Spark - Ones to Watch 2011 #10

This time last year Spark aka Jess Morgan was still at school. Just a few months later she was on tour with Marina & The Diamonds. By November she had released two low key buzz singles - Shut out the Moon through Pure Groove plus Revolving through Neon Gold and had played a handful of gigs to screaming Diana Vickers fans. Next year will see the release of further ‘proper’ singles and an album. Things are beginning to explode for Spark. They may even go ‘boom,’ as her own catchphrase says.

Spark is no stranger to Breaking More Waves, and we’ve had a slightly turbulent relationship with her so far. Having suggested back in June (here) that as her career blossomed she would have to get used to the idea of media critics, we then did just that and reviewed one of her London shows, suggesting that the gig didn’t grab us by the balls fully (here). It was probably some of the first online criticism she had received.

Yet the reality is that very few artists are 100% fully formed when they start their careers. Sometimes it takes time. Unfortunately today’s fast turn-over pop culture often doesn’t give artists more than an album or so to develop.

But Spark has a chance. She’s her own person, strongly denying that she’s not a fully packaged production line pop artist that some have tried to pigeon hole her as – partly because she went to BRIT school. “BRIT is not what people think. It’s not a fame school. It’s not training. It’s just schooling,” she explained in an interview with Pop Culture Monster a while back.

Being aware of potential criticism for being plucked from BRIT and thrown straight into touring and promoting with a label and manager on board so quickly she wrote a now infamous blog last year explaining the way she believed things to be and the fact that she wasn’t manufactured. "If people think I've been manipulated or changed or altered or constructed or any of that, ahem, bullshit, then they mustn't have really known me in the first place,” she wrote passionately.

“I’m very, very fortunate to have a manager that is incredible and works her arse off. And everything goes through me and we work on everything together and we get everything done together and it’s a very equal and fair relationship and it works perfectly. I wouldn’t change it for anything, I’m so happy with her. But then I also have a label that has been completely supportive and took me on with all my songs – I’d written everything before I was signed,” the interview continued.

It’s those songs that she has written give the strongest suggestion that Spark is likely to be successful. There’s diversity to her tunes to show she’s not a one trick pop-pony and she possesses enough hooks and theatrics to appeal to a wide (possibly young female) audience.

Spark is our last One to Watch for 2011. Let's see how all 10 do next year.

Wrap by Spark (sparkthemusic)

Revolving (Ramadanman Refix) by Spark (sparkthemusic)

Revolving (Monsieur Adi Remix) by Spark (sparkthemusic)

Visions of Trees - Ones to Watch 2011 #9

How would you define ‘sexy’? Because as far as we’re concerned, the music that London based boy-girl duo Visions of Trees make is very sexy. Our penultimate choice in our Ones to Watch list create ambient soundscapes of woozy synths, mix and match beats and strong ethereal female vocals that dissolve into the brain like soothing Ibuprofen, taking away any pain and leaving just a calm beauty that will make you want to slowly sway-dance in the mists, or possibly make love in a forest. As we said, they are very sexy.

2010 has seen Visions of Trees receive significant blog coverage with a number of low key releases, festival slots, gigs and remixes including their brilliant reworking of See Spaces for Teeth (below). In 2011 their profile is likely to grow further. The first instalment of this will be the release of Sometimes It Kills / No Flag through Moshi Moshi in February with more to follow after that.

Vision of Trees consists of Joni Juden and Sara Atalar. The name is a reference to Joni’s childhood, spent living amongst trees and wild animals. He’s been quoted as loving the rawness and purity of nature, dreaming about running away and living in the woods.

Visions of Trees may not be the most obviously commercial band of our Ones to Watch 2011 but their seductive sound is probably going to do its best to coax you into some erotic musical fee-loving.

