Twenty years ago, to get anyone to notice you or to get signed by a label, you would have to send demos to A & R scouts or plays heaps of gigs and hope that someone spotted you. Now we have the internet it’s much easier, you can simply pop a video on YouTube, a song on Soundcloud and send it in an email to a load of press and music bloggers and hope to get a bit of hype around you. You never even have to leave your bedroom and you could be a super star. This has increased the rise of ‘YouTube sensations’ people who become famous from posting, mostly covers, on YouTube and getting a heap load of hits. Gabrielle Aplin, Justin Beiber and Jessie J have all come from this generation, but a lot of these YouTube covers artists fall a little flat when it comes to writing their own songs, Hannah Grace however, like Gabrielle stands out a mile.
She has one of those stop everything voices, like Rae Morris or Adele. One of those voices that the X Factor would fall head over heels for (although I hope that is not where she goes). She’s still got a long way to go, but the few original songs on her YouTube channel show that she is more than just the voice, she can write a pretty damn beautiful melody too. ‘All that I Am’ is by far the strongest song at the moment, ‘I’ve Got It’ has more of a musical theatre feel. It will be interesting to see where she goes, she has heaps of potential, I just hope she uses it in the right way.
Hannah at the moment has not recorded anything and has no listed gigs coming up, it’s really the very beginning for her. But keep an ear out, I will be.
One of those ‘love at first listen’ songs. Anais Mitchell is releasing a new record ‘Young Man in America’ on Wilderland Records on Monday (Feb 13th). She is also doing an instore at Rough Trade East on the same day. It sounds like it is going to be a beautiful record. You can also listen to the song Shepherd below.
It’s a rare and beautiful thing to find an album, and fall completely, unconditionally, head over heels in love with it. This is how I feel about this record, Child Bride, the first release from Hannah Cohen. This LP arrived on my doorstep on Saturday and has not left my turntable since. I cannot listen to anything else at the moment, nothing sounds as good as this. She has created pure beauty.
The album weaves between tear drenched tracks, soaked in emotion and guaranteed to spark something in you, tracks like ‘The Crying Game’, ‘Sorry’ and opening track ‘Don’t Say’. There are more upbeat numbers like the summery sounding ‘California’, and ‘Boy + Angel’ a cover of a Doveman track, who produced the whole record. There isn’t a track which shies away from the limelight, each deserves its place and its the connections between the tracks on the record, and the atmosphere it creates as a whole album that is so beautiful. The production is flawless, earthy yet ethereal, dark yet light. Hannah collected some of New York’s best musicians for this project and it pays off. The clarinet works incredibly with her voice, especially on ‘Don’t Say’, the strings, horns and orchestral flourishes never override the songs, only compliment. But it’s her voice that gets me so much, she sings so simply, so elegantly, yet heartbreakingly so.
Go and buy this record, soak your heart in it and I hope you find as much love in it as I have. And buy it on vinyl, it deserves vinyl.
‘Child Bride’ is officially released on April 23rd via Bella Union records. There are a few places online selling limited exclusive copies of the record, you can find these here. Hannah will also be playing at the lovely End of the Road festival in September.
So we got some snow this weekend! This mixtape provides a perfect accompaniment to that snow, all wintery gorgeousness.. It starts in a beautiful place with Hannah Cohen’s ‘The Crying Game’ and continues with chilled folk, electronica, trippy stuff and even some classical music. Plus it’s free to download! Click on the picture to access the download.
Ajimal- Footnote to Love
A while back, I featured Ajimal as a New Treat. You can see that post here. He has just released a new single which is called ‘Footnote to Love [Part 1]. It’s a little different but I really like the direction he is going in, his voice is great and he has so much potential as a songwriter. It’s great to see new artists get better and better.
Kathleen Edwards- Change the Sheets
I saw Kathleen Edwards support Bon Iver at Hammersmith Apollo in October. Her set was nice, I really liked her voice, but there was something missing about it, and it certainly didn’t have the mesmerising quality of the act to follow her. She has just released an album which has been produced by Bon Iver, but doesn’t actually sound a lot like the music of Bon Iver. Which I think is a good thing. This song, ‘Change the Sheets’ reminds me of Alanis Morissette. It’s quite addictive, sign of some great pop song writing.
SEASFIRE- Falling
SEASFIRE played Communion last night. This song stood out a mile for me compared to their other tracks. People are describing them as the UK’s answer to the Weeknd, I sort of get that vibe, I think they have potential.
Nightlands- Suzerain (A Letter to the Judge)
Someone posted this on my Facebook wall and I fell in love a little. Unfortunately, the rest of their songs aren’t as good as this one. But still, listen. Like a hippie version of The War on Drugs.
Father John Misty- Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Father John Misty, aka Josh Tillman, who has just left Fleet Foxes to start his own solo career. This is the first song released to the world and it’s a strong start. It’s got glimmers of Fleet Foxes but is overall pretty different, more of a San Fran 70′s rock vibe.
