STRICTLY GLOBAL

This week on Strictly Global, Danni channels her inner Ali G, and Bette Midler... yeah- I typed it 'cause it's true. Special guest Matt Olsen from wearelistening.org was in the house, and managed to serenade Danni to the point of tears... hilarious hilarious tears.  Oh boy, what an hour that's gonna be, with new music videos of musicians from Costa Rica, Scotland, those who are big in Japan, and more.

We'll check out the latest from the classically trained Australian songstress Kate Miller-Heidke who paired up with her husband to be the winning team of 2009's International Songwriting Competition.  And though she swayed away from her classical background to pursue pop music, she still managed to make it onto the stage of the Sydney Opera House last year, where she gave a critically acclaimed performance as Baby Jane in Jerry Springer: The Opera.  Yeah- I typed it 'cause it's true.

Taking a side-step from our usual line-up of international and underground artists, we'll touch base with some mainstreamers who've set out to help Haiti.  Various artists such as Lee Greenwood, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd and more, teamed up to sing "Come Together Now." 100% of the proceeds raised by this song will be donated to Samaritan's Purse and the American Red Cross in order to bring more help to Haiti.  You can learn more about the relief effort on their site.

And finally, we'll rewind the clock back just a little and take a gander at what's going on in the world of boy-band-ism... New Kids on the Block style.  Why did we even dare to air this?  Because they are planning to re-dominate the world in 2011. And that's a global issue.  A strictly global issue.  What?!  Ok, that's not true, but they are planning on releasing a new album next year- and that my friend- I typed, 'cause it's true.

-The only real way to look Icelandic Indie is not to be Pooped so soon.
- You can build an Indie Band with a Irish Car Bomb, but you can`t sit on it for long.
- The Universe does not have MTV -- it has Dawn, and Dawn can be Australian.
Clearly I was stumped on how to start off this week's show blog, so I went the Mad Lib 'a la fortune cookie route, and got the important stuff across- new music videos from Australia, Iceland, Irish-American, and Indie bands galore all this Friday on Strictly Global.  Woo woo!

From Australia, electro duo Empire of the Sun (members stemming from The Sleepy Jackson, and Pnau) will make their SG debut (finally right!??) Their album Walking On a Dream went platinum in Australia back in 2008, but they are finally getting more recognition around the globe.  In fact they have been nominated for International Album and International Breakthrough Act at the 2010 Brit Awards.  Stateside, they've been compared to MGMT, i.e. they are visually stunning.  And like the name, they are totally visually inspired by all things Japanese.  Seiko!

We'll also check out the lastest from Iceland's Sigur Ros' frontman Jonsi, rocking the solo action (as Sigur Ros is on an indefinite hiatus.)  Usually singing in his native tongue of Icelandic, Jonsi has been known to sing in "Hopelandic."  Basically, it's just gibberish/nonsense words, but works in fitting the dreamy musicality of his and Sigur Ros' sound.  His album Go, a predominately acoustic and string set composed by Nico Muhly, is set to be released world wide on April 5, but it has already leaked onto the net, as of last week.  Grr!

And new stuff from Chris Merritt, whom we actually met on a past Strictly Global shoot with Danni.  A cool dude- he's been playing piano since the age of seven, where at that age he was obsessed with jazz and blues.  In fact, by age 12 he was already recording next to the legendary Marcus Roberts!  Merritt, former lead singer of Paperface, now rocks out with his new trio where he "plays the piano like a guitar" and combines the keys with 8-bit Nintendo blips (awesome!) And if you have any interest in low-budget music video competitions- check out his blog. He has a contest in the works right now to help promote his album Virginia is For Hoverers (Part II) due out May 1.  Sounds fun- do it!

Hey Irish folks, St. Patrick's day is right around the corner, so time to sport your Orange or Green.  Oh the silliness of religious wars during the holidays...  Put it aside, grab a glass of liquid steak, aka Guinness, nosh on some cornbeef, party like a leprechaun, and take a gander at some cool indie bands rockin' over in Ireland.

Such as 9Lies.  After releasing their debut album Behind It All back in 2006, they've cornered everything in the market that any indie band would strive for.  Their song "Blind" was the theme song for US show Our Prisoner.  Their song "We R1" was used in the video game Trucker 2.  They've played around the world from Poland to Brazil.  Their song "Slippin Away" was chosen by ASCAP for "Excellence in Song Writing" at L.A.'s Music Expo.  And they recently hopped onto UK's label Maddie Records!

Super new and already making waves throughout Europe is Dublin's own Reader's Wives, an indie rock troupe formed in 2008.  They basically formed after songwriter Niall James Holohan produced an album of his best 12 songs, and sought out like-minded musicians to build on that sound.  Eighteen months later, Reader's Wives was a strong bunch,  producing the critically acclaimed EP Secrecy & Sex in November of '09.  Just this week in fact, they released their US debut EP Victor's Mother Juliet.

And another highlight of current Irish indie rockdom is Sixteen Layers, who've been doing some extensive overseas touring abroad with our neighbors to the North...(that was a mouthful- so in other words, they are currently touring in Canada.)  They actually formed back in 2006 under the name Alligator, but changed it in 2008 before releasing their debut album I Am No One.  Last July they won the Dublin leg of Indie Week in Ireland, where they then were invited to perform in Toronto for Indie Week Canada last October.  And yet even cooler, Sixteen Layers had their lives taped for the good part of 2009 from pre through post creation of the album Crawdaddy, which created the documentary Into The Hurricane.

