LESLIE HELPERT – ULU

Ulu

Artist : Leslie Helpert

Release Date : November 24, 2009

Label : Whatabout Music

Format : CD

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On Ulu Helpert conspired with musicians from Spain, Greece, Guinea, Israel, Portugal and California to add cello, harp, Gaida (Greek bagpipes), upright and electric basses, vocals, trumpet and drum-kit to her musings. Helpert’s musicality comes through on the release in the form of guitar, Rhodes piano, electric bass, percussion, beatboxing, and her effusive vocals. Throughout Ulu, Helpert draws you in with her intoxicating style, using music a modality to deliver art into the moment. “Young Coconut Water”, the EP’s single, embodies this dreamy elegance.

 

“An ULU is an all-utilitarian tool Inuit women inherit to carry out many tasks in their daily lives, from chiseling ice for igloos to cutting their children’s hair. whatever dowry a man is promised in wedding an inuit woman, and whatever possessions she must hand over to him, no one can take— desire nor request—her Ulu.
I traipsed to Barcelona, stumbled into intoxicating love and adventure, wrestled burglars, buffered my immune system: made this EP with Dave Bianchi on Barcelona’s label Whatabout Music.” Leslie Helpert

 

  • Leslie Helpert: electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, random organ, noise
  • Oriol Roca: drums
  • Giulia Valle : double bass
  • Miguel Serna : bass
  • Nicholas Talvola : trumpet
  • Mû : vocals
  • Sasha Agranov : cello
  • Dimitris from greece : guida

 

www.helperttheagency.com

MAARTEN SWAAN – WRITE ME NOTES

Write Me Notes

Artist : Maarten Swaan

Release Date : May 1, 2010

Label : Whatabout Music

Format : CD

Recorded and mixed by Dave Bianchi at Emergency Room Studio (Barcelona). All songs written, arranged, and produced Maarten Swaan

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The debut EP from Melou guitarist/songwriter Maarten Swaan. After the breakup of Melou, Maarten decided to go solo, writing a group of songs inspired by the psychedelic rock bands of the late 60s and early 70s. A beautiful concept album, classic sounding with unique vocal arrangements.

 

  • Maarten Swaan: vocals, guitars, piano
  • Miguel Serna: double bass, electric bass
  • Oriol Roca: drums
  • Sasha Agranov: cello
  • Nick Talvola: trumpet
  • Àngela Llinares: violin

TAL BEN ARI – SHEELÁ

Sheelá

Artist : Tal Ben Ari

Release Date : December 18, 2012

Label : Whatabout Music

Format : CD

Recorded and mixed by Dave Bianchi at The Emergency Room (Barcelona)

Mastered by Kelly Hibbert

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The debut album from Israeli-born singer and songwriter Tal Ben Ari “Tula” featuring musicians from Africa, Brazil, Spain, Israel, France, Italy, Argentina, and Cuba.

Sheelá truly crosses genres.

 

  • Tal Ben Ari – voice, acoustic guitar, calimba
  • Joao Oliveira – acoustic and electric guitar
  • Martin Laportilla – bass
  • Paolo Angeli – guitar on ‘Corsicana’
  • Oriol Roca – drums
  • Dídac Ruiz – percussion
  • Omer Liechtenstein – piano
  • Mû – voice on ‘Shalva’
  • Man Ex Maqina – voice on ‘Ahavad Hadasa’
  • Miguel Serna – stand up bass on ‘Corsicana’
  • Rocky Albero – trumpet
  • Sasha Agranov – cello and saw
  • Ivo Saint – violin

 

www.talbenarimusic.com

SHAANAN STREETT – TOVA (A GOOD PROJECT)

Tova (A Good Project)

Artist : Shaanán Streett
Release Date : March 2, 2014
Label : The Eighth Note
Format : CD

Recorded and produced by Dave Bianchi at Emergency Room Studios, Barcelona

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Album notes from Shaannan Strett:

 

