Thursday, January 26, 2012

Indie Review welcomes Candice Anitra


Set your reminders and tune in!  See ya Saturday :)

Indie Review Radio – Hosted by Raychelle & C.Truth
12 pm to 1:30 pm
Call-in Number: (646) 478-5123

CANDICE ANITRA

Candice Anitra hates boxes. Not in a weird, pygmachophobia way. It’s the rigidly corrugated musical categories that both perplex and perturb her. So much so that at times, Candice likens her musical existence to feeling like a stranger on earth. “Humans like for you to say what your identifying labels are,” she points out. “Once you do that, you have to stay in that category. If you do anything else, it confuses them.” Embodying the subtle rapture of Joan Armatrading, the robust confidence of Meshell Ndegeocello, and the thespian gender inquisition of Cheryl Dunye, the left-of-soul singer-songwriter has learned that it’s much easier to buck convention than to live a futile existence of the square peg in a round hole. “The thing I’m embracing and having the most fun with is that it’s ok to be the me that I’ve always been all along.” Hailing from a planet called Philadelphia, the Brooklyn-based songstress was reared in a musical family rooted in the glorious sounds of the local church choir. “Music was a big part of our household,” she says. “My father’s love of music and his writing music was something that was very special and important early on.” However, many years passed before the impetus to find her voice struck. “I always considered myself as an artist. By the time I was interested in singing, I asked my father to teach me. And he told me I wasn’t ready yet. For many years, I battled that comment.” Candice set sail for New York University’s heralded Tisch School of the Arts after graduation and immersed herself in the fertile artistic environs of New York City. Enrolled in a self-scripting curriculum, Candice was molded into the image of a triple threat. Relishing the liberating new experience, Candice expanded her horizons and sharpened her talent as a writer with aplomb. Yet she remained on the fence with regards to the strength of her vocal talents. But her indecision would soon fade. In 2002, a post-collegiate Candice stumbled upon a musical outlet by assuming lead vocal duties for a local NYC band called True Story. By 2006, Candice had written a Dali-esque stage play centered on black women entitled The Ripple Effect and had begun instructing a youth theater workshop. By that time, True Story had disbanded, but serendipity would find her crossing paths with a former classmate, which would prove to be her entry into the realm of songwriting. Candice’s most recent video, for the female powered anthem “Too Much Woman,” makes its own statement and has quickly reached thousands of views. Featuring live actors backed by illustrated technicolor settings, Candice faces derogatory and inhibiting comments, to which she responds by drawing boxes around the perpetrators, effectively caging them in, as she chastises their disrespect. The surreal illustrated backgrounds contrast with the serious subject matter and position Candice as a confident woman who will not let others confine nor define her, true to her vision as a person and artist. Candice is currently working on her Big Treee album. Soon after the earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, 2010, a photograph of a mountain of dead bodies gripped Candice Anitra. The shared humanity screamed out, and raw emotion compelled Anitra to compose a song as a reminder that we are all connected and vulnerable, living on one shared earth, and responsible for supporting one another. On the second anniversary of the devastation, and in advance of the release of Anitra's sophomore album, Big Tree, Candice is released the track, "Today," with a video for the song, in order to raise still-much-needed funds to improve lives in Haiti.


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Indie Review welcomes Malachi Rivers !



Set your reminders and tune in!  See ya Saturday :)

Indie Review Radio – Hosted by Raychelle & C.Truth
12 pm to 1:30 pm
Call-in Number: (646) 478-5123

