Friday, 15 January 2016

Spotlight: Eliza and the Bear (15/01/16)


Eliza and the Bear are the Essex quintet to watch this year; as James Kellegher (vocals), Callie Noakes (keyboard), Martin Dukelow (guitar), Chris Brand (bass) and Paul Jackson (drums) tour the UK and release their eponymous debut album - set for release on 8th April (2016). 
Starting as a hobby with no intention of releasing records and no wish to play gigs; the band have grown from making music just for fun, to performing on festival stages and their singles being synced everywhere from a Masterchef final, the BBC's Olympics coverage, to a cider advert and a daytime TV gardening show they'd rather not discuss... Whether you know it or not, you've heard their music... 

'It Gets Cold' Single Review:
This is the second single to be taken from their debut album, and it's fantastic. It stands true to Eliza and the Bear's indie pop / rock sound and shouts fun, from the track, to the music video, to every time I've seen them perform it live. It's infectious energy and upbeat forces you to sing along and tap along to the drums. All the layers come together to create an incredible sound, a perfect single and I'm very ready for their album, just got a few months to wait, so to fill that time I'll be seeing them on their tour!


See Eliza & The Bear Live:
19th January: Arts Centre, Colchester
20th January: Portland Arms, Cambridge
21st January: Waterfront, Norwich
22nd January: Roadmenders, Northampton
23rd January: The Horn, St. Albans
25th January: Boileroom, Guildford
26th January: Forum, Tunbridge Wells
28th January: Joiners, Southampton
29th January: Moles, Bath
30th January: The Bullingdon, Oxford
1st February: Mangos, Falmouth
2nd February: Cavern, Exeter
3rd February: Clwb lfor Bach, Cardiff
4th February: Guildhall, Gloucester
5th February: Sugarmill, Stoke
6th February: The Live Rooms, Chester
8th February: Bodega, Nottingham
9th February: Studio 2, Liverpool
10th February: Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
11th February: Electric Circus, Edinburgh
12th February: The Georgian Theatre, Stockton
13th February: Fruit, Hull
15th February: Duchess, York
16th February: Plug, Sheffield
18th February: Scholar Bar, Leicester
19th February: Also Known As, Banbury

Eliza & The Bear's Links:

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Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Check It Out #12 (13/01/16)

1. Heroes - David Bowie
Following the sad news on Monday, I felt it only right to kick this week's check it out with a classic from David Bowie. I decided on 'Heroes' as it captures his sound and all that he stands for pretty perfectly. Although at the time of its release, the song didn't gain huge popularity in the UK or US, it finally peaked at #1 in the UK Singles Chart, and is now the second most covered Bowie song, behind 'Rebel Rebel'.

2. Old Satellites - hd hausman
'Old Satellites' is the first track on hd hausman's debut album 'Wring the Moisture from the Surf'. They've created a fantastic seven track release full of folk infused soundscapes, which are easy to lose yourself in and escape to... Enjoy!

3. Flora - Beaty Heart
South London trio, Beaty Heart, have announced the release of their new single 'Flora', set for impact on 26th February (2016), as well as a headline show at Electrowerkz, London on Wednesday 13th April (tickets). These guys are a band to keep your eyes on and your ears tuned in for this year... 

Flora - Beaty Heart (link)

 4. The Best You Ever Had - Teddybears ft. Gorilla Zoe
The multi-award winning Teddybears have reopened the door to mid-90s electronica with their new single 'The Best You Ever Had'. Having previously worked with the likes of Cee Lo Green, Sia, Iggy Pop and Ellie Goulding, they've now teamed up with US rapper, Gorilla Zoe, to create this fantastic track...
5. The Gun - Molly Anna
'The Gun' is the follow up single to 'Villain', which was released in October 2015to raise funds and awareness for Samaritans. Molly Anna will be releasing their self-produced debut EP 'Ghosts' on 30th January (2016), but until then enjoy their latest single from the EP, a beautiful, hauntingly honest and emotive track...
The Gun - Molly Anna (link)

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Monday, 11 January 2016

Feature: MAASAI (11/01/16)


MAASAI are Stockholm-based duo, Dominique Teymouri and Zackarias Ekelund. They met each other between music projects and soon realised they should join forces. They released two tracks, 'The Healer' and 'Forgive Me', giving their captive audience something to hold on to while waiting for their debut album. The follow up track 'Collide' was then announced as the lead track from the album, 'Feeling Blue, Seeing Orange' and has gone on to be released and gain support from their supporters, press and anyone else who listens. We caught up with Dominique and Zackarias for a Q&A... 

