Footprints Through The Snow is an elegant and sweet natured album that takes a Conor Oberst / Elliott Smith drift through tales of heartbreak and poignantly hopeful woe. Every so often it teeters in the direction of the Valley of the Twee, and with Belle & Sebastian currently lost on the spaceship T-Rex, there’s room for Ant in the valley. Ant’s voice is sweet, the songs are coy and charming, full of plaintive violin, wheezing harmonium, twinkly keyboards and strummed guitar, but none of this threatens to set the world on fire. It’s good, of its kind - there’s a lot of wistful daydreaming, and nowhere does anyone repeatedly sing “You’re beautiful...” in a constipated yelp. By track 9, though, it begins to outstay its welcome. There’s no real change in pace or melody, and nothing much to make you sit and listen right the way through. Thirteen tracks of much of a muchness, as pleasant as that muchness is, is a little bit too much. There’s not much else to say, really, so here are some reference points: Magnet, Gravenhurst, Bright Eyes, Aberfeldy and The Magic Numbers. He’s Swedish, by the way, and he recorded this album in Italy. On track 8, he sings about London and the Isle of Wight.

最近在shuffle里狂听Daniel Powter ，在路上，在地铁上，感觉这人就像一个永远在路上的诗人，随遇而安，只可惜他不能随时把钢琴带在身上，很期待看到夏天的DIANEL，大热天他总不见得还老戴绒线帽吧~ 总之，这是一张反复听也不容易审美疲劳的专辑，严重推荐Free Loop，Bad Day，Lost on the stoop

Pink Martini--the genre-bending, best-selling, supremely talented, and raucously fun twelve-piece ensemble that the New Yorker calls simply "beautiful," sophisticated," and "breathtaking"--returns with Hey Eugene! a twelve-track sonic journey anchored by deft songwriting and a no-holds-barred dose of cabaret showmanship. "We're kind of like musical archaeologists, bringing melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together to create something that is modern," explains bandleader, artistic director, and founder Thomas Lauderdale. Delivered with sultry grace by lead singer China Forbes, Hey Eugene! shines throughout--from the golden-era Hollywood melody of "Everywhere" to the French cabaret of "Ojala." Other collaborations anchor the set as well: the pan-world "Dosvedanya, Mio Bombino" with its Latin-meets-Russian beat and globetrotting subject matter, plus the Forbes-Lauderdale-penned sexy sway of "City of Night." Peruvian percussionist Martin Zarzar debuts the romantically complex "Mar Desconocido" and bassist Phil Baker adds the quiet beauty of "Cante e Dance." The group also mines the past for hidden gems, including the Japanese-language track "Taya Tan" and their first-ever recording in Arabic, "Bukra wba'do." Meanwhile, clever lyricism leads to an empowering dose of pop perfection on the title track by Forbes (about a boy she met at a party who asked for her number and never called). Finally, jazz legend Jimmy Scott makes a stunning vocal guest appearance in a duet with Forbes on the closing song "Tea for Two." With Hey Eugene! Pink Martini has returned with an exhilarating album full of uncompromising musicianship, hope, beauty, and joy!

To coincide with Katie Melua’s arena tour in October and November, Dramatico release ‘The Katie Melua Collection’. This two disc set is a musical summary of the 24 year old’s journey so far with 17 songs - including 'The Closest Thing To Crazy', Nine Million Bicycles', the number 1 duet with Eva Cassidy 'What A Wonderful World' and 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks – and a live DVD filmed earlier this year in Rotterdam. Highlights from Katie’s three albums (‘Call Off The Search’, ‘Piece By Piece’ and ‘Pictures’) are joined by ‘When You Taught Me How To Dance’, from the film Miss Potter, and three new songs recorded for this album release - Toy Collection (written by Katie for the MySpace film ‘Faintheart’), ‘Somewhere In The Same Hotel’ (a slow, bluesey song co-written by Katie and Mike) and ‘Two Bare Feet’ (a brand new, up-tempo, foot-tapping Katie/Mike co-write).

「要是你喜歡Sarah Records，喜歡簡單而清新的吉他音樂，或是陽光充沛的早上，甚至是繁星滿天的晚上。我想，你也會喜歡Club 8。」－－香港《MCB音樂雜誌》 如果說The Field Mice的首支單曲Emma's House，是啟發Club 8團員Johan拿起吉他彈起鍵琴，玩起獨立流行曲式的開端，那取自同名專輯的She Lives By The Water，便是自己重新認識Club 8的契機，尤其是樂團經過約兩年的沉潛。無疑地，Club 8早不見Nouvelle首張專輯時的青澀，在幾首Johan自認最喜愛的曲子當中，除了A Place In My Heart，其它像She Lives By Water、Love In December和Falling From Grace, Johan如大師般地計算製作，在曲子外衣上著了一層又一層朦朧水色，漫出柔如絲綢般地電音質感。 還是要聽聽Club 8的爵士流行招牌，到底成熟了多少。Boyfriends Stay放緩腳步的Bossa，與封面Karolina甜甜淺睡的面容映照，外頭的陽光催眠似地遙遠；短短50秒的兩首，London和I Don't Need Anyone，木吉他簡單地撩撥，學足偶像Blueboy，而Johan和Karolina則有默契地各唱一首。Hope For Winter從樂器裡出來的所有聲音，都像在雪地上輕輕印上雪痕，讓人打從心底裡伴著舒服。Club 8的專輯總是配合季節發行，第一張Nouvelle在夏天，第二張The Friend I Once Had在秋天，這張Club 8在冬天，最新的Spring Came，Rain Fall在春天，彷彿刻意安排的巧合，量身訂作各季節的心情；而Club 8也伴著自己，記錄了6年成長點滴。