STRICTLY GLOBAL

(by Dawn Reed) Ok, so I literally just saw the trailer for the game Dead Island and it kinda makes me want to buy an Xbox because, whoa dude whoa dude whoa dude, that was insanely creepy.  But chances are I won't.  I've got my trusty PS2, which recently got the dust brushed off for some Reservoir Dogs (the game) shoot em action with the stellar soundtrack from the film.  And I'll most likely not be joining the touch phone revolution anytime soon either because I like to look up at the world. I also like to watch videos on TV, and there's going to be a good line-up of them presented by host Danni Rosner this Friday with new stuff from Iceland, Argentina, Turkey, and more! Plus we'll check out an interview I had with the DC based hardcore band Domino Team.

Straight out of the hippest musical city in the entire world, we'll be checking out the latest from Brooklyn's  trip-hop femme fatal duo CREEP (Lauren Flax and Lauren Dillard.) With only a few songs on an EP available for download, (one of which features guest vox from Romy of the British minimalist band The XX,) they will be touring throughout the US and Canada late March through April.  Their logo is rad. Their sound is so rad.  Their music video is super rad.  You'll see.  Watch it on TV, not your phone!

And Lemmy makes a guest appearance on the show!  Oh I wish... But he does make a guest appearance in the video we'll air from one of the hardest rocking acts out of Canada Danko Jones.  Dude's been breaking free of the popular "indie-rock" sound of Toronto since 1996.  From his bio: He’s a top charting artist in Europe and he’s added the titles of “Spoken Word Artist,” “Music- magazine Columnist” and “Internationally Syndicated Radio Host” to his formidable list of aliases (The Mango Kid, Dr. Evening, The Brown Panther). 

Speaking of Lemmy... check out this awesome new Foo Fighters video.  Geniuses. 

Meet Norwegian horror-house pop act Tôg - sizzling synthesizers, 60's combo organs, arpeggio swirls and thumping, italo-house beats. Beginning through a chance encounter, songwriter Lars Christian Olsen and his room mate would conduct "disturbing" sessions of electronic music experimentation using laptop synthesizers and an old Farfisa organ. But as luck will have it with true musical genius, the two came to produce "Sansen" - a massive Summer hit in Norway.

  Joining forces with trusted friends and fellow musicians, the two began experimenting with various noises, perfecting and shaping the signature Tôg sound. Playing a string of shows across Norway, as well as national television and the highly reputable Hove-Festival and Øya Festival, the bands' popularity in their home country continued to rise - playing packed clubs, dancing on couches, tables, barcounters and speakers.   Now, the band has set their sights stateside to play a selection of US dates to spread their infectiously dark and dancey tunes that give a nod to gypsy music, horror film scores, trip-hop and house legends.

  To celebrate their upcoming US tour, Tôg will be releasing a very special limited edition 10" vinyl for 'Reint Mel (I Påsen Din)' here in the US on March 22, 2011 through Brilliance Records - a double sided masterpiece of all their hit-singles in Norway to date including remixes by Teengirl Fantasy - and more!

Words Courtesy HighRisePR

(by Dawn Reed) Great, grand, wonderful week for music- just a couple hours ago my fav band of all time, the Strokes, stream released their new single "Undercover of Darkness", revisiting their classic 2001 sound with a new pumped up perspective- beyond radical!  And did you catch the new release from Aussie electronica Cut Copy?  Zonoscope, which has been in the works for months now, has track titles that, dare I say, totally coincide with the current news in Egypt.  They totally pulled a Nostradamus ya'll! More on that later... for now let me just say we've got another awesome line-up of videos on Strictly Global this week as we bring you the latest from Argentina, France, Mexico, and more!

We'll check out a trippy video from the Brooklyn based psychedelic rock group Prince Rama, comprised of sisters Taraka and Nimai, and their friend Michael, all of which were raised on a Hare Krishna commune in Florida. Their recent release (4th) Shadow Temple, was put out on Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks, and they'll be performing at this year's All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in the  UK, in May, olè!

And we'll check out the latest from Scotland's indie-folk band Broken Records who are usually compared to Arcade Fire, the Verve, and the Levellers. They'll be touring the US pretty soon, kicking it off in DC on Feb. 20.  Let's show them that an American audience can dance ceilidh style at their shows too!  

Alright, now back to the whole Cut Copy vs. Egypt thing... Check out these song titles: "Sun God"- Ra. "Pharoahs & Pyramids"- Totally Egypt. "Need You Now"- A change in their government. "Take Me Over"- What protestors don't want. "Where I'm Going"- Protestors pushing for an outcome.  "Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution"- history is being made over there dudes.  "Strange Nostalgia for the Future"- when future tourists visit the Egyptian Museum and see headless mummies, they'll remember that the heads were taken during this time in history. "This Is All We've Got"... ok maybe I'm reading to much into it.  Or am I???