SEE SPACES (VISIONS OF TREES RMX) by TEETH

Sometimes It Kills by Visions of Trees

D/R/U/G/S - Ones to Watch 2011 #8

One question we often get asked by our less aware music loving friends and associates is “where do you discover all your new music from?” The answer is not so simple, because there simply isn’t one source. Yes, of course the internet has made things easier to access – from tracks we receive directly from bands, PR companies and record labels to reading other on line music publications and blogs. Yet still the best and most satisfying method of musical discovery is in the live environment. It’s the reason why we always turn up early at gigs to catch the support acts, travel significant distances to watch bands play half hour sets in grotty half full pubs on a rainy Monday night and will often journey to the smaller stages at festivals to watch the bands that we haven’t seen before. Sometimes this dedication brings rewards, such as the time we caught a virtually unknown band called Radiohead playing bottom of the bill in a small arts centre in Reading or more recently, Adele playing a 90 capacity upstairs room in a pub in Brighton.

It was this manner of discovery that we first came across our eighth One to Watch for 2011. D/R/U/G/S may not score many points for their name, but to use the well-worn cliché it’s the music that counts – a hallucinogenic flow of agile loops, beats and samples that hark back to the halcyon days of Orbital and the more modern thug beats and drone dance of Fuck Buttons. Rather like these other duo’s shows there may not be a guitar in site and most of their time is spent hunched over their gadgetry, heads bobbing, but they are quite stunning live – their semi-improvised radar pulse being spacey and hypnotically brilliant. D/R/U/G/S are two long term friends named Cal and George. In the past both have kicked around in other bands, but it was only when nine months ago that they started creating their new sample-sumptuous sound that they began to believe that they were creating something of artistic worth.

D/R/U/G/S sound is unlikely to infiltrate the mainstream, but give them a late night slot in a big top filled with dry ice and strobes at a summer festival in 2011 and D/R/U/G/S could take their audience to a better place.

D/R/U/G/S - love/lust (Antwerp Rmx) by antwerpmusic

The Milk - Ones to Watch 2011 #7

Chelmsford may not have a particularly rich musical heritage, its biggest claim is hosting the overtly corporate festival monster that is V Festival, but residents The Milk are a band who put a bit of swagger into its heart.

The Milk do a superb take of 60s r'n'b and soul, a sound that refuses to go away and still proves incredibly commercial – with everyone from Plan B to Cee Lo Green taking reference points and delivering sales with it.

The band consist of Ricky Nunn (guitar, lead vocals), Mitch Ayling (drums, backing vocals), Luke Ayling (bass), Dan Le Gresley (guitar, vocals) and whilst it would be easy to accuse them of being simply northern soul revivalists, The Milk are very much of the here and now. They’ve been working with hip-hop/electronic DJ-remixer Brad Baloo from the Nextmen to give them a contemporary edge and from what we’ve heard their live gigs feature snatches of hip-hop breaks in between the songs to make the whole show flow in a constant.

As we identified back in September, our favourite song so far is Chip the Kids a brisk disco influenced groove that bounds with brassy gusto and tantalising secular rhythms. It’s impossible not to dance to and has the most authentic young soul rebel sound we’ve heard since Dexy’s Midnight Runners – and that’s quite a compliment. We understand that the band are currently beavering away to produce an album which should drop in 2011 and have dates lined up at South by South West in Texas as well as the Snowbombing Festival in Austria.

Bringing modern soul to the UK, The Milk could be the cats that get the cream. Their licks are full of goodness.

The Milk - Chip The Kids (demo) by partisanpr

Let's Buy Happiness - Ones to Watch 2011 #6

Today we disclose our sixth One to Watch for 2011. It's Newcastle’s Let’s Buy Happiness. They are another band that we’ve featured a significant number of times on the blog since February. With two releases to date – the No Hot Ashes EP and the Six Wolves single – both of which were self-released, it’s still very early days for the group, but their otherworldly guitar sound shows such promise that leaving them off the list was unthinkable. With songs that cover subject matter ranging from having a crush on Casper the Friendly Ghost (Devil Show) to pins and needles (Dead Legs) their layered music interlaces and weaves together to create a beautiful soft mesh of sound - it's a shimmering blanket for lead singer Sarah Hall’s wonderful girlish and angelic vocal to wrap itself in, with its distinct similarity to Harriet Wheeler of early 90’s band The Sundays.

Let’s Buy Happiness are a band that are breaking forth in an organic way, with a slow and gradual discovery of their songs by their audience through word of mouth, live shows, low-key radio play or blogs such as this – there's no hype, just a natural discovery. The growth also applies to their gigs - of the three shows we’ve seen them play, each has been better than the previous. As the band continue to develop there’s every chance that they may produce an album that will be both exquisite and enduring.

