This year we've cut down our "best of" lists and got straight to the point, we'll have two lists and an extra something(s) special up our sleeve.
Lists can get increasingly tedious this time of the year and every Tom, Dick and Harry are compiling their best albums, videos, tracks, artists, newcomers, the holy "Ones To Watch", what are we watching for exactly?
This first list is for NEWCOMERS, the criteria isn't "Oh we came across this band in 2011, they're good". It needs to be relevant so we made some pointers on how we judged below:
19:41:00
It is that time of the year again or maybe a little past that time of year if we're being totally honest but never-the-less, we have...
It is that time of the year again or maybe a little past that time of year if we're being totally honest but never-the-less, we have a list compiled of some of the best tracks to slap us in the chops and make us take note this year - even adding them to our Certified Tracks section. Just to be a bit different, we will be throwing some album tracks in the mix to highlight how important it is not to solely rely on blogs posting song after song, and what a front-to-back album can offer.
First off, we've so far had 12 brilliant tracks and they're all featured in our CT15 section of the website, but keep reading to find out why we think they're so good. On top of that, like we've just said, we'll shuffle the pack and highlight some songs that haven't featured on the site because they're album tracks. So here goes.
19:09:00
Ok, last installment of the 'Best Of' series. We've already brought you our favourite Newcomers , Tracks and Albums fro...
Ok, last installment of the 'Best Of' series. We've already brought you our favourite Newcomers, Tracks and Albums from 2010. Now we bring you our tips for 2011.
18:52:00
Childhood: Leo Dobson, Ben Romans-Hopcraft, Daniel Salamons Some bands come out and show you everything they have, all guns blazing, i...
Childhood: Leo Dobson, Ben Romans-Hopcraft, Daniel Salamons
Some bands come out and show you everything they have, all guns blazing, if you will. Some can't, won't, and perhaps don't even want to. Nottingham via London band Childhood fall into the latter category for sure.
18:32:00
Irregardless of who you speak to, 2012 has been another great year ( here is 2011's list , for comparisons sake). From the emerge...
Irregardless of who you speak to, 2012 has been another great year (here is 2011's list, for comparisons sake). From the emergence of new favorites like DIIV, Savages & Splashh, to the returning Tame Impala, Foals & The xx to name but a few, its been scattered with diversity once again. Below, you can find our top 12 (in no particular order, six choices each and one for each month) tracks from 2012, each divergent, unique and evident of another memorable year that has passed us by. See you again in 365 days time.
18:37:00
“You know when you just know?”. These are the words which graced my first tweet after publishing our original story on Alpines back ...
“You know when you just know?”. These are the words which graced my first tweet after publishing our original story on Alpines back in February. Upon first listen we were hooked, which is a rare pleasure in itself. Especially in our case, spending the vast majority of days listening through piles music.
Catherine Pockson and Bob Matthews formed on the back of visits to each other’s respective shows. Bob with his previous band and Catherine playing solo. Bob said: “A couple of months later we started making music really naturally, just because it felt like the right thing to do. By the beginning of 2010 we realised that we had something really good, and only then did we start to think of ourselves as a band. We spent ages thinking about what kind of band we wanted to be, what we wanted to sound like, and what we’d be called. After we played our first shows in the summer everything happened really quickly, we ended up signing our record deal in the autumn.”
“We came up with the phrase Night-Pop because we knew that we'd need a quick way of describing our music. I think it works quite nicely though.” - Bob Matthews, Alpines, 2011
It's now 2011 and on top of an EP release, the band has plans for an LP, Bob said: “We've currently recorded 8 songs but we really need 14 or 15 to narrow it down from to make the record. So we're going back in next month. It should be out in September and our working title is Nocturnes". Very exciting news, especially paired with the fact they're working with Craig Silvey who mixed Arcade Fire's The Suburbs and produced Portishead's Third. One thing that really struck me when I heard Alpines is that they've got a very intrinsic balance between vocals and instrumentals which is something Bob puts down to their recording process: “Catherine will write the song on a piano, and then I add everything else, and I try and make sure it does the song justice.”
They’ve self classified their sound as 'Night-Pop', Bob laughs: “We came up with the phrase Night-Pop because we knew that we'd need a quick way of describing our music. I think it works quite nicely though”. The Night Pop excellence of “Drive” seems to be what got the band noticed. It featured in a Rankin produced promotional video for fashion designer, Hannah Marshall. The track also was the soundtrack to her catwalk show last September.
(Rankin made video ft Alpines - Drive, for Hannah Marshall's S/S11 introduction at London Fashion Week)
Catherine: “That campaign was an interesting one because Rankin heard our music very early on before many people were aware of Alpines. It was a great opportunity for us, as he was very enthusiastic and supportive. As a result it’s made Bob and I more open to the idea of our music being used alongside other fashion shows and art forms. I'm also hoping to work with Louise Amstrup in the future, designing a collection of clothing inspired by the influences of Alpines".
