Tag Archives: New Music

A Conversation With Ten Katestraat

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He makes excellent music under the name Ten Katestraat, he lives in Amsterdam, has a day job in The Hague and hails from the UK. Stephen James Howard comes across as an amiable chap who is slightly bemused that his recordings have been getting attention recently, not least of all on our shows. He writes the songs, plays the instruments and produces in his “spare-room” studio. His wife, Brigitte takes care of the artwork while Stephen handles the promotion, which is how we first came to hear about him. A short, but charming email arrived accompanied by a sound-file for download. “I hope you might be interested?” Wrote Mr. Howard, adding, “I’ll be listening.” We were interested and he didn’t have to wait too long to listen, we added, The Commander Told You to our next Life Elsewhere Music playlist. We were intrigued by his (thankfully) hard to categorize music and his notation that he “was a Brexit refugee”. Stephen quickly followed up with another single and we obliged by promptly giving Leaving Everything Behind airplay. Then, after a rapid flurry of emails, we decided it would be a grand idea to have a chat with Stephen. Coming up on Life Elsewhere Music Vol 159 our conversation with Stephen James Howard, where he talks about music, creativity and explains his take on Brexit and UK politics. And yes, you will learn the meaning of Ten Katestraat.

LEM Vol 159

Age Is Just A Number & Arlo Parks Has Plenty To Share

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“Age is just a number” is a convenient throw-away line you’ll often hear someone utter when they don’t really want to talk about getting old. How curious then, that age becomes the focus when talking about a talented person who happens to be young. Arlo Parks is eighteen and her age begins every review we have read of her debut single, Cola.  The focus turns to the unsaid perception that she writes “grown-up” or “mature” lyrics. “A teenager, still at school in London conjures up observations beyond her years”, wrote one reviewer. You may think this could be true until you hear Arlo talk about her music and herself. She speaks softly but so assuredly, you quickly forget she still has school-homework. Yet, even though Arlo chooses her words carefully, she never sounds precocious. Instead, she comes across as poised while remaining wide-eyed and ready to learn. She manages to be charming and completely unrehearsed. When you listen to Arlo Parks talk, you’ll have no doubt that she is an aspiring talent who will not be easily engulfed into the fragility of stardom. As you listen to Arlo talk with Norman B, expect to be captivated and consider this – age is just a number and Arlo Parks has plenty to share with us.

STOP PRESS! A Life Elsewhere Exclusive! Hear Arlo Parks next single, Super Sad Generation in the show!

Indulge in the superb video for Arlo by London-based director Ruby Brown then watch to the cool images with the audio off as you listen to Arlo speak on our next show.

The Podcast is available at NPR One, Apple Podcasts & Mixcloud

Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
Sundays 10.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Wednesdays 2.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio
Thursdays 6.00pm ET at Internet Radio Network
Fridays at 9.00pm GMT on Cornucopia Radio

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Life Elsewhere Music airs:
Sundays 11.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Wednesdays at 3.00pm Pacific Time on NWCZ Radio
Fridays at 10.00am Eastern Time on IRN
Cornucopia Radio airs Life Elsewhere Music throughout each week
You can hear all the volumes over at Mixcloud

Show #306

Jewels. Genes. Gifted.

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Arlo Parks

The first thing you discover when entering the dazzling, Radiant Masterworks By Jean Schlumberger From The Mellon Collection at The Museum of Fine Art, St. Petersburg, Florida is the beautifully designed exhibition manages to compliment the precious objects perfectly. All too often, displays of intricate artworks are overwhelmed by grandiose staging or maudlin, somber, eerily cold rooms where whispers are too loud. The designer here has captured the spirit of Jean Schlumberger’s genius. There is a hint of whimsy, even fun perhaps, all the while the show is reverent of the artist and his benefactor. The designs of Jean Schlumberger were the epitome of mid-century elegance. Inspired by nature, his creations graced such notable style icons as Jacqueline Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn. This exhibition highlights the work of this innovative artist, placing his jewelry and objets d’art as inimitable examples of twentieth-century design. His career began as a designer of costume jewelry for couturier Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s, He drew inspiration from such exotic locales as Bali, India, and Thailand, and this is reflected by his lively, experimental designs that play with color, movement, and shape. This exhibition brings together the extensive Schlumberger collection of Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, donated to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts between 1985 and 2015. It is the largest, most comprehensive public collection of Jean Schlumberger’s work in the world. Norman B was guided through the exhibition with Stanton Thomas, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions who enthusiastically shares his immense knowledge in the next edition of Life Elsewhere.

