I hate you just kidding are a duo from California who make pretty folk music, think Slow Club but more chilled. You can listen to their whole debut album on Bandcamp. Check out this slightly disgusting video.
This song is really great, its from a band called Eliza and the Bear. There’s nothing else on the internet on them yet, but I hope there will be more soon.
This really cute song comes from a band called Keston Cobblers’ Club. It’s called ‘For, Words’ and the video is below.
Shura suggested this band to be, they are called Peter and Kerry and this song is from the ‘Clothes, Friends, Photos’ EP which has been released on Tape Club Records.
The Moth and the Mirror include members of Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow, and a couple of other Scottish bands, therefore creating a sort of supergroup. The music’s pretty nice too.
Alloy Ark were one of the bands I featured after I got them in my Glastonbury Emerging Talent selection. They seem to have changed their sound a little, but its still nice. Have a listen to ‘BLUE’ here, and the b-side ‘All I Want’, not sure if theirs any link to Joni Mitchell songs.
Pengilly’s are from Leeds (yay!) and I saw them play in Union Chapel as part of the daytime music series a while back. They have a wonderfully unusual sound. They have just released an EP called ‘Toby’s Hill’ and this is a song of the same title.
This is really cool, from a London based band called The Mouth.
I don’t really know anything about this band except they have done this pretty quirky version of Nick Drakes Pink Moon. You can download it for free if you wish.
No Ceremony
This tune has been causing some blogging waves and I thought I’d jump right on the bandwagon. Its called Hurtlove…
Colossal Gospel
A band from Alabama who combine elements of Fleet Foxes and Fanfarlo to create something fairly unique and quite nice if I might say so. You can listen to there whole album on Bandcamp, it was all home recorded which comes through when you listen to it, but in a nice way. It all sounds very intimate. You can download ‘Bitter Man’ below.
Isobel Anderson
I caught about 1 song from Isobel Anderson at Glastonbury as she played before Emily and the Woods. She plays quite traditional folk and her songs are very very pretty, as is her voice. She has just released a new record entitled ‘Dark Path’. This song is from that album and is called ‘My Love’.
The Wilderness of Manitoba
Some chamber folk from Canada with the addition of lots of strange and wonderful instrument sounds. For fans of Blind Pilot, Young the Giant and that very polished folk pop sound.
achilles
A new EP from achiles features the talents of Florence and the Machines harp player Tom Monger. It sounds great. I can’t find a song to stream on here so to listen to it you’ll have to head to bandcamp here. This is one of their older tunes.
Kate & Max
Some nice harmonies from an Aussie duo. Kate’s voice is magnificent.
Delicate, dark and haunting acoustic music. You can download the full album ‘Huldra’ for free here from Bandcamp.
Matthew Kilford
He reminds me a little of Pete Roe. Quite lovely anyway.
The Kindling
Quirky, experimental indie folk. You can stream the full EP ‘From Out of the Wreckage..’ on Bandcamp here. I particularly like ‘Runaway Shoes which is below.
Beaux Saunders
Great voice and some catchy songs. Could do pretty well in the mainstream I recon. Check out her facebook page with 4 songs on it.
Jessie Moncrieff
Pretty songs from singer/violinist Jessie Moncrieff who has previously worked with Jake Morley. She has an EP launch on July 6th at the Old Queen’s Head in Islington.
Givers
And I’ll end with this, Givers- Up Up Up. Super summery happy indie pop!
First for some of the gorgeous sounds of Bella Spinks. Some of her music is very Regina Spector ish but some has a much more folky backbone, like this track ‘Words’. She has already played a couple of Communion nights and you can catch her at The Windmill tomorrow night.
Matthew P
Sunshine music from a young champ with a Willy Mason voice and great pop songwriting. This video is super cute!
Hiss Golden Messenger
I like this, the songwriting is really 60′s ish. His voice is great too.
I Break Horses
A new Bella Union signing, and very ethereal sounding.
Real Fur
I mentioned this band in my Great Escape review, they have a lovely tropical sound. Possibly better live than on record, but this song is still good.
Colorfeels
This band are from Nashville and sound a bit like Fleet Foxes and a bit like Grizzly Bear, their album Syzygy is available to stream on Soundcloud at the moment. This is the first track from the album.
The Joker and the Thief
One of the bands who appear on the Strummerville Compilation, and will be playing round the campfire at some point over the Glastonbury weekend. Wonderful jazzy rock and rolly folky stuff.
This is a relatively new feature on the blog, so for those who don’t know, this is a collection of the best new bands who send me there music via email, and occasionally from other places. Its stuff I don’t want to write a feature about yet but I feel deserves a spot. So here we go.
