Discoveries: Little Dragon + Crazy P

Awaiting the Park Live Fest in Sofia next month and listening to my beloved Lamb, I thoroughly checked the line-up and came upon two names, which after prelistening had to share with you.

Little Dragon

Little Dragon is a trip-hop/downtempo band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band is fronted by Yukimi Nagano, who has also worked with alt/folk singer Jose Gonzales. Nagano's father is Japanese and her mother is American, but she has spent her entire life in the Nordic country. She grew up listening to American folk, although she drew inspiration from R'n'B and New Wave as well. The other members are Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrick Källgren (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). All of them come from various music backgrounds, thus their stylistically rich eponymous debut album from 2007.



Crazy P

Crazy P is an English house music project, which was started in 1996, when founding members James Baron and Chris Todd met. They shared the same passion for home-made music, which samples old records incorporating various electronic specialties. Soon they started playing in clubs and attracted the attention of the label Paper Recordings. In the following years the duo grew to the size of a band, adding vocalist Danielle Moore, guitarist Tim Davies and drum-player Matt Klose. With the new line-up Crazy P went beyond the boundaries of house music and started creating indietronica, funk and downtempo.

Discoveries: FlyKKiller

I really hated it when I overlook some great stuff and afterward have to shame myself with belated posts and praise, but one cannot hear absolutely everything, which is my excuse...I guess. Luckily the excellent music eventually always reaches my ears and befriends my soul. Such is the case with the Polish-English act FlyKKiller, which is formed by Pati Yang and Stephen Hilton (who are married as well). It was started as a electro-rock project, but it immediately started incorporating elements of trip-hop, dark-electro and alternative pop. Pati Yang is famous for her solo project being the pioneer of trip-hop music in Poland, making the way for loads of Polish alternative projects. The debut album "Experiments in Violent Light" on 1st October 2007 with mainly positive reception by both critics and fans. The duo has already announced their second studio release on its way this year.

Stuck in my mind: Joy Division - She's Lost Control

Joy Division is among the bands that I have known for years, but have never actually listened to them. I have given them a few tries, but never made it to the center of my heart...not until today. One song made it closest to the bull's eyes and given me the fuel for a further exploration of their music, which has become a cult. Of course, time will have to pass before the band really grows on, but at least a couple of tracks have won my fan support. The song that immediately drew my attention was "She's Lost Control", which is a fine example of the pure post-punk movement that later inspired the whole gothic scene. Probably many of you cannot make the connection if they haven't listened to some gothic bands, but if it wasn't for bands like Joy Division many other contemporary acts would have never seen the light (for good or worse).