Supergrass Oxford’s Supergrass remain one of British music’s
most consistent, performers, popular exports and all-round
good old boys. Now on their sixth album, Supergrass’ most
recent line-up includes Gaz and Robert Coombes, Danny
Goffey and Mick Quinn.
The likes of Caught by the
Fuzz, Going Out, Alright, Richard III, Moving, Sun
Hits The Sky, Moving, Mary through to Diamond Hoo Ha
Man, Bad Blood and Rebel You, Supergrass have Ivor
Novello, Mercury, Brit and Q Music Awards scattered
upon their road less travelled. The band recorded their
sixth studio album, the aforementioned Diamond Hoo Ha,
between January and November 2007 in Berlin and New York – it
was released in March 2008. Since then, Supergrass have
been supporting The Foo Fighters on their US tour, returning
to Blighty, and The Last Days of Summer in July. It’s
great to have them back.
Athlete
Formed in Deptford, London as 14-year olds, comprising
Joel Pott (lead vocals and guitar), Carey Willetts (bass
and backing vocals), Stephen Roberts (drums and backing
vocals) and Tim Wanstall
(keyboards and backing vocals), the quartet have recently
recruited Jonny Pilcher of Weevil as a live guitarist.
The band’s first album, Vehicles and Animals,
which came to prominence in 2003, earned a Mercury Music
Prize nomination.
Their second album, Tourist, reached Number One in the
UK Album Charts in its first week,
following the huge success of single "Wires".
Their third album Beyond the Neighbourhood, released in
September ’07
entered at #5 on the UK album chart.
Richard
Ashcroft As well as
the voice of one of the world’s most
critically acclaimed bands of the last twenty years,
with songs that balance gritty urban realism and commentary
on the trials of the human condition, Wigan-born Richard
Ashcroft has few musical peers.
As lead singer
of The Verve, Ashcroft’s vocal
captured a decade of disaffection when, in 1997, the
band released Urban Hymns - the fifth fastest selling
British album of all time. As a solo artist, Ashcroft
has released three albums: Keys to the World, Human
Condition and Alone With Everybody. Standout singles
include A Song For Lovers, Break The Night With Colour
and Check The Meaning. Noel Gallagher wrote Oasis'
song Cast No Shadow about the man while Coldplay's
Chris Martin calls him ‘the
best singer in the world’.
The
Rascals
?The Rascals are Miles Kane (guitar), Joe Edwards (bass)
and Greg Mighall (drums). Hailing from The Wirral, on Merseyside,
these three 21 year olds, between 2003 and 2006, spent
three years learning their craft as part of The Little
Flames, touring with bands like The Coral, The Zutons and
most notably, Arctic Monkeys. It was during this time,
inspired by the Monkeys maverick DIY spirit and refusal to
compromise, the three youngest Flames decided it was time
to trust their hearts and their instincts and go it alone.
In September, 2006 they began jamming and writing new
material as a three piece and there was born The Rascals.
Impressed by the raw energy and virtuosity of Miles’ guitar
playing, Alex Turner, (Arctic Monkeys) approached him and
suggested that he play lead guitar on the Arctic Monkey’s
song ‘505’. Miles Kane has united with Turner
to create The Last Shadow Puppets though news of The Rascals
second album should reassure fans that they are here to
stay.
Fun
Lovin' Criminals
?Formed in ’93, and made up of frontman Huey, Fast
and drummer Frank Benbini, FLC combine funky guitar riffs,
punky rock tracks, trumpets, harmonicas, catchy bass lines,
jazz rhythms, inimitable story-telling raps and more, to
remain one of the most innovative, cool and witty musical
threesomes around. FLC’s first album Come Find Yourself
spawned the hit singles The Fun Lovin’ Criminal, King
of New York and the UK number 1, Scooby Snacks. After 100%
Colombian, pitched in with another three top forty singles,
FLC returned to front and centre as another Loco went top
five in the UK. Subsequent albums Welcome To Poppy’s
and Livin’ In
The City as well as an electric live set maintain FLC’s
special place in UK music hearts..
