(Not only) Christmas songs performed by the prominent songwriters and bands
Ira Mimosa /CZ
Ira Mimosa is a singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Prague, Czech Republic. Her music is woven of gentle melancholy and tenderness, it is full of inner sadness, mixed with quiet pleasure, nourished by the sudden rain, the silence of the misty morning, the longing for the wind…and love. Her melodies are distinctive, her voice is touching and feminine, and so are the themes of her songs. Ira Mimosa sings mostly in French, and besides guitar she enjoys playing the melodica, glockenspiel and different types of rattles. In autumn 2012 she recorded her first album called La lumière (The light) which is composed of 6 songs in French. It was officially released in November 2012 by the independent record label „Jezerka records“ based in Prague.
Antonia Vai
Poetic soul. Dramatic folk. Melodic bitch slaps.
Antonia Vai is a Swedish/Hungarian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Stockholm, she moved to Budapest about two years ago. One first gig at a ruinpub kicked her off and since then she has attracted a big audience on the underground music scene in Hungary.
Antonia has been titled as a “bohemian soul diva”, but has clearly been influenced by folk. Focused on storytelling, shaped by rhythms and unique melodies, every song turns into a journey. She shifts between sadness and hopefulness. Combines metaphors and contradictions. One second she’s dynamically explosive, and the other she’s emotionally stripped down. Her music is a fusion between soul, folk-pop, R’n’B, world music and spoken word.
Antonia Vai began recording her songs in the bedroom, or in random hotelrooms along the road, and ever since, the songs started spreading and circulating on the net. A growing request for a debut album emerged. In September 2012 she finally released her album “Lovers and Prophets“, a tribute to forbidden love and sanctifications. In the same turn, she released “Dirt From When The Earth Was Flat“, an album with gathered homemade productions. In 2013 Antonia recorded her album “Stories After Bedtime” in the Szimpla ruinpub in Budapest, together with Swedish guitarist/producer Felix Gröndahl, percussionist Adam Gilinger, trumpet player Krisztian Muhari and bass player Adam Zdosek. The first single from the album was “The Pirate’s Waltz” and the full album was released in September 2014.
Matrin Evžen Kyšperský
creative soul of Brno’s favorite alternative band Květy, always liked to do stuff as he pleased. That, in his case, means bringing a fresh perspective into fields where others would have seen only clichés and deal with them as such. His solo act drives from material which is just not yet ready for a band performance.
The solo performances themselves are spontaneous and filled with many sounding animated objects and often incorporate the audience. Intense silences, melodies, aggressive sounds and cleverly reconstructed songwriter stereotypes make the shows even more energetic than the music itself.
His last solo album Svetr reached the same heights as the best records of his band and its critical acclaim has put the record in the company of the most influential Czech records of the past decade.
NEVER SOL
Sára Vondrášková, known by her stage name NEVER SOL, is a Czech singer and composer based in Prague. The piano has always been central in her music writing, but in the past years she was more and more gaining knowledge in using music production software. Creating sounds turned out to be another starting point to evolve her music and to get rid of the patterns and techniques taught in her classical education. Lyrics are very important and ideas evolve naturally when singing along the first song sketches.Sára Vondrášková possesses a voice that seems impossible to shackle to just one musical setting.
ILLE
a Czech band of experienced musicians formed around singer/keyboardist/author Olga Königová. As a follow up to their 2010 EP, they released their debut LP in late 2013 on the major Czech label Supraphon, produced by leading Czech producer Dušan Neuwerth. The album has received very good press reviews, immediately took the 2nd spot in Czech iTunes sales, and the singles have enjoyed heavy rotation in both alternative and mainstream radio stations. In 2014, the album was voted the best Czech album of 2013 by musicserver.cz, a prominent Czech music site. It was also nominated for the 2013 Apollo Czech music journalist award and in March 2014, received nominations for best new artist, best band and best song for the “Anděl awards” (the Czech equivalent of Grammy), making ILLE the most frequently nominated act in this year’s awards
Solid songwriting, captivating voice and a certain almost Scandinavian melancholy that has resonated with alternative audiences and the general public alike are the cornerstones of ILLE´s music.
