What were you doing exactly three years ago today?
One of the advantages of writing a music blog is that we have a chronological record via the blog to help us remember.It means we can peer into the abyss of the internet and see what we and some of our blogging peer group were listening to back in the day.
Three years on exactly and we’re posting a new single by Unicorn Kid. If nothing else, you can say that we’re consistent. There’s often an argument that music blogs are too driven by buzz, to desperate to find the next big thing. For us, although we like to be at the forefront of delivering emerging artists to your viewing platform of choice, it’s just as important to continue to remind you of the artists that we adore. Hence once gain we have some Unicorn Kid for you.
Need U, which isn’t released till 1 October, has a massive hands in the air old-school rave flavour to it and a mad 180-degree camera rotation arcade game style video. Some people think he’s bonkers, but we just think he’s free, he’s just living his life, there’s nothing that crazy about him. Get a bunch of friends together, put Need U on as the sun is setting and all go stupid loved up crazy to this.
Unicorn Kid's debut album will be released later this year. R U Ready ?
We’re not sure when the Grimes backlash is going to begin (isn’t that the way these things work?) but on the evidence of this, it isn’t going to happen yet. Because here’s the deal; Unicorn Kid has grabbed Blood Diamonds ( aka Los Angeles-based artist Michael Diamond ) collaboration with quite possibly the lady of 2012 (she’s tussling with Lana Del Rey for that spot) and pumped it up to a truly colossal scale. You’re left not just dancing on the ceiling but dancing in the clouds with angels.
This is what the dictionary of dance music chapter 3.7 defines as a proper banger, albeit a banger with ethereal baby girl vocals on it. Truly amazing.
The Phone Sex EP is available to purchase now with this remix, a Jensen Sportag remix and another track called Ritual as well as the original of Phone Sex.
Blood Diamonds ft Grimes - Phone Sex (Unicorn Kid Remix)
Whilst we’re standing here with arms folded, looking anxiously down at our watch and asking ‘when exactly is that Unicorn Kid (pictured) album going to arrive,’ (answer – October possibly) we’ll make do with this. Make do makes it sound like second best, but really this isn’t. This remix of The Very Best’sKondaine is all rave-space synths and uplifting steel drum sounds that make the song sound like the lost track from the soundtrack to Danny Boyle’s film The Beach. This is parallel universe music and it’s a good place to exist for a while.
The Very Best - Kondaine ( Unicorn Kid's Space Drift Mix)
Unicorn Kid has been around for quite some time now, we first featured him on Breaking More Waves back in August 2009 when he was making music at the age of about 3 or something. Now he’s out of the pushchair and running amok. See him above proving that he has finally learnt to count to 2.
Last year Unicorn Kid was responsible for the really quite brilliant Tidal Rave EP which featured the glistening-shouty-rave-mental True Love Fantasy. Now he’s back with Pure Space (renamed from the original title Dolphin Dance), which unless we’re very much mistaken sounds incredibly similar to Boys of Paradise from the previous EP – it’s certainly got that same The Clangers* go raving sound to it. It was originally available for free download, but for reasons unknown his publishers put an end to that after a couple of days - seems to be a bit of a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted to us**, or as Unicorn Kid himself tweeted "some ppl just don't get it." Come on record industry - if an artist wants to give his music away for free, it should be their right to do so.
Unicorn Kid is currently out on tour with Major Lazer and an album is promised this summer.
*Kids TV show from days past when probably even Unicorn Kid’s parents hadn’t even been born.
**Although apparently the track is still available to download for free from Pitchfork at the moment - we don't know but we wonder if it's another of those self-serving 'exclusives' that commercial sites use which have nothing to do with music and is all about generating traffic? Here's the link if the download is still there.
No bull, this is amazing. Like doing naked keep fit outside in the middle of winter, True Love Fantasy is the ultimate hands-in-the-air-bounce-like-your-life-depends-on-it-gymnastics-anthem. What couldn’t you love about steel drum sounds, an old school rave air horn, shouty bits like her out of the Go Team and electronic laptop wizardry that takes you to paradise? Imagine it’s the end of the decade, there’s a huge explosion and all the buildings just take off like their balloons. This is the backing track to that spectacle.
Whether it’s punching from your iPod into your personal space or blasting out of huge speakers at a festival (we’ve tried both) True Love Fantasy just works. Unicorn Kid kept us waiting, leaving the best track on the EP till last, but as we’ve said before the most important ingredient in music is time. In fact Unicorn Kid has had enough time to change his hair colour for each promo picture for each track of the EP. You can download True Love Fantasy for free by clicking on the arrow below. It would be utterly ridiculous if you didn’t. Whilst you’re at it grab the other tracks from the EP here and here as well.
Last month we gave you all the first instalment of the new Unicorn Kid three track freely downloadable single. Now here’s part 2. There are 5 important facts you need to know about part 2.
