Julian Lennon’s polar pick this week: Curt Smith

Curt Smith - Seven of Sundays

"Halfway, Pleased" is the new solo release from Curt, which is a semi-autobiographical album about his relationships with his children, parents and friends. Curt put a lot behind this release as he began work on it back in 2001 but it was put on a hiatus as he mended his relationship with Roland Orzabal and went back to work on a final chapter on his Tears for Fears project, "Everyone Loves A Happy Ending".

Halfway, Pleased was released in May 2008 on Curt's own KOOK Media and the album is a beautiful journey of music with long soundscapes, uplifting melody and dreamy down tempo. "Seven of Sundays" also appears as a bonus track sung with French Artist, SO.

Featured Exclusive this week: GXR

'Skylines' is the eagerly awaited debut album from GXR, the new project from former Groovecatcher producer Simon Cooper and Phil Webb. This release redraws the boundaries of down tempo, electronica, future jazz and deep house. It has also a few moments of mellow drum 'n' bass and trip hop soundscapes. After remixing Billie Holiday's "Long Gone Blues" for Sony Legacy, GXR set out to create Skylines which draws on all the experience and inspiration over the years from this duo. Phil and Simon have appeared on over 150 compilations and been in the Top 10 on iTunes.

Skylines also welcomes in several guests including deep house heroes Chris Brann (Ananda Project/Wamdue Project) and Kai Martin of Solu Music as well as a collaboration with Madison Park (featuring a vocal from DeAnna Cool) and a remix with DC's neo-lounge producer TOAO.

This is a full exploration into the grooved out sounds and with a future jazz feel along the top there are plenty of twists and turns to keep your attention. Skylines transports the listener into the rarefied zone between the city and the sky, visual and uinque, where soundscapes as ethereal as the clouds meet the deepest beats from the street.

Julian Lennon’s polar pick this week: Angus & Julia Stone

“I feel like it would be my most personal work to date,” he ventures on the topic of Broken Brights. “I think I’m constantly introverting to that place, to that pocket I’ve always wanted to live inside amongst the songs & the tales that I’ve written. This album holds an essence that I’ve been searching for, for a long time.” That search has taken him to the far-sailed corners of the globe. He’s recorded in a rustic dwelling nestled in the Swiss Alps, beneath Australia’s bright-lit cherry blue skies along the coastline, to a ramshackle log cabin with a view over the lush Indian countryside. On one hand, you’ll find Angus Stone off in his own world, dreaming away, and on the other, he’s energetic, charismatic and quite frank. He’s had to be to keep up with the pace of his career — Stone’s quickly becoming one of contemporary music’s most acclaimed, yet inherently enigmatic, young artists. For the past seven years, he’s been travelling the world as one half of brother-sister duo Angus & Julia, during which time he’s played to spell-bound audiences in sold-out shows at iconic venues like London’s Royal Festival Hall and Paris’s Le Trianon. Together, the artists have sold close to a million records around the world since the release of their debut EP, Chocolates and Cigarettes, in 2005. Now, Angus Stone is setting out on his own.

Featured Exclusive this week: Gushi & Raffunk

"Born even before any thought, MUSIC has filled our atmosphere." She, who comes from the southern half of the world and he, who comes from the northern half instead... two hemispheres, two points, two souls making a unique World. GUSHI & RAFFUNK, both of them musicians, have got together to bring this project into life. Destiny does the rest...

GUSHI - a.k.a. Mary F (leading and backing voices, acoustic guitar) was born and raised in Buenos Aires. Musically influenced by traditional Argentine folk music since her childhood, she has step on several stages all around the country as a soloist or as part of a whole. In 2004 she collaborates with Daniel Di Napoli on the realization of a TV series soundtrack for ON TV Productions.

RAFFUNK (guitars, voice and programming) was born and raised in Italy. He moved to Buenos Aires in 1995 where he worked as a DJ and began to produce electronic music. At the same time, he would also produce downtempo and house music for PMB Music (AR), DJ Center Records (FR); holding live performances with a soul band. In 2004, GUSHI & RAFFUNK met in Buenos Aires to work on a production released by Musicbrokers and from then onwards they decided to get together and build their own project. They currently live and compose their music in Italy.

So far now, they have collaborated with talented artists naming Antonio della Marina, Giorgio Ioan, Alexandra Hampton, Mark Oakland, Lemongrass. Their latest productions record the releases of "EYES" and "TRAVEL EP", both works having been released in 2011 by the German Label Lemongrassmusic.

Julian Lennon’s polar pick this week: Wax Poetic

Wax Poetic is the dynamic collaborative effort born from the transnational creative wellspring of indefatigable composer and musician Ilhan Ersahin. It was the germ that came before Ersahin began Nublu and the foundation for much that came after. Ersahin’s projects have ranged far and wide—geographically and musically—but Wax Poetic, begun in 1997, grew out of his deep love for the soulful spirit of jazz and his desire to merge it with more pop sensibilities.

Featured Exclusive this week: Castlebed - Ambient Things

CASTLEBED is back with the beautifully crafted full-length downtempo album 'AMBIENT THINGS', featuring "THE FIRST TIME", "AMBIENT THINGS" and "HONEY".

BZ Top 10 for July 15th, 2012

1. Sunsphere - Broken // Debut

2. Mr. Meeble - Liar // LW #1 - Charted 2 Weeks

3. Mindex - Full of Love // Debut

4. Tolga Fidan - Broken // LW #2 - Charted 3 Weeks

5. My Favorite Robot - Barricade (Photek Remix) // Charted 4 Weeks

6. Christian Loffler - Eleven ft. Mohna // LW #3 - Charted 5 Weeks

7. Gacha - Remember // Charted 2 Weeks

8. Memorandom - Graviton // LW #6 - Charted 2 Weeks

9. The Spanish Monk - Eclipse // Debut

10. Clelia Felix - Keep Watching The Stars // Debut

Featured Exclusive this week: Sunsphere

Sunsphere shines his light with a new artist album, "Sunrise" which is a full-length 12 song chilled release on System Recordings. Mario Ziegler, alias Gabriele Menten, Sunsphere, Gris Gavin, John Clark (Projects) was born in Schwerin (Germany) in 1981 and now conqueres the world with this music. Mario has always been interested in music and especially the Trance Scene influenced his style as musician, producer and DJ for many years! Since 2001 he is involved with studio technics and music production which he meanwhile intensified until he, as John Clark, made his production debut „Fall out“ with System Recordings (New York). System Recordings also released his Chill Out, Lounge, Downtempo album under his project name Sunsphere. The album instantly was top of the charts at Armada downloads. Under the name of Gris Gavin he enlarges his musical repertoire by producing a more housy-progressive sound. At famous Trance Labels, such as Flashover Recordings, Bonzai Music and Breathe Music he now is under contract as Gabriele Menten.