Just a quick update to let you know that I have shelved
World United Music indefinitely. If I’m able to bring some serious attention to
this project in the future, I will certainly return more determined to make a
difference because that’s what World United Music has always been about. For
the time being, I will be working at World United News where the information
demand requires my full attention. I leave music fans with a ton of great music
and hope it has helped some of the artists I’ve supported over the past six
years. ~ Stewart Brennan
The contents of every music Playlist below can be accessed
by clicking on the 3-line square in the top left hand corner of each YouTube
Video screen. The Play-lists will automatically stream continuously from
whatever point you choose. So sit back and enjoy the music!
David Philips is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
and producer from the UK. His work as a solo artist and session guitar player
has taken him around the world playing venues and festivals such as Montreaux
Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Delhi Jazz Festival (India), Woodford Folk
Festival (Australia), Blue Balls Festival (Switzerland), Mare De Agosto
Festival (Azores Islands), Blues Aan Zee Festival (Holland), plus studio work
and live shows in the US, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. He has also written
and recorded productions for companies such as MTV, VH1, Audi, Volkswagon,
Honda, La Caixa (Spain) and Gas Natural (Spain).
Philips self released his debut album “Heal Yourself Alone”
in 2010 and was quickly selected as Album Of The Week by Robert Elms at BBC
Radio London. It was also at #34 in the top 100 roots/country albums of 2011,
compiled by Roots Music Report in the US. After a short tour of Holland and
Belgium Philips signed with Black and Tan Records in Holland and released his
next 3 albums with the Dutch label.
Philips is known for his D.I.Y approach in the studio,
writing, recording and producing all his albums himself as well as playing all
instruments and tracking all vocals on his last 3 records to date. The Rooftop
Recordings (2011) was recorded in his rooftop apartment in Barcelona, Spain
while December Wine (The 4 Track Tapes) (2013) is a selection of demos recorded
using a Tascam 4 track cassette machine. His most recent album “If I Had Wings”
was released in March 2015 and is the result of 18 months of writing, recording
and live shows throughout Europe. The record is Philips' most adventurous to
date, exploring his musical past as a jazz guitar player and also electronic music
producer. He also did the artwork for the release using paintings, drawings and
sketches made whilst on tour and at home throughout 2014. David Philips has
toured Europe extensively over the past 5 years and continues to showcase his
world class guitar playing and carefully crafted songs and stories to a growing
audience.
Joshua is a modern folk musician from Abbotsford, British
Columbia, Canada, an amalgam of influence in the classically romantic tradition
of Damien Rice, Ryan Adams, Iron and Wine, and Sufjan Stevens. Like the said
ballyhooed folksters before him, Joshua is inspired to write largely as a
result of the people and relationships surrounding him, while also subjecting
his songs to his own vulnerabilities, doubts, and conflicts. He integrates
these revelations with his agenda of lyrical candidness, creating an expressive
and open artform.
With all of Joshua's ability and potential, what really sets
him apart is his faultless ability in the live venue. Josh will silence the
crowd with his soft and consistently pitch perfect vocal control while and draw
the audience towards his unmistaken aura for being one of the good guys.
Considering the idiosyncratic confluence of ability he boasts, it is fair to
say that Joshua spins a web of charm that makes him inimitably great.
Wish You Well – (Album: Where the Mountain Meets the Valley
– 2012)
Nowhere Left to Go – (Album: Where the Mountain Meets the
Valley – 2012)
Do Not Let Me Go - (Album: Where the Mountain Meets the
Valley – 2012)
If I Were a Better Man – (EP: Cold Wind – 2011)
More about: Joshua Hyslop
Every songwriter finds his or her own way to summon the
muse. Some lock themselves away in a bedroom, a hotel suite, or a studio and
wait for inspiration to strike. Others deliberately choose, in the words of
Robert Frost, a road "less travelled by." Joshua Hyslop took the
latter route on his way to Where The Mountain Meets The Valley, the debut album
by the 24-year old Vancouver native. And it did, indeed, make all the
difference.
Hyslop's first forays into songwriting were the result of an
unhappy accident of sorts: at the age of 15, he moved with his family to
Scotland, where he had difficulty transitioning. "I went from attending a
school with 90 students to a public school with something like 1200," he
recounts. "And I just had a tough time dealing with that. My first year
there, I got in a lot of fights. So, I picked up a guitar that my dad had been
given and just kind of locked myself in my room for hours and hours. I wasn't
the kind of kid who was in love with music and I hadn't really ever sung in
public. I listened mostly to what my mom had…Simon & Garfunkel, Cat
Stevens. That's how I got started."
