The Ting Tings' iPod + iTunes ad probably won't do their career too much harm

They were already doing pretty well Stateside, but getting the nod from the ad folk at Apple to appear in one of their era-defining commercials should mean The Ting Tings can sell out venues of a slightly larger size before too long. They will also be able to buy as much fizzy pop as they like, which may make their next "product" even more jumpyshouty.

See the ad over the page. Although you can probably guess more or less how it goes...

Posted by Stuart Waterman on May 2, 2025 10:00 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video| Where Have I Heard That Song Before?
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The Millioners' "Body Into Use" video - a paint-throwing bonanza

I was watching this video earlier and two people looked over my shoulder to ask what it was. Which may give you an idea that it's a little bit good, or at least different enough to warrant a look.

"Body Into Use" sans images is pretty good in a slinky, electro-house kind of way, but the video features lots of amazing throwing of paint, which is always enough to distract me from whatever the hell else is going on. You know what else is good? The Millioners are Finnish. Therefore this is likely to be the best Finnish music video you've seen today/in your life. You're welcome.

See it over the page, yes?

Posted by Stuart Waterman on April 22, 2025 9:56 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-And-Coming Acts: Super Singer Songwriter Cass Lowe

Is the endless stream of heartless pop-monstrosities starting to wear thin for you? Me too. Well, I'm going to let you into a little secret which has restored my faith... and his name is Cass Lowe.

You might not have heard of Cass yet but he's certainly been doing the rounds. Over the past nine months Cass has played some show stopping support slots (try saying that after a few ciders!) for Newton Faulkner, One Night Only, Amy Macdonald, Kate Walsh, and those "crazy chaps" everyone loves to hate; The Hoosiers.

Continue after the click for live Lowe...

Posted by Clare Joslin on April 9, 2025 3:33 PM in Up-And-Coming Acts
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Black Kids: "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"

The hottest thing in the blogosphere before SXSW happened and threw up a whole new bunch of acts to overhype, Black Kids are now somewhere close to releasing their debut album. "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" is the lead single, and will be pretty well-known to the more hipsterish of you out there.

If you're not familiar with it, think somewhere along the lines of a more ramshackle Magic Numbers covering Peter, Bjorn and John. Or maybe just watch the video for yourself below. It's all colour-y!

[video: blackkidsrock]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on March 24, 2025 9:40 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" video features smoke-flavoured blood

Have you ever seen green blood spurting out of a lady's head? Or someone bleeding blue smoke out of their tum-tum? No? Well, feel like a sheltered loser no more, sheltered loser, for Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" will show you all these things and more. It will also allow you to listen to a pretty nifty pop tune by a hotly-tipped singer whose voice sounds rather like that of Shaznay Lewis. That's a compliment in my book.

[video: Clept0manic]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on March 13, 2025 11:40 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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autoKratz to headline Club NME at London's Koko tonight

If you're a at a loose end tonight and happen to be in our country's capital you might want to call me! Please? I'm sorry for everything I said! head to Koko, where Club NME will feature a headlining set from autoKratz, purveyors of rather enjoyable bleepy bloopy electro-type stuff. Their music might not be a million miles from lots of other elecro around at the moment, but their live shows are supposed to be a-ma-z-ing or something.

No doubt they'll be banging out their new single, which appears to be the modern equivalent of a Double A-side and is called "Pardon Garcon/French Girls Play Guitar". You can hear both tracks at the autoKratz MySpace, and they'll be released on label-of-the-moment Kitsune on 7th April.

Get more info on Club NME and tickets for the night here

Posted by Stuart Waterman on March 7, 2025 12:06 PM in Gig / Tour News| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Should you believe the Bon Iver hype?

Last week Laura Barton in The Guardian banged on at length about Bon Iver, who I'd seen mentioned many times in my blog-trawls but hadn't bothered investigating. Bon Iver is the stage name of Justin Vernon, and every article written about his album For Emma, Forever Ago is obliged to mention that he recorded it alone in a log cabin in Wisconsin after some personal strife.

Sounds a bit too good to be true as a biography for a singer-songwriter, dunnit? "Skinny Love" is one of his tracks that's been getting a lot of attention recently; check him out performing it last year at The Bowery Ballroom in NYC over the page and make up your own mind.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on March 6, 2025 11:35 AM in Dispatches From Beardsville| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Pop Heaven: Sam Sparro - "Black And Gold"

Sam Sparro is this week's saviour of pop music. "Black And Gold" is a grown-up sounding type of number, which doesn't mean he writes songs about mortgages and school fees, but does mean he writes songs about, er, black. And gold. OK, I haven't listened to the lyrics very closely. But the song's very good, and in the video he's got a shirt festooned with lights. JEALOUS.

