Katy B

20 year old Katy B is suddenly becoming an iconic British musician for the sound of 2010. It feels like she's blown up onto the Radio 1 A-List from nowhere, but in fact she's been a-toiling via a Brit school education for a few years and having teamed up with Rinse FM and their label, has been working with the likes of Zinc and Benga on her new tracks.

'Katy on a Mission' is her first single proper out August 20th, but I'm much more about in love with 'Louder'. I like a popstar who can enunciate, and here her warm yet scratchy tones couple with wobbly dubstep basslines (which I think I'll always find a bit amusing') on this tale of an unwillingness to stop the party.

'I've been awake for a day now, 24 hours, yet still I want it louder'

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ynf2ScKiA[/youtube]

Love her.

Also I mention DJ Zinc like I have an idea who he is. I don't, but Ed just sent me this other production from him. Total party anthem.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKB3hJBvAZY[/youtube]

Maximum Balloon

I have very little idea who TV on the Radio are. I know they don't make stonky electro-pop though, so it's a bit of a woop woop to discover 1/3 of the band, David Sitek, has popped off to make just that with solo project Maximum Balloon.

The forthcoming album is 10 songs described as 'thick, noisy and funky, with glam' by Spin with each featuring vocals from different artists, including Little Dragon, Karen O and David Byrne.

Two tracks are out there so far: 'Tiger', whose funky afrobeat sound, you might have heard on the Daisy Lowe for Esquire pant moistening promo; and the Little Dragon featured 'If You Return' which combines a stuttering drumbeat with some chilly electronica. I'm really looking forward to the album, but for now here's the pretty promo for 'If You Return'. I'm assuming it's a teaser rather than the whole thing?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5z85llbyN0[/youtube]

Lana Del Ray

Homemade videos need to have that special something to make you filter them out from your everyday norm. Hurts had the eyebrow raising dancing lady on their first £20 video and now Lana Del Ray weaves together old movies, bottles of drink and herself wearing a movie star wig in black & white.

The movie star image is what Lana's rocking. Her real name is plain old Lizzy Grant and according to her press release she's been roaming the musical world for a little while. Who hasn't though? Here's an old interview with plain old Lizzy from a couple of years ago. Now though she's in London and spending time songwriting with pop legend Biffco. There's a slight hint of Paloma in her voice, but an altogether much darker, sometimes sulkier, sometimes realer sound. 'Kinda Outta Luck' sounds like it belongs straight on a Tarantino soundtrack and the sinister elements to her voice remind me a lot of The Pierces. This one could go anywhere from chilling, sexy acoustic to sultry pop. Exciting.

Download Lana Del Ray - Diet MTN Dew for free.

I Need Air

I don't know a huge amount, in fact not even a tiny amount, about dubstep. I know when I hear it, I tend to like it and I know that Skream's remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill' was a bit of a tipping point last summer. I'd not paid much attention though to the news of a 'dubstep supergroup' coming out of Columbia records.

Magnetic Man consist of Skream, Benga and Artwork (no idea) and you'd probably expect them to make full on raving it up noise. Their first real attack on the mainstream however is instead a twinkly electronic pop song. It's probably total disgusting to their old school, hardcore fans, but as far as I go it's almost perfectly tailored.

I Need Air by pigeonsandplanes

The vocals (and presumably top-line) come from American singer-songwriter Angela Hunte who not only sounds delightfully robotic and cold here, but, FACT FANS, is the writer behind 'Empire State of Mind', 'Do Somethin'' and best of all, various Mis-Teeq album tracks.

'I Need Air' is out on July 26.

New from Xenomania - Florrie

It's no secret that I like a girl in a band. I like it even more if they're the only girl, and even, even, even more if they're the drummer. Although role of favourite girl drummer in the world falls to Cherisse Osei, there's a new challenger in the form of Florrie.

