Old School Vs. New - Charlie Brown

Here it is: a classic battle between old school and new school, The Coasters vs. Ghostface Killah, infectiously fun doo-wop R&R vs. the street smart rapper. OK, so maybe they're two completely different songs - the gauntlet has been thrown down.

What brings today's battle to light? Remember reading about the Scion Sampler Vol. 19 - Daptone Records Remixed? Well our friends at Scion have struck again, this time dropping tracks by Wu-Tang rapper Ghostface Killah. They've taken his cut Charlie Brown and put out two singles which will be given away free at events across the country that Scion will be at (check the list here to see where you can get yours). The first single has the original track, an instrumental version, and an acapella version. The second singe has four guest DJs cutting and mixing the track with their own particular flair, resulting in four remixes very different from one another. The Orgasmic Remix for example, which you can check out below, not only has the best name but also has got a Euro-Mobyish house flow to it.

So which version ends up on top? Leave a comment, what do you think?

The Coasters - Charlie Brown : Charlie Brown 7" (get it on Yakety Yak: The Platinum Collection)

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown : Ghostface Killah vs. Rhythm Roots Allstars (get the album version on Fish N Chips)

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown (Remix By Orgasmic) : Charlie Brown Remixes

Show Scion some love for this fine music, visit their website.

Rockers

Although one cannot help but lament the loss of NYC's iconic CBGB's back in 2006, there is some small consolation in the opening of The Morrison Hotel Gallery in CB's former gallery space. With the arrival of the MHG comes a new exhibit named Rockers, slated to open April 24th from can't-come-up-with-adequately-grandiose-adverbs famous photographer Bob Gruen. If the name is not familiar to you, I can GUARANTEE you that some of his pictures, including the one of John Lennon above, are.

Much of Bob's work has become simply iconic, and the exhibit includes some 280 photographs, many of them never before exhibited in the U.S. - from John Lennon (with whom he served as personal photographer) to John Lydon (i.e. Johnny Rotten), Bob Dylan to Bob Marley. His work spanned genres and his art includes images of The New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, The Who, David Bowie, KISS, Elton John and Alice Cooper.

Not only is the exhibit chock full of images of some of the biggest artists of the last 40 years, it's absolutely free. As in costs you nothing. As in the best deal going in NYC. So, if you're planning on visiting the Big Apple, absolutely work this into your itinerary.


Death Cab For Cutie - Pictures in an Exhibition : Something About Airplanes

Def Leppard - Photograph : Pyromania

Jim Croce - Photographs and Memories : Photographs and Memories : His Greatest Hits

The Cure - Pictures Of You [Extended Dub Mix] : Mixed Up

Visit the offical The Morrison Hotel Gallery website.

Return to Forever Returns

Jazz in the 70's. It's almost as decisive as Van Halen fans debating David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar. If you're a fan of the genre, either the 70's was a decade of mind expanding experimentation or the apocalypse. There's really not much middle ground. Have no idea what I'm talking about? Super! Listen below without prejudice then.

One of the biggest names in Jazz and the development of Jazz fusion in the 70's was the super-group Return To Forever (the other I'd posit is Herbie Hancock). Although it went through many line-up changes, it always revolved around keyboardist Chick Corea and his expansion of the work Miles Davis did in the late 60's (Corea played with Davis for a little while, and coincidentally he replaced Hancock in Davis' band before setting off on his own). Jazz fusion was created to push the boundaries of what Jazz musicians were doing, and in the hands of Return To Forever, it became electrified into almost a pseudo jazz-rock hybrid resplendent with guitars solos and cinematic panoramas.

The band disbanded in 1977, but just this year they've reunited for a world tour, with band members Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola and drummer Lenny White joining together. As a companion to the tour, Concord Records has put together the double disc release The Anthology, which features remixed and remastered songs from four of the group's biggest albums: Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior.

If you haven't experienced the band's music before, it really is unlike any preconceived notions you probably have of what jazz music is. In some ways it's got a jam band feel to it closer akin to Phish than Louis Armstrong, in others it's an initial foray into electronic music. It's got the big wailing guitar solos of funk and classic rock but it also has a free-floating space-age feel to it. In many cases, all this is going on within one song. Regardless of what it sounds like, it always feels rich and complex. It's experimental in many ways, some of which work and still feel fresh, and others that feel dated. Jazz fusion was all about pushing the instrumental envelope and Corea and company did it better than most.