MALACHI RIVERS

Born Greg Owens, Jr. In Prince George's County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C., Malachi started from humble beginnings with a young mother and step-father who raised him to be a very spiritually aware, confident, and disciplined individual. "Growing up I saw it all drugs, abuse, you name it! However, when I heard music, especially Hip Hop, like Tribe, Digable Planets, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and Arrested Development it was my escape. I started to feel like there was more to life than some of the things I saw. That's why I took on the name Malachi which means "my messenger" because I wanted to use music as away to get a message across. The last name Rivers came about because I wanted the message to flow like a river, sometimes its rough sometimes its smooth." 
Malachi, began to take his love for music seriously auditioning and being accepted into a prestigious performing arts school in Maryland. Honing his craft vocally, Malachi studied Classical voice. "I was always told I had such a strong voice. I would sing Arias and Negro Spirituals all the time. Let's just say I was the young man who loved singing "Ol' Man River". After graduating Malachi, attended the University of Maryland where he developed an interest in spoken word poetry. Malachi, studied the craft, started a group with a female singer/poet and became one of the DMV's most dominant spoken word performers. Winning Slams, and performing alongside or for many outstanding performers including Saul Williams, Sonia Sanchez, Dick Gregory, and performing at the same spot on a weekly basis as R&B singer Raheem Devaughn. 
Having toured the states and Europe with rising and notable Jazz star Marcus Strickland "Twi-Life" Group as the "God Voice" in support of their acclaimed live recorded album Open Reel Deck, Malachi developed the lyrical chops, musicality, and stage presence to hold down two to three shows a night.  Working with such barrier breaking talent as Grammy Award winning rapper Cee-Knowledge aka Doodlebug of the Legendary Hip Hop Group Digable Planets, Spoken Word Star J.Ivy (Kanye West, Jay-Z, John Legend), and two breakthrough producers, Jazz trained female drummer turned producer JoVia Armstrong and House/Techno head Brandon Durrette, Malachi's debut album Stereo Sound Escape embodies musicality, love, lyricism, and the privilege to hear music that crosses borders and not just the charts. 
After the group broke up, Malachi began to do some soul searching. Taking time away from the craft, Malachi enrolled in Broadcasting school, graduated, worked hard as an intern at Radio One in the DMV area and within a few months became the co-host of a talk show on a very new at the time XM Satellite Radio - "The Power". In less than a year Malachi was given his own show on XM Satellite Radio - "The Flow" called The "Nu Soul Lounge". The show played "Neo-Soul" Spoken Word, and "conscience" Hip Hop. Moreover, this was the blessing that got him back on track to his musical path. "I remember being behind the mic interviewing Dougie E. Fresh, and started "spittin" for him, being in a hotel room having a cypher with The Nappy Roots, being in a backstage dressing room rhyme fest with Eve and Beenie Man, vibing with India. Arie, talking to Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Q-Tip, and feeling like I never want this to end. So I left it all and moved to NYC to pursue my dreams as a emcee/poet" 
Malachi delved right into the New York scene, with only $103 dollars in his pocket and a dream. Hitting up open mic spots and meeting an array of talent. Performing for a month in a musical at the legendary Nuyorican Poetry Cafe, frequenting the "mother of all open mics" Village Underground, and many other spots. "I remember studying what performers did to captivate an audience. By attending these spots it developed me even more as an artist." 
Perhaps even beyond the open mic scene the world of social media has done wonders for Malachi. Through social media Malachi, met the man who he thanks as giving him the opportunity to perform at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club and to see the world, Jazz star Marcus Strickland. Strickland discovered Malachi on Myspace and sought after his talents for his project. Malachi, was also able to meet U.K. soul singer Maria Bentley, who he has two songs with to date, JoVia the amazing female producer who produced three tracks off his forthcoming album Stereo Sound Escape, including his debut single Love & Music with Maria Bentley, and one of his Hip Hop inspirations Cee-Knowledge aka Doodlebug from Digable Planets, whom has blessed Malachi with a powerful collaboration. 


Friday, January 13, 2012

Indie Review welcomes HESTON !


