G Love - Blues

Words by: Amy Smith

Grass-roots songsmiths G Love have already persuaded America and are now becoming notorious in the UK for an invasive stage show that takes their lyrical acrobatics into the mainstream with notions at a classic blues sound. Communicative and modern, their music is hastening flashes of twiddling guitars and eclectic vocalizations which bounce around on stage, and even on record, until the sauce of their songs take hold; brooding, affluent and vibrant, their catalogue spanning over a decade is full of youthful interpretations of music that has, even if only delicately, motivated the Philadelphia collective.

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Teddy Pendergrass - R&B / Soul

Words by: Amy Smith

If you don’t know Teddy Pendergrass by now, you at least know the song that the first part of this sentence cheekily quotes. Affectionately known by his legions of fans as ‘Teddy Bear’, Pendergrass is one of the most influential and successful American soul singers of his generation. His is a musical career that began with singing in churches (where he was ordained as a minister at an early age) and moved on to a stint with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes on drums, until one day he was invited to take to the mic, unleashed that effortlessly, subtly soulful voice of his, and never looked back. Though best remembered rightly for that band’s classic ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ single, Teddy Bear went on to a hugely successful solo career, becoming the first African American artist to see five of his albums in a row go that charming shade of platinum. His ‘ladies only’ concerts, too, are the stuff of shrill, shrieking legend.

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Roc - Electronica

Words by: Greg Harper
In a word: Extraordinary

Moody and graceful, this unbelievably brilliant rock, funk, punk, electro outfit could count John Peel among their fans and one twirl of their album tells you why. It opens on vocals, not unlike a dark-pop Enya, the melody wrapping around them to give it a Vampire Weekend sagacity of pop before stocky beats and samples come in to heat it up to boiling point. It’s FlyKKiller on pop sort, playing with the stars maybe, and experimenting with arrangements that permit their music to slide anywhere into your record collection from alongside The Cure to sandwiched in between Gary Numan and Beck. They’re an utterly fantastic band that you can’t find enough time for, each song surmising a different keyhole peep at their show. Intelligent and beautiful, they’re a band we can’t lavish enough pleasantries on.

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Modernaire - Electronica

Words by: Amy Smith

The downhearted aftershock to which Modernaire account themselves may steady them towards Portishead or Massive Attack, in the very fundamental multiplicity of vocals and subliminal key-lines that give their music a flair for the adventurous, they stand utterly alone. Brushed with punk influenced pop they offer the beguiling dancefloor troubadour a taste of city scoping adolescence and chopping, incisively perceptive lyrics that could just stamp them out as one of the most vital new electronic bands to grace a Manchester stage in as many decades. ‘Bloodshed in the woodshed’ is a positive attack on middling shoegaze dance that has for years occupied a majority of clubs; now we find something new and ultimately exciting to suspend our feet to.

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The L.C.D. - Hip Hop / Rap

Words by: Amy Smith

Winchester based rapper The L.C.D. has a certain allure, a dynamic which allows you to listen to him talk without being uncomforted. Articulate, sophisticated and bold he’s the dry kind of persona that can make you sit up, carrying the full force of the airwaves on his back, hauling the mood more than Tom Hanks on a desert island. Wilson! Track ‘Beach Days’ bleeds and splutters poetry with an eagerness to the hills of Polarbear, showcasing venomous lyrics spat out with harsh impatience and excitement. You consider what he says, and you let it rest on your conscience, such is his power as a lyricist. Honest, intense and callous, he’s one for the mainstage.

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Eastborn - Hip Hop / Rap

Words by: Amy Smith

Some people are scene figureheads, and other people are scenes unto themselves. Eastborn is Scottish hip hop. Not only is our Glasgow boy a prolific artist in his own right, his godfather status is further assured by his creation of underground hip hop label Drop Zone records. Also a radio presenter and occasional poet, Eastborn rose to prominence as a member of the Thoughtz of Mortalz collective before embarking on a solo career rich in hip hop at its best – devoid of bling, saturated with hard hitting beats and though provoking lyrics. He and partner in crime DJ Switch have toured the world with the likes of Roots Manuva and Mark B & Blade, yet he remains admirably heavily involved with a home town scene that, without him, would be in serious need of care and attention.

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Duke Ellington - Jazz

Words by: Amy Smith

Discontented with what he saw around him, Ellington made big band style jazz that challenged the bohemia with a concise and variable sound that made him the biggest name of his era. As most of his bigger signature tunes still in heavy use today, proving the lasting effect of a musician who never conformed himself to the audacity of a pigeonhole, he often referred to his style as simply “American music”. Like all players of his time, Ellington would often work with other musicians to create new movements in the genre, his style being notorious as one of the most adaptable and accomplished sounds in jazz, so much so that his scores would play as standards to this day - throughout a variety of genres scoping hip-hop and rap through to electro and even country.