Kishi Bashi- Bright Lights
I think this song is SO great. It’s got lots of weird Eastern influences but also sounds like a Macca track. Kishi Bashi ran a pledge campaign and managed to make over $20,000 to make his debut album, which is going to be released in April.
Julia Holter- In the Same Room
Some gorgeous ethereal chamber pop from LA based Julia Holter who pitchfork have been harping on about. She is releasing her second album on March 8th, and it’s apparently a big step up from her first record.
Linda Perhacs- Parrallograms
This record is one of those forgotten albums that was recorded and released in the 1970′s, no one took any notice, and then someone rediscovered it in 2003 and rereleased. It’s a really interesting record, pretty in places and psychedelic and weird in others.
I’ve always thought there was something very beautiful about music with a certain stillness to it. Music that has little change in melody, rhythm, instrumentation or dynamic but still manages to evoke something inside you. I think the best example of this is Leonard Cohen. Mirel Wagner has that ability to make you want to tear away everything inside you by doing something incredibly simple. She’s just got this voice, which sounds tortured and bruised. And songs which tell haunting stories. She reminds me of a mixture of Sibylle Baier and Cold Specks.
She released her debut album, which was self-titled last year to positive reviews but this is something that will never get mainstream exposure due to the stillness of the record. I hope she reaches some of your ears though and I hope you enjoy it.
Tiny Ruins is the work of Hollie Fullbrook, who was raised in New Zealand, but was born in Bristol. She has just released her debut album, which is entitled ‘Some were made for the Sea’ which is one of the best album titles I have ever heard, especially as a quote from an E.E. Cummings poem which has always stayed with me is “for whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it’s always ourselves we find in the sea”. I have always found a beauty and peace of mind about being near the sea (despite getting terrible boat sickness!).
The record, encompasses the beauty of rural New Zealand landscapes, the gentle swaying of sea shanties and a voice so fresh and pure it almost puts you to sleep. The feeling of this album is not dissimilar to that of the self-titled Blue Roses debut, which is still one of my favourite albums of the last 5 years. The music however is quite different to that of Blue Roses. Finger picking guitar, simple melodies and sparse arrangements. But ultimately really quite gorgeous.
Tiny Ruins is playing the Shhh Festival at the Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green this weekend along with a whole host of great and unusual bands. She is also playing The Green Note in Camden tonight before embarking on a UK tour.
I’ve been harping on about SoKo for ages, but since I keep having the urge to write more and more about her, I thought I’d just let it all out in one big feature. SoKo has been making music for ages but will release her debut album entitled ‘I Thought I Was an Alien’ on the 20th Feb. In 2007 she had her first ‘hit’ (of sorts) with ‘I’ll Kill Her’ which got big in Denmark, Australia and Belgium strangely enough. Despite SoKo being French, but now living in LA. In 2009, she announced on her myspace page that she was quitting music and is ‘dead’. She came back to it though, declaring that the pressures of the music industry made her follow her other career in acting for a few years.
Her music is seriously lovely, slightly quirky and overall just my cup of tea. I am also a bit fan of all the styling and the videos. The video for ‘First Love Never Dies’ was released yesterday and it is probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen (see below).
SoKo tours the UK in March, including a stop at London’s Union Chapel.
Every person in the modern world seems to have an opinion about Lana Del Rey. I have already declared my love for her in various other posts, and that love continues on the release of her (sort-of) debut album, Born to Die. However, after receiving this album earlier this week, and pressing play, something unexpected happened. I didn’t know how I felt about this record. I’ve spent a long time thinking about it, trying to work out if she is a genius, a puppet or just a bit fucked in the head. Since everyone else is sharing their opinions, I thought I would too.
The first thing that grabbed me about this album is the melodies. Golden, golden melodies and brilliant pop song writing that is about ten thousand times more interesting than any pop record that’s come out, at least in my life-time. But despite the melodies, one thing you can’t ignore is the lyrics. It’s the lyrics that has caused people to question the brilliance of this album, and I think for some people, it’s just a bit too much. It’s not just that the lyrics are dark, they are beyond that. They are somewhat disturbing and if anyone was wondering why Lana Del Rey has been called ‘controversial’ listen to what she is singing about.
One third of what Lana is singing about is materialism, how it controls society and how we are all driven by money. In National Anthem she sings ‘Money is the reason we exist / Everybody Knows it / Kiss Kiss’. The other third is about men, how men control women and how far in love you can fall. But everyone writes love songs right? No, not like this. Lana sings about how love can drive death, as she sings on Dark Paradise ‘Your soul is hunting me / And telling me that everything is fine / but i wish i was dead’. It’s taking love and obsession to the next level.
The other third of this album is about fame. How fame can destroy you, something that was first glimmered at in the clip of the actress falling over in the video for Video Games. This is the third I find the most interesting and makes me think that Lana has a whole lot more genius than certain people are giving her credit for. Lana Del Rey has been one of the biggest victims of sudden fame, criticism and hate more than any musician I can remember. She has become unavoidable over the last 4 or so months. Every move she makes, every comment in an interview, and every note she sings live has been criticized, mocked and written about in someway or another. The character of Lana Del Rey has become music’s No. 1 fame game.
