2024 was an even more successful year for Zurich Film Festival than its organizers expected.

It was an important year as the Zurich Film Festival festival celebrated its 20th year. The dates moved to the beginning of October, but that didn't stop the visitors. This year the festival attracted 140’000 visitors (even more than the previous year). A total of 107 films were shown, including 17 world premieres, 8 international premieres, and 11 European premieres – every 3rd film is a world, international, or European premiere.

First held in 2005, Zurich Film Festival established itself very quickly on the national and international film festival scene. The formula for its success it's probably a mix of an attractive location: an international but small city of Zurich; a great selection of movies and different programs/events like ZFF Masters, ZFF for Kids, and a few others. I loved that this year most of the movies were shown in the cinemas I prefer: Frame, Corso, and Arthouse. I love these cinemas for their quality and awesome location (close to my house 😎).

Looking at all these years I have been visiting or reviewing (since 2017) Zurich Film Festival. The way I like to explain its success is to quote/paraphrase the sentence I found in the industry booklet a few years ago. Basically, the organizers agree on a few basics for a successful film festival: "Content is king, Collaboration is key and Encounters among creative folks are essential". I am glad to confirm that even after many years, the organizers are still taking "these basics" seriously while developing the festival further and, most importantly, in the right direction.

This is why I keep coming back and reviewing Zurich Film Festival.

From the perspective of Gimme A Beat, exploring *the female factor* of the festival is easy. Zurich Film Festival always provides a significant number of female stories and movies from female directors, and a good balance of different genres, aspiring filmmakers, and (potential) blockbusters.

As listeners of Gimme A Beat (and my family and friends) already know, having a busy schedule is business as usual for me, and with so many great movies, definitely a pleasure. For me, Zurich Film Festival is all about watching movies. My most enjoyable moment is sitting in the dark cinema, fully immersed in the storyline. This year, even if many fabulous events were happening on the festival grounds, I haven't attended/seen any of them.

Most importantly, I have seen almost 35 movies and managed to get together with 5 female filmmakers and 2 lead actresses.

With so much more material I decided to dedicate several whole Gimme A Beats to Zurich Film Festival, the one happening tonight and a few others later on. In most cases, I will adapt my radio show to the Swiss screenings of movies, to make sure that these movies receive the attention they deserve.

Considering the number of movies I've seen (almost 35), I will not be reviewing all the movies and posting them on the Gimme A Beat page. But, I will continue posting the reviews after tonight's show until the end of the year since most of the movies from the festival are coming to the cinemas next year. This year again I will be focusing on my highlights only. To find them you should follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2024 #highlight #gimmeabeat.

In tonight's Gimme A Beat, I will be focusing on the following movies:

- Black Box Diaries, the documentary directed by Shiori Ito, who I had a chance to interview. Swiss official release on October 31st.

- Es Gehts um Luis / About Luis, directed and written by Lucia Chiarla, with Natalia Rudziewicz as a lead actress. I had a chance to interview both of them. Swiss official release is not known yet, but I will keep you posted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (21.10.2024) tonight to hear my impressions of the Zurich Film Festival, the reviews of the movies in the focus, and interviews with Shiori, Lucia, and Natalia combined with music selected by Lucia and Natalia and music from Freya Arde, who wrote the music for another one of my highlights, Riefenstahl. While that soundtrack is not out yet, this was another opportunity for me to celebrate female talent.

Tune in for...

Black Box Diaries and About Luis at Zurich Film Festival 2024  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat's movies reviews at ZFF 2024

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

It's 2024, and I am back again with a bunch of my favourite NPR Tiny Desk concerts.

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts were always one of my favourite things to listen to, but with the pandemic, my interest turned into an obsession. In 2020, I did two shows dedicated to them: Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 Part I and Part II, in 2021 I did one more, in 2022 another one and last year one as well.

So what is it about NPR Tiny Desk Concert series that I love?

It is very simple, this series brings an intimate concert vibe through approx 20-minute video performances, recorded either live at the desk of All Songs Considered host and producer Bob Boilen or, during the pandemic, at someplace that feels like an artist's home. The latter unsurprisingly called Tiny Desk (home) concerts. Bob Boilen retired in the meantime, but he created music history with NPR Tiny Desk Concerts and his legacy continues.

During the pandemic, we couldn't attend gigs or music festivals, so, for me, NPR Tiny Desk Concerts were the closest thing I had to live gigs. Even today, this is still my favourite place when I need to do something at work that requires deep concentration. Also, when I am craving a live and more intimate experience.

Let's be honest, how often are you able to see your favourite (or newly discovered favourite) artist performing in a small, intimate venue? Unfortunately, not that frequently.

And this is why my yearly Obsessed with Tiny Desk is here to stay. Minimum once per year and sometimes even more than that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat (16.09.2024) to hear my selection of NPR Tiny Desk Concerts sung by female artists. For NPR, you can donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2024  from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio LoRa featuring: npr tiny desk selection on youtube

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum, a park situated directly at the Mediterranean seafront in Barcelona, Spain. The festival takes place between the end of May and the beginning of June, every year since 2001. In addition to the best-known edition in Barcelona, Primavera Sound expanded to other locations as well: since 2012, there is a Primavera Sound Porto Edition; in 2022, the festival hosted its first editions in Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and São Paulo. In 2023, for the first time, there was an edition in Madrid with nearly the same line-up.

This year Primavera Sound in Barcelona brought together 193,000 festival goers during the three main days in a Parc del Fòrum. Compared to the previous years, there were some changes in the layout of stages and the variations in bars and rest areas; This has led to an even more pleasurable experience. Of course, the best part of it is its exciting program.

I've been following Primavera Sound for a while now, for several reasons. Not only that Primavera always had an impressive line-up and it is happening in Barcelona, one of my favourite European towns, but this festival has been a leader in the gender-balanced line-up, not just in Europe but worldwide.

And this, by default, makes Primavera Sound a perfect festival for Gimme A Beat.

It is a bit embarrassing that I waited 21 years to attend Primavera, but the dates just never worked for me. Attending Coachella and then road-tripping for a few weeks after created no space for me to go to another festival immediately after my return to Europe. But, with my interest in Coachella not being in focus anymore, I decided (already last year) that in 2023 I will be attending Primavera Sound in Barcelona.

Fast forward to the end of May, I packed my festival gear (dancing shoes and my voice recorded) and headed to Barcelona. I was already prepared to be blown away by all the artists I was going to see and I was hoping that everything else would follow.

And this is exactly what happened.

Everything worked perfectly: superb organisation, collaborative weather: sunny but not too warm with a continuous sea breeze; great food, easy-to-move-around festival layout and perfect location. All of this, combined with friendly and energetic festival-goers, local and international crowds excited to be there, created a unique, unforgettable atmosphere.

And, of course, being in Barcelona ensures good vibes before and after the festival. 

With an impressive, carefully curated line-up, exploring the *female factor* of Primavera Sound with my Gimme A Beat lenses (or better said sunglasses) was easy. Even before I arrived, I discovered so many, for me, new artists just by studying the program. And I knew that I would see some of my favourite ones that will move me to the core.

The clue that I was in for a great experience was already on the pre-day of the festival, the day I didn't even plan to attend, which magically opened for me in all its Pet Shop Boys glory. 

Finally, when I got to the official festival, the time seemed to fly by. I would arrive early at the festival ground and leave in the wee morning hours with feet and back pain from all the dancing, standing and exploring. Still, then tomorrow, as I was recollecting memories and writing a review of the day before, I couldn't wait to go back and do it again.

I've seen so many great gigs that it was hard to keep this on only a few posts, but here they are for day 1, day 2 and day 3, with the depeche mode awesomeness on day 2, which deserved a separate post. You can also see my reviews via Gimme a Beat Facebook search.

