Paul Green is the controller of a synthetic orchestra of beautifully fluid deeply-layered dark twisting electronic keyboard sounds with a laptop and Tenori-On that make beautiful arppegiated synth sounds and the kind of low tempo clicks and glitches that remind me of walking around an old house when you were a kid and getting a bit scared by the creaky staircases.

Imagine Kraftwerk if someone spiked their punch with absinthe, and you're halfway there.

There are noises like a lazy summer biplanes passing through a megaphone and then sounds of lush nebula-soaked space blending into electronic pistons working under an iceberg. Melodic and faintly menacing at the same time, sort of like being in a flotation tank with a stingray. The music seemed to map the gluey neurons that fired as I listened: a delicious alarm clock at the end of wintry dream.

Manchester's Number 1 Electronic Artist

Have a show and podcast almost every night. First of all this will be random, like me. No “description” of the show really fits. I feel the global consciousness shifting in 2012 too much, I like chocolate. Im scared of the dark and scared to turn 30. I’m too honest, I’m tired of BS, and I don’t care for demagoguery. my fav quote is “find the others” and if you’ve never heard that, then just disregard it. I have a show for selfish reasons, because I want to, I like live radio, and it helps me keep track of myself. I gave it the domain name ronpaulgirl because I love Ron Paul and I figured why not? I’m more than just that, and I will have to change the name someday, but for now i’d rather keep the podcast feed the same & still attract the people to my show that this domain name does. So please don’t label me, you can try but it’s pointless cause I change everyday. I’m a woman and proud of it. I’m a right brain thinker, not left brain. If that makes me a ditz so be it. I’m proud to be that too. I have radio shows on other networks like Ron Paul Radio, Liberty Chat, etc.. (that schedule is somewhere) I have a few 200 videos on youtube one is called “If you register republican in primaries I’ll bake you a cake!” Yes, I want him to win that bad! Make your cake requests here: http://ronpaulgirl.com/requests MORE CAKE AND LESS WARS!
You say silly? I say it worked and got hungry boys to register for primaries. I do things differently, if you don’t like it (instead of saying go to hell) tell me why.. the more I learn the better. I’m not here to preach or teach to anyone. 

BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners, Irish/Manx/Scottish quintet Ímar are amongst Glasgow’s hottest folk property.

With a wide-reaching fanbase throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Canada, the quintet have fast become one of the trad scene’s most talked about group – thanks in no small part to their debut video, L’Air Mignonne, becoming a viral smash in 2016, catapulting the group to the attention of audiences and media worldwide.

Their two albums – Afterlight and Avalanche – have since amassed a devoted listenership, whilst live audiences are transfixed by Ímar’s collective and individual technical prowess. With a line-up boasting a heavyweight haul of top solo prizes – including nine All-Ireland and eight All-Britain titles – the group’s collective synergy and live energy is positively electric.

Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music; a grounding that underpins many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material. Indeed, the group’s very being embodies a personal reconnection with its members’ formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow’s celebrated session scene.

The shared cultural heritages between Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are well documented: all three once shared the same Gaelic language, and a similar, clearly potent, kinship endures between their musical traditions.

“striking musicianship, artful arrangements and sheer absolute delight” / Songlines

“genuinely jaw-dropping collective virtuosity supplied frills to burn”  / The Scotsman 

“The energy that’s seemingly bursting to let loose is tempered by a variety of instrumental formations and an attention to pacing that showcases the tunes’ melodic strength, and even when the floodgates open the effect is all the more exhilarating for the underlying control and musicality.” / The Herald

We met on a bridge. The sky was spitting shivers of rain. I asked you your name. Cardiff would never be the same. Something clicked. You were 15. I was 17. We went back to your house. We wrote some songs. We formed a band. We tore each other apart. We put each other back together. The band broke apart. The band will never end.

We live in different cities. We live in the same city. We live in the past. We live in the future. We meet up in the gap between. We make CD quality copies of that feeling. And we give them to you.

You are coming for us..
We are scared of you...
We love you...

We hate you...



The MCB were nominated and selected to be played on The Best Of Myspace podcast 01/02/2010.

"Like a cross between Goldie Looking Chain and The Lancashire Hotpots – insightful, wry lyrics with a nice poppy backbeat."

Gill Mills  - NME Radio / BOM Podcast 

Smokey Jones is an anomaly—more accurately, an anachronism. She is not an internet sensation. Nor is she the most recent candidate cast off a talent show.  And her music and personality are both wonderfully free of the constructs and artifacts of playing the game. Her rise is the stuff of fairy tales, the sort of dreamweaving that inspires kids to pick up a microphone in the first place. Someone heard her sing, ushered her cross country to audition for Island/Def Jam executives, and a contract was put before her the next day.