The Trouble With Templeton
Beautifully eirey sounds from Aussie singer-songwriter The Trouble with Templeton. You can listen to more and download this track for free on his bandcamp site here.
Hunting Bears
A Leeds band who have played a few shows with Flying With Anna favourite Ellen and the Escapades. They use a beautiful array of instruments and the result is chilled, pretty folk music.
Stacey Kent
You’ve probably heard this on the TV as its been featured in a few adverts. A stunning version of a classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song.
Tom McKean & the Emperors
I mentioned this band on my review of The Flowerpot Sessions as their track, a cover of ‘Old Fashioned Morphine’ is brilliant. They do lots of great covers, this is Fever. They are really tight as a band, but I can imagine them being loads of fun live too.
Brooke Fraser
Chances are you’ve never heard of Brooke Fraser but she’s actually a platinum selling, multi-award winning, number one artist. In New Zealand. But she is slowly going global and hoping to tackle the UK next. She’s got a very Lisa Mitchell/Sarah Blasko sound which I like a lot.
Vertigo Smyth and Carol Anne McGowen
I mentioned Vertigo on one of my Glastonbury ETC posts, he was one of the best of my bunch. He has just recorded this new single with Carol Anne McGowen and its very pretty.
Laura Boyle
I have mentioned Laura Boyle several times over and she is also playing at an upcoming show of mine. Details coming soon! She has been writing and making home recordings of lots of songs recently and this is the latest. You can also download all her songs for free at the moment. Check her out, stunning!
Enjoy this lot! Should be loads more posts coming soon!
After going through the task of sorting out all the new band emails I get sent, this is the best of the bunch, I hope you find something you enjoy…
The first band I am going to post in this feature this week is a band called Alfred Abel. It’s still very early days for them but this start looks promising. The harmonies are really great. They have an upcoming show on June 21st at The Beford.
Chloe Jones is a English born songwriter who now lives in Canada. Her music is incredibly atmospheric, mixing folk, pop and ambiance with her sweet voice. It resembled Lanterns on the Lake a little who were a New Treat long ago. She has two upcoming London shows, she is playing the London City Showcase between the 5th and 7th May and also the Bull and Gate on May 10th.
Samuel Brooks is fast making waves among the folk community. Ray Davis is a fan and Samuel has supported the Kinks legend on tour. Quite an impressive start for a young singer-songwriter. I am already a fan and can’t wait to hear more. He is playing at the Emily and the Woods EP launch on May 4th and has a whole load of other London dates lined up too. One to Watch for sure.
Tom Williams and the Boat are also ones to watch. There music is quite rocky with a nice country-folk edge. They are confirmed to play Bushstock, Camden Crawl and have a whole host of other dates planned around the UK which you can see on there myspace. They have a new single called Concentrate out on May 9th which is below.
Somethings you hear and you know instantly that its gonna be beautiful. And thats how I felt with Bella Hardy. Her music is quite traditional, along the same lines of Kate Rusby. She has an epically beautiful voice and gorgeous songs to go with it. She is currently embarking on a UK tour, and plays the Slaughtered Lamb on May 10th.
This is a band called We Show Up On Radar, who I have heard of before but never listened to. This song is very pretty, it was co-produced by Lisa Hannigan and you can hear that influence in it. They play the Bull and Gate on April 16th.
Paper Aeroplanes are another band with a strikingly gorgeous female vocal, this song is really catchy too.
This is She Cried (We Cried) by Halflight, whose low and emotional vocals grabbed me. Great track.
And finally, Toyface. A lady with a blusey voice and unusal quirky folk songs. You can download her music from iTunes now.
This is the second half of the best of the bands which I heard through judging the Emerging Talent Competition. Hope you found some great things in the last post which you can read again here.
First up is a band called Brothers & Bones. Mixing blues, country and rock they create quite a unique sound and the singers voice is gorgeous. They have just released their debut single and have a whole host of gigs around London and the South planned for the next few months. This is an acoustic version of one of their songs, check out their heavier stuff too but this is so so lovely.
Next up is Vertigo Smyth, I have a feeling I’ve heard this before, not sure if it was on an advert or something? But its lovely well summery pop folk music and this song is ridiculously catchy.
As soon as I heard the slide guitars at the beginning of this song I thought, this is gonna be good. This is Irish band, Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters. As well as really good music, they are completed with great videos and album artwork.
