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.