So Smokey Jones was transformed from utter unknown to roster member of the world’s most powerful record label in exactly five months. Of course, this glamorous coda is the lasting upswing in an otherwise circuitous story. Prior to the lightning strike, Smokey was homeless, spending nights on friends’ couches around Los Angeles or in her car’s backseat. She had left college and her family in northern California to pursue music fulltime: “The agreement with my parents was plain,” she recounts. “They told me ‘We won’t support you financially if you don’t go to school.’ They offered love and mental support, of course—but not money. I accepted that.” 

In truth, Smokey — real name Sara Mancuso— was always comfortable on her own, and in her own skin. She found her creative space, literally and figuratively, quite early and began recording music by age fourteen: “I didn’t like anyone, ever, growing up, so I’d always have these little hideaways where I’d go write songs.  My favorite spot was a beautiful tree on Carmel Beach. I’d sit on one branch that opened up beautifully to see the ocean, but no one could see me in the tree.”

As fate would have it, she needed just one person to lay eyes on her—Chris Anokute, IDJ’s Senior Vice President of A&R. By sheer happenstance, Chris heard her singing in an LA studio and set up the meeting back in IDJ’s New York offices. 

That career is now set to ignite, sparked by her remarkable impending debut album, set to release in the next year. “I have no genre!” Smokey squeals, in equal parts pride, glee, and consternation. Indeed, the album’s mixed bag speaks to Smokey’s wide-ranging influences, inherent ability, and talented supporting cast—writers and producers like Jay Angel and busbee, who counts P!nk, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Antebellum among his many collaborators. This eclecticism allows Smokey great creative freedom but inevitably invites externally-imposed categorization, both fitting and forced:
 “I’ve been compared to everyone from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse to Joss Stone. I agree that Janis or Amy are accurate references, but I don’t think I sound like anyone. I think I sound like myself. To be honest, I think I sound most like the female version of Caleb Followill [lead singer of the Kings of Leon]. If I were a guy, I’d be Caleb. But really, I don’t want to sound like anyone else; I don’t want that taint in your head when you hear my music. I don’t want people to think of anyone else but me because I’ve poured my entire self into my music and it’s really emotional and honest. To call me someone else is dishonest.”

One listen is truly an exercise in openness. The songs, though assorted, artfully weave together strands of pain, loss, angst, retribution, and rebirth. “Lightning” features a dramatic and –forgive the analogies—Adele-esque build that segues into infectious sing-song smacking of Fun and the Lumineers. Of particular note are Smokey’s remarkable harmonies. Meanwhile, the balladic track Bumps & Bruises balances the thorns of hurt with refrains of empowerment: “What a girl needs to hear is that she’s beautiful/ What a girl needs to feel is that she’s worthy inside.” Elsewhere, “Don’t Lie to Me” is wonderful paradox: its ominous opening strains and venomous lyrics borne of love gone awry sit in stark contrast to its delightful, “Hey Ya!”-ish backbeat.

Then there’s the wonderfully idiosyncratic “Train,” a whiskey-soaked wailer that shows just how Smokey got her name. Proclaims Smokey: “You’ve never heard anything like ‘Train,’ ever!” Other standouts include “Walking on a Thin Line,” a tribute to her now-deceased grandfather. “My Grandpa was a working doctor who helped thousands of people,” Smokey sobs. “But he was especially important to me because my dad was in jail until I was ten years old. He suddenly and unexpectedly was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had just gotten back from seeing him in the hospital, and I could barely stand to see him like that. As a doctor, he knew what was happening, how serious it was—but he tried to keep our spirits up. I didn’t know what to do or how to help him. So I wrote the song as a poem, an ode.”

Finally, there is “Naked,” a beautiful, bare catharsis laid over airy piano plunkings: “I gave you everything but you left me naked / Promises, silly dreams, you loved me but you faked it.” Smokey forcibly drags the listener through a poignant, teary chapter in her life. To use her word, the honesty is staggering—epic, really. The stuff of “Naked” is the stuff that endures.

