Destined for Stardom

Bands have been using the new wave of social media to enhance their status for years now; its most famous child perhaps being Arctic Monkeys, who raced to the fastest sales for a British debut album back in 2006. Now, however, social media has a new Queen. Noush Skaugen is probably the most famous female solo artist that you've never heard of and, remarkably, despite her unsigned status she's racked up a staggering 1.2million followers on Twitter (which is especially impressive when you consider that people like Stephen Fry have 1.3million).

Born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Persian Father, Noush has split her time between Sweden, France, the US and London, completing a law degree at Warwick University in the process. After gaining some musical success she decided not to follow a career in law and having gathered more support through podcasting and Myspace Noush released her debut EP 'Palomino' in 2007. This in turn led to prestigious prizes in the form of 'Alternative Pop Artist of the Year' at the 17th Annual LA Music Awards, and 'National Independent Rock EP of the Year' at The Hollywood Music Awards. She then followed this up with her first full lenth album, 'Lost and Found' in 2008.

Her rise seems to show no signs of stoppng and, after becoming the most popular unsigned artist on Twitter, she became the first unsigned artist to be invited to perform a live-streamed showcase from Twitter's San Francisco HQ earlier this month. On top of this she's had a successful slot at this years SXSW, has toured with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, TV On The Radio, Paramore, R.E.M., Joss Stone and The Mars Volta. Now with a new album due for release in the spring Noush is releasing 'Run Baby Run', her new single, in May, which you can see below. The video is a further example of the lengths that Noush goes to to connect with her fans; she recorded it especially as a thank you after reaching one million fans on her Twitter.

Harper Simon: Like Father, Like Son

The folk rock slide guitars and soft vocals that wash over you at the start of Harper Simon's latest single 'Shooting Star' conjure images of Simon and Garfunkel and well they might. Harper is the son of Paul Simon. Being the son of a superstar hasn't been a guarantee of instant success as it has been for so many others as it's only now, at the age of 37, that his eponymous debut album has been released. I've only been able to listen to the few tracks that are on his myspace page but it seems as though Simon is the superstar child most likely to gain independent success (over the likes of Sean Lennon and James McCartney for instance.)

The album is due out on April 5th so it remains to see whether he can retain the consistency throught a full 10 tracks. However, with contributions from collaborators of Elvis and Patsy Kline, as well as from Sean Lennon and Paul Simon himself, the signs are encouraging.

'Shooting Star' is below and you can head to his myspace for more information.

New Band: The Suzukis

The Suzukis are a new four-piece from Wigan who are promising to take rock back to basics. Channelling the likes of The Sex Pistols, The Stooges they've been championed by Zane Lowe and are the first British band for a long time that can really claim to be a voice for the disillusioned youth of today. Their debut single, 'Built In' was released on March 22nd and is still available as a free download here.

The band display these raw punk rock sensibilities without seeing the need to re-create the circus that generally seems to accompany it. There are no spikes, no piercings, no outlandish wardrobe, just four young guys making the music they love. If you like what you hear then you'll be pleased to know that there's not long to wait for the album as it's due out in May. You can also head over to their myspace for more information.

Watch: Tiffany Page, Walk Away Slow

Female artists seem to have taken over the Indie scene over the last year or so with major awards going to the likes of Florence and the Machine and Ellie Goulding. Now Tiffany Page could be the next one to keep a close eye on. At only 23 years old she's spent the last summer hopping between London and LA to write and record her debut album, 'Walk Away Slow'. Ahead of its release on June 21st Tiffany has made title track, 'Walk Away Slow' available for a free download, which you can find here.. The lead single 'On Your Head' will then be released on May 24th.

As well as being able to download the track from the link above, you can also watch the video below.

Teenage Fanclub Return

It's been five years since Teenage Fanclub's last album, 'Man-Made' but now the band that launched a thousand others are back. 'Baby Lee', the lead single from new album 'Shadows' is due for release on May 24th with the album due out the week later on May 31st. It's a bouncy, acoustic number with trademark harmonies coming in to play on the chorus and you can listen to it here.

On top of this 2010 is set to be a busy year for the band with a headline slot at the Camden Crawl and a UK tour. You can see the dates here:

May
1st - London Koko - Camden Crawl Headline
27th - Manchester Academy 2
28th - Sheffield Leadmill
30th - Dublin The Academy

June
1st - Aberdeen
2nd - Glasgow ABC
3rd - Edinburgh The Picture House
4th - Leeds The Cockpit
6th - Bristol Academy
7th - Birmingham Academy 2

News: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Album Format

The new album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and the Cairo Gang, entitled, 'The Wonder Show of the World' is all set to be released on March 29th. To celebrate this fact they have commissioned the artist Scott Millar to hand carve 150 unique Bonnie 'Prince Billy' bottle stoppers like this little chap...