Florrie is a songwriter and part of JFK, the in-house band over at Xenomania towers. I saw her perform as the backing band to all the artists at the brilliant Xenofest showcase the production 'outfit' held over the summer but now she's just released her first piece of music via youtube. Complete with a trademark Xenomania style rap and the gorgeous swooshing club beats of a Fred Falke remix, it reveals her to be perhaps an unexpected new pop starlet for this year. That's if they don't insist she hands it over to Mini Viva to release instead.

Prepare to make this dreary Wednesday morning feel like Friday night.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtv7cvOr70E [/youtube]

p.s. what the hell has happened to Jessie Malakouti, please Xenomania?

Momma's Place

In my mind I've dramatically taken against Roisin Murphy for getting pregnant and having a baby. It just seemed like a weird thing to do at this time, but whatevs. Who cares when it's made her throw out this banging new track. Previous leak 'Orally Fixated' was a bit rubbish but this is a full out dancefloor stomp complete with eurorave piano and drums from 1992. It's so good probably because it's just a big massive tune, the lyrics might be fancy but sonically it's not trying to be cold and arty. It just likes going bang, bang, bang. BANG.

Listen on loop for an hour. Cry at being unable to scrobble it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHLC4sXm8VI[/youtube]

Hollywood Infected Your Brain

Earlier in the year I thought Marina & The Diamonds had somehow been left after the Sound of 2009 poll. Secretly everyone was gently taking their time to make sure the Sound of 2010 poll had her at the top or at very least the top 5. In the ever confusing world of buzz singles, limited release, digital only, the video for her FIRST SINGLE PROPER (i.e. the first single on a major label) seems to have just hit the web.

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VTcJfL7RE[/youtube]

Marina looks absolutely gorgeous but I'm hoping this isn't another case of 'loved by the critics (at first), written about to the point of boredom and then generally ignored by the public' a la Little Boots. The chorus of this is much poppier than anything else we've heard from Marina before and it includes these outstanding lines that will quite easily make Adrian explode:

'He said 'OH MY GOD, You look like Shakira
No, no you're Catherine Zeta
Actually my name's Marina'

It's like a 2010 answerback song to this that should be sent back in time ten (TEN!) years as a warning:

Britney Spears - Lucky
Uploaded by Annalise. - Videos of family and friends from around the world.

Annie - Don't Stop

Courtesy of Popjustice here's the new gorgeous sleeve for the finally going to come out 2nd Annie album.



If you like Annie, the greatest piece of advice I can give you is to never, ever see her live. No matter how tempting it might seem - it will ruin everything.

Live Review: Paloma Faith @ ICA, London

After years of playing hostess at trendy London parties, now is the time for Paloma Faith to have a blast at going global. Gigs like tonight's are normally designed by record labels as a big celebration for your artist's debut hit topping the charts, packed full of media and smug music executives. Yet despite the decadent 'Stone Cold Sober' limping in at a disappointing 17 (even Paloma herself shouts "must try harder"), this is a show launched with big white balloons and packed full of character, colour and fun.

Of course, in a post-Winehouse age with no shortage of glammed-up soul sweethearts around, Paloma was never going to have it easy. It's unfortunate that the likes of 'Broken Doll' - a vintage-tinged smoky jazz bar number - were knocking about maybe even before 'Back To Black' hit the shelves, but were held from release due to a series of label delays.

Live, Paloma is everything you might expect from a former magician's assistant, clad in a retro corset and a towering head-dress, in front of a giant rag doll version of herself. Bonkers pop stars are the best kind, and as she teeters in high heels on tiny white chairs, talking in a delicate porcelain doll voice and singing the somewhat lacklustre next single 'New York', it's plain that demented is exactly where she's at.

While album title track 'Do You Want The Truth or Something More Beautiful' is an epic, cinematic ballad, one too many torch songs almost lose tonight's crowd. Fortunately the wild and frantic 'When We're Dancing' saves the day and allows Paloma to show off her footwork.