One. It’s called Boys of Paradise. This is pretty important, for every song should have a title. Otherwise life could become very complicated. Imagine if you were a band like The Cure and had recorded over 300 songs and they were all untitled. Devising a concert set list could be pretty confusing. Actually The Cure do have a song called Untitled, but thankfully it’s only one.
Two. Unicorn Kid now has blue hair. Blue rinses were something that were commonly sported by grannies in the 70’s, but Unicorn Kid’s bringing it back proper old school and with a degree of boldness.
Three. This track is fun and will probably have men and women over the age of 30 who have forgotten how to have fun shaking their heads in despair. In fact Unicorn Kid recently tweeted that “Ppl over 30 don't get me.” We were a little sad at this and tweeted back “We do.” Thankfully, Unicorn Kid being a polite and well brought up young man tweeted back to Breaking More Waves, Rob da Bank, Popjustice and a couple of other music types “Except you guys duhhhhhh.” We find ourselves in fine over 30's company we'll sure you'll agree.
Four. Whilst Boys of Paradise is good, the best is yet to come and will be released next month. We’ve said this before, but important things need saying more than once. In fact so good is part 3 that we played it at our short high energy set to a couple of thousand people in the Big Top at Bestival just over a week ago. You can’t hear it in this clip, but if you fancy a look you can see just a few seconds of that DJ set from the empty tent at the start to close of play half an hour later. We're happy to take bookings for future festivals, weddings, birthdays and funerals of fans of bonkers high energy electronica - just get in touch.
Five. Press the little down arrow on the Soundcloud player to download for free. And watch out for an army of old blue rinse grannies raving outside your house as you play it, thus proving that over thirties get it once and for all.
Unicorn Kid. Remember him? That teenage mentalist who injected raw buoyant electricity into dancing feet? The guy that in 2009 we introduced as a 5 minute energy jolt that probably wouldn’t last long, then by December of the same year were naming as One to Watch for 2010? Yes him – the wonder kid that banged out the bleeping pornographically dirty Dream Catcher, a track that we described as ‘the sound of Britain in 2010.’ Remember him?
Well he’s back, releasing his first material of 2011 prior to (finally) releasing an album in 2012. Tidal Rave is the name of the EP and it quite simply couldn’t be more appropriately named; for this is an EP of tsunami like proportions that gets better as each track breaks. You’ll be able to hear each tune from the EP at Breaking More Waves in full over the next three months as Unicorn Kid reveals each of its components, finishing with the hands-in-the-air colossus that is True Love Fantasy in October, which sounds like Nicola Roberts Beat Of My Drum gone raving and has already become one of our saluted tracks of 2011 – possibly even more so that Nicola’s brilliant pop-genius-chart-flop.
True Love Fantasy has received the accolade of being Hottest Record In The World on Zane Lowe’s show on BBC Radio 1 and if you’re coming to Bestival, get your skates on down to the Big Top as soon as the gates open on Thursday afternoon to see the DJ crew that Breaking More Waves leads – The Sunday Best Forum Allstars – put True Love Fantasy through its paces through a massive soundsystem. There is no better way to feel the romance.
Before all that we have the first track from the EP which you can grab totally gratis below, it's called Chrome Lion, and takes the Unicorn Kid chiptune sound to planet rave-pop where all the aliens are dancing like loons with massive smiley faces whilst the DJ blasts out the audio equivalent of pink lasers from a podium on a neon spaceship. Beam us up please - we want some of this.
“No one cares about your 'best of 2010' list,” Josh Weller recently tweeted. He may be correct, but that won’t stop hundreds of the things appearing throughout December and Breaking More Waves isn’t going to be any different. We’ll be running down our top ten albums of 2010 from the middle of December – but before that, at the start of the month we’re looking forward and posting our annual 10 Ones to Watch for 2011.
Prior to looking forward, here’s a recap of our 2010 selections from last year.
Ellie Goulding
We said
“With her quivering girlish vocal, an acoustic guitar, neat lyrical phrasing and stuttering laptop electro beats, Goulding could deliver commercially.”
What happened?
Goulding delivered commercially. A number one album in the UK, two top five hits and two further songs that went top thirty, sold out tours - it’s been a highly successful year for Ellie Goulding.
“….threaten to bring an ostentatious, stern, eastern European look back into fashion for bands.”
What happened?
It was Europe that really warmed to Hurts, with the band enjoying charts success in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Sweden and Finland and even an appearance on German X Factor. In the UK the band took a little longer to find their true audience, but by the time their album Happiness was released it achieved a very respectable chart placing of number four with mixed critical reaction (8/10 in the NME, 2/5 in the Guardian, 5/10 in Drowned In Sound, 3/5 in the Independent and most tellingly 9/10 by Popmatters), they also played one of our favourite gigs of the year way back in February at Wiltons Music Hall in London (here). By the end of the year they were playing sold out gigs, supporting the Scissor Sisters on their UK tour and next year are playing a tour of larger concert halls.
