Big Tiny

Big Tiny are the dream teaming of MJ Cole (legendary producer and UK Garage figurehead), and vocalist Laura Vane (The Streets, Robbie Rivera, Gnarls Barkley collaborator to name but a few). I became of fan of their previous work together, a tune called "Watertight" released in 2006 on Prolific Records backed with an excellent NAPT Remix.

They are now teamed back up together on a new project, something they describe as "deeper and more textural with its roots in solid grooves and hooky songs". Sounds like a winning combination to me!

The debut release, the "Bitesize EP" is almost ready for release (watch this space for dates) and you can check out their tunes on their Myspace page at the link below.

In the meantime, here's one of their two Youtube videos, for the track 'Impossible'.



More Info:

Myspace: www.myspace.com/thebigtiny
MJ Cole Myspace: www.myspace.com/mjcole100
Laura Vane's Myspace: www.myspace.com/Misslauravane

Yazoo - The Reconnected Tour 2008

It seems to be all the rage over the last few years for famous bands from the 80s to all get together and do reunion tours and nostalgia concerts. Thankfully one of my favourite bands from that era are being just a little more classy than that, and are back on tour on their own after a "break" of around 25 years.

Yazoo are the dream team of synthesizer wizard Vince Clarke and powerhouse vocalist Alison Moyet. Famously only together for about 18 months between 1982-3, they took a very very long break after the release of their second album "You And Me Both" when communication problems arose between the two members.

In 2008 they are back for a reunion tour to promote the release of the Mute box set "In Your Room", which contains remastered version of both albums, plus a third CD of B-sides and rarities, plus a DVD of 5.1 mixes of the albums and a short film about the history of the band. It's a bumper package and well worth checking out!

I was lucky enough to get a ticket for one of the London gigs on the tour, Hammersmith Apollo, and although I was secretly apprehensive about it I was absolutely blown away by how good they were. Not only was the sound amazing, and the great lighting and visuals, but there just seemed to be a great atmosphere in the room which seemed to come directly from the band. They genuinely seemed happy to be out again performing these songs, some of which they never got the chance to play live.

Highlights of the gig for me were "Sweet Thing", "Situation", and "The Other Side Of Love", which I strongly recommend checking out. I have it on good authority that the London gigs were recorded for a forthcoming live album.

Everyone knows the big singles, "Don't Go", "Nobody's Diary", and of course "Only You", so here's a couple of lesser known, but still fantastic Yazoo tracks:

Sweet Thing


Walk Away From Love


More info:

Website: www.yazooinfo.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/yazooofficial
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_(band)

Buy "In Your Room" box set: The Erasure Shop
Buy Digital Downloads: Play.com

Fingerstyle Guitar

I first got turned on to the fingerstyle guitar style through Andy McKee's "Drifting" video on youtube, which went on to become one of the most viewed vids on there ever, with nearly 14 million plays. Andy is signed to American independent label Candyrat, who it would appear, seem to be championing similar artists within the scene.

On more investigation it would seem that this is a growing phenomenon, with emerging artists such as French Canadian Antoine DuFour, Peter Ciluzzi and Erick Turnbull all becoming increasingly popular on the net.

Wikipedia defines fingerstyle as "the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (picking individual notes with a single plectrum called a flatpick) or strumming all the strings of the instrument in chords". It's not only gorgeous music, making use of not only the traditional sound of the guitar but also artificial harmonics, but it's also breathtaking to watch.

Here's where it all started for me, and a few choice others to check out:

Andy McKee - Drifting

More Andy McKee Youtube Videos

Erick Turnbull - Low C

More Erick Turnbull Youtube Videos

Antoine DuFour - 30 Minutes In London

More Antoine DuFour Youtube Videos

To buy Candyrat CD's and find out more on their full roster of artists visit www.candyrat.com.

