Nicolas Jaar - I Got A Woman

Nicolas Jaar is only 21 years old, but he's already had quite the life. Much of his childhood was spent in Chile, but his formative years were spent in NY, where he entered the world of electronic music.

At 17, he made his debut with The Student EP with a remix by Seth Troxler who called him one of the most talented minds dance music is about to see develop. At 18, he continued producing and played live at Club Der Visionaire and Arena in Berlin, the Marcy in Brooklyn, Communikey in Colorado and Mutek in Mexico City.

Now 21, studying at Brown University in Rhode Island, Nico has released his full-length debut, Space Is Only Noise, on label Clown and Sunset of which he is the owner and founder.

His new single I Got A Woman samples from a variety of sources and can sit on the shelves with other slow tempo, ambient, dubstep-like jams. It’s the type of music you want to dance to, but can’t.



Nicolaas Jaar @ Myspace, Soundcloud, Facebook

Source: Resident Advisor, Pretty Much Amazing, XLR8R

IAMX - Ghosts of Utopia

IAMX is the solo project of Chris Corner, one of the founding members of the 90’s trip-hop group Sneaker Pimps. You can easily speculate on the meaning behind the transition between the title of Sneaker Pimp’s most well-known album Becoming X (1996), and the later naming of his solo project as IAMX. The first release of IAMX, called Kiss + Swallow (2004), was said to be an un-shelving of some previously recorded Sneaker Pimps tracks.

With an emphasis on dark, electronic sounds and Corner’s voice dominating the tracks, the result is a moody reminiscence of early Depeche Mode work, loaded with sexual tension and fantasy.

IAMX’s later released albums, The Alternative (2006) and Kingdom of Welcome Addiction (2009), are accented by the release of a remix album, Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (2010) and a live performance recording, Live in Warsaw (2008). IAMX tours regularly, treating concerts as performances of stage, costuming and lighting. The constant stream of production and touring tends to suggest that his move to Berlin in 2006 was beneficial to his creative work.

The latest album, Volatile Times, is scheduled to release this month along with the kickoff of his Fire and Whispers tour and the first song Ghosts of Utopia.



IAMX@ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Katherine Matthews

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of U

While 2010 marked the meteoric rise of The xx, it also independently, marked the long-awaited return of master wordsmith Gil Scott-Heron, who released I'm New Here, his first album in thirteen years. And now that The xx are taking a much-deserved breather, Jamie xx found time to remix 13 tracks from Scott-Heron's album sessions.

"I sent him a letter explaining the concept and the reasoning behind some of the tracks, and then he basically said I could do whatever I want. I was amazed that he was open to so much new music. I hope I have open ears like that when I'm older."

I'll Take Care Of U is the second single from the album We're new here, released this month.



Source: Spinner, We're new here

Light Asylum - Dark Allies

"Whenever it seems that synth-based rock music has reached its limit and finally exhausted listeners, some Korg-beating chaps come barging into my speakers screaming, No, wait!” (Death and Taxes)

Light Asylum is the Brooklyn based duo of vocalist Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello on keyboards. Together the two deliver confident anthems over hard-hitting synth landscapes.

Funchess her powerful vocal style has drawn easy comparison to the likes of Ian Curtis, Grace Jones and even Billy Idol. Her voice has appeared on tracks by bands like Telepathe and TV on the Radio, but it’s with this latest project that she has come into her own.

In Tension, the band’s self released four song debut EP (available at their live shows only), delivers a strong goth-wave foundation with harrowing vocal passages, most effectively on new single Dark Allies.



Light Asylum@ Myspace, Facebook, Soundcloud

Source: Death and Taxes, Slap the bass

Gruff Rhys - Sensations In The Dark

Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is the main songwriter and lead singer of Super Furry Animals.

His first solo album, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth preceded his band’s LP, Love Kraft, in winter ‘05. He then released his second solo effort, Candylion, which includes songs in English, Welsh and Spanish and collaborations with Lisa Jen of 9Bach and Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas.

Third album, Hotel Shampoo, was released on 14th February. Gruff said “I thought that as I’m getting on a bit, the time had come to buy a suit and record an album of piano ballads. However, I got bored, the record diversified and things turned out a bit differently…”

Sensations in the dark is the second single, and the track is explained as a "feel-good, mariachi-tinged ode to the joys of falling in love with music."



