Featuring 5 Remixes from the hottest DJ’s and the fierce radio edit from Producer Eve Nelson.

Larry Flick from Sirius Satellite Radio and host of OUT Q in the Morning with Larry Flick says “Sandra Bernhard’s [Perfection] is a slammin’blend of banging beats and Sandra’s astute view of pop-culture. Equally nutritious to the brain and the booty.”

ALL MUSIC GUIDE reports “PERFECTION, a strange club track best suited for sardonic Dance floors”.

The Perfection EP includes 6 remixes of the original dance single “Perfection” that will knock you onto the dance floor!

Perfection (DJ Lunic’s Minimal Dub) – dark & minimal, very moody percussions
Perfection (DJ Balo & Trakkula’s Dub) – sizzly, big room after hours dub
Perfection (DJ Balo & Trakkula’s Dance Dub) – dance floor filler, dance radio favorite!
Perfection (DJ Balo & Trakkula’s Hard Dub) – arms will fly! crunchy, hard floor, high energy dance dub
Perfection (DJ Balo & Trakkula’s Club Dub) – sexy, gritty, full club dub with room to mix and out.

You can find the EP for download on Amazon.com, Emusic.com and Rhapsody.com soon to be available on iTunes!

Hear it on the radio! The radio debut of Perfection was October 10th, 2008.
Listen for the re-mixes on the following stations:
Pulse 87
WBZC
Hot 97.com
I Party Radio
Music Choice
AOL Radio
Party Radio USA

The Healing Force, a popular Christian family act represented by Indie Extreme, has been awarded the Bunche Medal for “bridging and celebrating African-American and African culture with spirit-affirming universal values, sparkling creativity, and stunning music, dance and traditional story-telling.”

The international Bunche Medal was crafted in 2003 to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, the first U.S. citizen and the first person of color in the world to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The medal has been given since 2003 to individuals who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of finding peaceful solutions to social problems through cultural education and enlightenment.

Founded in 1975, The Healing force features Joseph and Gail Anderson, their daughter Sonji Gardner, and their son Karim. The performing family uses traditional African music, drumming, dancing and storytelling to encourage positive behavior, provide creative opportunities, and enrich school curriculums. They have traveled the country, appearing at schools, colleges, churches, museums, festivals, family reunions and community events. The group turns every performance into a celebration of African culture and spirit, where audience participation is encouraged.

The North Carolina performers also are the first laureates to be named “Goodwill Ambassadors of the Arts”. Part of their new duties, in addition to continuing to educate and enlighten audiences around the world with African-based music, dancing and stories, will be to oversee the creation of “jeli” gardens — vegetable gardens grown by children to help feed the community.

“We are flabbergasted and delighted beyond words to receive this recognition,” said Gail Anderson, who received the medal with other members of the family quartet at The Blessings Project in Winston-Salem, N.C. “We are deeply committed to helping children. We’ve been raising funds to help the citizens of Zambougou, Mali, build a new school and vegetable gardens. We’ve received letters of appreciation from the governor and the mayor, and the city council has issued a special proclamation to honor our efforts.”

The Bunche Medal was designed by Alex Shagin, an acclaimed artist who designed medals for the Olympics in Moscow and has exhibited works at noted museums, galleries and private collections around the world. Other recipients of the medal include Nelson Mandela, a former president of South Africa, and Paul Rusesabagina, a courageous hotel manager who helped save more than 1,000 lives during the genocide in Rwanda.

For more information about the Bunche Medal, The Healing Force, or the group’s fundraising efforts, call (336) 767-2724, send an e-mail to thehealingforce@aol.com, or visit http://www.thehealingforceonline.com.

“We are very excited to hear that The Healing Force has received the Bunche Medal,” said Kathy Douglas, CEO for Indie Extreme. “Joseph, Gail, Sonji Gardner and Karim are doing incredible things to help others. We are honored to represent them.”

