Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Here's a quick round up of the new releases for February: The X Factor may be over but Kelly Rowland is back, empowered and more assertive than ever with new single, ‘Lay It On Me’, released on February 6th through Island Records. Gotye – Making Mirrors - Released 13th February 2012 + UK Tour Dates Live Dates and Main Post Fresh from supporting Jessie J, Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz on tour, hot new urban-pop sensations Encore release their brand new single 'Fun Last Night' on February 26th via Island Records. Encore will release their brand new single 'Fun Last Night' on February 13th via Island Records. Midnight Lion release their new EP, ‘Sleeping In The Woods’, on the 13th February 2012 through Locks & Keys/Island Records. Live Dates and Main Post Ben Howard releases his new single, ‘The Wolves’ on the 27th February 2012 through Island Records. It is taken from Ben’s top 10 debut album, ‘Every Kingdom’. LADYHAWKE release her new single ‘Black, White &...

Following the release of their debut single, ‘All Greatness Stands Firm’, last Summer, Glasgow based two-piece Midnight Lion remain an enigmatic entity. Their music is at once full of the melodies and huge choruses found in the studio pop bands of the 80s, yet it maintains an art-house leaning that evokes the dark, subtle moments of artists akin to Talk Talk. It’s a sound that imbues the influence of living and creating music in the forward thinking city they call home. ‘Sleeping In The Woods’ was penned in the East End of Glasgow, in Lewis Gardner’s bedroom. Gardner, as one half of the band, is the man responsible for the band’s production sound, reflecting Glasgow’s progressive musical present as much as it does its past. Stewart Brock, the lyricist and vocalist, resides in the West End and heads over to Lewis’ home to lay down his powerful vocals and bounce ideas off each other within the makeshift studio. Sleeping In The Woods is a dark, brooding and evocative pop tune, and as ...

"Chimes of Freedom", 75 Newly Recorded Bob Dylan Songs by Over 80 Artists Scheduled for January 24 Release, salutes Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary and Life-Saving Human Rights Work   (New York) – Two iconic forces that have impacted the past 50 years – the life-saving human rights activism of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Amnesty International and the incomparable artistry of Bob Dylan – are being saluted by 80 musicians who contributed new or previously unreleased recordings to Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Chimes of Freedom is Executive Produced by legendary music executive Jeff Ayeroff and Julie Yannatta, who spearheaded Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur – a 2007 collection of John Lennon solo compositions performed by major artists including U2, Green Day, and R.E.M. The collection is scheduled for physical (4 discs) and digital release in the UK through Fontana International, a ...