Charlie Winston, whose debut album ‘Hobo’ has sold over 200,000 copies in France, has released an exclusive compilation album including rarities for Society of Sound members.

This is a great example of us being able to bring you an exceptional artist on the cusp of going global.  Discovered by Peter Gabriel and supporting him on the European leg of his 2007 tour, Charlie has gone from strength to strength and we’re really proud to be able to offer our members the chance to hear his exceptional songwriting talents.

He is touring France throughout the year and will also be playing WOMAD in July. We’ll be running a competition to win tickets for this festival shortly so watch this space.

Catch him live if you can and let us know what you think of this exclusive recording here.

Steve Guttenberg with Jackson Pollock's hi-fi

One of the best blogs about all things audio is Steve Guttenberg’s The Audiophiliac on CNET. He’s currently running a poll to find out how you find out about new music which is something we’re really interested in and one of the reasons we set up Society of Sound music.

Visit his site , choose your preferred method of discovery and thencheck how the results are looking  so far.

When I did it,  iTunes were way in the lead but I’ll be interested to see if that changes.

Next month we’re very excited to be teaming up with critically acclaimed Los Angeles-based Cambodian American rock band Dengue Fever, the group Mojo called “The world’s premier Cambodian psychedelic rock band” and the Los Angeles Times call “the most original pop band in LA.”

Dengue Fever will be releasing a fantastic live and studio recorded album which will be available for Society of Sound members to download for one month from June 24th. All the tracks from this incredible album were, of course, recorded at Real World Studios and are available as glorious high quality lossless digital downloads.

Right now you can get at taste of their inspiring sound by downloading an exclusive sample track, Tiger Phonecard, courtesy of Society of Sound. Click ALAC (if you are using iTunes) or FLAC if using another music player to simply download and enjoy.

Multi-talented as well as multi-cultural, Dengue Fever will be returning to Europe in June to promote the fascinating new documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong.

The release of their Society of Sound album will also coincide with several European tour dates, including:

Wednesday 17th June 2009:  In-store live performance at Pure Groove record shop/gallery space, 6.30pm

6-7 West Smithfield, Farringdon, London, EC1A 9JX

Thursday 18 June 2009, The Scala, London with Don Letts.

Time: 7.30pm

Admission: £13.50, tickets from Ticketweb: 08700 600 100.

For more confirmed tour dates across Europe visit www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic.

Tom Kerstens at Real World Studios

Society of Sound artist Tom Kerstens has been selected by Classic FM magazine as one of their top 100 artists and one of the top 5 guitarists in the world which they’ll announce this month.

Tom recorded the album ‘Utopia’ for us last year with the G Plus ensemble consisting of John Metcalfe, who in an earlier life was the viola player for cult Mancunian band Durutti Column, and Joby Talbot, a key member of (also cult!)  London band The Divine Comedy.

As well as being one of the leading figures in guitar music today, Tom is the artistic director of the International Guitar Foundation and we’ll be offering a compilation album from their BGS label - featuring Tom amongst other guitarists - later on in the month to all Society of Sound members.

They have a couple of  concerts coming up in July:

19 July: Wigmore Hall, London

29 July: Komedia, Bath (this is a gala evening with Martin Simpson and Martin Taylor. )

One of the main reasons we set up Society of Sound Music was that we wanted to provide an antidote to the all-you-can eat music servers that abound. Quality was the key rather than quantity and underpinning that was the desire to promote new and exciting music.

On top of the exclusive albums we provide monthly, we’ve started an occasional series of label samplers to give music fans the chance to discover rostas of artists on labels we feel are genuinely passionate about what they do and only put out what they care about.

The first label in this series is one of the most talked about labels of the moment, Full Time Hobby. The Independent’s Andy Gill describes them perfectly:

“By developing a label profile based on taste and quality, a company can acquire a devoted fanbase that values its product as physical artefacts, rather than virtual soundfiles.

It’s all about signing distinctive acts and packaging them attractively – areas in which UK indie Full Time Hobby currently leads the pack.

How on earth, one wonders, did this tiny operation manage to sign not just the two hottest American indie bands of the moment (The Hold Steady and White Denim), but also respected neo-psychedelic Krautrockers Viva Voce and Fujiya & Miyagi and quirky folktronicists Tunng?…by being into music rather than money, as the title confirms. ”

Full Society of Sound members will receive the entire 8 track CD, trial members will be able to download a track from the supremely excellent The Hold Steady plus they’ll receive a six track sampler from us with highlights of previous Society of Sound music. See here for joining details.