Return to Forever - The Shadow Of Lo : The Anthology (Disc 1)

Return to Forever - Dayride : The Anthology (Disc 2)

Visit their website, their label Concord Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

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Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man : Head Hunters

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Upcoming Tour Dates

Jun 24 2008 The Plain Dealer Pavilion Cleveland, Ohio
Jun 25 2008 Sony Centre Toronto, Ontario
Jun 26 2008 Ottawa Jazz Festival/Confederation Park Ottawa, Ontario
Jun 27 2008 Place des Arts - Pelletier Hall Montreal, Quebec
Jun 28 2008 Saratoga PAC - Freihofer’s Jazz Festival Saratoga Springs, New York
Jul 2 2008 Utenos Arena Vilnius
Jul 4 2008 Congress Hall Warsaw, Masovia
Jul 5 2008 Budapest Arena Budapest
Jul 6 2008 Belgrade Arena Belgrade
Jul 9 2008 Vienne Jazz Festival Vienne, Rhône-Alpes
Jul 10 2008 Conde Duque (Veranos de la Villa Festival) Madrid, Madrid
Jul 11 2008 Cap Roig Festival Girona, Girona/Gerona
Jul 12 2008 Lorca Festival Lorca, Murcia
Jul 13 2008 TBD Valencia Valencia, Valencia
Jul 16 2008 Neu Hardenburg Festival Neuhardenberg, Brandenburg
Jul 17 2008 Pori Jazz Festival Pori, Satakunta
Jul 18 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival Montreux
Jul 19 2008 Grugahalle Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Jul 20 2008 Museumsmeile Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Jul 21 2008 Indigo2 London, London and South East
Jul 23 2008 Nice Jazz Festival Nice, PACA
Jul 25 2008 San Sebastian Festival San Sebastian, Guipúzcoa
Jul 30 2008 The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre Miami, Florida
Jul 31 2008 Ruth Eckerd Hall Clearwater, Florida
Aug 1 2008 House of Blues Orlando Orlando, Florida
Aug 2 2008 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Atlanta, Georgia
Aug 4 2008 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland
Aug 5 2008 Mann Center for Performing Arts w/ the Flecktones Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 6 2008 Bank of America Pavilion w/ the Flecktones Boston, Massachusetts
Aug 7 2008 United Palace New York, New York

Kaki King in Concert

You might remember from a few months back when Kaki King shared the story for her song Life Being What It Is with me for my Sunday Spotlight feature. It came from her fourth album, Dreaming of Revenge, which hit shelves about a month ago now. This last Sunday night I was fortunate enough to catch Kaki and her band touring in support of the album in Northampton, MA.

Opening for the evening was Emily. That’s right, simply Emily (and her guitar). Kaki has included local artists to support the tour and Emily was brought on board for a handful of shows, including this one. Imagining a woman and her guitar will give you some preconceived notions as to what you can expect, and while Emily didn’t radically veer from what you might imagine, she did spice things up with a handful of diverse covers mixed throughout her short set.

The first surprise she dealt up was an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Even with no introduction, the crowd almost instantly caught on to what they were listening to. After another original, Emily re-interpreted Antonia Carlos Jobim’s Bossa Nova song Triste. Amazingly, even with just a guitar, Emily was able to capture the Brazilian feel of the tune. She was also able to pull off The Allman Brothers’ Whipping Post (in the middle of which she worked in Jimi Hendrix’s Manic Depression) and The Beatles’ Oh! Darling. All were delivered with a bluesy voice over her single guitar. If anyone out there has a link to Emily's website, please share so I can add it.

The main event of the evening, obviously, was Kaki and her band. As can be expected from a guitar virtuoso, the stage was packed with guitars which Kaki drew upon, switching to a new instrument nearly every song. Most of the material from the evening was drawn from their latest release, which if you haven’t heard is a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks. I think for me, the most striking aspect of the album, even after having listened to it for a few months, is how different sounding and feeling some of the tracks are. On some there’s an airiness filled only by Kaki’s delicate vocals, but in others her voice picks up a deepness quite removed. Instrumentally, the album’s sounds parallel Kaki’s voice. In concert, this dichotomy is preserved.