More info:

Andy McKee: www.andymckee.com
Antione DuFour: www.myspace.com/antoinedufour
Erick Turnbull: www.myspace.com/erickturnbull

Captain - Keep An Open Mind

Captain's new single "Keep An Open Mind" is out, and it's one of those must-buy tunes. Their debut album "This Is Hazelville" came out in 2006, and was an instant hit with me with it's Deacon Blue-esque band makeup, and sound. Killer songs, excellent album.

"Keep An Open Mind" is the first official single from the forthcoming second album, following a limited release one-sided 12" vinyl single "Animal" (which you can now download for free on their website).



More info:
Website: www.captaintheband.com/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/captaintheband

Buy Captain from Play.com
"Keep An Open Mind" Digital Single
"This Is Hazelville" Digital Album
"This Is Hazelville" CD Album

Royworld

I heard Royworld's "Dust" single this morning and had to blog about it straight away. Why is it such great music seems to come out as soon as the sun shines?

I'm really looking forward to hearing this band's album when it's released on 2nd June. If their singles "Dust" and "Man In The Machine" are anything to go by I'll be rushing straight out to buy it!



The band were apparently formed at Goldsmiths in London as soon ago as 2006. Talk about overnight success! A single release on Fierce Panda later, and they were rocketing towards stardom and eventually signed to Virgin.

The band cite their influences as Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel amongst others.

You can grab a free download of their first single "Elasticity" here in exchange for an email address and brief info.

More info:
Website: www.royworld.co.uk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/royworldtheband

Buy downloads, and order CD's from Play.com:
"Dust" Digital Track
"Man In The Machine" Digital Track
"Man In The Machine" CD Album
"Man In The Machine" Digital Album

Jamie Lidell - Jim

Wow, what a great follow up album from Jamie Lidell. 2005's "Multiply" was easily one of my favourite albums of that year, and I even wondered whether he'd be able to make anything as good for a follow up album. Well I was well and truly wrong!

"Jim" is the perfect album for the summer and is chock full of feelgood tunes. If you like the sound of that make sure you check out the first single "Little Bit Of Feel Good", and the newest track to be taken from it "Another Day" - also the album opener.



By all accounts his new live show is outstanding, so if he's playing in a town near you make sure you go along and see him play!

Highlights from "Jim", other than the singles, are "Out Of My System" and my personal favourite "Figured Me Out".

This is well worth the money so get out there and buy it pronto!

Buy "Jim" from Amazon UK

More info:
Website: www.jamielidell.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/jamielidell

Like Minded People iMix #3!

Long overdue iMix #3 is now up on iTunes, chock full of 80's influenced stuff and other tracks that go along with the summery weather we've (sort of) been having lately.

I'll be getting around to blogging individually about some of the artists included here, so do check back for updates soon!

Click here to check it out!

Future Funk Squad - The Mothership / Spiders

Future Funk Squad have always, in my book, been a solid source of breakbeat tunes. Although FFS have often delved headlong into the world of songwriting, and do it extremely well too, it's always been about the more clubby stuff for me. I"m pleased to say that the latest is a return to just that, and it doesn't disappoint.

"The Mothership" is a journey back in time to the days when breakbeat was raw, clattering breaks fused with a dirty bassline and sweet synths and sweeps. Topped off with a sci-fi vocal (sounds a bit like Leonard Nimoy to me) this is one that is best served loud!

The flipside "Spiders" brings a slightly more laid back vibe with a bubbly Giorgio Moroder style bassline, with fat 80's influenced drums and synth sounds, and again a cheeky sampled vocal. This one's a lot more fun but just as tough!

This one's coming out on the awesome En:Vision label, and as yet there's still no sign of that elusive second Future Funk Squad album, but keep an eye out for more singles on the way.

Future Funk Squad has also just finished remixing UNKLE's "Restless" and Bomb The Bass' "Old John". More news on those when I have them!

Myspace: www.myspace.com/futurefunksquad

Buy "The Mothership" and "Spiders" on 12" vinyl from Juno.
All En:Vision releases on Beatport.

