Two Wounded Birds - Night Patrol

Two Wounded Birds are a four-piece from Margate who formed in the Summer 2008 but sound like a five-piece from Hawthorne, California who formed in 1961. They are kids by the sea, making music inspired from the haze of their childhood.

Initial demos, put online at the beginning of February 2010 attracted interest from Jacob Graham, lead guitarist of The Drums, and one of the driving forces behind online record label Holiday Records. By April there was an initial free download on the Holiday Records website, and a few select Summer dates. By August the band had confirmed a European Tour support for The Drums during November and December, and that they would be releasing their debut 5 track EP Keep Dreaming Baby to coincide with the tour.

Single Night Patrol keeps the lazy surfer flow going with piercing melodies and waffling vocals which wouldn't be out of place in a Tarantino movie.



Two Wounded Birds @ Myspace, Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter

Source: Glasswerk, Guardian

Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes

Blonde Redhead's noisy, dissonant guitars, alternate tunings, and quiet, stilted lyrics have often been compared to early Sonic Youth.

After randomly meeting at an Italian restaurant in New York, Japanese art students Kazu Makino and Maki Takahashi and Italian twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace formed the band in 1993.

The name was taken from a song by the '80s no wave band DNA. With Makino and Amedeo on guitars and vocals, Simone on drums, and Takahashi on bass, the band's chaotic, artistic rock caught the attention of Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who produced and released the band's debut album, Blonde Redhead. Shortly after the album's release, Takahashi left the band. The remaining members continued as a trio.

Blonde Redhead have been churning out records of psychedelic power pop for nearly two decades now and released eight album, Penny Sparkle, in September. The album fully embraces a new direction by way of reduction. Like the band's earlier work, the new record is awash in bittersweet melodies and led by the haunting voice of Makino.



Blonde Redhead @ Facebook, Myspace

Source: NPR Music, Allmusic

Reader's favourite: Delphic - Red Lights

Last one in the reader's favourite discovery of 2010 series. This one is from Maxx O.

Delphic are an electronic/indie three piece that aims to be the future sound of Manchester, by mixing euphoric electronica with anthemic songs for a post-dance world. The group who formed in 2009, is made up of James Cook, Matt Cocksedge and Richard Boardman. They are also accompanied by Dan Hadley on drums.

Prior to Delphic, Cocksedge and Boardman were in the guitar-driven indie band Snowfight in the City Centre, but when that group split, the pair wanted to make music people could dance to. They connected with Cook and, following in the footsteps of New Order, mixed dance beats and synths with live drums and guitars.

They worked with dance producer Ewan Pearson on their April 2009 debut single Counterpoint, which was released by a Belgian label. In August 2009, the group issued single This Momentary on the french record label Kitsuné.

Debut album, Acolyte arrived early in 2010 on their own imprint Chimeric via Polydor, and earned critical acclaim. Delphic were named one of the 15 acts shortlisted for the BBC Sound of 2010 (they ended up placing third).



Delphic @ Myspace, Soundcoud, Facebook, Twitter

Source: LastFM, Allmusic

Reader's favourite: Kisses - People Can Do The Most Amazing Things

This is Erik's favourite discovery of 2010.

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.



Kisses @: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: NME, Guardian, Dummy

Reader's favourite: I Monster- Lust for a Vampyr

This is Remco's favourite discovery of 2010.

I Monster is a British electronic music group, composed of producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling. They formed in 1997, and released their debut album These Are Our Children.

However, due to Honer being involved with hitmakers All Seeing I, it was not until 2001 that they released their first single, Daydream in Blue, a remix of The Gunter Kallmann Choir's version of The Wallace Collection's Daydream.

The band are regular guest DJs across the country, and have played live shows in London and at various European music festivals. Part of their live band is made up of Fred de Fred and Marion Benoist from The Lovers.

In addition to their music being featured on several U.S. TV series over the past year, the band is currently gearing up to release albums by two separate spin-off groups, Skywatchers and People Soup. They also produced the new album by legendary band The Human League, which will be released early 2011.

Lust For A Vampyr is taken from their album A Dense Swarm Of Ancient Stars.



Want to add your own, favourite music discovery of 2010? Click here.

I Monster @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia, LastFM

Reader's favourite: How To Destroy Angels - A Drowning

This is Gabrielle's favourite discovery of 2010.

