gimme a beat

* Coachella 2019 *

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is an annual three-day music and arts festival, founded by Paul Tollett, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.
Due to popular demand, back in 2012, Coachella organisers "stretched" the festival over two weekends. Of course, first weekend is more popular then second, but let's be honest, the best would be to attend both weekend for full on, don't-wanna-miss-the-thing, experience.
Going back to it's beginnings, first official Coachella festival happened in October 1999. Then, after the break of one year, to avoid intense heat during the summer, the festival moved from October to April. In following years Coachella became an event with impressive line-up and amazing atmosphere that attracted many people from all over the world. Nowadays the festival is happening not only over two weekends, but on several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. There are also many fun places to explore and enjoy in-between stages, food stands and drinking areas. One of them, first time present this year was CK with #mycalvins 70's house, where we enjoyed just hanging out and bubbling up.
Year after year, Coachella is also showcasing some impressive art: installation art and sculptures, located all around festival. Every year it feels that arts get better and better. And it is very possible that it does, since apparently the amount of art that the team of the Coachella Valley Art Scene needs to choose from, increases every year. This year some art pieces were repeated from the last or previous years, either in original form or with a twist.. Personally i would have preferred if everything was new, but there was a good reason for it. The festival was celebrating 20 years this year so idea behind mix of an old and new art installations was to embrace both: festival past and future. Here you can check them out with all details Art of 2019 
This year I had two favourites, one of the returning ones: Overview Effect from Poetic Kinetics and new one: Mismo from Sophia Enriquez. Sophia is locally based painter aka Mucho who brought field of colourful three-dimensional paisley murals made from painted wood. This art collection was so positive and happy that every time i looked at it or walked through it my mood improved. Here are some of my personal snippets (first two photos)
All above mentioned is one of the reasons why Coachella is still one of my favourite festivals, that I keep on coming back to. 
Most important reason though, for the music lover that I am, is that no matter how hipster or mainstream it gets, Coachella never forgets to include bands I am excited about, introduces some new, awesome bands that I (could and usually) get excited about, seems to brings the best out of most of the artists that are performing and big part of the audience and continues to keep it's vibe in tune with what for me California is all about, chilled, sunny and fckng gorgeous.
Expect to hear about my desert festival extravaganza experience (maybe) again next year. In the meantime, check out my daily reviews: day one, day two, day three part 1 and  day three part 2 and..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight (20.05.209) to Gimme A Beat to hear all about my experience at Coachella 2019, chosen songs of female artists that I saw and enjoyed and many short interviews with friendly Coachella goers that were kind enough to step away for a moment from the festival fun and answer few of my questions (check out also my favourite interview here)Tune in for ..
Coachella 2019 with *playlist to be added*
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimmeabeat at coachella
Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Black Sea Dahu, Ikan Hyu and A-WA on m4music 2019 *

Since 1998, m4music festival takes place every March here in Switzerland: two days in Zurich and one day in the chosen city in the French part. This is flawlessly organized festival at one of the coolest locations in town: Schiffbau; with many concerts happening on the seven (+1) stages, at or close to the main building.
M4music festival is more of the cultural platform than a typical music festival. It is a place where artists and industry experts meet and exchange ideas, experiences and vision of the future. There are several ways this festival makes this happen: by offering interesting panel discussions and workshops, conferences on latest hot issues in music business, competition for the next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic) and simply the chance to meet many local, national and international people at the venue, just hanging around, talking, sharing their opinions and knowledge.
I was visiting this festival for many years now, but only start reviewing it last few years.But almost every year, I keep on coming back to it, not only because of its convenient location (here in Zürich), but because I always discover some new band(s), have a chance to interview interesting female artists/bands, meet great people (from music and non music industry) and see again some local people that I rarely find time to catch up during the year and with our busy schedules. And with impeccable organisation and über nice treatment of members of the press (aka me 🙆🏻) by media center, spending time at the festival is easy and super pleasurable.
As usual, it was a very busy two days, but most importantly, as Gimme A Beat, in my exploration of "female factor" of the festival I managed to catch 3 very talented artists for interviews. Of course I also saw them live, but next to their gigs I've managed to see many others as well.
Therefore in tonight show I will I focus on following artist: Black Sea Dahu, Ikan Hyu and A-WA.  For review of their gigs and interviews check here, here and here, respectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (18.03.2019) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival and gigs I've seen .. as well as all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve chosen to focus on:
Black Sea Dahu, Ikan Hyu and A-WA at m4music 2019 with *playlist to be added*from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4music 2019Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Obsessed with Tiny Desk *

I've been obsessed with NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts for a while now.
And this is not really a surprise. Through approx 20 minute video performances, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, Tiny Desk Concert series brings intimate concert vibe to the anyone watching/listening. And when I am not attending concerts or the festivals, I love feeling like I am there and in this case, in a small, intimate venue listening to my favorite musician or discovering my new favorite one.
And even though this is the first time I am covering this series, Tiny Desk Concerts exist for more than 10 years and I've been listening to it for a while now.
The first Tiny Desk Concert came about in 2008 (after Boilen and NPR Music editor Stephen Thompson left a bar show frustrated that they couldn't hear the music over the crowd noise. Thompson joked that the musician, folk singer Laura Gibson, should just perform at Boilen's desk. A month later (on April 21st, 2008) Boilen arranged for her to do just that, making an impromptu recording and posting it online. Even the name of the series is connected to Boilen: it was taken from his 1970s psychedelic dance band called Tiny Desk Unit.
Fast forward to August 2018 and this series included more than 800 concerts viewed a collective 2 billion times on NPR Tiny Desk YouTube channel. I haven't seen/listen all of them but I've seen many so I've decided to share with you some of my favorite ones.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat (18.02.2019) to hear my selection of Tiny Desk Concerts sang by female artists
Obsessed with Tiny Desk Youtube Playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: Gimme a Beat's NPR Tiny Desk selectionKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Zurich Film Festival 2018 *

First held in 2005, Zurich Film Festival established itself very quickly on national and international film festival scene. The formula for it success it's probably mix of an attractive location: international but small city of Zurich; great selection of movies and different programs/events like ZFF Masters, ZFF Talks, Zurich Summit and few more.
Last year I read the sentence in an industry booklet I received with my accreditation and this stayed with me as a logical reason behind Zurich Film Festival's success. Basically, the organizers agree on few basics for a successful film festival: "content is a king, collaboration is key and encounters among creative folks are essential". It is obvious that they are taking "these basics" seriously every year while they are developing festival further and most importantly, in the right direction.
The 14th edition of Zurich Film Festival passed the mark of 100'000 visitors (last year 98'300) while playing 162 movies from 48 countries and no less than 42 debut works. Like last year I had to heavily prioritize and choose wisely which movies I will see. Luckily Zurich is a small town so it was not a big deal to run from one location to other, but because of my limited time I had to skip all the events and side happenings and focus only on the movies. And as Gimme A Beat is focused on female related subjects, through my review of the Zurich Film Festival I explored *female factor* of the festival and therefore focused on two type of movies: movies made by female filmmakers and movies showing female life. The organizers used hashtags to mark the movies so finding the movies that I potentially liked and that fit my exploration was easy, I just followed #FemaleFilmmakers and #FemaleLife hashtags. I also used them in my reviews. And even though I saw tiny piece of the whole festival I was truly impressed with movie selection, great balance of different genres, aspiring filmmakers and (potential) blockbusters as well as strong women presence. In addition, the organization was impeccable, especially media center that was always available and ready to take care of press needs.
Movies selection wise I've seen many movies and posted review of them on Gimme A Beat page. Just follow the search with hashtags #zff #zff2018 #gimmeabeat. 
In tonight's Gimme A Beat I will try to cover most of those movies again and in more details, or at least my favorite ones. I will be also focusing on Firecrackers, an outstanding feature debut from Jasmin Mozaffari ... and one of my highlights of Zurich Film Festival.
Before seeing the movie I had a pleasure to meet and interview this talented director. Jasmin told me that there is a bit of her and her experiences (or women close to her) incorporated in both characters, therefore making them both real and relatable to women out there. She also shared with me that Firecrackers is about patriarchal oppression in today's world and women (as well as men) trying to break free. We also talked about Jasmin's vision of female freedom, her plans for future and excellent program of Zurich Film Festival packed with great selection of movies from female filmmakers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can read my review of the movie here. To hear the interview with Jasmin, my impressions of Zurich Film Festival and more about Firecrackers and other movies I've seen, tune to Gimme A Beat (17.12.2018) tonight for ..
Zurich Film Festival 2018 * playlist to be added *from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFF 2018Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Len Sander and Evelinn Trouble at Zürich Openair 2018 *