In tonight's show, I will focus on two über talented female artists: Dagger Moth, the one-woman band from Italy and Last Apollo, an up-and-coming artist from Dublin. Both of them are great performers and were kind enough to get together with me for short interviews. Interestingly, even though they are in different stages of their careers, both artists choose solo/independent paths to avoid compromising their art and creativity. 

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (19.06.2023) to hear the review of Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023, interviews with Dagger Moth and Last Apollo, combined with the music from their latest releases and selected songs from other female artists who performed at the festival.

Tune in for…

Dagger Moth and Last Apollo at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023  

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show)

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts were always one of my favourite things to listen to, but with the pandemic, my interest turned into an obsession. In 2020, I did two shows dedicated to them: Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 Part I and Part II, in 2021 I did one more and in 2022 another one. 

So what is it about NPR Tiny Desk Concert series that I love?

It is very simple, this series brings an intimate concert vibe through approx 20-minute video performances, recorded either live at the desk of All Songs Considered host and producer Bob Boilen or, during the pandemic, at some place that feels like an artist's home. The latter unsurprisingly called Tiny Desk (home) concerts.

During the pandemic, we couldn't attend gigs or music festivals, so, for me, NPR Tiny Desk Concerts were the closest thing I had to live gigs. Even today, this is still my favourite place when I need to do something at work that requires deep concentration. Also, when I am craving a live and more intimate experience.

Let's be honest, how often are you able to see your favourite (or newly discovered favourite) artist performing in a small, intimate venue? Unfortunately, not that frequently.

And this is why my yearly Obsessed with Tiny Desk is here to stay. Minimum once per year and sometimes even more than that.

It's 2023, and I am back again with a bunch of my favourite NPR Tiny Desk concerts.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat (17.04.2023) to hear my selection of NPR Tiny Desk Concerts sung by female artists. For NPR, you can donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2023  from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio LoRa featuring: npr tiny desk selection on youtube

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

I discovered Arooj Aftab, like many others, through her Mohabbat song. After hearing this song, I listened to her's Vulture Prince album and fell in love with it. Then I heard her NPR tiny desk session and loved it so much (I was literally obsessed with it) that I included it in my (latest) *Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2022* Gimme a Beat. 

From that moment on, I wanted to see her live and feature her in Gimme A Beat. Around that time (early 2022), I reached out to her management and asked for an interview, but I never heard back.

Until August 2022, when Arooj's tour brought her to Switzerland and I got a chance to attend her concert and interview her. 

I just returned from the Flow Festival, so I was tired from the travel and experience. Also still a bit overwhelmed by all the great gigs I saw and interviews I did. But I knew that I was in for something special, so there was no way that I would miss this.

Arooj's concert was part of the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, but it was happening in a totally different setup than the rest of the festival: the city church of Winterthur. She performed in a minimalistic setup, only with Gyan Riley on the guitar and Petros Klampanis on the double bass. They played on the church stage, under the church arches, in the dark, only with dimmed neon lights. The audience was engaged, focused, involved: quiet during the performance, cheering and clapping during the breaks. Combined with mesmerizing Arooj's voice, this created a beautiful, emotional experience. 

I was blown away by this experience and, more than anything, happy that I made an effort to be there. Follow the link for the Instagram post with my impressions and snippets of the performance.

After, I had a chance to get together with Arooj for a short interview. Even though she was tired (after all, this was her 18th city in a row), she was friendly and open to talking about the performance, her music, her favourite award and future plans.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (20.02.2023) tonight to find out more: I will be sharing my impressions of Arooj Aftab's performance, an interview with her and my selections of her music.

Tune in for...

Arooj Aftab in Winterthur  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Yaaay, it's Xmas time again!

Xmas time is definitely one of my favourite times of the year, when people get more friendly and pleasant and everywhere you go it smells like gluehwein and Xmas cookies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (19.12.2022) tonight for Xmas session, an eclectic playlist of Xmas songs sung by female artists.

Tune in for...

Eclectic Xmas  

with click-to-play or playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

First held in 2005, Zurich Film Festival established itself very quickly on the national and international film festival scene. The formula for its success it's probably a mix of an attractive location: an international but small city of Zurich; a great selection of movies and different programs/events like ZFF Masters, ZFF Talks, Film Music Competition, ZFF for Kids and a few others.

The best way to explain Zurich Film Festival's success is to quote/paraphrase the sentence I found in the industry booklet a few years ago. Basically, the organizers agree on a few basics for a successful film festival: "content is king, collaboration is key and encounters among creative folks are essential". I am glad to confirm that even after this many years, the organizers are still taking "these basics" seriously while developing the festival further and, most importantly, in the right direction.

2022 was another successful year for Zurich Film Festival.

The 18th edition of Zurich Film Festival broke all records and attracted 137'000 visitors (20k more than in 2019), had 580 screenings, with 90 sold-out ones, 38 world and European premieres and, at 41.4%, the highest proportion of female directors than ever before.

As usual, the organisation was impeccable, thanks to the brilliant team behind Zurich Film Festival and dedicated volunteers. The press team was supportive and helpful, especially Claudia Wintsch, handling the interview requests and Fabienne Kipfer from her team. This year I also attended the press conference for the first time and realized that I should do this every year. All because of Christian Jungen, artistic director of the festival who held our attention throughout the press conference with excellent summaries that showcased his knowledge and personal excitement for the movies. 

In addition to providing a significant number of female stories and movies from female directors, Zurich Film Festival continued with #FemaleFilmmakers and #FemaleLife hashtags, making it easy for me to follow them and select female-related movies of my choice. I also managed to see much more, and as in previous years, I was again truly impressed by the balance of different genres, aspiring filmmakers and (potential) blockbusters.

All of this made it easier for me to explore the female factor of the festival as Gimme A Beat. I still had to manage the busy schedule, running around the town's cinemas to see all the planned movies and catching some female directors for interviews. What helped to get more organized was the fact that this year, press ticket purchasing got digitalized as well. Instead of running to the press centre every day, I could order my tickets online and have them all saved in my phone wallet. Super easy, practical and a huge time saver for me.

As listeners of Gimme A Beat (and my family and friends) already know, having a busy schedule is business as usual for me, and with so many great movies, definitely a pleasure. Zurich Film Festival is all about watching movies. My most enjoyable moment is sitting in the dark cinema, fully immersed in the storyline. This year, even if many fabulous events were happening on the festival ground, I haven't attended/seen any of them.

Most importantly, I have seen 30 movies (only a few less than the last year) and managed to get together with 3 female directors, one lead actress and one movie inspiration for quick interviews. 

Considering the number of movies I've seen (30), I will not be reviewing all the movies and posting them on Gimme A Beat page. But, I will continue posting the reviews after tonight's show until the end of the year since most of the movies from the festival are coming to the cinemas next year. If you follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2022 #gimmeabeat you'll find the ones that I reviewed until today (10) and the new ones. You can also find my highlights if you follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2022 #highlight #gimmeabeat (8 until today).

In tonight's Gimme A Beat I will be focusing on the following movies:

- The Swimmers, directed and co-written by Sally El Hosaini. I had a chance to interview Sally, Nathalie Issa, lead actress and Yusra Mardini, movie inspiration

- Unruly / Ustyrlig, directed and co-written by Malou Reymannm, whom I had a chance to interview.

- Blue Jean, directed and written by Georgia Oakley, whom I had a chance to interview.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (21.11.2022) tonight to hear my impressions of the Zurich Film Festival, the reviews of the movies in the focus and relevant interviews combined with selected music from female artists.

Tune in for...

Zurich Film Festival 2022  

with click-to-play or playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFF 2022 Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

I had the pleasure of attending and reviewing Flow Festival (commonly known as Flow) this summer.

You can find more details about the festival, my impressions, interviews with Marcia and Helena and selected DJ mixes in Part I: Marcia Carr and Helena Star at Flow Festival 2022

You can also check my reviews for each day of Flow Festival 2022: day 1, day 2 and day 3, with some additional highlights on day 1 and day 2.

