~JosieJo's Great Big Pair of
Tips
The JosieJo Show 29
Welcome to The JosieJo Show. This
week's two top tracks are brand new releases one from one man band
Funke and the Two Tone Baby and the other from swedish Electro-pop
creation Colleagues.
It's two great tunes hot off the press.
Music doesn't get much fresher than this. Thank you for listening
and letting me tell you about them.
So Funke and the Two Tone Baby. I
actually can't believe that I haven't played him on The JosieJo Show
before. Dan Turnbull is a one man band with the force of twenty.
He's one of my absolute favourite discoveries of the last few years
and he's tireless. Last year he played over 150 gigs. He's playing
many festivals this year and he's one of the main reasons I'm going
to Dogfest, Ferocious Dog's festival, in December 2014. Given how
often he plays and how many towns and cities round Britain he appears
at I can't believe I haven't managed to catch him live. Let me give
you an idea of how hard he works. Think of a festival and this
guy will be at it soon. May 1st Maidstone Fringe Festival,
Kent? Yep he's there. The Cosmic Puffin Festival, Mersea Island,
Essex? Yep! Funke and the Two Tone Baby will be there on Friday May
2nd. Then on the 3rd May he's playing Sweeps
Festival in Rochester, Kent AND The Renegade Festival at Cafe Rene in
Gloucester and on the 4th May he's at Filey Folk Festival
in Yokshore. I like Funke so much I had to go back to all the old
JosieJo shows to check I hadn't played him for you before. For a
full review of his excellent album “Battles” stand by for it on
Tumblr or go to my blogger page. Are you getting the idea that I
really like this guys music? When I heard he had a new four track EP
out called “The Last Thing We See is the Sea” I lapped it up.
See what I did there? Lapping of waves. Never mind let's move on to
the track. The track I'm going to play you is from that EP. It's
called “The Great Storm” and it's chorus is the title of that EP.
It has a great video which makes very moody atmospheric use of back
projection and it really shows Funke's energy. It's really this
energy that is so engaging about the music. This guy is a one man
band. You know like with a guitar and harmonica strapped round his
neck and percussion produced with any free limb he has, but he
engages with his audience so much, even asking the fans to come down
and soak him with water for one video and to film the song themselves
for another, that he manages to become an interactive phenomenon. He
pulls on the resources around him including his audience. “The
Great Storm” is characterised by its passion. It feels like a tale
told by a smoky fireplace by a wizened old man warning of the dangers
of living too much and for too long. There is an almost biblical feel
to it. The pace and energy kicks in right from the start, but watch
out for the middle section which floats into a false sense of calm
before the waves pound over you again sweeping you to the end of the
track. The wonderful and indefatigable Funke and the Two Tone Baby
and “The Great Storm”
Brilliant. That is out on the 16th
June 2014. Try and catch him live and report back to me if you do.
I'm making it my mission to catch him live at least once this year.
All his gig dates are on his website www.funkeandthetwotonebaby.co.uk
Aswell as being quite remarkable himself he obviously surrounds
himself with super talented people because his videos are all
superbly produced and his fans are so loyal. It's for talent like
that that I spend hours each week trawling through the internet,
going to gigs and pestering everyone I meet for suggestions and
pointers for great music.
This journey takes me in all sorts of
directions and I hope that you enjoy it with me. Let's take you to
Sweden next for electronic indie pop 'n' roll. Intrigued by that
description I discovered Colleagues. They have just signed to In
Stereo records which is a new label launched by Fierce Panda Records.
I don't understand how the music industry works these days and I
care even less. I know that I'll listen to anything and am
indifferent to what people call genres, but I'm also aware that we
like to call stuff by a name. All I know is that this is a great
tune to dance to. It's called “Tears” and it's one track from a
two track single “Tears/Parent's House” which comes with a free
tote bag and is out on the 28th of April. I love the
added value of music. I get quite inspired when releases become
events or have extra interest, but when it comes down to it it is all
about the track. “Tears” is about perspective, the passage of
time, heartbreak and of finding who you really are. It has swirling
dance beats and almost psychedelic sound. These make it feel as
though we are watching our own selves from a great height; like an
out of body experience or an epiphany. Time becomes an ever changing
thing in this track. This is Colleagues and “Tears”
There you go two tracks by two
different bands. I'm going to play out with another of my favourite
discoveries “Mountains in My Sunglasses” by Beartown Zodiac
because this is a “lift me up when I'm down” track and I really
want to share it with you. Please let me know if you have any
suggestions for bands or if you know of any gigs that I really
shouldn't miss email me on josiejo@josiejoshow.com Follow me on
twitter to hear about gigs and new releases from bands around the
world and thank you for listening. I wanted this week's outro to be
in Swedish in honour of Colleagues, but I don't know anyone that
speaks Swedish. I do, however have a German speaking friend so I got
her to have the final word. Standby for that right at the end. In
the meantime this is Beartown Zodiac and “Mountains in My
Sunglasses”
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