I first stumbled across big-voiced Birmingham belter Clare Maguire when she featured in Illegal Tender's 'tips for 2009' and I immediately fell in love with the demo for her track 'Strangest Thing'.
Over a year and a half later and the final version of that same track has surfaced and, oh boy, was it worth the wait. I defy you to tell me that this isn't a little bit special. Clare Maguire - Strangest Thing by thebubbleboy
You liked that? Well, I suggest you download the track for free over on Neon Gold.
Clare's debut single proper is due in September. An album will follow in the new year. The countdown begins...
Still trying to catch up on a back-log of posts. We'll figure it out somehow. I know it.
At the moment, I'm currently besotted with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinsoaurs and his All In Two Dancehalls EP. It's an eclectic little dance record, the highlight of which is 'Garden', featuring Luisa from Lulu and the Lampshades on guest-vocals.
Music bible 'Guardian New Band of the Day' has always served me well but, earlier this week, introduced me to an especially promising musical prospect in the form of 21-year-old Londoner Jai Paul.
His genre-melding production style and idiosyncratic vocal style works a treat on tracks like 'BTSTU' and the demos on his Myspace are loaded with ideas, earning him comparisons to musical innovators like M.I.A. and Hudson Mohawke.
Jai Paul is supposedly at the centre of an A&R battle at the moment, so here's hoping we hear some fully-formed material from him in the not-too-distant future.
When I first heard electropop outfit Chew Lips' rather brilliant track 'Solo' a few months back, I got the distinct impression that it was a fluke. I'm not sure what it was exactly but, as much as I loved the song, something about it struck me as being a 'happy accident' that the band would struggle to follow up.
As if to mock my initial skepticism, the band have left both 'Solo' and subsequent single 'Salt Air' completely off their debut album, Unicorn. It's a testament to the calibre of the record (and perhaps my poor observational skills) that, only after listening to it a handful times, I realised these tracks were missing.
By teaming all-the-rage elements like spluttering synths and weighty basslines with rock guitars, piano and drums, the London trio have crafted a wonderfully textured album that sounds of its time but also vaguely vintage.
The band's intricate arrangements, range of tempos and knack for pegging down killer hooks serve them well throughout Unicorn's ten tracks but there's no question that Chew Lips' trump card is frontwoman 'Tigs'.
Whether snarling and wailing on the anthemic 'Seven' and 'Slick', or tenderly crooning on 'Piano Song' and 'Too Much Talking', she is commanding throughout and her charisma and energy percolates through the record.
Pick of the bunch for me is recent single 'Play Together' but Unicorn is an album loaded with potential favourites and I'd strongly encourage investigating for yourself.
If you like what you hear, be sure to catch the band when the play Dublin's Crawdaddy on Friday, April 9th. Tickets, priced at just €12, can be booked here.
Hello. I'm back. And I've brought some friends. The Golden Filter are a band I've been meaning to post about since their track, 'Solid Gold', first infested my eardrums a few months ago.
A delicious disco-tinged slow-burner, buoyed by smoky vocals from singer Penelope Trappes, the track induced mild blogospheric hysteria and rightly so.
The band's album, 'Voluspa', is due in April and, judging by the tasters the band have served up in recent months, it seems that 'Solid Gold' was no fluke.
Latest single, 'Hide Me', is probably my favourite track I've heard:
Download the track for free from the band's website.
I've heard Janelle Monae's name bandied about a bit the past few weeks but hadn't quite managed to get around to investigating the source of the fuss.
After seeing this video/'short film' on Nialler 9's blog for a track she released in 2008 called 'Many Moons', I'm beginning to understand the hype.
The 25-year-old Kansas-native boasts sing-a-long hooks to rival Beyoncé at her best, a swagger and retro wardrobe that only the likes of André 3000 can pull off, and an outlandish android alter-ego by the name of Cindi Mayweather that's like something Gaga might dream up. It's quite possible we may have a megastar-in-the-making on our hands.
Her album 'The Arch Android' will be released in May and she's served up two tasters, 'Cold War' and 'Tightrope', to whet our appetites.
'Violet Eyes' by My Gold Mask is a track I took a shine to a few months back and have found myself returning to again and again.