Another typical part of entering the media spotlight is the inevitable comparisons - In Alpines case it's Florence & the Machine and La Roux. Bob adds: “It's always flattering to be compared to such successful acts in a positive way, although I don't think there's much similarity between us and those two acts other than the fact we have a female singer.”
The band were due out on tour with Fenech-Soler this month, but the sad news of lead singer Ben being diagnosed with cancer has forced the tour to be cancelled. A very big 'get well soon' from us. Below you can find a brand new remix of "Ice & Arrows" by Dark Sky (who has previously re-worked The XX's "Cyrstalised"). Get used to Alpines because you will be hearing and seeing a lot more of them in the future.
For the record, Phantogram are guitarist Josh Carter and keyboardist Sarah Barthel. They are an Electronic duo with Hip-Hop influences. The pair hail from Saratoga Springs, New York and their debut LP 'Eyelid Movies' was released on the 9th of February 2010 to much acclaim. Check out our previous post on the duo. We managed to catch up with Sarah Barthel to ask a few questions.
17:56:00
There have been rumours flying about all over that Jamie (producer of The xx) was going to embark on a solo conquest off the back of The...
There have been rumours flying about all over that Jamie (producer of The xx) was going to embark on a solo conquest off the back of The xx's huge debut LP success.
15:58:00
After the refreshing tastes of "Canyon" & the silky smooth, 80's inspired "Running" , our favourite Brazili...
After the refreshing tastes of "Canyon" & the silky smooth, 80's inspired "Running", our favourite Brazilian wunderkids We Are Pirates have released their debut EP 'Kids Practice'.
10:59:00
The nights are starting to get darker, the weather even nippier, thus meaning the UK 2010 festival season is all but over. For the hea...
The nights are starting to get darker, the weather even nippier, thus meaning the UK 2010 festival season is all but over. For the heavier clubber, the traditional Ibiza 'closing parties' are also sadly in close grasp. Its not all gloom though. For those that don't know in 2006 roundabout this time of year, a few people in rainy Madchester had a bright idea of doing some parties in an abandoned building, an old beer brewery in fact. Four years on these sell out parties are still held every weekend for 3 months, up until and including New Years Day, taking place under (yes, beneath) one of the UK's busiest train stations. Its called The Warehouse Project and boasts, without question, the broadest line up of top end old and new electronic acts and DJ's.
The launch weekend is almost upon us, however we're not going to bore you with the full list of headliners (click here to see that), instead, we've untangled three of the lesser known names who we're pretty fond of.
11:24:00
Wasn't going to rush out to post this one, the amount of hype that comes hand in hand with Jamie Smith is madness, so pretty sure ...
Wasn't going to rush out to post this one, the amount of hype that comes hand in hand with Jamie Smith is madness, so pretty sure another rushed post from us isn't going to make much difference to his exposure levels. Having said that, "Loud Places" featuring Romy Madley Croft (The xx) is pretty special considering the collaboration and style switch from what we're used to from The xx.
19:09:00
I don't know about you, but over the past couple of months there has been nothing quite as annoying than blogs & websites posting ...
I don't know about you, but over the past couple of months there has been nothing quite as annoying than blogs & websites posting video after video of terrible quality xx performances. Arrggh. Alas! They can all stop now (please stop?), as the trio have unveiled "Chained" - the follow up to "Angels".
16:31:00
Nothing say ho ho ho like a classic Xmas cover, does it? That's right, The xx have only gone and covered Wham!'s "Last Chris...
Nothing say ho ho ho like a classic Xmas cover, does it? That's right, The xx have only gone and covered Wham!'s "Last Christmas" for Radio 1's live lounge.
20:40:00
Not long after the unveiling of Jamie xx's kinda new track "Sleep Sound" we have an official video. Hear what we've...
Finally, finally, finally. The most written about band in the history of the world wide web - The xx - release their second album Coexist next week, and yes, you can now hear it in full.
19:00:00
The perfect day for presents and here's a rather pleasant one. A new demo from The xx , "Open Eyes", which was recorded dur...
The perfect day for presents and here's a rather pleasant one. A new demo from The xx, "Open Eyes", which was recorded during sessions for their forthcoming second album.
12:34:00
Just in time for festival season, Jamie xx shares new single "All Under One Roof Raving". As well as writing new xx material...
Just in time for festival season, Jamie xx shares new single "All Under One Roof Raving".
As well as writing new xx material at the minute, Jamie is looking toward his own solo LP (soon?). Over the weekend, Annie Mac's Radio 1 show had the first play of his new single "All Under One Roof Raving".
14:03:00
Jamie XX returns to the solo fray with new track (entitled) "Untitled" The xx may have just played to all corners of South ...
Jamie XX returns to the solo fray with new track (entitled) "Untitled"
The xx may have just played to all corners of South America, but Jamie (xx) has found some time to work on his solo material, and it's definitely good to have him back with new track "Sleep Sound" (*updated title).