Trent Reznor took Nine Inch Nails on the road for a tour he called "Wave Goodbye," which was meant to represent the retirement of Nine Inch Nails as a band.

But Reznor didn't hang up the musical spurs for long, as he is back with How to Destroy Angels, a group that consists of himself, his wife (and former West Indian Girl singer) Mariqueen Maandig and producer Atticus Ross. The group is named after a 1984 Coil single of the same name.

In keeping with recent trends, Reznor has provided the entirety of How to Destroy Angels' self-titled debut EP for free.

The EP doesn't carry the Nine Inch Nails name, but the music is consistent with Reznor's latter-day output. It's a series of claustrophobic ambient soundscapes interrupted by blasts of distorted rock and stuttering dance beats.

Most of the vocals are handled by Maandig, who infuses the tracks with a haunting humanity and a lovely sense of melody.



Want to add your own, favourite music discovery of 2010? Click here.

How To Destroy Angels @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: MTV

Reader's favourite: Florrie - Left Too Late

This is Seldemer's favourite discovery of 2010. Quite a coincidence, since I started writing about this track just 2 days ago, but didn't had the time to finish it yet.

Florrie is a drummer, singer, songwriter and guitarist from Bristol in the south-west of the UK. She took up playing the drums at the age of six, when she was in Greece on a family holiday. As a teenager she played in bands in her home town, eventually moving to London.

A meeting with the manager of Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi led Florrie to successfully audition as the drummer in the houseband of Xenomania, the successful Kent-based production house.

Alongside playing on tracks by many of the acts that Xenomania worked with, she started developing her songwriting and production talents. By 2010 Florrie homed in on the sound she wanted: "it's a big mixture: kind of a sixties, organic feel merged with modern pop beats and electronics."

Left Too Late is one of the tracks on her debut EP Introduction, released on November 15. The next EP will be released in March 2011.



Want to add your own, favourite music discovery of 2010? Click here.

Florrie @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia

Reader's favourite: The National - Lemonworld

Here we go, the first entry of your own favourite discoveries of 2010. This one was chosen by Patricia.

The National are a rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 that are currently based out of Brooklyn New York. The band is composed of Matt Berninger and two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf.

In 1991, Matt Berninger and Scott Devendorf met while attending the University of Cincinnati where they also met Mike Brewer, Casey Reas, and Jeff Salem, to make the lo-fi garage band Nancy (named after Matt's mother). The band was together for five years, but only released one album, titled 3429 Ruther. The group slowly dissolved when Matt, Scott, Jeff, and Casey moved to Brooklyn.

Bryan, Bryce, and Aaron were childhood friends who played in several bands together over the years. When their last effort Project Nim broke up in 1998, they joined Matt and Scott in Brooklyn via the Devendorf relationship.

When the band was formed in 1999, it was called The National although the domain name of the band's website is americanmary.com because, according to Matt Berninger in an interview, "it's a song off our first record. We never thought of changing the (website) name, although we should have."

Single Lemonworld is from the 2010 album High Violet.



Want to add your own, favourite music discovery of 2010? Click here.

The National @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia

2010

I must say that I had a great time publishing my own musical discoveries for the last 3 months and I was even more delighted to see that so many people were interested in reading it.

So now it's almost the end of 2010, and most of the music blogs out there have come up with a personal 'best of 2010' list. That made me think, what was my own favourite discovery and even more interesting, what about you who read my blog?

What about this: I'll post my favourite discovery of 2010 and ask you to do the same. Add your own, personal discovery as a comment to this post and I'll publish your favourite on this blog.

Enough said, my favourite discovery of 2010 is Something I'm not by Penguin Prison.

Enjoy the holidays!

Cheers,
Pascal

How to Dress Well - Ready For The World

In fall 2009, a mysterious artist called How to Dress Well posted a free EP called The Eternal Love, and a half-dozen more EPs followed on the project's blog in the next six months. They turned out to be the work of Tom Krell, a philosophy student who splits time between Brooklyn and Cologne.

Krell has clear and specific ideas of what he wants to do with How to Dress Well, many of which use the process of memory as focal point. According to blog posts and interviews, Krell cares deeply about R&B from the late 1980s and 90s, and he's creating a ghosted version of the music, suggesting how sounds wear down and fade over time.