For a two-piece, band-members Jack Armondo and Gretta Rochelle certainly succeed in making an almighty racket. The combination of Armondo's thrashing guitars and Rochelle's snarling vocal (to my ears like a cross between Karen O and a female Jack White) packs some punch, and this particular track builds wonderfully throughout the verses towards its monstrous chorus.
The group recently shot a video for the track, using both a HD Canon camera and a toy Fisher Price camera.
Good news: you can download this track for free by clicking here.
Ever since coming across English quartet Fenech Soler as a result of their excellent remix of Marina and the Diamonds' 'Hollywood', I've slowly become enamoured with their own brand of slinky electropop.
Teaming dreamy synths and throbbing drumbeats with sleek vocals from from frontman Ben Duffy, the band occupy a point on the musical spectrum somewhere between Friendly Fires and Tesla Boy.
Their recent single 'Lies' is a delectable little ditty that, by rights, should have conquered the charts:
There's also a pretty corking Alex Metricmix of the track that went down a treat when Mr Metric played at Spy last Friday.
Carl at Illegal Tender is still working his way through his 'tips for 2010'.
Whereas most sites threw together a list of 'hyped artists' at the end of December/beginning of January, Carl has taken the time to put together a list of names that even the most clued in hype-mongers are unlikely to have heard of.
As well as the the excellent Talking Pictures and Velo, Illegal Tender are endorsing slinky synthmeister Japayork.
Sounding like an intoxicating mix of Monarchy,Nightwaves and maybe even a less-shrill Dan Black, the 22-year-old is also seemingly a graphic design whizz.
Japayork's track 'Our Now' is something of a corker and comes backed with a moody video that shows off his aforementioned design skills.
Check out his Myspace to see what else is lurking up his sleeve.
Since stumbling across his track 'Diminishing Returns' in one of the Skins advertisements last week, I've developed something of an infatuation for Ali Love.
Even if the name doesn't ring a bell, you've surely encountered Love before as the vocalist on The Chemical Brothers' monster 2007 hit, 'Do It Again'.
The Prince-esque electro-funk of his first album didn't really grab me but, after hearing his track 'Love Harder', that gradually builds around a chunky bassline borrowed from Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax', I think I've been converted.
The sound reminds me of a more synthy Esser and I suspect Love will continue to draw comparisons to The Purple One. However, if these two tracks are anything to go by, Love's forthcoming album might see him ruffle the perfectly-preened feathers of the reigning synthpop princesses.
Honeythieves is a new musical project that comes courtesy of Cuban-born, Miami-based singer Liset Alea, French producer Alexkid and German producer Olivier Matteu.
The Transatlantic trio claim to be "less a regular band than a musical meeting of minds", working on new material seperately in their respective homeplaces before pooling their individual contributions and seeing what comes out in the wash.
This may all sound a bit gimicky but, if new single 'The Reminder' is anything to go by, they might be on to a good thing.
Liset's smoky vocal combined with jaunty synths that the Eurythmics are probably expecting returned any day now make for a slinky slice of electro-soul:
The RAC remix of the track is also worth a spin. Maybe two.
As much as I enjoy the synthpop direction she's taken, I'd love to see a couple of these, in some shape or form, on her album when it's released in February.
The BBC's 'Sound Of 2010' longlist has been published and it makes for some interesting reading.
The annual attempt at second-guessing what we'll all be listening to over the next twelve months generally throws up an eclectic mix and this year is no different. The good news is that a number of my favourite new acts (Marina & The Diamonds, Ellie Goulding, Hurts, Everything Everything) have all been earmarked for big things.
I've heard good stuff from quite a few of the others (Stornoway, The Drums, Two Door Cinema Club, Delphic) but, as ever, there's also a few I know absolutely nothing about (Rox, Giggs, Devlin.)
The top 10 will be announced in January. Here's a reminder of how things panned out last year:
1. Little Boots 2. White Lies 3. Florence and the Machine 4. Empire of the Sun 5. La Roux 6. Lady Gaga 7. VV Brown 8. Passion Pit 9. Kid Cudi 10. Dan Black
As you can see, a few predictions were wide of the mark but some were spookily accurate. I'll be investigating the 2010 contenders over the next few days and trying to distinguish the Lady Gagas from the VV Browns. If you fancy doing likewise, check out Persona Sauna's post that features an MP3 by each artist.