There are still echoes of classic folk in the spare,
pastoral beauty of Hyslop's acoustic guitar-based soundscapes, and in his
intimate, softly-sung delivery on the album's opening track, "Do Not Let
Me Go," a deeply felt confessional that resonates with the power of a
personal prayer. Indeed, in a move that even Hyslop felt was a bit risky, he
recorded his own bare-bones version of the Dylan classic "Shelter From the
Storm" for Where The Mountain Meets The Valley. "I was hesitant at
first," he admits. "But when you think back to the early days of
Dylan, everyone was covering everyone else's songs and it was taken as a complement.
So, yeah, I'm nervous that there are going to be people who have a problem with
it. But I did my best to do the song in my own style. It was either a brave or
very stupid thing to do," he acknowledges with a knowing laugh.
As Hyslop's interest in songwriting broadened, so did his
musical vistas. When he was 17, he discovered Damien Rice, Ryan Adams, Iron
& Wine. At which point, he began to
develop his own take on a kind of rootsy indie-folk. "I've always been
drawn to the lyrics and the sound of an acoustic guitar," he explains.
"I really like the austerity of one person on the guitar with a simple
accompaniment."
That may have been the starting point for Where The Mountain
Meets The Valley, but with the addition of strings, piano, mandolin and drums,
much of the album Hyslop lands squarely in the heart what might best be
described as artful rendered Americana. Yet, he wasn't in the heartland of
America — or his native Canada, for that matter — but halfway around the world
in a desolate part of Northern India that Hyslop eventually stumbled upon the
primary inspiration for the album. He was in the midst of recording his debut
EP, 2011's formative Cold Wind, when wanderlust struck, and he left home for
what he hoped would be an enlightening four-and-a-half month trip to the Far
East, his very own road less travelled. But the journey took an inauspicious
turn early on: abandoned for three days in a desert bordering Pakistan with no
food or water followed by a rather complicated twist of fate, Hyslop would
endure two near-death experiences that not only tested him physically, but
emotionally and spiritually, as well.
As Hyslop recounts, the wrenching yet redemptive lyrics to
"Do Not Let Me Go" — lines like "There are moments in this life
when you can't fake it/There are moments I would walk another road/There was
something in the broken way you said it/Singing 'Please, oh God, do not let me
go'" — came to him when awoke in a strange hotel room after passing out
from dehydration, discovered unconscious on a random street. "I just laid
there and felt the worst I've ever felt in my life," he details.
"Some people would call it a prayer, some people would just say it's
speaking out loud or whatever. But I was basically lying there and the words in
that song are words that I was speaking. Like, when you're almost dead, or you
feel like you're dying, or someone tells you that you came close to dying, your
real character shines through and it makes you see things in a very honest way.
There's no false humility and none of the aspects of the personas we wear
day-to-day. It's just, 'this is who I am, and this is what's happening.' So
that song is my little journal entry saying 'please do not let me die, I'm
scared, I don't know what's going on, I'm alone in a country I’ve never been
to, and I don't know what else to say.'"
Hyslop persevered and, four months later, returned home with
a new perspective on life. He also had the raw material for the eleven songs
that would become Where The Mountain Meets The Valley, including a poetically
meditative title track that captures the essence of what it's like to see life
through fresh eyes at the young age of 24. "When all that you have hoped
for/And all that you have loved, comes undone" Hyslop croons against a melancholy
backdrop of fingerpicked guitar, simple piano chords, elegant violin, and a
surging backbeat, "When faith in what you see is not enough/Don't say that
you believe, but do no love."
"I live in a valley surrounded by mountains," he
explains. "It's beautiful. But it also became a metaphor for the highs and
lows of my own life, and how dramatic they can be. In the last year, I've been
close to death twice, I've lost 45 pounds, I've been very very low, the worst
I've ever been. But, at the same time, I got signed to a record label and I got
to travel the world; I saw things that I'd never get to see normally. So, it's been an incredibly up year and an
incredibly down year. And that's really the dynamics of life.”
A young man in his early 20s, yet wise beyond his years,
Hyslop sums it up best, “it's so easy to waste time and we don't even stop to
notice it. And time really is this silent killer. You hope that you're using it
wisely and always wondering whether you could have done more."
Matthew Perryman Jones has a voice that calls out with
intensity, truth and emotion. Jones began his career in 1997 in Decatur, GA,
and then, after moving to Nashville to pursue music full-time, he issued his
first solo release, Nowhere Else But Here, in 2000. As American Songwriter
describes, “Matthew’s voice ensnares listeners with a rare authenticity and
gritty strength.”
