Here at Ten Millennia HQ, we believe in releasing our music on all formats including digital, but CDs and LPs still hold a very special place in our hearts. We’ve spent countless hours looking through album racks, browsing shelves of CDs and talking to knowledgeable record shop staff to find the newest thing or that undiscovered gem.
When we released our debut album, we sent our favourite record stores a selection of our promotional material and we were blown away by the creativity of their displays.
Here’s a selection of the best – huge thanks to all our stockists for their support!
Jack Savoretti is an artist I came across toward the end of the year and I’m so glad I did. He has a similar soul/rock tone to Paolo Nuttini (maybe it’s an Italian thing!!) which I really like. Then, of course, there’s Rosie Lowe who I’ve mentioned before and who I continue to listen to whenever I can. I always enjoy listening to some 70s’ Cat Stevens’ hits; they’re my eternal favourites. And, I’ve spent quite a large chunk of my 2016 down-time listening to Skunk Anansie, another fabulous rock/soul voice from the 90s.
I’m currently listening to The Bros Landreth. I like it because they have everything I love about music…great song writing, impeccable vocals and harmonies and tasteful guitar playing. They also draw from so many different genres that I love like Blues, Rock, Country and Jazz.
When I’m in the studio with the band I try to channel my inner funk player and think of the great session players that played on everything from Motown hits through to Michael Jackson, Chic and some modern funk players. Thinking about artists I admire really helps me to focus and play as best I can.
In terms of Christmas songs, I prefer to stay clear of Christmas music but if I had to choose one it would definitely be BB King’s Christmas album as he could make anything sound great.
For 2017, I’m looking forward to hearing Joey Landreth from the Bros Landreth’s solo album, ‘Whiskey’. Also, John Mayer has an album due next year and I’m a massive fan of him.
I find it difficult to stick to one particular genre of music and this is partly due to my passion for playing several different musical instruments: the saxophone, guitar, bass and piano. I was raised on Motown, yet I love listening to jazz and modern alternative rock and pop. Artists that inspire me: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the Beatles, the Beach Boys and early 20th century composers such as Bartok and Stravinsky. There’s also technical polymetric metal band, Meshuggah, and funk and soul including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and The Meters. I could go on…
I have a passion for all styles and genres of music and my favourite songs span a pretty eclectic mix. If I had to choose three songs that consistently inspire me, they would be ‘Love Rears Its Ugly Head’ by Living Colour; ‘Jeremy’ by Pearl Jam and ‘Hejira’ by Joni Mitchell”, mainly because of the amazing bass work of Jaco Pastorius.
One of my greatest passions is discovering new musicians and artists and 2016 was a great year for me in terms of uncovering some great sounds, several for the first time.
Of those I listened to, these really stood out:
I came across a song called ‘The Greatest’ by a group called King. I really like the sound; it reminds me a little of Janet Jackson. I also rediscovered Minnie Ripperton whose voice I have always loved, particularly some of her earlier songs such as Les Fleurs and Black Gold of the Sun.
New Year, New songs to discover….I’ll keep you posted on some of my favourites.
“As the least experienced musician in the band, my teacher is particularly important to my progress and I have been lucky to have had a few lessons from my friend, the great Benny Greb in Hamburg. https://bennygreb.de. Benny’s teaching technique is very relevant to me and his patience has helped me enormously. However badly I play now (!), I would be a lot worse without his guidance. In terms of the drummers I admire apart from Benny, there are some great technicians alive today who are very impressive. But the maestro, Buddy Rich would be hard to beat IMO. Having been lucky enough to see him play live twice before his untimely death, these were experiences I won’t forget.”