The Great Escape 2016 - Preview / Recommendations (Friday)

No messing, no commentary on the event (you can find that on yesterday’s post), I’m just going straight in with 5 music makers that are on my list of possible (venue capacities permitting) acts to see at this year’s Great Escape festival, which takes place in Brighton city centre at a variety of venues between 19th and 21st May. Then I finish by tossing up a link to a recommendation for a band on the Alt Escape line up as well.

Here are my choices from the Friday line-up. (You can find Thursday's choices on this link here) If you’re going you can see all these 5 selections with no clashes (unfortunately my Alt Escape bonus pick does clash). If you’re a regular reader of Breaking More Waves none of these choices will in any way surprise you.

Note: You should also go and see Have You Ever Seen The JaneFonda Aerobic VHS? On Friday at the Queens Hotel at 14:30 because with a name like that and being from Finland they can be nothing but incredible. Also in between Black Honey and Declan McKenna at Wagner Hall  there’s Loyal, an act that is very much loved by the blogosphere, so they’re going to be worth sticking around for. Don’t go to the bar instead.

Xylaroo 13:00 The Pop-Up Stage

If singing sisters are a thing (and the evidence suggests they are – The Staves, First Aid Kit, Haim…er…..The Nolan Sisters) then these sisters, one of two acts we’re recommending from the Sunday Best stable are another name to add to the list. I tipped Xylaroo as One to Watch for 2016 last year on the blog, so go on, take my advice and watch them.

Pleasure Beach 15.30 Spiegeltent

I’ve seen (and maybe in some cases written) words about Northern Ireland’s Pleasure Beach that compare them to Arcade Fire, War On Drugs and Bruce Springsteen. This is the point where I should say ‘but that’s just lazy journalism’. But it isn’t – because those comparisons have some basis of truth. It’s not lazy journalism – it’s accurate journalism. Lazy journalists are the ones who work for a couple of hours in a day and then call it quits to go down the pub / watch TV. Anyway, I digress. I have no idea what Pleasure Beach are like live, but if they sound anything like their recorded material they should be pretty marvellous.

Alice Jemima 19.00 Jubilee Gardens

The unsigned artist that I’ve posted the most about in the history of Breaking More Waves, but now she’s signed to Sunday Best. She recently released a rather clever tune called Liquorice. It went top 10 on the Hype Machine. She’s playing BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend. It’s all very exciting. This is why you should catch Alice Jemima at Great Escape. If you see a man explode like a bomb in front of you – that’s me. The excitement got too much.

Black Honey 20:30 Wagner Hall

The band most likely to 'do a Wolf Alice' over the next year or so. Need I say any more? Rock ‘n’ roll with a nostalgic twangy cinematic twist. Breaking More Waves regulars.They’re the real deal and genuine contenders. If you haven't seen them yet, make Black Honey a must. 

Declan McKenna 22:30 Wagner Hall

The winner of the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition in 2015. Two fascinating, unusual and assured singles in the form of Brazil and Paracetamol. Another of Breaking More Waves’ Ones To Watch 2016. A young but rare talent doing something different in a crowded field of the singer songwriters. For once someone that isn't Ed Sheeran-like or r'n'b influenced pop

Alt Escape Bonus Pick: Majik 19.15 North Laine Brewhouse 

New Music: Xylaroo - I'm On My Way

Here’s my new favourite lyric to holler along to: “If sex is the reason, then I guess we’re all f*cked, ‘cos we’re all getting closer, but I wouldn’t call it love.” It’s from acoustic-country-folk-pop duo Xylaroo and their new song On My Way. A jaunty little number that celebrates drinking, lying and finding freedom through doing what you want.“I’m on my way, I’m on way on my way to hell,” they sing with those lovely harmonies. I’ve probably said it before but I’ll say it again, they’re like the UK’s version of First Aid Kit, and that’s bloody marvellous isn’t it? And was that a reference to Aleister Crowley the notorious recreational drug experimenter and bisexual? I think it was. If anything was ever going to make me grab a bottle of hard liquor and learn line dancing, this would be it. 

Xylaroo - I'm On My Way

New Music: Xylaroo - Sunshine (Video)

At the end of January I hopped on a ferry from my home city of Portsmouth to a place which was one of Queen Victoria's favourites to visit; the weird and wonderful Isle of Wight. I was there for an evening of musical finery presented by Sunday Best Records at the Quay Arts Centre in Newport, with a celebratory DJ set of David Bowie tunes by Rob Da Bank, complete with colourful Bowie visuals. Plus there was live music from Alice Jemima (who has been long supported through this blog, first featuring in April 2011 and being named as One To Watch in 2012 - a little early perhaps?). Alice is now signed to Sunday Best so you can fully expect an LP this year. Heading up the bill was Xylaroo, another act that I named as Ones To Watch in 2016, so I thought I had better take my own advice and go and watch them.