As well as playing the John Peel tent at this years Glastonbury plus Great Escape, Evolution, In The City and Southsea Fest, Let's Buy Happiness have garnered important support from BBC 6 Music - Six Wolves being made single of the week on the stations breakfast show - and Drowned In Sound website. That support is likely to flourish further next year.

Back in February 2010 we suggested that Let’s Buy Happiness were about to make you fall in love - that statement holds very true now - their sweet indie kiss is about to seduce you in 2011.

Let's Buy Happiness - Works Better on Paper by letsbuyhappiness

Let's Buy Happiness - Devil Show by letsbuyhappiness

Starsmith - Ones to Watch 2011 #5

Rather like our #2 choice in our Ones to Watch list – James Blake – Starsmith is another producer turned artist in his own right who is probably best known for bringing the slick electronic wizardry to Ellie Goulding’s debut album. We’ve already given coverage to his Ritchie Family sampling debut single Give Me A Break (here) released via Neon Gold and his mellow piano and synth instrumental We Leave Tonight (here), both of which have shown different sides to that of much of his remix and production work. Yet it won’t be until 2011 when Starsmith releases his own album that he will find his own true voice – in terms of both a concept and a reality – as he has already hinted that many of the songs on the album won’t be sample based, but instead feature his own singing as well as a number of guests – rumours suggest that Ellie Goulding, Stine Bramsen from Alphabeat and Imogen Heap are all involved.

If Starsmith can take his production abilities – knowing exactly how much bass to drop at one particular moment, when to raise the synths to a higher level at another – and add songwriting skills, then he could very quickly become one of the UK’s premier pop exports on his own terms and no longer just be the backroom boy.

Knuckleduster by Starsmith

The Vaccines - Ones to Watch 2011 #4

Hype. The marketing or promotion of a product using intensive or exaggerated publicity. It’s a common word in the world of new music and is often used in the context of a band or act being over-hyped - suggesting a deception of the public, attempting to con them into thinking something is good when actually it isn’t.

The word hype has been surrounding The Vaccines considerably the last few months in the UK at least – for here is a band that had half of indie-London clamouring to get into their rammed gig at The Flowerpot in Camden back in October and appeared on Later With Jools Holland before they had released a single. The Vaccines have created a mini media storm – but the band themselves see it a different way having told Drowned In Sound “The band don't create media interest - the media do, then funnily enough the media then complain about all the media interest!” There’s probably some truth in what The Vaccines say, but the media interest wouldn’t be there unless there was something to interest them. Hype chicken or hype egg ?

So why the hype? Why The Vaccines? There’s probably a combination of factors at play here. There’s a vacancy for some new guitar heroes in both the eyes of the UK media and the industry – a space left since landfill indie started decomposing and The Vaccines offer the possibility of filling the void. Also the last few months represent the time of year when the industry traditionally starts pushing out new acts as part of campaigns to get BBC Sound of 2011 / Brit Critics choice awards in January, before the treadmill of small venue tour (or in The Vaccines case NME tour) / album release / festivals / larger tour dates) begins and The Vaccines uprising fits neatly with this calendar. Furthermore with a big record label - Columbia – involved, a degree of heavy promotion is inevitable. But most importantly, although the number of pounding Strokes versus Ramones like stomps that the band currently have in their arsenal are small, some of them are pretty decent. And this is the fundamental point - unless there's something there, something of merit, something to get the heart racing, the hype (in the context of being something worth checking out) wouldn't happen.Whilst riding the see-saw in excitement, the danger with hype is that the wave builds in a scrum like frenzy, and at some point reaches the shore of over expectation until it breaks. The Vaccines are going to have to be skilled wave riders - they seem to be going about it the right way at the moment - not losing their heads and concentrating on playing gigs. They're a decent enough live band - not yet brilliant by any means, but significantly better than your average new indie rock group. Their sound is direct, raw, familiar and immediate - straight-up rock 'n' roll thrills are what The Vaccines cure is.