Perhaps the most entrancing part of the evening, as you could surely guess based on her reputation, was seeing Kaki work alone on her instruments. Listening to the album is one thing; it’s easy to imagine all sorts of studio chicanery when it comes to intricately woven sounds. Actually seeing how Kaki persuades those sounds to come out in person is another thing. Within her grasp the instrument becomes part drum, part piano (with the way her fingers play over the fretboard), part guitar. Even in person it's hard to believe what she can do.

The band has a few remaining dates before Kaki heads down under to Australia. Catch her if you can.


Kaki King - 2 O'Clock : Dreaming of Revenge


The Allman Brothers - Whipping Post (live) : At Fillmore East

Visit her website, her label Velour Music, and become her friend on MySpace.

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Remaining Tour Dates

4/9/08 New York, NY Bowery
4/10/08 Philadelphia, PA WCL
4/11/08 Baltimore, MD 8 X 10
4/12/08 Washington, DC 9:30

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Previous readers might notice a little change this morning. That's right, after nearly 2 years, MISB finally got a makeover. New banner, new background, but still all the same musical meandering. Check it out, tell me what you think!

David Bowie - Changes : Best of Bowie

Sunday Soul - Otis Blue Revisited

Soul is a word that has many meanings. In the pop-R&B world of today it usually means an intensely dramatic performance by a singer, projected with such feeling that it reaches out and visibly moves the listener. It means that the singer is saying something, sometimes even more than the lyrics themselves might normally convey. Soul is not something that can be feigned – you either have it or you don’t. Otis Redding has it, to a degree almost unrivaled by any other young singer in sight.

-original Otis Blue cover notes

Mention the name Otis Redding to most people and the association they’ll make is with the song (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay. That fact is both ironic and a shame. Ironic because the song he’s most well known for wasn’t released until after his untimely death, and originally possibly wasn’t going to be released at all. In fact, the song isn’t really representative of the stylistic feeling of the majority of his work, rather a glimpse at where his creativity was leading him. It’s a shame because Otis was perhaps if not the best, at least one of the best male soul vocalists to ever come along, and that fact is often overshadowing by the overwhelming popularity and success of that one song.

Although Otis’ story was cut tragically short, it’s an interesting one. He had an incredibly lucky break in 1962 when he had the opportunity to cut a solo track (These Arms of Mine) in the famed Stax studios. At the time Otis was singing (and working as a chauffer!) for a musician named Johnny Jenkins and his band the Pinetoppers. The band had hired out the studio to do some recording, and finished up early, with 40 minutes left of session time. Otis stepped up to the mic, and as they say, the rest was history. Otis split from the band and went on to become one of Volt Records’ (a Stax subsidiary) most talented and successful artists.

Otis continued to record with Stax and his popularity grew immensely. Unlike many black soul artists of the time who were limited to primarily producing 7” singles, Otis was afforded the opportunity to create complete albums which sold quite consistently. Possibly the most famous and artistically crafted was cut in 1965: Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul.

The album is a collection of eleven tracks which are, to be quite honest with you, amazing from beginning to end. There is absolutely no filler here. There are Redding originals here, including his original version of Respect (with a different feel to it compared to Aretha Franklin’s equally satisfying cover), a stirring version of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, a BB King song (Rock Me Baby), a surprisingly refreshing Motown cover (My Girl), an equally surprising Rolling Stones cover (although perhaps not so surprising as the Stones’ love of Blues and Soul is well known and they in turn had covered many Redding tunes on several of their albums), and a powerfully heart-wrenching William Bell song (You Don’t Miss Your Water) to close the album out.

Almost as amazing as the sounds on the album is the story behind the recording process. The entire album was recorded in 24 hours. All of it. The musicians showed up in the studio and started to jam at 10 in the morning, worked through the day, woke up at 2 AM the following morning, and had it wrapped up by 10 AM the next day so Otis could hop back on a plane and get to a concert he was performing. Equally interesting is the fact that the album was recorded both in mono and in stereo simultaneously.