Beth Jeans Houghton
We said
“Quite where Beth Jeans Houghton will fit in 2010 we’re not exactly sure, but she has the voice and the songs to ensure that she can carve out her own space”
What happened?
Houghton toured with another of our Ones to Watch – Stornoway and played a string of UK festival dates. However she didn’t release any material. With her Ben Hillier (Blur, The Maccabees, Elbow) produced album now in the bag ready for release next year, Houghton can continue to carve her space in 2011.
Unicorn Kid
We said
“To the uneducated ears of an over twenty five year old or a solemn indie rock purist, the sounds of Unicorn Kid will just be considered bad music, but for his growing army of fans his electronic urgency is simply something that makes you happy.”
What happened?
In April Unicorn Kid released Dream Catcher a stunningly dirty, glitchy and energetic piece of work that became one of our favourite tracks of the year then followed it up in October with another track – Wild Life. An album is due in 2011 – it’s likely to make his growing army of hyperactive fans very happy indeed.
“It is for this reason we have selected them for our ones to watch list. Not because of musical uniqueness or commercial crossover, but because we can imagine Delphic creating a perfect indie dance summer vibe in fields across the UK.”
What happened?
Delphic didn’t achieve massive commercial success – their album charted at number 8 in the UK, but then quickly disappeared. However as we predicted their moment really came in the summer – their storming set at Bestival hit all the right spots (see our review here).
If a 2010 release from Clare Maguire arrives and it comes anywhere near the quality of those demos, we predict she could win a lot of fans.
What happened?
It took a while but finally in October Maguire released her thunderous debut single Ain’t Nobody, that found extra love through the heavily spacious Breakage Remix. Having played Latitude this summer and supported Hurts and Plan B on tour this autumn, Clare Maguire will release an album in 2011.
When Stornoway appeared on our ones to watch list they were still unsigned. After significant label interest they inked a deal with 4AD allowing them to open their suitcase and share their wonderful songs, releasing their debut album Beachcomber’s Windowsill. The album surprised many (but not us) by sneaking into the UK top 20 album chart. They ended the year selling out the 2,000 capacity Shepherds Bush Empire in London, a far cry from when we first saw them perform to a small crowd at the Wychwood Festival in 2009. On a more personal note, Zorbing and I Saw You Blink are two of our favourite songs this year.
Mirrors
We said
"The dense ambient pulse-pop of the Mirrors reflects the sounds of early OMD"
What happened?
Having signed a deal with their hometown label of Skint, Mirrors released the singles Ways to an End and Hide and Seek and played a number of gigs including support slots with OMD themselves on their 2010 European tour. The band will release an album next year and in the meantime have packaged up their early singles into a mini album which is available to purchase directly from Skints website.
“Her dreamily atmospheric guitar based songs are certainly not the kind of tunes that are going to infiltrate the pop charts, but provide for a smouldering and sleepy listening experience.”
What happened?
Miranda’s David Sitek produced album The Magician’s Private Library was seductively warm and as sleepy as a pillow and duvet set with titles such as Sweet Dreams, Every time I Go To Sleep and Sleep On Fire combined with even more shut eye lyrical content such as “Dreamt of you again last night,” from the slow burning trumpet laden Joints and “Wake up and you’re next to nothing,” from Slow Burn Treason.
Clock Opera
We said
"We love Clock Opera more than our own children."
What happened?
Clock Opera released a number of low key singles during the year including the transcendent Once and for All, toured with Marina & The Diamonds and hope to release an album in 2011. They remain one to watch.
Breaking More Waves favourite hyperactive wonder boy, the superhero of the Atari-chiptune-casiomental revolution is back. It’s time to get acquainted with Unicorn Kid again. Whereas previous release Dream Catcher took the Unicorn Kid sound to uncharted territories of immense proportions Wild Life is more similar to his earlier work - that is to say it's a fried up energy bomb of fun. Already labelled as “A theme tune to something futuristic about a robot dog that cleans up its own poo or something,” by Radio 1’s Rob da Bank, it’s another track that will make music snobs vomit over their alphabetically filed Radiohead back catalogue (“that’s not real music” they’ll growl with disdain) whilst the rest of us can start bouncing the dance floor until we collapse in a joyous sweaty mass.
Like taking a bottle of cola and dropping a pack of mentos in it, with Wild Life Unicorn Kid explodes with fizzy abandon. Proof that computer games can be good for you.
The track is streamed from the You Tube video below and there's also a floor rolling drum and bass remix by Nu:Tone for all the jungle dogs who need their beats.
