with my abnormal love for minimalism it was a misfortune for Forbidden to even get into my hands, but this is my opinion and wish to the band - to find this happy medium where the abundance of elements is not preventing the listener from enjoying every each one of them separately, because PlayGame does have lots of those elements and all of them are very enjoyable.

You can download the release for free from PlayGame's  official site.

tipkin - Tell us about your project Aqosto and its unique name.

Aqosto - You know, some people ask me how I managed to come up with such original and resonant name. They picture me sitting in an armchair and thinking, what kind of moniker should I pick for myself. No, it doesn't happen like that with me. I noticed that when I'm trying to come up with some title, not a damn thing comes to mind. And with time I cam to realize that the real titles have to find themselves. And that's what happened with Aqosto. One summer I was vacationing at my friend's place, we were sitting around, chatting, listening to music, basically just having a good time. Suddenly my glance fell on the big calendar that was hanging on the front door. It had dates and the name of the current month in different languages. Since it was end of the summer, I noticed the word Agosto, which means "August" in Italian. I changed the second letter, so it would sound somewhat softer and would look prettier in writing and that's how the name for my project was born.

t. - What is music to you - expressing your own thoughts and feelings or trying to evoke those in other people through art?

A. - Expressing my own thoughts and feelings, of course, mainly. But at the same time trying to bring my impressions, emotions, feelings to the listeners through the music. I wish that at least a dozen people find reflections of their soul in my music.

t. - I know that you're very interested in metaphysics and even preach your own philosophy of life. I must say that your views of live are full of optimism while your music belongs to much darker side of the spectrum. How do you explain that?

A. - Well, you're exaggerating a bit with metaphysics and philosophy. It's just every person forms a certain attitude towards life and certain way of thinking, and a lot depends on it. But yes, if analyzed, my views of life are in fact more optimistic than my music (laughs), it's just happens that way for some reason. By the way, some people after listening to my music say that this guy must be a very depressed person. But it's not the case at all. I don't think there are terms in music like grim, depressing, cheerful etc. When creating music, a person is immersed in this particular state that is impossible to compare with anything, it is euphoria and darkness and sadness at the same time. I was interested in creating something slow, dark, for listening in solitude. So the listener would understand something or at least felt something.

t. - So you don't see your music playing in front of the audience? Or live concert is a different story?

A. - I think a live concert is a very different story. It's something unimaginable and you have to present that properly. Generally, I see my music playing in front of the audience, but I feel like my muse isn't ready for that yet, she's very shy and distrustful, you know (laughs). Naturally, to play my music for a pleasant audience is on my wish list.

t. - My favorite tracks of yours have female names – Alison and Melissa. I wonder if those ladies exist in real life and if they know that they have music numbers created after them?

A. - Those are my favorites, too (laughs). No, everything is more abstract with me in that sense, my music in general is one big mysterious abstraction. It would have been too simple if I fell in love with some wonderful girl and dedicated a song to her. Alison, Melissa – they are collective female images, they can be put together from imaginary details as well as real. They are two main heroines of my album that exist in the form of a sound track. Non-material dolls that came to life through my melodies. There are parts of Alison and Melissa in every one of us.

t. - If you would compare your music to a different kind of art, would your tracks be more like paintings or works of literature?

A. - I think my music is more like painting. Literature is more sensible and informative, I guess you could create an abstraction with words as well, but it won't be the same, too specific. Painting is different story. You look at the painting, trying to find the meaning that the author was trying to convey, but then you get lost in your own thoughts, filling the painting with your own meaning. As a result, you see and think whatever you want. I was in Musée d'Orsay in Paris and there I couldn't tear myself away from the impressionist paintings. Every new look at the panting - a new idea, thought, try to guess what the author wanted to convey. This is a great field of creative planes. Our thoughts are so free and vast that one can easily get lost. But maybe there's no meaning in the very search for the meaning? Same thing with my music.

t. - Tell us about your last album – Hibernation. Why did you find the idea of seasonal dormancy so attractive? What was the reaction to the release?

