Morning Parade - Under The Stars

Gradually building a tonne of hype over the past few months after being revealed by Illegal Tender, Morning Parade are clearly right on the cusp of something huge. Having recently signed a major-label deal after a frantic A&R scrum, the five-piece from Essex are ready to finally start pushing their sound to a wider audience.

Steve Sparrow, Chad Thomas, Phil Titus, Ben Giddings and Andy Hayes are five friends from Essex who play dance inspired, anthemic rock for the masses. They craft dramatic, heart-on-the-sleeve anthems, fusing electronics with guitar parts and keys with self-assured emotion.

Debut single Under The Stars will be released on November 29 and the band are currently putting the finishing touches to their debut album.



Morning Parade @ MySpace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Subculture, Illegal Tender, Faux

James Blake - Limit To Your Love

James Blake is a 22-year-old producer who has been studying contemporary music at Blur's alma mater Goldsmiths College, and in a way it sounds as though he's regurgitating a lot of what he's learned, in the best possible way.

He makes dubstep music, but not the typical dank, dark dubstep dude. His songs creep forward and there's lots of heavy bass, but at the same time there's also a playful soulfulness to his tracks, which often feature his own singing voice slowed down by digital effects. The result is a bit like Moby's Play.

He recently followed up his Klavierwerke EP by covering Feist’s Limit to Your Love.



James Blake @ MySpace, Facebook

Source: Guardian, Pitchfork

Goose - Words

Goose are a Belgian electro rock band consisting of members Mickael Karkousse, Dave Martijn, Tom Coghe, and Bert Libeert.

The band was formed in the summer of 2000 in Kortrijk, Belgium. Although first starting out as an AC/DC-like covers group, they quickly turned to writing and recording their own songs, heavily incorporating synthesizers into them.

They won Humo's Rock Rally in 2002 and later that year recorded their debut single Audience with Teo Miller. Coca Cola used their debut single for TV adverts across Europe. They were signed to Skint Records in 2006 and released their second single Black Gloves in July that year.

Their newest album Synrise has just been released preceded by first single Words.



Goose @ MySpace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia

The Coral - 1000 Years

The Coral are an English band formed in 1996 by school friends James Skelly, Nick Power, Bill Ryder-Jones, Lee Southall, Ian Skelly and Paul Duffy. The sextet began working on their own material almost as soon as they had learned to play their instruments properly. The band's music is a mixture of old-fashioned country, 1960s-style psychedelia and folk with modern rock influences.

The band was discovered in rehearsal by ex-Shack associate Alan Wills, who was impressed enough to set up the Deltasonic Records label for them. A recording contract with Sony Records was not long in following, and the Coral broke through into the mainstream in the new millennium with a series of releases that found them fêted as one of the UK's most original new acts.

Their 7th album Butterfly House was released on July 12, 2010 and produced by John Leckie (The Stone Roses, Radiohead). The album includes singles 1000 years and More Than A Lover. This is The Coral's first album without Guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, who departed in 2008.



The Coral @ MySpace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia

Graffiti6 - Annie You Save Me

The unlikely pairing of producer Tommy D (Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kylie Minogue and producer of Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy) and singer/songwriter Jamie Scott (of Jamie Scott & The Town) began 18 months ago as an experiment neither thought would work.

When the pair met for a writing session they came up with a track called Stare Into the Sun, which was picked last summer for the Sun's TV ad campaign, and Graffiti6 was formed.

They went for Graffiti6 because they're really into graffiti and when they play live there are 6 musicians.

The band decided to put out their own music on their own label and recently released EP Stone In My Heart in March 2010 and full-length album Colours in September. Annie You Save Me is their second single.



Graffiti6 @ Twitter, MySpace, Facebook

Source: Guardian, Wikipedia

!!! - AM/FM

!!! (pronounced /ˈtʃɪk ˈtʃɪk ˈtʃɪk/ chik chik chik) is a dance-punk band, formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996.

The band's name was inspired by the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the clicking sounds of the Bushmens' Khoisan language were represented as "!". However, as the bandmembers themselves say, !!! is pronounced by repeating thrice any monosyllabic sound. Chk Chk Chk is the most common pronunciation.

!!! was formed after the demise of the mid-'90s hardcore act Yah Mos. While on tour, members of Yah Mos, including !!! singer Nic Offer, envisioned forming a band oriented more toward danceable music, and once they returned to Sacramento, CA, they decided to turn their working concept into an actual group.