General Questions:

1. How old were you when you started getting involved in music and how?
Z: I started playing drums at the music school when I was about 8 years old. Before that I was drumming on everything I could get a hold on, buckets, pans and sometimes even my smaller brothers. 
D: It's very cliché, but I've been singing ever since I can remember. I think I was about five years old when my parents bought me a little toy synth. One that synth I wrote my first tunes and melodies. 

2. What is the most inspiring musical performance you've ever seen?
D: Björk at the Hollywood Bowl. 
Z: It must have been when I saw Sting live. I had a front row seat and the gig was just pure magic. 

3. Who have you been listening to lately?
Z: Multi-Love by Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Just a great album in my opinion. 
D: Kelela!

3 Qs for MAASAI:

1. Which three countries would you most like to tour and why?
1. Japan - It has beautiful nature surroundings, and the sushi of course! 
2. US - The American music scene is huge and embraces all sorts of genres. 
3. Australia - Sunshine! 

2. How / why did your name 'MAASAI' come about?
For us MAASAI is a metaphor for solidarity. We wanted to choose a name that represents our values. 

3. What track from your debut album 'Feeling Blue, Seeing Orange', means the most to you and why?
D: Every track on the album has it's own story and mean just as much to me as the other so I can't pick only one. 
Z: Lighthouse - It's heavy like bricks, and also very fun playing live. 

Random Q:

If you could go to the moon, which song would you play first and why?
Z: I would probably do the moon walk straight up. It's so hard to sing without oxygen! 
D: Haha, I would probably by instinct sing the Frank Sinatra versions of Fly Me To The Moon. 

'Feeling Blue, Seeing Orange' Album Review:
'Feeling Blue, Seeing Orange' is one of my favourite albums I've listened to in the past few months. Starting with an intense and atmospheric soundscape, 'Nairobi', offers an instrumental intro to the release. 'Forgive Me' follows on perfectly, contrasting the slow, smooth strings and vocals against the skipping keys and upbeat drums, making it stand out as a highlight of mine from the album. The lead track, 'Collide', is another favourite of mine, it's both lyrically and musically powerful and is a track I'd happily play over and over again. 
'Memories' is another memorable and wonderfully melodic song, with the drums highlighted throughout. Whilst listening to 'Haunted' I could understand why people have been saying MAASAI's music echoes the likes of Sia and Florence + The Machine, again the drums are positioned perfectly and work together brilliantly with the other layers in the track. Another stand out track for me is 'I.D.S.H' starting with steel drums and growing into a fantastically frantic instrumentation with the intensity of Dominique's vocals laying over the top. 'Grow' shows a slightly slower and emotive side to MAASAI, however the song still grows into one of their uniquely fierce choruses. The album closes with 'The Healer' and 'Devil's Dance', both brilliant tracks and slowly fading the album out, ending with 'Lighthouse', slower again and stripped back a little more compared to the others. 
Overall, a fantastic album, that I've had on repeat since the release. This fantastic duo deserve to go far, and I'm sure (and hope) this isn't the last you'll hear of Dominique and Zackarias... 


MAASAI's Links:
'Feeling Blue, Seeing Orange' (iTunes): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/feeling-blue-seeing-orange

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Friday, 8 January 2016

Spotlight: Luke Rathborne (08/01/16)


Luke Rathborne is back following up on the promise of his debut LP 'SOFT'; which gained over 3 million streams on Spotify, Radio 1 airplay from Zane Lowe and glowing press acclaim. The New York City based artist now releases 'Losing It' as the first single from his forthcoming full length LP, 'AGAIN', set for release in March (2016). Rathborne's also announced a co-headline tour with Captured Track's Alex Caldner across the USA this Spring, with UK dates to be announced, we'll keep you posted!

'Losing It' Single Review:
'Losing It' is a fantastic track, with elements of 70's pop crossed with modern melodic guitars, brilliant bass and drums tight and steadily adding to the track with percussion in the chorus too. It's an upbeat and infectious track with mesmerising keys and spacious synths and vocals smoothly washing together to create an incredible sound. 