Zürich Openair started in 2010, but I attended it and reviewed it for the first time only in 2016, because somehow I was always busy at that particular time with some other festivals across Europe. This year I've decided to keep it local, stay in Zürich and re-visit it. 
Regardless of my attendance :-), this fairly young festival seems to attracts more and more people every year, not just from Switzerland but also from other parts of the Europe and even world. The lineup is usually very good with a great balance of rock, indie and electronic music and as many festivals nowadays, with relatively balanced fresh, unknown or currently popular bands and some well known artists, perfect for nostalgic crowds. The location of the festival is great and it is easily reachable via train from the town or from the airport. This year the weather was playing autumn at times, but that didn't stop crowds of people attending it and even staying in the camp.
I've attended the festival for all 4 days, and as usual didn't just go for concert but also to explore everything else. The organization improved a lot from 2016 and this year the only downer was the weather, but this is something that organizers couldn't do much about it. They did however organized themselves quickly and were giving rain coats with the first drops of rain. It is awesome to see the festival growing and improving, because this means that organizers care and most importantly listen to the festival goers. I loved an overall focus on the local, especially regarding the food and drinks but also related to everything else and even recycling, something that we are very conscious about here in Switzerland.
I've seen many great gigs over the 4 days and you can find my day by day reviews and an overall impressions on gimme a beat posts. But since reviewing of the festival as Gimme A Beat means that I explore the *female factor* of the festival, in tonight's show I will focus on Len Sander, über cool band from Zurich and Evelinn Trouble, Swiss artist out of space.
My 3rd day of the festival started very early, but I didn't mind, because I wanted to catch Len Sander and their early gig at 3pm. The festival grounds were still recovering from Thursday nite storm, but this didn't stop curious audience joining with the first sounds. The band owned the stage, they sounded great and looked comfortable while going through the songs of their last album.
Some time after the gig, i had a chance to sit down with Blanka Inauen, the band vocalist, for an interview. Comfortable vibe continued, while Blanka told me about their underground (literally!!) beginnings and the band story until today. We also talked about creative process behind their music and how on Len Sander's latest album *The Future of Lovers* Blanka changed the focus from the mind toward the feelings and more of the whole body, emotional experience.
Another artist that I will focus on tonight with this review is Evelinn Trouble. I discovered her back in 2013 at m4music Festival and immediately liked what i heard: her voice, songs as well as her stage presence. And I liked her even more after I had an itw with her. Now in 2018, it was a time to revisit her music and hear from her what happened in the meantime. Her gig was the first one of many I've see on the last day of Zürich Openair and it was as expected, playful, intense and energetic. Linnea (Evelinn Trouble's real name) seemed in the good mood, happy to be there and with the band; chatting with an audience and even directed them(us) at one point.
After the gig we had a chance to sit down again for an interview. she told me about her past few years, life in London and Berlin and why she decided to come back home🇨🇭. We also talked about Swiss Music Prize that she just won before the festival as well as about her latest release and future projects.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the full review of my *female factor* exploration of the festival, interviews with both: Blanka from Len Sander and Evelinn Trouble and music from their latest albums tune in..
Tonight (19.11.2018) to Gimme A Beat and
Len Sander and Evelinn Trouble at Zürich Openair 2018 📻
with playlist and click-to-play
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat on zurich openair Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Coachella 2018 *

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is an annual three-day music and arts festival, founded by Paul Tollett, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.
Due to popular demand, back in 2012, Coachella organisers "stretched" the festival over two weekends. Of course, first weekend is more popular then second, but let's be honest, the best would be to attend both weekend for full on, don't-wanna-miss-the-thing, experience.
After a break of one year, I returned to the Coachella festival grounds this year and for the first time, I attended weekend two. It was not easy to avoid all the reports from the weekend one, but it was totally worth it, especially considering Beyonce's already legendary Homecoming Tour performance, that was not streamed as the one on weekend one.
Going back to it's beginnings, first official Coachella festival happened in October 1999. Then, after the break of one year, to avoid intense heat during the summer, the festival moved from October to April. In following years Coachella became an event with impressive line-up and amazing atmosphere that attracted many people from all over the world. Nowadays the festival is happening not only over two weekends, but on several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. The stages are: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi, Mojave and Sahara Tent, Yuma stage, Sonora Stage and DoLab.
Coachella is also showcasing some impressive art: installation art and sculptures, located all around festival. Every year it feels that arts get better and better. And it is very possible that it does, since apparently the amount of art that the team of the Coachella Valley Art Scene needs to choose from, increases every year. Here you can check Art of 2018.
This year my personal favourite one was Edoardo Tresoldi's Etherea. Eduardo is Italian artist that known for his monumental wire mesh sculptures that function as public interventions. He was named by Forbes as one of the 30 most influential European artists under 30. Etherea was not only looking georgious and impressive, but it also had crickets in lower areas. So every time I would come by and sat down it felt I was somewhere far away, but closer to home, at mediterenian. Here it as a part of my personal snippets.
There are several reasons why Coachella is still one of my favourite festivals, that I keep on coming back to. And yes, I missed it in 2017, but no regrets (after all Beyonce missed it as well), this only means that when I was back in 2018, I enjoyed it even more.
One very important reason, for the music lover that I am, is that no matter how hipster or mainstream it gets, Coachella never forgets to include bands I am excited about, introduces some new, awesome bands that I (could and usually) get excited about, seems to brings the best out of most of the artists that are performing and big part of the audience and continues to keep it's vibe in tune with what for me California is all about, chilled, sunny and fckng gorgeous.
Expect to hear about my desert festival extravaganza experience (maybe) again next year. In the meantime, check out my daily reviews: day one, day two and day three and..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight (20.08.2018) to Gimme A Beat to hear all about my experience at Coachella 2018, chosen songs of the female artists that I saw on the festival and many short interviews with friendly Coachella goers that were kind enough to step away for a moment from the festival fun and answer few of my questions.. Tune in for ..
Coachella 2018 with *playlist to be added*
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimmeabeat at coachella
Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Hundreds and Klain Karoo on m4music 2018 *

Last month I did 1st part of the review of m4music festival, 2018 edition.
I will continue with the review of m4music festival in this show as well and focus on two more bands/artists: siblings duo from Hamburg: Hundreds and 4 people band from Switzerland: Klain Karoo.
For review of their gigs and interviews please check here and here, respectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (21.05.2018) to hear more about m4music festival and my impressions.. as well as for the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve chosen for the second part of a festival review:
Hundreds and Klain Karoo at m4music 2018 with *playlist to be added*from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4musicKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* KT Gorique, Veronica Fusaro and Ta'shan at m4music 2018 *

Since 1998, m4music festival takes place every March here in Switzerland: two days in Zurich and one day in the chosen city in the French part.It is flawlessly organized at one of the coolest locations in town: Schiffbau; with many concerts happening on the seven (+1) stages, at or close the main building.
M4music festival is more of the cultural platform than a typical music festival. It is a place where artists, industry experts meet and exchange ideas, experiences and vision of the future. There are several ways this festival makes this happen: by offering interesting panel discussions and workshops, conferences on latest hot issues in music business, competition for the next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic) and simply the chance to meet many local, national and international people at the venue, just hanging around, talking, sharing their opinions and knowledge.
I was visiting this festival for many years now, but only start reviewing it last few years.But almost every year, I keep on coming back to it, not only because its convenient location (here in Zürich), but because every year I discover new band(s), have a chance to interview interesting female artists/bands, meet great people (from music and non music industry) and see again some local people that I rarely find time to catch up during the year and with our busy schedules.
As usual, it was a very busy two days, but most importantly, as Gimme A Beat, in my exploration of "female factor" of the festival I managed to catch 5 very talented artists for interviews. Of course I also saw them live, but next to their gigs I've managed to see many others as well.
Therefore in order to cover all the artists properly, I will need to break my review in two 2-hour shows.
In 1st part of a review I will be focusing on KT Gorique, Veronica Fusaro and Ta'Shan. For review of their gigs and interviews check here, here and here, respectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (16.04.2018) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival and gigs I've seen .. as well as all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve chosen for the first part of a festival review:
KT Gorique, Veronica Fusaro and Ta'shan at m4music 2018 with playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4musicKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Daytrottering 2018 *

I've been doing special editions of the Gimme A Beat that I called appropriately Daytrottering, for many years now. In these shows I show love for one of the coolest music websites out there: Daytrotter. Before I started with these special episodes, I was already a fan (and a member) of Daytrotter for many years. In 2011, I reached out to Mr Daytrotter, Sean Moeller, mastermind behind the concept, asked for permission to do them and fortunately for my Gimme A Beat's listeners, he said yes.
in 2016 and after 10 years Sean left Daytrotter, only keeping minority share in the company.
But Daytrotter legacy continues, so there is no reason not to share Daytrotter aswesomeness this year again.
Before going any further though, let me remind you what Daytrotter is all about.
Daytrotter sessions are exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favourite bands and by a lot of bands that will be your favourites. Minimalist recording process used to records songs of the visiting band in the setup that is configurable, makes a very honest presentation of the band/artist on that particular day, in the physical and musical sense. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour - dirty and alive.
In the beginning, Daytrotter dudes were giving 7 original sessions, 28 songs for free each week. Over the years they recorded more then 2000 sessions and gave it for free to million of music lovers like me. In 2012, the things have changed, but luckily for all of us, not the "Why" of Daytrotter, but the "How" of Daytrotter. Therefore today, in order to help Daytrotter continue doing what it has been doing throughout the years, all of you, real music lovers can purchase Daytrotter membership for either ridiculously low $2.99 per month or $32 for the entire year.
The membership allows you to stream, download, and discover your favorites. And with over 6,200 sessions there is definitely something for everyone to chose and fall in love with.Also, you can stream all the sessions to your computer or Daytrotter iPhone or Android apps, wherever you may be. It's as if you're in the studio with your favourite artists. In addition to the sessions recorded in the Horseshack studio (original daytrotter studio) in Rock Island, Illinois, Daytrotter guys are working closely with Communion Records in London and friends/studios in in Montreal, Portland, Oregon, Nashville, Asheville, NC, Austin, Texas and San Francisco and few other places, in order to chronicle as much as they can. Available are stuff like cute drawings of the artists (which makes it also very easy to search for them in extensive archive), links or/and short impression/biography stories on daytrotter session artists page as well as easy to use Daytrotter Mobile apps. In January of 2016, Daytrotter experience got upgraded when Daytrotter opened the doors to their new live music venue, located in the heart of Downtown Davenport, Iowa. In February 2016, the first annual Daytrotter Downs festival was held there with an idea to bring together next thoroughbreds in music.
Believing that live music is what the future of music is all about, it is only natural that I am a big fan and supporter of Daytrotter and everything that this project stands for. Therefore I decided to Daytrotter at least once per year with Gimme A Beat listeners through my selection of the Daytrotter Sessions performed by female artists/all-female bands or bands with female vocalists.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tune in tonight (26.02.2018) to Gimme A Beat and, in the case that you are not the member already, let me convince you that Daytrotter membership is the best deal you ever got in your life.
Daytrottering 2018  
with click-to-play  Daytrotter playlist
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora
featuring: gimme a beat, daytrottering
Kisses, Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Inspired By Insecure *

