CrammedBlog

News From The Studios!

CIBELLE is putting the finishing touches to her second album, due for release in April 2006. The tracks were recorded mostly in São Paulo and London, and were coproduced by Cibelle, Apollo Nove and Mike Lindsay (from up and coming UK folktronica act Tunng). Final takes and mixes are taking place in Paris with engineer Yann Arnaud.

TARTIT: Crammed are about to start recording the new album by this Tuareg band who live in the Sahara (in northern Mali), and recently took part in the Desert Blues shows alongside Afel Bocoum & Habib Koité. The album will be recorded in the desert by (Congotronics man) Vincent Kenis on his mobile studio, and in collaboration with Michel Winter, who has been looking after the career of Tartit (with his management company Divano, which also takes care of Taraf de Haidouks, Mahala Rai Banda and Konono N°1 among others).

BEBEL GILBERTO has been writing and recording songs for her 3rd album.

TUXEDOMOON are working on a largely instrumental soundtrack album.

THINK OF ONE: the ebullient Belgian combo have just signed a recording agreement with Crammed, and are working on their new album, due out in late March 2006. Entitled « Chuva em pô 2 », the album was recorded with several musicians & vocalists from the Brazilian northeast, including legendary veteran singer Dona Cila do Côco. Their first « Chuva em pô » project had come out on their own, tiny label, yet had managed to obtain a BBC Award for World Music. Think Of One think of themselves as musical explorers, and have previously travelled around the globe to record with Moroccan and Inuit artists.

CONGOTRONICS 3 : watch this space for more news on the recording of the forthcoming volume in the series !

Preview of new Bebel Gilberto video

After her successful Brazilian tour, Bebel Gilberto is touring the USA in September. Tour dates here below:

08/09 - SAN DIEGO, CA - HOUSE OF BLUES
09/09 - LOS ANGELES, CA - HOLLYWOOD BOWL
10/09 - LOS ANGELES, CA - HOLLYWOOD BOWL
29/09 - NEW YORK - BLUE NOTE
30/09 - NEW YORK - BLUE NOTE
01/10 - NEW YORK - BLUE NOTE

Check also the exclusive preview of her new video of the fine remix of Winter by Finland’s Nuspirit Helsinki.

For more details on "Bebel Gilberto Remixed", go to the Crammed website

INDIAN SUMMER

While you’re still enjoying diving, climbing, walking, escaping and doing other exciting summer things, the little bees at Crammed are preparing a beautiful Indian Summer for you…

APOLLO NOVE, the amazing young producer/musician/singer from São Paulo, the man who produced Cibelle’s first record, has come up with an exquisite album: modern yet retro, electronic yet folk, and definitively Brazilian, groovy and sexy. He has invited some seductive voices to sing with him: Cibelle, Céu, Tita Lima and Seu Jorge. His album is called “Res Inexplicata Volans”.

We will also release THE NOW SOUND OF BRAZIL 2 , the new Ziriguiboom compilation. Great songs, unreleased tracks & exclusive mixes from our adored Brazilian artists incuding Cibelle, Zuco 103, Celso Fonseca, Bossacucanova, Bebel Gilberto, DJ Dolores and more… and last but not least the compilation will be sold at a nice price.

Ahhh! HUGO and his album "La nuit des balançoires" : if you don’t understand French, you will miss some of the content of his Twin-Peaks-meets-Conan-Doyle-on-a-surnatural-sarcastic-tip stories, but then again you’ll feel it simply by hearing the atmosphere of his arrangements (ranging from limpid to quirky), his high-pitched voice and his wonderful melodies....

TARAF DE HAÏDOUKS: you were probably wondering when we were going to make a DVD with our lovely honourable brigands? Well, it’s almost done! 2 young directors are working on it. It will include a program with the Tarafs in concert in the UK, when Neacsu was still alive, very touching, and Johnny Depp telling the world why he loves them so much, filmed by UK director Marc Allen. Also, a documentary about the Band of Gypsies playing in their country, Romania, for the first time on their 10th anniversary, shot by Elsa Dahmani. There will also be several bonuses, interviews, video postcards of the Tarafs playing around the world etc.