The band is composed of Mario Andreoni, Dan Gorman, Nic Offer, Tyler Pope and Allan Wilson. Touring members include Shannon Funchess, Sean McGahan and Paul Quattrone. The band's former drummer, Jerry Fuchs, died in 2009 after falling down an elevator shaft.

On August 24 !!! released their 4th album Strange Weather, Isn't It?. The first track AM/FM combines some great elements of the late ‘80s Manchester sound.



!!! @ Facebook, Twitter, MySpace

Source: Wikipedia, Discogs

Miami Horror - I Look to You (feat. Kimbra)

Miami Horror is an electro-pop act from Melbourne, originally the brainchild of 22-year-old Benjamin Plant and now a newly formed live band.

Influenced by dance-pop artists of the 1970s and 1980s, Plant first made a name for himself using the moniker Miami Horror with a series of remixes that include Stardust's Music Sounds Better with You and Tegan and Sara's Walking with a Ghost. As Miami Horror, Plant made his commercial debut in 2008 with a five-track EP, Bravado

Yet it was while Plant was punching out his EP that Miami Horror took off in a completely new and different direction. Characteristically wanting to flex his creative muscle and avoid the limitations of being stereotyped as simply a dance or electro act, he rewired Miami Horror and recruited Josh Moriarty, Aaron Shanahan and Daniel Whitechurch to form a new live band persona.

Miami Horror released their album Illumination in August 2010 together with single I Look to You featuring Kimbra.

If you're into crisp dance beats and moody, atmospheric synth tracks, you'll find a lot to like about this Australian electro act.



Miami Horror @ MySpace, LastFM, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia

Porcelain Raft - Talk To Me

There are few things more delicate than porcelain and a raft made of porcelain paints a fragile, if buoyant, picture. For the past few months, Porcelain Raft, has released some beautiful pieces of dream-pop.

As an Italian in London, Mauro Remiddi started off scoring short films before turning his attention to songs of heartbreak made of keyboards and subtle electronics with a psychedelic flair.

He has already released three EPs in 2010 (streaming from his bandcamp page) and makes his own videos, all available on his blog.

Checkout Talk to me below.



Porcelain Raft @: MySpace, bandcamp

Source: State

The Courteeners - You Overdid It Doll

"Forget preconceptions of boorish Manchester laddishness – Morrissey’s championing of this fast-rising band is beginning to make sense". (BBC)

The Courteeners are an indie rock band formed in Middleton, England in 2006. The band members have known each other since they were ten years old.

While at the University, Liam Fray started to perform acoustic sets as a singer-songwriter around bars and at open-mic nights in Manchester. After getting positive reactions from the crowd, Fray decided to leave University and form a band. Liam first recruited long time friend Michael Campbell, who at the time had never played the drums before in his life. They continued to play under the name Liam Fray until Conan Moores (Guitar) and Mark Cuppello (Bass) joined to form the entire band.

They had their first gig at the Manchester Roadhouse in October 2006, and quickly went from strength to strength within Manchester. The Courteeners released their debut single Cavorting in August 2007.

Producer Stephen Street (Smiths, Blur and Morrissey) approached The Courteeners about the possibility of them working with each other. Together they set about working on the Courteeners' debut album St. Jude, released in April 2008.

Two years on from their English top five debut, the band's second album Falcon was released on February 2010. It was recorded at ICP Studios in Belgium and produced by Ed Buller (White Lies, Pulp, Suede).

The single You Overdid It Doll was released a week before the album's release.



The Courteeners @ Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Youtube

Source: Wikipedia

The Hoosiers - Choices

The Hoosiers (formerly The Hoosier Complex) started in 2007.

Original members Irwin Sparkes (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Alfonso Sharland (drums, percussion) took their moniker after leaving the outskirts of Reading, England, and embarking on a road trip throughout America, where they were offered football scholarships at the University of Indiana (the Hoosier-state).

Having gathered enough material to compile an album, Alphonso and Irwin returned to London where they met Martin Skarendahl (bass guitar, rhythm guitar), a Swedish ex-fireman who was then working as a recording studio engineer and studying at The London Music School

The Hoosiers' first two singles, Worried About Ray and Goodbye Mr. A peaked at the top five on the UK charts, debut album The Trick to Life went double-platinum upon its release in 2007.