“I first started writing this project in august of 2005, three short months after my sister’s death. I remember clearly how terrible I was feeling, how drained of optimism and hope I was. I also remember, that upon sharing my feelings of emptiness and despair with those closest to me, the common reply would usually be that the only thing that can really help me with my pain – is time. It was for this reason that I started writing “the good project”. I started writing so i could see if everyone around me was right. if time can really assist in easing ones’ pain. In order to make my “experiment” a “scientific” one, I set myself rules- one poem per month. no more, no less. I managed to obey my rules throughout (almost) an entire year. I wrote, and the time passed. The time passed, and I wrote. Month after month the poems appeared august, september, october… and “the good project” started unfolding before my eyes…
A short while after completing the poetry part of the project, it dawned on me that i should try and get these poems composed. and so I did. I worked alongside three of my favorite living Israeli musicians (Shlomi Shaban, Berry Saharoff and Chava Alberstein) for approximately 2 more years until i finally had sketches of all twelve songs. to be honest, by this time I was rather satisfied. I was happy with the poems and I was happy with the songs they had become. I felt no need to go ahead and record them properly, “the songs are doing just fine in my computer” I thought to myself. “I like them just the way they are”, but fate decided to intervene.
In late 2011 the young sister of my friend and colleague was found dead in her apartment. While trying to condole him, and searching for words, I heard myself say that the only thing that can really help, is time. It was at that moment I realized that “the good project” must be recorded.
The recording of “the good project” took place in The Emergency Room studio in Barcelona during march of 2013 under the supervision of the incredible Dave Bianchi. Musicians from various nations took part in the recordings.

It is my belief that the outcome, though being a testimony of my personal tragedy, may prove to assist many others who have lost a loved one.”

 

  • Shaannan Strett: vocals
  • Arecio Smith: keyboards
  • Oriol Roca: drums
  • Miguel Serna: double bass, electric bass
  • Lisa Bause: violin
  • Tal Ben Ari: vocals
  • Nick Talvola: trumpet
  • Marc Mena: trumpet
  • Sasha Agranov: violoncello
  • Mathieu Aupitre: saxophone
  • Pablo Wayne: percussion
  • Marteen Swaan: vocals, guitar
  • Dudush Klemes: keyboards
  • Shlomi Alon: flute

 

shaananstreett.com

Press

 

Tova – A Good Project is a lot more than just a rap album, it is a living testimony of the journey that Shaanan Streett (the author) went through in the year after his young sister died from cancer.

Shaanan Streett is an israeli singer and song writer. He is the lead singer of the israeli successful band – ‘Hadag Nahash‘. ‘Tova – A Good Project’ his is second solo album, and the first one to be in english.

I heard about ‘Tovaa – A Good Project’ from a friend, I knew that it is about his personal struggle after his sister death. But I had to hear the powerful emotional texts to really understand what the album is about.

Shaanan described the album as an experiment to see if time can indeed ease the pain like he was told after her death. In the third month since her death he decided to write one song every month for a year. After he was finished writing all the songs he composed them along with some other famous and respectable israeli artists, such as Shlomi Shaban, Berry Saharoff and Chava Alberstein. It took another two years until he had the sketches for all the songs. But only after he found him self comforting his friend, by saying that ‘the time will ease the pain’. he decided to record it in a studio and export it as an album. the album released on february 2014, almost nine years after his sister death.

The album contain 12 songs, that were written each month for a year except april, instead there are early may and late may. And it’s cover representing his sister were gone from his family but her memories still remain. (they were three brothers and a sister)

You can truly feel Shaanan’s pain with emotional lyrics such as – ‘i realize that memories with missing details are like memories that are destined to be doomed’ (August) and ‘optimism seems to slip between my fingers like soap’ (July).

Shaanan truly evolving during the album, at the beginning of the album he is melancholy and having hard time dealing with his sister death ‘i bury myself with work pile it on stretch myself to the limit 18,19 hour days’ (september), ‘paranoid scared frightened terrified’ (october) and by the end of the album he is may not be happy, but he feels in control – ‘At least I know I can cope’ (July).