Only time will tell if their sound translates creatively or commercially – but because of the music and because of the hype - they're our fourth one to watch. Only the daftly complacent would begin predicting where they'll be in a years time. Let the public decide....

Blow It Up by The Vaccines

Misty Miller - Ones to Watch 2011 #3

With an appearance in Vogue, a session with Radio 1’s Rob da Bank and a low key slot on the bandstand at Bestival 2010, 16 year old London-born ukulele genius and singer songwriter Misty Miller is doing all the right things to get noticed; but this would all be for nothing if she didn’t have good songs to back her up. Thankfully she does. For Misty performs the sweetest of folk songs coated with a melodic pop edge that have a hint of the early Kate Nash demo recordings such as Birds before she got all pop then angry. Misty started writing songs when she was only 8 or 9, and after receiving the ukulele as a gift from her father has proceeded to develop her sound using this instrument. Her debut EP Remember was released late September in 2010, and her next single is due in the new year.

There’s something very old fashioned about the structures of Misty Miller’s songs – Evergreen Love could quite easily have been performed by Elvis Presley and she cites influences including Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and rockabilly music – not quite what you’re average 16 year old X Factor obsessed teenage girl is listening to. The words of her songs are however filled with the aspirations and feelings of a typical girl of her age, but are delivered with a maturity and poignancy that shows her to be a significant talent. With an album already recorded in between revision breaks for exams at school, Misty Miller is hardly likely to be competing with the One Directions and Justin Biebers of this world – and she’s all the better for it.

James Blake - Ones to Watch 2011 #2

Whilst the dubstep genre has been bubbling and squelching along nicely for a number of years now it has yet to find a true champion to take its sound into the mainstream. Producer, remixer and musician James Blake may be just the man to do that, yet without compromising in any shape or form. Even before he’s released an album people are mumbling “Mercury prize nomination 2011,” and it’s easy to understand why. He’s come from a place in the leftfield and is slowly transferring this to a more accessible platter. We wonder how long it is before Blake is referred to as “coffee table dubstep,” in a similar way to Portishead were in respect of trip-hop and their Mercury win back in 1995.

What makes Blake stand out from typical dubstep artists is the soulfulness to the music he creates, with warm vocals and a sense of space permeating throughout the music. Despite coming from a scene, Blake’s sound is fresh and exciting. A fitting description would be evocatively minimalistic, emotional and stunningly beautiful. His cover version of Feist’s Limit to Your Love is constructed from nothing more from simple piano, sub-bass and pattering beats and is gorgeously breath taking.

With an album to follow in 2011 there was never any question of James Blake not featuring on our Ones To Watch 2011 list. Check out his music below as well as his remix of Mount Kimbie, a duo he has citied as an inspiration.

HEK 004 B James Blake - Sparing the Horses by Hemlockrecordings

HFRMX006-01-Maybes-James Blake Remix by mountkimbie

James Blake - Limit To Your Love by UniversalMusicPublishing

Clare Maguire - Ones to Watch 2011 #1

Our first artist on our Ones to Watch 2011 list will come as no surprise to regular readers of Breaking More Waves, as we’ve given Clare Maguire regular coverage since January 2009 (here). We’ve even had to bend the rules a little to get her on this list having originally selected her at number 6 on last year's list. That was in hindsight a little too early; with her debut single Ain’t Nobody finally seeing the light of day in October of this year. A single low key festival slot at Latitude 2010 (reviewed here) has been followed by well received support slots with Hurts (reviewed here) and Plan B, as well as her own debut headlining show in London in November. Next year Clare already has gigs lined up supporting Hurts again and a gig in London’s Bush Hall as part of the ‘New to Q’ sessions. Then finally an album - Light After Dark will be released in the early part of the year. We have high hopes for it being in our end of year best of list for 2011.

Maguire has been signed to a major label (Polydor) and there is already significant work being done to get her music heard. You've probably already read the stories about her drinking with Jay-Z a hundred times or more, and as cool as that is, it has more to do with celebrity culture than the music, so we'll go no further with that tale here. We're not OK magazine. Read about it here if you must, as that publication seems interested in that kind of journalism. These days though, such stories are required to get your name out there - Google ' Jay-Z and Clare Maguire' and you will see the number of sites that have repeated the story. It's our guess that in interviews Clare will run out of fingers and toes to count the number of times she's asked about going drinking with Jay-Z.