Black
Kids Black Kids hail from Jacksonville, Florida
and comprise of brother and sister Reggie and Ali Youngblood,
Dawn Watley, Owen Holmes and Kevin Snow.
After enjoying a wave
of interest via their MySpace last summer, they began
working with Quest Management (Bjork, Arcade Fire) in
September 2007 and signed to Almost Gold Recordings in
November. This deal coincided with the band offering
up their ‘Wizard
of Ahhhs’ EP as a free download via a dedicated
website –www.blackkidsmusic.com. This EP consisted
of the bands’ demo recordings of ‘Hit
The Heartbrakes’, ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach
Your Boyfriend How To Dance with You’, ‘Hurricane
Jane’ and ‘I’ve Underestimated My Charm
(Again)’. Black Kids’ debut album is currently
being recorded in London by Bernard Butler and is set for
release in early July.
Young
Knives
A muscular clatter of pulsing guitars, head-spinning percussive
thuds and harmonic, brotherly vocals provide the backbone
to a rich throng of giddy, excited ideas and ageless, wry
lyrical themes. Truly, Young Knives are a band for our times,
and all times.
Their new work
isn’t so much a world apart,
as an interplanetary galactic one apart – for
the elevating, neon blitz of ‘Terra Firma’,
or incendiary Revenge of the Nerds classic ‘Up
All Night’, there’s the maudlin, tribal
Silver Apples chill of ‘I Can Hardly See
Them’, or standout, Bond themetune massiveness
of ‘Turn Tail’ – complete with
16-piece orchestra (yes, even recorded in a church).
The latter is, perhaps, the first Young Knives
song that could make you cry.
Constantly evolving, consistently shifting, always
appealing, Young Knives’ comeback is the
most important and influential of our decade so
far, a band destined to redefine genres, better
lives, and – for the first time with this
album – touch its listeners. Lord knows where
we’ll all end up next.
Royworld
Royworld’s unconventional positivity, coupled
with their intensity and musicianship has made them one
of the most distinct and disarmingly unique bands in
a very long time. Their epic eccentricity in both sound
and production has created a bold and new indie rock.
A
band that draw on influences such as Roxy Music, Peter
Gabriel and Talking Heads - Royworld are already being
championed by the likes of Jo Whiley at Radio 1 and Dermot
O’Leary on Radio 2. Their live following is growing
rapidly, captivated by a sense of drama, and Rod Futrille’s
endearing awkwardness.
Introducing Royworld: Rod Futrille (singer), Rob Parkin (guitarist),
Tim Miles (keyboards) and Gerry Morgan (drums).
DJ
Gilles Peterson
?Radio One ‘Worldwide’ DJ Gilles Peterson
has consistently criss-crossed the planet, hopping
from continent to continent, to play dozens of mind expanding
club and festival sessions. Peterson’s
experiences as a DJ for Radio One, KISS FM, Jazz FM (from
which he was ‘sacked for playing peace jazz’),
Radio London and those classic pirate stations like Invicta
and K-Jazz, continues to fuel a serious passion for broadcasting.
Anyone who has sat in on a live’n’ direct
Worldwide broadcasts will testify that an alignment of
pent up energy,deep knowledge and commitment to new music
makes him capable of uniting totally unique diverse musical
forces to create a deeply soulful, positive and ever
expansive vibe.
DJ
Andy Smith
?RThe first DJ to release a multi-genre mix album on a major label when The
Document hit the streets back in 1998, Andy Smith’s music has became the
soundtrack for a generation who had heard Coldcut’s Journeys By DJs. Using
samples from Tom Jones, Peggy Lee, The Jungle Brothers and The Spencer Davis
Group, The Document sold in excess of 100,000 copies and spawned Document 2 and
Document 3 to critical and popular acclaim. Smith provided sample material for
Portishead on their first two albums and went on to become band’s international
tour DJ – using breaks and hip-hop scratch DJ-ing. Smith regularly appears
in clubs across the world including residencies at Cargo, Jazz Café, Madame
Jo Jos and Tamla Tuesdays, The Ri Ra (Dublin) and Dachstock (Bern).