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Ronnie Scott - Jazz

Words by: Amy Smith

Probably the most important presence in British jazz, Ronnie Scott’s career was based on what his East London contemporaries and pals would have referred to as bloody hard graft. Touring the world as a tenor saxophonist with everyone from Johnny Claes to Ted Heath at the tender age of just 16, his dedication to attention to detail often found him playing shows on the famous Queen Mary boat, solely so he could get free travel to New York to hear the sounds of the Big Apple’s jazz scene for himself. Influenced by Charlie Parker and the bebop set, the hard work more than paid off – Scott was rightly admired the world over, no more so than by the legendary Charles Mingus, who described him as one of the most talented white jazz musicians of his generation. Though toward the end of his career recordings were few and far between, his status as a legend was assured with the opening of the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, consistently one of the best nights out in Soho.

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Brand New Heavies - Miscellaneous

Words by: Amy Smith

What could be better than some quality funk and soul satisfying R&B? The legendary Brand New Heavies bring you both in one wrapping. The Brand New Heavies have been riding high on the charts since the 90s, with strong back beats and electrified sounds and the amazing vocal talent of N'Dea Davenport make the Heavies one of the greatest bands out there. Check out the band’s latest 2006 release ‘Get Used To It’, the album does not only see the Heavies reunited with N’Dea Davenport but also features some really great music: ‘I Don’t Know Why (I Love You)’, ‘Get Used To It’, ‘Let’s Do It Again’, ‘Right On’, etc. The Brand New Heavies truly bring back the funk in music.

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Pipco - Miscellaneous

Words by: Amy Smith

Pipco has an abstract and extraordinary approach to music making. The main chords often have different harmonies with additional instruments and percussion creating pure eclecticism. But that’s only what you hear the the first time round … Pipco a.k.a. Dominic has somehow managed to give his music a shape that attracts the listener back time and time again and all those afore mentioned abstract features recede into the background. The tracks on Pipco’s album flow into each other, making a whole soundscape, with an extraordinary and specific musical concept.

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Natalia - Pop

Words by: Amy Smith

Nothing goes down quite as well as a stunning summer anthem delivered by the voice of a similarly as stunning starlet; ‘Pretty Like Me’ and ‘Crawl’ being the quintessentially London pop sound for emerging radio-friendly R&B. Lassoing generic tunes and stamping her slightly edgier identity onto them has given Natalia a strong following from those who can decipher the pap from the pop; the memory from the melody. Described as “pop on the rocks”, Natalia has dedicated her voice to finding the tension within what she does, posting the dynamic over the transcendent and often sharp to form a sound-wave of her own.

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Jackpot - Pop

Words by:Tom Hannan
In a word: Rawk

They say gambling’s a fool’s game, and it is, at least every other time than when you hit the Jackpot. And if you believe these guys (and they look like a trustworthy bunch), when Jackpot hits your town, everyone wins. And what do they win? A slice of formidable rock n’ roll that nods its head in time with the pounding drumbeats in the direction of country and soul for good measure, all whilst some fella up front screams, yells and barks his way through the tunes.
About as all American as a hot dog, baseball cap or the phrase “y’all’.

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Jamie Woon - RnB

Words by: Amy Smith

Surreal soul and callous vocal attacks is what stand Jamie Woon out alone; with throwbacks to an American sound via Usher and Justin Timberlake, Jamie’s pop orientated R&B menacingly blurs the lines of gospel and mainstream to craft a variously sympathetic sound to fans of many a beat. Gently constructing his songs with a degree of musicianship, rather than heading into a composition all guns blazing, his temperate approach has given his music a feeling of striking assembly, capriciously carrying you forward with varying styles and paces that deconstruct the overly plastic world that modern R&B often struggles to fight its way beyond.

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Marvin Gaye - RnB

Words by: Amy Smith

From the beginning of his musical career, faking mental illness to get out of the army and sign to Motown records, to its untimely end (Gaye was infamously shot by his father after an argument over business documents), there’s nothing about the Marvin Gaye story that is anything less than spectacular. Gaye was perhaps one of the most single minded, and certainly greatest, soul singers of his generation. Notoriously stubborn, he would for example refuse to open his eyes when singing even though the label repeatedly told him he looked like he was asleep. But this stubbornness could also give birth to genius. If, for example, it was up to Motown, his signature tune ‘What’s Going On’ would not have been released – Gaye doggedly lobbied for its release, and it eventually became the title track of the one quintessential, must own Motown album. Able to effortlessly indulge in themes of both religion and the sexual (the remarkable ‘Let’s Get It On’ being the most famous example of the latter), the likes of Marvin Gaye just aren’t seen anymore. And that’s a crying shame.

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Eek-A-Mouse - Reggae

Words by: Amy Smith

Dark and often surreal reggae from the hands of Kingston born Ripton Joseph Hylton, with smooth and calculated rhythms he expels the dynamitic with soft control. Eek holds a jocular and whimsically lyrical feast of menacing adolescent excitement with well-nourished flashes of the 70’s London sound circa The Specials or The Clash’s ‘Guns of Brixton’. Of course the Jamaican born musician will be more directly influenced by his ancestral cohesions than anything Brit-led, however with grimy bass lines and urban decay depicted in his lyrics, it’s the UK punk scene that will more easily associate itself with this ridiculously inceptive mash of brutal doggerel.