Indie Extreme, which is based in Brentwood, Tenn., represents musical acts ranging from folk legend Judy Collins to hit CCM artist Matt Brouwer. The firm provides administrative and managerial services such as correspondence, bookkeeping, CD/merchandise fulfillment, marketing, publicity, database development, web site development, management/maintenance, e-commerce management, and the coordination of vendor services.
http://www.indieextreme.com

Polarity/1, the multi-genre artist best known for bold, honest, hard-hitting songs, is releasing a brand new instrumental record titled Music From the Other Side. Fitting to the title, the album consists of smooth, jazzy tracks much different from louder albums like Yankin’ the Food Chain. Polarity/1’s music has been incorporated by dance theaters and documentarists, including Danny Schechter’s feature-length film documentary ‘In Debt We Trust and Battery Dance Company’s 26th Annual Downtown Dance Festival last year.

Music From The Other Side is the soundtrack for a dance performance by Lisbon’s Quorum Ballet. The Other Side’s principal objective is to fuse the style and art of the dance of Lisbon and New York. The work is the collaboration of choreographers Daniel Cardoso, Jonathan Hollander and Thaddeus Davis, artistic directors of Quorum Ballet, Battery Dance Company and Wideman/Davis Dance, respectively. Dark, moody, erotic and aggressive, it explores the theme of oppression, which has always been an issue for the people on both sides of the Atlantic. The piece examines the roles of the different agents: the instigator, the oppressor, the oppressed and the observer.

The most impressive song is the vocals version of “Fulano de Tal,” included on the album as a bonus track. Also noteworthy is the exotic, media-infused sound of “Land O’ Debbies.” The entire albums feels like the fusion of every type of media coming together to blend spooky, unique melodies that echo through every track. What really drives the record, though, is the steady, trance-like beat that proves impossible to ignore.

The music of Polarity/1 is exactly what the name suggests – “conjoined opposites,” including the new (cutting-edge electronica, hip-hop and nu-jazz) and the old (roots music of America, including blues, funk, country and early jazz, Brazil (samba, pagode, etc.) and West African groove science).

You can check out Polarity/1 for yourself and learn how to purchase Music From The Other Side by heading to http://polarity1.musicdish.net

Hit Me Music proudly presents DJ Reset’s first ever studio album, “Speaker Bunny” available now digitally worldwide. The highly anticipated set includes original music written, produced, and performed by DJ Reset, the critically acclaimed recording artist and producer who made history with the first commercial mash-up released on a major record label.

http://www.hitmemusic.com/Crush.mp3

“Speaker Bunny” is out now on Hit Me Music and available at iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, GroupieTunes, mTraks, Last.FM, Audio Lunchbox, Ruckus, Mbop, Lala, and Track It Down

For more information and licensing inquiries, please email marat@hitmemusic.com

About Hit Me Music
Hit Me Music, LLC is a music-based content and talent management company with the mission statement to establish and build a global entertainment brand. For new media and latest news on Hit Me Music, visit the label online at http://www.hitmemusic.com

Talented songstress Lorraine Reid is not just reveling in her previous success as lead singer for dance group Temperance; she’s making a major shift in her career with the release of a hot solo R&B album “Lessons Learned.” Hailing from Toronto, Reid has opened for Lou Bega, Monica, Coolio and Destiny’s Child, and “is vocally ready to take her place beside other international R&B songbirds. Some would even go as far as to grade her deep, rich voice against the bluesy sounds of Billy Holiday or Sarah Vaughan” (Georgette Charlicombe, Mic Check).

It’s no surprise that Reid lists Whitney Houston as one of her influences, since her new album contains vocals comparable to those of Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and India.Arie. Says Charles Bouley II from Billboard, “Reid delivers inspired vocal[s] that prove she’s a seasoned performer; it could easily elevate her to diva status. Her delivery is reminiscent of classic Donna Summer.”

