Want to hear something absolutely mental? It’s the new song from London based duo BIGkids. Superhero, is just a brilliantly loopy track, loaded to the brim with pumping verses and distorted samples and that bounce-along-like-you’re-pissed-or-crazy chorus. It’s a glorious, rambunctious, dysfunctional anthem.
The song is accompanied by a video featuring child versions of BIGkids, aka Ben Hudson and Rosie Oddie. Now, we’ve seen popstars use child actors to portray them in the past, but never swigging tins of shandy down alleyways and brushing their gums with what is hopefully sherbet dip.
Jazz isn’t normally my thing, but I’ll make the odd exception for crossover artists like Norah Jones or Madeline Peyroux. So, when an email about Melody Gardot landed in my inbox the other day, I almost passed it by, fearing that I didn’t have the vocabulary or understanding of the genre to write a few pithy words about this new – to me, at least – artist.
At this point, however, I feel like I’ve totally immersed myself in Gardot’s art and music. Her story is something unique and utterly inspiring. Knocked down while out cycling, Melody suffered severe head, spine and pelvis injuries. However, the accident also left her hyper-sensitive to light and sound, which for a musician must be a devastating thing to have to deal with. In this interview with Anthony Mason, Melody talks about living each day in constant pain.
The rise of the guitarist/drummer duo is upon us. Although the lynchpins of the movement, The White Stripes, have gone their separate ways, we’ve still got anthem-factory The Black Keys and rising stars Cairo Knife Fight. If you like these bands – and we do – you’ll love Wave Sleep Wave.
Teaming up guitarist/frontman Jerry Adler and drummer Yuval Lion for the first time since their days in New York’s indie-rock group The Blam, Wave Sleep Wave manages to create deeply layered sonic masterpieces. Lead single Hey… What? should give you some idea of what to expect from this outfit: rich, echoing guitars twinned with funky, compelling beats. And above it all, Adler regales us with stories told in a drawling, punky tone.
When I hear the sound of someone striking up a mandolin within the first few bars of a song, I often run screaming for the hills. Why? Because it’s usually an early warning about a pretentious, folksy outfit.
No worries of that with Imagine Dragons though. I’m talking about our song of the day, It’s Time by the Las Vegas four (or five)-piece, which kicks off with those potentially worrying mandolin lines and a handclap rhythm line. But persevere through the intro and you’ll be rewarded with a song that has elements of acoustic simplicity coupled with the Snow Patrol-esque (yes, I made it a word) ability to write a pounding anthemic chorus. Hit the play button above and read on…
Meet Ukrainian singer Mika Newton – who represented her country in last year’s Eurovision contest, and who’s now heading for the United States of America to find fame and fortune on the international pop scene.
Why should you care? We don’t often hear from eastern-European artists after they’ve sang their piece on the Eurovision. But Mika has got some solid backing behind her – she’s been working with American Idol veteran Randy Jackson and a team of incredible songwriters that includes BC Jean (who wrote Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy) and Adam Lambert/Daughtry collaborator Rune Westberg.
I’m a sucker for a girl with an afro. Which is why Nabiha Bensouda is so immediately interesting to me. Add to that her irresistable smile and unique sense of style, and I’m sold.
Need something to kickstart the week ahead and blow the cobwebs of your hangover away? Well, I can’t think of a better bunch of lads to do that than The Ocean’s Eyes. They’re just unleashed the first video from their Lost Along The Way E.P., and the track – Room Of Red is the sonic equivalent of holding a stick of dynamite to your ear and then lighting the fuse.
We think this debut single from LA-based pop-rockers IT Boys is a daring move. We’d never heard guys singing about being so hot that other guys don’t like them. In fact, we’re not even sure it’s a widespread problem in reality. It’s more the sort of thing that we’d be expecting bitchy teenage girls (or Avril Lavigne who seems to think she’s a bitchy teenage girl) to be singing about.
But anyhoo, it seems like the IT Boys are so self-professedly sexy that they can sing Guys Don’t Like Me with complete confidence…
For a British duo who formed in 2009, Graffiti6 are already making significant waves Stateside. They’ve recently stopped by Jay Leno’s Tonight Show to perform their new single Free, which is as fine a piece of pop-soul music as we’ve heard in many years. But first…
Oi, don’t I know you? Remember back when Leona Lewis released Bleeding Love, and a group called Jamie Scott and the Town did a brilliant acoustic cover of it? Well that’s Jamie Scott, who is now the lead singer of Graffiti6! Small world, innit, readers?
It’s our sincere pleasure to bring you something wonderful, something that’s the musical equivalent of being brutally beaten around the head with a blunt instrument. It’s the music of the inventively-named Cairo Knife Fight.
Naturally for a band named after an Egyptian city, Cairo Knife Fight are actually from New Zealand, a country that is not known for its pyramids. Regardless of their heritage, this hairy duo rock. And they rock hard. The two gentlemen you see above are porn-tache wearer Nick Gaffaney (drums/vocals/bass keys) and guitarist/bandana aficionado Aaron Tokona. Read more & comment »
Want to hear something absolutely mental? It’s the new song from London based duo BIGkids. Superhero, is just a brilliantly loopy track, loaded to the brim with pumping verses and distorted samples and that bounce-along-like-you’re-pissed-or-crazy chorus. It’s a glorious, rambunctious, dysfunctional anthem.
Meet Ukrainian singer 
It’s our sincere pleasure to bring you something wonderful, something that’s the musical equivalent of being brutally beaten around the head with a blunt instrument. It’s the music of the inventively-named Cairo Knife Fight.