A. - I came up with the concept for this album a long time ago. I wanted to create something mysterious, homogenous, wholesome. So the first track of the album would be the entrance door and the last - the exit door, and everything in-between depends only on the listener. Hibernation – album-dormancy. It's a background for listener's thoughts that I carefully painted. In this album I tried to express feelings and emotions from walking through a big supermarket at night, when there's no one around, from walking in the rain in the evening, etc. Hibernation is the music of emptiness. Empty cafes at night, empty airports, supermarkets. It's this strange feeling inside, when there's you and this place surrounding you, and from non one being around this certain state of lethargy is born. State of unreal. I think I hit the bull's-eye in the sense that if someone would ride an empty bus at night listening to my album, he'll understand what I'm talking about. About reaction. I don't know, it's Russia. There are some good comments, seven hundred downloads on the [torrent] tracker and whole bunch of links in search engine. Some berate, some praise, everything as usual.

t. - Is there a possibility to hear something diametrically opposite from you in the future? Say, an album based on feelings from being at a carnival, in a packed subway, etc.?

A. - Quite possibly, that's most likely to happen. I want to astound the listener with the latitude of my musical talent (laughs). And in general, when every album differs from the previous one, it's wonderful in my opinion; variety is always interesting. But don't expect any club-house from me (laughs).

t. - You mentioned that Hibernation could be the last Aqosto release (at least for a long while), and there are plans for some new project. Could you elaborate on that?

A. - Yes, that's true. You see, my very first release was a compilation of some confusing tracks that were made "on my lap"; I was looking for my style back then and was trying myself in almost every genre. The second release Blurred Paints EP is more coherent, polished, cohesive. And the third release, actually Hibernation a wholesome album, with my idea actualized. I want to say that I gave myself a word to always progress and jump above my head. As far as quality, mastering, the manner of performance Hibernation isn't the best album I'll be capable of writing (laughs). I feel like the last album is far from the limit of my creative abilities. That's why I gave it some thought and decided that I need to do something really grandiose, to record a worthy, high-quality, amazing album, with vocals etc. And for that you cannot just manage with a home computer with speakers. To realize my idea I'll require a studio, a collective, knew knowledge and skills in sound editing, new contacts. You know what I mean? All in all, I have plans to put together my own actual band and record a wonderful album. As you know, in Russia you need lots of resources for that, money as well as time. And I still need to get my higher education diploma, work in the field etc. So for now I had to put project "Music" into a cabinet labeled "Until requested", I hope the time come when I'll open it, dust it off and start fulfilling (laughs). Some say that I'm a wuss, because I don't put all my bets on music. I cannot do that, music has always been in the background for me, I know that it's a rather wrong position, if you want to become a successful musician, but I will break the stereotypes (laughs).

t. - What would you like to say to your listeners - the current ones and the ones that are just about to discover your music?

A. - Listeners, thank you for being there, even though I'd have just as much fun if you weren't (laughs). Seriously though, I'm very pleased to see if yet very few but so such warm comments on trackers, LastFM and other sites. One positive comment on my release gives a very powerful emotional charge for the future creative achievements. As long as there are listeners, there will be music. Generally, I'm glad that I already managed to hammer this short word "Aqosto" into Google. That's not bad already. Thanks to my listeners for that.

Keep hammering this word into Google (and Bing, Yandex and even Yahoo Search). I hope that this cabinet labeled "Until requested" won't stay closed long enough to gather dust and we'll still hear from Aqosto, and maybe even see him in concert. Let's be optimistic, just like he is.

Yuna - "Live Your Life"

A fantastic entry from Polish project Cuefx Band. Good quality video (yet with some indie "umm, wtf do we do now?" moments - dude walking through the woods - check!) and, more importantly, an awesome track, overflowing with energy and beauty. Director unknown, but there's a long list of folks who worked on the video at the end there. Can you feel this cosmic drive?