At this time of year, there's a dearth of bloggers making lists in the vein of 'Sound of 2010'. The best I've come across is Neon Gold's, which contains some hefty overlap with the BBC list but also includes the brilliant Erik Hassle, Sky Ferreira, Penguin Prison and Starsmith.
The Sky Ferreira campaign seems to be gathering momentum, with more and more tracks trickling through every few weeks.
She's been working with a variety of top producers producers including Bloodshy & Avant, Paul Epworth, Greg Kurstin and The Shoes, giving rise to a decidedly eclectic output.
Two tracks that she worked on with hotly-tipped producer and remix artist Skeet Skeet have now come into circulation.
'Happy Dre' artfully fuses The Beatles' 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' with Dr. Dre's 'Still Dre', sounding considerably less shoe-horned than you might expect:
Meanwhile, 'Stand Back' is a souped-up version of Stevie Nicks' classic track. Hardcore Stevie fans probably won't appreciate it but I have no qualms about embracing it:
21-year-old Aussie 'skate-rat' Jonathan Boulet's 'A Community Service Announcement' is the kind of indie anthem that would sound right at home on the '(500) Days of Summer' soundtrack. Instead, it soundtracks this rather excellent video, directed by New Zealand duo Special Problems.
Boulet seemingly survived this ordeal and his debut album is scheduled for release next month.
Brother and sister pair Muchuu seem to be causing something of a stir with their brand of dreamy electropop, permeating the blogosphere at an impressively swift rate.
State's Alan Reilly notes that practically every write-up about the duo sees them described as 'cute' and, although most writers also acknowledge the "crimson undertones" that prevent their music from being sickly saccharine, the video for their debut single 'Somebody Tell Me' is pure unadulterated cuteness:
The single is out next week with an album 'Adventure We Go' due in 2010.
Back in 2007, I had a short-lived but rather intense love affair with the music of Kate Nash. The story goes that Kate fell down the stairs, broke her leg, and, out of sheer boredom, picked up a guitar and penned the collection of songs that were the basis for her tragically over-produced debut album, 'Made of Bricks'.
Had it been a synthesizer and not a guitar that Kate had chosen to use in writing the songs, I imagine the demos she produced would have sounded something like The Good Natured. Although 19-year-old Sarah McIntosh's London accent is perhaps not as grating as poor Kate's, there's more tham a passing similarity between the two girls' voices.
Teaming shimmery synths, staccato drumbeats and heartfelt lyrics, McIntosh's music is both absorbing and addictive. Each new track she posts on her Myspace is better than the next and she's definitely worth earmarking as one to watch.
We've had no shortage of female-fronted outfits pushing the boundaries of 'pop' of late, helping to restore honour to the much-maligned genre . Alas, there seems to be decidedly fewer male singers offering antidotes to the ballad-loving boybands and reality TV rejects that continue to plague the upper reaches of the charts.
Enter Wolf Gang, aka 22-year-old Londoner Max McElligott. Channeling influences like Talking Heads, David Bowie and Roxy Music, he crafts glorious pop ditties that are a damn site more interesting than recent output by the likes of Robbie Williams and Mika.
Last week, I was delighted to be able to do a DJ set at The Bernard Shaw Carboot Sale, thanks to Chewy. Apart from a couple of technical glitches as a result of me completely forgetting how to use the equipment, I was pretty happy with how it went.
It might sound really sad but there are few things that give me a bigger kick than somebody asking me the name of a song or remix I've played. It doesn't happen especially often (people are more inclined to ask for "something a bit more current, like 'Sweet Dreams' by Beyoncé") but the crowd at Bernard Shaw were a little more receptive than usual.
One track that went down especially well was Nightwaves' 'She's Electric':
Nightwaves are Californian duo Kyle Petersen and Josh Legg, who produce exactly the type of bassy electro-disco they'd be inclined to sign to their label or feature on their blog. As well as 'She's Electric', they've a number of other great tracks currently tickling my fancy...
I first stumbled across big-voiced Birmingham belter Clare Maguire when she featured in Illegal Tender's 'tips for 2009' and I immediately fell in love with the demo for her track 'Strangest Thing'.
