The Joy Formidable - This Ladder Is Ours

The Joy Formidable previewed a brilliant new video for their track 'This Ladder Is Ours' on their website yesterday afternoon. Don't be fooled by the long orchestral intro; before you know it Ritzy Bryan's intense raspy guitar breaks in, as does those pounding drums and that driving bass. The full on energetic and dense guitar sound that The Joy Formidable are known for soon emerges. The video was filmed in Santa Clarita, CA and was directed by Greg Jadrin. The track will feature on their forthcoming album 'Wolf's Law' alongside 'Cholla', which they'd also released a video for in October (watch here). I can't wait - this record is going to be massive!

'Wolf's Law' album artwork

The album will be released on 21st January. Pre order it now-which is cheapest if you do so on Play (plus they're signed copies!)

The Joy Formidable also announced a huge UK and Ireland tour which will take place during January, February and March 2013.  

The tour dates are as follows:

January

Tuesday 22nd  Liverpool, Kazimier

Wednesday 23rd  Norwich, Waterfront

Friday 25th  Belfast, The Limelight

Saturday 26th  Dublin, Academy

Monday 28th  Cardiff, Solus

Tuesday 29th  Bristol, Fiddlers

February

Sunday 24th  Nottingham, Rescue Rooms

Monday  25th  Leeds, Cockpit

Tuesday 26th  Glasgow, Oran Mor

Thursday 28th Manchester, Ritz

March

Friday 1st Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall

Saturday 2nd Sheffield, Leadmill

Monday 4th Brighton, Concorde 2

Tuesday 5th Exeter, Phoenix

Wednesday 6th Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms

Friday 8th  London, The Roundhouse

Masters In France

Masters In France played the Introducing Stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Bangor back in 2010 after gaining a huge amount of support from Jen Long and Huw Stephens. I saw them play live and then went on to buy their EP 'Inhale' which you can order from their website here.

Me with their T-shirt and 'Inhale' EP

They suddenly came back to my attention when I saw that their new single 'Playin' with my friends' on an IKEA advert - fingers crossed this leads to them getting some kind of mainstream success.

You can download their track 'Playin' with my friends' from itunes here.

YesYou

YesYou are a production duo from Brisbane, Australia. They came to my attention from the hype they received from the Brisbane music conference 'Bigsound'. Listening to them you wouldn't expect them to be from the other side of the world - they sound very influenced by the UK electro scene, hence sound remarkably like Bristol band The Other Tribe who have recently gained mainstream success, which I expect they will too. Sounding like they do, it came to a surprise to me when I found out that they have produced for the likes of DZ Deathrays,  already delving into a completely different genre.

'Frivolous Life (ft. Marcus Azon)' is the first single from YesYou's debut EP, which is due out in the next coming months.

Syron

Syron, or Daisy Syron Russell, first came to many people's attention when she showcased her soft, soulful vocal on the Rudimental track 'Spoons'  alongside fellow new young talent MNEK. She has been getting a huge amount of support from the likes of SBTV,  Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She has even been blogged about by The XX and named one of the 'coolest new female talents' by ID Magazine, which I can't disagree with. What I didn't expect was that she was yet another artist from The Brit School, attempting to make her own place in the already crowded music industry. Her first proper single, 'Breaking' is out on 24 September on new upcoming London label Black Butter Records. The track was written from a break up experience, where it's obvious she's still not over her ex, the lyric "I keep forgetting I'm not allowed to love you" is heartbreaking enough on its own. She'll be featuring on the new Tensnake single and then she's got her second single 'Here' coming out soon too. I can't wait.

Deaf Club

Deaf Club first came to my attention when they were in session for Jen Long on BBC Radio 1 back in September 2011 and after I downloaded their Lull EP (from their bandcamp) - which I've been obsessed with ever since - I soon realised that this Wrexham 5-piece had huge potential to do well. 

Now, almost a year after that session they have performed on the BBC Introducing stages at Reading and Leeds, had plenty of airplay on Radio 1, 6 Music and on Radio Wales. The band have gigged all over the UK and have even been written about in The Guardian and in numerous blogs. They have got a tour coming up this Autumn, which you can find out more about on their tumblr. 

I've got a feeling they're going to do well. As a band, they've created something pretty unique. Their tracks are filled with atmosphere and tension, the shimmery guitars and the delay used on the drums is used to great effect. The delicate, soft vocals of Polly Mackey give a folk-like aspect to their sound. It's almost like Deaf Club are re-creating the genre that The Cure were first known for, gothic rock. 

The Joy Formidable are back!

The Joy Formidable debuted their latest single, 'Wolf's Law' on Huw Stephen's Thursday night show. The track, 'Wolf's Law', also happens to be the title track of their second album which is due to come out in early 2013. Apparently though, the track won't actually appear on their album but is just a teaser of what's to come, which I suppose is why they're giving it away for free if you subscribe to their mailing list. The track also comes with a beautiful video directed by Cat Botibol. The track is a complete surprise to me, as it probably is to a lot of their fans. The last thing I expected to hear was a piano. I guess what the band are telling us is that there is going to be a big change in their sound on their next record. Which, some people might say is a bad thing. However I don't, I think it's great that they're experimenting a bit. If they were to keep to the same indie rock style that they're already known for it would be like a re-run of their debut.