While you could say that Lana may be being naive about love and money, I don’t think you can say that about fame. Which makes me think that maybe she is just being extremely clever about the whole thing. Money, love to the point of obsession, and fame are three things which are fundamentally wrong with modern culture. Maybe Lana is trying to open everyones eyes to that. She has become everything that is wrong with modern culture, but it’s purposeful, and maybe the whole ‘Lana Del Rey’ phenomenon is just trying to teach us something about our obsessions with fame, money and love and then more fame, money and love.
She may be as manufactured, as blank and puppet-like as everyone wants to make out. But maybe the girl who went to university to study metaphysics, who can write melodies as beautiful as these, has a little more substance to her then we are all making out.
Now, because no one is talking about the music on this album. I shall. The production is exquisite. Luscious strings and orchestration mixed with hip hop beats and Lana’s truly unique swooping voice. Each song is a star in it’s own right. Video Games is the strongest but I don’t think anyone expected anything to top that. Off to the Races, Diet Mountain Dew and National Anthem seem to come directly from Lana’s more urban NYC influenced side whereas songs like Radio, Carmen and Million Dollar Man have a more torch song influence with stunning fairytale-ish melodies. Lucky Ones, a bonus track, is also a highlight for me, and I think works as a perfect end to the album.
I think the Lana Del Rey character is a landmark in pop music, she actually makes the genre interesting. This album, if taken in the right way, is really quite stunning. Just don’t play it to your 11 year old daughter. A reader commenting on the Independent’s review of the album, calls to mind Jessica Rabbit’s words ‘I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way’. Take it as that, if you will.
Best Tracks: Video Games, Born to Die, Million Dollar Man, Radio, Lucky Ones.
For a lot of you, Kimbra won’t be new. Mostly because of this song (great song), which has now clocked up a massive 53 million YouTube views. If anyone from Australia is reading, she’s pretty much a superstar to you. But to those who haven’t heard of Kimbra yet, it would be a shame to leave you in the dark and so I write this post for you.
Kimbra is one of the most interesting things to happen to pop music for quite a while. She sings a bit like Katy Perry and (thank god) there is nothing ‘mysterious’ or ‘dark’ about her. She writes interesting pop songs, which are all pretty bouncy happy and with lots of interesting beats. She also seems like a very honest down to earth girl which is a very attractive attribute for her to have (especially after all the controversy about a certain Miss Del Rey recently). Originally from New Zealand, Kimbra released her first debut album ‘Vows’ in Australia in August of last year. Since then she has gone from strength to strength and just got 4 songs in the Triple J Top 100, with Somebody That I Used to Know going in at No. 1.
There are no UK dates planned yet but I don’t think it will be long before Kimbra brings her infectious pop music to the rest of the world.
On Tuesday I went to Koko’s MTV New for 2012 gig. I went to see Lana Del Rey, but she cancelled so I was left with Charlie XCX and The Maccabees, two bands I previously felt quite sceptical about. I always thought The Maccabees were your typical indie pop outfit, and I think their first album was precisely that. But they have evolved over time and their new stuff is brilliant. They have fantastic stage presence, something I don’t say much of indie music. Check out the song ‘We Grew Up at Midnight’ which they played last and is my favourite.
Alice Jemima- Today
Ahh the gorgeous sounds of Alice Jemima. This new song is undoubtedly one of her finest. Such lovely melodies.
Mazzy Star- Fade into You
This song is really quite old, and really quite famous, but I’ve only just discovered it. I really like their sound a lot.
Hospitality- Half an Apple
Hospitality just released their debut self-titled album. It’s pretty Best Coast ish, but not as happy jolly girly sounding. I’m not that into it but I absolutely love this song. It sounds like so many great things from the 1970′s.
Sea of Bees- Broke
I love love love love Sea of Bees. I think she has such a great voice, and is such a good songwriter. Live, they are charming and graceful. Really underrated band. Their second album ‘Orangefarben’ is set for an April UK release on Heavenly Recordings. But lucky for us, we can hear one of the tracks from it now! It doesn’t disappoint, and shows a growth in sound from the first record.
Karen Dalton- Reason to Believe
I went into Rough Trade earlier this week to buy the First Aid Kit album and came out with two other albums as well (standard). One of those albums was called Karen Dalton- 1966, a collection of lost recordings by Karen Dalton. Karens voice is one of my favourites, their are glimmers of Billie Holiday in it but it’s incredibly unique as well. This album was on one of those headphone things and I put the headphones on and pressed play and was mesmerised by the beauty of this song. It’s the line ‘Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried’. So I purchased this album. This reason, along with many others, is why record shops need to survive. Otherwise I may never have come across the sweet sounds of this song. It’s been covered by a lot of other people from The Carpenters to Rod Stewart, but it’s only this version which gets me like the lyrics should.
