OK, so itās a couple weeks old. I hadnāt been to Kisseyās site for awhile, but was happy to find this nice little Christmas present that she had gifted to all her fans. HAHA, I like the word gifted, it makes me feel sophisticated when I say it 
. Oh well, enjoy āHolidayā, you can pick it up here! By the way, production was done by a dude named Hollywood Raff.
Looks like your not the only one with racing stripes Kansky!
Santogold and Sam Sparro are the albums I have been anticipating the most this year. Now with the release of Santogoldās self-titled album on Tuesday, I just have to wait for Mr. Sparroās to drop here in the states. Not to worry though, I came across this video of him in the studio covering Estelleās āAmerican Boyā for the Radio 1 Live Lounge that will keep me tied over for awhile. In my mind he killed itā¦the arrangement is crazy catchy, with nothing but drums, bass, and a keyboard. Now compare his version to Estelleās version, from the same Radio 1 Live Lounge, but it just isnāt cutting it for me. Maybe Iām biased since I donāt really care for her after some comments she made about Adele and Duffy, plus I just donāt think she has a great voiceā¦.but you be the judge. I wonder how long it will be before Estelle tires to say that Sam isnāt soulful enough or is not āherā music. In my opinion, judging from these two versions, Sam has more soul in his pinky finger than she will ever have.
Ever since hearing Andreya Triana on Flying Lotusā āTea Leaf Dancersā, I have been unable to stop listening to her. Floating in that gray area in between musical genres Andreya always keeps me guessing on what she will bring to the table next. Here is a recent interview I had with herā¦.
Q: When did you first become involved with music?
A: I think its safe to say Iāve always been involved in music even from the days of primary school getting heavily involved in school productions and making mix tapes at home so its just grown from there.
Q: Who are your inspirations?
A: Iām inspired by artists that have their own strong creative identity, have consistently produced good music and have also had long and successful careers. People such as Bill Withers, Bjork, Prince and Stevie Wonder are four such artists that inspire me and that I also look up to.
Q: How did you manage to hook up with Flying Lotus?
A: The track āTea Leaf Dancersā happened totally randomly! We were both selected for the Red Bull Music academy in Australia in 2006. There were so many collaborations happening on a daily basis between us all Iām sure we all had about 15 different tracks on the go! Flying Lotus just passed me this beat on a CD as we were passing in the corridor so I listened it and liked it. We got some time in the studio and I came up with lyrics on the spot. I remember the whole process of making that track being really quick.
Q: What was it like being part of the Red Bull Music Academy, and being around so much talent?
A: It was a life changing and mind blowing experience to say the least. We were 30 people selected from all over the world so everyone bought their own unique talent to the whole experience. The academy put people in front of me that I would never have dreamt of working with, so you couldnāt help but to learn something new from each person. Also the lectures we had really inspiring and gave me tips on my creativity, the music industry and everything in between. I heard music I never would have listened to and worked with people I never would have thought to work with. I came home a changed person!
Q: Will any of the producers you have previously worked with (ex. Flying Lotus, Aaron Jerome, Kidkanevil) be doing any production on your new album?
A: No, so far Iām really blessed to have worked with some amazing people but really felt my album had to be about a self expression coming from me only. Itās a good experience doing collaborations but thatās different from writing a song from scratch that youāve put your heart and soul into and thatās exactly what I wanted for my album. I knew that I needed to find one person that I could sit with and work through my ideas and luckily Bonobo has stepped up to the job and Iām incredibly happy with the way its sounding so far!
Q: When will your album be ready and are you involved in any other projects?
A: With this first debut album I really didnāt want to rush it but itās really taking pace and will hopefully be done by May. I also have two other projects Iām working on which are The Dreamscape Soul Sessions; a live art and live music collaboration with my friend Sri McKinnon. Iāve been doing my Freeflo sets for a few years now (live acoustic set using only a sample to sample voice) and wanted to add a new element so Sri will be drawing live on a huge canvas on stage with me. My other project is a psychedelic / rock project called Annie & The Duke, our EP will be out within the next two months. Itās been lots of fun to do and really different from the music Iāve worked on so far.
Make sure to hit up her website to check out tracks from Annie & The Duke and her upcoming project with Bonobo!
Check out Kissey Asplundās debut album āPlethoraā from R2 Records on iTunes. If you like Muhsinah and Georgia Anne Muldrow, then you will definitely dig this Swede. Sheāll be hitting NY on April 6th so keep an eye out!
So Duffy was knocked out of the #1 spot on the UK charts this weekend by Estelle. Now, I can say that I like the nice throw back production on the track, but Estelleās vocals are not doing anything for me, just a little too mumbly for me. Ohā¦and Kanye is on the track as wellā¦