The band have recently released their second album The Illusion of Safety preceded by lead single Choices.



The Hoosiers @ MySpace

Source: Wikipedia, iTunes, RCA

Penguin Prison - Something I'm Not

Penguin Prison is New York City electro pop singer, musician, producer and remixer Chris Glover.

His first attemps into the music business – singing in a gospel choir with Alicia Keys (with whom he shared a classroom), playing in punk groups in lower Manhattan, forming a boy band called the Smartest People At Bard (a crossover between the Beastie Boys and N-Sync) and a hip-hop venture that piqued Q-Tip's interest – didn't exactly set the world on fire.

Then came 2009. Glover started posting some rough tracks online and began to receive some serious amount of attention via his MySpace page.

His first single Animal, Animal recorded with mostly analogue equipment, has been compared with everyone from Hot Chip to '80s synth-icon Howard Jones.

Something I'm Not is his latest double a-side 7-inch for Neon Gold that precedes an album that's due later this year. The video was taken from footage of skype conversations between Roman and Chris Glover.



Penguin Prison @ MySpace, Twitter, Soundcloud

Source: Guardian, RCRDLBL

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks

Until now, the British-born Elson has been better known as a model, the face of ad campaigns for, among others, Armani, Prada, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium. While working as a model, she conducted an altogether different life behind the scenes as a singer and songwriter, honing what has proven to be her considerable skills.

In 2005 she married Jack White, whom she’d met on The White Stripes’ Blue Orchid video shoot, and she moved with him to Nashville, where they are now raising two children. This new life, balancing career and family, triggered a greater sense of urgency about her music and allowed her to ultimately cast aside the burden of self-doubt.

Elson worked behind closed doors, even keeping her songs from White. But one day he heard her singing and asked Elson to play what she’d been doing for him. Elson: “Jack doesn’t waste time. When he hears a song he really likes, he wants to go in and record it that day. He’s like that with anybody and it was the same with me. We went in, recorded it and it turned out to be the most liberating and fulfilling experience.”

Her debut album, The Ghost Who Walks, features Jackson Smith on guitar, Elson’s Citizens Band co-hort Rachelle Garniez on accordion and vocals, The Dead Weather’s Jack Lawrence on bass, My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on pedal steel and producer Jack White on drums.



Karen Elson @: MySpace, Facebook

Source: Karen Elson

Crystal Fighters - Follow Me

Crystal Fighters is an East London band of three gentlemen – two English and one American – and two Spanish girls.

Laure (vocals), Sebastian (lead vocals), Mimi (vocals), Graham (programming) and Gilbert (synths) blend traditional Basque folk music with heavy dance beats, energetic vocals and synthesisers.

"We're interested in using this music from a small community that's been handed down through generations. There are lots of Basque dances that are 200-300 years old and we use their eerie melodies, and play around with them until we find the bit that resonates most with us, which might be a two-bar or two-note phrase." (source: Guardian)

Crystal Fighters recently released their much-anticipated debut album Star of Love and a double A-side single in the form of Follow / Swallow.



Crystal Fighters @: MySpace, Twitter, LastFM, Facebook

Source: Guardian

Gypsy & The Cat - Time to Wander

"With their take on 70s LA pop, this Aussie duo resembles Empire of the Sun – but without the kabuki makeup and sci-fi regalia"

Gypsy & the Cat (a name from an old children's story book) is duo Lionel Towers (25) and Xavier Bacash (21) who only began making music a year ago in a garage in Melbourne.

A demo on MySpace got the attention of Australian radio station Triple J who playlisted the track Jona Vark. Interest followed, including support from Mark Ronson on his East Village radio show. London indie label Young & Lost was quick to secure the release of the group’s debut single, 'Time To Wander'.

After producing and recording their album in Melbourne, Gypsy & the Cat have now moved to London and are mixing their debut album, Gilgamesh, with David Fridmann (MGMT, Flaming Lips, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) and Rich Costey (Mew, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas). Release date: November 23, 2010.



Gypsy and the Cat @: MySpace, Twitter, LastFM, Facebook

Source: Arjanwrites, Guardian, Who the bloody hell are they?

Kisses - People Can Do The Most Amazing Things

NME: "This duo are so laid-back, they sound like Erland Oye in a crushed velvet smoking jacket."