In 2006, Jones released Throwing Punches in the Dark, a departure
from his previous Folk/Americana sound toward Pop Rock. In 2008, Swallow the
Sea with break-out hit “Save You,” solidified Jones as an artist worth
watching. Performing Songwriter Magazine noted Jones as a talent that follows
“in the footsteps of Leonard Cohen and John Lennon.”
In 2011, Jones released Until The Dawn Appears which
contains retellings of his most popular songs including “Save You,” whose video
features Jaimie Alexander (Kyle XY, Thor, The Last Stand). Written shortly
after his father’s death, Jones’ latest CD, Land Of The Living, is a courageous
personal Odyssey through life’s most troubled waters of love and loss.
One of the most sought-after songwriters in Nashville, Jones
builds on his accomplishments with his 2013 single, “Anymore of This.” The
duet, written and recorded with Mindy Smith, was featured on ABC Family’s
“Switched at Birth” in January.
Jones’ songs have also been featured in television shows
including Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Bones, Pretty Little Liars, NY Med,
Flash Point, One Tree Hill, The Hills, and Eli Stone as well as in the 2012
movie release What To Expect When You Are Expecting.
In addition to Jones’ own headline tours, he has shared the
bill with Katie Herzig, Matthew Mayfield, and Joshua James and has opened for
such artists as Ingrid Michaelson, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin and Paula Cole.
Jones is also an original member of the nationally acclaimed Nashville
collaborative artist group “Ten Out of Tenn”.
London-based psychedelic pop band The See See are Richard
Olson, Kevin Peyok, Paulie Cobra, Phil Anderson and Sam Ferman. They originally
hail from as far apart as Malmoe (SE), Detroit (US), Leeds (UK), Manchester
(UK) and Auckland (NZ).
After 6 sold out 7″ singles, being hand-picked for support
tours with The Raconteurs and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and a reputation for
wonderfully exuberant live shows, their debut album ‘Late Morning Light’ was
released on the Great Pop Supplement label in a limited edition vinyl version
in November 2010. It sold out in a day, got re-pressed, and promptly sold out
again. The album was released on CD via Dell’Orso records in February 2011.
Following great album reviews in Mojo, Uncut, Record
Collector, Shindig! and Timeout, the band released their now sold out 7″ single
of Gold & Honey/Sunbleached (Eat Lights Become Lights Remix) on The Great
Pop Supplement label on March 5th 2012.
The See See’s much anticipated second album ‘Fountayne
Mountain’ was released on Dell’Orso / Great Pop Supplement on May 28th 2012 on
CD/LP/Download. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews in the UK and
Europe including 4/5* in the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine. This was
followed by the release of 7″ single Sweet Hands/Silver Raven on Berlin’s Rank
Records.
The summer has also seen The See See play a number of
European and UK dates.
The band are currently working on their third album which is
as yet untitled. And the legendary US label Sundazed Records will be putting
out a new 7″ single on January 29th followed by an anthology of both their 2
albums as well as rare singles and exclusives.
The Hanging Stars were an epiphany visited upon the rain
soaked air of England's green and pleasant land, becoming whole, tangible and
real in the Californian desert.
There they formed there mix of lush harmonies, cosmic
americana and tuneful folk creating something halfway between the Mississippi
and the Mersey, the desert's beating sun and the dark skies of London. Their
sound is something timeless and yet somehow new, simultaneously nostalgic and
prophetic.
They vary in number, yet wherever they go they carry the
rain and the sand with them.
It’s approaching 3 am and Bill Ricchini aka Summer Fiction
isn’t on the windswept beach his moniker may suggest. He’s in a dank basement
echo chamber at Eve Studios—a 200-year old country house/recording studio just
North of Manchester, UK. His wordless “oohs” bounce off the cinderblock walls
overdubbing a tricky vocal harmony part Brian Wilson, part Jeff Lynn. A jangly
guitar chimes in channeling Johnny Marr—born just a few miles away.
It’s been over 4 years since Ricchini’s self-titled debut as
Summer Fiction was released to praise from New York Magazine, Vogue, NPR, KCRW,
Magnet, and other admirers. In that time, Ricchini moved from South
Philadelphia to Brooklyn and took songwriting trips to Mexico and the Pacific
Northwest.