Cuefx Band - "Cosmic Drive"

Karmacoda is up next, with a suitably dark video for their single "Epic". I could have done without the intro (or outro for that matter), but the song is well worth the wait. Well-crafted (yet pretty uneventful) video directed by Luis Otavio Feldens.

Karmacoda - "Epic"

Next video is everything but uneventful. Ninjas, sword fights, car chases, explosions, weird creatures - all there, beautifully animated by Gavin Reed. The song is ass-kickingly good as well.

Novie - "Funk 3 (Get Next To You)"

While there's no ninjas in the next animated video, there are some truly ninja-like skills being demonstrated by all people involved: director Mathieu Foucher, musician Berry Weight and featured vocalist Astrid Engberg. And anything that has any kind of Alice In Wonderland reference automatically gets some major bonus points in my book.

Berry Weight - "Equations" (feat. Astrid Engberg)

From animated fantasies back to real life... or something like it. I mean there's hardly anything "real-er" than a parking garage, right? Watch Bix Medard slowly making their way back to light through countless stairways captured by videoartist Walter Mirtl.

Bix Medard - "Take A Deep Breath"

And now let's go up in smoke, or rather smokes, for there are many different kinds of them of various color and consistency in this video trip directed by George Cressey. "Smoke?" - you may say, - "Meh". You just watch, it's quite fascinating. The songs is from the excellent album Dreamcoat, available now at Bandcamp for a suggested donation (and I'm suggesting that you donate some).

Moth Equals - "Influx 2"

The final three videos are somewhat thematically similar - all of them based on footage filmed at artists' studios. First up - Frost Nova, a very talented group of musicians from Ukraine, proving again that you only need a camera and someone to hold it to make a good music video. Having a good camera, someone who knows how to hold it right and an attractive frontwoman doesn't hurt either of course.

Frost Nova - "UG"

Next band takes the concept of using what's available at your disposal one step further - not only is their video basically just a footage of them singing in the studio and some kind of train station, the song itself uses a private ad posted in a paper as its lyrics. Now that's what I call resourcefulness!

Goo Goo Gish - "Brussels Charleroi"

And last but no means least is the amazing Mimi Page with a heavenly cover of Skyrim's "Secunda". Breathtaking. And as simple as the video is, that final grainy shot - ooh, so haunting and so beautiful! (In case if you didn't notice I have a big crush on Mimi Page :"> ).

Mimi Page - "Secunda" (Skyrim Cover)

I guess I could have picked some other release for review, since I'm only posting 1-2 per month of those. It's not like Yuna, with over a million Likes on Facebook and with forces behind as powerful as mighty Pharrell desperately needs extra promotion from my miniscule web entity. So this is just for your benefit, dear reader, for it's easy for an indie music hound like myself to miss a mainstream release that is actually, well, really damn good. It may not work for you if you like your electronica super-dark and with tons of heavy beats and drops. There isn't much hip-hop here either, the album floats somewhere between Morcheeba-esque mellow beats and melodies that reminded me of Frou Frou (a lot). Just listen to the first track, "Lullabies", and if the magic of Yuna's voice won't work on you then you're a heartless human being don't bother listening to the rest of the record. Yes, it is an incredibly sweet album, even the less optimistic songs (like my favorite "Fading Flower", which is a pretty bitter number if you ask me) are suspended in the lighthearted fluff of Yuna's heavenly vocals, airy beats and playful instrumental arrangements. So fuckin' what? One of my co-workers once said: "I feel sorry for people who don't like chocolate. Their lives must be very sad." I feel sorry for people who don't like this kind of music. I might be feeling a bit nostalgic right now, but I just feel like ever since that Frou Frou album there wasn't a record that delivered such clean, clear, sweet listening pleasure. I think the consistency of the album is the main reason I liked it so much. There simply isn't a single bad song on Yuna, they all vary from just good to stunningly beautiful. There is no needless experimentation or desperate trend following, it's all about just simply being good, knowing that you're good and using that goodness to the fullest. While you can easily spot Pharrell-produced tracks, nothing feels forced, Yuna's vocals roll freely with that signature rhythm of his. There are moments of quiet intensity, like in "Lullabies", ventures into "a girl with mandolin" ("Tourist") territory, and the album can easily survive being broken into separate tracks for soundtrack and compilation purposes. But why would you pull apart a beautiful bouquet if you can enjoy it in it's meticulously composed entirety? I would advise against it. Savor this album there might be another decade until the next one like this.