Luke's USA Tour:
8th March: Great Scott - Boston, MA*
9th March: Elvis Guesthouse - NYC*
10th March: DC9 - Washington DC*
12th March: Savannah Stopover Festival - Savannah
14th March: Gasa Gasa - New Orleans*
15th - 18th March: SXSW (TBA)
21st March: Valley of the Vapors Festival - Hot Springs, AR
24th March: Lowbrow Palace - El Paso, TX*
25th March: Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ*
26th March: Hideout - San Diego, CA*
28th March: Continental Room - Fullerton, CA*
29th March: Club Bahia - Los Angeles, CA*
30th March: The Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA*
1st April: Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR*
2nd April: Barboza - Seattle, WA*
3rd April: Cobalt - Vancouver, BC*
5th April: Kilby Court - Salt Lake City*
6th April: Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO*
(* - w/ Alex Caldner)


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Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Check It Out #11 (06/01/16)

1. Ocean - Patrik Jakubowski
Patrik Jakubowski, member of Swedish 'grunge' band, Riddarna, went solo last year with his debut EP 'Ocean' and this is the title track. This a beautiful release, with the wonderful connection between music and video. The track holds a brilliant calmness, thanks to the acoustic guitar underlying Patrik's vocals, which add a powerful and emotive element to the song, a true song for the sea.

2. Adventure Of A Lifetime - Coldplay
British band Coldplay returned at the end of last year with some brilliant new music. 'Adventure Of A Lifetime' was released on 6th November (2015) as the lead single from their seventh studio album, 'A Head Full Of Dreams'. So far, it's peaked at #7 in the UK Singles Chart (and unfortunately don't think it'll be getting any higher), but it's currently one of my favourites from the charts.

3. Up Up And Away - Newton Faulkner
This is the latest video from Newton Faulkner's fifth studio album, Human Love,. 'Up Up And Away' follows the first release from the album, a cover of Major Lazer's 'Get Free' and is a fantastically energising track. The album as a whole is great, showing Newton's skill as a guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and all-round musician.

4. Domino - Hozier
Hozier joined a mixed line up on Jools Holland's Hootenanny at New Years; amongst the songs he performed, he included a brilliant cover of 'Domino', the hit song written by Van Morrison. The original was released in 1970 as the first of three singles from his fourth album 'His Band and The Street Choir'. It reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, surpassing his signature song 'Brown Eyed Girl', which had charted at #10 in the same year. Enjoy!

5. Star Wars Ultimate Piano Medley - Sonya Belousova
Star Wars has taken over the world yet again in recent months, and don't worry there will be no spoilers in this post for those of you who still haven't managed to see it. Instead here's a fantastic medley from the soundtracks of Stars Wars played on varying designs of pianos (my personal favourite is the R2-D2 one...), enjoy all 10 minutes of this wonderful piece!

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Monday, 4 January 2016

Feature: ALXNDR (04/01/16)


Newcastle's favourite 90's infused alternative pop band, ALXNDR, ended 2015 with their debut EP release, a tweak in their name and line up. The North-East (UK) three-piece have embarked on multiple headline tours featuring sold out shows, and have just announced they'll be back on the road in April 2016 for their biggest headline tour to date! ALXNDR have received a large amount of regional radio support and national TV exposure, as well as continuous support from BBC Introducing, including a live session. We caught up with Anth Snowdon (vocalist) for a Q&A about all things music... 

General Questions:

1. How old were you when you started getting involved in music and how?
We met each other at college a few years back and have been tight friends ever since! We created and performed music together for a while until we decided to form ALXNDR and give it a real shot, but it's been a blast ever since! 

2. What is the most inspiring musical performance you've ever seen? 
I was really impressed with the Florence and The Machine show this year, she had an incredible live presence. 

3. Who have you been listening to lately?
The new Kendrick Lamar album is phenomenal, can't stop spinning that. 

3 Qs for ALXNDR:

1. Your band and EP name exclude vowels, what have you got against them haha?
It all started with the abbreviation for our name to be honest. We liked the idea of personifying the band name as one person to represent the three of us. We liked 'Alexander' as a strong name, after messing around with logo ideas we came to an agreement on the abbreviation. We thought it would be a little more unique and people wouldn't have such a hard time finding us online! 
Following suit with the first EP we settled on RWND, Rewind, there are so many reasons for the title. One being that we've released all tracks consecutively through the year. All of the other reasons are embedded in the nostalgic elements within our music on the EP, so it seemed fitting. 

