New Music: Encore

Three London boys making fresh grime/ hip hop/ rnb. I’ve got a feeling these kids will be one of the big ones to watch for 2011. Check out here.

New Music: Max Gold

Having collaborated with the Invisible Men to lend his amazing skills to their productions for I Blame Coco and Gabriella Cilmi, he is now leaving the booth behind to emerge from the shadows of the studio. Taking the films he grew up with as inspiration and armed with a keytar, laptop and an all girl band, having created & self-produced a collection of distinctive songs: a smooth darkness underlying his unique combination of shimmering synths and style.
Max has been making music his whole life. Now he’s ready for the world. Invest in Gold. Check out here.

MP3: Max Gold – Hold On

The Radio Dept. ‘Heaven’s On Fire’

As one of the kids on YouTube said, ‘This makes me forget all my worries for 3:36 minutes’. The Radio Dept. have been one of my favourite bands for a really long time, but I selfishly kept it to myself. I don’t think I told anyone how good I think they are. Sometimes you just have to keep some things that make you happy a little secret, but then, life’s too short to keep things in. Enjoy.

Robyn’s gone off and done something amazing with a computer and one of her songs again

A while back, when Robyn’s first Body Talk album came out, she had this virtual music video thing which customised some graphics depending on what people typed it. It was hot. Now she’s done it again, only hotter. ‘Build your own beat, based on Robyn’s track We Dance To The Beat (from Body Talk), then publish your custom beat and share it with the world via Facebook and Twitter!’ Click here to access the amazingness.

 

Live: Ruby Goe, Japayork, Daley and Starsmith at Gold Dust

Ruby Goe was amazing… I’m so happy I heard her perform tonight. Admittedly, her set sounded awful outside the venue, but the second I went in I has a massive smile on my face. It was good to see Japayork perform, it was fun and a bit crazy. I didn’t know much about Starsmith, when I first saw him I though Calvin Harris v.2 but he was mind blowingly good! Cameo’s from Stine (Alphabeat) and Daley were great, and Starsmith’s two singers were hyper as fuck!

BBC Sound of 2011 list revealed

This is always an exciting bit of news every year for me. The ‘BBC Sound’ poll is often the most accurate forecaster for next year’s biggest music acts, having predicted 50 Cent, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mika and Little Boots as ones to watch in the past. Visit the website here for more info. Full list is:

I’ve managed to clock 6 of those in the last year… not bad going if I do say so myself! The top five will be revealed in the week commencing 3 January.

New Music: Ace Reporter

The first song I’ve heard from Ace Reporter, ‘Untouched and Arrived’ got me hooked within seconds of playing. It’s got a folky, poppy, indie kind of vibe happening, but sounds so good without trying hard. Check out here, or download the free EP, ‘Untouched and Arrived’ here. If there’s one thing you must do right now at the very least though, it’s to give ‘ Caught In The Middle’ a listen. It’s my favourite song right now.