Listen: Kwamie Liv ‘Pleasure This Pain’ feat. Angel Haze

kwamie liv

Kwamie Liv | Angel Haze

The rise of Stromae

Stromae - Papaoutai (Feat. Angel Haze)

The first time I heard this track from Stromae I had a sense that it wouldn’t just buzz in mainland Europe and die away.

Now with a cameo from Angel Haze, the song’s being pushed through to the rest of the world. And it’s picking up. Interesting to see where a French song leads to.

Angel Haze and Sasha Keable. Together.

angel haze

Two of my favourite current artists together being live. The powerful song is Angel Haze’s current single, and SBTV have brought her and Sasha together for the first time in this exclusive live collaboration.

Angel Haze comes third in BBC Sound of 2013

bbc sound of 2013

angel haze

That feisty American rapper, previously featured back in July 2012, has come third in the BBC Sound of 2013. The runner up is announced tomorrow.

BBC Sound of 2013 longlist announced!

bbc sound of 2013
sound of 2013 longlist

The BBC has just released it’s Sound of 2013 list of artists. Over the years, this has proven to be one of the most accurate predictors of who’s likely to become a household name (in the UK at least) over the next twelve months, and it’s personally a very exciting thing to see. The list is compiled by the UK’s most influential music industry tastemakers, who were each asked to note their favourite emerging artists.

While I’m familiar with all the acts on these long lists by the time they are published, I do not necessarily agree with all the talent in them (that’s the great thing about music).

Still, every year I like to benchmark this blog against the list to see how many acts I’ve championed, and I’m chuffed to see that most of these artists have been featured on Alfitude over the past year or two (although some of these posts are already so old the sound clips may not be active any more):

Other acts on the longlist also include:

  • HAIM
  • Kodaline
  • Little Green Cars
  • Palma Violets
  • Peace
  • Savages

Overall, I think this year’s list covers a much more varied and promising selection of talent compared to 2012, and it’ll be interesting to see who wins. The top five acts will begin to be revealed during the week of 31st December 2012.

Until then, I haven’t made my mind up who will make the shortlist just yet- who would you like to see win?