After the limited opening of the Bestival site on Thursday night, Friday found punters exploring the magnitude of the warped wonderland. Walking between the hundreds of multi-coloured flags, castles in the sky bonfires, flame throwing industrial spider shaped stages and cocktail lounges complete with comfy sofas and Bollywood sunshades it was easy to see why Bestival has become such a success. It continues to sell out to bigger crowds each year as other smaller festivals have struggled to grow - for not only is the music line up exciting and eclectic, but the visual delights of the grassy hills of the Robin Hill site are spectacular.
I Blame Coco on the main stage couldn’t be described as such. Her standard stage banter “How ya doing,” and “Hello down there,” didn’t gravitate towards anything but the ordinary, as did her disappointingly average mid-tempo pop rock. Her slightly hoarse and flatly dulled vocal failed to convey any real emotion, and whilst her band was competent there was no sting in the tail.
“If you fancy a dance, you’re in the right place,” announced Silver Columns from the Spider stage. Their Scottish bleeps and grooves lost the hardcore ravers who wanted something faster and more intense, but instead the band were supplemented by a group of punters dressed, possibly ironically, as Chav rejects. These GLC imitators produced some spectacular co-ordinated dancing on the raised podium stage front. When the duo’s megaphone wielding, siren blazing electronica finally came to life with the Bronski Beat / Hot Chip disco groove of Brow Beaten, it was both the band and the chavs who took the applause.
The dancing continued with Unicorn Kid. Having asked everyone to move forward, “because we’re gonna have a dance party,” the new-chip tune prince in Bart Simpson T-Shirt and lion hat brought the energy of an old school rave turned up to a modern warp factor 10 - this was elated laptop craziness. Dream Catcher was glitchily supreme and new single Wild Life divided the young (at heart) from the old. Seeming to want to forcefully create a hole in the stage with his wiry body Unicorn Kid was a highly charged assault of nutty bounciness.
In the Big Top Delphic were somewhat more restrained in their stage presence, preferring to let their music do the talking. Whereas some of their earlier shows (such as here) didn’t really take off, at Bestival they reached the celebratory highs their music strives for. Doubt provided a hands in the air moment and as Red Light merged seamlessly into it, Delphic hit the majestic realms that we predicted they could achieve (here). “Nothings wrong today,” the band sang blissfully on Counterpoint. They couldn’t be more correct.
Next up the Big Top overflowed with punters trying to catch a glimpse of The XX. The Mercury Music Prize effect demonstrated its pulling power and Bestival was the bands unofficial after party. It seemed that everyone had gate crashed. Backed by their trademark illuminated X’s the now three piece showed just why they have touched and engaged people. “I can’t tell you how happy we are to be here,” smiled Oliver Sim before a mass sing-a-long to VCR. Whilst acts like Delphic and Unicorn Kid both create music that is obviously and almost deliberately uplifting, The XX’s set was even more euphoric, even though it was created out of something brilliantly gloomy.
Hot Chip continued the upbeat mood, with their 5th appearance at Bestival, minus Joe Goddard who was on band-leave following the recent birth of his child. Ditching anything that resembled a slow song, Hot Chip played all the hits, with Alexis Taylor sporting his pearly-king-geek-chic and rather comically Goddard appearing via a TV screen. Starting with Boy from School, songs such as Ready for the Floor, One Life Stand and Over and Over kept the electronic buzz kids smiling.
It was left to Dizzee Rascal to close the main stage. Dressed in a Nirvana t-shirt Dizzee covered all bases with his band delivering music that ranged from reggae, rock, pop, disco, soul to old school hip-hop. Hooky, catchy and fun, it was also a little lowest common denominator, but such music snobbery didn't apply to most of the crowd who were happy to bounce to the happy heavens as Dizzee announced “Where’s the f*ckin’ mosh pit crew?” Bonkers finished things off - undeniably a great British pop song - funny, quirky and energetic as Usain Bolt after ten Red Bulls - it left everyone with a sweaty smile.
Founded in 2008 by Bestival head-honcho, Radio 1 DJ and all round quality music connoisseur Rob da Bank, Camp Bestival is the smaller sister festival to its big bro Bestival. Whilst Bestival has always attracted a wide range of ages and types, as it has grown from just a few thousand attendees to over 40,000 it has become too big and too loud for many who used too attend - particularly families. Camp Bestival is the obvious and logical next step for those groups as well as those who have found other non-family friendly festivals too daunting.
Camp Bestival still contains the eclectic mashed-up village fete / party vibe of the early Bestival festivals back in ‘04’ - 06. However it’s smaller capacity site set in the grounds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset, complete with sea views and a strong visual styling gives it a strong boutique feel. Whilst most festivals set aside a small amount of space for ‘family camping’ at Camp Bestival this small space is labelled ‘non-family camping’ with the rest of the site being occupied by families - giving the event a very safe and relaxed atmosphere.