Tegan & Sara - The Con

Hello. I haven't updated this blog for ages, so here we go....

I was introduced to Tegan & Sara's new album by my friend Craig while I was over in Los Angeles last October, and it was one of the freshest and most interesting albums I'd heard in some time.

I don't really know a lot about Tegan & Sara, but I guess that's what Google's for. Apparently they are twins, originally from Calgary, Canada, and "The Con" is their fifth album. The only other track I'd heard by them before was the gorgeous "Walking With The Ghosts" which featured in Grey's Anatomy, and was also covered by The White Stripes. For the record, the original is way better so if you've heard and like the cover I would definitely check out the original too.

This album is fantastic, I can't think of any other word to sum it up, and is a must-listen if you like the sound of new single "Back In Your Head".

Back In Your Head


Walking With A Ghost


Highlights on the album for me would have to be "Back In Your Head", "Hop A Plane", and title track "The Con".

More info:

Website: www.teganandsara.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/teganandsara

Buy Tegan & Sara music from iTunes.

Chromeo - Fancy Footwork

I recently went on a week-long trip to the US, during which I heard a lot about Chromeo. Their album "Fancy Footwork" is now a permanent feature on my iPod.

The duo (P-Thugg and Dave 1 - it's all about those crazy names in this sort of outfit), released their debut album "She's In Control" three years ago, and the follow up is nothing short of brilliance. With singles "Tenrderoni" and "Bonafide Lovin" being particular highlights, the album as a whole is one of those you can throw on when you're in the worst mood ever, and it's cheeky riffs and electrofunk style simply cheer you up.

Anyone that's a fan of "proper" 80's music should check this out!

Bonafide Lovin'


For more information:

Website: www.chromeo.net
Myspace: www.myspace.com/chromeo

Buy Chromeo's music from iTunes here.

Like Minded People iMix #2

My second iMix is up on the iTunes store for your downloading pleasure. It features tracks and artists that I've been blogging about lately (well, since the last iMix) and is typically all over the place style wise.

Check it out here, and as always comments, ratings and feedback are always welcome.

If you don't use iTunes you can get it from the Apple website.

Tina Dico

I was lucky enough to get tickets to a secret Tina Dico gig last night, held at the Electroacoustic Club at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell.

This is the third time I've seen Tina play live, and every time she's blown me away. The secret gig was essentially a testing ground for new material from her forthcoming album "Count To Ten", but there were some Tina classics thrown in there for good measure too. She played for the best part of an hour, totally acoustically apart from one track which she had some backing on. She also did some looping on a couple of songs which sounded great hearing her stack up her own vocals.

The new material is sounding amazing, especially the title track from the new album. I was disappointed not to hear "Break Of Day" (my favourite Tina song by a long way), but we were treated to "Warm Sand", "Back Where We Started", two songs from the "A Beginning" tour EP, and a gorgeous version of "In The Red".

I for one can't wait to hear the new album, which this week entered the charts in her native Denmark at number one. Unfortunately the rest of us have to wait until next February for the UK release.

Tina also mentioned that next March she'll be playing a gig at Union Chapel so keep an eye out for that. That's one not to be missed!

"Losing" video


For more information:

Website: www.tinadico.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/tinadico

Buy Tina's music from iTunes by clicking here.

Hexstatic - When Robots Go Bad

So no updates for three months eh? I've been a little pre-occupied with other areas of life for a while, but now I'm back with loads of new stuff to rant and rave about.

First off, it's Hexstatic's brand new album for the Ninja tune label - When Robots Go Bad.

I've loved Hexstatic's work since their collaborations with Coldcut on the classic "Timber". Their brand new album takes them one step closer towards that crossover from underground electronica to mainstream acceptance.

Special highlights for me are Roll Over (video below), Red Laser Beam, Freak Me, and A Different Place.