Xylaroo was excellent. Wonderful sisterly harmonies backed by just one acoustic guitar and a very cool, almost casual, delivery. The obvious comparison remains First Aid Kit and I can imagine Xylaroo having spent a fair amount of time rifling through the same record collection as the Swedish sisters - the presence of the likes of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Rilo Kiley could all be heard in their heartwarming songs. 

With an album called Sweetooth due for release in June, the first single from it is Sunshine. It's a tune with a positive outlook on life, focusing on leaving life's negatives behind and absorbing those natural rays of hope. "If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain," they sing. Sunshine has a timeless appeal to it and the video, which streams below, is also full of a charming warmth. 

Xylaroo - Sunshine (Video)

Ones to Watch 2016 #10 - Xylaroo

When we first wrote these 10 Ones to Watch posts a few weeks ago and pre-scheduled them so that we could take a bit of time off away from the blog whilst they auto uploaded daily, this final choice was going to feature Jack Garratt. However a couple of days before the post was due to go live we decided to delete Mr Garratt, who we commended for his superb all round ability, mesmerising one man shows, quality beard and general nice bloke appeal; we also compared him to the electronic version of Ed Sheeran. 

Instead, as our final tip, we’re making one recommendation of a duo that has never been mentioned on Breaking More Waves before (the other 9 tips all have).  The name of this two piece is Xylaroo. Alongside Declan McKenna and Billie Marten, two of our other Ones to Watch, the members of Xylaroo are also too young to get served in a UK pub. Is their age relevant? Is it a bit ageist mentioning the fact that these acts are young? Well, we think it's relevant to mention the fact, because frankly if you subscribe to the idea that musicians have to learn their craft, then when someone is relatively young and very good that says something important about their natural talent. Correction - we've been informed by the band themselves that this is not correct and that they can get served in a pub. Apologies, our information was incorrect!

Oh, and the reasons for ditching sure-fire success Garratt for a bunch of unknowns on a small indie label?

1. Because to our eyes Jack doesn’t actually seem that ‘new’ or ‘emerging’ anymore. We’ve seen him a number of times live (first way back in June 2014 at Bushstock Festival which we reviewed here) and he had already developed a big online musical presence several months before that event. Maybe his label have held him back a little in order to stand a chance of being on the 2016 tip lists, but for us he was a 2014 going into 2015 tip.

2. He’s already been named as the BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, won the Brits Critics Choice award and there’s lots of talk about him being a highly likely contender for the BBC Sound Of 2016 list as well. Don’t expect to see him on the lesser known but just as interesting Blog Sound of 2016 list though, voted for by nearly 60 UK based bloggers, which we help run. The full longlist will be revealed on Dec 3rd, a few days after the BBC Sound of list - Jack almost made it on the Blog Sound of 2015 list but missed it by 1 vote, but this year didn’t get one single nod from voting bloggers, suggesting that just like Breaking More Waves, other bloggers no longer consider him emerging, which is what we believe these polls should be about.

3. Jack’s already playing Brixton Academy in April, so tipping him as One to Watch seems pointless – a lot of people are already going to watch him. 

So instead we’re choosing Xylaroo, a recent addition to one of the finest long standing indie labels in the UK – Sunday Best.

Who are Xylaroo? 

They’re Coco and Holly Chant and first met a number of years ago in a hospital in Hong Kong where they were introduced to each other by their parents. Yes, they’re sisters and follow in the footsteps of another Sunday Best sibling act, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who started their musical careers as young whippersnappers on the label. 

And whilst we’d very much consider Xylaroo (a name that seems to have no meaning except for some warped cross between a xylophone and kangaroo – not something we could really explain) emerging, they seem to have been doing this for quite some time – they have an old redundant Myspace page (remember those?) and a Bandcamp with some rough and ready recordings dated back to 2009. However, unlike Garratt you’re probably not going to see their name everywhere in music industry music tip lists. But they're worth your attention; with their folky harmonies that remind us a little of early First Aid Kit we’re suggesting that they’re Ones to Watch for 2016, not because they’re going to have huge commercial hits or sell bucket loads of records (that’s probably unlikely) but simply because they can pen a decent tune that you might just enjoy. And that’s the most important thing.

Xylaroo - Sunshine (Home Session)