Which brings me to the point of today’s Sunday Soul. The album has been re-released in a collector’s edition by the folks over at Rhino Records as a 2 disc set. Disc one contains the original album in mono along with some bonus material including some alternate recordings and singles, and six tracks recorded live at the Whiskey A Go Go in 1966. Disc two reveals the album in stereo along with an alternate take of Respect (a mystery recording with a faster tempo) and five tracks recorded live in Europe from the Stax tour in 1967. As a package, it’s very coherent, and includes some well written and revealing liner notes penned by Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A. – The Story of Stax Records, quite possibly the definitive tome on the historical Memphis label, and the liner notes of The Complete Stax / Volt Soul Singles Box Sets.

Otis Redding – Change Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover) : Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector's Edition Disc 1)

Otis Redding - Shake (live in Europe 1967) : Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul ( Collector's Edition Disc 2)

Visit Otis' official site and Rhino Records.

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Otis Redding – (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay : (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay 7”

Otis Redding – Sweet Lorene : (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay 7” B-side

The Rolling Stones – I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Otis Redding cover) : Got Live If You Want It! (original version on Redding’s Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul)

Sunday Spotlight - Kensington Prairie

This week, I'm proud to introduce Kensington Prairie to you in the Sunday Spotlight. Although she gets some help on a few of the tracks, for all intents and purposes, Kensington Prairie is the solo project of Rebecca Rowan, the singer / songwriter of Vancouver band Maplewood Lane. She's stepped outside of the group to put together ten tracks that she's written herself and collected together under an album titled Captured In Still Life.

Becca was kind enough to take the time to tell me about Crooked Things Straight, the seventh track on the album. Text in red is her, black questions are mine.

Kensington Prairie - Crooked Things Straight : Captured In Still Life

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Songs are often a mixture of reality and fiction, and the lyrics can come without even the artist knowing the whole meaning- the powerful thing about that is, that a song can then have multiple meanings at different times for the artist and listener. I think a lot of the time, this is the case for my songwriting. Although with the song, Crooked Things Straight, it came pretty specifically.

I wrote it within a year of having our first daughter. At that time it seemed a bunch of our friends were going through some rough stuff, especially a few of my friends struggling through post-partum depression. So, with my specific friends in my thoughts, I sat on my bed, looked out the window at the big whispering Fir, and tried to work through my feelings by strumming and writing.

The lyrics in the first verse, " ...all our friends are dropping like flies", refers to that sense of helplessness when you see people you love, walking through something difficult. Sometimes there are no easy answers to pain, and that's why I often use questions to work through what I see going on around me, "...tell me, tell me, is there a way to make crooked things straight, or to replace all the joy to your eyes?".

I think when you start to really look Life in the face, you realize everybody has their secret sorrows...none of us are untouched, that's what I'm referring to in the second verse's lyrics, "...seems so lately, all the rivers are flowing to the sea, and the sea's never full of her misery". I think we all go through seasons, where it seems bad things happen around us, and then we go through seasons of relative peace. When you're in that season of turmoil, it's hard to make sense of it and that's what the chorus speaks of..."you never really know, what kind of things will show up in your way/ you never really can tell, the ringing of those bells in your ears/ or what kind of black cloud's gonna start raining down on your parade".

When I was recording this song in the studio, laying down the scratch tracks I had one of those inspired moments and the ending of the song just came to me minutes before putting it down (I had never been satisfied with the way I'd had it before) and it just seemed to pull the whole song together, to end on a note of hope- "...don't let it get to you, it's the best you can do." There's a lot in life that is out of our control, sometimes we get dealt the wrong hand...but for me, this song is just about taking it one step at a time, and believing that you'll get through it. Subsequently, my friends whom I wrote this song for have found a way through to the other side, and feel stronger for the journey.

And a few additional questions for Becca:


1.) How did writing and recording this album differ from your work with Maplewood Lane? Did you find it less confining working on your own? Have these songs been kicking around inside you for a while just waiting to come out or did you give birth to them after deciding to record an album on your own?