Insecure is HBO's original series, created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, starring Issa and Yvonne Orji as two young black women, best friends since university. Shot on location in the Los Angeles area, the show closely follows Molly (Orji) and Issa's friendship as they cope with their own flaws, insecurities relationship troubles, and the general difficulties of young adulthood, all packed in an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences.
I discovered Insecure by accident while flipping through the TV channels in the hotel room in Chicago. The trailer was announcing season 2 and after watching it for only few seconds I knew that I will love it. Once I started watching the show I realized that the music featured in the show is phenomenal. Especially in the season 2 where many of the artists featured in season 1 created original tracks for the show. Music supervisor of the show is Kier Lehman, but the music choice is really driven by Issa Rae: she is given direction and making final choices, based on an itw I've seen with both of them. She also does these funny interludes, short rhymes in the show that are included in the soundtrack as well. Most importantly, the music in the show is fresh, current and exciting and while I knew many of the artists, the show introduced me to many more and some of them instantly became favorites.
Looking back at 2017, this was a roller coaster year for me. Some really awesome things happened and I enjoyed success on several levels, but I also experienced heavy stuff and heartbreaking moments, especially in the second part of the year. And in those moments the only thing that kept me balanced and sane, next to my family and friends, were music, movies and tv series, very important in the life of self proclaimed TV addict. Insecure stood out for me this year, as this show combines everything that I love: quirky humor, urban storyline that I can relate to and great choice of music.
So I decided to finish this 2017 on a high: with some infectious beat, sassy lyrics and lots of female attitude.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And since, from Gimme A Beat perspective, Insecure features so many awesome female artists, during my two-hour show, I will have enough music and time, to share my love for the show and it's music with my listeners.
Tune in to Gimme A Beat (18.12.2017) tonight for..
Inspired By Insecure 
with following playlist  and click-to-play or playlist (for the artists available on Spotify/Deezer)from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat, inspired by insecureKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Zurich Film Festival 2017 *

First held in 2005, Zurich Film Festival established itself very quickly on national and international film festival scene. The formula for it success it's probably mix of an attractive location: international but small city of Zurich; great selection of movies and different programs/events like ZFF Masters, ZFF Talks, ZFF 72.
Personally, I feel that logic behind Zurich Film Festival's success is well explained by the sentence from an industry booklet ('everything you need to know book') that I received when I picked up my accreditation. There, the organizers agree on few basics for a successful film festival: "content is a king, collaboration is key and encounters among creative folks are essential". It is obvious that they took "these basics" seriously since this year, for it's 13th Edition, Zurich Film Festival played 160 movies across the cinemas of Zurich (Arthouse theaters, Corso, Arena, Filmpodium, etc.), inclusive 4 new festival theaters at Riff Raff cinema, and organized so many events and happening that for me, it was hard to catch up and I had to heavily prioritize and choose wisely. It's success can also be measured in numbers: this year the festival attracted not only the professional industry crowd in big numbers but in general number of visitors as well: 98'300, 8.5% increase from previous year.
This was my first time to review any film festival, and it's not a surprise that I started with Zurich, town that has been my home for last 17 years. As Gimme A Beat is focused on female related subjects, through my review of the Zurich Film Festival I explored *female factor* of the festival and focused on two type of movies: movies made by female filmmakers and movies showing female life. The organizers of the festivals used hashtags to mark the movies so finding the movies that I potentially liked and that fit my exploration was easy, I just followed #FemaleFilmmakers and #FemaleLife hashtags. I also used them in my reviews. Since I had to juggle my busy work life with festival, I focused on movies and attended the events very selectively. Nevertheless, even though I saw tiny piece of the whole festival, next to the movie selection with great balance of different genres, aspiring filmmakers and (potential) blockbusters as well as strong women presence, I was sincerely impressed with the organization, especially media center that was always available and ready to take care of press needs.
Movies selection wise I've seen 16 movies and posted review of them on Gimme A Beat page. Just follow the search with hashtags #zff #zff2017 #gimmeabeat. 
In tonight's Gimme A Beat I will cover all of those movies again and in more details, or depending of time, try to cover at least my favorite ones. In addition, I will give bit more attention to following movies: My Life Without Air (Moj Zivot Bez Zraka), The Wife (will include press conference material and itw with leading cast: Glenn Close, Annie Starke; director Björn Runge and producer Claudia Bluemhuber), Matar a Jesus (Kiling Jesus), (will include Q&A session with director Laura Mora, after the movie projection) while exclusively playing music from Jeunne Femme (Montparnasse Benvenue) soundtrack
After the movie projection of My Life Without Air (Moj Zivot Bez Zraka), I had a chance to sit down with Bojana Burnac, young, talented Croatian director and cinematographer of the movie. We talked about the movie, Goran Colak, world champion in free diving and movies's subject as well as Bojana's own life journey: as a cinematographer, director and free diver.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To hear the interview with Bojana, my impressions of Zurich Film Festival and more about films I've seen, tune to Gimme A Beat (16.10.2017) tonight for ..
Zurich Film Festival 2017 with following playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFFKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Lollapalooza Paris 2017 *

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival conceived and created in 1991 by Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band, Jane's Addiction. The origin of the name means "an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance." and dates from a late 19th-/early 20th-century. While searching for the name for the festival, Farrell saw the movie Three Stooges and got inspired.
In the beginning and until 1997, as well as after it was renewed in 2003, Lollapalooza ran annually as a tour style of festival. After few setbacks, in 2005, it settled to the weekend format festival, in Grant Park, Chicago.
From 2010, Lollapalooza expanded internationally with it's first international debut in Santiago, Chile, following the edition in Sao Paolo, Brasil; Buenos Aires, Argentina and from 2014 with European edition in Berlin, Germany. This year, the festival decided to add one more European location to it's family, happening in July and in Paris.
All the previous editions always seemed too far away and non convenient, but even with the inaugural line-up of Lolla Paris I decided to go.
Until the weekend of Lollapalooza Paris we had almost the perfect summer. Then suddenly the weather changed and it was raining cats and dogs on the weekend. Fortunately, this didn't stop the crowd from attending it and having fun, me included. And even Perry Farrell with his wife visited the festival.
Lolla Paris happened on the city's Longchamp Racecourse grounds on July 22–23 and across 4 stages: Main Stage 1 and 2, Alternative and Perry's stage. The lineup featured several cool bands/artists and I've managed to see most of them: The Hives, London Grammar, LP, The Roots, Editors, The Weeknd, Martin Solveig, Lana Del Rey and Red Hot Chili Peppers
I was especially excited to see The Roots, the band that I've been a fan for almost 20 years, but never saw live before. Until Lolla Paris. Fortunately, they didn't disappoint. These impeccably skilled musicians delivered a perfect performance, with smooth flows and enough improvisation to keep the sound (and the whole gig) fresh and exciting. They were definite highlight of the festival, together with The Weeknd and Red Hot Chili Peppers, both so exciting that no matter how many times I see them, I always enjoy.
Another highlight of the festival was an über entertaining Village Greenroom area. Several little houses/boxes with different DJs that can accommodate only small amount of people was one of the most fun places at the festival: simple concept, brilliant idea, that brought good vibes and very happy crowd dancing the bad weather away.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Gimme A Beat coverage/review I (usually) explore *female factor* of the festival. This wasn't easy at Lolla Paris, the line-up featured only 6 female (related) artists and I personally liked only few ones from them: London Grammar, LP and Lana Del Rey. So I twisted the coverage a bit and female-ized it. 
Tune in to Gimme A Beat (18.09.2017) tonight to hear how that sounds like.
Lollapalooza Paris 2017 with following playlist and click-to-play playlist and Coversfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat covers for Lolla ParisKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries
 
 

* Bleu Roi, Ursina and Muthoni DQ at m4music 2017 *

Last week I did first part of the review of m4music festival
Continuing with the review of m4music Festival in this show as well, I will focus in tonight's Gimme A Beat on 3 more artists.
First artist that I will focus on is Bleu Roi, very talented swiss band, quartet, consisting from two sisters and two brothers. They were my 2nd gig on Friday at m4music Festival and they performed outside, on the Showcase stage. This setup worked very well for the band. With the combination of their majestic sound, beautiful voices & blue lights that added to the atmosphere, it was easy for the band to attract and capture the audience growing in size as the gig went on. Later in the evening, i sat together with Jenny, singer and mastermind, and Alex from the band for an itw. We talked about how they became Bleu Roi and their exciting, cross continental journey that is reflected in *Of Inner Cities*, debut album released late last year.
Also on Friday, in the 1st hour of m4music Festival, I've interviewed and saw URSINA live for the first time. Ursina is another young, talented swiss artist from Graubüden and she will be my 2nd artist I will focus on  To summarize Ursina's gig, one can actually turn to the title *You Have My Heart* of her debut album released this January. Because with her clear, strong and at the same time fragile&emotional voice, even with the showcase gig, i am sure that she had hearts of everybody that happened to be there and experience it. Just before she took the stage, we sat together to talk about her musical upbringing, Swiss Romanish roots and how they, together with her life experiences and music from her favourite artists influenced the music from her debut album.
On the 2nd day of the festival I had an early start because of an interview with Muthoni Drummer Queen and GR! During an itw, I was very impressed with Muthoni's life story and her fresh, hopeful attitude that gives her an energy to keep going forward and reinventing herself. And the circumstances that brought two swiss producers and her together is adding a close-to-miracle element to it. Actually since it happened at xmas, it was a xmas miracle We also talked about their new album *She* and inspiration/concept behind it. At the moment only one single: Kenyan Message is out; the rest will be released very soon. Muthoni The Drummer Queen's gig was another late gig and for me it was a last gig of the festival. The experience followed the interview vibe, it was powerful, inspiring and fun at the same time for me and for everybody that were there. The performance was conceptual, with amazing group of dancers and infectious beat to dance the night away.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (19.06.2017) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival and gigs I've seen .. as well as all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve chosen for the w2nd part of a festival review:
Bleu Roi, Ursina and Muthoni DQ at m4music 2017 ** with playlist to be added **from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4musicKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Brandy Butler and Odd Beholder at m4music 2017 *