Fun and loud, Paloma is the perfect pop star-in-waiting. We only hope she's given the time to become one.

Originally published at Orange Music

MPHO - Box & Locks

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDfLBY6PJrQ[/youtube]

MPHO first popped into the music world as the vocalist on 2003's Booty La La by Bugz In The Attic. Since then she's been operating round London town as MPHO Skeef, showing up as backing vocalists for various pop stars and has finally signed to a major label with her debut album due later this year.

'Box N Locks' is her first single and it's an immediate assertion that this is an album full of in your face party pop. With lyrics about the assumption that just cos she's a 'brown girl' she'll be 'making urban music', we can't help but shed a tiny tear for Remi Nicole (where is she?) Back to MPHO - the video manages to look very glossy and US friendly despite using just a few cheaply set up shots. I love, love the line about Leeds and of course the song is based around one of my all time favourite songs 'Echo Beach'. I'm actually more familiar with the Dimestars version which I got off Anfunny's site a few years ago and have banged out at Popstarz ever since. Now Box N Locks looks set to join it in my must play tunes and I can't wait to hear the rest of her album 'Pop Art'.

Download MPHO - Album Minimix
Download Dimestars - Echo Beach

Miss-Shapes Setlist 23/4/09

Pink - Please Don't Leave me
No Doubt - Stand and Deliver
Tilly & The Wall - Pot Kettle Black
Metric - Dead Disco
Veronicas - Untouchable
Royksopp - The Girl & The Robot
Annie - Anthonio

The Veronicas Hit The UK!

The Veronicas - New Music - More Music Videos

Over three years ago I wrote about a brilliant pop band called The Veronicas. I'd found them via an mp3 blog, was working in social media at the time, and loved the way they were being marketed.

Amazingly they are now being brought over to have a crack at UK success. Although the Max Martin penned 4eva from their debut album remains the standout song for me, it's their 2nd album 'Hook Me Up' that we'll be hearing. Originally released in their home of Australia in 2007 I wonder what it must be like for a band to constantly have to promote the same stuff over and over again in different terriorites over such a long period. I know we think the world of pop is all glamour and glitz, but we have to remember to the people involved it's probably like any other job. It has more than it's fair share of amazing-ness but there must be those hungover or dragging days that get anyone down.

Image issues are another part of fame, and I think something The Veronicas are facing. Where once they were pretty looking normal girls, they've now become so thin it's unattractive. You could see every bone and muscle in their knees when perching on stools and facially they looked worn and gaunt, plus they're playing about with a 'oooh we might be so sexy together' lesbian T.a.T.u-esque vibe despite being sisters. Yawn, we're so over that.

Muscially though, is what we're all about, and live they pulled off a great show. They've dropped the super poppy sound of 'The Secret Lives of...' and taken a darker, more studio electronic vibe surrounded by emo looking band members. 'Untouched' will be their first UK single. It's an urgent sounding, string laden teenage tale of yearning love that I think is brilliant. It's perfect to soundtrack an episode of Gossip Girl, but I doubt it'll work on super safe daytime radio music policies. Perhaps the similarly awesome but slightly more commercial Hook Me Up would do better. Equally their image is doubtful to impress fashion magazines or the like unless they were on a bit of a gothic vibe, with my friend from Marie Claire describing them on his twitter as 'appleton + shampoo + pinks song + rubbish tattoos = the veronicas'.

You can download a free, guilt free copy of Untouched here courtesy of Fuse Magazine.

Download The Veronicas - Untouched [MP3].

Most importantly if you only have time for one creepy pair of weirdo sisters in your life, ditch these and go check out the wonderful The Pierces. We're waiting for your new record!

Napoleon

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjQechwXd2w[/youtube]

Too often at the moment I'm hearing an amazing song, thinking 'ooh I'll blog about that' and then remembering when it's at #1. Unhelpful. The brilliantly named 'I Love My Baby (but if anyone touches her I'll kill them) is one such track. Not that it'll ever go to #1 mind.