The online buzz surrounding HTDW built steadily through 2010, and now we have Love Remains, a collection of songs taken from his previous EPs (some of which have been re-touched in the studio) plus a handful of new tracks.



How To Dress Well @ Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot

Source: Pitchfork

Mutineers - Infidelity

Mutineers started at the beginning of 2009, when four drinking mates with an already impressive history decided to pool their talents.

Vocalist Nicholas James Mallins had previously fronted the Cardinals alongside bassist Iwan Gronow, who had also spent time in the revered ranks of Haven and Johnny Marr’s Healers. Recruiting guitarist Michael Reed and former Haven drummer Jack Mitchell to the tight-knit fold, it then took mere months to craft an album.

The band just released debut album, Friends, Lovers, Rivals which combines the dark energy of Echo and the Bunnymen with the lyrical genius of The Smiths, all interpreted in a fresh new rebellious way



Mutineers @ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Tri Tone

Fenech-Soler - Demons

Pop began for Fenech-Soler in Kings Cliffe, a village of a thousand people in the hinterlands of Northamptonshire. It all started with two brothers, Ben and Ross Duffy, who made music with their friend Daniel Soler. They wrote electronic tracks together on their laptops and synthesisers and aimed to write songs that would be club and festival anthems.

From here, they brought in another friend, Andrew Lindsay, adding live drums and synths to the mix. Taking Daniel’s family surname as inspiration (also the name of a Maltese patriot who ruled the Catalans in the 18th century) they knew it could mean anything and everything.

The band played tiny clubs and sets to build up their live reputations, sending tracks to radio stations, certain that their music would hit a nerve. Word spread like wildfire.

French DJ and remixer Alan Braxe, fell in love with them, and asked to release one of their songs. Groove Armada saw the band at a Warehouse party, adored what they were doing and took them on tour.

Fenech-Soler released debut album Demons on September 27th 2010 and received considerable positive critical appraisal in the UK and the USA. Their second single Demons will be released on February 7th.



Fenech-Soler @ Facebook, Myspace, Twitter

Source: Xfm

Silver Swans - Secrets

The Silver Swans are three fictional characters in the Wonder Woman stories. Each Silver Swan has the ability to create powerful sound waves with her voice. Her "swan song" is capable of devastating a small area of land with its destructive force. By creating a low-level humming, the Silver Swan can form a protective shield around herself that can deflect bullets and projectiles.

The musical counterpart, Silver Swans, however capture the eerie drama of The Knife and the sweet darkness of Ladytron. This electro dream pop project from San Francisco began in 2007 as a sideproject. What was originally meant to be a single collaboration between LoveLikeFire vocalist Ann Yu and DJ/producer Jon Waters sparked something between the two, which ultimately led to the formation of Silver Swans.

Secrets is their new single, which will be released on the duo’s forthcoming EP of the same name.



Silver Swans @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Tricyle Records, Culture Bully, We like it indie, Wikipedia

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Household Goods

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is the alias of Orlando Higginbottom, son of an Oxford University music professor. Besides being known for his unique headdress and memorable name, T.E.E.D delivers an upbeat and melodic performance with grinding electro peaks.

His debut EP, 2009's All in One Sixty Dancehalls, was an unlikely amalgamation of disco and dubstep released on the Greco-Roman record label, run by Joe Goddard from band Hot Chip. It might have fallen largely under the radar, but the reaction to this year's follow up EP (All in Two Sixty Dancehalls) was anything but quiet.

Now T.E.E.D.'s new single Household Goods is an even more confident affair. The track has already been crowned "Record of the Week" on BBC Radio 1 and should prove to be a massive hit.





Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs @ Myspace, Facebook, Soundcloud

Source: Beatportal, The Japan Times, The Sahara Tent

Frankmusik - The Fear Inside

Frankmusik (real name Vincent Frank) is a producer, songwriter from Thornton Heath, South East London, England. The name "Frank" is derived from the surname of his grandfather, whose name he took in tribute.

His interest in music began with his mum's Depeche Mode and Soft Cell records, but the band who changed his life were ELO. "I first heard them in my mum's car," he says. "The song was Evil Woman and it was the first time I'd heard treated strings. Then I heard Mr Blue Sky and that blew my mind. It was pioneering pop and it had the kind of epic quality I love".

