“Mascha Kaléko has been compared to Morgenstern, Kästner, Ringelnatz, but that does not exactly meet the point. She has the playfulness, the satirical fierceness and the witty diction of those poets, but along with her there comes a yearning, a tender fragility that takes ones breath away ...” (Jan Schulz-Ojala)

This EP single contains three settings of english translations of poems by Mascha Kaléko: „ Blasse Tage“, „Kein Kinderlied“, „Nachts I und II“ as well as an original composition the music and content of which goes together well with these.

Viviane Kudo‘s deeply felt vocals, exuding calm and intensity at the same time, combined with the harmoniously atmospheric, rhythmic and melodic guitar arrangements, make this cd an intensive and moving musical experience.

Canadian artist Dave Goodman’s new cD, “No Rest For The Wicked” pays hommage to his musical roots as well as his cultural roots.
With four songs from Jimi Hendrix, one from Turlough O'Carolan, one from Frederic Weatherly and five of his own, Goodman takes the listener on a journey through his north American past, his european roots and into his musical present. In his own unique style he bridges and blends his influences, but still there is no mistaking his wide, Americana atmosphere, and always his deep Blues feeling.

At home in his adopted home town of Osnabrück-Wüste, he is more than comfortably familiar with the place; it's a welcome inspiration for song-writing. Why "gems" - where do they come from and what sort of songs could they be?

A colorful hummingbird stirs up bittersweet melancholy — the Chelsea Radio duo introduces its first CD ever, “Hummingbird Girl”.

On the album, Franziska Günther’s frank voice and dynamic guitar blend with Peter Jack’s mellifluous fretless base lines, giving rise to lively song landscapes. The skillful compositions from these two authors shuttle freely between frolicsome joie de vivre and contemplation, they describe personal events and philosophize about love, life and the universe. In their chamber music-style songwriter-folk, these two artists amalgamate artistic bohemia with pragmatism.

Their spectrum of songs ranges from the fragile ballad “Angeline”, recorded with an acoustic guitar only, to “Grandma’s Waltz”, which is infused with the reverberations of Manfred Leuchter’s accordion, passing by the grooving-percussive “The Sun Goes Up”. In their arrangements, Chelsea Radio and co-producer Ian Melrose create other stimulating accents with the mandolin, banjo, lap steel guitar and tasteful percussion.

The idea for launching the duo arose during a festival in Mecklenburg, when Franziska discovered a five-string banjo backstage and started playing Joni Mitchell's “Chelsea Morning” on it. Peter spontaneously accompanied her on the fretless bass in typical Jaco Pastorius manner. In the meantime, that session engendered a perfectly coordinated duo, which, after countless concerts, has now released its first album. With “Hummingbird Girl”, these two have produced a wonderfully diverse and touching CD that will enchant you more and more with each new listening.

Click on the graphic to read the CD's booklet:

“I was talking to a friend who also writes songs, and we were lamenting that with all the effort and time spent on perfecting and polishing our songs into great recordings, we often miss the naked soul of the song that was so clear in the first rough recording of it when it was first conceived.

What I tried to do with this album is to capture that magic by allowing the songs to remain nude and vulnerable in their first forms. A careful abandon.”

Matt Epp

The word on the singer and guitarist from Hanover, Markus Rohmann, is that he writes "songs of beauty and disaster, from the heart and in the German language." That is a perfect summary. Even though there are many other aspects of this songwriter, who, to paraphrase him, would like to marry his mother tongue with his Anglo-American musical roots.

The trained music pedagogue, who made his way to the guitar via the piano and the saxophone, exhibits his outstanding abilities as a singer and guitarist, composer and writer who really draws in the listener with powerful imagery. Another Rohman trademark is his slide playing on a lap steel guitar, which blues fans will especially appreciate. Liveliness, intimacy and authenticity: these may well be the best words to describe Markus Rohmann. And if anyone needs comparisons, then look for Stoppok, Pohlmann and Niels Frevert, though it would hardly do justice to the uniqueness of this highly ambitious and exceptionally talented musician, who can be discovered through "Wenn sie schläft."

Whenever the media discuss Viviane Kudo, the daughter of a Japanese concert pianist and a German orchestra musician, they are unanimous in their praise of her "beautiful and startlingly mature voice filled with emotion", of her "quite unconventional, and even at times magical, songs", or of her affable stage manner. The 22-year-old artist finetuned her debut album for three months together with guitarist Jo Schultz. The twelve songs featured on the CD are unique in their own way and underscore Kudo's emotionally responsive voice, which radiates both calm and intensity at the same time, be that in deeply sad ballads like "I'm Your Killer", the wonderfully harmonious folk-pop number "Take My Sleep And Kiss", or the slightly jazzy waltz duet "Don't Apologize". Our view: "Well worth hearing!"

CD only available in German language.

Der Titel Wüstenkulturerbe hat einen regionalen Bezug und trifft ziemlich genau den Inhalt der CD. Die Aufnahmen wurden weder technisch geschönt noch geglättet. Und wenn Jakob verschnupft und mit Halstabletten bewaffnet im Studio singt „mach doch heut’ mal alles richtig, hab ich mir gedacht, und dann hab ich erstmal alles richtig falsch gemacht“ spürt man, dass man es mit einem Musiker zu tun hat, der eigentlich gar nicht entdeckt werden will. Einer, der Musik aus Spaß an der Sache macht. Dass er trotzdem entdeckt wurde, liegt wohl an seiner fast unwiderstehlichen Anziehungskraft, an seinem lockeren Umgang mit der Musik und mit dem Publikum, besonders aber an seinen unterhaltsamen Songs.