In tonight's show, I will be focusing on Part II of my Flow Festival 2022 review and two other artists that I had a chance to discover, experience and interview: über talented Finish singer-songwriter Lxandra and amazing Barbara Boeing, Brazilian DJ, currently based in Milan.

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (17.10.2022) to hear Part II of Flow Festival 2022 review, featuring interviews with Lxandra and Barbara Boeing, a selection of the music from Lxandra and Barbara's DJ mix 

Tune in for…

Lxandra and Barbara Boeing at Flow Festival 2022  

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Flow Festival (commonly known as Flow) is an urban music and arts festival in Helsinki, Finland. It was created by the Finnish music producer Tuomas Kallio and his friends from the Helsinki-based music collective Nuspirit Helsinki. Since 2004, the festival has been organized annually. Over the years the festival grew from 4000 visitors to 90'000. In 2007 the festival moved to Suvilahti, the former power plant that brings a special vibe to the whole event. 

I've been following Flow for the while now, it caught my attention because of an impressive and well-balanced line-up, with loads of female artists, a great combination of known and less known artists and a variety of genres. And of course, I've seen some great photos (and recordings) of its surroundings and the atmosphere.

Back in 2019, after seeing some great acts performing, I decided that in 2020, I am going to pack my dancing shoes and voice recorder (usually my phone) and head to Helsinki. Flow seemed like a perfect festival to explore its *female factor* with my Gimme A Beat lenses. I was not only excited to attend a festival that I haven’t attended before but also to travel to Finland since I’d never been there.

But 2020 as well as 2021 had something else planned for us, so because of the pandemic, I had to wait until 2022 to finally experienced it.

But this was a festival definitely worth a wait. 

I knew that the line-up was great, but I was blown away by everything else: impeccable organisation, amazing crowds, a very kind and helpful press team and its perfect location. We were also blessed with perfect summer weather, warm and pleasant, but not heavy and too hot, exactly like our summers used to be. In addition, I took some time before and after the festival to explore Helsinki and THAT was another great experience that I truly enjoyed.

During the festival, I had a chance to dance a lot, and this was not only because I really needed it, as I didn’t have much of that during the pandemic, but it was also because there were so many great acts, especially DJs that I can’t imagine anyone being able to resist it.

Consequently, my review of the Flow Festival will feature 3 amazing female DJs: Marcia Carr, Helena Star and Barbara Boeing and one über talented singer-songwriter: Lxandra. And because there is so much material that I brought home, to my dear Gimme A Beats listeners, I will be sharing this in two radio shows, one happening tonight and another one in October.

In the meantime, you can check my reviews for each day: day 1, day 2 and day 3, with some additional highlights on day 1 and day 2.

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (19.09.2022) to hear the review of Flow Festival 2022, interviews with Marcia and Helena and selected DJ mixes showcasing their passion for music and skills. 

Tune in for…

Marcia Carr and Helena Star at Flow Festival 2022  

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

My personal experience with music in the movies is that if chosen correctly, hearing the music when watching the scene will make it more intense and therefore memorable.

My rationale behind this is simple: there is an emotion that music triggers in us because of the music itself or/and the lyrics of the song. For me and I can imagine that this is the same for many people, the great songs trigger images as well. And when we are watching the movie, if the storyline and casting are done well, so that we can dive deep into the story, it will also trigger the strong emotions in us. 

If both: music and images (in the movies, tv series and even videos) are perfectly aligned, we will get an amplification of emotions. And with all our senses being involved we will automatically remember this feeling, making what we see more memorable.

I was reminded about this recently. 

A few weeks ago one of my favourite songs of all time: Kate Bush's *Running Up That Hill* was featured in the popular TV series, Stranger things. This was not only the one of the most memorable moments of season 4, but also the moment that brought this phenomenal song back to the chart, 37 years after it was originally released. The song is still number one in many countries, only being overshadowed by a few other artists with current hits.

Even if I had a clear memory of the video for this song, this new experience brought me new images. So now, every time I watch the scene from the stranger things, I have the intense, goosebumps emotion that I used to have when watching the original video. 

And this is why I decided to dedicate (yet) another Gimme A Beat to the music from TV series, not just one, but three,  just to prove my point that: Music Makes Better TV. 

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (20.06.2022) to hear more about these TV series: Physical, Stranger things and Everything I Know About Love, and my selection of the songs from their soundtracks, sung by female artists.

Tune in for…

Music Makes Better TV  

with click-to-play or playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

 

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

I love this part of the year!

That time of the year when we are almost in summer, but not fully there yet. The mornings are still cool and refreshing, days are warm and sunny and evenings are warm enough to hang outside but still with enough breeze to make the night cosy and pleasurable.

This kind of weather reflects my mood, it makes me happy, hopeful and chilled at the same time. This also transfers into the music that I am listening to at the moment.

So I was in exactly that mood when I received one of the promo emails from Mouthwatering Records, a Switzerland based independent label publishing, management and artist development company, about the new single they are releasing. I listened to it, and I loved it!

I was especially impressed by the featured female vocals in the single, sung by Ay Wing.

What I've discovered is that Ay Wing (aka Alexandra/Alex Landtwing) is ueber talented singer-songwriter and producer, with great material that I enjoyed as much or maybe even a bit more than the new single.

A few days after, I connected with Alex and (zoom) interviewed her. This was a great interview, chilled with lots of positive vibes and giggles, very much aligned with her music and the mood that I am in at the moment.

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We talked about many things, her new album currently in the making, her new single, and her latest EP; looked back at her beginnings and talked about exciting things that are coming up.

Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (16.05.2022) to hear all of this and more while listening to Ay Wing's latest EP: No Wonderwoman, her new single and some of her previously released songs. 

Tune in for…

Summer Vibes with Ay Wing  

with click-to-play or playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

 

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts were always one of my favourite things to listen to, but with the pandemic, my interest turned into an obsession. In 2020, I did two shows dedicated to them: Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 Part I and Part II, and in 2021 I did another one.

So what is it about NPR Tiny Desk Concert series that I love?

It is very simple, this series brings an intimate concert vibe through approx 20-minute video performances, recorded either live at the desk of All Songs Considered host and producer Bob Boilen or, since mid last year, at some place that feels like an artist's home. The latter unsurprisingly called Tiny Desk (home) concerts.

During the pandemic, we couldn't attend gigs or music festivals, so, for me, NPR Tiny Desk Concerts were the closest thing I had to live gigs. And even now, when the pandemic is getting more under the control and the music world is coming back to live gigs and festivals, this is still my favourite place to go to. Especially when I am craving the live and more intimate experience.

Let's be honest, how often are you able to see your favourite (or newly discovered favourite) artist performing in a small, intimate venue? Unfortunately, not that frequently.

And this is why my yearly Obsessed with Tiny Desk is here to stay. Minimum once per year and sometimes even more than that.

It's 2022, and I am back again with a bunch of my favourite NPR Tiny Desk concerts.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat (18.04.2022) to hear my selection of NPR Tiny Desk Concerts sung by female artists. For NPR, you can donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2022 npr tiny desk selection on youtube from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio LoRa featuring: gimme a beat npr tiny desk selection

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Last month I did the first part of the review of m4music festival 2024.

This month I will continue with the review of m4music festival and share two more artists who were part of my exploration of the "female factor" of the festival.

In tonight's show, I will keep my focus on the Swiss music scene, covering the fascinatingly cool band and music label Sirens of Lesbos and über talented young singer-songwriter Mary Middlefield.

For impressions of their performances at m4music festival, check here, and here, respectively. You can also check overall impressions of the festival here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (17.06.2024) tonight to hear interviews with Jasmina and Nabyla of Sirens of Lesbos and Mary Middlefield combined with the music from their latest releases.

Tune in for…

Sirens of Lesbos and Mary Middlefield at m4music 2024  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show)

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4music

Kisses, Babymonster

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(please note that it sometimes take 24h until the podcast is propagated to other platforms)

For the info about old shows, please go to previous entries

Roadtrips are my favourite type of travelling.