Gruff Rhys @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia, LastFM

The Dears - Omega Dog

The Dears are an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. Born in 1995, the band is the lifework of Murray A. Lightburn. Son of a jazzman-turned-preacher, Lightburn’s attunement to songwriting was shaped equally by nineties rock and a broad tableau of gospel, soul, and pop music.

The lineup of The Dears is fluid and has changed frequently, though the band's core members have remained lead singer Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak.

New song Omega Dog is taken from their fifth album Degeneration Street released on February 15.



The Dears @ Myspace, Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia, The Dears

Mirrors - Into The Heart

"What pop needs is more arty, overambitious young men with preposterous ideas. Enter Brighton four-piece Mirrors." (Guardian)

Mirrors, not to be confused with the lo-fi act, The Mirrors, are a four pieced electro band from Brighton. The band play tunes that they describe as ‘pop noir’ taking inspiration from 1980’synth pop. Their style is unique, adding more texture and ambience to the sounds rather than just rhythm and melody. Influences of Depeche mode, Kraftwerk and Blancmange can definitely be heard but they are just that, influences.

Making their live debut in the summer of 2009 and with early singles on Moshi Moshi and Pure Groove, Mirrors signed to Brighton based Skint in late 2009.

New single Into The Heart is taken from the forthcoming debut album Lights And Offerings due to be released on 28th February.



Mirrors @ Facebook, Myspace

Source: Glam UK, Seizurechicken, Glasswerk

Cut Copy - Need You Now

Australian synthpop band Cut Copy is made up of Dan Whitford, Tim Hoey, and Mitchell Scott. Their sound is much in the vein of contemporaries such as Daft Punk.

Drawing upon the influences of new-wave, post-punk and electro, Cut Copy have a strong reputation as both a live and a recording act. It began in 2001 as the project of DJ and graphic designer Dan Whitford, in order to exercise his love of sampling and instrumental hip-hop. Two years later - and following several releases - he recruited Hoey and Scott to help beef up the sound.

Need You Now is the new single and opening track for their third album, Zonoscope.



Cut Copy @ Twitter, Myspace, Facebook

Source: Your gigs, Wikipedia, LastFM

Still Flyin' - Victory Walker (2AM)

More of a collective than an actual rock band, Still Flyin’ is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Sean Rawls, a veteran of bands like Masters of the Hemisphere and Je Suis France.

Rawls was inspired to put the group together by a song he had written with a member of Je Suis France, called "Never Gonna Touch the Ground.” The chorus of the song, “Still Flyin’, never gonna touch the ground” was the source of the band’s name.

In 2004, when Rawls moved to San Francisco, he asked just about everybody he knew to join his new project. Most of the friends he had in San Francisco were fellow musicians he had met through his prior bands, and many of them joined him to form Still Flyin’. This resulted in an ever-shifting personnel of upwards of 15 musicians and singers at a time, performing locally.

Victory Walker (2AM) is an entertaining tribute to times past – the colors, the smoke, the clothing, the dance moves could all fit squarely in the 1980s. The single is taken from the EP A Party In Motion.



Still Flyin' @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia, LastFM, The Baybridgded

The Soft Moon - Circles

The one-man project of Luis Vasquez, the Soft Moon, started in the Mojave Desert, where, in younger days, he played in local punk bands, all while absorbing the Afro-Cuban songs that permeated family gatherings.

Vasquez relocated to Los Angeles, traveled around South America, and eventually settled in San Francisco where he teamed with Damon Way and Justin Anastasi to integrate an electronic sound with the frenetic pathos roots of Afro-Cuban music.

The Soft Moon makes brooding synth-pop that gives the dark hypnotic sounds of Suicide, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Krautrock new life with a stripped-down, lo-fi approach.

The self-titled debut album was released in November last year.



The Soft Moon @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Boy attractions, The Baybridged

Erland & The Carnival - Map Of An Englishman

Erland and the Carnival are a British folk rock band, formed in London, by Simon Tong (formerly of The Verve, Blur and The Good, the Bad & the Queen), Orcadian folk guitarist and singer Erland Cooper and drummer David Nock (The Orb, The Cult, The Fireman).

The band is best known for their contemporary take on traditional British folk songs, but their original material has a sixties garage rock influence that creates a unique sound.