One of the most magical areas of Camp Bestival is the huge kids garden, right next to the castle. Here adults and little ones combine in a utopian society which you simply don’t find in the real world. Adults can grab a beer in the Wonderland Inn, food from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Cafe, or cakes courtesy of the Women’s Institute Tea Tent, whilst they watch acts perform on the bandstand. Meanwhile kids can have the time of their lives watching the Insect Circus, attending the mini pamper lounge, participating in the kids dressing up and catwalk, crazy bikes, puppet shows, book tent and much much more. Elsewhere on site there’s jousting, the house of fairytales, the Bestival institution that is the Bollywood Bar, Pink Flamingo cocktail bar, Literary tent (where Breaking More Waves will be making an early morning Saturday appearance on stage as part of a show entitled “ A Chapter In My Life”), a mesmerising firework display (a clip of last years can be found here) and plenty of live music.
Unlike many other family orientated festivals that seem to assume that your interest in music stops the day you become a parent, Camp Bestival provides an eclectic mix of bands and DJ’s from nostalgic singalongs to fresh exciting acts. Five of Breaking More Waves Ones to Watch 2010 are appearing at Camp Bestival (Ellie Goulding, Hurts, Beth Jeans Houghton, Stornoway and Unicorn Kid) alongside old favourites such as Billy Bragg, Madness, The Fall and The Human League. More recent chart toppers Calvin Harris, Example, Friendly Fires and Chipmunk bring a youthful vibrancy to proceedings and DJ action comes from Annie Mac, Mr Scruff, DJ Derek plus of course Rob Da Bank himself, amongst others. Below are 5 of the newer acts that Breaking More Waves will hope to catch, line up clashes and too much cider permitting !
Hi-de-hi campers -check back here next week after it's all over for a full Camp Bestival 2010 review, plus if you're on Twitter follow us as we attempt to Tweet our way around the festival (internet access permitting).
First featured on Breaking More Waves in May 2009 here.
The finest acoustic pop band from Oxford received a rave review from us for their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsillhere. They’re a band that the phrase charm your socks off was invented for. Beautiful songs, beautiful melodies - simple.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in June 2010 here.
A mix of Cocteau Twins vocals, tribal-electronica and ambient gurgles, this exciting new London duo create atmospheric washes of ethereal danceable rhythmic wonderment.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in August 2009 here.
Delivering chiptune and big beats, Unicorn Kid has already knocked out one of our singles of the year with the mighty Dream Catcher. Expect a high energy, sweaty, fist-pumping, ravetastic show from the Scottish wonder kid. Oh, and possibly the odd lion hat.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in December 2009 here.
Hurts blend of high-pop electronic melancholy has a glossy pretentious feel to it that worked superbly in a dark London old fashioned music hall (here). Quite how they will fare at a summer festival is another matter, but it will be intriguing to find out.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in March 2009 here.
Sunday Best recording artists Lucky Elephant produced one of our albums of 2009 and were due to play Camp Bestival last year, but their bandstand set got rained off. We will be praying for better weather this year from this engaging group who provide sensual vintage summertime vibes.
It may be a school night, exams may still be ongoing, and someone seems intent on flicking the switch to off, but in a pub in Southampton a bunch of kids, many of them far too young to drink, are going ballistic. Wired and sweat-drenched bodies jump in excited unison, hands are raised in exultation - there’s a real sense of unadulterated joy and chaos rushing out of every pore; welcome to the full throttle, pumped up world of the lion hat sporting electronic boy wonder - Unicorn Kid.
There’s something about Unicorn Kid’s overexcited mix of glitchy chip tune that is infectious and glorious - it brings the vibe of heady e-fuelled second summer of love rave euphoria or the mosh-pit energy of a rock gig, complete with crowd surfing and boys taking their tops off. Not everything he creates is just the berserk sound of Gameboy mentalism - several tracks including the recently released Dream Catcher have a darker, tripper heaviness which reverberate through the body.
Even when for the third time that night the sound cuts out just as blasts of beats, dirty sub-bass and vibrant colourful electronics raise the roof, it doesn’t stub out the atmosphere - instead there’s just enough time to catch your breath before the dancing re-ignites.
Oliver Sabin, aka Unicorn Kid is not simply a man standing on stage poking a laptop and twiddling a few knobs, he’s an unrestrained human dynamo full of enthusiasm. Leaping and punching at the air against a backdrop of projections, by the time he gets to the last track Animal City you have to wonder if he’ll need an oxygen tank to recover in afterwards. A joyous and riotous evening of fun - certainly not Casiotone for the painfully alone, the only question that remains is if Unicorn Kid can broaden his appeal to a larger audience. On the evidence of this show, it’s certainly possible.
*Here a short clip of the gig - the sound quality is very poor as it was filmed on a small camera, but it gives an impression of the energy that was sustained from the word go to the finish.
Last year here we queried if coming top of the annual UK music industry ‘tastemakers’ poll - The BBC Sound Of List was a poisoned chalice due to the commercial expectations that are placed on the artist by the media and the more knowledgeable music loving public.
