Maika Makovski: from everywhere
So, there's this girl who writes songs, sings, plays the guitar and the piano. Her new CD was recorded between Bristol and Bath, and it was produced by none other than John Parish. Raise your hand if you said PJ Harvey, and then go hide behind the blackboard! Why?Because although all this is her background, the artist we are discussing today is not the British muse of alternative rock, and, while her passport is Spanish, the path of her life is one of the most intricate you could ever imagine. Her name is Maika Makovski and she grew up in Mallorca but her blood is half Andalusian and half Macedonian. She has lived in New York and Barcelona and she has been able to bring a bit of all these influences toher last record, which bears her name.
From the point of view of style, she shares with Polly Jean a lovely contralto voice, but her music is quite different: Maika plays a dirty kind of blues, with electric character and echoes from some remote island. Predominate bass tones are in opposition to her clear voice and stabbing guitars. Acoustic moments appear here and there to expand the range of sound which are reinforced by a contrabass or a banjo. Rather than PJ Harvey, I find other references coming from the other side of the ocean: imagine the best Suzanne Vega singing covers of Tom Waits’ tunes! However, like for all talented artists, it makes little sense to speak about influences: Maika Makovski has an original sound that can be heard with a sense of pleasure even if she speaks (in English) of small daily tragedies! And, no small feat, her live show is very exciting, skillfully mixing intimacy and moments full of energy. A great discovery!
Franco Rigato
http://www.myspace.com/maikamakovski
Artists permanently (and randomly) "on air" at present date:
Maika Makovski(Spain), DID(Italy), Massimo Volume(Italy), Senpai(Italy), Dude Plays Saxophone(USA), Toundra(Spain), Maxena Tace(Italy),Sawako (Japan), The Cleopatras (Italy), Hollowblue(Italy), OPA(USA), Nora Keyes (USA), Simona Gretchen(Italy), Facciascura (Italy), hiiragi fukuda (Japan), Stardog(Italy), I Got A Violet(Italy), The Agrarians (USA); Feldmaus (Russia); Red Velvet (Italy - France); Eigenheimer (Holland); Drugs Made Me Smarter (Mexico); Kelvin & Speedy Peones (Italy); Tidy Kid (USA); NIMM (Italy); MorningPaper (Italy), Edgar Graves (Czech Republic), Marshmallow (Croatia), David Morley (England/Belgium); Bancale (Italy); Antony Raijekov (Bulgary); Amélie (Italy); Celestial Aeon Project (Finland); Channel in Channel out (USA); Madrigali Magri (Italy), Gimme 'hat Moonshine (Belgium), Krakenti (Latvia), Wheelchair Discotheque (Latvia), TheOneOnTheIsland (Slovakia), Maok (Slovakia), LaBon (Slovakia), Jordan Jordan (Slovakia), Social Society (Slovakia), Batte (Norway), Orange Crush (Norway), Oriental Music System (Hong Kong), Iamsum (Hong Kong), Rex Cody (Hong Kong), Donkey Valium (Hong Kong), Smiling Buddhas (Hong Kong), O-M (Hong Kong), Hvoya (Ukraine), Automatic Pilot Required (Brazil), Yogi (Brazil), Light Merchants (South Africa), The Slowmovies (Italy); I am this (USA); Kråkvind (Sweden); Planet Brain (Italy); Lebatol (UK); Sarah Schuster (Italy); Krt 963 (Italy-Japan); Flap (Italy); Nicker Hill Orchestra (Italy); Menrovescio (Italy); Annabel (USA); Karmatest (Italy); The Dada Weatherman (France); Diablo Swing Orchestra (Sweden); Japanese gum (Italy); Above the tree (Italy); Volcano Playground (Canada); Linz (Italy); Anomie Belle (USA), Christophe Marc (France), Death Valley Sleepers (Denmark), Jeremy Sparrow (Denmark), Zoon van snooK (England), Systemton (Germany), Matti Bye (Sweden), Manuzik (Japan), Chances (Italy), Hometaping (Great Britain...?), Ping (Norway), Frey (New Zealand), Manhan (Japan), One Chef (Sweden), Mijagi (Poland), Pandacetamol (Scotland), Lu-Sin (Argentina), Thomas Solgaard (Denmark), Wonderboy (France), Los Hermanos Butaca (Argentina), La Biyuya (Argentina), Negro Fluo (Argentina), Sempai (Italy), Riccardo Vianello (Italy), Wolther goes stranger (Italy), Eildentroeilfuorieilbox84 (Italy), Buzz Aldrin (Italy), Stefano Roveda (Italy), Rosso! (Italy); manzOni (Italy).
