Kingem Records – The Land of The Pop

I never dreamt I would have run a label, it  always seemed like a dream to me. It’s no secret one of my all time favourite was Trattoria Records and I own lots of album from Cornelius, Citrus and Salon Music and I’ve always been fond of their collaborative projects, expecially the Christmas special “The Exotic Cristmas – Trattoria Course”. That’s why – after having launched the label  – it was a priority mission to gather some friends musicians to work on a festive collection of Christmas pop songs.

The name “Kitty Kitten Kristmas” came out after a funny Facebook chat with Paola Dutti (she worked out the art for the album doing a splendid job!) pinging stupid YouTube clips from wall to wall.

The album features the presence of the second Tiny Tide Christmas track about their drummer Mike Leffe unlucky Christmas love affair experiences. You can also listen to yet another marvelous tune from The Brigadier, quite a winter holiday institution since a couple of years and EP (“M.I.S.T.L.E.T.O.E” is a really funny song!).

KKK also sees the debut for Cherry Berry and the equally mysterious and blessed A Nice Person, alongside “Unhappy New Year” from the Indietracks champions Paisley & Charlie.

While I’m sure you don’t need introductions for Stars in Coma and his instant classic “The Frozen Spectacle” maybe not all of you are familiar with “The Clever Square”, the Italian Beat Happenings that never used to take Christmas too seriously. Even Santa.

MOREOVER! Packaging is home made and AWESOME! Make it the perfect Christmas gift for your indie maniac friends!

More information and album shop page here.

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I first met “Cue Fanfare“ from Bristol UK when they were… “Santa Dog”. Me and my circle of friends (just quoting new Bohemians) were really enthusiastic ’bout their album, and “Kittyhawk” became a sort of a cult on our European niche. We somehow managed to play together  in Italy few years ago, sharing stages and some relevant restaurants together.  Just like Santa Dog before, Cue Fanfare is an incarnation of the musical vision of Rowena Dugdale and the very talented guitar player Rob Williams, providing a precise and intense musical dress to Rowena’s compositions.

“Rosa” and “Chemical” were put through so many times on indie radio shows, DJs, festivals… and our cars, finding a good place in our mix-tapes between The Long Blondes, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley and clearly The Prefab Sprout.

This long personal introduction just to make you understand how their presence in our little Kingdom is welcomed and appreciated, making it the second totally unexpected gift from a friend musician right after Stars in Coma releasing his last work with our label.

Cue Fanfare started as a duo, but were soon supported by Holly McIntosh on bass and Alan Strawbridge on drums.

The sound of their KinGem EP – called “Ghost Ship” - is dreamy, sophisticated, clever, but always able to connect with listeners in a very warm way. All you have to do is close your eyes and let yourself go to the sound of  Cue Fanfare elegant and coloured pop.

The rarest gem? Having the chance to share such a rad and brilliant production out of our little indie tribe.

More information and album shop page here.

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Third release and it’s time for Tiny Tide “MoonTalking”, a collection of avant-pop fuzz tunes and indie ballads sang from a lonely alien pink moon. Mostly played by Mark Zonda – with the rest of the band buin’ busy on finishing the recording of “Febrero” – the album also see the collaboration of WildHeart, Phillip Lockwood-Holmes from LeBleu and the American artist Marilyn Roxie.

Is MoonTalking a concept album? Maybe in the way Sgt. Pepper was, with songs blended together and a recurring theme (the alien loneliness of the Moon) recurring in most of the tracks. “Fog”, “Rock in the Empire” and “Lust for Clubs” were Mark Zonda attempt to sound like a modern version of Iggy Pop, but it ended sounding more like Roger Waters on “Amused to death” and early Pulp in broken English, with hints on Fellini’s movies, history books, and obscure references to European indie clubs and gossip news from The Sun.

Dendrix had his crystal moment with a perfectly inspired solo on “I would say”, a track that Mark originally wrote for Anna Kurnikova and Wildheart re-arranged on a clever sinth-pop ballad.

Possibly the album will be remembered as the only one having a song called “Manga Nurse”, possibly the best portrait of a classic Tiny song: a modern lennonesque nursey rhyme with reminiscences of David Byrne in the finale and possibly the best match for the brilliant album art work by Naniiebim Studio (UK)

You can have more information and buy the album here

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Now you’re making me feel guilty for having spent time between the studio and the beach instead of keeping you update on our tiny little great label! And you’re quite right, since there’s quite a lot in the box but, above all, a second awaited release, a various artist album (with Anthony Rochester, Stars in Coma, The Brigadier, Tiny Tide, Formanta!, Friday Bridge and people from The Mare, Fitness Forever and Still Flyin’) called “U.N.DISCO”.

You can ask for

• a CDR+Art here
• buy it on iTunes
• Listen to some previews on Last.FM

Friday Bridge – Into The Night by Kingem Records

Here you go with the introduction I wrote for the album… (more…)

Really proud to announce that Stars in Coma new album is now available on iTunes! A tiny step for a geek, but a giant jump for our label! Proud to say that Stars in Coma also did a GREAT performance on stage at IndieTracks, leaving me the first one to be amazed by the sound of the band and their presence on stage (here comes the clip!).

Other relevant news… we had quite a comprehensive podcast in here, starring Stars in Coma release and some other bits of previews from further albums to come and Friday Bridge impressive new song (it’s still stuck in my head each moment of the day!) while not being satisfied with a new Tiny Tide song (“We Are Animals”) and a Lou Reed cover (“Sweet Jane”) I decided to call myself a day to write and record a quick EP on my IndieTracks experience rightaway (you can download it here).

Well… what  can I say! Enough for now. Hear ya soon with some fresh news! (more…)