R.I.Y.L. Frou Frou, Morcheeba, Raffaello candy
personal favs: "Fading Flower", "Lullabies", "Live Your Life"

5 out of 5 stars tipkin's rating

I'm not a huge fan of the expression "best kept secret". Whenever I hear it I always think of some weird conspiracy or somebody trying to push their crappy work using it as an excuse for no one giving a shit. "Ooh, it's a best keep secret!" Nope, it's just shitty. But on some rare occasions I actually do get it, and this is one of those occasions. When I found out that 2econd Class Citizen is releasing a new EP, this exact thought formed in my brain: "I actually know this guy and I fuckin' love what he does, but you probably don't know him, because he's one of the trip-hop's best kept secrets". It isn't a secret for those music gourmands who quickly bought out the first print of the EP on vinyl, but 2econd Class Citizen remains pretty much unknown to the majority. Hopefully not for long. The new full-length is due next month and if it is as good as the EP, I expect a lot of positive buzz.
It seems like everyone is trying really hard these days to not use samples, go as instrumental as possible and create new sounds. How about creating good music? That certainly seems to be the focus of Outside Your Doorway EP. The sound is so effortless and careless that at the first listen is easy to miss all the layers and details just going with the flow of the music. But this is exactly what makes the record so good - the skillful combination of many (crazy) elements, the seamless pattern of very different parts that somehow totally make sense together. Take away the folk-y vocal sample from the title track and it turns into just another example of melancholic instrumental trip-hop. Leave the vocals without the beat - and it's just a dusty folk song from a scratched up record. 2econd Class Citizen manages to make folk sound fresh without any artificial aftertaste. "Liberated Lady" throws some funk into the mix with the beat intensifying and promising a journey filled with surprises. Buddy Peace adds a bunch of tribal elements to his remix of "Liberated Lady" and then Dday One cranks up the insanity with the creaky remix of "Outside Your Doorway", which made me go "Oh, that's a nice touch!" a few times - like when wind chimes came in or when I realized that cicadas are used as an instrument. I'm usually lukewarm towards rap - it's not exciting enough to me to be the main element of the song, so "Insect Forms" (feat. James Reindeer) didn't really make a lasting impact, but I did appreciate the dark atmosphere. The EP concludes with "Outside Your Doorway" (Know My Soul Mix) that paints a quite different, dark and menacing picture of the world that is out there. A nice and smooth transition from "fun and games" of the first two tracks to mysterious and scary to plain darkness and abyss towards the end. It's not easy to achieve such cohesiveness on a short EP, but it doesn't seem to be a problem for 2econd Class Citizen. I don't know what kind of story his LP will tell, but I'm surely want to be the first one to hear it.

2econd Class Citizen - Outside Your Doorway EP is available now from Equinox Records, which gave us the excellent J.Baracuz - A Contemporary Witness EP last year, so these guys definitely know their music.

Quite a few tasty video-nuggets last month, so many in fact that I can now officially refuse to consider shots of blurry moving lights or of a static radiant CGI blob a music video. Below you'll see how talented folks use their talents (and in some cases a little bit of money) to create something worth watching to accompany something worth listening to.

First of all - Black Era is an awesome project from Italy creating the darkest and most beautiful trip-hop (think Massive Attack - Mezzanine dark and beautiful) and you should definitely check them out and download all their music (it's available for free from ...aquietbump label). Now that we got this out of the way - enjoy their new video directed by Ciro Ayala. Warning!!! Beautiful nude models! Not safe for work or your overall emotional state.

