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California Dreaming

‘Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker’ drops tomorrow and is being sold from boutique stores to Amazone and Best Buy! In the meantime, I’m gearing up to go on tour, playing in LA and NYC with concerts in Rome, London and Berlin in between. I’m really looking forward to playing at the Mezz in LA, as I had such a great visit last Spring playing with Voice on Tape and Howard Amb at the wonderful and now defunct artist space, Echo Curio. RIP. I also got to go to DISNEYLAND which I thought I would hate (I’m more of a Warner Bro.s, Mel Blanc kinda girl) but I loved. It was totally surreal, like being stuck inside one of those ‘Disney Read Along Books’ that had matching cassette tapes played chimes when it was time to turn the page. “You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!” I’m a total wuss and got very scared on the futuristic ride (the name of which I have traumatised out of my memory.)

On the news front, I’m also going into the studio in London to start to realise some new songs from a twelve song demo into a new album…

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Leila Adu finds Harmony with the Voiceless

printable version

Leila Adu celebrates global CD release on Rai Trade/Tracce, the Italian National Radio label

New York, NY—Leila Adu reemerges to the international music scene on January 18th with her powerful new album “Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker.” The 11 song CD is a raw musical travelogue of uncertainty and triumph in the exciting nomadic life of the popular New Zealand/Ghanaian singer-composer-multi-instrumentalist. Touring the globe solo and with band throughout 2009-2010 in support of her Steve Albini produced “Dark Joan” LP, Leila received a spontaneous opportunity to return to the recording studio from Rai Trade/Tracce, the Italian National Radio label. The resulting album, “Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker,” primarily features her dark yet humorous songs in naked arrangements for solo voice and piano/electric keyboards. Accompanied on 4 propulsive tracks by drummer Daniele De Santis, Leila’s quirkily structured compositions speak the language of pre-war blues, sci-fi environmentalism, post-rock world music, immigration electronica and Bing Crosby.

TRACK LIST
Martian Raft
Brazen Hussey
Must Walk Slowly
Trojan Cow
Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker
The One Minute Pastry Song
Fortuna
Glass
Slick Department Store
A Moment of Peace
Cigarettes & Circus Puffs

Leila Adu has mastered the art of forging smart outsider music with a warm accessible pop core. The worldwide CD release of “Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker” on January 18 is a call for celebration and reflection. It is Leila’s determined step in the journey towards a new global folklore merging primal traditions with an electronic future.

Continue reading…

[ Visit website | Purchase ]

Leila Adu at All About Jazz

Original article

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Artist Buzz Video & Europe Tour Dates

See Leila’s live performance and interview for Live from the ATL:

/// Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker CD RELEASE TOUR /// Tour Dates announced in Rome, Berlin & London

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Cool people I met last year

Gidday,

So… of course I meet squillions of people who are cool every year. That means, I’ll focus on some artists whom I met whilst on tour etc.

Dearling Physique is a name you’ll be hearing a lot in the near future, they played at Urb Alt Fest last Summer and here’s their amazing new video!

Orlando “Oddrocker” Greenhill of Millions of Shaved Heads and more. I played a gig in LA with this dude and after one rehearsal he had the songs down.

Howard Amb – the nicest musos you could hope to meet in LA with an uncanny propensity for drinking bottled green tea

Maigin Blank in Chicago – super chick with a radio voice and DIY stylz (p’rhaps coz she spent some time in Chch as a teenager…)

Rachel in LA does heaps of stuff like VJ mashups, member of Dubbumba… um – yeah – rocker but here’s a ten second tribute

Met Twin Shadow at Urb Alt Fest last Summer too; they are a neat band from New York, currently garnering international acclaim and the members are real sweethearts

I was racking my brain to think of someone I met in Italy, as I lived there over two years but that was early in the year and my long term memory is getting a bit rusty… then it hit me! In Bologna, at Scuola di Musica Ivan Illich, I did a gig with the duo of Gianni Gebbia and Eiko Ishibashi. You can see them in Tokyo here:

Based in Atlanta (like Janelle Monae) maybe there is something in the water because the Dolldaze could sing the spots off a leopard. See for yourself:

I could go on but that’s enough for now. Stay tuned for more posts such as “Cool people I already knew that I saw last year,” “People I thought were cool who turned out to be tossers” and “People I suspect are cool but haven’t actually met yet”

 
P.S. I must confess at this point that I base my definition of cool on The Fonze and Madonna in Desparately Seeking Susan… Doesn’t everyone?

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New Website

— NEW SITE for 2011 now here at leilaadu.com with new stuff, like Leila’s blog ‘Time Travel Blog’ – Take a look around!

— NEW Leila Adu Facebook Page: the Facebook group is being phased out into a page. Be one of the first to: “LIKE!” Facebook Musician/Band Page

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End of year report

OK, so I’m more of a “what’s next?” than a pat yourself on the back kinda girl. That means I have to make myself look at what I have achieved with the support of some beautiful people. Here’s a short chronological list:

— Toured to UK, Italy, New Zealand and US with Dark Joan album (see below)
— Launched Dark Joan video in London with director Stephen Bain, Nisha Madhan and school children from Ambrit Rome
— First shows with other musos in the US – Orlando Greenhill in LA and Federico Ughi & Andrew Weeks (New York) for URB ALT Fest 2010 @ 92Y, New York
— Produced ‘Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker’ album in Rome with drummer Daniele de Santis (Jan 18 2011 global release date)
— Had stunning shots with world-class Atlanta photographers Tania Calderòn (see above) and Leon Dale
— Recorded a new demo album of electro pop songs in the US
— Started this blog for photos, videos and impressionistic splashes of thought
— Transitioned with the sheep from facebook group to the snazzy new facebook musician/band page

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SCATTERED LIGHT in Madison Square

JIM CAMPBELL: SCATTERED LIGHT sculpture in Madison Square

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INSTRUCTION TO THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH

“You must realize that you have the right to love beauty. You must prepare to live life to the fullest extent… Listening can be one of the greatest pleasures. You must learn to listen because by listening you will learn to see with your mind’s eye. You see, music paints pictures that only the mind can see. Open your ears so you can see with the eye of the mind.”
— Sun Ra

    (sleeve notes to Sun Song, as quoted in Forces in Motion ‘The Music & Thoughts of Anthony Braxton’ by Graham Lock)
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Stardate 2011

3 + 3 + 4 = 1

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Hot off the Press

Interview — The Fashion Cult
 
“The BeatStylist recently had the pleasure of chatting with singer/songwriter/composer/musician Leila Adu, whose fourth album Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker is out now…”Themes are along the lines of our current armageddon/global disaster zeitgeist, portrayals of women, consumerism and good ol’ attraction and loving woes.”” Read full interview at The Fashion Cult
 
[photo Leon Dale, styling Eighty Jane]

Review — Italy’s premiere Alt Rock & Experimental Magazine ‘Blow Up’
 
“This new work recorded for Rai Trade’s beautiful Tracce series, sees her [Adu] in almost total solitude (in four songs she is joined by Daniele de Santis on drums) and comes to grips with a singer-songwriter with extremely sparse piano and vocals yet rich with off-kilter digressions. Splinters of folk, of blues but also hypnotic and ghostly prog [absit inuria verbis!] that move away from the more popular terrains and put her in a personal sphere with which you want a little time to familiarize yourself. Fascinating when you become attuned to it. (Click photo for full review in Italian)