Click the image or HERE to view the playlist in Spotify. Check out the archive of ES Recommends HERE.

You can also import it on Amazon, but let’s face… 48 GBP is a bit steep, eh? Still, the price is likely to go down, down down, eventually…

Read This: Turin Brakes & Me
Olly Knights, songwriter and lead vocalist of Turin Brakes and I met about thirteen years ago when we both studied Film & Video at Central Saint Martins College Of Art in Long Acre, Covent Garden. It was one of those courses that born a lot of musicians for some reason. There was the infamous Jarvis Cocker a few years before us, then Turin Brakes and the controversial rap artist, M.I.A –and Nima Nourizadeh – ads Director and now Hollywood Director to name but a few.

Olly and I used to share the sound room for recordings. There wasn’t anyone else who was keen on sound as we both were. I remember Olly made really beautiful films, there was one called, “Two Stories” where Olly captured the clouds shadowing a beach like running ghosts as time passed by. For each album cover that is released, I saw roots of where the artwork came from: this wonderful film he made.

Read on >>

This month’s issue sees some old and some new songs I quite like – I hope you like them too. Click here to view the playlist in Spotify (and listen to it). Note that if you have already subscribed to the previous issue, you won’t need to subscribe again. You can just go to Spotify to your playlists and the updated playlist will be there.

Spotify is a free (or paid) music subscription service. Besides listening to millions of songs, you can also make and share playlists. I’ve decided to make an almost monthly updated Ether Site Recommends Playlist. Hereby I present the second issue. Next month a new playlist will be made and it will automatically replace the old one. So if you click subscribe when viewing the playlist, you will always be able to see the latest issue of the playlist. The playlist features mostly acoustic music (although there’s some adventures). The idea is that it mostly features music Turin Brakes fans may like. So check it out and let me know what you think!

All the archived playlists go into this bigger playlist, to which you can subscribe also. It will be filled with the songs from the previous playlists.

click to enlarge

Spotify is a free (or paid) music subscription service. Besides listening to millions of songs, you can also make and share playlists. I’ve decided to make a monthly updated Ether Site Recommends Playlist. Hereby I present the first issue. Next month a new playlist will be made and it will automatically replace the old one. So if you click subscribe when viewing the playlist, you will always be able to see the latest issue of the playlist. The playlist features mostly acoustic music (although there’s some adventures).  The idea is that it mostly features music Turin Brakes fans may like. So check it out and let me know what you think!

View the playlist >>

Tom McRae has been going strong since his selftitled debut in 2000 was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. He didn’t win but has been making nice to very nice records ever since. Late 2009 he was ready to release an ambitious project consisting of two CDs. But then he got a new record deal at a record company who were willing to release it for him (which is the same company that is releasing the new Turin Brakes album). And thus, now we have this album and it’s his most diverse one to date. His songs are dark, sometimes even depressing and benefit from the open and honest production of these songs. Tom’s voice is that of a fallen angel. Single Please is a glorious bittersweet love songs with an anthemlike feel. Other highlights on the new record include Won’t Lie and Out Of The Walls.

The Alphabet of Hurricanes is released on the 22nd of February, on Cooking Vinyl. The download single Please is available now! Listen on Myspace to some of his songs. There you’ll also find a tour schedule for the longest tour he’s ever done, lasting over a month.

Thomas Dybdahl is one of the most popular singer/songwriters in his home country Norway and has gathered critical acclaim all over Europe since. After his latest record Science went straight to number one in Norway, he is now ready to conquer the UK with his great blend of soft-spoken vocals and thoughtful melodies. This week he releases a digital EP, called B A Part, with his debut UK release, simply titled Thomas Dybdahl, following in the Autumn. His UK album will feature the best songs he’s released so far, which can be previewed on his Myspace profile.

Thomas Dybdahl has gained a growing international following for his elegant and expressive songs of love and loss, which have earned him comparisons to Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley.

Check the video for B A Part here:

Thomas will play in the UK and Europe several times in the upcoming months. His live shows have a more laidback but professional feel to them (often slowly building towards a climax during songs), as can be experience here.

18th July – Latitude Festival (Sunrise Arena)
20th July – Music Week Unearthed @ Queen of Hoxton, London
14th September – Koncerthuset, Copenhagen
17th September – The Pigalle Club, London
21st September – Café de la Danse, Paris
15th October – Shepherds Bush Empire, London (w/ Tina Dico)
26th October – Spring & Airbrake, Belfast (w/ Handsome Furs)
27th October – Academy, Dublin (w/ Handsome Furs)
28th October – Cyprus Avenue, Cork (w/ Handsome Furs)

For more (updated) info check his myspace. Be A Part is on sale now from all your favourite digital stores, such as 7digital, amazon.co.uk and iTunes. Thomas Dybdahl, the album, is released on September, the 14th.

The Atlantic Ocean is the fourth release from American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift. Celebrated for his lo-fi, experimental mélanges saluting genres from Doo-Wop to lush American Pop, Swift adds jaunty synthesizers and Motown soul to make Ocean his most danceable record to date.

On this latest album he presents more of his vintage sounding grand american pop: lots of proper piano, gorgeous melodies filled with both sorrow as optimism. It’s bleak, yet very colorful. The track “Ballad of Old What’s His Name” is a collaboration with producer Mark Ronson. It features the talents of Ryan Adams, Mark Ronson, Sean Lennon and Pat Sansone of Wilco, a strange pairing of musicians, producing beautiful results.

On the one hand Swift uses music history: leaning on 60s and 70s pop. On the other hand, Swift’s music is in many ways very much up to date. But in a historical kind of way.

Check out Myspace for a preview of his work. The Atlantic Ocean is out now.

Lisa Hannigan, known for her work with Damien Rice before he kicked her out of his band for reasons unnown, has spent 2008 recording her debut album. It was released in Ireland (and via her website) after a lot of hype. And the hype was worth it. If you like singer songwriters, Lisa’s Sea Sew is the best thing you can buy right now. It gets a proper release next month (3rd of February) and I recommend this one to everyone. Highlights for me are album opener An Ocean And A Rock, Lille and the catchy I Don’t Know. The lyrics are intelligent yet soothing. The sounds are warm and cold at the same time.

Lisa will be touring the United States and Canada in February and March 2009.

For more recommended artists, check the State of Things.

Last month Last month Phil Campbell supported our favourite duo across the United Kingdom. But he didn’t have long to rest. He is now support David Gray across the UK on 12 tourdates. Check out Phil Campbell Music.com for the full list of dates.

The support slot doesn’t come at a bad time….Phil Campbell will be releasing his digital single Maps (How I Feel About You) on the 14th of April, with a physical release (pre-order) the Monday after (21st). Phil Campbell played the song on his recent tour dates and you can listen to it again at his Myspace. The Sunday Times praised it as being “witty, self-deprecating, tongue-tied and charming and one of the best love songs of the year” whilst Music Week have hailed his music as having a “timeless, classic quality that belies his youthful years”.

On the 5th of May he will then release his new album. It is called After The Garden(pre-order it Amazon.co.uk here). The release will be on Safehouse recordings.

If you can’t wait that long, buy his 2007 album Joy here. This album features some songs that will also be on After The Garden. Check out an interview with Phil Campbell during the release of Joy right here.

Discuss Phil Campbell in The Ether’s Air here.