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Skatalites Reggae

Words by: Amy Smith

Jamaica’s Skatalites are perhaps the group most responsible for the ska explosion in the country during the early to mid sixties. Though only active for two brief years in their initial incarnation, the influence and role in popularising the genre of this then-seven piece can’t be overlooked – if not for them, no ‘Guns of Navarone’, and Prince Buster would have sounded one heck of a lot worse. Though a few members have shifted this mortal coil since their heyday, The Skatalites reformed in 1986 and haven’t looked back. Their live shows are still, it’s unanimously agreed, utterly out of this world.

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Tall Stories - Rock

Words by: Amy Smith

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Nat Jenkins - Rock

Words by: Tom Hannan
In a word: Wonderful

What kind of music would you most like to hear whilst drifting down a river on a boat? That’s right – Satanic Norweigan death metal. Imagine the disappointment then when those gathered for the River Rat Pack tour were treated to the charming indie folk and cheeky rockabilly tendencies of Nat Jenkins and his accordion pumping clan. Quite. Obviously, I’m pulling your leg here good reader – Nat Jenkins’ wistful melodies and gently lapping rhythms are as charming as they are suited to the whole River Rat Pack idea (which was his, by the way) – basically playing a variety of venues along the river that connects London with Oxford, and travelling by boat. His is the finest water born family of freaks on the seven seas today.

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Jay Jay Pistolet - Singer / Songwriter

Words by: Greg Harper
In a word: Smiling

Very much a chief performer in the emerging indie folk scene of the southern counties, Jay Jay Pistolet is on the Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn road, buckled up in an old VW campervan, strumming his guitar with passion and beach-bound melody. Classic pop and modern folk infused with a vocal that’s not the most discernible from the new pack of scenesters, but easily one of the most classically endearing - sounding refreshingly similar to Paul Simon, his lyrics only giving you more cause to believe the man has found a new incarnation. ‘Happy Birthday You’ is a roundabout chorus that throws off lines so enlivening you’re brushing stardust from your lapels with a grin so unprompted you could Morris Dance if it weren’t so frowned upon.

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Milow- Singer / Songwriter

Words by: Amy Smith
In a word: Dreamy

Jonathan Vandenbroeck isn’t a household name in his native Belgium. Milow, who has topped the charts with both singles and albums and won countless awards in his homeland however, certainly is. Luckily for Vandenbroeck, he and Milow are one and the same person! Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Pseudonyms eh… He runs his own label, from home (the confusingly titled Homerun records), and on it he released his second collection of distinctly Belgian flavoured popular song, ‘Coming of Age’, earlier this year.

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Raj Kapoor - World Music

Words by: Amy Smith

The favorite of millions, Indian actor, director and singer Raj Kapoor is surely known to movie fans, even to those, who are not particularly Bollywood fans. Raj Kapoor’s career started in 1935, when at the age of eleven he appeared in his first film, called ‘Inquilab’. Since then he has appeared in dozens of Bollywood films and also found the time to start a career in directing as well. One of the most notable features of the legendary actor was the fact that, unlike numerous other Bollywood actors, Kapoor performed all the songs in his films himself. For some, he is even a singer first and then an actor. Raj Kapoor died in 1985, leaving a great film heritage with various national and international honors and prizes.

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Pierre Akendengueendengue - World Music

Words by: Amy Smith

World traveller and inspired musician Pierre Akendengue has been making songs for over thirty years, gaining international notoriety as his career has progressed. Collecting the esteemed Prix d'excellence in 1997 he has forged a style of cross-genre manoeuvring that has globally been regarded as the forefront of what world music should be about. Taking in his African and French roots, his unique illustration of classical and the ultra-modern have earned him a name for being unequalled within his field, not least for his ‘Carrefour Rio’ album that is regarded as some of his finest spills of instrumental demonstration.

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Brian Setzer - Country

Words by: Amy Smith

If Robert Plant ever rings you up and asks you to play guitar in his band, you know you’re a pretty talented axe-wielder – the fella was in Led Zeppelin, after all. But it’s no surprise said honour has been bestowed upon Brian Setzer, as he’s widely regarded as one of the most talented figures in modern country music. Once a member of rockabilly troupe Stray Cats, Setzer set about a solo career in the mid eighties, before shaking a genre which, let’s face it, has been known to rest on its laurels to its very core with the formation of The Brian Setzer Orchestra, an ambitious gathering of 17 musicians to indulge in swing, jump blues and takes on classical music standards for the good of the planet. And if that fascinating project doesn’t convince you of his downright coolness, well… did we tell you he was also once in the Simpsons?

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The Scarecrows - Country

Words by: Amy Smith

The big, ballsy American bands command country music with a sense of conviction like no other, The Scarecrows taking the reigns with persuasive aptitude for a massively catchy vocal turned over a classically instrumented melody to fashion their approachable studio sound which widens and electrifies on stage. A haze of anger in their tone and uplifting believability in the melancholy that compliments the grandness and energy of songs such as ‘Sleeping in the Shadows’, their music doesn’t wash over the foundations of ancestral pastiches as much as it does bring new light to simplistic and engaging Americana.

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