CONGOTRONICS 2: “BUZZ’N’RUMBLE FROM THE URB’N’JUNGLE” : after the explosive KONONO N°1, professor Vincent Kenis will present us 5 other stupendous electro-traditional bands from the suburbs of Kinshasa, including Kasai Allstars, Masanka Sankayi & Basokin. More heavily-distorted sounds, more DIY amplification… but also a whole array of different rhythms, buzzing drums, swirling guitars and hypnotic balafons. A DVD will be included to show it all.

NOW SOUND OF BRAZIL 2

Soon to be released…

Ziriguiboom/Crammed is widely recognized as one of the major sources of new Brazilian music, having signed and developed artists such as Cibelle, Suba, Zuco 103, Trio Mocotó, Celso Fonseca, Bossacucanova and of course Bebel Gilberto, whose debut album "Tanto Tempo" has become a worldwide success.

This second volume of the NOW Sound Of Brazil series showcases Ziriguiboom’s latest exciting signings Apollo Nove and DJ Dolores, and comprises album tracks and exclusive remixes by all the artists currently on the Ziriguiboom roster.

More info soon here.

4 Crammed albums in iTunes USA Top 10 World!

This week 4 Crammed/Ziriguiboom albums appear in the iTunes USA Top 10 World Music chart.

3 Bebel Gilberto albums ("Bebel Gilberto”, “Tanto Tempo” and her latest, “Bebel Gilberto Remixed") and “Uma Batida Diferente” by Bossacucanova.

More info on the albums and artist availble at Crammed website.

Direct iTunes links here below, you can also connect to your local iTunes store if needed:

Bebel Gilberto Remixed


Tanto Tempo


Bebel Gilberto


Uma Batida Diferent

Direct iTunes links to new Crammed releases

From today on we will integrate direct iTunes links to the Crammedblog with automatic links to iTunes online shop where you can preview and buy Crammed Discs songs.

Check the link (iTunes icon) below for direct iTunes acces to the new “Bebel Gilberto Remixed” album.

ARTE Television teams up with Crammed to celebrate Brazil at the Cannes Film Festival

To celebrate the Year of Brazil in France, the Cannes Film Festival is organising a special screening of the mythical Marcel Camus film Orfeu Negro (which was awarded the Palme d’Or in 1959), followed by a cocktail party on the boat which hosts Franco-German TV channel ARTE, during which a documentary entitled Searching For Orfeu Negro will be shown in the presence of Brazil’s Minister Of Culture (and megastar) Gilberto Gil and of ARTE president Jérome Clément. This event takes place on May 18.

On this occasion, ARTE Television has teamed up with the CRAMMED DISCS label to produce a limited-edition DVD containing excerpts from a documentary by Simon Brook (Magical Jungle), an interactive map of Brazil, music videos by Bebel Gilberto and Zuco 103, and six audio tracks by Cibelle, Bebel Gilberto, DJ Dolores, Zuco 103, Celso Fonseca and Suba (*), who rank among the best exponents of the new wave of Brazilian music, and who have all been discovered and released by Crammed on its Ziriguiboom imprint.

(*) The Suba track happens to be “Felicidade”, a modernist version of a song taken from the Orfeu Negro soundtrack.

More Details About Bebel Gilberto's 'Remixed' Album

BEBEL GILBERTO REMIXED

1. Céu Distante remixed by DJ Spinna
2. Simplesmente remixed by Tom Middleton
3. O Caminho remixed by Guy Sigsworth
4. Aganjú remixed by Latin Project
5. Winter remixed by Nuspirit Helsinki
6. Baby remixed by Yam Who?
7. All Around remixed by Telefon Tel Aviv
8. Cada Beijo remixed by Thievery Corporation
9. Jabuticaba remixed by Stuhr
10. Aganjú remixed by Spiritual South
11. Next To You remixed by Steve Hillier
12. Every Day You’ve Been Away remixed by Monoaural
13. River Song remixed by Grant Nelson

BONUS DISC

1 Aganjú (John Beltran Mix)
2 Simplesmente (Tom Middleton Balearic Mix)
3 Baby (Yam Who? Dub Mix)
4 Aganjú (Spiritual South Bontempi Repercussion)
5 Winter (Nuspirit Helsinki Dub)
6 All Around (Bombay Dub Orchestra Mix)

CD out in May.