With the Maplewood Lane recordings I had my guitar parts and vocal parts that I would put down in the studio usually after the drum and bass tracks were already done...so the songs were already in the form we had rehearsed. I think what was really freeing and fun for me with this solo project, was that I came into the studio with a set of songs that were really mine to make into something- and I loved that creative process. I think being able to tinker with xylophone, vibraphone, rhodes, guitar, harmonica, vocals, jingle bells etc. made each song feel personalized. Of course, having a producer like Jon Anderson around who has an ear for every instrument under the sun made it all the more fun! I think it is less confining working on your own, but it's also scarier...because you don't have the safety net of everyone else's parts and input.

Most of the songs on the album had been percolating in my head for awhile, songs that perhaps wouldn't fit on a Maplewood Lane album...so, that was really what prompted me to embark on a solo project. With Maplewood Lane becoming more electric, I wanted an outlet for these songs that would allow them to meander through a simpler landscape.

2.) Listening to and reading your lyrics, I noticed that all of your songs deal with time - either looking forward or, more often, looking back. Was that a conscious choice on your part or did they just develop on their own that way?

I think that I am a reflective person by nature, so most of my songs have this underlying theme...I guess I am fascinated a little with time, and the effects of all its experiences upon us. As a kid, I grew up partly in Africa, partly in Canada and partly in India...so I think the travels, the many goodbyes, the many places and peoples that I've seen have had a huge affect on how I see my world and the processing of my own story within that framework. So, no it wasn't a conscious choice to write these songs that way but it was neat to bundle them all together and notice how they flowed even though I had written some of them recently and some of them quite a few years earlier.

3.) Is the picture of the young girl on the cover you?

The picture on the cover is not me, but it is a picture of my husband Nathan's mom. She was about three in that picture, and there's something about her expression that really captures the feeling of the album.

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The album comes out a little under a month from today, on April 22nd. It's full of dreamy Americana-esque tracks that really revolve around Becca's soft and sweet voice. Much of the album centers itself on two topics: separation and time (as noted above), and although somewhat melancholy, it carries an upbeat hint of hope. For those readers north of the border, you'll be able to catch two songs from the album, A Million Skies and Disappear from View, on the CBC’s brand new show Heartland. For those of us in more southern climes, enjoy the following tracks and then pick up the album.

Kensington Prairie - Time On Our Side : Captured In Still Life

Kensington Prairie - Crooked Things Straight : Captured In Still Life

Visit her website and become her friend on MySpace.

Sunday Soul - A Tragic Anniversary

Forty years ago this last Friday, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. How might this world be a better place if he was still with us?



Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Birmingham 1962 -- Keep Moving : Every Tone A Testimony : An African American Aural History

Nina Simone - Why (The King Of Love Is Dead) : The Very Best Nina Simone: Sugar In My Bowl (Disc 1)

The Chi-Lites - (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People : (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People 7"

The Chi-Lites - Troubles A' Comin : (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People 7" B-side

The Sojourners - Eyes On the Prize : Hold On

The Impressions - We're a Winner : We're a Winner 7"

The Impressions - It's All Over : We're a Winner 7" B-side

Mavis Staples - My Own Eyes : We'll Never Turn Back

The Staple Singers - Long Walk To D.C. : The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles 1968-1971 (Disc 1)

Cover Wizards

Just a little bit of down home fun for you on this fine Friday. The band's called The Loose Acoustic Trio and yes, you guessed it, that's the trio in the picture. They're putting out an album titled Sorrow Be Gone on May 20th, and although I haven't had a chance to check out the entire album, I did get lucky enough to check out their cover of the classic Who song Pinball Wizard. As covers go, this one is simply brilliant. It takes a song that everyone and their grandmother knows and turns it on its head, retaining the lyrics and the basic idea of a melody, but not much else.

The band puts together a combination of accordion, 6-string banjo, bedpandolin (a mandolin forged from a metal bedpan), upright string bass and three part vocal harmonies that when assembled give them an old-time Cajun jug-band feel that will bring back memories of the Squirrel Nut Zippers but with a little more hillbilly feel. Download it here, and if you like what you hear, you can listen to the rest of the album on their website.