Also in the show, New York Times-bestselling author Robin Cook talks about, Pandemic, his latest medical-thriller, where his takes on the cutting-edge world of gene-modification. The pulse-pounding story begins when an unidentified, healthy, well-dressed woman is struck down by a sudden respiratory illness on the subway as opportunist thieves snatch her phone and backpack. By the time she’s rushed to hospital, she’s dead. Ending up on forensic pathologist Dr. Jack Stapleton’s autopsy table as the potential victim of a contagion, reveals surprising findings. Fearing what could be the first in a severe outbreak of a deadly virus similar to the 1918 influenza pandemic, Jack works in overdrive for a diagnosis and to identify the woman. A task made more urgent when two other victims succumb to a similar rapid death. But nothing makes sense until his investigation leads him into the fascinating realm of CRISPR/CAS9, gene-editing biotechnology that’s captured the imagination of the medical community. . . and the attention of its most unethical members. In his conversation with Norman B, Robin Cook shares his critical opinion of the greed dominating the business of the medical professions and the sad politics of health care in the United States.

Plus, you’ll hear a sneak preview of a much longer conversation with a gifted young talented singer from London, Arlo Parks. We have been enthusing over her debut single, Cola for a few weeks and asked if she would like to chat with Norman B. The resulting conversation is enchanting as Arlo talks about herself, her inspirations and her music. You must not miss this.

The Podcast is available at NPR One, Apple Podcasts & Mixcloud

Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
Sundays 10.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Wednesdays 2.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio
Thursdays 6.00pm ET at Internet Radio Network
Fridays at 9.00pm GMT on Cornucopia Radio

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Life Elsewhere Music airs:
Sundays 11.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Wednesdays at 3.00pm Pacific Time on NWCZ Radio
Fridays at 10.00am Eastern Time on IRN
Cornucopia Radio airs Life Elsewhere Music throughout each week
You can hear all the volumes over at Mixcloud

Show #303

Poetry. It’s the Ultimate Freedom

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Richard Price

Richard Price says, “When you call someone a poet, it’s like a praise word.” Price has a lot of thoughts about poetry and music and religion and life and, well…Richard is after all poet. He is also one-third of The Loss Adjusters. Their single, The World Brims came to Norman B’s attention a few weeks back. “It’s a fantastic piece of mesmerizing music,” the Life Elsewhere host says, “I couldn’t stop playing it non-stop. Then I wanted to know more. Who was behind it? We reached out and discovered the lyrics and vocals were by Richard Price.” The erudite Scotsman was invited onto the show to talk about his music and his poetry, but the conversation covered so much more. Price recalls how he was originally influenced by songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and, Leonard Cohen. Poetry, he says is a kind of urgency in writing. “One of the most important things about that blank page is I can write anything on there. It’s the ultimate privacy. It’s the ultimate freedom. To be able to control that blank space with something you have made. To shut out all the noises, the sorrows, and the anxieties”. On politics and poetry, Richard Price suggests, “Poetry allows you to think slowly and carefully, a lot of the political environment now, is about not thinking.” And, when considering lyrics set to music, he tells fellow Loss Adjuster, Roberto, “He can do whatever he wants with my words, he can mix them in, erase them, change them, I want the whole experience!” Richard is an intriguing conversationalist, a mind of splendid ideas. Make sure you do not miss the next edition of Life Elsewhere.

