Sometimes you stumble across an artist who’s still so new that you wonder how amazing they would sound with a bit of extra production. Francheska is one of those artists! Hailing from New York (I think). My fave track is ‘Luv Sux’. Check out here.
Brasilia 50
It’s been 50 years to the day that Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, came to life. It just looks like something made for a Bond movie set, and you won’t find a city shaped like an aeroplane anywhere else in the world (London just looks like a fried egg from the sky). I’ve never been there, but it’s one of my things to do before I turn 30. Check out the Rio Times here for a cute little article.
Jamie Cullum at Kenwood House
I just brought tickets to see Jamie Cullum at Kenwood House in August. It’s all very posh…
New Music: Smurfie Syco
Signed to Dizzee Rascal’s label- grime at it’s best. He won’t be releasing anything huge until the summer. Check out here.
New Music : JJ
This Swedish duo make the most beautiful bits of music. Makes you imagine you’re up in a forest cabin on a spring dawn smelling pine trees… Anyway, they’ve just released their second album but it’s only stating to make an impact now. They don’t have a website, Myspace or Facebook- so the only place you can sample their tracks is on their record label’s site. Check out here.
New Music: Beduk
Fancy some cheesy Turkish electro? Beduk is your man. It’s not amazing (if you listen to his album sampler, some of it is pretty terrible), but it’s really fun. And I admire how far Turkey’s gone with it’s pop scene. Check out here.
Kylie’s Back
I won’t lie to you, I thought Kylie was launching a new fragrance when I saw the above cover for her 11th studio album, Aphrodite. I think this will be an extension of her 2007 album X, which wasn’t too bad. Looking forward to hearing her new single, ‘All The Lovers’.
New Music: Lady Chann
From NW London (where all the coolest people come from… ahem…), her Myspace calls her the ‘UK’s number one Dancehall Queen’. Look out for ‘Sticky Situation’. Works best with a dose of English sunshine and an ice cream. Check out here.
First Listen: Robyn ‘Dancing On My Own’
New Music: Japayork
Currently unsigned it seems, reminiscent of Human League a little. I like ‘I Need It All’. Pretty good. Check out here.
Robyn Live
Only a live performance (with a bit of miming maybe?) but WOW! So good!
New Music: Dandy Andy
I don’t know much about this guy, other than the fact that he’s signed to the same label as Same Difference. But don’t let that put you of- ‘My Lonely Valentine’ is a slice of happy funky pop. Check out here.
For the band that has outgayed itself…
… the only thing left to do is to create copy Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I mean, where else can you go? Above is the new Scissor Sisters track. It’s very different to what they’ve done before, for which kudos are deserved. I would rather listen to the real thing though. Just my opinion!
New Music: Sky Ferreira
She makes me feel soooo old (she’s only 18), but it’s good music! Bloodshy is producing her stuff, along with Paul Epworth so album should be good! Check out here.
New Music: Christian TV
Just been signed to Motown. Will be massive. ‘When She Turns 18’ is perfection. Love! Check out here or click here for a free download.
New Music: Penguin Prison
OK, so not very ‘new’ (he’s been causing havoc on the blogs for a good few months now) but I’ve just realised that I haven’t bigged him up, and he’s one of my most listened to artists in the last 3 months according to my Last.fm
Anyway, this is nothing more than fresh, forward looking electro that’s a bit too cool to be pop but is easy to fall in love with at the same time. He’s coming to London later in the month which is nice as it seems he’s been stuck in his native New York for ages! Check out here.
New Robyn!
I love Robyn. I have done since I was at school (in the 90’s), which is kinda embarrassing to admit to, as she wasn’t always very cool! She ditched a big recording contract and an already successful career back then because she wasn’t happy with how her label was selling her. So she went her own way and paid for her huge 2005 album ‘Robyn’, which had all those big hits like ‘With Every Heartbeat’.
A sampler for the first album called Body Talk Pt1 is here. You can here a snippet of her first single, Fembot, on that link. So far, I’ve heard Dancehall Queen which is pretty sweet (produced by Diplo- I can’t find a link for the full clip!). Looks like it’ll be a fun summer when the first album is released in June!
New Music: Starshell
Signed up by Mary J. Blige, Starshell is just pure fun pop (from what I’ve heard so far). Her first single, Superluva, was written for Britney and Lady Gaga. Both gave it a miss. Silly !Check out here.
A little late on this one…
I brought Cheryl Cole’s album when it came out all those months ago (no sniggering), and I was a bit disappointed with what I heard. Parachute was probably the best track on the album, but I had to watch the video to realise that it’s actually a really good pop song.
Arthur Erickson
I only just stumbled across Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. His work was stunningly elegant, Im surprised at myself for not already knowing about him. His estate has a website here which isn’t the friendliest site to work through but the photos of his buildings (specially the residential stuff) are beautiful.