Since 1998, m4music festival takes place every March here in Switzerland: two days in Zurich and one day in the chosen city in the French part.It is flawlessly organized at one of the coolest locations in town: Schiffbau; with many concerts happening on the seven (+1) stages, at or close the main building.
M4music festival is more of the cultural platform than a typical music festival. It is a place where artists, industry experts meet and exchange ideas, experiences and vision of the future. There are several ways this festival makes this happen: by offering interesting panel discussions and workshops, conferences on latest hot issues in music business, competition for the next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic) and simply the chance to meet many local, national and international people at the venue, just hanging around, talking, sharing their opinions and knowledge.
I was visiting this festival for many years now, but only start reviewing it last few years.But almost every year, I keep on coming back to it, not only because its convenient location (here in Zürich), but because every year I discover new band(s), have a chance to interview interesting female artists/bands, meet great people (from music and non music industry) and see again some local people that I rarely find time to catch up during the year and with our busy schedules.
Last year the festival changed it's dates so I was in California when it was happening and missed it.
But this year, I was back at the festival as Gimme A Beat, ready to explore it's "female factor".
It was a very busy two days, that felt much longer, since I've been coming early in the afternoons and leaving early morning hours, to be able to see all gigs and do all the interviews I had scheduled. But all the hard work paid off: I managed to catch 5 very talented artists and next to their gigs I've seen many others as well and met new, local interesting people through the whole process.
Therefore in order to cover all the artists properly, I will need to break my review in two 2-hour shows.
First artist that I will focus on in tonight's show is Brandy Butler, an artist that came under my radar even before the festival. It was the first time that I saw her live and even though her gig was the last one of the night and I was struggling to stay awake (10 minutes before it, i had 3 double espresso, some crisps, 3 muffins and a red bull), i was so enchanted with her voice, songs, stage presence, that I suddenly felt fresh and awake, like the day has just started.
Few hours before her gig I had a pleasure to meet Brandy for what felt like very up-close-and-personal interview. I discovered more about Brandy's life: her upbringing, her roots, life experiences..and how she became an artist that she is today. And after hearing her story I wasn't anymore surprised that amazing *The Inventory of Goodbye* is her first album. Because it happened at the right time and when she was sure about the sound, direction and ready to fully focus on it.
In the 2nd part of tonight's show I will focus on Odd Beholder, local Zurich band founded in a bomb shelter near Zürich (in Dietikon). They were performing on Friday at EXIL, venue with bit of an industrial vibe that fitted perfectly their mesmerizing, analogue, raw and somehow organically electronic sound. The place was packed with curious peeps and many fans, and with the stage being very close to the audience and dimmed lights, there was a vibe of a dreamy intimacy.
On Saturday nite i caught Daniela from the band for an itw and we talked about band's stage presence and how did she&James came together as well as meaning behind band's up and coming EP *Atlas*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (22.05.2017) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival and gigs I've seen .. as well as all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve chosen for the first part of a festival review:Brandy Butler and Odd Beholder at m4music 2017** with playlist to be added **from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4musicKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Daytrottering 2017 *

I've been doing special editions of the Gimme A Beat that I called appropriately Daytrottering, for many years now. In these shows I show love for one of the coolest music websites out there: Daytrotter. Before I started with these special episodes, I was already a fan (and a member) of Daytrotter for many years. In 2011, I reached out to Mr Daytrotter, Sean Moeller, mastermind behind the concept, asked for permission to do them and fortunately for my Gimme A Beat's listeners, he said yes.
Last year and after 10 years Sean left Daytrotter, only keeping minority share in the company.
But Daytrotter legacy continues, so there is no reason not to share Daytrotter aswesomeness this year again.
Before going any further though, let me remind you what Daytrotter is all about.
Daytrotter sessions are exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favourite bands and by a lot of bands that will be your favourites. Minimalist recording process used to records songs of the visiting band in the setup that is configurable, makes a very honest presentation of the band/artist on that particular day, in the physical and musical sense. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour - dirty and alive.
In the beginning, Daytrotter dudes were giving 7 original sessions, 28 songs for free each week. Over the years they recorded more then 2000 sessions and gave it for free to million of music lovers like me. In 2012, the things have changed, but luckily for all of us, not the "Why" of Daytrotter, but the "How" of Daytrotter. Therefore today, in order to help Daytrotter continue doing what it has been doing throughout the years, all of you, real music lovers can purchase Daytrotter membership for either ridiculously low $2.99 a month or $32 for the entire year.
The membership allows you to stream, download, and discover your favorites. And with over 6,200 sessions there is definitely something for everyone to chose and fall in love with.Also, you can stream all the sessions to your computer or Daytrotter iPhone or Android apps, wherever you may be. It's as if you're in the studio with your favourite artists. In addition to the sessions recorded in the Horseshack studio (original daytrotter studio) in Rock Island, Illinois, Daytrotter guys are working closely with Communion Records in London and friends/studios in in Montreal, Portland, Oregon, Nashville, Asheville, NC, Austin, Texas and San Francisco and few other places, in order to chronicle as much as they can. Available are stuff like cute drawings of the artists (which makes it also very easy to search for them in extensive archive), links or/and short impression/biography stories on daytrotter session artists page as well as easy to use Daytrotter Mobile apps. In January of 2016, Daytrotter experience got upgraded when Daytrotter opened the doors to their new live music venue, located in the heart of Downtown Davenport, Iowa. In February 2016, the first annual Daytrotter Downs festival was held there with an idea to bring together next thoroughbreds in music.
Believing that live music is what the future of music is all about, it is only natural that I am a big fan and supporter of Daytrotter and everything that this project stands for. Therefore I decided to Daytrotter at least once per year with Gimme A Beat listeners through my selection of the Daytrotter Sessions performed by female artists/all-female bands or bands with female vocalists.
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Tune in tonight (20.03.2017) to Gimme A Beat and, in the case that you are not the member already, let me convince you that Daytrotter membership is the best deal you ever got in your life.
Daytrottering 2017 with **playlist to be added**
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora
Kisses, Babymonster
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for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Al Pride and Dillon at Zürich Openair 2016 *

During the summer of 2016, I decided to (at least Gimme A Beat wise) stay mostly in Switzerland and review local festivals. Blue Balls festival in Luzern is something like a tradition to me and I never miss it, but it was the first time I visited and reviewed Zürich Openair, festival happening on the outskirts of Zurich, 5 minutes from my  office. This was very convenient because with the tropical temperatures that we had this year in August, I thought that I could always pop back to the office for a bit of the air conditioned air or even a shower if needed
That, however, didn't happen. Not only that I was having fun cruising around the festival, checking the gigs, but there were also enough place to explore and chill in shade when sun and unbearable.
Even though it was my first time at the festival, this wasn't the first year of Zürich Openair happening. This festival is fairly young and it first happened in 2010; Nevertheless it seems that every year it attracts more and more people, not just from Switzerland (even though that is the majority of attendees) but also from other parts of the Europe and even world. The lineup is very good with a great balance of rock, indie and electronic music and as many festivals nowadays, with relatively balanced fresh, unknown or currently popular bands and some well known artists, perfect for nostalgic crowds. The location of the festival is great and it is easily reachable via train from the town or from the airport. This year the festival was also blessed with beautiful weather, and untypically for Switzerland with tropical temperatures.
I've attended the festival for all 4 days, curious not only about the lineup, but also about setup and organization. It was a bit hectic and not as well organized as some of the other festivals that I attended, which was very surprising since here in Switzerland, impeccable organization is something of a national trail. As an example, cashless, one of the great techi features that I was excited about, since it was provided by the local company, starticket, failed to work first day and many people were stuck without the cash and possibility to use it. Another, kind of funny thing, was that I didn't find the press area for 3 days. Finally just when I gave up, I discovered it.
But even with all of that, I wasn't too bothered, it was funny and kind of refreshing to see the local festival disrupting the swissness and still managing to bring the crowd in the great mood and overall good vibe.
As usual, I was busy bee so I've seen many great gigs over the 4 days: Chvrches, Miike Snow, The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Sigur Rós, Foals, Die Antwoord, Editors, Róisín Murphy, Block Party and few others. I was reviewing day by day and posting it all on gimme a beat.
But since as Gimme A Beat with my review I explore the *female factor* of the festival, in tonight's show I will focus on Al Pride, über talented swiss band with 8 people and with phenomenal Dillon, brazilian born, german based singer songwritter. 
Even though Al Pride gig was an early one on the 3rd day of the festival, and it was so hot on and in front of the main stage, that I felt like I was sweating waterfalls, people did show up and (like me) didn't really mind the overwhelming sun. Which was understandable. The band had great energy, gave excellent performance and looked very comfortable on the main stage, especially with a progress of the gig. Later on, when I sat down for an interview with Astrid and Nico from the band, they confirmed how well they felt and how much they love performing their latest album Hallavara, appropriately named by the place in Sweden where it was created.
Dillon's gig was on the Saturday nite and it was the last gig of the festival for me. Even though I was familiar with her songs this was the first time that I saw her live. Standing on the stage dressed in partially sheer black dress, with mid length bob and hair styled away, to me, Dillon looked like some kind of doll-like Japanese warrior. Only, she was armed with her powerful, mesmerizing voice and strong, punchy baseline. This combination and very minimalistic setup with appropriate lights created the hypnotizing atmosphere that, I bet, could make anyone in the audience, start obeying Dillon's wishes. She looked comfortable and relaxed and most importantly, delivered an impressive performance, far away from the girl that for many years used to get panic attacks before performing. During an interview that we had earlier today, she told me that it took her long time to master them. We talked about her beginnings, her 2014's *The Unknown* album, how she became an artist that she is today as well as about her new love album .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the full review of my *female factor* exploration of the festival, interviews with both: Al Pride and Dillon music from their latest albums tune in..
Tonight (23.01.2017) to Gimme A Beat and
Al Pride and Dillon at Zürich Openair 2016
** playlist to be added **
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat on zurich openair Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Best of 2016 *