The stopper is sold as a bundle with the album and is obviously very limited so if you want one you'd better get your skates on. 'The Wonder Show of the World' reunited Billy with Emmett Kelly who have worked together before on the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy albums, 'Lie Down In The Light', 'The Letting Go', 'Beware' and the EP, 'CHIJIMI'. The album will be released digitally and anyone ordering a stopper will be sent an email with a link to download the album on its day of release. It can be ordered exclusively through Domino's site here.

Watch: O.Children, Ruins

With a dark brooding sound and the deep voice of singer Tobi O'Kandi, O.Children are the latest band who will inevitably draw comparisons to Joy Division. Their debut single, 'Dead Disco Dancer', gained them favourable coverage with people like Clash and the NME and now 2010 sees them return with their second single, 'Ruins'. It's an ominous and sinister slice of post-punk with loud, swirling guitars from the off, an energy that never seems to let up and O'Kandi's rumbling vocals lying nicely over the top. If this is anything to go by the O.Children could be a band to get really excited about in 2010.

You can watch the equally sinister video below.

Villagers Set for New Single

Villagers appear to be the latest example of a solo artist performing under the security blanket of a band name. Whilst Villagers may have fixed band members they are very much the embodiment of Conor J. O'Brian who sings and plays all of the instruments on debut album 'Becoming a Jackal' (apart from the French Horn and strings). He even designed all of the artwork for the album himself.

Their debut single will be the title track, 'Becoming a Jackal' and will be released on April 17th, with the album following on May 24th. It will be available on limited edition 7" from Domino and it's nice to see the digital release following the physical release for a change, with the song being available for download on April 26th. You can watch the video for the song below.

Video: She and Him, In The Sun

A quick update on Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward's She and Him. A video for 'In The Sun', directed by Peyton Reed (him of Yes Man and The Break-Up directorial fame), has just hit the airwaves and it's well worth a watch (and not just because of Zoeey!) It features a great choreographed dance routine through a school by Zooey, with Ward cast as the silent loner type until the end when he whips out the guitar and plays a mean solo in the gym!

The single is out on March 29th and they follow that up with their first UK gig at Koko on May 7th.

Matthew Herbert is One

Matthew Herbert has never been one to shy away from ambitious, unusual and contraversial musical projects and so it should come as no surprise that he's hitting us with a concept trilogy of albums in 2010, named the 'One Trilogy'. With a name like that it all sounds a bit Lord of the Rings so let's clear up what it's all about.

'One One' is entirely played and performed by Matthew, including the singing.

'One Club' is made entirely from sounds recorded in one night at the Robert Johnson night club in Frankfurt on September 30th 2009. (June release)

'One Pig' is a record made out of the life cycle of a pig. (September release)

The first offering, 'One One', will be released on April 12th and the first single from the album is 'Leipzig', which is scheduled for release on March 29th. You can watch the video below.

Born Ruffians are Sole Brothers

Candian band Born Ruffians kind of disappeared off the music scene for a while as they recorded the follow up album to their 2008 debut, 'Red, Yellow, Blue'. Now however they are back and ready to release their sophomore offering, 'Say It' on May 31st. To celebrate this fact they are offering the album track 'Sole Brother' as a free download in order to whet your appetite for the main course. You can find it here.

Oh and here's a video of the band performing the song for Tripwire. Enjoy.

Review: The Invisible, Jacob and the Angel

It's been a successful year for The Invisible since the release of their debut album this time in 2009. With a Mercury nomination for their self-titled album, as well as lucrative support slots for the likes of Hot Chip, it's fair to say that things have been steadily on the up. Now they plan to release 'Jacob and the Angel' as a free download on the 15th March.

They've claimed that it's a free download for fans, the vast majority of whom will already have the album, so I suspect it's more likely to try and attract new fans, in which case it's an odd choice. It has a very ethereal and floaty chillout vibe to it, which we've seen before in breakthrough single 'London Girl' and their cover of 'Come Together'. I'd like to see them make something like 'Monster's Ball' (an early 7" single) available again or album closer 'Time Waits'. Both of these songs show a heavier side to their music that the casual listener may not have picked up on before. Check out the video below and let me know what you think.

Review: Marina and the Diamonds, The Family Jewels

2010 promised to be a big year for the 24 year old from Wales. She had to settle for second place in the BBC's Sound of 2010 behind Ellie Goulding and was narrowly nudged off the Critic's Choice Brit award by the same artist but the signs were good. Perhaps wisely then her debut album, 'The Family Jewels', was pencilled in for release a week before Goulding's 'Lights' and the world waited to see what was in store.