My favourite roadtrips are the ones where I travel alone. There is no better feeling than driving in the car by yourself for miles, on, if lucky, empty roads, enjoying your music or only your thoughts in your mind in silence, while soaking up the nature around you. Every year I do at least one road trip, to recharge my batteries and get back my (un)usually high energy levels. My most loved road trips happened in the US, exploring national parks, driving down Pacifica and through Big Sur, or nowhere(?) but not just there, I turn even island hopping and the drive to my holiday home, into a mini roadtrip.  

The Covid19 changed our lives and with that my travelling habits, so this January, as I was in-between jobs, I realized that I was craving travelling. So I've decided to take a roadtrip around Iceland: self-driven Icelandic ring road.

I planned to visit Iceland for many years now, I think that this roadtrip was on my mind since 1997 when I first heard and saw the video Joga from Björk. The beautiful, raw, emotional landscape combined with Björk's voice made a timeless, goosebumpy impression on me and this is still one of my favourite songs of all time. Even if the video was 'only' a computer animation, I knew that one day I need to experience this mesmerizing place in person.

And even though January is not the best time to do this kind of roadtrip, because of the moody weather, icy roads and the short days, this turned out to be one of the most amazing roadtrips that I have ever done! My very conservative selection of grouped photo impressions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th don't do it justice, still, they are a great teaser for anyone considering doing the same. 

One of the things that I love doing on the roadtrip is listening to music, not just my own, but the local radio to find out what is going on around the place where I am road-tripping. There was one Icelandic song that caught my attention because it was beautiful and it was on the repeat on all local stations. Even without understanding the lyrics, I was caught by its emotion and how it made me feel. Based on the melody that I kept on humming when I was not driving, I did the research and found out that this is Rólegur kúreki from Bríet, über talented Icelandic singer-songwriter.

I continued listening to the rest of Bríet's music, her last album, previous EP, the singles... and this beautiful music became my Icelandic roadtrip soundtrack. After listening to it for two weeks while on the road, I decided to reach out to Bríet's management and ask for an opportunity for an interview. So here we are this Monday eve...

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat (21.03.2022) to learn more about Bríet, her beginnings, her creative process, and how did she become the artist she is today while listening to her last album, selected early songs and new releases.

Tune in for... 

Briet in Reykjavik  

with click-to-play or playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

 

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————–

for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

 

                                                                                    

Sónar CCCB 2021 is/was a 2 day festival of music, debate, experimentation and inspiration, with more than 60 activities spread over 5 spaces, with 40 concerts and DJ sets and an extensive program of lectures, debates, presentations, workshops and an exhibition space with local and international projects. This festival and its program was set in place to connect the world of art, science and technology. 

The festival happened on 29th and 30th of October of 2021 at the CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona), for attendance in person and via streaming through live.sonar.es and its social network.

I was supposed to travel to Barcelona that weekend and when I realized that Sonar CCCB is happening I decided to attend it and in my usual Gimme a Beat manner, explore female factor of the festival.

I only attended one day but that was enough for me to get excited about live events and in-person experience again (while keeping it covid19 safe). The festival was very well organized and press team helpful and always available, supplying us with photos, videos etc., all material needed to stay informed and cover the festival in the professional manner.

On the day of the festival, I enjoyed exploring CCCB and festival area.

The exhibition area was small but interesting, my favourite was exohive by BAU Barcelona, an impressive hive looking collection of beings, based on the swarm intelligence concept, that reacts on external stimulation with movements and change of light. This could be an extra terrestrial life we would find 500 light years from earth. I met Javi Albo, one of the people behind the concept & design, who created exohive together with Heidi Valda Lanza. He took some time to explain the whole concept in detail and even showed me some of the electronics behind exohive behaviour.

My musical highlight of the day (and therefore the festival) was Bikoko (real name Nei ), a young, ueber talented artist from Barcelona who is part of lexa.services collective

The interview happened day before the festival and via the zoom call. We talked about many different things: her upbringing, the artist that she is today, her latest EP Aura Aura and the new material that she is working on. Nei told me how important her dad (original Bikoko, also a musician) is for her creative process as well as stage performances.

I was impressed with this young lady, who has so much talent but is still firmly on the ground with the right mindset and attitude. In a world where fame is everything, I was happy that I came across a true creative soul that ultimately wants to be able to keep on creating the music that she would listen to.

Consequently, I had high expectations from Nei, and her gig didn’t disappoint. Together with the rest of the audience in the sonar hall of Sónar CCCB 2021, I was mesmerised by her stage presence and enjoyed every song that she played.

The gig was short but brought good vibes and literally made my day.

For impressions of Bikoko's gig and Sónar CCCB 2021, go to instagram and facebook

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Tune in to Gimme A Beat (20.12.2021) tonight to hear my review of Sonar CCCB 2021, interview with Bikoko combined with her music. 

In the second part, I'll put my Xmas hat 🤶  on and bring you Xmas spirit with selection of classic Xmas songs sung by female artists.

Tune in for... 

Bikoko at Sonar CCCB 2021   and some Xmas vibes 🎄🤶 🎄🤶  with click-to-play or playlist, for the 1st part

with click-to-play or playlist, for the 2nd part from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews Sonar CCCB 2021 on instagram and facebook

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

 

                                                                                    

First held in 2005, Zurich Film Festival established itself very quickly on the national and international film festival scene. The formula for its success it's probably a 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, ZFF for Pupils, ZFF 72 and few others.

The best way to explain Zurich Film Festival's success is to quote/paraphrase the sentence that I found in the industry booklet a few years ago. Basically, the organizers agree on a few basics for a successful film festival: "content is a king, collaboration is key and encounters among creative folks are essential". I am glad to confirm that even after this many years, organizers are still taking "these basics" seriously, while they are developing the festival further and most importantly, in the right direction.

This was another year with Covid19, but the festival, again, handled it very well. There was a protection plan and this, in the nutshell, meant that the attendance was allowed only with a covid certificate (and photo id) and everywhere one went there were enough hand sanitizers. 

As a result, the 17th edition of Zurich Film Festival attracted 102'000 visitors and managed to screen 164 films, from 53 countries. The amount of visitors increased again and it was 50% of the amount from last year. This only confirmed that ZFF's motto: "Life is better with Movies" is more than appropriate, as the festival brought again a bit of normality into Zurich and people rushed to the cinemas to see the movies.

This year I achieved my own personal goal and managed to see 32 movies and interview 3 female filmmakers. Luckily, Zurich is a small town so it was not a big deal to run from one location to another, but not all the cinemas were included and some were further out, so I had to be very well coordinated to get to see everything I wanted. And even if there were many fabulous events happening on the festival ground, I haven't attended/seen any of them. For me, Zurich Film Festival is all about watching the movies and my most enjoyable moment is when I am sitting in the dark room of the cinema getting fully immersed into the storyline.

I've only stepped out of the dark cinema to attend two events from the ZFF Masters session, thanks to Hannah from ZFF's team: Conversation with Sharon Stone and ZFF Masters with Paul Schrader. And this was a great decision as I got a chance to see these two legends, as close as I ever will.

Since Gimme A Beat is focused on female related subjects, as in previous years, through my review of the Zurich Film Festival I explored *female factor* of the festival and therefore I focused on either movies made by female filmmakers or movies showcasing female life, or movies that cover both topics. Festival uses hashtags to mark the movies so finding the movies I wanted to focus on was easy: I just followed #FemaleFilmmakers and #FemaleLife hashtags. I also used them in my reviews. And even though I had my focus, I've also managed to see more, and I was truly impressed with movie selection, great balance of different genres, aspiring filmmakers and (potential) blockbusters and an overall strong women presence, something very important to me.

In addition and as in all previous years, the organization was impeccable, and team behind Zurich Film Festival was simply brilliant. People were not just being professional but also super nice, helpful and easy going. All of this while keeping us safe.