Guardian: "The sunny but sad dance music from this LA duo suggests Bernard Sumner (New Order) jamming with Belle and Sebastian"

Kisses are Jesse Kivel (keyboards) and Zinzi Edmundsonis (vocals). It's a side project of Kivel, one of the frontmen of Princeton, with his girlfriend, writer and fashion blogger Edmundson.

Jesse met Zinzi in 2003 when he was visiting a friend at college. He immediately liked her but had to wait several years before he could really get to know her. Three years later Zinzi visited Jesse while he was studying in London and they have been dating since then. In 2009 Jesse wrote some songs that didn’t fit with his band Princeton so he asked Zinzi to do some vocals. From there on the idea of Kisses started.

On October 11th Kisses released their first album In The Heart Of The Nightlife. Expect some great, highly danceable electro pop.



Kisses @: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: NME, Guardian, Dummy

Gamble & Burke - Let's Go Together

Worcester duo Gamble & Burke is producer Kaz Gamble (previously the male half of pop duo Cooler Kids) and Dan Burke.

Both love the cool groove of a good synth and they recently joined the French label Kitsune, well known for its progessive electronic music.

On August 24, the duo released their single "Let's Go Together".



Gamble & Burk @: Soundcloud, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot,

Source: Arjan Writes, Acuvi, BeantTownBoogieDown

Tony Castles: Black Girls in Dresses

(The) Tony Castles are a Brooklyn-based trio, formed in August 2008. Paul Sicilian and Gabriel Wurzel met each other during high school. The two soon began playing together in bands and ended up attending college together continuing to write music throughout. During this time they were introduced to fellow student Willie Miesmer. After graduation all three moved to Brooklyn where they reconnected and began playing together.

“Black Girls In Dresses" is their debut single from the No Service EP, available at Famous Class Records.



Tony Castles @: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Famous Class Records

Washed Out - Feel it all around

(wŏsht'out', wôsht'-)
adjective

1. Lacking color or intensity; faded.
2. Exhausted or tired-looking.
3. Having dropped a project or an enterprise or having been dropped from one.

In June 2009, Ernest Greene moved back to his parents in Perry (Georgia) holding a degree in library sciences. Finding a library job while trying to save money for a wedding at the same time was harder than he expected.

In the night, while his parents were asleep, Greene put on his headphones and started recording electronic music on his laptop. The music expressed some level of failure that he was dealing with, using melodies and lyrics that reminded him to stay positive.

Although he never planned on releasing anything, Greene decided to upload some of his songs to MySpace by the name of Washed Out. Over the course of a few weeks Washed Out was being picked up by number of influential music bloggers. Soon after that he found himself releasing two EPs in August and September 2009.

His style has been identified with the chillwave movement. A genre of music characterized by the heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling and filtered vocals with simple melodic lines.



Washed Out @: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot

Source: Wikipedia, Creative Loafing

Maximum Balloon - Abscence of light

David Andrew Sitek (1972) is a guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals and Celebration.

On September 21st 2010 Sitek released an album under the name Maximum Balloon. Not quite a solo album and not quite a side-project, Maximum Balloon features Sitek's beat-making, songwriting and production skills all at once, authored with different singers which he calls "his favorite voices in the world."

It's an album of several one-off songs, pitched through a prism of electronic and dance beats, that are each, as Sitek says, "their own little balloons that float out into the world".

Check Sitek's collaboration with Babatunde "Tunde" Adebimpe (lead singer of TV on the Radio) below:



Maximum Balloon @: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia, Maximum Balloon.

The Naked and Famous - Young Blood

‘Young Blood’ by The Naked & Famous is being called New Zealand’s favourite song. It debuted in May 2010 on the New Zealand chart at number one. The first New Zealand artist in three years to do so.

The band describes the song as “a romanticised collection of elements pulled together about being youthful and stupid and falling in and out of love”.

Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith are the creative force behind the five piece band who met while studying at Auckland’s music school MAINZ, but decided instead to find their own way in the business.

If you like MGMT, Florence and the Machine or Passion Pit, then you should definitely check Young Blood below.



The Naked and Famous released their first album "Passive Me, Aggressive You" on 6 September 2010.

The Naked and Famous @: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

Source: Wikipedia, 3News,