Black Era - "Court Of The Ants"

Next up - Fragile Architecture - an intriguing genre-merging project from France with a very simple but very smart, dark and well-made video by FAb. I like the approach - no bells and whistles, just let the music (and the scary digitized head) do the talking.

Fragile Architecture - "Armure"

Another dark one, urban-nightmare-graffiti-concrete-jungle abstraction from another French project - Scratch Bandits Crew. Some solid turntable skills there and nifty visuals from graffiti artist Brusk and motion designer ice©ream.

Scratch Bandits Crew - "Heart Beat"

Breaking the dark pattern (kinda, the video is still pretty sad), but continuing with the French bands is Shine with "Judas and Mary". Yes, I know, I did post a video for this song last month. But this is a different take on the song by the director Anna Chruscinska. Besides, the song is so good that if they'll make new videos for it every month I'll just keep posting them.

Shine - "Judas and Mary"

Speaking of patterns - Corduroi presents us with yet another entry in the category of "Beautiful People Walking Through Various Terrain". This time they are three very attractive young women who are being chased by three masked guys who are apparently up to no good. The video by Color Chart seemed a bit silly to me (those guys don't look scary at all, you just want to punch 'em right in those stupid masks), but the overall effect is quite enjoyable.

Corduroi - "Glow Worm"

And now to less elaborate (but great nonetheless) videos, starting with FoxMulder - a new band from Saint-Petersburg, Russia (I like how these video digests sort of replaced "Trip-hop International" compilations). That's pretty much all the information they provided (like most Russian bands they don't seem to like being famous). I must say I was more impressed by the artist's skills in the video than the music, but it's a very nice effort.

FoxMulder - "GrowUp"

And another project from Russia. At least I know that this guy's name is Alexander Solovyev, but I have no idea if this video of a giant paper plane is a found footage or was filmed for the song. Either way, it's pretty awesome. This, my friends, what I would call an ultimate chill.

Siba project - "F#ck"

And wrapping it up is a hopefully monthly contributor - kernfeld with another piece of his signature "film-hop". Genius.

kernfeld - "The Brain That Wouldn't Die"

For those of you who are wondering (still? this must be your first time here, so, welcome!) what is this album doing here on a "trip-hop blog" I have this to say: the facts that trippin' the rift is my blog and Shine's Guillaume Simon is my Facebook friend have something to do with it, yes, but they aren't the defining factors. I did refuse reviewing my friends' releases in the past and will do that in the future, if they don't fit. How does this one fit, you ask? See, if I were a strict stickler to the "trip-hop and nothing but" rule, we would end up only with reviews of Dusted Wax Kingdom releases and drool mixed with tears of sadness reminiscing of the early Portishead and Massive Attack. Who needs that? Shine - Judas and Mary belongs here just as much as, say, Amon Tobin - ISAM or anything DJ Shadow produced since Endtroducing..... Utter darkness isn't a mandatory requirement for "trippy music", otherwise Nightmares On Wax or Morcheeba would have never been associated with trip-hop. And speaking of Morcheeba - the trip-pop pioneers' influence on Shine's sound is still evident, even though the band traveled a great distance in style since their 2007 debut The Common Station. Judas and Mary couldn't have been release at a better time - it came out on March 7th (and this is when my review was supposed to appear as well), a day before the International Women's Day and would have made a cute little present for your loved one. It's a very Spring album - filled with love, brightness, hope, as well as gentleness of that first green leaf and a few notes of melancholy immanent to the change of seasons. And to me (for obvious reasons) those little droplets of clear and cleansing sadness are the finest moments of the album. It starts with one of them - the title track is a sensual downtempo ballad that is not much about the story it tells as much as about the feelings, thoughts and things that are often left unsaid - the song takes time to explore these things, by draping Julie Gomel's soft vocals into airy, intricately constructed blanket of sounds. And the album ends with another quiet moment - "Et après?" is a jazzy instrumental essay, a live and changing image of... something, you can really let your imagination run wild to this one, just close your eyes and listen to all those instruments there (boy, I gotta say, they sure now how to work those live drums), it isn't an illustration that answers questions, it's an abstract painting that is asking them. And then there is the gorgeous "Où est-elle?" with its alternating waves of crystal quietness and dark intensity, like looking through a window of a ferry and seeing this water in spring - running free of winter ice but still cold and dark, and you feel like you aren't moving, but this water floating away from you taking all those tiny buildings on the horizon with it.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not dismissing all the up-tempo pop songs on the album just because they're different stylistically from what I usually listen to. They are good well-crafted and inspired. But I do think that those moments of quiet observation, of soft whispering and melodies that go straight to the heart - this where Shine, well, shines.