Erland Cooper was introduced to Simon Tong and David Nock by his friend Youth while recording the track Coming Home for the Butterfly recordings compilation What the Folk (Vol 2). The three began writing and playing together around London. Inspired by Daniel Johnston's Hello How Are You? they released a limited edition debut EP in September 2008, and debut album E&TC in January 2010.

Map of an Englishman is the first single from their second album, Nightingale due to be released on February 28.



Erland & The Carnival @ Myspace, Facebook

Source: Wikipedia

Phantogram - When I’m Small

Phantogram is a trip-hop/psych-pop duo, formed in 2007 at Saratoga Springs, NY, by Joshua Carter and Sarah Barthel.

Barthel and Carter were friends since junior high school, but Phantogram didn't officially form until 2007. That summer, Barthel returned home dissatisfied with pursuing a visual arts degree and Carter returned home after a brief stint in New York City with Grand Habit, an experimental band formed with his older brother, John

The two friends reunited and started working on finishing some beat ideas Carter made earlier. The duo was originally called Charlie Everywhere when performing around the Saratoga Springs area on the local label Sub-Bombin Records. Upon signing with BBE records in 2009, they changed their name to Phantogram to avoid any potential trademark issues.

Phantogram’s music sounds like it’s made by a band from the city. Electronic loops, hip-hop beats, shoegaze, soul, pop—each finds its way into their songs. But the band practices and writes music in an out-of-town farm called Harmony Lodge, where they write and record songs using various samplers, tapes, records, synths, drums, and both percussive and stringed instruments.

Single When I'm Small is taken from their 2010 debut album Eyelid Movies. While most bands tend to move on to another project over the course of a year, Phantogram decided to present some visuals for last years single.



Phantogram @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Ghostly, LastFM, Wikipedia

The Boxer Rebellion - Both Sides Are Even

The Boxer Rebellion is an international alternative rock band, consisting of Tennessee-native Nathan Nicholson, Australian Todd Howe, and Englishmen Adam Harrison and Piers Hewitt.

In 2000, Nathan Nicholson left Tennessee, after the death of his mother, and came to London. The band formed in 2001 through a chance meeting at London’s 12 Bar Club between vocalist Nathan and guitarist Todd. This quickly cemented into a firm friendship which resulted in them living and writing together.

They soon attracted the attention of drummer Piers Hewitt, who was just graduating from London Music School. Their first project was known as Slippermen. Rob Loflin, a friend of Nicholson's from Tennessee, played bass on early sessions before leaving the band and being replaced by current bassist Adam Harrison, who graduated from London Music School along with Hewitt. As Slippermen they produced a single and an EP, but received limited commercial success.

After re-branding as The Boxer Rebellion and with a massive overhaul in their sound they reworked their ensemble and began building a fan-base. As a result of the PlayLouder competition, in June 2003, the band played the Glastonbury New Bands tent ahead of Keane. Shortly after this appearance they were signed by Alan McGee to his ill-fated Poptones record label.

The Boxer Rebellion deliver a mixture of rawkus bass-heavy grooves, alternately fragile and explosive vocals, and melodic indie/alternative sounds. So far they've released an eponymous EP, and two studio albums, Exits (2005) and Union (2009). Their third studio album, The Cold Still, was released in February 2011.



The Boxer Rebellion @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Wikipedia, LastFM

Glasvegas - Euphoria, Take My Hand

Glasvegas (a combination of Glasgow and Las Vegas) are a Scottish alternative rock band from the East End of Glasgow. Their music is influenced by artists such as Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector and bands such as My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Cousins James Allan (singer and principal songwriter) and Rab Allan (guitar), bassist Paul Donoghue and drummer Caroline McKay (who left the band in 2010) first came to the attention of Scottish music industry mogul Alan McGee while playing a gig in 2006. The former Creation Records boss McGee would go on to become one of the band’s most passionate supporters. Due to his support, the press, on occasion, have sometimes mistakenly referenced McGee as the band's manager.

Two years later Glasvegas found themselves at the centre of a bidding war from several major record labels and decided to go with Columbia Records. Soon after that they won the award for "best new band" at the NME Awards and released debut album, Glasvegas.

In January 2010, Glasvegas decamped to California and set up a studio in a multi-million dollar beach house in Santa Monica where for over five months the band demoed, tracked and recorded 2nd album album EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\. Santa Monica and its location on Southern California's West Coast had a massive influence on the sound and feel of the new songs.