Considering the amount of movies I've seen (32), I was not able to post reviews of all of them on Gimme A Beat page. Regardless, if you follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2021 #gimmeabeat you'll find the ones that I did review (14 until today). You can also find all of my highlights if you follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2021 #highlight #gimmeabeat (11 until today). I would still like to share a few more highlights so I will probably do this in the next two weeks.

In tonight's Gimme A Beat I will be focusing on the movies of the directors I interviewed: Ninjababy, directed and co-written by Yngvild Sve Flikke; Noura Reve / Noura's Dream, written and directed by Hinde Boujemaa and Aloners, written and directed by Hong Sung-eun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (18.10.2021) tonight to hear the reviews of the movies in the focus, interviews with directors of those movies combined with music selected by them as well as my own impressions of Zurich Film Festival

Zurich Film Festival 2021  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the streamable songs) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFF 2021 Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

 

                                                                                    

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts were always one of my favorite things to listen to, but with pandemic my interest turned into an obsession. Last year I did two shows dedicated to them: Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 Part I and Part II. 

So what is it about Tiny Desk Concert series that I love?

It is very simple, this series brings an intimate concert vibe through approx 20 minute video performances, recorded either live at the desk of All Songs Considered host and producer Bob Boilen or, since mid last year and until the foreseeable future, at some place that feels like an artist's home. The latter unsurprisingly called Tiny Desk (home) concerts.

Since I haven't attended any gigs or music festivals since the beginning of Covid19 pandemic, Tiny Desk Concerts are still the closest thing I have to the live gigs. And if I concentrate and just focus on the music and emotions that comes out of it I can almost feel like I am in a small, intimate venue listening to my favorite musician or discovering my new favorite one.

So here I am in 2021, back again, with a bunch of my favorite Tiny Desk concerts. There were so many, I will probably go with part II, very soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat at home edition (20.09.2021) to hear my selection of Tiny Desk Concerts sung by female artists. For NPR, you can donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2021  youtube playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat npr tiny desk selection

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                                  

Last weekend, I was reorganising my vinyl collection and reminiscing about the good times, before the pandemic. The time when nights were never ending and standing closer to the people meant that you were having good times. Frankly speaking, I already stopped going out to the clubs regularly long before the pandemic. As a matter of fact, I stopped DJ-ing because I didn't see the point in only going to the club to play the music; it only made sense for me when I was balancing the two: going out and dancing or DJ-ing and dancing. And when I stopped enjoying the club scene, I turned even more to the live music: going to the festivals and gigs totally replaced my 30 something years clubbing habit.

Nevertheless, when I was going through my vinyls, I remembered those, almost forgotten, club days: packed clubs, people mesmerized by the combination of the music, drinks and heated rooms, dancing their night away.

As you can imagine, the whole activity took a bit longer than planned. I started playing one record, then the remix, then the one that I usually played together with the last one... so, what started as an organizing activity turned out to be a very long DJ session. And it even ended with at-home, after party, when I got to those vinyls that I never took "clubbing" and that instead, I played on easy, intimate evenings at home..

All of this inspired me for tonight's show, so I've decided to play a selection of those vinyls that brought back the strongest memories. But there is also an additional twist ... Throughout the month of June Black Music Month was/is all over my social media and that actually triggered a vinyl reorganisation.

Basically, what started as a search for one single (Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody) ended up as a walk down memory lane and the inspiration for tonight's show.

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Tune in tonight (21.06.2021) for Gimme A Beat #athome edition, to hear a selection of the songs from my favourite vinyls sung by black female artists.

Tune in for.. Black Music Month with My Vinyls 

with click-to-play or playlist 

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora 

Kisses, Babymonster  ————————————————————————–  for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                     

As we entered the second year of Covid-19 pandemic, I am craving traveling, festivals, concerts.. live music in any form! Since it is obvious that this will not happen any time soon, I like to explore the next best thing: recordings of the live music.

I've already covered my ultimate favorite: NPR's tiny desk concerts in April and May 2020. This time I will explore the female factor of Deezer Sessions, an exclusive series of live sets recorded in different venues, mostly in London and Paris. These sessions are curated by Deezer's dedicated editorial team, who have hand-picked some of the hottest up and coming bands as well as established names from around the world. 

Deezer is a French online music streaming service created in 2007, in Paris. As of January 2019, it has 56 million licensed tracks in its library, over 30,000 radio channels, 14 million monthly active users and 7 million paid subscribers. I start listening to Deezer many years ago, after learning about it at Rock en Seine festival. A few years ago I subscribed to its Premium service and I never looked back.

Deezer Sessions are a great opportunity to hear and feel the live vibe while being at home. In addition, last year they were extended with Deezer Home Sessions, sessions appropriately recorded at the home of the selected artists.

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Tune in tonight (15.03.2021) for Gimme A Beat #athome edition, to hear my choice of Deezer Sessions sang by female artists.

Tune in for.. Female Empowered Deezer Sessions 

with click-to-play  playlist 

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora 

Kisses, Babymonster  ————————————————————————–  for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                     

Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after a referendum in February 1971. Even though the fight for women’s suffrage in Switzerland started in 1863 (canton Zuerich), women had to fight for more than 100 years to get it. And in some cantons it took a bit longer to get there.. last canton to grant women suffrage was Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) and this only under an order of a Swiss Federal Tribunal.

Nevertheless, February 1971 is considered as an official date, which means that this February we are celebrating 50 years of women's suffrage (Frauenstimmrecht).

So in tonight show I've decided to focus on Swiss🇨🇭female artists. I've put together the playlist that includes artists that I know very well, that I've interviewed in the last few years and artists that I discovered recently. The selection was not easy, but I tried to keep it diverse and include a variety of genres. And for every artist I'll play in tonight show, as usual, I'll give you a bit of a trivia/background.

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Tune in tonight (15.02.2021) for Gimme A Beat #athome edition, to celebrate 50 years of women's suffrage in Switzerland with me while listening to my selection of the songs from Swiss 🇨🇭 female artists/bands with female vocalists..

Tune in for.. Frauen First     with click-to-play or playlist 

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora 

Kisses, Babymonster  ————————————————————————–  for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                 

Xmas is one of my favorite times of the year

It is usually a time of the year when things start slowing down, everybody gets a bit friendlier and merrier, and everywhere you go it smells like xmas cookies and gluehwein.

But this is 2020, year of Covid19 pandemic and with everything happening around us, it feels like Xmas vibe has lost its charm and jolly, festive spirit. And we can either get into the gloomy mood and "cancel it" or still use an opportunity to slow down, stay within a small circle of friends/family and count our blessings. I definitely choose the latter, using the break over Xmas to recharge my energy and hope for a pink skies ahead.

But before officially stepping into the Xmas, I decided that my last Gimme a Beat of the year (Xmas edition as I like to call it) will be even more special than usual. Looking into making it into another level of personal, I decided to try and bring into the focus female artist that both excites me musically and that shares (similar) roots with me.

Consequently, a few weeks ago I had the pleasure to zoom-interview Tijana T, an impressive, versatile, ueber talented DJ from Belgrade, Serbia, my home country.

The planning was at minimum, as many of my listeners know, I like to have a conversation with artists that I interview, without prepared questions or/and answers, maintaining the organic vibe and ensuring natural flow. As a result, the interview lasted much longer than we originally planned (half an hour) and it was deep, genuine, dark and funny at the same time.. similar to a mentality of "our people".

Tijana T's beginnings, musical influences, how she became the successful DJ she is today and how was/is she, personally and professionally, affected by covid19 pandemic. We laughed, talked with our hands (maybe this is Serbian/Balkan 'thing'?) and at the same time when explaining something we feel strongly about and kept on finding topics to talk about.

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Tune in tonight (21.12.2020) for a special, extended (more than 3h show), Xmas edition of Gimme a Beat, featuring itw with Tijana T, her choice of music and few selected DJ mixes

Tune in for..