After attending a Sussex boarding school and then drama college, Frank began releasing CDs. His debut EP, Frankisum, was released on Apparent Records, a label he co-founded with David Norland, in the fall of 2007. His music attracted the attention of producer Price, and he was signed to Universal/ Island soon after. Album Complete Me was released on 3 August 2009.

Now it seems Frankmusik is finally getting the gears in motion for the next stage of his career. Album Follow The Leader will be released in spring 2011 and he just unveiled the video for his new single The Fear Inside.



Frankmusic@ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Idolator, Answers, Dailymail

Alex Clare - Up All Night

For someone who has roughly 2500 views on his Myspace profile, 25 years old British artist Alex Clare, certainly knows how to pick his friends as he got Diplo & Switch to produce his first single, Up All Night.

Describing Up All Night as completely different from any other track on his forthcoming album, Alex describes his sound as "mostly down-tempo, there are only two or three songs on the album that are up there. Up All Night grabs peoples' ears, it has an unusual sound". The anticipated debut album is a conglomeration of live, synthesised electric elements, a direction which immediately distinguishes and creates an identity for the former bedroom DJ's music.

Up All Night is released on Jan 10th, 2011.



Alex Clare @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Guardian, UK Mix forums

Polarsets - Morning

Polarsets is British alt-pop trio Rob Howe, Mickey Smith and James Rudd, formed on the North East coast of England in the summer of 2009. Together they craft a sound that they like to refer to as "Ibiza indie", which neatly describes their unorthodox brew of pop that combines glowing synths, vivid melodies and simple guitar lines.

After self-releasing two singles, Polarsets have released a video promo for the track Morning. It features their synths trademark complimented by an ultra simplistic guitar style. The backbone of the track was all recorded live to capture the energy of their acclaimed live shows. The bones of the song were written by Rob in an hour while James and Mike were out getting lunch. As soon as they returned (seafood pizza) everything else was dropped in order to get to work on producing the track as the next single.





Polarsets @ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Youtube

Source: NME, Arjan Writes, AltSounds

Bag Raiders - Way Back Home

Chances are, if you’ve stumbled into a club, wobbled at a party, or looked into the light at a festival in the past two years, you’ve been inadvertently exposed to the Bag Raiders from Sydney duo Chris Stracey and Jack Glass.

Bag Raiders is best known for their single Shooting Stars as well as their various remixes of such bands as Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Kid Sister and Sneaky Sound System. Their music transcends typical dance and pop boundaries by pumping out some great Nu-Disco/ElectroPop sounds.

The duo released their much anticipated self titled debut EP in October. The EP was well received, with some people comparing their sound to Daft Punk. Single Way Back Home displays their typical `Disco with Pop` sensibilities.



Bag Raiders @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud

Source: Wikipedia, Robot Dance Music, Ministry of Sound, Myspace

Little Comets - Isles

Meet Little Comets, Newcastle-upon-Tyne's answer to Mystery Jets and a gang of four - brothers Robbie and Mickey Coles plus friends Matthew Hall and Mark Harle - who enjoy terrorising intellectuals and frightening the public. They play 'kitchen sink indie' music, citing Debussy, Roald Dahl, Ella Fitzgerald and Paul Simon as influences.

Right from their inception in 2008 the band decided straight away that standard gigs on stages weren't for them. "We do a lot of gigs in university lecture halls, bursting in on trams and Metros and different methods of public transport. It all comes from Mickey. It usually takes about two hours for him to persuade us that it's actually a good idea. We're often stood there thinking 'Hang on are we going to get arrested for this?"

The band got a record deal with a major label Columbia but nothing really happened after that, so they parted ways. Now they're signed to a smaller and more nurturing record label and gearing up for a proper reintroduction to the scene.

Debut album In Search of Elusive Little Comets will be released on January 31st, 2011 and single Isles is a good taster of what to expect



Little Comets @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia, LastFM, Off the radar music, BBC

Girls - Heartbreaker

In 2006, Christopher Owens and Liza Thorn began a music project called Curls, which dissolved itself when Liza decided to focus more on her new band, BRIDEZ. Not to be dissuaded, Christopher recruited Chet White to join him and changed the band’s name to Girls.