The album will be released on 4 April 2011 preceded by single Euphoria, Take My Hand.



Glasvegas @ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Allmusic, LastFM

The Joy Formidable - Austere

The Joy Formidable are a three-piece indie rock band from North Wales, currently located in London. The band consists of Ritzy Bryan, Rhydian Dafydd and Matt Thomas.

Bryan and Dafydd originally played together as part of indie rock band Tricky Nixon, which later reformed into a New Wave/post-punk band Sidecar Kisses. They regrouped on returning to Mold, Wales and formed The Joy Formidable in 2007.

After releasing several singles, the group made a mini-album in early 2009 called A Balloon Called Moaning. Tours with the Editors and Passion Pit followed, and The Joy Formidable issued a live album before signing with Black Bell Records, an independent label run by Passion Pit member Ayad Al Adhamy.

Their music has been described as "primal epic grunge rock à la The Breeders, Arcade Fire and Yeah Yeah Yeahs" and they were cited by The Guardian as "one to watch" in 2008.

The band has been on a lot of people's radar and playlist, yet they waited until now to release their first full-length studio album The Big Roar. New single Austere, is a re-release and remixed version of their original debut single from 2008.



The Joy Formidable @ Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Source: Answers, Wikipedia

Games - Strawberry Skies

Games is the '80s obsessed side-project for Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin and Tigercity's Joel Ford. The pair make music heavily influenced by 1980s-era production techniques, including the use of analog synthesizers and drum machines

In crafting what is deemed personally nostalgic, they share a fondness with many others in their late 20s or early 30s. Young enough to remember the ’80s peaks, yet too old to concern themselves with the decade’s abundance of conformity, their songwriting recalls the more innovative attempts at stylistic fusion during the decade.

Games have operated since the early 90’s. Their 2010 debut EP That We Can Play has been 16 years in the making and has masterfully come to fruition after the duo finally decided to sit down and focus their attention on a collaboration project.

Their latest single, Strawberry Skies, features vocals from synth-pop artist Laurel Halo.



Games @ Myspace

Source: Obscuresound, LastFM

Malachai - Let 'Em Fall

Bristol Band Malachai are comprised of Gee (vocals) and Scott (music). Their sound is a mix of beats and samples, drawing on a wide range of influences from dub to sixties pop, all tied together by Gee’s distinctive voice.

Gee started out as a rapper and Scott as a producer in Bristol, England's celebrated trip-hop scene. They got together when Scott asked Gee to rap on one of his tracks. When Gee added in a sung chorus, Scott was floored.

Since they were experimenting with alien sounds, the two weren't initially confident in their output. But with encouragement from Portishead's Geoff Barrow, a longtime friend, they began releasing music.

One year after the release of their debut album The Ugly Side Of Love, the duo return with their second offering. Return To The Ugly Side will be released on February 22, preceded by single Let 'Em Fall on February 21.



Malachai @ Myspace, Soundcloud, Facebook

Source: LastFM, Allmusic, Spin

Apex Manor - My My Mind

Ross Flournoy founded Apex Manor after the 2009 demise of The Broken West. Named after his Los Angeles “zen place,” Apex Manor was the idyllic apartment of his close friend and long-time collaborator Adam Vine.

Having relocated from the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles to Pasadena, Flournoy was enjoying suburban tranquility, but his car wouldn’t start and he found himself isolated. He whiled away the days cleaning the house, sitting on the porch, and splitting tallboys with the gardeners who worked nearby. And battling a case of writer’s block.

Enter an unlikely source of inspiration: an online songwriting contest. NPR’s Monitor Mix was soliciting original songs from readers, giving the prospective songwriter one weekend to write, record, and submit. Flournoy decided to give it a go and set about writing and recording at home. At least he would be doing something with his time. The song, Under the Gun, turned out to be about the process itself.

Now feeling inspired for the first time in months, Flournoy began writing at a feverish clip, penning more than 25 songs, nearly a third of which were co-written by Adam Vine. Flournoy then teamed up with former Broken West bandmate Brian Whelan to record some proper demos, and Apex Manor was born.

Merge Records released his debut album The Year of Magical Drinking on January 25.



Apex Manor @ Myspace, Twitter, Facebook

Source: Merge Records