Roll Over (feat Sabirajade)


Colcdut & Hexstatic - Timber


Freak Me


A Different Place

Modest Mouse

Saw Modest Mouse at the Royal Albert Hall last Wednesday. Excellent gig! I love the Royal Albert Hall, although I think one of their sound crew must have been fired afterwards cos there was way too much feedback for a professional concert like that.

Loved the band, they're amazing musicians, and had two drummers which was quite impressive. Was great to see Mr Marr on stage too! Isaac fell over his monitor speaker towards the end of the gig whilst going a bit crazy. I was somewhere between annoyed and impressed that they managed to get the crowd to applaud for at least 10 minutes before they came back on for the encore.

One of my favourite songs on the album is the new single "Dashboard".



I'm also loving "Missed The Boat".



More info on Modest Mouse:

Website: www.modestmousemusic.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/modestmouse

Buy the album "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" from Amazon here, or from the iTunes download store here.

Hawksley Workman

I've just been getting into the music of Hawksley Workman, and although I've got a long way to go I thought I'd just do a little Like Minded People introduction for those that aren't yet aware.

Up until this year Hawksley has been a huge star in his native Canada, but sources tell me that the next step is to try and break into the UK market. And why not I say.

Here's my current favourite song:

"We Still Need A Song"


To my ears, the guy has a great voice with touches of Bono in there, but definitely with a unique stamp. From what I've heard so far, the songwriting talent is fantastic, and definitely makes me want to hear more. I managed to miss his live dates in the UK a few months ago, but from what I hear he's a born entertainer.

Also loving the video for his song "Jealous Of Your Cigarette"


More information on Hawksley Workman:

Website: www.hawksleyworkman.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/hawksleyworkman

Buy Hawksley Workman tracks from iTunes here.

Willy Mason - We Can Be Strong (feat KT Tunstall)

Little behind on this one, but am loving it! Great, simple video too.



More info on Willy Mason:

Website: www.willymason.com (there's a free download here too)
Myspace: www.myspace.com/willymason

Buy Willy Mason's music from iTunes here.

Second Person - Gone Fishing

Check out the video for Second Person's "Gone Fishing", taken from their forthcoming third album.



The video was created by Katy Davis of Goblynne Animation. Check out her other work at www.myspace.com/gobblynne.

More information on Second Person:

Website: www.secondperson.net/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/secondperson

Buy Second Person music from iTunes here.

Feist - One Two Three Four

I've been a little out of the loop for a couple of weeks, so am now playing catchup. Thanks to Julian over at the newly launched 110bpm for pointing this one out to me. I love the song, taken from the new Feist album "The Reminder", and the video is pure class!



More information:

Website: www.listentofeist.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/feist

Buy "The Reminder":

iTunes
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Cherry Ghost - People Help The People

I first heard this song on a particularly great show on Radio 2 by Stuart Maconie (fast becoming my favourite radio DJ). Far greater, in my humble opinion, than the single "Mathematics", this is "People Help The People". Get it now before it becomes horribly overplayed!

This is the only youtube vid of this I could find, and it's well worth checking out - a performance on Later With Jools Holland.



More info on Cherry Ghost:

Website: www.cherryghost.co.uk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/cherryghostband

Quickies.....

No youtube vids for these yet, but here's a couple of links of some tunes to check out:

Nerina Pallot's new single will be a cover of Steely Dan's "Peg" (which the eagle-eared among you will notice formed most of the backing for De La Soul's "Eye Know"). The bonus being it's produced by Richard X, one of my favourite producers.

Listen to it on Nerina's Myspace Player here.

Heard this one on Annie Mac's Mashup on Radio 1 last night and loved it as soon as it came on. It's LAOS, with "Panda Style". Check it out on their myspace player here.

Buy "Panda Style" from iTunes here.

Late entry, and this one IS a youtube vid. Currently loving the new Manic Street Preachers single "You Love Alone Is Not Enough", which also features a vocal performance from Nina Persson from The Cardigans.



Buy "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" from iTunes here.