R.I.Y.L. Morcheeba, Saint Etienne, sun shining through clouds over water
personal favs: "Où est-elle?", "Judas and Mary", "Et après?"

3.5 out of 5 stars tipkin's rating

Yppah - "Film Burn" (feat. Anomie Belle)

Lesson learned while searching for videos - Youtube kind of sucks. Tons of search results with only a couple of actual music videos. Here's one of them - a very "old school" trip-hop from Netherlands, with a very attractive female lead with a very pleasant voice. Video by Video CAD.

Adoma - "Don't Change"

Continuing the theme of "attractive female singers walking through the woods/fields/hills" is Ella Gray. Soft, dreamy vocals, great scenery - very enjoyable song and video. Video by 2id communication (I think).

Ella Gray - "The Sun In My Arms"

Another lesson learned - copy your posts before publishing. Nothing worse than losing an entire post, kills the inspiration entirely. Luckily this is mostly about videos, and they didn't go anywhere. Next up - yet another "retro"-sounding number, a very Morcheeba-esque track from The Secret Project (Israel). The video is simple but sharp, clever and fun to watch. I quite liked this one and am hoping to hear more from this duo. Video by The Secret Project & Gal Muggia.

The Secret Project - "I Fall For You"

Speaking of retro - the next track goes way back to 1929 when the original of the song was written. The trip-hop reworking by Marienne BP is dark an decadent and the video matches the vibe. Directed by Marienne BP and Guillaume Saix.

Marienne BP - "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You"

As a smooth transition from vocals to instruments - the project that has always been pretty amazing at combining both. The stylish black and white video for the stunning "Butterfly Effect" by Lamb features beautiful people (walking through the woods, naturally) directed by Claudia Crobatia.

Lamb - "Butterfly Effect"

Skillfully combining classical instruments with turntables and trip-hop beats is Stephen Webber with a peaceful meditative piece "Na Pali". Great landscapes, beautiful music, what more could you ask for? Video by Jon Forsyth.

Stephen Webber - "Na Pali"

And the last two videos demonstrate creative use of stock archive footage. One of the most talented artists on Dusted Wax Kingdom roster, Jenova 7 blended together some trippy old animations into a cool jazzy video for two tracks from his latest album Dusted Jazz Volume Two.

Jenova 7 - "Enter The Void" and "Tunnel Rat"

And my new favorite - kernfeld took an already pretty bizarre 1970 instructional video called "The Pleasure of Your Company: Military Etiquette and Grooming" (I'm not even kidding) and dropped some trip-hop beats on top of it for an extra-trippy effect. Enjoy.

kernfeld - "unnamed (v1.2)"

Send me some videos for March digest!

tipkin - What was first – music or poetry?