The Loose Acoustic Trio - Pinball Wizard (Who cover) : Sorrow Be Gone

and of course, the original:

The Who - Pinball Wizard : Who's Better, Who's Best

Visit their website, their label Big Book Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

A Ball of Wax

I don't even know how to start talking about Ball of Wax. It goes something like this:

1.) gather together a bunch of skilled but diverse musicians - a whole bunch of them (35 if you're counting)
2.) split said musicians into eleven randomly selected bands - the only rule is no one already in a band together could be working together here
3.) give said random bands 24 hours to write and record one song
4.) each said band would come up with a name for themselves and a name for their newly birthed song
5.) assemble said songs into one collection
6.) title said collection Ball of Wax Volume 11
7.) listen to said collection and be amazed

OK, enough with the "said" stuff. To piece it all together, it's quite a creative project that gives birth to some truly diverse results. Due to the nature of the project, the album as a whole doesn't necessarily gel as a complete and well-rounded work of art, rather consider it a gallery of songs where each song is meant to be taken individually rather than as a piece of the whole. Keeping that in mind, there are some tracks that will amaze you when you consider the timeline of their production and leave you wondering why the members don't get together to make an entire album together, and there are one or two tracks that seem like the group's members never totally came together as a cohesive unit with a unified vision.

Check out the second track on the album, the exotically titled Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant, below. It's got a Lou Reed feel to it that I'm definitely diggin'. It was recorded by Kiernan (from Hecka Ar), Kenny Day (from The Luna Moth and Secret Highways), and Jon Rooney (from Virgin of the Birds and Morning Spy). The trio came together under the name Daughters of Darkness, inspired by a Belgium horror movie of the same name.

Daughters of Darkness - Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant : Ball of Wax Volume 11

Visit the compilation's official site and its label Beep Repaired.

Barry Adamson - One Cool Cat

Few artists can boast such a diverse career as British musician Barry Adamson. In the late 70's Adamson joined up with ex-Buzzcock Howard Devoto in the formation of the group Magazine. From there he went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and stayed with that band for their first four albums. After that he began his solo career, during which he's produced several soundtracks. Later this month (the 22nd to be precise), his seventh full-length album comes out in physical form, titled Back to the Cat (you can get it digitally now though).

If you're not familiar with Adamson's work, Back to the Cat has got a smoky jazzy feel to it that would feel right at home in a old gumshoe detective movie. It's got a film noir sense to it that makes you feel almost dirty listening to it, but at the same time posing as the femme fatale that you just can't resist falling for. As the album progresses, you'll catch some organ and horns thrown into the mix to take you out of the juke joint and into the realm of soul and even a little funk. It's nearly impossible to classify the album as a whole as it shifts gears numerous times between beginning and end. Try the following two tracks to give you a slight sliver and then if you like what you hear you can either download the whole album now or order it later this month.

Barry Adamson - Spend A Little Time : Back to the Cat

Barry Adamson - Civilization : Back to the Cat

and one from his last album:

Barry Adamson - Who Killed Big Bird? : Stranger on the Sofa

Visit his website, his label Central Control, and become his friend on MySpace.

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - In The Ghetto (Elvis Presley cover) : From Her To Eternity

The strings of Lili Haydn

Out today is Place Between Places, the third album from Violin artist virtuoso Lili Haydn. Violin, you might ask...as in Stradivarius? That's right, although you won't find any classical lullabies to put you to sleep here. Lili takes an instrument that's been around for hundreds of years and employs it in novel new ways. Due to her skills with the strings of her instrument, she has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (playing Kasmir), Tom Petty, Josh Groban, Sting, and is a sometime member of George Clinton’s Parliament–Funkadelic (which explains her cover of Maggot Brain which closes the album and is available for you to listen to below).

While the album clearly falls into the category of pop, don't be too quick to dismiss it. She does a wonderful job of composing melodies that weave in both her gorgeous voice as well as her skilled violin playing. Listen to both the opening track, Memory One, and the closing cover track below to try a taste of her string work.

Lili Haydn - Memory One : Place Between Places

Lili Haydn - Maggot Brain (Featuring daKah Hip Hop Orchestra) (P-Funk cover) : Place Between Places

and one from the end of last year:

Lili Haydn - Goodbye Stranger : Goodbye Stranger EP

Visit her website, her label Nettwerk Music, and become her friend on MySpace.