(by Dawn Reed) Snow! Aggh, shout out to all the east-coasters who are most likely stuck indoors today, I’m there with ya, and if it keeps up like this tomorrow, at least you can tune in to Strictly Global for a soundtrack hot enough to melt the ice off your car.  And a shout out to all our new viewers in L.A. who’ve been showing lots of love and requests since we began airing there.  This week many of those requests will be on as well as imports of rockabilly from Argentina, to the sunny sounds of Australia, and we’ll check out an interview we had with the Floridian emcee Dominique Young Unique!

We’ll check out the latest from UK’s soul singer Corinna Bailey Rae, who’s most recent LP The Sea was nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2010. It was also the winner of Best R&B Album of the Year and she won Best Soul/R&B Artist of the Year at the 2010 Soul and Jazz Awards.  And just this week she released Love EP, featuring covers of her fav songs from Bob Marley, Prince, Paul McCartney and more. Groovy.

Another UK band we’ll see who were showered with awards and nom’s is the pop alternative group Stornoway, who’s debut album Beachcomber’s Windowsill peaked at #3 on the UK Indie charts.  Very recently they were nominated by XFM for Debut Album of 2010. In a couple weeks they’ll be taking a summer tour through Australia, and then back for a tour through Europe.  Party. 

(by Dawn Reed) So the Grammys are coming up.  Some unbelievable crap was nominated, but other than that, this week's episode of Strictly Global will highlight some of the more astonishing international nominations, plus winners of past Grammys.  And we've got the premiere of our interview with the Latin Grammy Award Winner, Alex Cuba.  Tune in for some in-depth discussion on how to flirt in Japanese and Italian.  Ooo la la!

We'll also check out the Chilean-French hip-hop MC, Ana Tijoux, who's second solo release 1977 was nominated for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album.  She grew up in France because her parents had to flee Chile during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.  After that was over, she returned to her home country and began rapping in a variety of groups before collaborating with the Mexican pop-star Julieta Venegas.  It was all up from there, and after a March 2010 invite to SxSW, she did her first ever North American tour last year!  

And we'll check out the latest from the classic indie-pop Glasgow band, Belle & Sebastian, who've been repping the genre since 1996.  They've recently released their 8th studio album, Belle and Sebastian Write About Love, and have worldwide tour dates pretty much set for the rest of 2011.  And yet Katy Perry and Justin Beiber continue to populate the pens of music critics.  That's the first/last time you'll ever see me type those horendously bogus grammy nods.  Long live B&S. 

(by Dawn Reed) At Midnight exactly on New Year's Eve/Day, for the first time in Strictly Global's 9 season history, we will reveal the First Music Video of the Year 2011!  Chosen through the contest we recently held through Sonicbids.com, I'll blog more about them in the new year after the show is aired. ;P  And with the new year comes new global music videos, and we will bring you new goodies from Spain, Canada, Norway, and more throughout the hour. 

Finally making it's way into our mailbox and on to the SG screen is the Romanian electro/house novice Edward Maya who's first song ever "Stereo Love" got insane attention all over the world!  He released this song back in the summer of 2009, and it reached #2 in his home country's singles chart.  But then, the infamous accordion track began making it's way around the club scenes of every disco nation imaginable.  It is the longest song in the history of European Top Hot 100, accumulating 52 weeks! It was also #1 in the singles charts of France, Ireland, Spain, Sweden; went platinum in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and double platinum in Spain!!!

And the man in black returns!!! A beautiful rendering of Johnny Cash's final video based on his final studio recording, over 250,000 artistic fans from over 170 countries have come together in a unique community known as The Johnny Cash Project. If you are a fan and would like to get in on this action, check out their official website.

(by Dawn Reed) Continuing on in our marathon of year end episodes, at 10 PM we will continue churning out the most requested videos of 2010 from you guys because we couldn't fit them all into the first hour! That's amazing.  We'll also feature the best runner-up videos from the contest we recently held through Sonicbids.com.  We had a tremendous amount of submissions from all over the world (from Turkey to Puerto Rico) and every genre imaginable (from Americana to glitch-pop.)  Here's a teaser of what's to come... 