Chris was formerly a member of Holy Shit . Being raised in the Children of God cult where “pop music was banned, women sold themselves for sex and several members were driven to suicide… the Girls’ singer’s life seems to have been a blur of prescription drugs, punk rock shows and art happenings.” All of which has deeply inspired and informed the music the band make.

Following their last year's widely acclaimed debut LP entitled Album, Girls have released EP Broken Dreams Club on November 22.

The band is offering Heartbreaker as a free Download.



Girls @ Myspace.

Source: The Bearded Cephalopod, LastFM, Wikipedia

Panda Bear - Last Night at the Jetty

Panda Bear is the moniker of Noah Lennox, a founding member of Animal Collective who is also a member of Jane.

As a teen, Lennox began listening to electronic music and artists such as Aphex Twin, all of which became a huge influence on his later work. He recorded and performed music and started to use the name Panda Bear because he drew pictures of pandas for the artwork of his recordings.

His first solo release was the self titled Panda Bear in 1999. After focusing more on touring and recording with Animal Collective, he released the follow-up Young Prayer in 2004 and the highly acclaimed third solo album Person Pitch in 2007.

Lennox's fourth album Tomboy is due to be released somewhere in 2011. Despite the fact that the album itself doesn’t technically exist, he keeps on releasing singles from it. Last Night at the Jetty marks the third single.



Panda Bear @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: LastFm, Wikipedia

Fitz and the Tantrums - MoneyGrabber

Embracing vintage Motown sounds with a modern twist, Los Angeles-based band Fitz and the Tantrums create soul-pop gems without employing a single guitar.

The band was founded by Michael Fitzpatrick, who had begun writing soul music for a solo project on an old church organ he had purchased.

“I got a call from my ex-girlfriend,” Fitz explains, “And she said, ‘My neighbor is moving out in a hurry and has to sell everything. And, he has this organ…”. Fitz called some movers, and seven hours later, the organ went from the curb to his living room. That night, Fitz stationed himself in front of that vintage instrument and wrote the blue-eyed soul anthem Breaking the Chains of Love.

The overflow of inspiration startled him. He’d spent years in L.A.’s music industry, writing music and working in a studio with Beck producer, Mickey Petralia. But with that organ he had finally found his voice.

Fitz added friend James King to the group as an arranger and soon after expanded the band to a seven-piece, including several horns. Fitzpatrick shares the vocal duties with Noelle Scaggs. Other members include Joseph Karnes, Jeremy Ruzumna, and John Wicks.

In just over a year, Fitz and the Tantrums went from the living room to the main stage. The group's debut EP, Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1, was released in 2009. Dangerbird Records signed the group in 2010 and issued their first full-length album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, in August. The debut single from the record, is called MoneyGrabber.



Fitz and the Tantrums @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia, Fitz and the Tantrums

Niki & The Dove - Mother Protect

Niki and the Dove are a Swedish trio fronted by singer-songwriter Malin Dahlström who, according to Popjustice, sound like "the Knife at Eurovision".

Before forming Niki and the Dove, lead vocalist and songwriter Malin Dahlström was programming for Midaircondo, singing lead in now-defunct rock band The Dora Steins, contributing wispy vocals to various electronic productions and doing solo shows and performance art all around Sweden under the name Disdishdance.

Her new band combines epic choruses with Eastern European drum styles to make soaring songs dripping with euphoria. Recent single Mother Protect contains its fair share of incredible moments, specifically what sounds like a panpipe solo around the two-minute mark.



Niki & The Dove @ Myspace, Facebook

Source : Guardian, LastFM, The Fader

Museum of Bellas Artes - Days Ahead

Museum of Bellas Artes have released only five songs so far. Yet, everyone is talking about them. The trio of electro-pop creators from Stockholm started of a year ago with Who do you love, a catchy cover of an obscure Motown tune. After that, the band took some serious time to think about what they wanted to do.

The result is four track EP, Days Ahead, containing the singles Watch The Glow and Days Ahead. It's all about 70s funk and 80s electronica, organs and synths, indie rock pompousness and Balearic beats.

Days Ahead is a song about longing. The video shows the main theme of a child that sits in solitude, passing the time with kaleidoscope eyes, counting minutes and waiting for something to come. You’ll start to feel its loneliness, but there’s nothing wrong with dancing alone.



Museum of Bellas Artes @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: The Rcommender, Yourstruly, Niteversions