Nacional Records is proud to announce this week’s release of ‘Fuerza Chile,’ a digital-only Chile benefit album. The album displays the strength of the country’s thriving music scene with 11 tracks from Chilean artists across Nacional’s catalog. All the proceeds are being donated to benefit victims of recent Chilean earthquake.

Nacional founder Tomas Cookman was in Chile with management and label artist Los Fabulosos Cadillacs for the Vina del Mar Festival when the earthquake occurred. Fortunately no one in the band was injured but Cookman suffered a bruised leg. The group ended up taking a van across the Andes Mountains back to Argentina and were able to witness the devastation firsthand.

Chilean mixmaster Latin Bitman was DJing a massive party when the earthquake occurred. He escaped but within minutes, Bitman noticed that the ceiling had caved exactly where he had been spinning.

Words courtesy of Nacional Records.

I've come to the conclusion that Danni may have "Inca Steppa" by Juno Reactor on perma-repeat in her head.  Seriously, she's always playing air trumpet.  And raving when no one but the camera is looking... someone get this girl some glowsticks! ;P  Anyway, this week she's the host-a-roni and we've got tons of global goodies to unleash onto you.

Including the latest from the French downtempo duo, Air.  Their North American tour starts this Saturday the 13th and will last all of March, before they head off to Australia for April.  Meanwhile, they are giving away tickets for band bench seats on NBC's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.  Check out their website to score those awesome spots!

We'll also check back in with one of our favorite past Nextwaver's Nirf, who have an awesome new video.  A new 3 song EP from this Japanese American former Nirvana cover band was just released this week.  90's alt rock continues strong like a tsunami through these dudes.  Love it.

We'll also showcase the Portuguese power-pop group Blasfemea, who are huge in the Lisbon pop underground, and ready to make the rounds in the states.  I can't read Portuguese so the history of these dudes remains a mystery to me.  But what I can make mention of is their latest album- Galaxia Tropicalia.  All the song titles are girl names, i.e. Maria, Eva, Ida, etc.  Perhaps, their mothers, girlfriends, sisters, or wives? The mystery will continue, but be sure to tune in to check out the awesome video sculpted by Portuguese video masters duo David Francisco and Maria Joao Carvalho. 

In other mysterious news, where the hell is Sawyer???  (Cue Lost theme music.)

Nacional Records is proud to announce the March 30th release of ‘Circular Colectivo,’ the long-awaited new album from Mexican rock pioneers Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio. While the groundbreaking band continues to be a touring powerhouse, this new release is Maldita’s first studio album in 12 years. The group will begin their album release tour with shows across Texas, including a major showcase at SXSW.

‘Circular Colectivo’ maintains the band’s signature high-energy ska/punk style with conscious lyrics that tackle the crisis which Mexican society faces in a rapidly changing global economy. It features guests like Cuban jazz piano great Omar Sosa as well as the band’s first instrumental tracks. “‘Circular Colectivo,’ is like the universal symbol of unity,” lead vocalist Roco explains. “The cycle of life, the information that passes from mouth to mouth, the circles of peace and dance, the blood in the body, the movements of the people, of the towns, the hearts of everyone beating together at the same time.” ‘Circular Colectivo’ was produced by Greg Landau in his San Francisco studios. The new album’s first single is "Pura Diversion (Fút Callejero),” a fitting anthem in a World Cup year. The track puts Maldita’s anti-capitalism approach into a simple soccer metaphor: “futbol negocio no es de nosotros, sin comerciales, pura diversion” (“soccer business is not our game, it's much more fun without commercials”). Basically, soccer is the one place where the poor man can defeat the rich one – in the game of the neighborhood.

“Quinto Patio Ska” travels across the band’s lengthy catalog of songs – a look back at their history. “Chacahua (El Grito De Luz)” is a tribute to the often-neglected African presence within Mexico. “Corrido Para Digna Ochoa” is a techno corrido that explores the story of the human rights activist who was murdered in 2001. “Expedientes Marcianos” is a Norteño ska track that reflects on global warming.

“We’ve never stopped playing and so throughout this whole time, we’ve written so much new material,” guitarist Pato says. “Finally, we put the songs to tape and we are so pleased with the result.”

Forming in 1985, Maldita Vecindad began playing in Mexico City’s underground circuit, developing an original fusion of rock, ska, and traditional folk rhythms. Their sophomore release, ‘El Circo,’ was a landmark album for Latin rock, selling a record-breaking 700,000 copies in Mexico alone, which was unheard of for a supposed underground act.

‘El Circo’ was produced by the renowned Argentine producer, Gustavo Santaolalla. Santaolalla encouraged the group to experiment and embrace the sounds and stories of the streets. The lead track, “Pachuco,” quickly became an instant classic and anthem for an entire movement. From there, the band only released several other studio albums, most recently being ‘Mostros’ in 1998. 

“After the album, ‘Mostros,’ our contract was finished with our label [BMG],” Roco says. “At that time, we had other offers on the table but we preferred to stay independent and begin to work with an infrastructure that permitted us to release albums in complete freedom. When we started with Maldita, our vision was pretty clear: to open doors for Mexican rock.”

“But when we released ‘Mostros,’ we also realized that our mission wasn’t the same anymore,” Roco continues. “We had done what we had wanted to help achieve: Mexican rock was known throughout Latin America. But it had also become a total industry, now everyone wanted to be a rocker! So we decided we had to create other goals.”

Maldita Vecindad paved the way for a generation of Latin rock musicians and fans. With songs that explore narratives and personalities within urban life, they continue to tear down cultural barriers and sell out major venues around the globe.

Words courtesy of Nacional Records.