Originally formed in New Zealand and now based out of Melbourne, Australia, we'll check out the powerpop indie rock group Damn the Maps in their skillfully created animated video.  Quoting from their EPK, their band name "represents simply going in your own direction as opposed to following the directions and pre-planned destinies of others. It’s about believing in yourself more than anything or anyone else."  That could attest to their history a little too.  Earlier this decade, they were originally known as Nervous Wreck and had a different line-up.  With former members leaving, singer/bassist Martin J. Green found the current line-up, Nick Riley (guitar) and Mark Coats (drums), via Melbourne’s music site Melband. After an American band trademarked the Nervous Wreck name, they changed it to Damn the Maps figuring it was more 'applicable with the journey they had taken so far,' and just in time for the release of their debut album, Input Output (2008.) They plan to start recording their second album in early 2011.

We'll also check out a live performance from the South Pacific group Te Vaka, who meld the traditional sounds of the South Pacific through log drums and Polynesian chants with rock rhythms and infectious melodies.  Together, the band mates represent Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealand, and have been touring the world extensively for the past 14 years.  They've performed in over 35 countries, headlined world music festivals, performed at huge events such as the Rugby World Cup in Paris and the Olympic Games in Beijing, and have released 6 internationally acclaimed albums to date!!!  

(by Dawn Reed)This Friday is gonna be a busy night!  Strictly Global has 4 new episodes rolling out, and up first at 9 PM is our Best of 2010/Most Requested Videos of the Year special!!!  I happen to like surprises, so I won't spoil the line-up.  But while you're getting all fancy and ready to head out into the night, turn us on for a bombastic soundtrack, featuring videos from acts we felt were the best live show's of 2010, the best NextWave artist, Danni and my personal favorites, artists to watch for in 2011, and the top 3 videos of the year!  And before you head out the door to whatever shenanigans you plan on partaking in, DVR us!

All month, we've been asking what your favorite songs, albums, bands, etc., were for this year.  And we've had a tremendous response from you guys, spanning all genres and countries, and even tuning us into some of your local favorites, so thanks everybody!  Now, we the tiny cast of Strictly Global would like to share our favorites albums of 2010 with you!

 NextWave host Harry Martin:
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs.
 'The fist time I saw Arcade Fire they were playing on Saturday Night Live.  Their performance of the song "Intervention" and just that song itself really knocked me out. (I had it DVR'd and subsequently watched it way too many times.)  I'm not sure I have a favorite track off this years album "The Suburbs" but just feel (really) good in general about this record and group and their sound.  People love saying they rip off old Bruce Springsteen which for me is fine, as I love the Boss.  Also, I like how there's like seventy people in the band.'

Strictly Global host Danni Rosner:
Alex Cuba, Alex Cuba.
'I like "If you give me love." The groove is awesome, everytime I listen to it I start to dance.  Even if I'm in my car- I'm dancing. People look
at me strange when I'm at a stoplight, but heck I don't care- when that song starts I'm transported to an 80's disco and I've got on some crazy high pumps and my hair is all wild-child like.  Love it, love it, love it.'

Crystal Castles, II.
...'Another album that never left my stereo was Crystal Castles' spring release, II. Punk-rave-electro-noise; they are their own genre and every song on this genius recording has it's own element of surprise; a big step up from their already bomb-tastic nintendo-laden debut. Put "Baptism" on repeat and you could run a mile in 5 minutes on a treadmill easy, I swear.  "Not In Love" was recently re-recorded with vocals done by Robert Smith over-top Alice Glass's robotic whispers, and it just made me fall in love all over again.  And wow, do they kill it live!  Strobes galore, bottles of Jack poured into front row onlookers, and sold-out crowds jumping in unison like an aerobics class on crack.  I could go on for days... 2010 was a good year for music.' -Dawn

(by Dawn Reed) Happy holidays everybody from the Strictly Global cast and crew!  This Friday we'll be bringing you worldwide music videos that may inspire you to go out and make snow angels, or max out your cards to get away to some place more tropical.  From Sweden to Mexico, we have you covered in what's up musically this winter.  Holler!  Also, we'll feature our latest NextWave artists~ so if Christmas is what you celebrate, be sure to tune in for an awesome playlist whilst you wait for Santa to land on the roof. (BTW, the fat man will be making an appearance in this episode.  Ooo!)

We'll check in with Montreal's We Are Wolves who's video is straight up shot in a winter wonderland.  Brrr, make sure to heat up some hot chocolate for this snowy extravaganza. Some recent awesome news from them- their 2007 release Total Magique was named #6 Best Montreal Album of the Decade by the Midnight Poutine blog. Super cool.

If you're too cold to go gather more logs for the fireplace, perhaps you can get heated up with some Mexican pop with the latest from Belinda.  If you're into telenovela's at all, you may recognize her from her dual role as twins on the popular Mexican children's telenovela Cómplices Al Rescate.  Her third album, Carpe Diem, released this year went Gold in Mexico, so indeed the day was seized.  Get it girl!