Richard Price recommends Poetry Magazine. And we recommend you visit Richard’s site, Hydro Hotel 

 

The Podcast is available at NPR One, Apple Podcasts & Mixcloud

Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
Sundays 10.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Wednesdays 2.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio
Thursdays 6.00pm ET at Internet Radio Network
Fridays at 9.00pm GMT on Cornucopia Radio

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Life Elsewhere Music airs:
Sundays 11.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Wednesdays at 3.00pm Pacific Time on NWCZ Radio
Fridays at 10.00am Eastern Time on IRN
Cornucopia Radio airs Life Elsewhere Music throughout each week
You can hear all the volumes over at Mixcloud

Show #302 V2

Real Life Zombies + An Absorbing Saga + New Music

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On Matt Simon’s website, there is a photo of him sitting next to someone dressed as a horse. The caption says, “I’m the one on the left. As great as it might seem to be a horse, I am in fact a human, one who is a science writer and scriptwriter at Wired Magazine”. Thank goodness Mr. Simon has a deliciously crafty sense of humor. In his new book, Plight Of the Living Dead – What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World & Ourselves, it’s his witticisms that make this decidedly scary book an enjoyable read. Simon specializes in writing about zoology, particularly of the bizarre variety,  documenting his journey through the science of real-life mind control.  Along the way, he visits a lab littered with the corpses of zombie ants, joins the search for kamikaze crickets in the hills of New Mexico, and travels to Israel to meet the wasp that stings cockroaches in the brain before leading them to their doom. Matt Simon is a fascinating guest, but we warn you to be sure not to eat anything just prior to listening to our interview.

Vienna, 1911. Greta Goldbaum has always dreamed of being free to choose her own life’s path, but the Goldbaum family, one of the wealthiest in the world, has different expectations. United across Europe, Goldbaum men are bankers, while Goldbaum women marry Goldbaum men to produce Goldbaum children. Jewish and perpetual outsiders, they know that though power lies in wealth, strength lies in family. So Greta moves to England to wed Albert, a distant cousin. Defiant and lonely, she longs for connection and a place to call her own. When Albert’s mother gives Greta a garden, things begin to change. Perhaps she and Albert will find a way to each other. But just as she begins to taste an unexpected happiness, war is looming and even the influential Goldbaums can’t alter its course. For the first time in two hundred years, the family will find themselves on opposing sides and Greta will have to choose: the family she’s created or the one she was forced to leave behind. Best-selling author, Natasha Solomons joins Life Elsewhere to talk about her sumptuous new novel, House Of Gold.

The amount of new music we receive at Life Elsewhere towers can be overwhelming at times. Yet, we listen to everything that comes in, our theory is if someone took the time to make the music and send it to us, the least we can do is take a listen. The benefit for us is we discover true gems. Music we want to hear again and again. Music we want to share. That’s the reason we are including The Loss Adjusters in this edition. They are a three-piece out of London. Lyrics and vocals are by Scotsman, Richard Price, a man who says he is better known as a poet. He is accompanied by Roberto Sainz De La Maza, who writes the music and takes care of production, and Eliza De Leon who sings in duet and background vocals, both are from the Basque territory in the north of Spain. You’ll hear The World Brims, their first single from their yet-to-be-titled forthcoming album. We guarantee you’ll want to hear more from The Loss Adjusters.

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes

Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
Sundays 10.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Wednesdays 2.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio
Thursdays 6.00pm ET at Internet Radio Network
Fridays at 9.00pm GMT on Cornucopia Radio

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Life Elsewhere Music airs:
Sundays 11.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Wednesdays at 3.00pm Pacific Time on NWCZ Radio
Fridays at 10.00am Eastern Time on IRN
Cornucopia Radio airs Life Elsewhere Music throughout each week
You can hear all the volumes over at Mixcloud

Show #297

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