The next band I have hardly any information about, except one song called ‘In this Space..’ Scully’s music is like The Streets, witty rapping on top of an indie guitar riff. He is a great poet even if the production could do with a little work. Maybe something more will come if it in the future. Have a listen here.
And straight onto another band I have nothing much on either. The Promenade have only recorded a demo version of one song but its a great great start. The singers voice is what grabs you, deep and beautiful, think The National. Another band who will hopefully develop into something great, listen to Lady Hollywood here.
Not a million miles away from Graffiti6 who I included on my last post. AK makes summery pop music, with a nice 90′s feel. Listen to Paris here.
And thats your lot, Enjoy! My top 3 will be revealed sometime after next week on the Glastonbury website.
So a few weeks ago I got asked to be a judge in this years Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition. Then a few weeks later I got sent a huge list of around 160 bands to listen to and wittle down to a top 3. I am going to do a couple of posts with the best bands I have found in the 160 bands I have listened to. The bands I have put in these posts are not necessarily and bands I have chosen for my top 3. Who I choose won’t be revealed until the end of Feb/start of March when all the other bloggers have chosen their 3 bands and they are sent to a panal of judges including Michael and Emily Eavis to be again wittled down to just 10 bands. Click the Glastonbury judge icon on the right to find out more about the competition and the other judges.
The first thing I am going to post is Graffiti6, its feel good pop made by producer TommyD and singer-songwriter Jamie Scott. This song is so good, I can easily see it becoming the summer festival soundtrack.
Next up a very sweet band which remind me of Lulu and the Lampshades, this is Alloy Ark. They have a great song called Sailor Song on myspace, but this is a nice little live version of one of their songs, complete with trumpets.
When I heard the name Blind Atlas, I thought they might make gentle folk music, but instead its really good rock with a bluesy edge.
Robbie Boyd and his band have already got a pretty big fan base, they make folky pop music and this is ‘Stepping Stones’
The last thing on this post is Bebe Black, a girl with a huge voice and some great songs, have a listen here.
Every week I get sent lots and lots of new music from bands. Some of it I fall in love with and feature and a lot of it gets instantly deleted. Some of it however I don’t feel I can write a feature on but there is something about it which makes me keep the email and keep on coming back and listening. Therefore I have decided to start a new feature, called New Bands (very originally). It’s basically going to be a little round up of all the bands I find which I think have something lovely about them, and I hope you will agree.
So I’m breaking my own rules already. Laura Boyle didn’t send me an email about her music, instead I followed her on tumblr, due to a shared Laura Marling obsession and then found out she also wrote her own music, and rather nice it is. Her voice is beautiful, very delicate yet gravily at the same time. At only 16 she is also writing some rather good songs. She has three songs up on Soundcloud, two are originals and one is a Laura Marling cover. I would especially recommend Empty Words, its quite unique with a lovely Bob Dylan influence. She isn’t playing any gigs yet but hopes to start in the future, i’ll keep everyone updated on that! Have a listen to her Soundcloud here and you can also download the songs for free!
The folk singer-songwriter shelf is always a little full but I recommend leaving a little space for the wonderful sounds of Jamie Ley. He has played a few Communion gigs already and has a number of very beautiful tracks on his myspace here. I would highly recommend for fans of Matthew and the Atlas and Johnny Flynn.
This is maybe my favourite thing on this list, Camille Delean’s beautiful voice and gentle melodies are a treat for the ears. Her voice is quite old fashioned sounding but her songs fit perfectly in the current folk scene. Incredibly relaxing and someone I hope I will hear more of in the future. She is playing the Old Queen’s Head in Islington on the 19th January so try to pop along if you can.
Blackfeet is the work of Harry Moore, a 21 year old singer songwriter whose deep voice contrasts wonderfully with the light fingerpicking guitar. I would recommend for fans of The National or Bon Iver. Check out more on his myspace here. Debut album due soon!
I have seen Big Deal in quite a few ‘Ones to Watch’ lists and I have to admit, I think they are rather lovely. The video above is stunningly shot and the song is delightful. The duo are currently playing shows around London, check out their myspace page here for dates. Definitely ones to keep an eye on!
Another stunning video matched with a great song. This wonderful young man is now signed to a major label and has a UK tour coming up as well as playing SXSW this coming April. Things are looking up for Benjamin Francis Leftwich so catch him Upstairs at the Garage on February 8th as part of HMV’s Next Big Thing. Benjamin is also offering a free download of his Arcade fire cover of Rebellion (Lies). Download it here.
This is Laura are a North London duo whose accordion based folk songs ring out influences of Peggy Sue and Beirut. They have a great sound and I hope their is more to come!