 With heartache as a backdrop, Smokey Jones stands eagerly on the cusp of new beginnings. And to her, the future is assured: “I don’t feel scared because I made it through the discovery process. Even if just one person hears one of my songs, someone who was like me—sitting in a stairway, depressed, and has nothing; I want to touch that person. I want to be there for people who are total strangers. The Beatles held my hand when I was down and alone, and I want to do the same for others.”
When asked to sum up just how she made it, the uncanniness of her ascent, and where it’s going next, Smokey says simply: “It’s just happening.”  Indeed, Smokey Jones is just that—happening. 

What makes women complex.... we think too much, we scared to open up but sensitive and vulnerable at the same time, we can enhance you as a companion, we overreact, we love hard, we're classy but can turn up when we want to lol, we're damaged and heartbroken, we make you wait, we keep secrets, we know when someone has lost a good thing, we make you forget about any other lover.... now what makes me complex? ....being able to write about them all, the complexities of a woman. Enjoy!

James Durbin is known for giving metal a chance on Season 10 of "American Idol" and pushing to keep rock alive on his 2011 debut, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster. But take a deeper look inside Durbin's musical soul and for every Judas Priest song he loved, there was one by the Beatles. For every Sammy Hagar, there was a Michael Jackson. For every ounce of metal that soared through his veins, there were equal amounts of pop hooks, catchy melodies, and sing-along lyrics pumping through his musical heart. It's this musical juxtaposition of rock and pop that Durbin offers up on his eagerly awaited sophomore album, CELEBRATE.

At first listen of his second Wind-up Records release, it might seem that Durbin is taking one big courageous step out of the box. But, for him, it's really just a natural progression of who he is as an artist, based in the music of his formative years. "I was having an identity crisis!" explains Durbin, "worrying if it would be too heavy or too poppy.  I was over thinking it, trying to blend the two just right. I had to take a step back and say, you know what?  I’m just going to write like crazy and see what happens.  It took a while – almost a year - but the music on CELEBRATE is the end result. It sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. But it sounds like me. It’s who I am now and where I am at as an artist, as a person, as a husband and father walking through life."

So, where did all of this come from?  Who was the pre-"American Idol" Durbin when music began to shape him? The Santa Cruz, California-born and bred vocal powerhouse was raised by a single mother hooked on oldies and two older sisters hyped on New Kids on the Block. "I grew up with Motown and boy bands,” Durbin laughs. “I had Space Jam, Spice Girls, and *NSync CDs. I was super into Michael Jackson, too, and even sang 'Rock With You' for my sixth grade talent show. I had the glove, the jacket, and could moonwalk. It wasn’t until high school that I got more into rock and metal," he explains.

Post "Idol," Durbin had just a few weeks to record his debut, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and debuted Top 40 on The Billboard 200. While Memories cemented Durbin's rock status (with Revolver even naming him one of the 100 Greatest Living Rock Stars), Durbin never felt that the album was a true representation of his artistry.  He didn't get to let all of his talents fully shine. On CELEBRATE, though, Durbin took creative control over writing and production, resulting in a true mix of his musical influences.

The result? "This is the record I’ve always wanted to make. This is who I am. It's definitely more pop than most people would expect – it’s even more pop than I thought it would be.  All of that came out of writing the record, building it from the ground up. I listened to a lot of different music in between sessions, especially alternative radio.  I really like what's going on there right now with bands like the Neighbourhood, New Politics, and Smallpools. These are great rock bands with a punk vibe that know how to craft an incredible hook. And that’s really close to where I wound up in the end," says Durbin, who also cites Lennon & McCartney, Bruno Mars, and Pink among his many influences.  
	
CELEBRATE is truly a return to love of music and early pop musings he grew up on. On the first single, the upbeat and infectious "Parachute," co-written by Durbin & Scott Stevens, for instance, he isn't afraid to declare it's "kind of a song P!nk could sing," full of attitude. With the aforementioned Scott "The Ninja" Stevens in the producer's chair, plus to co-writing five of the album’s tracks with him, Durbin knew he couldn't go wrong. "The first song we wrote together was 'Forget It'. From that session on, my mind was blown! Scott is full of so many different tones and styles that you never know what’s coming next – and that’s definitely a quality I wanted in my second album. Every song we've written together is unique in its own way. ‘Parachute’ is one of those songs. The moment we recorded it, everyone we played it for knew we had something special.” 

Another co-writer that pushed Durbin’s musical boundaries during their writing sessions was Ted Bruner, who co-wrote three of the album's standout tracks, "Children Under the Sun,” "Celebrate," and "Real Love." "When it was first suggested that I try out a session with Ted and I saw that he had written songs for Selena Gomez and Katy Perry, I was like, 'Okay this is the challenge I’ve been looking for musically. Let’s really go for it.'”  That pop influence stands out on songs like 'Children Under the Sun,' which features the power hook of a Katy Perry and the jangly guitar of a U2, and 'Celebrate,' best described as an alt rock power jam that allows Durbin to channel his inner-Justin Timberlake.