Ricchini also went through a rough spot during that time,
losing two close family members to illness. Soon after, he saw the
disintegration of his parents’ 40-year marriage. In the months that followed,
he found himself writing songs that felt different. These were not love songs
but they were about love and longing, often focusing on romantic and religious
obsession. Songs that examined the idea of lover as deity and explored the
broken and beautiful aspects of his own relationships
Ricchini approached long time collaborator and UK transplant
Brian Christinzio (BC Camplight) to co-produce the new Summer Fiction record,
titled Himalaya. Arrangements were made and Ricchini camped out at Manchester’s
Eve Studios for two weeks that chilly spring shaping the songs: “the Big Star
meets The La’s power pop of “Perfume Paper,” the smiley pet sounds carousel of
“Lauren Lorraine,” the Nilsson/Bacharach melodic songcraft of “Religion of
Mine,” the icy fingerpicked ballad “By My Side.”
Himalaya was mixed in Brooklyn by Grammy-winning engineer
Geoff Sanoff and mastered by Joe Lambert (The National, Sharon Van Etten,
Deerhunter, Panda Bear).
Ricchini’s songs have appeared in films such as The Fault in
Our Stars, Safety Not Guaranteed and television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy.
Alan Parsons was born into a family with an impressive
history in entertainment. His great grandfather was the celebrated
actor/manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. His mother was an actress,
professional folk singer and harpist and his father, Denys Parsons, an
accomplished pianist and flautist as well as the author of many books. The late
Oliver Reed, film actor was a cousin. His uncle, David Tree was also a film and
stage actor.
Alan had dabbled with live performance in his late teens as
a folk/blues acoustic player and as a lead guitarist with a blues band in the
late sixties in his hometown of London. But as soon as he landed a job at the
famous Abbey Road Studios at the age of 19, it became clear that the world of
sound recording was to dominate his career.
He was fortunate enough to work as assistant engineer on the
last two albums by The Beatles and after he qualified as a fully-fledged
recording engineer, he went on to work with Paul McCartney and The Hollies
among many others. But it was his contribution as engineer on Pink Floyd's
classic Dark Side OF The Moon that really got him world attention. That soon
led to striking successes as a producer - notably with Pilot's Magic, John
Miles' Highfly and Music and Steve Harley's (Come Up And See Me) Make Me Smile.
He also produced the hugely successful Year Of The Cat album with Al Stewart
and two albums with American progressive rock band Ambrosia.
In 1975 he met Eric Woolfson who not only became his
manager, but joined forces with Alan as a songwriting and performing partner
for what became known as The Alan Parsons Project. The APP's debut album, Tales
Of Mystery And Imagination based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe paved the way
for a signing to Clive Davis' newly launched Arista label and a string of hit
albums, namely I Robot (1977), Pyramid (1978), The Turn of a Friendly Card
(1980), Eye in the Sky (1982), Ammonia Avenue (1984), Vulture Culture (1985),
Stereotomy (1986) and Gaudi (1987).
A brief venture into musical theatre resulted in Freudiana
in 1990.The show ran for over a year in the historic Theater An Der Wien in
Vienna. Eric and Alan then went separate ways. Eric devoted his career to the
musical theatre while Parsons felt the need to bring his music to the live
concert stage and to continue to record ambitious symphonic rock music.
With his long-standing previous APP collaborators, guitarist
Ian Bairnson, drummer Stuart Elliott and orchestral arranger Andrew Powell,
Alan dropped the "Project" identity for Alan Parsons - Try Anything
Once in 1994. The partnership continued for On Air in 1996 and The Time Machine
in 1999. During this time the first incarnation of "Alan Parsons Live
Project" toured to sell-out audiences throughout the globe. Following
Alan's relocation to California, a new Live Project band was formed in 2003.
Another band reshuffle happened in 2010. The current live band consists of Alan
on acoustic guitar, keyboards and vocals, P.J. Olsson on vocals, Manny
Foccarazzo on keyboards, Guy Erez on bass, Alastair Greene on guitar, Danny
Thompson on Drums, and Todd Cooper on sax, percussion and vocals.
The album A Valid Path, Alan's foray into electronica was
released in 2004 and featured Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, The Crystal Method,
Shpongle, Uberzone, PJ Olsson and Alan's son, Jeremy. 2008 saw the reissue of
all the Alan Parsons Project albums in expanded form, containing
never-before-heard bonus material and a 2-CD compilation called The Essential Collection.