Mimi Page - Music. I started composing instrumental songs on the piano at age 5, long before I could properly read or write. Music is great like that, you don't always need words to describe feelings - music is a wordless language within itself. I got heavy into poetry + prose from the 5th grade and on. I love the English language and playing with words in different styles and forms to describe my feelings. I always thought I'd become either a film composer or a novelist, I never considered merging the two and becoming a songwriter. Discovering amazing songwriters like Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Seal, Trent Reznor and Ani DiFranco in high school really woke me up to the merging of both worlds. Those artists kind of paved the way for my own craft.

t. - Was electronica always a part of your music or was there a transition from “This Piano Girl” to “This Piano + Programming Girl”? You are often classified as “trip-hop singer” – how do you feel about that?

M.P. - I think I have somehow morphed everything I love about each genre of music into my own unique style. Each and every one of my songs take on their own identity depending on their instrumentation and structure. I've been labeled Trip-hop, Dream-pop, Dream-wave, Down-tempo Electronic, Ambient, etc…but you can find traces of Classical, Blues, Jazz, Soul, Rock, Industrial, and World within my melodies and rhythms. "Breathe Me In" (the song) is structured like a Pop song, but uses a lot of Asian instruments giving it a World Music feel. "Gravity" is a Down-tempo Trip-Hop tune influenced by the Blues with its chromatic piano and vocal harmonies. "Black Valentine" has an Industrial feel with it's heavier production and aggressive rhythms. "Jigsaw" is your bare bones piano-girl Acoustic Pop ballad. Songs like "Come What May", "Phenomenon" and "My Vanilla Sky" all have that soothing sound that gives me the "Dream-Pop" title, which is what the majority of my older and newest songs sound like. I generally gravitate towards that ethereal dreamy vibe but if I'm pissed off I'll come out with a "Black Valentine" or "Colorblind" which is awesome because the songs end up being something I can really rock out to. The BPM of my songs tend to fluctuate like my pulse, when I'm relaxed they're chill and down-tempo and when I'm worked up they get faster and louder.

t. - Releasing Breathe Me In was a long journey. Can you share some of the most memorable moments?

M.P. - I finished the majority of this album pulled over on the side of the road at my former night job. I was a delivery driver for a small, privately owned grocery store. In between runs I'd be looping demo tracks in my CD player trying to come up with lyrics and melodies. When the right words would come, I'd pull over and write them down on my iPhone and then sing the melodies into my voice recorder. I finished "Gravity," "Come What May" and "Colorblind" in that delivery car. My favorite memories are when I'd listen to myself on the radio during my night shifts. A few of my songs got picked up by radio and every time I heard "Gravity" or "Come What May" on a bad shift, it would make the nights pass by a lot faster. It gave me hope that I wouldn't be there for the rest of my life.

t. - You have one of the most supportive and dedicated fan bases I’ve ever seen, and you keep in touch with your fans. Is it hard to maintain such relationship as your music becomes more popular? Is there a typical “Mimi Page fan”?

M.P. - I think it's fascinating how diverse the age/gender/race demographic is with my fan base. I've got love from teenagers, senior citizens, and every age in-between. All different types of ethnicities and cultures across the world. There's no "style" of listener, it just seems to be everyone who's discovered me. Maybe it's like the genre thing, I don't fit in one specific demographic, I kind of belong everywhere. The ones who have been following me a while are very dedicated. It's pretty amazing, every day I wake up to these beautiful heartfelt emails and messages from strangers describing how my songs effected them. We're a team in the end, I give to them and they give back to me. When I'm feeling blue I read my messages from them and they keep me going.

t. - Can you tell us a bit about your blog? It seems like it’s a very important part of your life as an artist as well.

M.P. - I'm equal parts composer and writer, when the words fail me I sit at my piano and express what I can't verbally. When the music dries up… I play with words. I write prose whenever I've got a music block so I keep the creativity flowing. I love writing for a music magazine now, it's fun. Lemonade Magazine offered me a monthly column after reading one of my blogs. My writing tends to display more of my humorous and sarcastic side which is absent in my music. My writing and my music are like two different personalities, two different sides of myself.

t. - Let’s talk about your upcoming tour. Who are the lucky ones that will be able to see you live? Are your live shows much different from the sound we hear on the album?

