MELANIE DE BIASIO (Be)
‘Het lijkt haast of Nina Simone uit de doden is opgestaan.’
(De Morgen)

Melanie De Biasio nestled herself in the category ‘best of what jazz has to offer worldwide’ right away, with her debut ‘No Deal’. We weren’t alone either: BBC guru Gilles Peterson became a fan, just like Eels - who promptly took Melanie along on tour and even dedicated their very first remix to her. Now everyone is nervously awaiting the successor to her dream debut, and it came doubly unexpectedly in the form of ‘Blackened Cities’: a raw image of her beloved hometown Charleroi that lasts no less than 24 minutes and 16 seconds. The song, that is. Melanie simply followed her musical gut-feeling and we’re more than happy to embrace someone like that.

IAN WILLIAM CRAIG (Ca)
‘This is a truly brilliant album - inhale it now.’
(The Guardian)
‘Sounding like a collaboration between Bon Iver and William Basinski.’
(Rolling Stone) 

In the excellent series ‘The 101 strangest records on Spotify’ , influential newspaper The Guardian nominated intriguing releases like ‘Living With Lesbians’ by the Jewish communistic folkie Alix Dobkin and also ‘The Swingin’ Shepherd Plays for the Teens’ by Canadian flute-player Moe Koffman. But there were also absolute gems amongst the selection, such as the debut (‘A Turn of Breath’) by classically trained opera singer Ian William Craig. This Canadian has meanwhile released his successor ‘Cradle For The Wanting’ last year: a lovely listening-trip whereby Craig’s opera voice is processed via authentic reel-to-reel tapes. Think: ambient. Think: Sigur Rós. Think: Dead Can Dance. And dream away.