During the making of the album, two music video were released for the two singles – July and February.

I highly recommends this album. It is an unique combination between deep, emotional and painful lyrics to interesting composition decisions.You should defiantly hear this album. Yeerful (December 2014)

SAMANTHA DE SIENA – HERE INSIDE

Here Inside

Artist : Samantha de Siena

Release Date : May 4, 2010

Label : Whatabout Music

Format : CD

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It’s easy to imagine Samantha De Siena lost amongst the cobbled streets of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, laughing at the moon and piecing together the eight little gems that make up this bohemian dreamer’s sublime debut album, Here Inside. It’s very difficult not to fall to your knees at her feet while listening to a piece as delicate as I’m Coming. It almost sounds like a subtle mixture between the most transparent of Beth Gibbons and the most disconcerting of Cat Power.

 

  • Samantha de Siena / voice, acoustic guitar
  • Ismael Dueñas: piano, rhodes
  • Maru Di Pace: harp, acoustic guitar
  • Ivo Saint: viola, violin, handsaw, spoken word Here inside
  • Sasha Agranov: cello, saw
  • Nicholas Dominic Talvola: trumpet, flugel horn
  • Miguel Serna Dominguez: double bass, electric bass
  • Oriol Roca: drums
  • Mû: bells, pan
  • Sebastian Crispo: slide guitar
  • Borja Duñó: electric guitar
  • Marc Curcio: electric guitar
  • Danny ‘the Lip’ Lippitt: harmonica
  • Amanda Jayne: accordion
  • Paul Sessions: tuba
  • Dave Bianchi: glockenspiel
  • Pablo Arias: backing vocals
  • Rizumik: beatbox, voice, acoustic guitar

 

www.samanthadesiena.com

Press

 

A compilation of songs, as fragile and delicate as her voice, enriched with exuberant arrangements which carry us into a universe as luscious as a greenhouse garden… Her music, which isn’t easy to classify, reminds us of Joanna Newsom’s dreamy folk. Time Out Magazine (June 2010)

 

Singer-songwriter debuts with an evocative and beautifully unique voice. The music matches perfectly, reminding us of the graceful way in which Tom Waits dishevels his own albums. El Periódico (September 2010)

 

Folk, coloured by strong influences of jazz, accompanied with delicate arrangements, together paint the beautiful picture that characterises this composer. Her voice at times reminds us of Beth Gibbons from the nineties, and at other times echoes Cat Power in her first albums. Here Inside is an elegant exercise in style, and a wonderful demonstration of the spell that was cast over this city, as it gave birth to new talent within each music genre. Mondosonoro (November 2010)

JAZZ FROM CATALONIA 2012

Jazz From Catalonia 2012

Artist : Various artists

Release Date : February 2, 2012
Label :
Catalan Arts
Format :
CD

New edition of the compilation Jazz from Catalonia. 15 tracks with the most representative jazz artists in Catalonia selected by Martí Farré (music journalist) in collaboration with Susanna Carmona (coordinator of Jazz Terrassa), Ferran Esteve (translator and music critic) Josep Mestres (Barcelonajazzradio), Pere Pons (director of Jaç magazine) and Roger Roca (music journalist).

 

Oriol Roca appears on the following tracks:

 

El perro dejó de andar como una rata by David Mengual included in the album Maitia (Quadrant Records 2011)

 

  • David Mengual: double bass, piano
  • Joan Díaz: piano, keyboards, melodica
  • Dani Pérez: electric guitar
  • Giulia Valle: double bass
  • David Xirgu: drums
  • Oriol Roca: drums

 

Corsicanskaya by Piccola Orchestra Gagarin included in the album Platos combinados (Whatabout Music 2012)

 

  • Paolo Angeli: prepared sardinian guitar
  • Sasha Agranov: cello
  • Oriol Roca: drums
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