 "It was my first day working with Ted and right off the bat we had these 'visual inspirations',” says Durbin of his time working with Bruner. I told him about the inspiration for the lyrics to ‘Children,' which is about a time in my adolescence at The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz when I was getting into some mischief. He put up a photo of The Giant Dipper rollercoaster from The Boardwalk and we used that photo to base the sound of the song around. He'd be like, 'Okay, look at this picture when you're writing and singing. This image is what the song should sound like!’" he explains.

"’Children’ really helped set the tone for the record. Ted and I were going for some big songs with big choruses and 'Children' really does that. After months and months of writing and writing, it was 'Children Under The Sun' that was the big game-changer. That was the song! As soon as everyone  - my manager, the label, my A&R - heard it, they really got where I was going and got behind me 110%," he says. 

Lyrically, the record is more personal than his previous album, giving Durbin the opportunity to explore his more introspective and sensitive side. "Celebrate," for instance, is a fun, sexy, mid-tempo party song, which serves as a love letter to his wife Heidi. "Real Love," an acoustic ballad in a post-Wings Paul McCartney way, is also about his one true love.  Even the power ballad "Issues" delves into the complexities of a relationship, with the most challenging of partners, himself: " This song, 'Issues', to me feels like my final declaration to the world, for anyone who's been the victim or the outcast, that we're all the same. We've all hit our own 'rock bottom'. But now, this is our time to truly be who we are, 'perfectly flawed'. We've all got 'Issues',” he laughs.

Thematically, if Memories of a Beautiful Disaster was - as Durbin once said, built on "frustration, anxiety, and excitement" - then CELEBRATE was built from a stress-free place of gratitude, celebration, and positivity... and LOVE. "This record is more about a celebration of life and music because right now in my life I'm not worried about standing up for metal, or rock, or whatever anyone else has labeled me with,” he says. “I'm just stoked to be able to sing songs that I created, that I wrote. I don't have to yell them. I don't have to scream them. Because they’re already me." 
	
Making CELEBRATE his own necessitated over a year in writing sessions, resulting in Durbin co-writing 10 of the 11 tracks over a series of prolific writing sessions in Nashville, Venice, Malibu, Hollywood, and New York.  Among Durbin’s co-writers were the aforementioned Bruner and Dave Bassett (Meat Loaf, Orianthi, Josh Groban), as well as writers Steve Aiello (30 Seconds to Mars) and Griffin Boice (Black Eyed Peas, Frankie J, Wiz Khalifa) and his producer Stevens (formerly of The Exies). 

"We’d really dive into each song until it was right.  One of my favorite writing sessions was with Griffin Boice and Steve Aiello in Hollywood working on 'Louder Than a Loaded Gun.' Griffin's studio was such a great creative space. We were all just playing around with ideas until we got it. We pulled an all-nighter, drinking wine, eating bar-b-q, and listening to the song over and over to figure out the hook. I lucked out with super awesome people to work with who inspired me a lot and really reinvigorated my excitement about music," he says.

Reflecting on what the past two years have brought him - from placing fourth on "American Idol" in 2011 to seeing the release of his debut record the same year - Durbin also has his eye on another prize. "I want to play real music for people and inspire them to succeed in ways that would have been meaningful for me as a kid. That's why one of the greatest things through all of this has been to have a platform to perform for causes that mean something to me, like autism and Tourette’s events or being a WWE 'Be A STAR' spokesperson for their anti-bullying campaign. This is where wanting to be an artist began for me - feeling that complete enjoyment when you play for someone who's truly affected by it," says Durbin, who had suffered from the hands of childhood bullies for having Asperger's Syndrome and Tourette's Syndrome. 

Whether it's facing the bullies of his childhood or fighting for what he believes in for his music career, Durbin has not only never backed down from a challenge, but has also grown from each and every experience. "There's always a little fear releasing a new record, but I have never and will never stand down a challenge. People grow and change and as an artist you have to keep evolving. Personally, I can't do the same thing over and over.  If I didn't try something new and push my own boundaries, then what would I really accomplish? I've never been scared to challenge myself."

The world was treated to one piece of the James Durbin musical puzzle on "American Idol" and Memories of a Beautiful Disaster. Now, on CELEBRATE, the rest of the puzzle comes together.