2. If you could invite any three people, dead or alive, to one of your gigs; who would you ask and why?
Tupac and Biggie so I can ask them what the fuck happened! 

3. When writing your single 'You&Me', was it a collaborative effort or did you have specific roles within the band?
All of our writing is always a collaborative effort between the three of us, it always has been. We work so well together as a group and we just click when songwriting. We produce all of our tracks currently which makes writing even more fun for us. 

Random Q:

Ideal Friday night?
Play a show for sure. 

'RWND' EP Review:
This EP is a fantastically unique but typically alternative pop five track EP. For people who like The 1975, Saint Raymond and Wolf Choir, with elements of their sounds reminiscent in ALXNDR's tracks, especially the upbeat track of the release 'Four AM' (which is also one of my favourites from 'RWND'). 'Drive' opens the EP with a steady intro, catchy lyrics, with synths and layered vocals creating a brilliant track. The building of layers in 'The Pick Up' shows the skill the band have has musicians and holds an infectious element of 'the 90's'. 'Gemini' has a great chorus that would be perfect to sing along to live at one of their gigs, and the EP closes with their latest single 'YOU&ME'. It's has an atmospheric soundscape underlying the track throughout, which adds a wonderfully unique twist on the current usual alternative genre. 


See ALXNDR Live:
13th April: The Garage, London
14th April: O2  Academy 3, Birmingham
15th April: O2 Academy 2, Leicester
16th April: O2 Academy 2, Oxford
19th April: O2 Academy 3, Liverpool
20th April: O2 ABC2, Glasgow 
21st April: O2 Academy 2, Sheffield
22nd April: O2 Academy 2, Newcastle

ALXNDR's Links:

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Friday, 1 January 2016

Sound of 2016. (01/01/16)

Here's our list of 10 artists / bands that we think are going to get even bigger this year and will feature on our iPod for the next 12 months... Let us know if you agree with any, or if we missed anyone off! 

 Jack Garratt
Jack Garratt is probably the name you've heard the most on everyone's predictions for 2016, and that speaks volumes. I'm pretty sure he'll be taking to stages at loads of festivals, touring and gaining a popular single out of the year ahead, and everyone should be looking forward to his debut album 'Phase' (being released in February...) 

Billie Marten
2014 and 2015 have been pretty big years for Billie, and I hope that 2016 continues that on, she's an incredibly talented musician and hopefully we'll be hearing more new music from her very soon. 

Hinds
Hinds are a Spanish indie rock band, previously known as Deers. They're releasing their debut album 'Leave Me Alone' on 8th January and we think that's gonna be a release that kicks of their year pretty strong! 

Frank Hamilton
2015 was a quiet year for Frank Hamilton, however with a slight rebrand and new music ready to release, 2016 is set to see him release his second album, promising an upbeat, indie addition to his already brilliant sound... 

Frances
Frances has been another popular name amongst excitement for music in 2016... After hearing 'Grow', I found myself listening to the stunning songs of Frances more and more, and I'm sure that's only going to continue into this year, with more new music being released soon hopefully! 

The Japanese House
The incredible soundscapes created by The Japanese House are wonderful, every song they have released has been fantastic and I'm really looking forward to what they have to offer for 2016. 

Meadowlark
Meadowlark were included in our Best of 2015 and I'm sure we'll be including them in our Best of 2016 at the end of this year too, they are set to release their debut album this year and with 'Three Six Five' and 'Dual' EPs previously released there's a good chance it's gonna be a pretty epic album. 

Lauren Aquilina
Another artist that had a big 2015 and is now set to release their debut album is Lauren, she's recently released 'Ocean EP' which gained a lot of radio support, including air time on BBC Radio 1. Keep your ears peeled! 

AKA George
After a busy year, releasing a new song every first Friday of the month, armed with new material, I'm hoping it leads to an exciting release or at least another creative project to follow on from... 

Me and The Moon
Locally for us, we reckon Me and The Moon are gonna be the big band of 2016. They've already ended 2015 on a high, but I think they're going to end 2016 even higher... watch this space! 

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