Perfectly positioned to break the UK in a post-Alphabeat land this burst of twee bliss is blasting straight out of Sweden thanks to 11 piece band Napoleon. I first heard it on Radio 2's amazing Radcliffe & Maconie show a few weeks ago where it later went on to become their record of the week. It's slightly oddly mixed and nothing else on their myspace comes close but the horns, the chirpy female backing vocals and the whole Motown vibe is a winner. This single came out last week and an album will be out later in the year courtesy of Ruffa Lane Records.

DOUBLE PSB

I was out tonight so disappointingly didn't get to watch the Brit Awards live on TV. Instead I'm catching up via youtube and started at the end with the Pet Shop Boys outstanding achievement medley. Seriously - how amazing is this? I wish I'd been there, but was so overwhelmed just watching this, I'd have exploded into tears.

I was a little confused why they needed guest stars, but they did't detract at all. Gaga pulled off Dusty's bit perfectly and Brandon looked hilariously excited. Plus a shout out to my home town of Blackpool - I can't imagine how mental Little Boots went during that bit.

Double woops must also go out to Elbow & Girls Aloud for scooping their first Brits. As for Katy Perry? Shame on you Brits voters!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OAlTWrNN6o[/youtube]

Marina & The Diamonds

Landfill indie is dead (save those terrible Brit nominations) - 2009 is undoubtedly the year of the the leftfield pop girly and we're already overwhelmed with possibilities for the success stories of the year.

Marina & The Diamonds somehow avoided being mentioned in the BBC Sound of 2009 list earlier this year. She has, however, just joined the winner of that poll, Little Boots on Atlantic Records subsidiary, 679, and looks set to be releasing her first big single before the summer is out. First though, comes Obsession a strictly limited release on the uber cool Neon Gold label, out on Valentines' Day.

Despite the name, Marina is a solo artist, and to crudly compare her to someone else she sounds like Regina Spektor doing a dance of the seven veils with Kate Bush. Half Welsh, half Greek, I certainly think she's going to crap all over Florence & her similarly mythical Machine's expected party, never mind the concern it might cause Kate Nash's forthcoming 2nd album.

Normally Marina's banging on the piano, but her label have just sent out a gorgeously dreamy new remix of 'Obsessions' drenched in synths and creepy italo disco soaring which you can get for free right here

Download: Marina & The Diamonds - Obsessions (Pink Stallone Crush Remix) [Free MP3]

The Best Abba Song You've Probably Never Heard

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m97PbBNwi8Y[/youtube]

Abba's Tiger is a missing classic. I was introduced to it last year when I stayed at Benny from Abba's art deco Hotel Rival in Stockholm and the room included a copy of Arrival. Brilliant all the way through, it reaches a mad level of brilliance in the last 7 seconds

Pixie

Isn't Pixie Lott a brilliant pop star name? Coming out of Mercury Records in 2009, Pixie is a 17 year old singer songwriter who was plucked from stage school and sent to American to make amazing soulful pop with the likes of Darkchild and Babyface. Is this a formula for an instant diva?

Pixie's songs have an instant American hit quality to them, with the Ryan Tedder-eque 'Without You' a reminder of something like Jo-Jo's brilliant 'Leave Get Out'. The soulful 'Mama Do' sounds like it was originally destined for Mutya (are Mercury re-using a song perhaps?), 'Boys and Girls' is super cute and 'The Fall' showing off a less annoying version of Natasha Bedingfield. 

Interesting to keep an eye on, there are big bucks behind this project and you'll no doubt be hearing her all over the radio come summer. File next to Leona rather than Amy.

Listen to Pixie on her myspace (def. Mama Do!)

(props to Ben!)