2016 has been insanely intense and not always easy to handle. The whole year felt as an emotional roller-coaster, looking at it from any perspective. From political point it showed rise in power of right wings parties and their candidates in majority of the countries, world wide tragedies, wars, terrorist attacks and similar. It also felt as an end of an era in some way since several awesome, legendary people passed away: David Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen and unfortunately, many others. 
Personally to me, 2016 brought heavy, stressful times that mixed up with fortunately, some good moments as well, brought an impressive amount of self reflection. And talking to my friends and artists that I interviewed, most of the people felt the same. I don't know what caused all of this to happen and if this is just a beginning of some dark times. Or maybe I am feeling this way at the moment only because I watched Star Wars two days ago ;-).
But I am a true optimist at heart and I look at the world from the perspective that any experience is a good one because it always brings some lessons with it. So even though I am really exhausted at the moment, I am finishing 2016 feeling stronger, capable to deal with whatever comes my way and even more optimistic about future.
From that point of view and in the true Xmas spirit, in the last show of 2016, I would like to focus on the good things that happened in the music and all these amazing albums that were released and that helped me (and hopefully rest of the world) survive the heavy moments.
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To hear my choice of carefully selected, cherry picked songs (in eclectic order) from my favourite 2016's albums by female artists, tune in tonight (19.12.2016) to Gimme A Beat and..
Best of 2016 🌟
with playlist and click-to-play playlist (for the artists available on Spotify)
from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Minor Victories at La Route du Rock 2016 *

La Route Du Rock is a is a biannual music festival held in Saint Malo, Brittany, in the North-West of France. There is winter and summer edition; winter one happening end of February and summer one mid August. Winter edition is situated in the venues around the town of Saint Malo while for the summer version, festival moves to the Le Fort de Saint-Pére, situated 9km from Saint Malo, for the most of the gigs.
It was my first time to attend and review La Route Du Rock and even though I only reviewed two days, I had enough time to get the feel of the festival and to decide that I will be probably, if my schedule allows, come back next year. The festival isn't the new one, far from it: it turned 26 this year and it is well known for it's very well curated alternative line up. I've heard about it before and since I've been coming to Saint Malo last few years I wanted to attend it earlier, but the timing never seemed to be right until this year.
During the festival, I was staying in the beautiful town of Saint Malo and even though there were several gigs happening on the La Plage Swatch aka beach stage, my focus was on the main location. It wasn't easy to find it on the first day, especially since coming from Saint Malo the map provided on their website didn't fully match the way to get there, but there were some friendly people and enough signs to figure out the way. Le Fort de Saint-Pére, the main location of the festival, is somewhere in the middle of the fields, little fortress (as the name suggests) surrounded by the trees.
The attendance this year was not as it was previous years, but I anyways loved the fact that festival, even with it's usual bigger crowd is more on the smaller side comparing to other open air festivals I am used to reviewing. It was refreshing, relaxing, stress free and perfectly fitting the summer vibe and the weather, that was showing it's best side this year.
When walking toward the entrance of the festival there were the photos hanging on the trees from Renaud Montfourny of the magazine Les Inrockuptibles. Inside on the festival grounds the focus is on two stages: the gigs happening mostly on the main stage, Scene du Fort, and 3 times per day/eve on the smaller stage, Scene De Remparts. Everything else is close and around it: food stands, bar, festival merchandise, stands with merchandise from the labels/magazines and somewhere behind, the press area, nicely located in more quiet area, perfect for interviews and to do some work.
I've seen many bands during two days that I reviewed, as I already wrote in the review on Gimme a Beat Facebook page, just after the festival. On the 1st day: Psychic Ills, Kevin Morby, Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoc, HÆLOS and Minor Victories and on the 2nd day Ulrika Spacek, Lost Under Heaven (aka LUH), Tindersticks, LA FEMME and Exploded View. I still had enough time to stroll around, chat with people and have a break with a glass of good quality Breton's cider (keeping it local!).
Before the first gig of the first day, just before the festival kicked off, I also had a chance to sit down with Rachel and James from the Minor Victories for the spontaneous, impromptu interview. The interview happened only due to their easygoingness and help from an awesome media responsible of the festival. And the vibe of how it was set-up continued during the interview.
We talked about how they came together as Minor Victories and how proud they are about their creation. They confirmed what I felt about the band and their music..That everything came very naturally together. Basically, everybody put their own ingredients in it: their talent, ideas, visions, and with the trust in each other, without great expectations and rushing with the final product, they took the time needed to create incredible music .
It was my first time to see Minor Victories live and I have to say that Rachel Goswell (Slowdive) James Lockey, Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), even without Justin Lockey (away on the tour with the Editors) with few additional touring band members, absolutely rocked the festival! The songs from their debut album fitted perfectly chilled atmosphere of the festival and the late time slot that they had. I personally loved every single minute of it, standing close to the stage, in the middle of the crowd singing along with them..---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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For the full review of my *female factor* exploration of the festival, interview with Minor Victories, music from their debut album and my choice of the music of the artists that I've seen as, tune in tonight (17.10.2016) to Gimme A Beat  and
Minor Victories at La Route du Rock 2016
** playlist to be added **
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:
webradio lora
featuring:
gimme a beat at la route du rock
Kisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Seinabo Sey, Ala.Ni and Sóley at Blue Balls Festival 2016 *

We had another beautiful summer this year in Switzerland so reviewing the festival like Blue Balls that is partially set inside, partially outside and happening in the beautiful surrounding next to Lake Luzern, feels more like a blessing then an effort. This festival with slightly inappropriate name that is happening during two weeks of July, brings me back last few years, mostly because of it's awesome line-up, perfect combination of known and unknown artists different genres, playing on inside and outside stages in Luzern: KKL, Pavillon, Schweizerhof hotel.
This year was no different and in my 6th year at the festival, I've chosen three days with female artists that I wanted to include in my review. Those were: Frances and Ibeyi on 22th of July, Seinabo Sey and Sóley on 24th of July and Ala.Ni on 26th of July.
I've also seen several awesome male artists, but since as Gimme a Beat, I explore 'female factor' of the festival that I review, review of their gigs is only included in the short reviews on Gimme a Beat Facebook page, but not in tonight's show.
The first artist/band that I will focus on in tonight's show is Seinabo Sey. Songs *Hard Times*/*Younger* and the album Pretend, that came out later, are on the repeat and my go-to music for any occasion. Back in 2015, her gig at Rock en Seine only confirmed Seinabo Sey's talent and encouraged me to try for an interview and to see her at the Blue Balls Festival, again. But this time I managed to get a chance and finally interview her. She was relaxed, friendly, genuine and very personal, perfect combination for my type of interviews. We talked about everything: from her beginning, her inspirations, over to her current album, tour and working on the new album. She was excited and interesting and the conversation was just flowing. Later on during Seinabo's gig it was awesome witnessing festival audience embracing Seinabo's talent and sharing my excitement about her, while she responded to the great vibe with genuine smiles, personal stores, amazing songs sang with her soulful, powerful voice.
Second artist that I will focus on in my review is ALA.NI. Seeing her performing at KKL Konzertsaal of Blue Balls Festival was a unique experience. With the treat from the media responsible of the festival and the front row seat I was able to enjoy it even more, observing closely Alani and her band (guitar+cello) on the stage. Looking at Alani's gracious, ballerina like body: strong, flexible and fragile at the same time; I realized that it is very similar to her voice..it's strength, the incredible range and the tone. The harmony of movements, voice and sounds bouncing off the corners of acoustically perfect venue, created an extraordinary experience. An hour before, I sat down with Alani for a quick interview, outside, on the shore of the beautiful lake Lucerne. We talked about her many talents, her music, latest album and her famous uncle, Leslie Hutchinson. His life story and courage to be who he is, inspired her to embrace who she is, fully own it and through her music share it with the world.
The last part of my radio show tonight and my review will be focused on Sóley. Frankly speaking, after listening to her last album, I had an impression that Sóley will be dark and mysterious person, interesting, but maybe not easy to interview. But as soon as I set down with her it was clear to me that this Icelandic über talented multi-instrumentalist is also friendly, funny and very open and sweet person. During 30 minute long interview I learnt a lot about her, her music, mood behind her latest album and the shift in vibe and atmosphere that will result in totally different approach and the album that is currently in works. Sóley also told me that when she became a mum, she promised herself that she will never do 'mommy songs'. But luckily for the world she did it anyway and created beautiful song Ua, that she performed later that night and that will be featured on her new album. Next to few other new songs that she performed, I was glad to see that she brought her funny and sparkly personality as well to Blue Balls Festival's Konzertsaal, venue that embraced perfectly this beautiful performance
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Tune in tonight (19.09.2016) to Gimme A Beat to hear my review of Blue Balls Festival and the gigs I've seen, interviews from: Seinabo Sey, Ala.Ni and Sóley and chosen music from their latest albums
Tune in for ..
Seinabo Sey, Ala.Ni and Sóley at Blue Balls Festival 2016
** playlist to be added **
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:
webradio lora
featuring:
gimme a beat at blue balls festival
Kisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Coachella 2016 *

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is an annual three-day music and arts festival, founded by Paul Tollett, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.
Due to popular demand, back in 2012, Coachella organisers "stretched" the festival over two weekends. Of course, first weekend is more popular then second, but let's be honest, the best would be to attend both weekend for full on, don't-wanna-miss-the-thing, experience.
Going back to it's beginnings, first official Coachella festival happened in October 1999. Then, after the break of one year, to avoid intense heat during the summer, the festival moved from October to April. In following years Coachella became an event with impressive line-up and amazing atmosphere that attracted many people from all over the world. Nowadays the festival is happening not only over two weekends, but on several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. The main stages are: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, Sahara Tent and newly introduced in 2013, Yuma stage.
Coachella is also showcasing some impressive art: installation art and sculptures, located all around festival. Every year it feels that arts get better and better. And it is very possible that it does, since apparently the amount of art that the team of the Coachella Valley Art Scene needs to choose from, increases every year. Here you can check Art of 2016.
My personal favourite one was Portals from Phillip K. Smith III, artist born in Los Angeles and raised in the festival city of Indio, California. During the day this was the place that was reflecting beautiful Californian desert light and people moving around the field, while during the night, soaked in the LED lights it was transformed into the magical place with every corner behaving differently and out worldly. I even have the photo with it.. check it out!
There are several reasons why Coachella is still one of my favourite festivals, that I keep on coming back to.
One very important one for the music lover that I am, is that no matter how hipster or mainstream it gets, Coachella never forgets to include bands I am excited about, introduces some new, awesome bands that I (could and usually) get excited about, seems to brings the best out of most of the artists that are performing and big part of the audience and continues to keep it's vibe in tune with what for me California is all about, chilled, sunny and fckng gorgeous.
Expect to hear about my desert festival extravaganza experience (maybe) again
next year. In the meantime...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tune in tonight (22.08.2016) to Gimme A Beat to hear all about my experience at Coachella 2016, chosen songs of the female artists that I saw on the festival and many short interviews of friendly Coachella goers that were kind enough to step away for a moment from the festival fun and answer few of my questions..
Tune in for ..
Coachella 2016 with *playlist to be added*
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:
webradio lora
featuring:
coachella youtube channel
Kisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Daytrottering 2016 *

I've been doing special editions of the Gimme A Beat that I called appropriately Daytrottering, for many years now. In these shows I show love for one of the coolest music websites out there: Daytrotter. Before I started with these special episodes, I was already a fan (and a member) of Daytrotter for many years. In 2011, I reached out to Mr Daytrotter, Sean Moeller, mastermind behind the concept, asked for permission and he said yes.
So here we are again this year.
Before going any further, let me remind you what Daytrotter is all about.
Daytrotter sessions are exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favourite bands and by a lot of bands that will be your favourites. Minimalist recording process used to records songs of the visiting band in the setup that is configurable, makes a very honest presentation of the band/artist on that particular day, in the physical and musical sense. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour - dirty and alive.
In the beginning, Daytrotter dudes were giving 7 original sessions, 28 songs for free each week. Over the years they recorded more then 2000 sessions and gave it for free to million of music lovers like me. In 2012, the things have changed, but luckily for all of us, not the "Why" of Daytrotter, but the "How" of Daytrotter.
Therefore today, in order to help Daytrotter continue doing what it has been doing throughout the years, all of you, real music lovers can purchase Daytrotter membership for either ridiculously low $2.99 a month or $32 for the entire year or two year pass for only $60. And if you are a student you can listen to everything on Daytrotter for free!!
The membership allows you access to everything on the site: all new session postings (5 new sessions posted Mon to Fr - roughly 100 new songs weekly), the archive of over 2000 previous Daytrotter sessions and audio and video content of hundreds and hundreds of exclusive Barnstormer tour shows and other live performances throughout the years.
Also, you can stream all the sessions to your computer or Daytrotter iPhone or Android apps, wherever you may be. It's as if you're in the studio with your favourite artists.
In addition to the sessions recorded in the Horseshack studio (original daytrotter studio) in Rock Island, Illinois, Daytrotter guys are working closely with Communion Records in London and friends/studios in in Montreal, Portland, Oregon, Nashville, Asheville, NC, Austin, Texas and San Francisco and few other places, in order to chronicle as much as they can.
Available are stuff like cute drawings of the artists (which makes it also very easy to search for them in extensive archive), short impression/biography stories on daytrotter session artists page as well as easy to use Daytrotter Mobile Apps.
There are concert videos showing artists performing live, from Daytrotter's Barnstormer tours, to the stages of Austin and beyond.The featured playlists are available as well.
Believing that live music is what the future of music is all about, it is only natural that I am a big fan and supporter of Daytrotter and everything that this project stands for.
Therefore I decided to Daytrotter at least once per year with Gimme A Beat listeners through my selection of the Daytrotter Sessions performed by female artists/all-female bands or bands with female vocalists.
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Tune in tonight (21.03.2016) to Gimme A Beat and, in the case that you are not the member already, let me convince you that Daytrotter membership is the best deal you ever got in your life.
Daytrottering 2016 with a playlist and all the songs directly available on the Daytrotter website.
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:
webradio lora
featuring:
daytrotter on youtube
Kisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Angel Haze in Zurich *

I listened to Angel Haze already back in 2011/2012, but I really start paying attention to them (as Angel prefers to be referred to) with the release of their third (free) mixtape, Reservation. During the summer of 2012, I had this mixtape on the repeat. I also loved the videos that followed the release, for the songs New York and Werkin' Girls. The year after, I saw Angel Haze live for the first time at Montreux Jazz Festival. I actually decided to cover the festival after I saw that
they were performing and I wasn't
disappointed. They totally blew me away and for me and Gimme A Beat,
Angel was the highlight of the festival that year. This Thursday I had a chance to see Angel again. And with this gig, my slightly pointless, stressful week turned into the special one, just like that. There are not many artists out there like Angel.
Angel is real, raw, uncompromisingly honest about their life
experiences, their feelings and anything else that they have an opinion
about. Looking at their career and what is known about their life before
and when(after) they became famous, they are like phoenix, rising over
and over again from it's ashes.
Even though their recorded music is unbelievable, to experience true
magic of Angel Haze, you have to see them live. On the stage, their
energy is so powerful and intense that it makes you feel invincible and
reminds you that nothing is impossible. After the gig I had a
chance to sit down with Angel for an interview.They told me about the
experience that brought them to this moment, exploring of their
creativity, learning and searching for their freedom. We also
talked about their latest, phenomenal project Back To The Woods as
well as Angel's vision of the world they want to live in and how they
can help create it with their music and the message that it carries.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tune in tonight (15.02.2016) to Gimme A Beat for an interview, music from Angel's latest project and my impressions
of the gig and Angel Haze.Tune in for ..Angel Haze in Zurich with playlist and click-to-play playlist
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Xmas = LOVE *

Yaaay, it's Xmas time again !!!This is one of my favourite times of the year 🎅🎄😊! Time when people slow down, get friendlier and more
pleasant and when everywhere you go smells like Xmas cookies and Glühwein🍷Besides all those fun stuff that Xmas spirit brings, for me, the true essence of Xmas is .Not one kind of all , but all different kinds that we feel and that get intensified during the Xmas time: for your family, kids, partner, friends, pets or just in general, for life that we are living and choices that we made.
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Therefore, for Gimme a Beat tonight (21.12.2015), I've created eclectic playlist of songs with in mind.Tune in for ..
Xmas =   with playlist and click-to-play playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtubeKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for more info please go to: previous entries

* Sparky In The Clouds, Cardiknox and Rodrigo Y Gabriela at Rock En Seine 2015 *

Visiting and reviewing Rock En Seine festival is becoming yearly tradition for Gimme A Beat. What is the reason that every year I keep on going back to this festival? I guess it is a perfect balance of phenomenal line-up, location very close to Paris town and lots of cool, stylish visitors that are not only taking care of the style and what to wear, but really know how to enjoy the music and give it all when the artist they love is on the stage in front of them.
This festival never gets dull for me, so I and Gimme A Beat, of course, keep on coming back.
Rock En Seine is happening every year, since 2003, at the end of the summer, last weekend of August, at Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, at Château de Saint-Cloud's park just outside Paris, inside the garden designed by Le Nôtre in 17th century. In the beginning this festival was happening only during one day and had 2 stages and 10 bands. Nowadays, the festival lasts 3 days and features many local and international bands that play on either one of the 5 stages: Grande Scene, Scene De La Cascade, Scene De L'Industrie, Scene Pression Live and Scene Ile De France.
Even if Gimme a Beat explores female factor on the festivals, I've managed to see loads of non-female related bands and discover several new ones as well. In my short reviews on Gimme a Beat Facebook page I wrote something about every band I've seen.
But in tonight's show I will focus on 3 bands that fit my female factor theme and that I've seen performing at the festival and interviewing before or after their gig.
First band that I will focus on is Sparky In The Clouds, British French trio consisting from sisters Bryony and Miranda, with their beautiful harmony voices and Mathias, skilled guitar player and composer. To Scene Ile De France they brought mesmerizing sound that is folky traditional, fresh and funky soul-ish at the same time.
Second band that it will be in focus tonight is energetic duo from Seattle that is currently based in LA and goes under name Cardiknox. With their catchy sound and electro-pop beats, Lonnie and Thomas of Cardinox, delivered fun, energetic gig that made everybody dance at the early gig on Scene Pression Live.
Third focus of tonight's Gimme a Beat is phenomenal Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela. With the virtuosity of very skilled musicians, Rodrigo and Gabriela delivered their music with so much passion and intensity that it felt like we (audience and I) are all part of some tribalistic experience.
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Tune in tonight (16.11.2015) to Gimme A Beat to hear my review of Rock En Seine 2015 and the gigs I've seen, interviews from Sparky In The Clouds, Cardiknox and Rodrigo Y Gabriela with chosen music from their latest releases.
Tune in for ..
Sparky In The Clouds, Cardiknox and Rodrigo Y Gabriela at Rock En Seine 2015                      
with playlist and click-to-play playlist  (for the spotify-ed artists)
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:
webradio lora
featuring:
gimme a beat on youtube
Kisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Hiatus Kaiyote and Nina Attal at Blue Balls Festival 2015 *

We had beautiful summer this year in Switzerland so reviewing the festival like Blue Balls that is partially set inside, partially outside and happening in the beautiful surrounding next to Lake Luzern, feels more like a blessing then an effort. This festival with slightly inappropriate name that is happening during two weeks of July, brings me back last few years, mostly because of it's awesome line-up, perfect combination of known and unknown artists different genres, playing on inside and outside stages in Luzern: KKL, Pavillon, Schweizerhof hotel. This year was no different and in my 5th year at the festival, I've chosen three days with female artists and/or bands with female vocalists that I wanted to include in
my review. Those were: Melody Gardot and Nina Attal on 18th of July, Hiatus Kaiyote on 21st of July and Sophie Hunger on 25th of July. I've also seen several awesome male artists, but since as Gimme a Beat, I explore 'female factor' of the festival that I review, review of their gigs is only included in the short review on Gimme a Beat Facebook page, but not in tonight's show.The first artist/band that I will focus on in tonight's show is Hiatus Kaiyote. I've discovered this band through their Grammy nominated song for best R&B, Nakamarra, that was (and still is) on the regular playlist at KCRW radio. I've met the band and sat down for an interview with them just after their soundcheck and before the gig on the Pavillon stage, one of the outside stages of Blue Balls Festival. What can you expect from the band that defines their music style as multi-dimensional, poly rhythmic gangster shit?! Exactly what happened.. fun and quirky, interesting interview occasionally interrupted by church bells of the nearby church !! True musicians, easy going and relaxed, the band members told me about their beginnings, growing up together and developing musically in creatively inspiring area of Melbourne; their latest album and tour. Following the interview, each member of the band brought their piece of talent to the stage: mesmerizing Nai Palm as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Paul Bender, Simon Mavin, Perrin Moss on several other instruments, where they created the beautiful music of Hiatus Kaiyote.In the 2nd part of Gimme A Beat, I will focus on young, talented, French artist, Nina Attal.Nina started gigging as a teenager, so now, even though she is only 23, she is already a true pro and she actually feels more comfortable travelling the world and performing than in the studio. I had a chance to sit down with her for an itw just before her gig at the Pavillon and she told me about her latest album, what made her an artist that she is today and her future career aspirations. Later on, on the stage, with her endless amount of energy and talent, backed by an awesome band, she had all eyes on her and made everybody move with her R&B, funky sound.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tune in tonight (21.09.2015) to Gimme A Beat to hear my review of Blue Balls Festival and the gigs I've seen, interviews from both: Hiatus Kaiyote and Nina Attal and chosen music from their latest albumsTune in for ..Hiatus Kaiyote and Nina Attal at Blue Balls Festival 2015 with playlist and click-to-play playlist
from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Coachella 2015 *

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is
an annual three-day music and arts festival, founded by Paul Tollett, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo
Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley. Due to popular demand, back in 2012, Coachella organisers "stretched"
the festival over two weekends. Of course, first weekend is more popular
then second, but let's be honest, the best would be to attend both
weekend for full on, don't-wanna-miss-the-thing, experience.Going back to it's beginnings, first official Coachella festival happened
in October 1999. Then, after the break of one year, to avoid intense
heat during the summer, the festival moved from October to April. In
following years Coachella
became an event with impressive line-up and amazing atmosphere that
attracted many people from all over the world. Nowadays the festival is
happening not only over two weekends, but on several stages/tents set-up
throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. The main
stages are: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent,
Sahara Tent and newly introduced in 2013, Yuma stage. Coachella is also showcasing some impressive art: installation art and sculptures, located all around festival. Every year it feels that arts get better and better. And it is very
possible that it does, since apparently the amount of art that the team
of the Coachella Valley Art Scene needs to choose from, increases every year. This year there were so much art, that we had to use following guide to locate everything: Art of 2015.For me, the most impressive was (yet, another) piece of art from Poetic Kinetics, The Papilio Merraculous, caterpillar that during the festival transformed into the beautiful butterfly. This art installation was a beautiful reminder that the world around us is constantly changing, growing and evolving and many times in mysterious ways. Instead of being afraid of that change, we should learn to embrace it and celebrate it. I feel, that in the similar ways, the Coachella festival itself has been transforming and evolving over the years and I am happy to say that, since 2012, I've been witnessing and embracing this change. And, together with other festival goers, maybe, I've been even the part of that change.This is probably one of the reason why Coachella is still one of my favourite festivals, that I keep on coming back to. Another, very important one for the music lover that I am, is that no matter how hipster or mainstream it gets, Coachella never
forgets to include bands I am excited about, introduces some new,
awesome bands that I (could and usually) get excited about, seems to
brings the best out of most of the artists that are performing and big
part of the audience and continues to keep it's vibe in tune with what for me
California is all about, chilled, sunny and fckng gorgeous.Expect to hear about my desert festival extravaganza experience (probably) again next year. In the meantime...---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tune in tonight (15.06.2015) to Gimme A Beat to hear all about my experience at Coachella 2015, chosen songs of the female artists that I saw on the festival and many short interviews of friendly Coachella goers that were kind enough to step away for a moment from the festival fun and answer few of my questions.. Tune in for ..Coachella 2015 with playlist  and click-to-play playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:coachella 2015 on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Zola Jesus, Nneka, True and Verveine at m4music in Zurich *

Since 1998, m4music
festival takes place every March here in Switzerland: two days in Zurich and one day in the chosen city in the French
part.The festival is organized by Migros Pour-cent and even though it features many concerts on the four stages in impressive Schiffbau
complex, it is not the typical music festival.M4music festival is more like the type of the cultural platform where artists, industry experts and cultural institution with strong focus on the
young artists meet and exchange ideas, experiences and vision of the future. There are several ways this festival makes this happen: by offering interesting panel discussions and workshops, conferences
on latest hot issues in music business, competition for the
next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic) and simply the chance to meet many local, national and
international people at the venue, just hanging around, talking, sharing their
opinions and knowledge.I was visiting this festival for many years now,
but only start reviewing it last few years.But every year, I keep on coming back to it, not only because its convenient location (here in Zürich), but mostly because every year I discover new band(s), have a chance to interview interesting female artists/bands, meet great people (from music and non music industry) and see again some local people that I rarely find time to catch up during the year and with our busy schedules.And of course for the Gimme A Beat this year, like every other year, I managed to catch several, very talented artists, from different genres, for interviews.On Friday, I’ve sat down with Zola Jesus, American female artist with phenomenal voice, few hours before her mesmerizing, haunting gig. On Saturday, I've interviewed few more artists.. I started an interview session with amazing Nneka, that I was very excited to see again, first for an itw and later on afro-beating the main stage. 4 years after I've interviewed her last time, we revisited experiences that happened in the meantime, life wise and music wise. It was a busy day so I've also had a chance to interview more artists: Daniela from very talented swiss duo True (another member of the duo, Rico was stuck on the road and couldn't join), band that channels 80's music with the fresh, bubbly futuristic approach and Verveine, electronic swiss artist behind the solo project, that also closed the festival with her out-of-this-world, intergalactic gig. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (18.05.2015) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival and gigs I've seen .. as well as all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve interviewedZola Jesus, Nneka, True and Verveine at m4music in Zurich with playlist and click-to-play playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora featuring:
gimme a beat youtube playlistKisses,
Babymonster
————————————————————————–
for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Akua Naru in Zurich *

Several years ago, I remember watching Akua Naru's video: The World Is Listening. And writing her name down to check her out. But years passed and even with the note, regretfully, I forgot to do that.Then one day last year, on my way home from work, totally drained and exhausted, I was passing by the stand with the posters and one of them caught my eye and something about it demanded my immediate attention.I recognised the name and this time I didn't forget.As soon as I got home I start googling Akua Naru and absorbing all the info I could find and of course, listening to her music.
I feel in love instantly with her (previous) album Live & Aflame Session. The videos available on the website impressed me even more.
 Since the poster that I saw in the town was for her upcoming gig, seeing her was now marked in my calendar. And more I read about Akua, more curious I was not only to see and hear her, but to get an opportunity for an interview as well. To add to all the excitement, only one day before the concert, her album: The Miner's Canary came out.
From the first look, even before listening to it, the album mesmerized me with its cover (created by Tamara Natalie Madden) and impressed me with various collaborations: Georgia Anne Muldrow, Cody ChesnuTT, Dr Tricia Rose and few others as well as with the one song with the title assuming Toni Morrison dedication. And after listening it for the first time, with focus on Akua Naru rhymes, it made me wonder if the name of the album is anything to do with The Miner's Canary, interesting book that I came across few years ago.Fortunately for me, and listeners of the Gimme a Beat, I had a chance to get an answer to most of the questions when I sat down for an interview with this talented, powerful woman, herself shortly before she took over the stage at Moods.
During the interview I was captivated by the female power that comes out of every pore of Akua's being. 
It felt like this talented poet carries the energy of her female ancestors and all the women that raised and inspired her during her upbringing. I believe that this created the self confident base for her life and gave her strength to follow her dreams, to explore the world and herself, and to become an artist and the woman that she is today. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For the whole story and interview, music from The Miner's Canary and Live & Aflame Session, impressions of the gig at Moods, tune in tonight (16.03.2015) for  ...Akua Naru in Zurich with playlist and click-to-play playlistFrom 22:00 - 00:00:web radio on radio LoRaFeaturing:akua naru on the youtubeKisses,Babymonster---------------------------------------------for more info please go to: previous entries

* I Love Xmas *

I Xmas !! Xmas time is one of my favourite times..It
is the time of the year when people slow down, get friendlier and more
pleasant and when everywhere you go smells like Xmas cookies and GlühweinTonight, I am going to go back in time to swingy, jazzy, groovy and funky sound of Xmas.
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Tune in (15.12.2014) to Gimme a Beat tonight for eclectic playlist of vintage Xmas songs sung by female artists..
I ☕ Xmas with click-to-play playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00:web radio on radio LoRafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtubeKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for more info please go to: previous entries

* Giana Factory, Agua Roja, Camp Claude, Tiger Bell and Jeanne Added at Rock En Seine 2014 *

Since 2003, Rock En Seine
festival is happening every year at the end of the summer, last weekend
of August, at Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, at Château de
Saint-Cloud's park just outside Paris, inside the garden designed by Le
Nôtre in 17th century. In the beginning this festival was happening only
during one day and had 2 stages and 10 bands. Nowadays, the festival lasts 3days and features many local and international bands that play on
either one of the 4 stages: Grande Scene, Scene De La Cascade, Scene De
L'Industrie, Scene Pression Live or from this year at the Scene Ile De France in the case that they are young and french artist(s).
Perfect balance of phenomenal line-up, location very close to Paris
town and lots of cool, stylish visitors that are not only taking care of
the style and what to wear, but really know how to enjoy the music and
give it all when the artist they love is on the stage in front of them
are one of the main reasons that Gimme a Beat keeps on coming back. This festival never gets dull for me. And even though the weather forecast was "promising" another festival with rain and mud, 2014 edition of Rock En Seine was dry, partially sunny and that made the whole festival even more enjoyable.
Even if Gimme a Beat explores
female factor on the festivals, I've managed to see loads of non-female
related bands and discover several new ones as well. In my short reviews on Gimme a Beat Facebook page I wrote something about every band I've seen.
But tonight, in Rock En Seine 2014 review of Gimme a Beat, I will focus on several artists: Giana Factory, danish girl trio that with their organic electronic sound mesmerized the crowd at the early gig on Scene Precision Live; Agua Roja, recently formed french band with impressive songs and unforgettable voice from their leading vocalist November; Camp Claude, another new-ish french band, super stylish and cool with the sound that brings back the summer and the beach vibe; Tiger Bell, all-girls punk rock band from Sweden that made everybody dance and have lots of fun with their high energy gig at the Precision Live Scene and Jeanne Added, another, very talented french artist that with her back-to-the-basic sound showcased her music and amazing voice at the Ile De France stage.In my review, I will include impressions of their performances as well as
whole-festival experience, while playing the interviews with these
artists and chosen songs from their current albums..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tune in tonight (17.11.2013) for ...
Giana Factory, Agua Roja, Camp Claude, Tiger Bell and Jeanne Added at Rock En Seine 2014 with ** playlist to be added **
from 22:00 - 00:00:web radio on radio LoRa
featuring:rock en seine 2013 on youtube
Kisses,Babymonster
---------------------------------------------for more info please go to: previous entries