Reid’s musical style can be described as a combination of R&B and soul with an edge. Having recorded two previous albums with Temperance, Virtues of Life and If You Don’t Know, she has the experience and the skills to infiltrate the music industry by simply sharing her powerful voice– with her help, Temperance was able to secure more Juno nominations than any other dance group to date.

Soon after Reid’s 7th Juno nomination in 2000, she began to feel as though her life needed a new direction. She decided to pursue a teaching career while continuing to record commercial jingles for radio and television, as well as perform backup vocals for countless other artists.

In the fall of 2005, the combination of full-time teaching and evening-gigging eventually took a toll on Reid’s health. She suffered a lengthy and extensive bout with laryngitis and was diagnosed with vocal nodules. Reid went through with an operation to have her nodules removed, which caused some loss in range and forced her to use an amplification system when speaking publicly.

Lessons Learned couldn’t be released at a better time in Reid’s life; the album’s title emulates the various challenges she has faced to make this record a reality. You are sure to hear a more soulful and established artist, as Reid provides a window into her heart by sharing the experiences that have made her the talented vocalist she is today.

You can expect to see the highly anticipated album out soon this summer, and while you’re anxiously awaiting the album’s release, go see Reid live July 12th, 2008 at the Montreal Reggae Festival (www.montrealreggaefest.com). Reid is also scheduled to play the Michigan Reggae Festival this coming August.

www.myspace.com/lorrainereid
www.musicdish.net/lorrainereid/

Future Psychediscorama With Koko Dozo’s Illegal Space Aliens
Brothers and a Sister From Another Planet

By Mark Kirby, MusicDish e-Journal

One night several years ago at an Irish pub in the East Village of New York City, the discussion of music turned to disco. It involved musicians and people over 40 years-old, people who might know what they’re talking about. Several of us were, in the heyday of Studio 54 and the disco era, into punk rock. Others of us were — me especially — strictly jazz heads. I reminded my friend of lonely nights in college smoking out of a four-foot bong and listening to Zappa and John Coltrane and wondering how to meet girls. They were at the campus disco parties, while we were above it all. And alone, getting in touch with ourselves.

Now a guy walked into the bar – no, this is not a joke, this is true – leans over and asks Nancy, the bartender, to put on a CD he brought. He had a box set called 100 Disco Hits and wanted to hear it. She put it on over a few protests and by the third cut half the bar was up dancing. “This shit is great, what were we thinkin’?” What were we thinking? The cuts that he played — “Boogie Nights,” “Disco Lady,” “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” — were all songs with soul power. Killer musicians, great singers, and songwriters that had some skills were at work on these gems. So many of the songs that turned off the young cynic back in the day — and I was one of them — now sound like musical versions of the politics of hope. Besides the quality of the music and the infusion of beer and liquor, these cuts stood out because the party music of today consists of desperate, vapid consumer fantasies “sung” over prepackaged, overly mechanized “music.” From Justin Timberlake to Mariah Carey, this is what dance music is all about. Like rap agitators Public Enemy asked back in the ’90’s “who stole the soul?”

These memories and thoughts came to mind while listening to Koko Dozo’s new CD Illegal Space Aliens. The band members present themselves as bizarro characters. Chief producer Polarity/1, who created the beats and sounds that make the backbone of the music, dresses like a pro wrestling manager who is channeling Sun Ra. Though using synthesizer sounds, drum machines, and synth bass, his music has a distinctive, organic quality, a certain freshness and vitality. Rubio — the self-described “multi-brained, Viking, Satanic wizard”; complete with Viking helmet and wizardly robe — provides funky, jazzy keyboards that flesh out and add spice and musicality to the grooves. Singer Amy Douglas, the “Inter-Galactic Empress,” looks like a grown up Punky Brewster turned dominatrix from Brooklyn by way of worlds beyond. But for all the outer spaceness of their image and electronic sounds, the music on Illegal Space Aliens is rooted in the organic soil of the disco, funk and soul of a bygone era.