M.P. - I'm super excited about this tour! It'll be very intense for me…as I'm a complete novice when it comes to touring. I'm a slave to the studio, so I can go 14+ hours of nonstop recording, but the traveling and live rush of different faces and places is completely new for me. We've got 9 straight dates, a different city each day and no days off. It'll be really intense but totally amazing at the same time. I think this will be the biggest learning experience of my entire artistic career thus far, and I think it will inspire a ton of new songs from me. As for my live band, we are a trio. I've got my drummer and bassist: Damian Fink and Mehdi Hassine. Not only are they fantastic musicians, they have so much respect for my music and totally bring my recordings to life. They are also fantastic people and I love hanging around them, all 3 of us met in recording engineering school so we're big tech nerds. Aside from being in my band, Damian is the sound engineer for the Jay Leno show and Mehdi is a professor at several different universities. They are both brilliant and inspiring people.

t. - What’s in the future for Mimi Page?

M.P. - So many things! I love collaborating with other artists, and I've got quite a few songs on the verge of being released. I just finished writing a really beautiful song with Bassnectar for his upcoming album VaVa Voom. I'm also wrapping up some awesome collabs with Phrenik, Gladkill, and Kezwik. Warren Huart and I are working on a down-tempo trip-hop cover of Blondie's "Call Me" which is risky because of how awesome the original is, but I love the challenge of taking classic songs in completely new directions. I did that with Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" last year, you can sample those covers on Youtube. Warren is also my co-producer on Breathe Me In and he's currently working on the new Aerosmith record right now which is SO exciting. I LOVE Aerosmith, their classic hits are amazing but my favorite tune of theirs is "Pink" - I've watched that music video a zillion times. As for my own original material, I've got a couple of new tunes which I'll debut on my east coast tour. One of the new tunes is called "Black and Blue" and I think it's my favorite song I've written so far. It's not finished, so you'll only be able to hear the live version, but it will definitely give a taste of what my next record will sound like.

Can hardly wait! I will also have to wait for a while to see Mimi Page live, but if you happen to reside along the East Coast make sure to catch her show - visit www.mimipage.com for dates and also check out her Facebook page for updates and sweet little gifts that she keeps giving to her fans.

From my neighborhood, I'm proud to present the debut EP (mini-album, really) by the Chicago's Tensei - a sharp, confident (yet groovy and vibrant) release. Simple X and Midas Wells demonstrate their skills (and they certainly got them) and many talented Chicago musicians (such as Scarlet Monk or Khari Lemuel) make memorable guest appearances.

Don't judge the next one by its cover - Kaminanda - Gateways Of Consciousness album art may suggest that it could be some sort of meditative relaxation muzak, and the tribal elements are plentiful but they are just spicing up a no-nonsense breakbeat/dub foundation of the record, offering one hell of a trip.

Of course I did not forget DJ Food! How could I? Combining ultimate darkness with ultimate fun, The Search Engine is a dish that some may find hard to swallow (or even bite into), but they just need to work on their palate. There is an exclusive Q&A with DJ Food in the works, so stay tuned for that as well.

This one is still a sweet mystery to me - I got the copy a while ago, but still hadn't listened to it - I'm saving it for later so I can savor and enjoy it thoroughly. At least I hope I will. I don't want to be disappointed, but judging by Frank Riggio's previous works, which I'm a big fan of, I'd say the chances of me liking his new LP Psychexcess I are pretty damn good.

And last but not least, a little bright spot of French-ness - the new release from Shine - Judas And Mary, which, as mentioned in the previous post, doesn't really fall into the trippy music category, but still has a couple of very sweet downtempo numbers and what the heck, spring is almost here, time to open our hearts and ears to love and pop music!

A-a-and, for dessert I have a few upcoming interviews - with Mimi Page (who is about to go on her East Coast tour), our very own Aqosto (who is working on a very interesting international project) and The Atomica Project (who are just awesome). This is all coming soon, I promise, so stay tuned!