 
DISCOGRAPHY
-On a global scale E.P. (Vibration records) (February 2016)
Tuve Que cantar (I had to sing)
On a global scale (feat. Bella Collins)
Hopes and Dreams and Fears
The cover up

-17 Pnatomimes E.P. (Violation music) (August 2015)
17 pantomimes
The field of the vibrations
Hunters moon
Ganglang thing

-Goodbye fools E.P (Nexgen Music) (March 2015)
Fools gold feat Triple dot beast
Scared to say goodbye feat Claudia Renee
The better half of me
They don't realise 
Thousand yard stare
Love fool

-Golden lotus feat. Bella Collins / Forever's calling (Vibration records) (Feb 2015) 

-Blue skies E.P (Luvdisaster records)(January 2015)
Blue skies (feat. Oliver Hawksworth)
The penitent man
Close your eyes (feat. Ceris Clift)
Jamie's imaginary guitar 

-Our time (Think deep recordings) (November 2014)

-The old words - (Violation records) (November 2014)

-Even when you're not there - (Sliced note recordings) (may 2014) 

-Luv disaster influences album (Luv disaster records) (April 2014)
Under the weather feat. Intermet (hip hop)
Wish you were here feat Intermet (hip hop)
Thinking of you (solo piano)

-Songs of silence EP (Luv disaster records) (June 2013)
Lunar tactics
Nothing remains the same feat. Jane Thomas
Old habits die hard
Songs of silence

 -Take me there (feat BooBoo) / Abandon ship / mystery callers (Nexgen music) (December 2012)

-The great consumer meltdown E.P (Bassdrive Tunes) (November 2012) 
Broken peace is? feat Nicki Rose
Treading the boards
Listening to dreams
In Bloom
The distant and the lonely
The great consumer meltdown

-Having you near (with Andy sim) (Jazzsticks recordings) (October 2012)

-Tears don't win prizes E.P - (Think deep recordings (July 2012)
Tears dont win prizes (feat BooBoo)
As the crow flies
If I should lose you
Stolen pathways (feat. Dav)
Sequence of events (with Andy Sim)

-Headfirst &amp; Foolhardy - feat. Miss May (Vibration records) (July 2012)

-Meet me in my shadow (Future thinkin) (February 2012)

-8th sun / Truth serum (Black reign LTD) (January 2012)

-No sensation (Luv disaster records) (December 2011) 

-Karl G &amp; Jamesie feat Undersound - Can't Breathe (Born to dance records) (September 2011) 

-Thicker than water (Think deep recordings) (August 2011) 

-Burning sand feat. Hayley Toms / Dwelling place (Bassdrive tunes) (August 2011) 

-Lost words (Vibration records) (March 2011) 

-Ghosts / Marching orders (Point Audio) (February 2011) 

- So hush (with Andy Sim / Steam train shuffle (feat Jane Thomas) (Nexgen music) (January 2011) 

-Month of sundays (vibration records) (december 2010) 

-She's alright (Hustle Audio) (December 2010) 

-Runaway / All seeing (Sub life recordings) (November 2010) 

-You dont understand / Sight unseen (Luv disaster 
records) (November 2010) 

-Karl g and jamesie feat. Undersound - Never should - (born to dance records) (september 2010) 

-Soul testify (feat Jane Thomas) / Shadow thinkers (Bassdrive tunes) (August 2010) 

- Mondays Lament / Swings and roundabouts - (Funkstar records) (July 2010) 

-A thousand memories E.P - (Point Audio) (June 2010) 
Rainbows and memories (feat. Oliver Hawksworth) 
The extra mile 
Saunctuary 
Rikki knows 

-Boundaries / Old superstitions - (Bassdrive tunes) (March 2010) 

-7th son of the 7th son / sleep walkers - (Black reign LTD) (March 2010) 

-Alice Trap / Fall 7 times - (Point audio) (Febuary 2010) 

-Into the woods - (digiphunk) (December 2009) 

-Nocture E.P- (Hustle audio) (September 2009) 
4 Leaf jester 
Ute - Lost voice (undersound remix) 
Spirits within 
A little night music - feat. Jane Thomas 

-Last supper - (Influenza) (July 2009) 

-Calling all bluffs - (Liquid brilliants) (12 track album) (June 2009) 

-Mangrove / Cherry Grove - (Point 9 Audio) (April 2009) 

-Happy go lucky / That thing called - (Point 9 audio) (December 2008)

Xia Sloan is following