The CD starts with dense electronic sounds that morph into a groove consisting of bass, a looped piano chord, and a beat made of these dense sounds, on the opening cut “Second Time.” Amy Douglas brings flesh and soul to this cyborg of a song. With musical experience covering punk cabaret, funk with George Clinton and down-home jazz with Illinois Jacquet, she has the pipes. She also has the musicality and taste to do it just right. “Face on the Dance Floor” starts with disembodied female voices and a vocal loop of laughs. A house beat kicks in and Douglas busts out with a Donna Summers-like vocal blast: “You know you got that face… hold your face on the dance floor / wave your feet in the air / make us believe that you don’t care / smash your face on the dance floor / put your kicks in the air / wave it some more put your fuckin’ face on the dance floor.” The song grooves along with interesting musical riffs and keyboard counter melodies, as Douglas goes off. The backup group female voices come back and the song’s next verse comes in. These little touches elevate this and other songs on the CD above average, boring house and dance music. You can dig this music without drugs or dancing.

Koko Dozo – “Face On The Dancefloor” Live @ Nacotheque

Some of the album’s cuts resemble the classic disco of the’70’s and ’80’s. “Boomchi” has that signature four-on-the-floor drum beat, offbeat funk bass lick, and soulful strings. The vocals come in like Chic’s classic “Good Times.” Busting out in Spanish, Douglas lets fly some wailing diva vocal blasts. The song’s break down features bass drum, breathy, chanting vocals, and an over-the-top spew in Spanglish by Rubio. Euro disco brought in the dominance of synthesizers and more mechanical rhythms. “Shine” is in this mold, but the piano licks and, once again, Douglas’ voice gives the song a human face: “Shine a light / I need to know that I’m alive / Shine a light / guide me to your secret side / give me breath that can revive.”

Koko Dozo mines other types of music, particularly the expansive side of soul and funk, on the slow jam “Down.” This features sweet lead and backup vocals, as well as chords that move and glide in an extended middle part that seems to drift away. Then, from silence, the song starts up with vocals that remind one of soul diva’s like Chaka Khan. “D.C. Whore” combines political satire and discordant, complex funk. “Fulano de Tai” is dirge-like, with music that evokes the image of an emotional desert and recalls one of Ennio Morricone’s more psychedelic soundtracks.

One of the strengths of Illegal Space Aliens, and my regular readers please forgive me, is that there are nine choice cuts on this record. No fluff, just a statement. This should be the new trend. This should also be an example of how to make dance music that is intelligent and cool, not dumbed down to the level of morons in too-tight $90 designer jeans.

www.kokodozo.com
www.myspace.com/kokodozo

This is the third album release from ToT. With each album, the energy and creativity has only sky rocketed toward the stars. You can actually watch this artist evolve from the DJ he once was to the artist he now has become.

This release features five tracks with vocoded vocals of ToT himself. His messages of love, hope and truth still stand strong even in his own writings.

In his electro dance tracks “Make the Beat Drop” & “Five O Four” we learn who ToT really is and what drives his passion for the electro breakbeat scene. In his lyrics in the track “Disguised Reality” you get a glimpse of what drives his passion for life and music. He reminds you to “Free your mind, take some time, some time to seek the questions of life and what it all means…”

This album also features the angelic vocals of Serenity. Serenity is a newcomer to the dance scene, but has made a lot of noise in a short time period. Her soothing vocals on tracks such as “Higher Ground”, “Sapphira” & “Rain” fit perfectly with the production of ToT. Serenity also sings a duet with ToT on the tracks “Disguised Reality” & “Where Did I Go Wrong”.

There is also a special appearance from the hip hop emcee 2 Da West on the track “Grass”.