Despite a significant number of acts on the BBC Sound of 2009 list, including Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine and Mumford & Sons going onto to be commercial big hitters, Little Boots didn’t quite set the world alight as her positioning at number 1 suggested. The reasons suggested for the comparative ‘failure’ include the wrong choice of songs being chosen for the singles from the album, the record label marketing Little Boots to the wrong audience, 2009 being a year where big star personas were lapped up by the public (Florence, Lady Gaga) and Little Boots not having the huge personality to match, a failure by her record company to capitalise on the huge exposure the nomination gave her, and her songs and sound not standing up to scrutiny after the initial buzz that was created by tracks such as Stuck On Repeat. Here at Breaking More Waves we still very much like Little Boots and hope that following her debut album release she doesn’t fade into obscurity, but the world of pop is a hard kicking, fast moving place, so she is really going to have to come up with the goods for any future release.
At the end of last year we were asked by the BBC to cast a vote on the BBC Sound of 2010 list, and two of the three artists we voted for (Elle Goulding, Stornoway) made the long list of fifteen. (Our other choice - Unicorn Kid didn‘t make it, although he has subsequently started to make a few waves with his track Dream Catcher). Ellie Goulding eventually came top of the pile and we wondered with concern if the Little Boots poisoned chalice would be passed on to her. With a debut top five single, a number one album that thirteen weeks later was still in the top 15 and a sold out UK tour, it seems not.
Listening to Goulding being interviewed after the announcement of the list results (and Marina and The Diamonds who came second on the list) it was apparent that both artists, whilst a little apprehensive about what lay ahead, were ready for the exposure that the Sound of 2010 would give them. Their record companies had their marketing plans, release dates and strategies in place (something Little Boots label didn’t seem to have) and the Sound of 2010 nominations were just part of that plan - it almost seemed as if there was an expectation that they would be on the list.
Of course irrespective of such plans and being nominated on the list, ultimately it is the public who decide if an artist achieves commercial success, and with Ellie Goulding the public vindicated her selection. There may have been a degree of rather predictable and inevitable negativity towards her from some critics and bloggers as she moved from an underground pop act to a mainstream one, but once Goulding was fully pushed out to the public, the haters had little power or influence.
Certainly the BBC Sound of 2010 nomination for Ellie Goulding hasn’t been a poisoned chalice. With a good album, an ever improving live performance and a record company who were ready to use the nomination as part of their strategy to get her music heard, the nomination has been used successfully and now nobody is even talking about the nomination and its effect on Goulding, as they were with Little Boots last year (except this blog). She has stepped up beyond the initial exposure and despite the weight it carried, she has bore it well. The BBC Sound Of - a poisoned chalice ? No, not at all, just a great tool to give new artists that don’t fit into the X-Factor model of exposure a chance of being heard and then possibly some commercial success.
Just don’t mention Hurts - Better Than Love, their debut single proper could only manage number 50 in the UK singles chart - evidence that pop is a funny and complicated lottery. Roll on the BBC Sound of 2011 !
Following on from our recent coverage of the 2010 Camden Crawl our attention now turns to the UK’s south coast and the Great Escape, another multi-venue, multi-gig, urban festival held in Brighton. The Great Escape is currently Breaking More Waves favourite event of this nature in the UK, for a number of reasons:
The event is three days long, rather than one or two like other similar festivals, enabling you to catch an even greater number of artists, many of whom perform twice at different venues and times.
There is a significant emphasis on new music. Even many of the headline acts are still in their relative infancy.
It is excellent value for money, particularly if you buy an early-bird ticket several months in advance, which this year was a snip at thirty-five pounds plus the obligatory booking fee for three days of musical frolics.
Besides the main gigs there’s a full programme of parties, conferences and fringe events, although some of these do require you to purchase the significantly more expensive delegates pass. (eighty pounds early bird or one hundred and fifty pounds now excluding booking fees)
The timetable is all published on line well in advance, giving punters the opportunity plenty of time to plan in advance, although remember that many venues are small and so capacity may be reached early, so make sure that if there is someone you particularly want to see you get there early, particularly if they are a more well known or 'buzz' act playing a smaller venue.
The event operates a text message service which gives updates on which venues are full plus updates on secret gigs that take place. In past years we've seen Ida Maria sing on the outside balcony of the Theatre Royal, Peggy Sue playing in a toy and model museum and We Are Scientists perform a blistering set on a flat roof outside Audio Bar with traffic racing by behind them, all by using the text alert service.
There are a variety of ticket options including day tickets and Friday / Saturday 2 day tickets. Our experience is that traditionally Thursday is a little quieter than the other two days in terms of numbers of punters.