* Maria Mena and Chlöe Howl at Blue Balls Festival 2014 *

Another year, another Blue Balls Festival .. This annual festival with slightly inappropriate name for an English
speaking artists and audience started back in 1992, in front of the small, mostly local audience and over the years grew into an international music festival with impressive line-up and amount of visitors over the nine days in July. Happening in a beautiful surrounding next
to Lake Lucerne, in Switzerland, on the various locations like an Open-Air
Pavilion, the Lucerne Culture and Convention Center and The Club at the
Schweizerhof Hotel, it presents more then 100
shows with international artists different genres; with local, Swiss
artists (Young Talents stage) as well as photography exhibits, video
lounge and films dedicated to music. There are several things that keep on bringing me back to Blue Balls Festival, but most importantly an awesome line up with great balance of young and well known artists different genres, venues with impeccable acoustic as well as beautiful settings where it is happening. This was my 4th year on the festival and I was exploring the female factor by choosing three days with female artists I wanted to include in my review.Over three consecutive days I've seen five female artists/acts: Maria Mena and Rita Ora on 23th, Goldfrapp on 24th and on 25th of July Chlöe Howl and Joss Stone.Maria Mena is an artist that I've actually discovered only recently, but was instantly drown to her powerful storytelling songs heavily influenced by her own experience, something that in many ways clashed with the pop genre that she belongs to. The honesty of her emotions were so obvious in her songs, that I just wanted to get a chance to hear the story of her life from her directly, so I asked and was lucky to get an interview. The interview only confirmed that behind those intense songs, there is a woman, that while growing up in the public learnt how to "write off" her issues and insecurities. However, today she is a confident woman that also knows how to enjoy life and have fun as intensely as all those heavy emotions that she dealt with through her songs.Even before she was nominated for BBC - Sound of .., I heard about Chlöe Howl, because she is one of those artists that one just can't miss. I immediately liked everything about her: her music, fresh style (inclusive pixie hairstyle), the colourful videos, as well as unpolluted, simple rawness of the emotions that she expresses in her songs. She reminded me of the teenage times and the crowd that I used to hang around back in the days. And even the interview with Chlöe was as much fun as I expected with lots of honest answers and giggles.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Tune in tonight (20.10.2014) to Gimme A Beat, to hear the interviews with Maria Mena and Chlöe Howl, and the story about their careers, music and their future. I will also share my impressions of Blue Balls Festival 2014, all the gigs I've seen, and play the music from Maria's last album and Chlöe's EPs as well as selected songs from Joss Stone, Rita Ora and Goldfrapp,Tune in for..Maria Mena and Chlöe Howl at Blue Balls Festival 2014  with ** playlist to be added **from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtubeKisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Joe Bel in Zürich *

Back in July, while on my way to work, from the morning newspapers, I've discovered Joe BeL, young, talented artist that was supposed to perform that evening at the very special location, called Music Apartment.Music Apartment is a showcase series that presents artists in very original, brilliant way. The setting is minimalistic, with small audience, build around the artists, their music and performance. The name of the location, Music Apartment,
suits it perfectly, since the intimate atmosphere that this venue
provides (almost) resembles artist's living room and catching them
during their private jam session. Thanks to technology these
performances are not limited to the audience in the room. Via web
stream, fans and music lover can watch the performance live, while its
happening or at any giving moment after the gig, via music apartment
website. Not only that I've had a pleasure to (thanks to David from Sound Development and Joe's mgmt) attend this special gig, but I've also managed to catch this
talented lady for a chat after the gig. I was glad to hear that Joe
enjoyed the gig as much as we all did, because the energy and the vibe
in the room was absolutely phenomenal. She also told me how she, herself,
got to the point in life where she needed to share her talent with the
rest of the world; about the other gigs that made the difference, her EP
and of course, plans for future.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (15.09.2014) to hear Joe BeL's story, the music from her *In The City* EP and few songs from Music Apartment gig as well as five songs of the female artists of her choice to round up the night.Tune in for ..Joe BeL in Zurich  with a ** playlist to be added **  from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* The Internet in Zürich *

The Internet is a funk/soul band formed in the late 2011 by OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All or simply Odd Future) members Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians along with touring members Jameel Bruner, Patrick Paige and Christopher A. Smith.First time I saw The Internet on the stage, was at Coachella 2014. Being one of the Coachella nerds and making sure never to miss any gig (that is worth seeing), I managed to catch them performing an early gig on the Gobi stage. I didn't know what to expect but I, and obviously the rest of the crowd that kept on coming in (and staying), really enjoyed the gig. That gig was actually a perfect start of the day and looking back to it, it created the good vibe that kept flowing into the rest of it.When I saw that The Internet will be performing at Exil, local club here in Zurich, on one of the random Wednesdays in July, I jumped on the occasion, reached out to few kind people and fortunately (for me and listeners of Gimme A Beat), got a chance to interview the band.This interview was one of the easy ones. I had enough time to just hang around with the band members and ask them everything I was curious about: their beginnings, how did they became musicians that they are today, music that they created until now and plans for the future.What I was really impressed with, was very obvious connection between the members of the band. This is the connection
of the people that grew up together: musically and life wise, and it was
also very much reflected, later on, on the stage. In addition to that what, for
me, made this band even more likeable, is the fact that even if they
are all insanely talented, they are still down to earth, humble people,
that are perfecting themselves every day and still seem to know how to
embrace and enjoy life to the fullest.After the interview I joined the rest of the Zurich crowd for a soulful, warm live sound of The Internet, that was perfect escape for that (not very common for summer, even in Zurich) cold, rainy night.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tonight (18.08.2014) in Gimme A Beat together with an interview, I will bring to the Radio LoRA studio, warm sound of The Internet, as well as five songs of the female artists of their choice to round up the night.Tune in for ..The Internet with a playlist  and click-to-play playlistfrom 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Coachella 2014 *

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is an annual three-day music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley. Due to popular demand, in 2012, Coachella organisers "stretched"
the festival over two weekends. Of course, first weekend is more popular
then second, but let's be honest, the best would be to attend both
weekend for full on, don't-wanna-miss-the-thing, experience.Going back to it's beginnings, first official Coachella festival happened in October 1999. Then, after the break of one year, to avoid intense heat during the summer, time of the festival moved to April. In following years Coachella became an event with impressive lineup and amazing atmosphere that attracted many people from all over the world. Nowadays the festival is happening not only over two weekends, but on several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. The main stages are: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, Sahara Tent and newly introduced in 2013, Yuma stage. There is also Coachella Art Studios, an interactive craft installation located in
the center of Coachella's festival grounds, curated and organized by the Coachella Valley Art Scene. From all the 3 years that I've attended Coachella, for me personally, 2014 edition brought most impressive Art Installation. From my favourite Reflection field, Escape Velocity over to subtle beauty of Balloon Chains to 2Sqared, I believe that none of the visitors could stayed indifferent toward art happening just in front of ours/their eyes, day and night.For many years I was watching from the sideline (aka another continent) what is happening at this musical oasis in the middle of the desert until finally, in 2012, I decided to join excited Coachella festival goers. The experience was absolutely mind blowing. It combined many things that I love: opportunity to spend some time in California, before and after the festival, hanging around with some seriously awesome people (making friends for life) and seeing bands in the atmosphere that can't be explained, only experienced. Having goose bumps every time when I thought about Coachella 2012 experience, there were no doubt in my mind that I have to repeat it and come back to the desert festival extravaganza again in 2013, 2014 and probably (and hopefully) next year again.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tune in tonight (16.06.2014) to Gimme A Beat to hear all about my experience at Coachella 2014, chosen songs of the female artists that I saw on the festival and many short interviews of friendly Coachella visitors that were kind enough to step away for a moment from the festival fun and answer few of my questions.. Tune in for ..Coachella 2014 with a ** playlist to be added **  from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lorafeaturing:coachella 2014 on youtube Kisses, Babymonster————————————————————————–for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

* Wolfman, Charli XCX, Nadine Carina and Ira May at m4music in Zurich *

m4music festival is happening every year, since 1998, at the end of the March, for 3 days in (2 days in Zurich and one day in the city of the French part of Switzerland). The event is organized by Migros Pour-cent.m4music is not just another music festival. While it features many concerts on the four stages in beautiful Schiffbau complex, it also offers interesting panel discussions and conferences on latest hot issues in music business as well as competition for the next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic). And at the venue you get a chance to meet many local, national and international people just hanging around, talking, sharing their opinions and knowledge.That’s why m4music festival can be best defined as a type of exchanged platform artists, industry experts and cultural institution with a strong focus on the young artists.I've been visiting the festival for many years now, but only start  reviewing it for last few years.But every year, I discover some new aspect of it, discover new artists, meet interesting people (from music and outside of music industry), so I keep on coming back.During those two days, I’ve manage to catch several artists for an interview. On Friday I’ve sat down with über cool Katerina and Angelo of Wolfman, local Zurich band and another young, talented swiss artists Nadine Carina. On Saturday I interviewed two more female artists, just before their gigs: another amazing swiss artist Ira May and awesome Charli XCX, that not only finished my interview session on the festival but also closed my m4music experience with her energetic, full-on, (girl)power gig.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Tune it tonight to Gimme A Beat (19.05.2014) to hear my impressions of the m4music festival, all the interviews and the music of the artists that I’ve interviewedWolfman, Charlie XCX, Nadine Carina and Ira May at m4music with playlist click-to-play playlist, for the artists present at  from 22:00 - 00:00 on:webradio lora
featuring:
m4music festival playlistKisses,
Babymonster
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for the info about old shows please go to previous entries