Manchester-based singer songwriter Liz Green started out playing acoustic nights in cafés and pubs in early 2005. Night after night, she built a loyal following which lead to a record deal with burgeoning local label, Humble Soul. The style she has developed is somewhere between country and blues, but the overriding impression Liz leaves is one of a unique, natural performer with a remarkable, rich voice. But while many commentators only talk about her bluesy voice, which sounds like it comes from a 30s American Deep South diva, they tend to overlook her skills as an inspired songwriter. Indeed, through her timeless, unique voice, she delivers powerful yet subtle lyrics that would break the heart of even the most empty individual.
She has released two critically lauded singles on Humble Soul, with sessions and airplay on BBC Radio 1,2,3 and 6 Music, alongside online, local and regional shows. Show her some love on MySpace.
Formed in 2000 in Copenhagen, indie rock band Efterklang consists of four core members: Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen, Thomas Husmer and Rasmus Stolberg. The original lineup also included Rune Mølgaard, but he has taken a more secluded role since 2007. When performing live, the four-piece band is regularly complemented by three or more members for live gigs.
Efterklang’s third full-length album Magic Chairs finds the band expanding on their already expansive sound, while diving into the core of their ever evolving music. The first single, “Modern Drift”, is available as a free download and the album will be released on 22nd February 2010 courtesy of British label 4AD, home to bands such as Bon Iver, TV on the Radio or St Vincent.
Efterklang – Modern Drift [right click to download]
Efterklang will set off on a full American and European tour in March 2010. Get more info from their official site or MySpace.
Nikka Vallo and Samaranch are two Moscow-based musicians and DJs whose deep-rooted love of music naturally drove them to explore the sounds of dance music. Their sets are already famous in the city’s best alternative clubs and they have shared bills with a number of international acts. The two have been collaborating for years now under the moniker Soundblasters and their collaboration has now risen to a new level with the long-awaited release of their first original track, “Asleep in Paris”.
SoundBlasters – Asleep in Paris [right click to download]
You can get in touch with Soundblasters through their MySpace or check out their Facebook.
New York-based Shy Child is a duo formed in 2000 by Pete Cafarella (vocals and keytar) and Nate Smith (drums). The two had previously played together in the band El Guapo (now called Supersystem). The band were signed to UK label Wall Of Sound in 2006 and they have toured extensively in the US and abroad. Their new LP, Liquid Love, should be out next month on March 15th. More info on their official site and on MySpace.
Shy Child – Disconnected (Anoraak Remix)
French artist Anoraak gave the track “Disconnected” the remix treatment with his usual and unmistakable electropop touch. Funky bass line and shiny synths enhance the dancey potential of the track with brio. Check out Anoraak on MySpace and visit the Valerie Collective blog.
The Beaches and Friends EP is a fantastic collection of deliciously anachronic tunes! French Horn Rebellion and Database (and multiple remixers) take us back to the 80’s and beyond with the different renditions of the gorgeous title track “Beaches and Friends”. Check it out below and buy it on iTunes.
French Horn Rebellion vs Database – Beaches and Friends
French Horn Rebellion are Robert Perlick Molinari and David Perlick Molinari, two brothers from Milwaukee who are now based in Brooklyn. You’ll be wondering where the band’s name come from. Well, Robert actually plays the French horn but, after spending some time playing in an orchestra, he allegedly decided to rebel against the constrains of this discipline. Hence the name French Horn Rebellion. FHR have done some lush remixes for artists such as Two Door Cinema Club, Empire of the Sun or Magic Magic.
Find out more about them on MySpace.
Database are Lucio Morais and Yuri Chix. Based in São Paolo, the two are childhood friends who started working the decks in 2005 and gathered crowds of followers on the dance floor of São Paulo’s legendary club “AmpGalaxy”, now extinct. In 2008, Database released their first compilation, Uglyedits vol.1, which was later followed by the Miami EP (released on Southern Fried Records) and Uglyedits vol.2 in 2009. After collaborating with artists such as Metronomy or Golden Bug, they are now teaming up with FHR to rock the dancefloors with some solid nu-disco tunes.
More info and tour dates on MySpace.
Moullinex (now spealt with two l’s) is the moniker of Dj/producer/composer Luis Clara Gomes, who is originally from Viseu, a small countryside town in Portugal, but now based in Munich. Ever since his first productions started being released, he has received scores of remix requests by such artists as Sebastien Tellier, Cut Copy, Who Made Who or Two Door Cinema Club, and labels such as Kitsuné, Modular or Compost.
Sebastien Tellier – Kilometer (Moullinex Remix)
Cut Copy – Lights And Music (Moullinex Remix)
Between worldwide touring and constant studio work – and while refusing to give up a career in neurology and astronomy research – he also helped to found Discotexas, a record label and collective of artists from sunny Lisbon. Discotexas has just released the Forbidden Cuts EP featuring Moullinex, Xinobi and Rockets (download it for free HERE).
In 2009 Moullinex signed to Gomma Records, for which he is recording a full-length album. His first LP should be out in spring! On this album he is on a perpetual quest to avoid repetition of what he’s done before and this is why Luis invited friends to join his ranks. They helped him in shaping a sound always infused with eclecticism and also developed a live show, where fresh tracks are taken to a whole new level of interaction.
Moullinex – Leisure Suit [right click to download]
Show Moullinex some love on MySpace and check out tour dates!