Bebel Gilberto‘s debut album Tanto Tempo became a worldwide phenomenon, selling a million copies around the globe and captivating audiences with its mix of classic bossa nova updated with cool electronica.

Her second release, simply titled Bebel Gilberto, further consolidated Bebel’s status. It showed a more mature, more confident Bebel, an artist in full bloom whose songwriting skills and inimitable, magical voice had ascended to new heights. The album was received with enthusiasm, and earned a string of awards and nominations, including a Mobo Award (UK), an Adlib Award (Japan), nominations for a Grammy and for a BBC Radio Award for World Music, etc.

Now here comes Bebel Gilberto Remixed, a collection in which all the tracks from the ‘Bebel Gilberto’ album are given fresh, electronic interpretations by an international cast of dance / hip hop / electronica producers.

The list includes well-known masters such as DJ Spinna, Thievery Corporation, Yam Who?, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tom Middleton, Spiritual South, Dubstar’s Steve Hillier, Telefon Tel Aviv, Stuhr and Monoaural.

While several of these remixes are definitely very dancefloor-friendly, Bebel Gilberto Remixed is first and foremost aimed at providing a great home listening experience, and offers an alternative way of discovering the already-classic songs from Bebel’s second album.

The initial pressing will be a limited edition including a second, bonus CD containing 6 additional remixes.

More About The Tracks & The Remixers

1. Céu Distante remixed by DJ Spinna
One of the most original and eclectic figures to come out of the US underground hip hop scene, DJ Spinna has done remixes for Michael Jackson, Mary J.Blige, Ronny Jordan, Mos Def, Zero 7, George Michael and De La Soul. He’s released albums under his name and as part of his Jigmastas crew. Spinna’s rendition of Bebel & Pascal Gabriel’s song transforms it into a super laid-back jazzy hip hop jam.

2. Simplesmente remixed by Tom Middleton
An uplifting remix by the man who helped shape dancefloor techno (with Reload) and ambient techno (with Global Communication) in the early ‘90s, and then went on to spark off the electro revival with the Jedi Knights (who influenced everyone from The Prodigy & The Chemical Brothers to Daft Punk). Tom Middleton has recently put out a string of successful dancefloor tracks & mixes under his Cosmos alias. This remix features additional Rhodes piano by Tom ‘Shur-I-Kan’ Szirtes.

3. O Caminho remixed by Guy Sigsworth
Guy has written and produced tracks for Seal, Bomb The Bass, Lamb, Talvin Singh, and Madonna. He’s also produced songs for Björk, and served as her musical director. His own project with vocalist Imogen Heap is called Frou Frou. He co-wrote and produced ‘Cada Beijo’, one of the outstanding tracks on the ‘Bebel Gilberto’ album (remixed in this set by Thievery Corporation), and has produced here a beautiful, cinematic new version of “O Caminho”.

4. Aganjú remixed by Latin Project
This summery, smile-on-your-face version of Aganjú has already been requested for inclusion in several compilations. Latin project are Jez Colin and Matt Cooper, two British musicians/producers who have worked with acid jazz greats like Incognito, Solsonics and D*Note. They moved to the U.S., formed the Latin Project and released their “Nueva Musica” album, a combination of electronic dance beats and Latin rhythms.

5. Winter remixed by Nuspirit Helsinki
This multi-talented Finnish collective of DJs, producers and musicians have used a team of 7 musicians (including a string quartet) to create and record this new arrangement of Bebel’s “Winter”. NSH have done remixes/production work for Yoko Ono, Astor Piazzola Nicola Conte, and have ascended to the forefront of the European neo-jazz scene on the strength of their productions for Jazzanova/Compost, Guidance and Ubiquity.

6. Baby remixed by Yam Who?
Beside their daily occupation behind the counter of Reckless (the famous Soho record shop), Andy Williams and Desmond Morgan aka Little Rico form an almighty pair of hot producers and remixers, and have done reworks of tracks by Raphael Saadiq, Little Brother, Allison Crockett, Nas, Pharell Williams and Zero 7. Their off-the-wall rendering of Bebel’s “Baby” features keyboard and guitar playing by ‘80s new wave/funk hero Chaz Jankel (who used to be part of Ian Dury & The Blockheads).