The major label deal and possible mainstream potential that Maguire possesses could lead to certain sectors delivering the inevitable backlash at some point, rather like in 2010 there was a critical backlash against Ellie Goulding (for being too 'pop' in the critics eyes - we disagree) and Hurts (for being too 'pretentious' /' pop' and not delivering on initial promise - we however are really pleased with the way Hurts turned out - but you can't please everyone - ever ) before they both found their true audience. Those who became familiar with Maguire through the dark, spacious and thrilling Breakage remix of Ain’t Nobody may be disappointed to discover that this is not what Maguire’s material sounds like – and should she crop up on the BBC Sound of 2011 list, of which we suspect there is a reasonably strong possibility, further critics will probably wade in with the “what do the tastemakers know,” negativity that occurs but is quickly forgotten every year.

But let’s forget the marketing, forget the critics and focus solely on the music. From the material we’ve heard and the live performances we've witnessed we can confirm that we are 100% in love with Clare Maguire. No make that 200%. Her big epic songs have received comparisons to Florence and the Machine and whilst this is not fully accurate, we can understand them. Maguire has mammoth emotive songs such as Last Dance, I Surrender and Shield and Sword that are delivered with an incredible voice that is huge thunderous and gutsily powerful – fully designed to grab hold of you and smother you firmly. When she performs you can see this emotion in her face, as she forces out every note as if it means everything to her.

Clare Maguire is undoubtedly our number 1 choice in our Ones to Watch list for 2011 – and we really hope the public agree. One to Watch 100, 200, 1000%.



Strangest Thing by claremaguire

Ones to Watch 2011

Welcome to December, the time of year when the music industry seems to do very little than pump out Greatest Hits albums and guzzle itself silly on cheap champagne. It’s also the time where everyone goes list crazy. Best of 2010’s will be all over the place, and by New Year’s Eve you probably will want to drink yourself into oblivion just to get away from them.

We make no apologies though, for we like lists and for the next twenty days we present our Ones to Watch for 2011 followed by our own personal Top Ten Albums of 2010, just like we did last year. ( Although obviously last year it was Ones to Watch for 2010 and Top Ten Albums of 2009 - just to stop those who like to get picky.)

So let’s start with our Ones to Watch for 2011 and explain the rules of engagement. The criteria for our Ones To Watch list is of new bands and artists that we believe possess the ability to do something that is worthy of attention. In some cases this may mean having commercial success, for others it may be a critically acclaimed album, some fantastic live shows or creating something a little unusual or ground breaking. It may even be that we are just fascinated with the media buzz about the band and want to see if the artist will rise to justify the hype or drift into a backwater. It’s not just a ‘next big thing’ list, but simply as the title says, a list of artists that we will be watching carefully during 2011. If you are a regular reader of this blog or are part of the music blogging community many of the artists on this list will already be very familiar to you, although there may be the odd undiscovered gem as well.

Last year we published five criteria that defined our Ones to Watch list for 2010. Amongst those criteria were that the artist couldn’t have appeared on any previous Ones To Watch list (thus excluding Marina & The Diamonds who we put on our 2009 list), couldn’t have released an album or mini album (which excluded The Drums following their previous release of a 7 track EP) or have appeared previously as a member of a successful band but was now solo (excluding Rose Elinor Dougall last year). This year we’re relaxing those rules and the only criteria for appearing on the list is that in the eyes of the general public the artist must be new, not be a reality TV or soap star and have not yet had a Top 40 hit single in the UK. However we are also adding one important rule – the artist must be a UK artist – after all Breaking More Waves is very much a UK based music blog.

So for the next 10 days, starting later today, please enjoy our Ones to Watch for 2011. Let us know what you think of our selections. In the meantime here's the artist that was number 1 on last years list - Ellie Goulding - covering Black and Gold by Sam Sparro with a certain Starsmith on production duties, from a while back. Keep an eye out for him in the next few days as well.

Black And Gold feat. Ellie Goulding by Starsmith