As I mentioned at the start, a huge part of this Society is about discovery. We want to know what you thought of this sampler. Are there any labels you think we’d like and that you’d like to see represented here?  Let us know what you think.

Every year arguably the loveliest city in the UK hosts 16 days of the world’s best music.

This year the 2009 Bath International Music Festival runs from the 22nd May - 6th June.

With guests ranging from the Branford Marsalis Quartet to Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys, the Festival always offers some stunning performances and many suprises. The Guardian’s Festival Guide describes it as an “epic 16-day feast of jazz, classical, world and folk music.”

Society of Sound artists Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara are playing the Festival’s Closing Night Party on the 6th June. Their latest album, Tell No Lies,  was released today and has earned 5 stars in a Guardian review: “songs that echo the raw exuberance of the Clash, the rolling blues of Muddy Waters and the delicacy and grandeur of the ancient griot ballads…Magnificent.”

We have two pairs of tickets for you to win. Simply tell us why you want them here no later than 31st May.

B&W Fellow and Society of Sound Curator Peter Gabriel has just been awarded the Polar Music Prize which he will share with Venezuelan composer Jose Antonio Abreu.

This has been another very successful year for Peter,  he was nominated for an Oscar for Down to Earth from the Wall-E soundtrack. He won a Grammy for Best Song with with the same track and Best Instrumental Arrangement from the Wall-E soundtrack.
Composed with Thomas Newman, Down To Earth was also nominated for a Golden Globe.

The prize, founded by Abba’s Stig Anderson, is Sweden’s biggest music award and unusually, is split between pop and classical musicians. Both recipients receive  one million kroner and previous winners include Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and Sonny Rollins.

The official press release from Polar Music Prize describes Peter’s work as  “ground-breaking, outward-looking and boundary-busting…he has not only had a significant influence on the development of popular music - he has redefined the very concept.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Society of Sound artists Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara play live at London’s Jazz Cafe on Wednesday May 13th and we have 5 pairs of tickets to give away.  Simply comment below and tell us why you want them.

Justin Adams (Robert Plant, Jah Wobble) has been described by the Guardian as “one of the most intriguing, enthusiastic musicians in Britain” and recorded Afrobilly Sessions for Society of Sound with Gambian griot and master of the riti, Juldeh Camara.

Uncut gives this follow up to 2007’s award-winning Soul Science album 4 stars and describes the music as “some of the deepest trance-blues this side of Timbuktu.”

They are well worth checking out.

Madam’s Gone Before Morning is Society of Sound Music’s twelth album and that alone is cause for celebration.  It’s been  very popular in the B&W office particularly her slowed-down late-night version of Odyssey’s ‘If You’re Looking For A Way Out’ - which is particularly good news as she’s playing around the corner next month.

As always, we want to know what members thought about this recording and if they have any recommendations based on this they think other members might like?

Madam have a couple of dates lined up with more to come. We highly recommend you check them out live and if you’re in the Clerkenwell area on the 18th, we’ll see you at the front.

2nd May 2009            Bergen Festival, Norway

18th May 2009          The Slaughtered Lamb, London

23rd July 2009          Queen Elizabeth Hall, London supporting Black Box Recorder

Don’t forget a Society of Sound Music Group has been set up on Last.fm by one of our members so you can share more music there.

Summer’s almost here and it’s time to get the rusty BBQ out of the shed. But every outdoor party needs music which is where B&W weather-proof monitors come in handy.
We’ll be running a competition to win a pair of weather-proof WM2’s next month so stay tuned.
In the meantime, B&W owner Ben listens to music all year round whilst cooking using a combination of his Sonos multi-room music system and B&W Weatherproof Monitor speakers. He gave us his Top 10 BBQ tracks.

Please let us know what inspires you to cook up a storm!
Ben’s Top 10 (in reverse order of course):

10] Light my Fire - The Doors
9] If you can’t stand the heat (get out of the kitchen) - Bucks Fizz
8] Firestarter - The Prodigy
7] Hot Dog - Shakin’ Stevens
6] Burn - Usher
5] Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
4] The Ketchup Song - Las Ketchup
3] Play with Fire - Rolling Stones
2] Burn Baby Burn - Ash (a double whammy on the artist/title that one)
and the #1 BBQ related track is….
1] Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Roxy Music
Enjoy :O)
Ben