[video: islandrecords]

[via Popjustice]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on March 5, 2025 9:53 AM in Music News| Pop Heaven / Pop Hell| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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More rave-hop for your ass: The Count & Sinden - Beeper (featuring Kid Sister)

A wee while ago I did a post about Kid Sister's "Pro Nails" track, which - like most things these days - featured Kanye West. Her latest appearance is on a track called "Beeper" by some slightly sinister-sounding people called The Count & Sinden. Nails and beepers - it's fair to say Kid Sister only puts her name to songs that tackle the big issues. Do people even have beepers anymore, anyway?

Whatevra, "Beeper" is a ramalanga ding-dong rave-up hip-hop mash-up, and is so bloody hopped up on something or other that, on first listen, you may suspect your drink has been spiked. With the stuff they put in glo-sticks.

Check the quite excitable video after the beep.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 29, 2025 10:32 AM in Hip-Hop Isn't Dead| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-and-coming acts: SoKo

Normally, I'm the sort of writer who can listen to a girl popster or group without using the word 'attractive'. I mean, I'm happy to let the music speak for itself, more often that not. However, I'm about to kick all that out of the window and become a drooling mess of a man with eyes popping out on cartoon stalks, declaring undying love and getting into all kinds of problems with my girlfriend. Why? Look at that picture of French folkie-popper, SoKo.

SoKo creates a weird and wonderful folk-pop which lies somewhere between the mindwrongs of The Moldy Peaches and... WHO CARES?! LOOK AT THAT PICTURE! SHE'S SO FIT! Ahem. SoKo is a French lady, which makes her vocal delivery all the more appealing, and her sense of humour is from another planet. I mean, she's got songs that chirrup "I think I'm pregnant though I haven't had sex" and "I will never love you more than the drummer of The Flaming Lips."

She's currently without a deal, but it's surely only a matter of time before she gets snapped up. Why? SHE'S GORGEOUS! Right, gotta dash, my girlfriend is throwing my records down the stairs and cutting up my clothes... Visit SoKo's Myspace here

Posted by Mof Gimmers on February 22, 2025 1:27 PM in Up-And-Coming Acts
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Dispatches From Beardsville - A Hawk and a Hacksaw tour UK in Spring

People who go on about Gogol Bordello don't know a damn thing. I'm looking at you, NME readers. If you dig the Eastern European vibration, then skip the Disney punk and gun straight for the insanely brilliant A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Thankfully, they'll be playing live quite a lot in the not too distant future.

Spring sees the group performing as support during the Portishead tour of the UK. After they've got that done, it's off out onto the road on their own. Dates are; April - 9 Manchester Apollo,
10 London Hammersmith Apollo, 11 Lancaster Yorkshire House, 12 Edinburgh Corn Exchange, 13 Wolverhampton Civic, 14 Birmingham Glee Club, 17 London Brixton Academy. May - 9 Belfast Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, 10 Cork Cyprus Avenue, 11 Dublin Boom Boom Boom, 12 Aberdeen the Tunnels, 13 Glasgow the Arches, 14 Leeds Hi-Fi Club, 15 Bristol the Thekla, 16 Minehead Butlins (EITS ATP) You've no excuse to not see one of the most incredible live bands on the planet. Get booking. Now. [via DiS]

Posted by Mof Gimmers on February 19, 2025 12:17 PM in Can You Gig It?| Dispatches From Beardsville| Up-And-Coming Acts
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An open letter to "Electric Feel" by MGMT

Dear "Electric Feel" by MGMT,

You don't know me. But I know you. I know you very well indeed, having listened to you repeatedly this past weekend. I have to say, your woozy psychedelic funk is proving quite appealing to me. The way that-

Oh to hell with it. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. Please don't be scared.

I have listened to you before two consecutive nights out. I have listened to you as I drift off to sleep. I have listened to you first thing in the morning. I have listened to you in the shower. I have listened to you sober. I have listened to you drunk. I have listened to you hungover. I have listened to you on a packed tube train. I have listened to you on a deserted bus. I have listened to you as I have walked along ignoring people trying to give me leaflets and things. You are yet to let me down.

I can only hope this familiarity does not breed contempt, on either of our parts.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 18, 2025 11:50 AM in Open Letters| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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The Little Ones' "Ordinary Song" has better-than-ordinary video

The Little Ones are what you might call a power-pop band from LA. They play catchy, guitar-y indie-pop, like lots of other bands. But there are a couple of reasons why you might want to give them at least a chance to impress you.

Reason no.1: "Ordinary Song", their current single, which you can buy from a music retailing outlet right now. It's a breezy, West Coast-y number which recalls the less irritating moments of the likes of The Thrills and The Magic Numbers.

Reason no.2: The video to the above song, which you can see over the page, shows the lifespan of a song from its recording, to its airing on radio, to its use as work-out music in an aerobics class. This is all done in a very clever manner which I quite frankly can't be bothered describing. Maybe just watch it.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 15, 2026 10:05 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Red Hot's tribute to budget fried chicken, "Junior Spesh". Bare jokes, blud

Chances are, somewhere around your manor, there's one of those nasty, greasy fried chicken joints you only frequent when you're starving-drunk and can't manage the verbal dexterity required to order a kebab. In London they actually outnumber people.

Some excitable young scamps going by the name of Red Hot Entertainment have made a little ditty about an even more awkward position - being too short on coinage to order anything more extravagant that a "Junior Special", or "Junior Spesh".

Check out their ode to the spesh box over the page. If anyone over 21 can identify more than five words, you win some rubber covered in breadcrumbs. In a tortilla.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 8, 2026 11:23 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Want summer to come sooner? Then you need Sunny Day Sets Fire in your life!

Do you like your indie to really jangle? I'm not talking about the jangle of a corpse rattling a chain, but rather, the sun-kissed jingle and jangle of a classic Teenage Fanclub LP. If that's the case, you need to prick an ear up for Sunny Day Sets Fire.

SDSF (I'm only abbreviating because I'm insanely lazy) serve up lush psychedelic sunshine pop that doesn't really sound like anyone from the sixties, but rather, takes a fistful of the sixties spirit and dries it like a tomato in the sun. The group have a new single out called "End Of The Road" / "Lack Of View" (it's one of those old-fashioned double A-sides that are sadly missing from the world) which is taken from the band’s hotly tipped debut cut, Summer Palace. Pass the cream... boy gonna tan!

You wanna know something about the band? Like it's going to enhance your listening experience? Man, these records stand up for themselves... but hey, I won't short-change you. SDSF have five members all hailing from four different countries with two singles and an EP under their belt in the past two years. Multi-instrumentalists Mauro and Onyee met while working as ushers at a London cinema... the ball was in motion...

Posted by Mof Gimmers on February 7, 2026 12:52 PM in Music News| Online Music| Pop Heaven / Pop Hell| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Neon Neon single and album due out in March

Mof reported last year on the collaboration between Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip, which goes by the name Neon Neon. Now, much as I love Super Furry Animals, Gruff's side projects can occasionally be a tad... inaccessible. Seeing him perform with Brazilian oddball Tony Da Gatorra last year was a particularly underwhelming experience.

The good news, therefore, is that Neon Neon is not only accessible - it is pop magnificence.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 7, 2026 10:05 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Not sure whether to believe the Vampire Weekend hype? Listen to the album for free then

I think I've banged on about this band quite enough, as have a lot of folk over the last few months. Now the album is out, and you may be wondering if it can possibly live up to the praise Vampire Weekend have had festooned upon their preppy asses.

In which case I'd recommend you go to MuchMusic.com, where you'll be able to listen to it for the grand price of zero pounds. The price is the same in dollars as well, which is a rarity. Baht, too.

For what it's worth, my favetoid tracks are new single "A-Punk", the slow-building "Oxford Comma" and the closing "The Kids Don' Stand A Chance".

Listen to Vampire Weekend's Vampire Weekend at MuchMusic.com

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 5, 2026 11:26 AM in Music News| Online Music| Up-And-Coming Acts
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MGMT video for "Time To Pretend" - do not watch if hungover

A few weeks back I posted this very same song after MGMT appeared on Letterman. The fact that the official video's out allows me to post it again. Cheating? Maybe.

Someone riding a cat, flying dolphins and more colours than I actually thought existed - I think this clip can legitimately be described as "a bit psychedelic". If it's too much just close your eyes and enjoy the tune.

[video: electricfeel]

[via Charley Rogulewski @ Mog]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on February 1, 2026 10:51 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Hercules & Love Affair - "Blind": Antony Hegarty goes to the disco

Antony of Antony And The Johnsons is a bit of an acquired taste, and I certainly never thought I'd hear him on a rather funky grown-up dance number. By "grown-up" I mean it's not all "hands in the air" stuff, like. Hercules & Love Affair do things with a tad more sophistication than that. The video is suitably "arty" (translation: nonsensical but pretty) for such a cultured collaboration.

[video: emirecordsuk]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on January 28, 2026 10:32 AM in Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-And-Coming-Acts - Stone Gods (formerly The Darkness!)

OK, so technically these guys aren’t new to the music business but as the Stone Gods commenced their first UK headline tour on Thursday, they were still unsure of the reaction they’d receive. Previously performing as The Darkness, the band (now with new bassist, Toby Macfarlaine) was forced to make decisions about their future when catsuit-loving lead singer, Justin Hawkins, left and didn’t come back.

Richie Edwards, ex-guitar technician, joined The Darkness in 2005 and I was lucky enough to catch them play at a German rock festival. I think I can safely say Rich pleasantly surprised most of the crowd when he took to the mic for an AC/DC medley. So it was no surprise to find that he now heads up the Stone Gods with his classic rock voice, creating a sound which makes me think of a harder, heavier Bryan Adams. Of course guitarist Dan Hawkins describes their sound slightly differently, suggesting “Appetite for Destruction meets the Metallica Black album, or Back in Black by AC/DC meets something as melodic as Night at the Opera by Queen”.[via outline] Either way, it’s pretty flippin’ good.

Read on for more on the tour...

Posted by Clare Joslin on January 23, 2026 9:30 AM in Can You Gig It?| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Move over Duffy, move over Adele... Martina Topley-Bird is ruling the roost in 2008

It seems that 2008 is all set to be soundtracked by girls, which is no bad thing. Out goes the faux-Britpopisms of boys in skinny jeans and in comes the sixties big beat and sweeping strings. Of course, Amy Winehouse and the beautiful Candie Payne have already kicked the ball in motion, and the likes of Adele and Duffy are getting good write-ups... but if there is any justice in the world, Martina Topley-Bird is going to become a household name.

Martina first came to our attention when she sang on Tricky's debut cut Maxinquaye, continuing on his Pre-Millennium Tension and Angels with Dirty Faces LPs. After a dust-up, the chanteuse went solo, and release her brilliant debut Quixotic which received rave reviews and was a finalist for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. Not bad eh? Now, her The Blue God LP is set for release with a couple of stormers called Carnies and Shangri-La featuring. Click here to visit Martina Topley-Bird's MySpace page and be prepared to be blown away. This is pop... but not as we know it Jim. Let's make a star of this precious and wonderful talent.

Posted by Mof Gimmers on January 18, 2026 12:33 PM in Online Music| Pop Heaven / Pop Hell| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Vampire Weekend are ready for their close-up with "A-Punk" video

Up until now the whole Vampire Weekend palavar has been big on blog hype (guilty) and slightly light on signifiers that they're ready to embrace mainstream success. That looks set to change.

Firstly, their debut album is set for release at the end of the month. Secondly, following the low-fi Duran Duran aesthetics of the "Mansard Roof" video, the "A-Punk" clip is a comical little number with jerky, high-speed movements and more costume changes than a Kylie show. Looks like the onslaught might be about to get a little more MTV-friendly.

[via Let's Sexy Fighting]

[video: Beggars Group]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on January 16, 2026 9:59 AM in Gone To The Blogs| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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The Maccabees' "Toothpaste Kisses" video: everyone involved almost certainly has a cold now

Look at this muck. Very well-choreographed and highly androgynous muck, but muck none the less. I hope The Maccabees are insured against people catching the sniffles on their video sets.

[video: iheartmaccabees]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on January 11, 2026 9:20 AM in Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Hip-Hop Isn't Dead: Kid Sister ft. Kanye West - "Pro Nails"

Have to be honest - a large part of the reason I've posted this is because it's in lovely shiny HD. Oooooh. You can thank whizzy new video site Vimeo for that.

Kid Sister is a Chicago MC, which goes some way to explaining Kanye's presence, although Kanye has been scientifically proven to have appeared on 87% of all recorded material in the world over the last year. Anyway, this is pretty good I reckon, in a day-glo acid-y kind of way, even if it is mainly about, um, fingernails. It's from Kid Sister's forthcoming album Koko B Ware.

Clearly the best bit is the fingertip breakdancers - some of them even appear to have little tube socks. Attention to detail, that is. I might ask the folks at Brandish what they think of Kanye's distinctly Auntie-ish cravat, mind you.

Kid Sister ft. Kanye West - "Pro Nails" from Ruben Fleischer on Vimeo.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on January 7, 2026 10:53 AM in Hip-Hop Isn't Dead| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-and-coming acts: Lykke Li may be a "Little Bit" special

You know you're on the right track when you get a Buzzfeed category all to yourself. So you can assume that the latest Swede on the block, Lykke Li, is "set to do big things in 2008" (© your chosen tabloid), as she managed just that last year (check it out here, where you'll read many frothing and more-well informed articles than this one).

Like most people I'm a bit resistant to big old piles of hype. Er, that's my excuse for not bothering to actually check out her music until now. But it's nice when something comes close to justifying the praise thrown at it - and I think that Li's "Little Bit", the video for which is over the page, does just that. I'm surprised the line "and for you I keep my legs apart" hasn't received more - ahem - exposure in the pimplesphere, mind.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on January 4, 2026 9:15 AM in Music News| Pop Heaven / Pop Hell| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Hit for 2008? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Candie Payne

Once upon a time, Shiny Media (who own the ass of this website) had a site called PopJunkie. Around two years ago, I interviewed the Queen of Pop Noir, Candie Payne. Now Candie, stunning and soulful, was doing the sixties torch beat when Winehouse was still pissing about with R'n'B. Sadly, Amy writ large and Candie stayed in the margin. However, with a Mark Ronson friendship and a fistful of dynamite singles, 2008 should see Candie getting a wider recognition. In fact, I'll stick my neck out and say that Candie is going to be the next big star at the expense of the overrated Duffy. [video DeltasonicRecords]

Posted by Mof Gimmers on December 28, 2025 2:31 PM in Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Palladium and The Clik Clik among new acts featuring on MySpace's Earwig TV

Remember MySpace? It was like Facebook, but with more garish pages. Well Facebook may be launching a serious threat in the social networking stakes, but MySpace remains streets ahead when it comes to breaking new music.

It has a good record, of course - I hardly need trot out the old stories about how it helped Lily Allen / Arctic Monkeys find success. The perception remains that MySpace is the place for younger folk - and they're the ones who decide what's what when it comes to new music. Now they have a new online video thingummy, Earwig TV, which promises to expand on this relationship with "the yoot".

Posted by Stuart Waterman on December 11, 2025 10:33 AM in Music News| Online Music| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Can You Gig It?: Puggy @ Power's Bar, Kilburn, London 5.12.07

Puggy are Belgian. Bands I know that come from Belgium include Soulwax and... that's it. So I don't know if I'm just being really unimaginative (quite possible) when I say that Puggy remind me quite a lot of Soulwax (the band, not the remixes).

At any rate, that's no bad thing. If you think of Soulwax covering Muse, with a highly-polished sheen designed to make them palatable for Maroon 5 fans, you get some idea of what Puggy are about.

In Kilburn's cosy Power's Bar the other night they put on a live performance which made a complete mockery of the fact that it was a free show. I've paid fifteen quid and seen gigs half as entertaining, with half as many decent songs.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on December 7, 2025 11:03 AM in Can You Gig It?| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-And-Coming Act - Foals

Good day to you pop-pickers, it’s time for another Up-And-Coming Act. This week my tip for the top is “math rock” foot-stompers, Foals, who hail from the educated vestibules of Oxford. Set to support on tour with Bloc Party, Foals should be well received by ‘Party fans with their addictive electric loops and a sweatily energetic live performance. You may also recognise the Foals from such recent televisual performances as Later...With Jools Holland. New single “Balloons” is due for release on 10th December. Why not have a little listen here for your very own 2 minutes 59 of invigoration?

Posted by Clare Joslin on December 4, 2025 5:24 PM in Up-And-Coming Acts
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Does Kate Nash Deserve XFM's New Music Award? Apply To Get On The Voting Panel

XFM have announced the shortlist for their New Music Award, designed to recognise the best UK debut album of 2007. Listeners have been voting for their choices recently, and the shortlist is:

Air Traffic 'Fractured Life'
The Enemy 'We'll Live and Die In These Towns'
Frank Turner 'Sleep Is For The Week'
Kate Nash 'Made Of Bricks'
Klaxons 'Myths Of The Near Future'
The Maccabees 'Colour It In'
The Pigeon Detectives 'Wait For Me'
The Twang 'Love It When I Feel Like This'
The View 'Hats Off To The Buskers'
The Wombats 'Proudly Present.. A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation'

Weird to see Klaxons on a list of "new" albums - feels like they've been around forever already, doesn't it? Anyway, if you shuddered at the mention of Kate Nash's name, or vomited at the thought of The Pigeon Detectives receiving an award, there may be something you can do.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on November 27, 2025 10:47 AM in Competitions| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Up and Coming Acts – Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong

It kind of just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? No? Oh well, you’ll get used to it, because Joe Lean and his band of merry men are going to be rearing their carefully coiffed heads everywhere in the coming months.

With a selection of suitably jingly, jangly guitar-based songs and a sharp, jerky style, you know these London lads will be lapped up on “the scene”. Plus, with tour dates in place to support Babyshambles and the Kaiser Chiefs, it will be no time before NME starts printing pretty posters (if they haven’t already). Despite all this, I have been enjoying their songs. They make you want to swing your skinny jeans.

Check out Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong in all their twitchy glory after the click…

Posted by Clare Joslin on November 14, 2025 8:17 PM in Gig / Tour News| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Lethal Bizzle goes to the Gallows

Remember the early noughties, when it was all rap-rock / nu-metal, and "collabos" between people like Diddy and Jimmy Page / Dave Grohl? The legacy of these genre-hopping days, used to successful effect by Klaxons recently, seems to be manifesting itself in a few pretty exciting records at the moment.

First there's Hadouken!'s "Leap Of Faith", which retains a few of the bleeps and bloops you'd associate with their dayglo-hoodied racket, but for the most part is a great slab of ROCK.

Then there's the new collaboration between Hemel Hempstead punk nutters Gallows and grime mainstay Lethal Bizzle. It. Is. Brilliant.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on November 13, 2025 10:29 AM in Hip-Hop Isn't Dead| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Can You Gig It?: Dr Joel / Kula Shaker @ Koko, London, 10.10.07

On 10th October, Kula Shaker graced the stage of Camden’s Koko with their unique style of psychedelic, nineties rock. Despite being out on the road touting about their latest offering Strangefolk, the show focused largely on the band’s 1996 breakthough K, opening the show with a stomping performance of ‘Hey Dude’. Rather than being a copout, this approach allowed the band to give a strong performance and reminded fans, who had devotedly dusted down their bootcut jeans, just how good Kula Shaker really are.

Despite stinking of nineties nostalgia, watching Kula Shaker perform outside the context of Britpop, demonstrates not only how relevant they still are but what a good band they are. While they might evoke memories of a time when it was still ok to like The Spice Girls, their psychedelic rock style has more in common with current artists such as Caribou or Devendra Banhart than it ever did with more successful contemporaries such as Oasis. Perhaps being in lumped in with Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene et al is the reason why, despite being a musically competent and interesting band, Kula Shaker never quite made it as big as they deserved. This was particularly evident as they jammed their way through ‘Jerry was There’, and new songs, ‘Out on the Highway’, and ‘Second Sight’.

Posted by Laura Silver on October 26, 2025 2:19 PM in Can You Gig It?| Music News| Up-And-Coming Acts
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Up-And-Coming-Acts: White Rabbits - "The Plot", performed on The Late Show with David Letterman

I AM BLOODY OBSESSED WITH THIS SONG.

[video provided by jibninjas]

Posted by Stuart Waterman on October 26, 2025 11:34 AM in It's Good To Talkshow| Up-And-Coming Acts| Video
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Up-And-Coming-Acts: Vampire Weekend

Last night I went to see one of the most buzzed-about bands of the year - Vampire Weekend. The NYC foursome were making their London debut at the cosy little Borderline club. To be honest I was expecting to be disappointed, such is the amount of blog love these preppy types have received over the last few months. I first heard of them over at Good Weather For Airstrikes, and they've been playing rapturously-reviewed shows in the States all summer.

Happily not only was I not disappointed, I came away seriously impressed. The stuff written about the band so far has tended to mention their Ivy League dress sense and fondness for student-y lyrics ("Oxford Comma" perhaps unfairly suggesting they're a bunch of whimsical nerdlingers). In a live setting - especially in a place the size of The Borderline - you can't help but be impressed with Vampire Weekend's a) professionalism, b) enthusiasm and c) confidence. Lead singer Ezra Koenig referred to a couple of their songs as "gems" while introducing them, and, while that made me chuckle, I don't think he was being remotely ironic.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on October 24, 2025 10:50 AM in Gone To The Blogs| Music News| Online Music| Up-And-Coming Acts
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