7. All Around remixed by Telefon Tel Aviv
With their latest album, New Orleans-based band Telefon Tel Aviv have earned themselves a reputation by hovering between textural, ambient electronica, song structures and classical instrumentation. They first reached a wider audience by remixing Nine Inch Nails. Their subtle remix of All Around features interesting harmonies and additional guitars.

8. Cada Beijo remixed by Thievery Corporation
There’s no need to introduce Thievery Corporation, major purveyors of quality downtempo music, who have just released their 4th album, and who have already collaborated a couple of times with Bebel (she sang and co-wrote a track on one of their earlier albums, they produced and co-wrote “Lonely” on Bebel’s ‘Tanto Tempo’).

9. Jabuticaba remixed by Stuhr
A pleasant and relaxed rework of the Bebel Gilberto/Carlinhos Brown tune, by up and coming U.S. mixers Stuhr have done remixes for Tito Rodriguez, for the upcoming solo album by The Cranberries’ Noel Hogan, and for Patti Labelle and Kay Starr, among others.

10. Aganjú remixed by Spiritual South
One of the most highly-rated production/remix teams in the UK, Spiritual South have been releasing their Latin/house/funk/break bombs on labels such as Afro Art and Ubiquity. Their ‘Sub Rub’ mix of Aganjú sounds like a brisk walk through a dark yet humorous electronic alley… while their (totally different) ‘Bontempi Repercussion’ remix, which is included in the limited-edition bonus disc, is much more typical of their usual percussive & festive style.

11. Next To You remixed by Steve Hillier
Producer/songwriter Steve Hillier was the main creative force behind the alternative pop band Dubstar, who have had a string of top 40 hits and two gold albums in the UK. Steve has remixed tracks for Dubstar, Heaven 17, Hooverphonic, Billy Bragg and Backyard Dog, amongst many others. His sometimes quasi-psychedelic rendition of “Next To You” manages to be even more dreamy than the original.

12. Every Day You’ve Been Away remixed by Monoaural
... aka Berna Ceppas and Kassin, a young producer from Rio de Janeiro who has worked with the likes of Lenine, Marisa Monte, Arto Lindsay and Caetano Veloso and who, together with Moreno Veloso and Domenico, forms the acclaimed “+2” trio, who have released two interesting and charming albums (as “Moreno +2” and “Domenico +2"). This whimsical, mad remix features João Donato’s son Donatinho on keyboards.

13. River Song remixed by Grant Nelson
Already a dancefloor favourite, the album’s energizing finale is a crafty and exciting remix courtesy of Grant Nelson, a man who has produced some of the most club-friendly techno, house and UK garage records (a.o. under his Bump&Flex moniker) in Britain, runs his Swing City label, and has remixed everyone from Thelma Houston, Roy Ayers and Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King to Mousse T and Jodeci.

Bebel Gilberto Remixed

CD out in May

An album in which all the (predominantly acoustic) tracks from Bebel’s eponymously-titled second album are given new interpretations by a great cast of dance, hip hop and electronica remixers including hip hop and electronica remixers including DJ Spinna, Thievery Corporation, Yam Who?, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tom Middleton, Spiritual South, Dubstar’s Steve Hillier, Telefon Tel Aviv and more… ... The initial pressing will be a limited edition including a second CD with 6 additional remixes.

GRAMMY AWARD Nomination for Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto’s new album ‘Bebel Gilberto’ is nominated for ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album’ Grammy award, alongside ‘Cositas Buenas’ (Paco De Lucía), ‘Roots’ (Gipsy Kings), ‘Oyaya!’ (Angélique Kidjo) and ‘Egypt’ (Youssou N’Dour). The awards ceremony will be broadcast in the US on CBS, February 13th, 8pm ET. The album was also nominated for a BBC Radio Award for World Music. The album is currently #2 in the iTunes Music Store USA top ten world music albums, while Bebel’s first album “Tanto Tempo” is #5.