If I'm honest it's a bit of a mixed bag. The early singles 'I Am Not A Robot', 'Mowgli's Road' and 'Obsessions' hinted at a quiet indie coolness that could threaten Florence's throne but then 'Hollywood' threw a major pop shaped spanner in the works and that's the major problem. Marina seems like she can't decide whether to be a Florence and the Machine/Bat for Lashesesque indie queen or a Lady Gaga/Madonna style pop princess. The album veers between the aforementioned indie stylings and the pop veneer of songs like 'Shampain' and 'Girls'; all finely crafted but it doesn't really make for a flowing piece of work. As well as this the very self-motivated lyrics ('Don't do love, don't do friends, I'm only after success', 'They say I am a control freak, driven a greed to succeed' etc), don't create an instantly likeable character, as lovely as she may be away from the music.

However, the strength of the songs individually means that the album still merits a positive review. Album opener 'Are You Satisfied' is one of the rare moments where indie cool is in perfect harmony with the pop and the final trio of songs, 'Rootless','Numb' and 'Guilty' create a very strong finale. Debut albums often suffer from an eclecticism as artists struggle to experiment and define themselves so I think it would be fair to wait for the sophomore album before any real criticism can be given to her.

7/10

Ok Go Strike Again

After the worldwide smash hit phenomenon that was the video for 'Here It Goes Again', which has reportedly reached a combined play count of 49million on Youtube, Ok Go look set to achieve the same amount of success with the video for their latest single 'This Too Shall Pass'.

The video, below, which features the band in full marching band uniform, a few camouflaged brass players and the Notre Dame Marching Band, has already notched up over a million views on youtube.



However, not content with the success of this video virally, the band knocked up a second video, which looks set to become the true heir to the treadmill's throne (it even shows that video at one point). Remember that Honda advert with all the car pieces bumping in to each other in a chain reaction? Imagine that but stretch it out to nearly four minutes and replace the car parts with a load of random items, gradually getting bigger in scale and resulting in the band being covered in paint. It's best to just watch it really so here it is...

Nothing Rhymes With Orange

South Florida band NRWO (Nothing Rhymes With Orange) are all set to release their new album in the UK on May 4th. Named 'The Happiness Struggle' it promises to be a classic rock album in the style of Oasis, U2 etc, both of whom they name as influences. Songs like 'Offers' and soon to be released single 'Escaping Hell' look likely to ensure that they build up a decent following in Europe, especially in the UK where their blend of American and British stylings will be most appreciated.

The band will be touring this Summer so stay tuned for more details on that. In the mean time you can indulge yourselves with the album sampler below.

UNKLE Return

London based band UNKLE return with news of their latest full length album entitled 'Where Did the Night Fall'. Released on the 10th of May it will feature a massive 14 tracks, 11 of which will feature guest performances from the likes of Mark Lanegan, Sleepy Sun and Katrina Ford and the full tracklisting can be found below.

1. Nowhere
2. Follow Me Down (feat Sleepy Sun)
3. Natural Selection (feat The Black Angels)
4. Joy Factory (feat Autolux)
5. The Answer (feat Big In Japan (Baltimore))
6. On A Wire (feat ELLE J)
7. Falling Stars (feat Gavin Clark)
8. Heavy Drug
9. Caged Bird (feat Katrina Ford)
10. Ablivion
11. The Runaway (feat ELLE J)
12. Ever Rest (feat Joel Cadbury)
13. The Healing (feat Gavin Clark)
14. Another Night Out (feat Mark Lanegan)

In celebration of this announcement the band are also giving away the track 'Natural Selection' (feat. The Black Angels) for free. It's a solid electro-rock mashup that's sure to increase anticipation for the album. The song can be streamed or downloaded from the widgets below.

Review: Joshua Radin, I'd Rather Be With You

Joshua Radin is another of these singer songwriters in the vein of Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz et al and 'I'd Rather Be With You' is the second single to be released from his sophomore album 'Simple Times'. If I'm completely honest it does sound a little bit formulaic; start off with a single acoustic guitar and a soft voice, bring in the drums and a second guitar to give it a fuller, bouncier sound and ride out to the end. However, even if you think you've heard it all before, when it's done this well it doesn't really matter. Given the strength of this and previous single 'One of Those Days' I have high hopes for the album.

'I'd Rather Be With You' is released on March 22nd with the album released on April 12th. You can watch the video below, which features Heroes star Hayden Panettiere.