Set your reminders and tune in!  See ya Saturday :)

Indie Review Radio – Hosted by Raychelle & C.Truth
12 pm to 1:30 pm
Call-in Number: (646) 478-5123

HESTON


Born in The Island of Dominica (British West Indies), singer-songwriter, Heston grew up with music all around him. Being surrounded by reggae, pop, classical, soul, R&B, rock music was commonplace and it is no surprise that radio, along with a collection of his father’s old records, would open the key to his soul and love for all types of music. From Barbara Streisand to Aretha Franklin, The Bee Gees, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Beres Hammond, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson (to name a few)  each musician looped a thread into his soul, and after listening to his music, it is clear that he has been influenced by the best. His voice rises and falls like ocean waves rolling over the white sands of his Dominica homeland. A guitar-welding troubadour whose tenor is as melodious as the island accent of his native tongue, Heston’s music soothes, cajoles, and ultimately envelopes listeners into a sensual atmosphere rich with whispered promises. On Warm Human, Cold World (World Soul Music/Dome), his third soul project in eight years, the Atlanta-based artist is unabashedly romantic, allowing listeners to enter his most intimate spaces and thoughts. Here, the shy, singing boy who once fearfully trembled behind his church’s podium is now revealed as a sure-footed, hot-blooded man clear about what he wants and how he plans to get it—be it his internationally respected music career or securing a passionate, solitary love. Warm Human, Cold World reminds us why we are here—to love. Based on two relationships experienced since his 2008 Storyteller (World Soul Music/Dome), Heston uses his solo pen, voice, and evolving self-production skills to capture the raw emotion he experienced and learned through those connections. From the first single, “Greatest Lover,” the singer/songwriter brings a universal honesty about relationships. Initially conceived as the usual break-up song, after a discussion with the song’s real-life subject, the “Greatest Lover” was transformed into an up-tempo celebration of a lover once present, now lost. Daring to reveal the arc of love, Heston delivers the fresh longing of being “Outside Your Window,” the bliss of being in it “For Love,” the “Crazy” complications of letting go, and ultimately the heartache of being “Lonely.” Recorded in a concentrated period, it is his most fluid, intimate project yet. With a career in music that began in Atlanta, GA, launched by a self-titled EP, he has defined his journey as a full-time musician, composer, songwriter and producer. “Creating timeless music has always been my ultimate goal,” says Heston with a poised yet humble demeanor.  “I want to leave the world with music that can be played for a lifetime.”


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Monique Baines: The Mo Show !

Here is our most recent guest Monique Baines In studio recording Pin Code, Monique, Jarrod (producer), Kenyon (writer) and June (engineer) discuss Monique's frustration of recording with Auto-tune on, and other issues surrounding the process.


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Indie Review welcomes Monique Baines !


Set your reminders and tune in!  See ya Saturday :)

Indie Review Radio – Hosted by Raychelle & C.Truth
12 pm to 1:30 pm
Call-in Number: (646) 478-5123

MONIQUE BAINES

MONIQUE BAINES has spent her life listening to and following the love of her life, not unlike most women. As a vocalist and well-versed musician (she also plays the flute, piano, & drums), what is most unique about Monique is her sound. Professional musicians have tagged her as a modern day Ella Fitzgerald, with a vocal prowess that ranges from classical to blues, and jazz to pop. Her voice is highly versatile, yet soothing. Monique’s musical background built up from solo choir performances, to first place wins at talent contests and New York City showcases, to features on prominent mix tapes. All of which has led her to work with industry legends such as Steve Rifkind, Sylvia Rhone, & Akon. Along the way she honed in on her one-of-a-kind style with production team Roc Life and world renowned production team Full Force. Monique signed to a legendary production team, Full Force, as the resident R&B diva in a three-person group. The group’s R&B/funk/hip-hop sound earned them label showcases in front of many record execs, including the legendary Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Larry Jackson, and Barry Weiss. After listening to the opinions of her professional colleagues and friends, Monique decided it was best to remain a solo artist. After working as the executive and marketing assistant at a small yet well branded label, Monique is not only armed with her extraordinary talent, but with the industry savvy needed to fill a void in the ever-evolving music scene.