Plan B AKA Ben Drew returns with his incredible second album 'The Defamation Of Strickland Banks'. It's the sound of Motown, Stax and Northern soul, filtered through the grit of contemporary East London. It’s an urban fairytale, a sweet soul morsel with a razor-sharp edge. Click here for more!
From Cleveland via New York and LA, Joshua Radin is the uniquely word-of-mouth global success story that's just about to get a whole lot bigger. Radi's route to prominence has been alternative. This began when Zach Braff, the director of motion picture Garden State and star of US TV comedy-drama Scrubs, heard the demo of his first song, a sparse, achingly pretty number, based around a few brushstrokes of guitar and a delicate wash of strings, called ‘Winter’, and featured it in the Scrubs episode My Screw Up in early 2004. Click here for more!
Modern soul has a new name... Widely tipped as one to watch in 2010, McLean releases his first single 'My Name' via Asylum Records on March 8. Hailing from Dagenham, McLean has fought his way up through the UK urban scene working with Chase & Status, Tinie Tempah, Ironik, Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz along the way. McLean's voice is uniquely soulful – producer Fraser T Smith describes him as: "The modern day Marvin Gaye". 'My Name' follows last year's magical trailer record ‘Broken’. Leaked to media in September, ‘Broken’ has amassed: 5 Million YouTube views; 20 Million views across Myspace, Bebo, Habbo, Last FM; a plethora of copy-cat cover versions from fans; whilst residing for 16 weeks in the Shazam Tag and TV Airplay charts. It also enjoyed incredible support from key urban stations including Choice, Kiss, Radio 1Xtra, AKA, Kiss TV, Flava and MTV Base. Click here for more!
A truly multi-talented artist knows no creative boundaries. This is the case with Jason Derulo the Miami-bred 20 year old singer, dancer, songwriter and actor whose smash debut single "Whatcha Say" heralds the arrival of a major new talent. As the flagship artist in the new joint venture deal between Warner Bros. and super-producer J.R. Rotem's label Beluga Heights, Derulo has set his sights high. "I don't want to stay in a box or be locked into one specific genre" Derulo says. "I would like to make music that knows no boundaries." Click here for more!
Pop is cooler than it has ever been. No revelations there. Somewhat ironic perhaps though that the jewel in this new crown of credibility gut-laughs in the face of any notion of 'cool'. Marina (And The Diamonds) Diamandis is living, breathing, belting, vogue-ing proof of the unfathomable possibilities contained within organic pop in 2010. "I really couldn't give a damn whether pop's in fashion this week or not, I'd be writing the same music, regardless" she scoffs. Click here for more!
Though you may know him best for his recent emergence from the dance world, what Primary 1 does is far bigger than that. Utilizing de-tuned guitars, harpsichords, half a battered drum kit, MPC samplers, a half working Juno keyboard and whatever else sparks his aural pleasure, he is a DIY pop star primed to shake things up. Taking influence from every genre imaginable, twisting, turning and remodeling tracks as he sees fit, Primary 1’s output defies easy categorization by disregarding rules and boundaries and creating a wholly unique perspective as a one of a kind musician. From soul to dub, from pop to dance, it's a wonderfully produced kaleidoscope of sound. Ideas bounce off each other like pin balls. 2010 will see Primary1 release his underground mixtape Mess Detective ahead of his commercial release towards the end of the year stay tuned to Primary 1. Click here for more!
The easy way has never been the way for HIM. Formed by Valo, lead guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström, and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen when they were teenagers in Helsinki, Finland, and rounded out by long-time drummer Mika "Gas" Karppinen and keyboardist Janne "Burton" Puurtinen, the quintet has been ever seeking to expand its artistic and emotional horizons. That has been the manifesto from the start, and in the course of what is now an impressive body of work with seven albums, it has made HIM one of the global superstar acts of rock. Click here for more!
Wolf Gang is Max McElligott, a part Irish, part German LSE drop out who fell in love with music and out of love with studies. “Mick Jagger dropped out of LSE and it worked for him so I’m taking my chances”. A debonair young blade with a post-modern understanding of pop and a love of opulent sound his music sparkles with effortless flair and fizzes with enthusiasm, pushing aside genre boundaries. Click here for more!
The raucous songs caught the attention of Matt Galle, owner of New York-based indie label Photo Finish Records and booking agent to superstars like My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday, and producer Matt Squire, who pretty much produces every awesome band nowadays. Galle signed them to Photo Finish and Squire co-produced the duo's debut, "Want", a collection of infectious songs. With over 180,000,000 listens on their myspace and over 4 million singles sold 2010 is definitely the boy's from Colorado's year! Click here for more!
Fabio Lendrum's catalogue of tunes pops and fizzes with powerful, passionate tunesmithery, left-of-centre pop lyricism and a unique modern electronic pop sound that reaches to the future via a nod to the past. He has already celebrated a top ten hit - as a writer on Example’s ‘Won’t Go Quietly’ - so 2010 looks set to be his year. Click here for more!
You may know Kid Sister from 'Pro Nails', the hit with Kanye West that introduced the high-shine Chicago MC to the world. You may also have encountered her as the voice of Count and Sinden’s 2008 club hit ‘Beeper’ or read about her in the swathe of cool kid press that emerged around her last year. And if none of the above apply, don’t worry, because the next twelve months are likely to be flattened by the ghetto pop juggernaut that Kid Sister, real name Melissa Young, has created in her debut album 'Ultraviolet'. Click here for more!
The story of Foals' second album could not be told without the victories won by the first. One of the strangest, most exotic creatures to have seen the upper realm of the UK album charts this young century (debuting at # 3 upon release), Antidotes was a special album. In the idiot clamour of retro guitars, its keen sense of dare and future marked the Oxford quintet out as a band keen to establish their own context: hurtling along on incessant, acrobatic fret-play and cymbals hissing with the bliss of exertion. It won them attention, and the chance to evolve in a space of their own. Click here for more!
Plan B AKA Ben Drew returns with his incredible second album 'The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.' It's the sound of Motown, Stax...More
From Cleveland via New York and LA, Joshua Radin is the uniquely word-of-mouth global success story that's just about to get...More
Modern soul has a new name… Widely tipped as one to watch in 2010, McLean releases his first single 'My Name' via...More
A truly multi-talented artist knows no creative boundaries. This is the case with Jason Derulo the Miami-bred 20 year old singer, dancer...More
Marina (And The Diamonds) Diamandis is living, breathing, belting, vogue-ing proof of the unfathomable possibilities contained within...More
Though you may know him best for his recent emergence from the dance world, what Primary 1 does is far bigger than that...More
The easy way has never been the way for HIM. Formed by Valo, lead guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström, and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen when...More
Wolf Gang is Max McElligott, a part Irish, part German LSE drop out who fell in love with music and out of love with studies...More
The raucous songs caught the attention of Matt Galle, owner of New York-based indie label Photo Finish Records and booking agent...More
Fabio Lendrum's catalogue of tunes pops and fizzes with powerful, passionate tunesmithery, left-of-centre pop lyricism and...More
You may know Kid Sister from 'Pro Nails', the hit with Kanye West that introduced the high-shine Chicago MC to the world...More
The story of Foals' second album could not be told without the victories won by the first. One of the strangest, most...More