This album has it all. With pounding bass and beats to electro moving grooves, then on top of all that, amazing vocals to set it all off. This CD rocks from beginning to end.

http://www.504productions.com/this_is_how_i_cry.php

New Orleans breakbeat dance music producer / artist Tears of Technology releases the highly anticipated full length album entitled “This Is How I Cry”. The full length CD release is packed with fifteen energy filled, emotionally driven tracks. From the first track played, you not only want to move your body, but you feel it through your entire being.

This is the third album release from ToT. With each album, the energy and creativity has only sky rocketed toward the stars. You can actually watch this artist evolve from the DJ he once was to the artist he now has become.

This release features five tracks with vocoded vocals of ToT himself. His messages of love, hope and truth still stand strong even in his own writings.

In his electro dance tracks “Make the Beat Drop” & “Five O Four” we learn who ToT really is and what drives his passion for the electro breakbeat scene. In his lyrics in the track “Disguised Reality” you get a glimpse of what drives his passion for life and music. He reminds you to “Free your mind, take some time, some time to seek the questions of life and what it all means…”

This album also features the angelic vocals of Serenity. Serenity is a newcomer to the dance scene, but has made a lot of noise in a short time period. Her soothing vocals on tracks such as “Higher Ground”, “Sapphira” & “Rain” fit perfectly with the production of ToT. Serenity also sings a duet with ToT on the tracks “Disguised Reality” & “Where Did I Go Wrong”.

There is also a special appearance from the hip hop emcee 2 Da West on the track “Grass”.

This album has it all. With pounding bass and beats to electro moving grooves, then on top of all that, amazing vocals to set it all off. This CD rocks from beginning to end.

http://www.504productions.com/this_is_how_i_cry.php

Wildflower Records alternative-country artist Amy Speace earned her first #1 position, having received the most airplay and exposure in 2007 on Radio Crystal Blue. Her CD “Songs For Bright Street” was released in 2006. Alternative rock duo Sirsy, who have just released their 9th disc “Revolution”, earned 2nd place. Acoustic recording artist Christine Havrilla (Boxrilla Music label) took 3rd place, largely on the strength of her 2007 CD, “Velocity”.

The annual airplay chart is an amalgamation of Mr. Herman’s quarterly airplay charts, which track progressive amounts of airplay over a 3- and 12-month period. The remainder of the top 10 of this list include: #4: Lourds (Breaking Records); #5: Tim Blane; #6: Amber Rubarth; #7: Taylor Davis; #8: Greg Klyma; #9: Ruth Gerson (Tompkins Square Records); #10: Catie Curtis (Compass Records).

In addition, Mr. Herman announces his list of top 10 CDs released in 2007. At the number one position is “Revolution” by Sirsy. Included in the top 10 are, #2: “Clockwork”, by Tim Blane, and #3: “Slow Southern Swing”, by Taylor Davis

Mr. Herman further updated his list of all-time top recording artists as heard on his show. Replacing the incumbent, MPress Records recording artist Rachael Sage, is Talisman Records recording artist Natalia Zukerman.

All 3 lists along with other notes about his top favorites can be read at http://www.radiocrystalblue.com/chart.html

Mr. Herman’s weekly radio show, Radio Crystal Blue, presents a unique look at both artists on indepedent labels and those that are just surfacing in popularity on the Internet. Shows are broadcast live on the Live365 network, Sunday evenings, from New York. Podcast versions, as well as streaming audio of archived shows, are kept for several weeks after the live shows.

I first played the keyboards at the age of 10 and was soon dabbling with Korgs and Rolands. Later, when the first Korg arrived, I was commissioned to produce music for fashion shows, which lead me down the path of producing dance-orientated and non-vocal music. More recently I have been involved in a number of TV theme projects and the occasional DJ spot mixing well-known dance tracks with my own.

I have produced music for a variety of uses, drawing from an interest in a wide range of musical styles. My record collection and inspiration includes Groove Armada, Air, Royksopp, Lemon Jelly, Portishead and Django Reinhardt.

For more information go to:

Esrom Records

James Hariman Official Website