Review: Sugababes - Catfights & Spotlights

Pop groups rarely make it to six albums, but Sugababes have managed just that.  Sometimes described as a brand rather than a band, their distinctiveness has faded through the years - culminating in the personality-free, but very successful 'Change'.

Uninteresting lead single 'Girls' aside, 'Catfights and Spotlights' could be the album to make us fall back in love with them. We wouldn't normally praise an album so ballad-heavy, but if there's one thing the these girls can do well, it's a killer ballad, the likes of 'Stronger' and 'Too Lost In You' still sending shivers up our spine. The Karen Poole penned  'Sunday Rain' is an epic tearstained tale with a nod to Sam Brown's 'Stop', while Klas Ahlund (who produced Robyn's album) introduces quirky sounds and swelling strings on 'Every Heart Broken'. Newest member Amelle has finally found her position within the band, her smoky voice adding a dangerous edge on the haunting 'Side Chick' and self-penned 'Beware'.

The tempo lifts only occasionally and even then it's somewhat forgettable. While 'Hanging on a Star' could be a Dana Dawson B-side, second single 'No Can Do' will certainly bounce its way into the heart of your favourite radio station.

The girls claim they've grown up and ditched pop. Not at all - they've just added some Motown horns and a twinkling of eighties funk. The result is an album that sounds the most like the Sugababes since 'Angels With Dirty Faces'. We're glad you're back.

Originally published at Orange Music

First Listen Review: Girls Aloud - Out Of Control

A new Girls Aloud album is a surefire way to put a smile on my face so I was super excited to receive their new album Out Of Control this week. I'll be reviewing it for the BBC later, but here's my first listen thoughts.

Overall you might be a bit disappointed if you're a fan of the 'Girl Overboard' and 'Biology' side of the girls. They've cut back on frantic-ness and replaced it with gorgeous, soaring electro pop that's just as good.

1. The Promise - It's so exciting that they're about to have their 4th #1 with this song. You've heard it though, although the album version has a longer intro and a repeat to fade ending.

2. The Loving Kind - This is a collaboration with Pet Shop Boys and the first of quite a few synth ballads. Being a GA & PSB collaboration it's kind of a disappointment as it should be amazing. It has an epic verse but then the chorus doesn't quite cut it. There's no great hook.

3. Rolling Back The Rivers - Starts with a really strong big vocal almost acapella. I have no idea who is who though when they sing. Then when the music kicks in it sounds a bit like 'Somethin' Stupid'. It's really smooth sounding and makes me roll my shoulders all about. Has a great 'a-wooooo' sound.

Review: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

Want to be the coolest kid on the block? Next time you get asked who you're loving, Ladyhawke is the answer. Wobbling on that titchy kerb between underground and mainstream that the likes of MIA hover, twenty something New Zealander Pip Brown is the latest cool female chick to release some amazing pop music that will unfairly sell about 700 copies.

Signed to ultra hip label Modular, Ladyhawke has taken the best bits of the 80s and re-imagined them for 2008 with the likes of Stevie Nicks and Cyndi Lauper all in the mix. There's a dance feel to most of the album with the Pascal Gabriel produced 'Magic' pounding it's way into your brain -  it's powerful chorus reminding us of Ladytron's criminally ignored 'Destroy Everything You Touch'. This and the similarly urgent sounding 'My Delirium' are stadium sized pieces of pop rock that make you want to hit the dancefloor and own it.

More intimately, the likes of former single 'Back of the Van' and the funky 'Paris Is Burning' show off Pip's knack for writing instantly memorable lyrics.  'Dusk Till Dawn' is like catching Peaches on a happy day, with it's pulsating beats and bells oozing unnerving East Berlin vibes, while 'Professional Suicide' mashes CSS style guitars and drums with a hypnotic vocal.

'Ladyhawke' is a rare case of the real thing living up to the hype. This shouldn't be an album just for bloggers to swoon over, it's good enough and mainstream enough to be huge.

Originally published at Orange Music