It’s in Brighton, which means that besides the event itself you can spend time lazing on the beach (weather permitting); many of the venues being located on the seafront. There are also two great record shops (Resident and Rounder) that are worth a visit, a number of quirky specialist shops in the North Laines, and of course the pier for funfair fun combined with the Horatios venue which this year will see the likes of Cold Cave, Warpaint and Darwin Deez performing there. And if it's warm enough, and you’re drunk enough, after everything has finished for the night you can go skinnydipping to cool off ! Just make sure you can actually swim first though.
So once you’ve grabbed your wristband, which bands to see? With such a fantastic line up of new music it’s simply not going to be possible to catch everything. Below we recommend ten acts for your viewing and listening pleasure. We hope to catch at least some of these ourselves.
Click on the artists name to go to their Myspace page.
“If you took a big raft of overblown pompous rock and set it off through a computer, mashed in some dubstep beats, a layer of distortion and gave the whole thing a post-apocalyptic shove of electronica you would probably be lurking off the same shores as Kid Adrift,” we wrote back last August. Since then this Glaswegian boy wonder and his band have signed to Island records, recorded a Radio 1 session with Vic Galloway and had their song Red Green and Blue named as “Record of the Year 2009” by Record of the Day. A new EP is to follow this summer and Kid Adrift is currently recording an album. A must see.
A five piece from the North East of England, Let’s Buy Happiness have already created one of our favourite songs of the last twelve months with Works Better On Paper and have been signed up to play the John Peel Stage at this years Glastonbury Festival after they got through to the final round of the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition. Fronted by the ethereal sounding Sarah Hall the band create beautiful dreamy indie guitar soundscapes that remind us of The Sundays and The Cocteau Twins. In February we suggested that “Let’s Buy Happiness are about to make you fall in love.” Go to the Great Escape, experience Let’s Buy Happiness and that statement may come true.
Twins Romi and Sari Lightman are two Canadian Twins who are Ghost Bees. Like an alt.folk version of Joanna Newsom, their unsettling ghostly songs are formed out of glockenspiel, viola, acoustic guitars and antique mandolins. With girlish creepily beautiful voices their songs cover tales of past great empires and Greek mythology.
So loud is the buzz surrounding Egyptian Hip Hop that we are sure that a wasps nest is just around the corner. It all started when the Manchester four piece released their debut single Rad Pitt last year and it hasn’t really stopped since. There seems to be so much talk about Egyptian Hip Hop and yet very few people are pinning their colours to the mast to fully define the bands sound. Much of this is because it is too early to do so, with only a handful of demos and songs available and the four members of the band only being in their mid to late teens. So for the record we say that the bands style is loose, occasionally groovy indie. But the only real way to find out if Egyptian Hip Hop can live up to the hype is to go see them yourself and form your own opinion.
With his knotted bee-hive, near death experiences and psychedelic folk riffs King Charles really is like nothing else. Expect pagan chanting, romping guitars and songs about Polar Bears and Crocodiles. King Charles has also stated that he’s going to get married by the end of the year, although he has yet to find the right girl, so if any ladies fancy becoming a queen, here’s your chance. His song Love Lust is soppy, philosophical and stupidly brilliant.
Along with the many national and international bands on the bill of the Great Escape there are also a significant number of local acts playing, and Brighton’s own Esben and the Witch are without doubt one of the best. Fresh off a tour with The Big Pink the group will be bringing their spectral transcendentally disturbed tunes and dark yet beautiful tales to the Great Escape. A three piece formed out of Rachel Davies (vocals), Daniel Copeman (electronics, guitars) and Thomas Fisher (guitars, keyboards) the band are known to decorate their stage with porcelain owls, Victorian lamposts, skulls and minimal lighting. Reminiscent of the edgier experimental side of Portishead, or Bat For Lashes they share a kindred spirit with bands such as The XX in terms of the darkness of their sound.
One of our Ones To Watch for 2010. The bleepy, 8 bit madness of Unicorn Kid has been a sound that Breaking More Waves has been celebrating since summer of 2009. For those who think his sound deserves arrest by the music police, well sorry but those very same music police are actually raving behind the bike sheds to the likes of Dream Catcher and Animal City; manic, frantic, bassy, games console dance tunes. He's also knocked out big remixes for Gorillaz and The Pet Shop Boys. Quite possibly the music of the future.
Another band we listed as one of our Ones To Watch for 2010, Stornoway are due to release their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsill at the end of this month. Our recent review called it “Quite simply an album of near perfect songs,” and in terms of live performance their humble intelligence charms and delights every time. Catch I Saw You Blink, Zorbing, The End Of The Movie and The Coldharbour Road as the bands status continues to grow.
“It’s as if Bon Iver left his acoustic guitar in his log cabin and created a new wave electronic suite of chamber-like beauty that lays somewhere between the sonic architecture of Ultravox’s Vienna and OMD’s Jean of Arc (Maid of Orleans),” is how we described the music of Active Child last year. We wouldn’t go back on that statement at all. Beautifully cool electronic pop symphonies with new-wave synth-drums and pads, heavenly vocals and bags of class are coming to Brighton this May courtesy of one Pat Grossi who is Active Child.
