|  | IN HELVETICA BOLD - music | music |  | |
-The Beat Goes On | | 
Watch this space: Critical darling, Beat Kaestli is on the road again with his new album Far From Home, his thoughtful, heart felt tribute to the European songbook. We'll be catching up with the jazz vocalist and songwriter to talk about his music and the business of being Swiss in the jazz world.
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FUN FEARLESS FIJI | | 
The name Fiji doesn't exactly spring to mind the idea of a "Swiss Band" —but then again, what does? Fittingly, Fiji, a Bern based electro-pop outfit is an unexpected delight: catchy synth riffs, warm then glacial textures complexifying; a generous sense of play coupled with a haunting sense of drama. Downright sensual. Whiffs of Blondie, Les Rita Mitsouko, Goldfrapp hover-- but always culminating in a musical bouquet all their own.
Three razor sharp albums under their belts, a rigorous tour schedule and a dynamic live show, it's unlikely these glam-rock connoisseurs will remain Switzerland's best kept secret for long. We caught up with Fiji's frontwoman, Simone de Lorenzi, while she was in London, promoting their new album, Fun Factory.
Photo credit: Stéphane Schmutz
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Serena Jost's Closer Than Far | | 
For the opening track of her debut solo album, Closer Than Far , Swiss-American singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Serena Jost performs a cover, Our Town by Iris DeMent. The juxtaposition of the driving rhythm and Serena's lilting, melodic vocal delivery sets the tone for a collection of material filled with contrast, whilst referencing a theme which becomes recurrent throughout the album -- that of locale. In a global era, the lyrics of Our Town and many of the ensuing original compositions evoke the feeling of being somewhere, somewhere Closer Than Far.
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Erika Stucky—Suicidal Yodels | | 
Much can be said about the life, travels and career path of Erika Stucky, but one can learn a great deal about the identity of this woman by simply listening to her album Suicidal Yodels. In the opening seconds of the first track the artist reveals herself to be a complex and well informed interpretive musician, incorporating elements of bluegrass, electronic music and the introduction to her highly impressive vocal ability. Her version of Bob Dylan's All I Really Want To Do strongly claims the lyrics as her own to be shared with anyone simply trying to navigate the world of 21st century relationships, while fully respecting and evoking the style of vocal delivery invented by Dylan, at the same time accompanying herself with rhythmic yelps.
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Home Coming Queens | | 
Heimweh, the new album, by Swiss Miss, may be the concept album to end all concept albums. The musical brainchild of New York based Swiss musicians Eliane and Andra Borlo, the album brings together a dazzling variety of Swiss female vocalists performing renditions of traditional Swiss folk songs representing many geographic regions and dialects of Switzerland on a backdrop of the music of the Americas: Jazz, latin, Brazilian, blues, reggae, calypso and soul are all part of the ingredients which make up this musical smorgasbord.
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ALL ABOUT HEIDI | | 
What's Swiss, with 12 faces, spans a generation or two and yodels? Introducing Heimweh the latest Swiss Miss project. You might remember our Alpine gals—Eliane and Andra Borlo who brought a unique spin to traditional Swiss folk music—well forget the spin,—here's a veritable Russian roulette of twelve Swiss singers whose styles and backgrounds redefine the word gamut. Or the idea of a "Swiss Miss" for that matter.
So just in case you thought you knew Heidi, think again—this Swiss Miss is part Nigerian and she's from Valais; she's a human beat box, she's got reggae and blues; she's knows her bossanova; she is Asian; her soul is Brazilian; she's a ballerina; she's a vamp; a Wise Woman and she tangos...
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THE SONGS A HOUSE BUILT | | 
Marco Mahler is used to the cultural shifts and transitions relocation can bring. Born in Chicago to Swiss parents studying in the U.S, he moved back to Switzerland, where he grew up, at three and a half. At twenty, after knocking around various music scenes in Switzerland, he headed back over the pond to New York, to pursue a music career.
Eight years later, now part of a burgeoning music scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Mahler was now married with a son of his own. The couple reconsidered their surroundings: the urban grit of New York didn't seem like such a mecca after all, not ideal to raise a kid. They packed up and set out for the Appalachian foothills.
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