Zooming with Tijana T    

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora 

After the show, thanks to kind producers at radio LoRa, in a true Xmas spirit, we will continue in the same vibe, turn the night into Tijana T Experience and play Tijana's dj mixes until 6am 

Kisses, Babymonster  ————————————————————————–  for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                    

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, ZFF for Pupils, ZFF 72 and few others.

Few years ago 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.

This year, due to Covid19, everything was different. Until the last moment I wasn't sure that the festival will really happen.

But brilliant Team behind Zurich Film Festival made it happen. And even with all the security measures, spaces between seats, mandatory masks, etc., this brought a bit of normality to the city vibe and anyone attending the festival. As a result, the 16th edition of Zurich Film Festival attracted 68'000 visitors and managed to screen 165 films, including the record number of 23 world premiers (11 in 2019). The amount of visitors was 50% of the amount from last year, but if we consider that due to security measures movie theaters had limited capacity this is in pair with previous year and even much more than expected.  

Fortunately for me, with great movie selection like in previous years I had to heavily prioritize and choose wisely which movies I will see. Zurich is a small town so it was not a big deal to run from one location to other, but not all the cinemas were included and some were further out, so I had to be very well coordinated to get to see everything i want. As usual I haven't attended many events because for me it's all about watching the movies; my most enjoyable moment is when I am sitting in the dark room of the cinema doing only that.

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 showcasing female life. As in all previous years 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 and as in all previous years, the organization was impeccable, especially media center that was always available and ready to take care of press needs.

All of this while keeping it safe.

Movies selection wise I've seen many movies and posted reviews of most of them on Gimme A Beat page. Just follow the search with hashtags #zff #zff2020 #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. You can also find them here or if searching with #zff #zff2020 #highlight #gimmeabeat. You can also find all the highlights in my last post.

And I even managed to interview two female directors and one leading actress: Frederike Migom, director and writer of movie Binti, Jeanette Nordahl, director and Sandra Guldberg Kampp, leading role of the movie Wildland - Kød & blod.

In tonight's show I will be focusing on these two movies. You can find the review for Binti here, and review of Wildland - Kød & blod here. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To hear the interviews with Frederike Migom , Jeanette Nordahl and Sandra Guldberg Kampp, my impressions of Zurich Film Festival, more about movie Binti, Wildland - Kød & blod and other highlights movies I've seen.

tune to Gimme A Beat (19.10.2020) tonight for ..

Zurich Film Festival 2020  with click-to-play or playlist (for the artists available on Spotify/Deezer) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFF 2020 Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                   

Last month I did this year's Obsessed with Tiny Desk edition. But two hours Gimme A Beat just wasn't enough for me to play all the music I wanted. Especially since due to Covid19 pandemic all summer festivals are already canceled and I can imagine that the same will happen for the ones planned in the second part of 2020 as well.

At this point of time NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts are the closest we have to the live gigs, so I've decided to do another session already this month and share with you more of my favorite Tiny Desk concerts 😎

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat at home edition (18.05.2020) to hear my selection of Tiny Desk Concerts sang by female artists. To support NPR, don't forget to donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 - Part II youtube playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on:                webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat npr tiny desk selection

Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                                 

Since 1998, m4music festival takes place every March here in Switzerland: two days in Zurich and one day in Lausanne. This festival is a project from Migros Culture Percentage. This is a flawlessly organised festival at one of the coolest locations in Zürich: Schiffbau; with many concerts happening on the seven (+1) stages, at or close to the main building.

M4music festival is more of a cultural platform than a typical music festival. It is a place where artists and industry experts meet and exchange ideas, experiences and visions of the future. There are several ways this festival makes this happen. By offering interesting panel discussions and workshops on the latest hot issues in the music business; competition for the next generation of musicians (Demotape Clinic) and simply by providing the chance to mingle with many local, national and international people at the venue, talk, share opinions and knowledge.

I was visiting and reviewing this festival for many years until the pandemic. This year I realized that I missed m4music experience, so I decided to come back.

As usual, it was a very busy two days, but most importantly for Gimme A Beat, in my exploration of "female factor" of the festival I managed to get together with 4 very talented artists for interviews. In order to give all artists focus they deserve, I will break down the show in two. 

In tonight show I will focus on one band: a fabulous, female-led band Say She She and one solo artist, young talented artist Hannah Jadagu. Both are based in NYC.

For impressions of their performances at m4music festival, check here, and here, respectively. You can also check overall impressions of the festival here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (20.05.2024) tonight to hear interviews with Say She She and Hannah Jadagu combined with the music from their latest releases.

Tune in for…

Say She She and Hannah Jadagu at m4music 2024  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4music

Kisses, Babymonster

————————————————————————–

(please note that it sometimes take 24h until the podcast is propagated to other platforms)

For the info about old shows, please go to previous entries

I've been obsessed with NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts for a while now. But I covered them for the first time only last year in Obsessed with Tiny Desk

So what is it about Tiny Desk Concert series that I love?

It is very simple, this series brings intimate concert vibe through approx 20 minute video performances, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. 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.

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 today and this series included more than 800 concerts viewed a collective 2 billion times on NPR Tiny Desk YouTube channel.

This year, due to Covid19 pandemic all the festivals were either cancelled or postponed. So I haven't attended any festivals or gigs since beginning of this year. At this moment, Tiny Desk Concerts seems the closest we have to the live gigs, so I've decided to do another session this year dedicated and share with you some of my favorite Tiny Desk concerts again. And since I can only share few of them during my 2-hour show, I will probably do one more session later on. Maybe even next month 😎

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight to Gimme A Beat at home edition (20.04.2020) to hear my selection of Tiny Desk Concerts sang by female artists. For NPR, you can donate here.

Obsessed with Tiny Desk 2020 youtube playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat npr tiny desk selection Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

                                                                                                 

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

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 playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat at m4music Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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 insecure Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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 playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat reviews movies at ZFF Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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 lora featuring: gimme a beat on youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/coachella Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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 lora featuring: gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for more info please go to: previous entries

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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/coachella Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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 albums Tune 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 lora featuring: gimme a beat on youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/coachella Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

In October's and December's Gimme a Beat, I reviewed the 19th edition of Zurich Film Festival.

I have been exploring the female factor of the Zurich Film Festival for several years now. But this year, I had a chance to get together with so many female filmmakers and actresses that I decided to breakdown my review of the ZFF into several shows.

While I've seen 30+ movies during the festival, I haven't reviewed all of them. But the ones that I did, you can find if you follow the search with the following hashtags: #zff #zff2023 #highlight #gimmeabeat.

In tonight's Gimme A Beat, I will be focusing on Maria Montessori / La Nouvelle Femmes, a feature debut directed and co-written by Lea Todorov about Maria Montessori.

I knew a story about Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, best known for her revolutionary Montessori method. But I never knew Maria’s private story and Maria as a woman, mother, and lover. Lea Todorov tells us this story.   Maria Montessori / La Nouvelle Femmes is a movie not just about one woman ahead of her time, but women’s emancipation and empowerment, at times connected or even depending on difficult choices. This movie also reminds us that many of the issues women faced almost a century ago still exist in today’s society, and that solving those even today needs the power of women working together to change it. You can find the review of the movie here.   A few days after I saw the movie, I had an opportunity to get together with Lea as well as with Jasmine Trinca, who was outstanding in the leading role as Maria Montessori. With Lea, I talked about why it was important for her to tell us Maria Montessori’s story, moving from documentary to feature filmmaker and about her personal experiences as a daughter and mother. With Jasmine, I talked about why she accepted the role of Maria, her work with Leila Bekhti (who portrayed Lili d'Alengy, a fictional character) and how she became the actress she is today.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat (15.04.2024) tonight to hear interviews with Lea and Jasmine as well as cherry-picked music sung by female artists that I heard in various movies throughout Zurich Film Festival.

