"Night at the Circus"
ALBUM RELEASED 12 November
Hear it now here .
Rather than blow my own trumpet I will let this Playlouder review do it for me !
'Modern Britain hasn't been properly represented in mainstream music for a long, long time. The same white males played on Radio 1 (or Xfm) or covered in the NME have failed to connect with an audience far more diverse and open minded than the cragged "tastemakers" have yet to acknowledge. So it's a relief to hear someone making music so different and so genre-spanning that you can't fail to take notice. Bishi is equally comfortable mixing in sitars and tablas as she is beats and breaks, and tying it all together with her own mesmerizing vocal harmonies.
The most wonderful part of Bishi's appeal is that she appeals to so many - I consider myself allergic to "world music". I have a tolerance of about 15 minutes before I run screaming from Nando's Portuguese guitar soundtrack, and I couldn't even make it through Damon's Mali Music project. My experience with bhangra extends only to snippets overheard walking past the music shops on my daily commute up Brick Lane to Playlouder Towers. The wonderful thing about Night At The Circus is that it's not world music at all - it's London music. Bishi proves herself as accomplished a storyteller as she is a singer, chronicling the mundane ('Nightbus'), nostalgic ('Grandmothers Floor') and lovelorn ('Never Seen Your Face') with equal parts wit and keen observation. Her melodies have a way of inserting themselves into your brain, and before you know it, you're humming along to the whole damn album, making everyone in the vicinity stop and stare at the crazy girl with the headphones.
The only thing is - with the men at the top in the music industry so ingrained in their thinking that the public want unwashed, pale, teenage boys in skinny jeans, will they even take notice when an album of sheer brilliance and relevance lands at their feet? Touring with spiritual kin Patrick Wolf and Bat For Lashes certainly hasn't hurt, but maybe what Bishi really needs if for a radio band of the moment to cover one of her songs. And then she can proceed to outshine and upstage them all on her way to the (big) top.'
SINGLE OUT NOW:
'NEVER SEEN YOUR FACE.'
"Bishi blows her folkey foundations with dance floor dynamite on this 1st single from her forthcoming album 'Nights at The Circus'".
Buy it now at all good shops or online at Rough Trade or iTunes Remix CD or iTunes SINGLE EP /
This is the 1st single from my forthcoming album 'Nights at The Circus' – it takes the acoustic sound of the album & throws it into electro overdrive in homage to my DJ history.There's a very collectable single - on 7" clear vinyl . The Bside 'The Three Ravens' is one of my favourite pieces - a reworking of a little known Robbie Burns poem - its means a lot to me as it was my 1st setting of a British folk song. Below is a video of me singing it at the night Patrick Wolf and I did a few months ago.
Thanks Clifford !
Watch this space for some incredible live shows/ parties comin yr way in the VERY near future. The best of these will be invitation only but don't panic ! Everyone on my new best friends list - see opposite - will be sent invites. So sign up now XX
About the single ...
7 " Ltd edition clear vinyl, 4 track CD single & 7 track remix
The CD single includes two other mixes:
Adam Sky provides a solid electro stomp while R-Complex (aka D&B maestro Wikaman) delivers a beatstomping anthem to lift the roof.
There is also a 7 track remix CD;
in addition to the above mixes London Nightclub legend Glamorre provides a tabla disko 7", new DJ sensation The Lovely JonJo has his remix debut, Jet from the neon cult act Trash Fashion goes all hardcore and Joe Atari of Bar-Tok rounds off with some arty electronica.
All the tracks are available from iTunes and all formats can be purchased on pre sale from the Rough Trade shop - click on the links above.
BIOGRAPHY
Singer, multi instrumentalist & DJ, Bishi was born in Earls Court to a Bengali musical family; her mother is an EMI signed artist to this day.
Trained in both the Eastern & Western ‘classical’ traditions, she has studied Sitar at The Ravi Shankar School for Music and has a passion for English & East European folk, progessive pop & electronica.
Bishi’s forthcoming album ‘Nights at The Circus’ fuses British pop with her folk influences and ruminations of urban life.
“I have based the album on being an outsider. The space between two cultures can be confusing, but it can also be very energeticâ€.
The title of the album is inspired by Angela Carter's novel of the same name- a tale of a half-caste hybrid performer, whose dark adventures cover vast regions of the world, whilst having firm roots in the London Underground.
Well known as the DJ and face of London’s notorious cult nightclub Kash Point, Bishi collaborated on an avant-electro project with Patrick Wolf, Simon Bookish, Capitol K, Midnight Mike, Zongamin and Riton. The resulting EP 'BitPop' sold out on release, and will soon be reissued.
The up beat and dancey approach to the single mixes reflect this part of Bishi's personality "l’ve always loved DJing and a good night out, I enjoy making music to party to!"
2007 has seen her live following grow rapidly, the solo shows are always packed, she has appeared at Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown and completed a UK & European tour with Patrick Wolf. The coming months see her off to the US for a tour with Patrick, an appearance at Bestival and a series of special shows around the album release which will see her perform to over 1,200 people over three nights in Shoreditch Church.
This album reflects a world of 'new psychedelia'- an era of pop music inspired by colourful and cross-disciplinary influences, produced with D.I.Y. aesthetics and promoted via the internet. In this new cultural landscape Bishi is emerging as an exciting & vibrant artist to watch.
Bishi Never Seen video-clip
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Bishi live
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