Right then, this one I’m predicting will blow up big time within the next year. Signed to Lava/Universal (the same label behind Jessie J), and with a random track featuring Lady Gaga titled ‘Luv U Sum’, CJ Holland is being primed to be the next Justin Timberlake (or something). And from experience, knowing how hard it is to currently track a decent picture of this guy, or a decent video tells me there’s some big bucks being thrown around behind the scenes. Which is exciting. Check out here.
Promising London sounds from Ben Willis. Currently working on an EP. Check out here.
Bernhoft is one of those ‘one-man-band’ types from Oslo who’s able to sound a whole song using his voice. It’s nothing short of amazing when I hear stuff like this. Check out here.
They’re not from London but they do look awfully young. This is as sugary as bubblegum pop gets and I just can’t help but share it with you. Check out here.
Well crafted lo-fi/ shoegazey kinda sound- reminiscent to some of Lykke Li’s current stuff. Check out here.
You’ll thank me for reading this post. New York-based newbie Bombs & Bottles is getting ready to release a 5-track EP titled “Tonight” in the next few weeks, which chronicles a night out on the town from both a man and woman’s perspective, their chase through the club and a passionate fling at the end of the night and encompasses many musical genres from House, Pop, Electro, and Dubstep to name a few.
To get a taste of what to expect, here’s a free download to the lead single, ‘When The Lights Go Out’, and I think it’s genius. Check out here.
This took a few moments to kick in. It’s sounds like an innocent little pop ditty, til you realise the lead lyric is ‘I seen blackbirds f****** on the side of the road’. It’s the sort of random lyric which doesn’t really fit in to the tune itself (I guess they used it to try and add an edge to what is a pretty normal pop song, in my view), so I don’t really know how I feel about it but it’s kinda good I guess. Check out here.
Ambient, well crafted lo-fi music from Canada. Check out here.
Well crafted, rich RnB/ hip hop sounds from this two New Yorkers, with some really excellent lyrics. Check out here.
The Amends are a Boulder/Denver, Colorado-based indie rock band, formed in January of 2010 and have recently independently released a pretty good self-titled full-length album. Check out here.
I really like this. Indie pop that makes you a little bit happy. Check out here.
I actually really like this- it sounds very different to a lot of the music I get sent, which makes it refreshing and new. And on top of that, it’s a very slick production. That’s because Johan Reinhold is a Swedish Grammy nominated indie electro-pop singer/songwriter who has just released this song, “Shoot Me Down” which was created by some of Sweden’s most prominent producers and engineers like Astma & Rocwell and the Lasse Mortén (who produced Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn & John, and Primal Scream). Check out here.
This is still very new and very raw but I see some good potential coming out of this up and coming UK RnB singer. Check out here.
This is from Brighton-based Salt Ashes. It’s what I see pop music sounding like in 2012- there’s a throwback to 90’s soulpop in there too which is only a good thing in my books. Check out here.
Norwegian duo Frost make cool synth-pop with analogue warmth, and songs about life, love and changing the world. ‘The Woods’ is released on October 17th via FrostWorld Recordings. Check out here.
Alessandro Cortini is my new mini-obsession. I can’t really describe this sound- it’s sort of electroclash but with some very vintage sounding beats. But what I love is that you can hear some real emotion come through all the electric sounds.
For his two premiere albums Blue and Red, Cortini has carved out a new creative direction by using solely a Buchla analog synthesizer, an obsolete instrument from the 70’s, to produce all of the sounds in the recording process. Soon to be supporting Ladytron. Check out here.
I don’t know how much people are aware of this Danish electrorock group (outside of Denmark), they’ve been around since 2004 but I’ve only just become aware of them now. Very cool, sexy beats. Check out here.
London based group that make a big sound- almost cinematic but with a sense of rawness that you can only get from British indie. Check out here.
Good indie music from London. To me there’s a bit of blue and a bit of psychedelica in there, but maybe that’s just me. Check out here.