One of the most familiar Project tracks is Sirius, perhaps best known as the
Chicago Bulls theme. It was also used as the walk-on music for The New Orleans
Saints at their triumphant Superbowl game in 2010 and at the 2012 European Cup
soccer matches. Sirius has also been featured at countless other sporting
events and in the movies Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Beerfest.
In 2010, Alan felt the need to share his extensive knowledge
and expertise with the rest of the music industry. With the help of fellow Brit
Julian Colbeck, Alan wrote and produced a comprehensive instructional video
series about recording called The Art & Science Of Sound Recording (ASSR).
It features contributions from a myriad of celebrity artists, engineers and producers
and is narrated by Billy Bob Thornton. It is available as a 3-DVD set and as
downloads. See www.artandscienceofsound.com. All Our Yesterdays, a song written
especially for the series, features some of LA's finest musicians and a rare
performance by Alan on lead vocals. Alan has been supporting ASSR with a series
of lectures and Masterclass Training Sessions (MCTS) all over the world. It has
been a great opportunity for the attendees to witness Alan at work in the
studio and to participate actively in the making of a possible future hit.
Since the beginning of 2012, as well as performing live
shows, Alan has been busy in the studio doing vocals for German Electronica
outfit, Lichtmond, on a CD and video called Precious Life. Other vocal
performances with YES stars Billy Sherwood and Chris Squire as The Prog
Collective have been released on Cleopatra Records. Another collaboration has
been with Mexican superstar ALEKS SYNTEK. Alan and Aleks have written a song
called "The Direction Of Time" and have shared the lead vocal duties
which are in both English and Spanish - release is expected in late 2014.
Alan has come full circle and is back in his role as
producer and engineer both at his own Santa Barbara studio and other studios
internationally. Alan produced an album called Grand Ukulele with JAKE
SHIMABUKORO, the virtuoso ukulele player, whose YouTube video of "While My
Guitar Gently Weeps" has received over ten million hits! The album
contains a number of orchestral arrangements by Winger frontman, Kip Winger. A
collaboration with Steven Wilson as engineer and associate producer resulted in
major success including a Top 5 album in Germany in 2013. Another album is in
the cards for the autumn of 2014.
A CD box set of all the Alan Parsons Projects was released
in March 2014 and included a controversial never previously released CD from
1979 entitled The Sicilian Defence.
Alan has received a large number of awards including eleven
Grammy nominations, The Les Paul Award in 1995 and The Diva Hall Of Fame Lifetime
Achievement Award in Munich, Germany in June 2012. He is in demand as public
speaker and was keynote speaker at the 1998 Audio Engineering Society
Convention in San Francisco and was the opening speaker at the TEDx Conejo
conference in California in April 2012.
Alan has two sons, Jeremy and Daniel, from his first
marriage - both living in the UK. Alan now lives on an organic avocado ranch in
Santa Barbara, California with his wife Lisa and her two daughters, Tabitha and
Brittni, three dogs, several cats, chickens, and an 18-hand Clydesdale called
Dante.
Psychedelic, Alternative, New Wave, Dark Wave – (2000 to 2019)
Psychedelic, Alternative, New Wave, Dark Wave – (2020 to 2029)
Rock, Alternative - (2010 to 2019)
Rock, Alternative – (2020 to 2021)
Soft Rock, Lite Rock, Alternative – (2010 to 2019)
Soft Rock, Lite Rock, Alternative – (2020 to 2021)
Pop Rock – (2000 to 2019)
Pop Rock - (2020 to 2021)
Folk Rock, Acoustic – (2010 to 2019)
Folk Rock, Acoustic – (2020 to 2021)
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal – (2000 to 2019)
Punk Rock, High Energy Rock n Roll – (2000 to 2019)
Southern Rock, Alt Country – (2000 to 2019)
Classic, New Age Classic
New Age Alternative
Ambient, Electronic, Relaxation
Music for the Revolutionary Mind
Welcome!
World United Music (W.U.M.) was dedicated to promoting a variety of music by Independent, Signed, and Unsigned artists. The goal of this project was to help artists gain recognition for their music by Fans across the World while also offering additional support to established artists that continue to create.
World United Music gathered the very best music and put it right here in one place to help listeners discover new music.
If you like what you hear, please consider sharing the music with friends and family.
I'm not in phase with what mainstream mediums have to offer, nor do I like being lied to. So I decided to build my own World where creativity, music, and truth prevail. Therefore I’m a photographer, Writer, Video Producer, News Reporter, Music Promoter, Radio DJ, Poet, Activist, Critical Thinker, and Problem Solver. Be sure to visit all my websites linked below for more of my world.
Posts