Marina and the Diamonds may be a rather obvious choice, but the reason is that this is probably your last chance to see Marina in a relatively small venue before she steps up the game later this year, returning to Brighton on November the 15th to play the Corn Exchange. By now you’ll probably be familiar with Hollywood, I Am Not A Robot and other tracks from her debut album. What you may not be familiar with if you haven’t seen her live yet is her theatrical stage presence combined with an underlying vulnerability that endears.
If you haven't got your ticket yet and want to come you can buy them by clicking here. We'll be bringing a day by day review of the event the week after it finishes, and if you sign up to our Twitter you'll also find us tweeting our way around the event.
Last August we first wrote about one Oli Sabin aka Unicorn Kid and then later in December put him into our very special drawer called Ones To Watch 2010. Now is the time to show why this Scottish genius deserves a drawer all of his own.
For Unicorn Kid has a spot on jump-to-the-ceiling contemporary sound. The type of sound that will leave many parents scratching their heads. “That’s not music,” they’ll say. “That’s just a noise, where’s the song? People can't enjoy that can they?” Sorry mum, sorry dad, the answer is a big resounding yes. Unicorn Kid seems to be able to create, without fail, pumped-up perfectly constructed electronic blasts of hyperactive Super Marioness. Our vision is of deranged beautiful youths with massive smiles on their faces, charging round the arcade shouting “Chiptune,” at the top of their voices.
Now signed to Ministry Of Sound, with Dream Catcher Unicorn Kid steps up to the line and fires a bulls eye. Dream Catcher takes his music to another dimension, one where Galaxians and Space Invaders smile and fire orgasmic lasers at the glitchy and bleepy boy wonder. Heavier and dirtier than anything Oli has produced before, Dream Catcher is a bit of an Atari monster. Do your computer a favour, power on up and play this beast. Straight to the centre of the target.
This is the sound of Britain in 2010. Utterly utterly amazing. No, scrap that. U.T.T.E.R.L.Y A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Turn it up loud. This is it.
Unicorn Kid is Oli Sabin. At eighteen years old he has only just reached the age where he can legally enter a club that might play his music, which is an insane blend of pumping pulsing eight bit chip tune that brings to the ears delirious fanfares last heard on your Nintendo DS. We first blogged about him in August here. His bleepy arpeggiation is the kind of music that should you be considering jumping off a cliff will either push you over the edge or make you turn round and run wild to the local youth club rave, frothing, babbling and incoherent - but with a massive smile on your face.
The Scottish wonder from Leith has been through a variety of musical phases and arrived at the dance party a couple of years back. He is now a genuine internet phenomenon with over one million hits on his Myspace page. His music sits, or should we say bounces in the fourteen to nineteen year old demographic, his gigs not fuelled by alcohol but sheer natural youthful adrenalin.
Unicorn Kid has talked about manoeuvring his casiomental sound to a more commercial place and there are even rumours of guest vocalists. Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters is known to be a fan. With an appearance at next years South by South West booked and an album tentatively scheduled for release next autumn, Unicorn Kid is riding on a starship.
To the uneducated ears of an over twenty five year old or a solemn indie rock purist, the sounds of Unicorn Kid will just be considered bad music, but for his growing army of fans his electronic urgency is simply something that makes you happy. Enjoy it whilst it lasts because Oli has already intimated that he doesn’t intend to be doing this for the rest of his life and when the fun is over wants to go to college to study his other passion of art.
We suspect that in 2010 lion hats are going to be one of the must have fashion items. Roar to the Unicorn Kid.
Welcome to the jungle. Here’s a new video posted a few days ago from Unicorn Kid for his track Animal City. Even if you cannot stand Unicorn Kids bleepy Nintendo meets Commodore 64 rave chip tune, this film is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, particularly if you enjoyed Trigger Happy TV and the fighting cuddly animals created by Dom Joly. The video is a fan made piece by one Melissa Katz who understands in the same way The Flaming Lips do that big cuddly animals dancing will always make people happy.
Back in August when we first wrote about Unicorn Kid we confessed a warped love of his music, even though his tunes are made of the stuff that any ‘serious’ or ‘self respecting’ music fan would despise. We also said that this love would probably only last five minutes. That was August. It’s now November.
This will not be the last post about Unicorn Kid. We still don’t understand it ourselves. We can’t stand Basshunter, who there are similarities to, yet this we love. When you consider yourself a ‘serious’ music fan, but still want to be moved by music emotionally rather than just intellectually, sometimes you have to accept that even if your brain is saying hate, you just have to dive headfirst no matter what the depth of the pool, and show the love. We’ll be posting more on the issue of ‘serious’ music lovers soon and will hopefully be stirring up a debate, but for now enjoy the raving panda, lion etc....“Pawsome!” As the man says himself.