Howler - Central Station, Wrexham, 22/8/12

Howler have recently been getting a huge amount of attention, mostly thanks to NME - where I first became aware of them. Since that NME gig review (February 2012) I've now heard their sessions with Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne and with Bands In Transit - amongst the many others sessions they've done. I bought their album, which sounded pretty strong. With all this hype and attention I have to say the last thing I expected was to see Wrexham on their list of tour dates, and for it to be their warm up gig for Reading and Leeds.

                   Finding the venue wasn't hard. When walking down the pedestrian streets of Wrexham I could hear the sound of the supporting band's loud guitars vibrating straight through what looked to be the tin roof of Central Station. The venue is small, friendly and great to get up close to the musicians themselves, which I suppose is the reason why it's named as 'Wales' leading live music venue' by Kerrang & The Independent. There wasn't a big turnout and the few people that were there didn't seem to know of the band, I must have been the only one singing along to any of their songs. Even if Howler's music didn't please the crowd, frontman Jorden Gatesmith's stage banter sure did. He questioned the crowd on what people do in Wales and got the reply of sheep-shagging (which by the way, is NOT what people do in Wales). He also rated his band members on how well they played a new song that they debuted, which got a laugh. During their set, Jorden quite rightly complained about the sound- the sound guy shouted across the crowd, "the sound's always shit here!". The reverb was terrible, even their tracks that didn't have a wall of distorted guitar in them sounded like they did. What Jordan and his band didn't realise was that there probably wasn't anything wrong with Central Station's sound equipment, it was they themselves who were playing way too loud for the venue. Central Station has a wooden floor and what seems to be a tin roof, so the sound bounces around everywhere creating loads of natural reverb, so it's best if bands play quieter, especially if there isn't a large crowd to absorb the sound.
                 Even though the gig wasn't that great, I could tell that Howler would soon become bigger than they are right now. They've got everything an indie rock band needs, the cheekbones, the lanky bodies and the good music to go with it. They're really nice guys too and they sure deserve the success they've been getting. In a way, it's brilliant that the gig they played in Wrexham was their Reading and Leeds warm-up gig; It will make them playing at such a huge festival with thousands of people watching seem much more unbelievable than it would have done.

In October, Howler are doing the NME Generation tour, which you can buy tickets for here.

I also recommend that you buy their album, America Give Up - which is cheapest if you buy it with Amazon.

Also, check out the Central Station website, they've got some pretty good bands playing there soon.

A Heavy Abacus - The Joy Formidable (FilmAid version)

Check out this video, presented by FilmAid and made by two award winning filmmakers Topaz Adizes and Paola Mendoza during a month they spent volunteering in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya. They have used one of my favourite tracks by the brilliant The Joy Formidable, A Heavy Abacus. The video is incredibly inspirational and makes you realise how lucky you really are. 

       

 

You can donate to FilmAid here. 

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments (Star Slinger Remix)

Star Slinger has recently dropped his remix of Jessie Ware's 'Wildest Moments' on his Soundcloud. I don't expect it to be as big as the Disclosure remix of 'Running' but it's still pretty good for what it is.

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments (Star Slinger Remix)

Jessie recently opened up the 'In New Music We Trust' stage on the Saturday of BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hackney. If you missed it, I recommend you watch it back here. Jessie's debut album, 'Devotion' is due to be released on August 20th. I can't wait.

Swim Deep

I recently came across the great Birmingham 3-piece Swim Deep. NME have been talking about them and Huw Stephans has recently given their debut single "King City" a daytime radio 1 play. Their track "King City" is brilliant. It's the perfect dreamy-pop song that you can never get bored of.  For Warpaint fans, the lyric 'I want to pretend that Jenny Lee Lindburg is my girlfriend' is what makes it, for me.. it's everything about it!

Here's the fab video:

Austra - Katie Stelmanis

Everyone has heard of Austra by now, but does everyone realise how incredibly talented Austra's Katie Stelmanis is?

Jai Paul

Everyones been waiting patiently for the return of Jai Paul. His track 'BTSTU' quickly gained lots of media attention and managed to get play-listed by Radio 1 and even went on the be sampled by the likes of Drake and Beyoncé. With high expectations, he has clearly been taking his time to perfect his sound and to decide what route he is going to take musically.

He has returned with 'Jasmine'. It's already Annie Mac's record of the week.

I'm just hoping that I don't have to wait until 2013 to hear more from him. 

Jeff Who?

Jeff Who? are a great band from Iceland. They're pretty big over there from what I can gather, but I can't find out much about them as can't read Icelandic but hey, they're cool.  The vocals are what really does it for me. Hope you enjoy.

This is them performing 'Bipolar Breakdown' on an Icelandic TV show: