A Century of Trees

Words by: Tom Hannan
In a word: Sumptuous

Leeds electro popster Andrew Forknell is A Century of Trees – every one of these avant garde, experimental yet accessible waves of sound is made by him, for you. Say thank you by giving them a listen – their spontaneous, viciously imaginative and decidedly soothing air should sit a treat, conjuring up imagery as grandiose and serene as the name suggests. Think The Avalanches if they stopped worrying about having too many ideas floating about, or Four Tet for someone less inclined to stroke their beard whilst listening to their electronica. Lovely.

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Angelina

Words by: Amy Smith

Far more a classic soul vocalist than anything more immediately recognisable as modern R&B, Angelina’s move towards Amy Winehouse via Whitney Houston has given her a charm so unyielding she’s already the poster-child for real singers making circles against the grain of over-hyped and underdeveloped British female songwriters. Easily comparable to Regina Spektor, besides her Russian descendency, her witty and nonsensically accessible lyrics are mischievously garnished with hammering pianos and moments of hip-hop. All this takes her into a sub-genre all of her own, shining out of the budding London scene with unproblematic brightness, intensity and expression.

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Anna Neale

Words by: Amy Smith

This stunning songsmith knows that the song is the thing, and when the songs are as approachable and life-affirming as Anna Neale’s, there’s little room for falling short of pop bliss. Comparable to Sheryl Crow, her American-rock influenced pop songs are at ease within the company of The Cranberries, with a lunge into folk, almost Celtic, guitar strikes that bind in to her sonic flashes of vocal treats. Her voice is proficiently faultless and though often grouches a far harder approach is generally best suited to her more emotional and self-motivated movements with which she will surely be associated before too long.

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Billie Holliday

Words by: Amy Smith

Regarded as one of the first people to ever sing against racism, Billie Holliday’s tone is to this day so rightly associated with the rise of black culture in America and her songs are still felt as movingly now. With a voice so unique and powerful it thumps the realm of mediocrity with such an effortless power, and splendid grace, you can only imagine what it would have felt like to hear her play for the first time as a disillusioned black youth in 1930’s New York. ‘Strange Fruit’ and ‘Summertime’ are admirably rich songs that will outlive generations, retaining a timeless affection built on the back of Holliday’s particularly striking and moving dexterity as a vocalist.

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Boxcar Willie

Words by: Amy Smith

Box Car Willie isn’t just important to country music, he’s pretty important to the USA in general, seeing as he was in many ways the living embodiment of the American Dream. Born in a small railroad shack in the thirties, the son of a farmhand, Box Car Willie lived in a three room tool shed with his entire family. With history like that, you’re pretty certain of becoming a country music artist – you can probably even scientifically plot the likelihood of it on some graph. To Box Car’s credit, he ran with it – his ‘original hobo’ style of country (so named after the hobo get up he would wear on stage) endeared him to the hearts of the American public and the world at large, as did a relentless touring schedule that saw him on the road for 300 days a year for an entire decade. Not bad from the humblest of beginnings, eh?

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Diving Bell

Words by: Greg Harper
In a word: Otherworldly

This was the kind of artist we had in mind when the ‘miscellaneous’ category was untaught. This is neither pop, nor rock, soul or classical; rather a breathtaking intermingle of all the above. This is the degree of splendour that we get excited about and with so much going for them, their music being so fantastically accomplished and varied, we’re already seeing them as a frontrunner in a new anti-genre field. The unclassifiable. Somewhere between The Pixies and the B52s their eclectic and eccentric songs lend best twists at vocalist Claudia Schneider who would be at home within Stars last album. A real journey through the asteroid belt, Diving Bell’s music is a gigantic leap into the unknown, armed only with a record bag to make a family home.

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Dizzy Gillespie

Words by: Amy Smith

So influential is his craft that if you close your eyes and picture a jazz musician, you’re probably picturing the inflated cheeks and customised trumpet bell (at a trademark jaunty 45 degree angle) of John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie, whether you know it or not. Easily the most recognisable face in all of jazz, he revolutionised the genre in the 40s by pioneering what was then a new style, now known and loved as bebop. Throughout a career decades long he championed Caribbean, Cuban and Brazillian rhythms in jazz that still dominate the genre to the day. Also seen on stages with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, his use of aggressive ornamentations, complex harmonic alterations and rhythmic exploration are so important that you start to suspect he wasn’t being arrogant when he claimed the sounds he was making would, in the distant future, be regarded as classical music – he just knew.

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Elakelaiset

Words by: Amy Smith

Eläkeläiset are a Finnish band who have become notorious throughout our fair planet for their ‘Humppa’ style covers of classic rock and pop songs – and to find out exactly what Humppa is, you’ll just have to cock your ear to the five piece’s… unique sound. Is it any good? That doesn’t even seem to matter – the band (whose name means ‘Pensioners’ in their native Finnish tongue) describe their gigs as ‘the worst live shows on Earth’, but they’re also the self proclaimed ‘hottest band in the universe’. Their tongue might be so stuck in their cheek that they find it difficult to sing, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of fun now is there?

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Elektradog

Words by: Amy Smith

Written by: Greg Harper
In a word: Nostalgic

A sonic spree of novelty 80s electronica gives this artist a wonderfully wistful feel that’s easy to get in to. Far beyond that the songs are not too bad either, in truth we’d go as far as to say they’re darn right catchy, none so as fascinating as ‘Rated X’. With arrangements on the same posture as The Beatles in that similar madcap, menacing way… though musically do try and think more Mario and Luigi than John and Paul. This pop music is really cold, arctic in fact, so much so it nicely trips over We Are Performance with that same modern Manchester magnetism.

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Imperial Leisure

Words by: Amy Smith

A killer combination of great beats, great tunes and irresistibly memorable lyrics. Imperial Leisure are a phenomenon: a ten-piece band playing their own particular blend of hip-hop, ska and rock music, complete with live brass section, keyboards, DJ, two MCs and a singer, who have been mates since school. Their music is a killer combination of great beats, great tunes and irresistibly memorable lyrics. There is a Motown-inspired soulfulness to singer Jel’s vocals, and a rock sensibility to MC Denis’s delivery.
The sense of unity and familiarity that comes from 15 years of friendship is felt even in the band’s sound. They work together and party together, putting equal energy into both things; and this energy is what sets the band apart on stage.
Imperial Leisure spent 2006 (legitimately) playing festivals such as The Secret Garden Party and TDK, not to mention (illegitimately) playing in the car parks at Reading, En-Dorset, Fruitstock and LoveBox. The highlight of the year was the band successfully supporting US hip-hoppers Ugly Duckling on tour. This year the list of acts the band supported has been enriched with the legendary Sugar Hill Gang and The Beat.
Releasing a couple of EPs last year, Imperial Leisure have recently been in Eastcote Studios recording new material with producer Russ Keffert, aka Junk Scientist.

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John Legend

Words by: Amy Smith

Ahh, John Legend – men want to be him, women want to be with him, and he presumably spends all his time when not performing just grinning inanely about how lovely his life quite probably is. Thrown in to the spotlight by the success of the song ‘Ordinary People’ and its parent album Get Lifted in 2004, John Legend has refused to move from it since, garnering an incredible batch of eight Grammy nominations and walking away with three of ‘em (including one for Best New Artist) and selling, oh, three million copies of that debut LP. He says the sales don’t matter, mind – it’s all about the music, the soulful, subtle and warming sound he does so well. Whether you believe that or not is your call.

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King Charles

Words by: Amy Smith

Charming London acoustic indie pop type King Charles just wants to make your life a better place, remind you of niceties like feeling the sun on your face, picnics, drinks with friends and the like. Yet to release their debut album, given that their sound already nods towards legends like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones and yet also sits comfortably alongside the current crop of nu-folkers like Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale, we suggest you let them do just that. The songs are encouragingly even more impressive than King Charles’ hair – and that’s some hair, let me tell you.

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Lonnie Johnson

Words by: Amy Smith

For millions of us around the world, the invention of the guitar solo is as important a moment in history as the invention of the wheel. And we’ve got Alonzo ‘Lonnie’ Johnson to thank for its existence, being as serious historians credit him with being the first musician ever, ever, ever to record a single note guitar solo. A rather pioneering fellow, born at the turn of the last century, though he spent time toiling as a hotel porter in obscurity for a while, he eventually revolutionised the sound of jazz guitar though his work with the likes of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. If you think about it, we’ve got him to thank for everyone from Hendrix to Slash – which makes us pretty thankful indeed.

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Los Babies

Words by: Amy Smith

For all the true fans of Latin music, the art of Los Babies is a brilliant example of Latin-American musical roots.
An unrepeatable coloring of traditional Latin guitars, trumpets and passionate vocals, take the listener on a garish trip through the amazing world of Latin music, which can be considered as one of the most popular and branched world music genres.
Tequila-flavored hot rhythms and sensual serenades of Los Babies create an atmosphere reminiscent of Cuban cigars, narrow streets full of cheery and happy faces with loads of positive emotions. And that’s the reason why the music of Los Babies will remain relevant as long as the human race exists.

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Masta Killa

Words by: Tom Hannan
In a word: Enigmatic

Masta Killa mightn’t be one of the highest profile names in the Wu Tang Clan, but as his work as a solo artist since 2004 has proved, he’s certainly not one to be messed with. The last member to join the Clan, and not even a rapper at the time they formed, GZA’s expert mentorship turned him in to a formidable force with a slow and considered flow who soon was as important to the band’s sound as any other member. In fact, his distinctly laid back style contrasted well with the more manic tendencies of the likes of Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck to become one of the defining features of the Wu Tang sound. It’s a technique he’s employed over two well received studio albums since, and though he continues to be the most inscrutable and mysterious member of the Clan, take your eye off him at your peril.

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McNastee

Words by: Greg Harper
In a word: Sober

When a rapper gets dark it’s habitually to emphasise the most pertinent material of their career, but for this collective it’s all bleak urban poetry, every track brooding and reverent. Truly motivating hip hop, this band makes music that you can see as an influence of so many other acts, though none so as mottled and consistently bright, both lyrically and musically. Fresh faced and with something to say, spinning ragged and shagged beats behind them there’s a massive race for the end of each track, a catapult of competing lengths that keep their tunes knocking, dropping and kicking.

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MS Din

Words by: Amy Smith

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Opya

Words by: Greg Harper
In a word: Mortifying

Being familiar with Polish upstarts FlyKKiller we had naturally brought ourselves into thinking that all continent rock would have a sprinkle of electro-punk over the top; not the case however for this brutally engaging troop of hardcore death metal heads. A massive sense of urgency and a steady, rocket-like, voice plunges ‘Nothing For A Bow’ and ‘Primal Saint’ dashing for your skull without much cause for what it obliterates on the way. It’s an accomplished sound for its niche genre having musical variety that would call Marilyn Manson a playboy, being far more unhinged and purposeful, showing a degree of care for melody that many such bands may fail to see.

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Slashed Seat Affair

Words by: Amy Smith

The four headed rock beast of a band that are Slashed Seat Affair (you might have seen ‘em on the road with the likes of The Guillemots or Nate James) are currently putting the finishing touches to an as yet untitled debut record with a big shot producer who’s worked with everyone from Velvet Revolver to Belle and Sebastian (how’s that for diverse?). The soaring vocals, nail you in place drumming and rough and ready, radio friendly riff rock that Slashed Seat Affair (who number Ellie Mules on vocals, her song writing partner Darren Mitchell on bass, Rob Meehan on drums and Noel Martin on guitar) do so well will find itself on a record put out by Fill The Void come the end of 2008.

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Sly & Robbie

Words by: Amy Smith

Sly & Robbie are a musical marriage made in heaven. Drummer Lowell Dunbar (nicknamed Sly after one of his favorite musicians, Sly Stone) and bass guitarist Robert Shakespeare had already established themselves separately on the Jamaican music scene before they joined forces in mid 70s.
Sly & Robbie have worked hard and produced considerable amounts of music over the past three decades. They have continued to record on a regular basis, both as crucial bottom end for other artists as well as their own music. Estimates suggest that they have played on or produced some 200,000 songs.
RawRip offers you ‘Sly & Robbie Dub’ which is,a collection of instrumental dub tracks that will leave you longing for more Sly & Robbie.

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Son House

Words by: Amy Smith

With the disintegration of the pop song, grass roots rhythm and blues music has never had such a significant place, or such a statement to make; in modern music, original pioneer of the Mississippi blues sound, Son House being the motivation for artists as far back as Johnny Cash and the early days of what we now know as Americana country. Having spent time in prison before going on to have a five-decade spanning recording career, his ‘chain-gang’ style was adopted by the southern US states as the defining sound of an uprising generation, his rhythmically straightforward and wonderfully poignant songs are still a source of inspiration today.

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The Burrito Brothers

Words by: Amy Smith

At a time when California was still engulfed in a post-British invasion and the Beach Boys marked a certain era in sounds and production, The (Flying) Burrito Brothers carved themselves away from the movement, making psychedelic country that embraced all the ideals of a free America, with a certain homage to the bands that had crafted its history. Their new breed of country-rock was later to inspire the likes of The Eagles and Jackson Browne; and even today, their lyric and riff-led melodic country vibes can be found in acts such as Bright Eyes. The (Flying) Burrito Brothers themselves are still making extraordinary albums under the same guise of undemanding, heartbreaking simplicity.

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The Happenening

Words by: Amy Smith

The Happening is what, well, happens when Jamie Cato, of Faithless and One Giant Leap, decides to indulge himself a little bit. Inviting a whole cast of talented friends and acquaintances in to Dave Stewart’s studio – including musicians more customarily seen aiding the likes of Oasis, Beck and The Hothouse Flowers – the plan was to record an entire album of completely improvised music, similarly to how Miles Davis would work back in the day. The result is a subtle blend of funk, soul and chilled out vibes that sensually soothe due largely to the fact that you can almost literally hear the lack of pretension that comes from the sound of talented people just having fun for the ruddy hell of it.

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White Vinyl

Words by: Tom Hannan
In a word: Giddy

White Vinyl sat down in a Middlesbrough practice room in 2006, with Louis Garbutt on Drums, his brother Tim on Vocals, Louis Dawkins on Bass and Tom Porter on Guitar and such was their bond, legend has it, began writing songs immediately. At their first show, they had twenty minutes worth of material. A little over a year later, that had grown in to an hour and a half of fine, northern British rock that nods towards the world of folk and punk for good measure. Support slots with the Maccabees and Friendly Fires followed, as will a lot more, one suspects.

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