“Plath Heart” is the spectacular recent single from Canadian art-rockers BRAIDS, released on 8th May 2011. The group released their debut album Native Speaker back in January, and have recently completed some outstandingly accomplished live performances in the UK. Their breath-taking and beautiful work is a curious mixture of indie-pop and the avant-garde, with hints of Bjork, Animal Collective and Yeah Yeah Yeahs quirkiness. “Plath Heart” is subtle and sharp, with a quietly incandescent charm.
Jai Paul – “BTSTU”
Signed to XL records (the independent label that also houses Adele), Jai Paul is a notable new talent from the hipper end of the current UK hip-hop/dance cross-over trend. “BTSTU” has an interesting mix of dubstep’s dirty, grating synth timbres alongside soft, delicate falsetto vocals. Jai Paul’s music has a huge degree of edge, but his work is also clever and well-executed, with a very discerning approach to the whole sound and production of this track in particular.
Jai Paul - BTSTU (Edit) by Jai Paul
EMA – “Milkman”
EMA is the stage name of Erika M. Anderson, the Dakotan-born singer/songwriter who started her musical career in the cult drone-folk band Gowns. EMA has continued her work from these initial musical activities, creating her own jarring, mulchy, pugnacious sound; part noise rock, part ambient, it is both aggressive and contemplative. “Milkman” perfectly characterises her curiously amalgamated style, with grungy female vocals, oppressive guitar timbres and uncertain samples. Challenging, but in a good way.
EMA - Milkman by souterraintransmissions
James Blake – “Lindisfarne”
Wow, what can I say about James Blake that hasn’t already been said? He is certainly a fantastic new British talent, creating electronica composed in a layered, classical style, full of innovation. Blake has a knack of presenting arrestingly complex music ideas in a stripped down, minimalist fashion, like all good ambient musicians do. James Blake’s work is the perfect 101 in post-dubstep, and “Lindisfarne” is his fantastic new single.
James Blake - Lindisfarne by Alan Williamson
Patrick Wolf – “House”
Combining romantic folk with electronica, alternative pop and classical music, Patrick Wolf is the master of the innovative and the diverse. “House” is his most recent single from his fifth album Lupercalia, which examples well his current, slightly more pop based music. It still exhibits an interesting sound, not unlike some of Arcade Fire’s work, and has a wonderfully sweet and universal sentiment in the lyrics, based around the how peaceful and safe it feels to be in your home with the one(s) you love. It’s great that this stupendously talented artist is finally getting the commercial success he rightly deserves.
Patrick Wolf - House by alienhits
Bon Iver – “Calgary”
Bon Iver’s eponymous new album has had even better press than the acclaimed debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. “Calgary” is the first single of the new album, released on 20th June 2011, and is for the most part typical Bon Iver fare – sparse, quiet, and sombre, with a wash of sweeping, sedate soundscapes. Gentle, percussion and soft overdubbed vocals are again present, but “Calgary” does also enter new musical territory for Bon Iver. There is much less of a folk vibe in this track than previous work, and there is a slicker, heavier feel to the general production. There are new timbres introduced too, including oddly eerily brass pad sounds, which make this track ultimately darker and colder their previously released work.
Bon Iver - "Calgary" by blatanti
Love Inks – “Wave Goodbye”
Female fronted trio Love Inks hail from Austin, Texas, and create minimal, delicate and enchanting dream-pop. Simple, repetitive melodies are the group’s modus operandi, and the result is gently poppy and quietly appealing tracks such as “Wave Goodbye”. There are hints of Camera Obscura and Best Coast in this ditty, with its soft, textured vocals and calm melodies. It is a lovely lullaby of a track, about whisking yourself away to somewhere and anywhere.
Love Inks - Wave Goodbye by NME Radar