Tune in for…

Maria Montessori at Zurich Film Festival 2023  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat movies reviews at ZFF 2023

Kisses, Babymonster

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(please note that it sometimes take 24h until the podcast is propagated to other platforms)

For the info about old shows, please go to previous entries

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 playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: coachella 2015 on youtube Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 interviewed Zola Jesus, Nneka, True and Verveine at m4music in Zurich with playlist and click-to-play http://open.spotify.com/user/babymonsterli/playlist/3LSWlCHCwZraWkMh0bZrQrplaylist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: gimme a beat youtube playlist Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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. 


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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 playlist

From 22:00 - 00:00: web radio on radio LoRa

Featuring: akua naru on the youtube

Kisses, Babymonster

--------------------------------------------- for more info please go to: previous entries

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 Glühwein

Tonight, 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 playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00: web radio on radio LoRa featuring: gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for more info please go to: previous entries

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 playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lorahttp://www.lora.ch/programm/webradio featuring: gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 interviewed Wolfman, Charlie XCX, Nadine Carina and Ira May at m4music with playlist click-to-play playlist, for the artists present at  https://play.spotify.com/user/babymonsterli/playlist/21KXeT1DcdDCvoLSQZ1lEE from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: m4music festival playlist Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording of a song in a different song or piece. This phenomenon used to be most obvious in hip hop, but with hip hop becoming mainstream and crossing to other genres (together with hip hop producers) it is nowadays visible everywhere in the music world. Listen more carefully to the music around you and you will be surprised to discover that every other song samples some other, more or less known song. From it's beginning sampling was controversial legally and musically. Legally it is becoming less controversial because of the copyright clearance that is today necessary to obtain before sampling someone's song. Musically, I believe, sampling will always be controversial and while praised by ones at the same time criticized by others. I am following this trend for many years now, not only because of my love for hip hop music, but also because by doing the research and checking out the samples of the song I love, I discovered many other great songs, that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to find via my usual music sources. However, in the times when it feels that everybody seems to be using and abusing good, old music to create a hit instead of relaying on their own creativity, I am not as enthusiastic as I used to be about this trend. Thankfully, there are still creative, talented artists out there, that are using (and abusing) samples in the right way. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonight (17.03.2014) in Gimme A Beat I am going to dive deep into the world of sampled music. Tune in for my choice of songs from female artists that are either sampled or are sampling some other songs. And this time, exceptionally, I will also play songs from male artists if they fit in either group of songs.

Use Me, Abuse Me, Sample Me with a playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring artists that I will play tonight: gimme a beat on youtube and TED speech We Should All Be Feminist from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Since 2011, I've been doing special editions of the Gimme A Beat shows that I called appropriately Daytrottering. In these shows I show love for one of the coolest music websites out there: Daytrotter. I started listening to Daytrotter long time ago. 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 monthly pass to Daytrotter for ridiculously low 4$ a month or an annual pass for just $32 for the entire year. Now, let me remind you again what the Daytrotter is all about and explain what kind of goodies are coming with a membership. Daytrotter sessions are exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of bands that will be your favorites. 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. Daytrotter membership allows you access to everything on the site: all new session postings (5 new sessions posted M-F - 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 members get a free vinyl upon annual membership purchase and another free vinyl at every renewal thereafter. You can also purchase a live session pass and listen in live as they tape sessions - they stream a bunch live every week, 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. The 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 are available. There are concert videos showing artists performing live, from daytrotter's Barnstormer tours, to the stages of Austin and beyond. There are featured and artist playlist available as well. Last year, daytrotter dudes introduced Horse Power. If you click on *Horse Power* button, and Copy & share the link to tell your friends about Daytrotter you can earn fantastic Daytrotter prizes: vinyls, poster, daytrotter gift certificate and even your own daytrotter illustration. Believing that live music is what the future of music is all about, it is only natural that I am big supporter of what Daytrotter is all about. 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 (17.02.2014) to Gimme A Beat and let me try to convince you that this membership is the best deal you ever got in your life.

Daytrottering with a playlist and all the songs directly available on the Daytrotter website.

from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring artists that I will play tonight: gimme a beat on youtube Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– for the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Andy Allo is Cameroonian born singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, model and actress. Being a huge Prince fan, I came across Andy few years ago when she joined his band, the New Power Generation, and start touring with him around the world.

Last year I got reminded about Andy when Prince covered one of her songs, People Pleaser, on his concert at Montreux Jazz Festival. After his gig, I re-discovered Andy's album Superconductor, that she wrote and perfected on the tour with Prince and recorded and released after. I wasn't surprised to find out that she was into the music from very early age because her talent is obvious, but more research I did about her, I realized that this gorgeous, smiling young lady, is also a hard working musician that knows what she wants and that is determined to keep full control over her music, image and her connection to the audience.

I was very excited to find out that Zürich is planed as one of the stops on Andy's European tour. Curious to find out more about Andy, I reached out to her and her management for a chance for an interview. Finally, in December 2013, I was able to sit down with Andy, after her gig at Kaufleuten in Zürich, and ask her in person all those questions that popped up in my mind after listening to her music and reading her story and interviews. We talked about her life and her music, how much are her fans important to her and how does it feel to have Prince as a friend and mentor.

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Tune in tonight (20.01.2014) for an interview with Andy Allo and the music from her both albums: Superconductor and UnFresh, as well my impressions from her gig in Zürich

Andy Allo in Zürich with playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00: web radio on radio LoRa

featuring: andy allo on youtube

Kisses, Babymonster

--------------------------------------------- for more info please go to: previous entries

Yaaay, it's Xmas time again  !

Xmas time is definitely one of my favourite times of the year, when people get more friendly and pleasant and everywhere you go it smells like glühwein and Xmas cookies.

Therefore I prepared very easy going Xmas session for tonight, something that can be listened over and over again, this and any future Xmas.

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Tune in tonight (16.12.2013) for Xmas session, eclectic playlist of Xmas songs sung by female artists.

Xmas Session with playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00: web radio on radio LoRa

featuring: gimme a beat on youtube

Kisses, Babymonster

--------------------------------------------- for more info please go to: previous entries

Last year, sometime in June I got an email from the 57th Montreux Jazz Festival about new names on their programme. The email included Swiss singer-songwriter NNAVY.  

She was already well-known to Montreux Jazz Festival audiences, as she performed there earlier. In addition to this, in 2022, she was the first Swiss artist ever to play one of the COLORS SHOWS. And last year, she was celebrating her comeback to the festival and grand premiere on the Auditorium Stravinski stage, as an opening act for Lionel Richie.

This was the first time I heard about NNAVY.

Curious to find out more, I went and listened to her music. And I loved it 💙

So I decided to reach out to her management and ask them for an opportunity to interview NNAVY (real name Florine Gashaza). They said yes and a few days after, I was sitting on the Zoom call, chatting with her, asking her questions about her life and her music. The interview with NNAVY went well, she was genuine and easy to talk to.  

I wanted to also see her live, but none of her gigs last year fitted into my busy schedule. But with NNAVY coming to the m4music festival this year, in a few weeks, I will (finally) have the chance to see her performing as well.

It took me a while to get this interview out. The main reason is that my 2023 was super busy and I had loads of material I had to cover first. But I always believe that there is a reason for anything. And that things happen when it's the right time for them.

One of the reasons is definitely that people in Zurich (including me) will be able to see NNAVY live very soon, on Saturday, March 23 at the m4music festival. Another one is that I recently enjoyed a fabulous vacation in Belize, where I found myself surrounded by blue. From the mesmerizing Great Blue Hole to the vast blue skies and ocean stretching as far as the eye could see… And that reminded me of NNAVY, her music and the interview I had with her last summer.

So I decided to embrace the blue for a little while longer, at least for this evening.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in to Gimme A Beat tonight (18.02.2024) to hear my interview with NNAVY and my choice of her music. 