Iranian musicians Ash Koshanejad and Negar Shaghaghi come from the undergroung music scene of Teheran and, together with Pooya Koosha and Kabeh Ayati, they are Take It Easy Hospital. Now based in the UK, where they have applied for political asylum, the band first attracted major media attention when they were featured in the Award winning film “No One Knows About Persian Cats” (or “Les Chats Persans”). The movie, directed by Bahman Ghobadi, explores the lives of Ash and Negar in Iran after Ash got a 21 day prison sentence for “Playing Music”. The pair wanders the streets of Teheran as they look for other musicians to form a band and move to London.
Take It Easy Hospital – Me and You [right click to download]
Now in the UK since January 2009, Ash and Negar say they can’t go back to Iran because there is no way they could live normally and play their music there, especially after the last elections. They would almost certainly get arrested by the morality police.
Since the film’s release, Take It Easy Hospital have released the Human Jungle EP (available for download at IndieStore) featuring some of the songs in the film as well as some of their other tunes. They are currently working in the studio and hope to release a fully-fledged album later this year.
Listen to more of their music on their official page on MySpace and heart them on Hype Machine..
Berlin-based indie pop act The Whitest Boy Alive is one of Erlend Øye’s many side projects. Besides being one half of indie folk duo Kings of Convenience, Øye has also collaborated with many artists and released a solo album a few years ago (listen to it HERE). In The Whitest Boy Alive, Erlend Øye is on guitars and vocals and is joined by Marcin Öz on bass, Sebastian Maschat on drums and Daniel Nentwig on keyboards.
They started as an electronic dance music project in 2003 in Berlin, but have since slowly developed into a band with no programmed elements. Their debut album, Dreams, was released on June 21, 2006 in Germany. The following year, in July 2007, Modular Records signed them to their UK imprint and re-released the album in the UK with the single “Burning” in November 2007.
The Whitest Boy Alive – Burning [right click to download]
The Band released their second album, Rules, in March 2009 to mixed reviews. Even though the album moves smoothly from one track to the next, it sometimes feels a little too formulaic, a little too rational. But the catchiest songs on Rules (“1517″ is one of them), do make up for the bits that fall flat…
The Whitest Boy Alive – 1517 [right click to download]
Chilean dreamwave wizard Barretso has already started to pique the attention of the hottest music blogs from around the globe, with his remix work on the likes of Justice, Monomen and Astro.
Astro – Hongo Atomic (Barretso Remix)
Ever since he dropped his first track “Midnight Walk”, the buzz has been building up around Barretso’s synthpop / nu disco styles. Now bloggers and music fans alike are all eagerly awaiting the release of his debut EP Bright City Lights. Well, the wait should be over soon! Tuff Em Up Records has announced the imminent release of Barretso’s first effort.
The EP will include “Midnight Walk” and a few remixes of the title track “Bright City Lights”. Influenced by the best of 80’s music, this track is a mix of nu-disco and electropop, built around smooth dreamy vocals. And more importantly, it will make you dance!! The remix we’re giving you just below is a funkier take on the original and it comes courtesy of Kolt13…
Barretso – Bright City Lights (KOLT13 Remix) [right click to download]
Barretso – Midnight Walk [right click to download]
Keep an eye out for Barretso’s first release and go show him some love on MySpace.
Sunglasses is a duo fronted by 8000 bam bam (Samuel Cooper) & Baby Seal (Brady Keehn). They first started working together at Savannah College of Art and Design during the post production stage of Samuel’s senior thesis film, MILES. Once the work was completed, the two had worked so well together on the project that starting a new one only made sense. Thus Sunglasses was born.
Sunglasses – Whiplash [right click to download]
The track they sent us, “Whiplash”, is an insanely catchy tune and may remind you of bands such as MGMT or Passion Pit. This song really bends genre boundaries, mixing a very reggae-like rhythm, elements of indie pop music and electronic bleeps and bops. Listen to it a couple of times and you’ll instantly feel like it’s summer all over again. Not a small feat in this cold weather…
Stop by Sunglasses’ MySpace and say hi!
The xx is a bunch of 19-year-old South Londoners who make stark, synthy and woefully simplistic indie music. The four members of the band originally met at Elliott School, a school famous for alumni including Hot Chip and Four Tet. Their debut album, xx, was released on Young Turks Records on 17 August 2009 to much critical acclaim (download it on iTunes). It was produced by the band themselves and recorded in a small garage that was part of the XL studios. This setting and the fact that the recording sessions often took place at night contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album.
The first single “Crystalised” is here given the remix treatment by Popular Damage, a dance-electro outfit which has been described as “a poppier version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs crossed with Daftpunk!”
The XX – Crystalised (Popular Damage Assimilation) [right click to download]
The band have toured with The Big Pink and Micachu. They also supported Florence and the Machine on her tour during September 2009, before embarking on a tour of their own in October 2009.
Florence and The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX Rework) [alternative link]
On 11 November 2009, it was confirmed that keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the band after missing several scheduled shows, citing exhaustion. She will not be replaced, and the band will continue as a three-piece. More info + tour dates on MySpace…
Swedish band Miike Snow was formed a couple of years ago in Stockholm and took the world by storm last year, becoming one of the most blogged about bands of 2009 (see what we wrote about their single “Animal” here). The band consists of American singer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt, and composers/producers Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, also known as Bloodshy & Avant. Their eponymous debut album was released in 2009 to much critical acclaim and the band has since been touring and sharing bills with acts such as Digitalism, The Ting Tings or MGMT.
Miike Snow – Silvia (Sinden Remix) [right click to download]
Their new single “Silvia” drops today, January 25th, and comes with glorious remixes by Sinden, Hugg and Pepp, Robotberget, etc… Download it on iTunes…
Miike Snow – Silvia (Robotberget Remix) [right click to download]
The video is quite cold and stark with the band making an appearance in it as well. Marcus Söderlund is the director of the video.