Tune in for…

Into the Blue with NNAVY  

with click-to-play or playlist (for the songs played in the show) from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora

Kisses, Babymonster

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(please note that it sometimes take 24h until the podcast is propagated to other platforms)

For the info about old shows please go to previous entries

For the info about old shows please go to previous entries

Gavlyn is 23 year old LA based rapper. She is a member of the Organized Threat movement and part of the Broken Complex record label. Organized Threat is a collective of the international artists that aims to support good quality hip hop and keep it fresh, poetic and therefore timeless. Perfect place for somebody like Gavlyn to grow creatively and without any inhibitions. Gavlyn has been rapping since tender age of 16 and she has been touring Europe since the beginning of 2013, but I have only discovered her this summer. This year I was for the first time at Montreux Jazz festival as a Gimme A Beat and I was blown away not only by the concerts that I've seen but also with people that I met. It seemed to me that everybody at this festival: organizers, staff, members of the press and visitors were true music lovers. So one evening, while waiting for Angel Haze concert, I was chatting with local group of people and one of the guys living in the area asked me if I heard about Gavlyn. He saw her live in March and he was totally blown away by her music, her personality and of course, her live performance. I wrote down the name, checked her when I was back in my hotel room and instantly loved what I heard. And then I realized that she is having a gig in Zurich, in the next few days, just at the time when I was suppose to be back from the festival. I immediately reached out to the people that could help me with setting up an interview. Several days after, few hours before Gavlyn's concert, I was chatting with this talented, young artist. It was a perfect summer day and we were in the back yard of the house of her friends, taking a break from a BBQ and listening to some chilled hip hop music. Time flew by while I was chatting with Gavlyn about her life, European tour and her music. She was refreshingly open, raw and honest, very much like her lyrics. After that, perfect flow of the summer day continued into the night, with her gig at Gonzo. It felt very good to be there, feeling the good vibes of the people who truly appreciate hip hop music and embracing the talent of the young artist with bright future ahead of her..

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Tune in tonight (18.11.2013) for ...

Gavlyn in Zurich with playlist

from 22:00 - 00:00: web radio on radio LoRa

featuring: gimme a beat on youtube

Kisses, Babymonster

--------------------------------------------- for more info please go to: previous entries

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, over the 3days this festival features many local and international bands that play on one of the 4 stages: Grande Scene, Scene De La Cascade, Scene De L'Industrie and Scene Pression Live.

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 2013 edition of Rock En Seine only had one sunny day and two rainy days leaving everybody stuck in mud, this didn't stop me from enjoying.

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. My playlist on the youtube and my short review after the festival on Gimme a Beat facebook page includes videos and list of all the bands that I've seen.

But tonight, in Rock En Seine 2013 review of Gimme a Beat, I will focus on following artists: VV Brown: talented British artist that stepped away from her previous style and brought her new, fabulous material in the performance at the Scene De L'Industrie of Rock en Seine; In the Valley Below: Californian duo with intense, sexy stage dynamics that adds something dark and fascinating to their already impressive debut album and La Femme: young french band with the name and songs that assume more female presence then bands agrees with (but you can decide what to think about this after you hear an itw and their music).

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..

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Tune in tonight (21.10.2013) for ...

VV Brown, In The Valley Below, La Femme at Rock En Seine 2013 with playlist

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

Blue Balls Festival is an annual music festival happening in a beautiful surrounding next to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on the various locations like an Open-Air Pavilion, the Lucerne Culture and Convention Center and The Club at the Schweizerhof Hotel. Started with an audience of 300 people, back in 1992, this festival, with slightly inappropriate name for an English speaking artists and audience, is today an international music festival with 100 000 visitors over nine days in July. 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. This was my third year of visiting Blue Balls Festival as a Gimme A Beat. In order to explore female factor of the festival, I've chosen two days with female artists that I wanted to include in my review. The headliner of the Blue Balls Festival 2013 was Laura Mvula, an amazing British artist that I came across through her nomination for this year's BBC - Sound of ... This poll has always been a great reference for exceptional musicians and I have been fortunate enough to, over the years, interview several of the nominated artists. The afternoon before the festival's opening night and Laura Mvula's first Swiss concert, i had a chance to sit down with this young, talented lady for an interview. The interview happened at Schweizerhof hotel in Lucerne, beautiful, family owned 5 star hotel with personal charm and elegant, period decor, renovated to accommodate it's classy guests. Appropriately, the surrounding suited my impressions of Laura's debut album: enchanting, fabulous world, but still modern and somehow approachable. And an interview only confirmed what was obvious before. Laura is beautiful, strong woman with a great sense of style and capability to experience music visually. And on top of that she is bubbly and has great sense of humor. All of this made an interview fun and I very much enjoyed talking to her. The day after, on the opening night of the festival, Laura continued to impress me with her mesmerizing performance. In addition to first part of tonight show, and my focus on Laura Mvula, exploring female vibe at Blue Balls Festival 2013 included another day at the festival and gigs from Trixie Whitley and

In 1967, while he was director of tourist office in Montreux, Claude Nobs organized his first Montreux Jazz Festival. Festival lasted 3 days and was immediate success, locally and internationally. Even today, jazz is still very important part of the festival, however, nowadays the festival features wide variety of music styles. The festival also grew length-wise dramatically: from 3 days to 2 weeks of tightly packed, always impressive lineup and many other interesting happenings. It attracts not only audience but also volunteers and staff from all over the world. The festival was originally held at the old Montreux Casino, which burned down in December 1971 during Frank Zappa's performance. From 2007, the Convention Centre hosts two main stages: Stravinsky Auditorium and Miles Davis Hall, as well as the smaller Montreux Jazz Cafe, and several smaller open-air stages around the Centre. Most importantly for one festival, all venues have impeccable sound system and lineup adapted to their style and size. 2013 brought some very sad news and was the first Montreux Jazz Festival without legendary Claude Nobs. But it also proved that neither Claude Nobs nor his legacy will ever be forgotten. And this is not only because the part of Grand Rue has been changed to Claude Nobs avenue, but mostly because his spirit will stay forever on the stages of Montreux Jazz festival, protecting the legacy built on enthusiasm and love for art. This year one of the most obvious changes venue wise, Miles Davis Hall got a new name, Montreux Jazz Lab, and not only that but also change in look and very up-to-date lineup with great, bit edgy bands and artists with music style ranging from rock, hip hop to electronica. And after midnight Lab was hosting free (most of the nights) after show parties. Other venues as the Studio and Rock Cave also gave opportunities for the visitors to dance the night away till the early morning hours. And in the case that all of this wasn't enough, as a part of the festival various workshops and competitions are held at the nearby Montreux Palais and Le Petit Palais. I've been many times at Montreux Jazz Festival but this year I attended it for the first time as Gimme A Beat. Of course, as expected, I was blown away with the festival vibe, concerts that I attended, but … I was also amazed with invisible, perfect organization and staff that as motivated and as excited about the concerts as audience. While exploring "female factor" at the festival for Gimme A Beat, I've seen following female artists: Emilie Nana, Trixie Whitley, Cat Power, Angel Haze and Daughter Also, in the Le Petit Palais, I attended *Gimme The Beat: rhythms in music, the voice and the brain* workshop, hosted by Johanna Wiebke Trost and Sascha Fruehholz. My main focus in the review of the festival will be on Emilie Nana, multi-talented DJ and producer that creates beautiful music since very early age. We sat down few hours before her gig at the Studio and she shared roots of her passion and love for music and how she became an artist that she is today. She also prepared short music mix for tonight's show. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tune in tonight (19.08.2013) to Gimme A Beat to hear my impressions of Montreux Jazz Festival, gigs I've seen, music from the artists I've seen, interview with Emilie Nana, her music and short mix she did exclusively for gimme a beaters .. Tune in for.. Emilie Nana at Montreux Jazz Festival 2013  with playlist from 22:00 - 00:00 on: webradio lora featuring: emilie nana at montreux jazz festival cadenza podcasts from emilie nana Kisses, Babymonster ————————————————————————– the info about old shows please go to previous entries