New Music: Billie Marten - White Christmas

Oi oi kidz. It’s nearly f*ckin Chriiiiiistmaaaaas! And that meanz me and me pals are back takin’ over this sh*t piece of a blog that the reindeers dragged in from the backyard between now and Christmas eve, postin’ some shite to warm yer winter earz and arses to.

And f*ck me, look whooooze back. Remember this lass? Because We Want To woz a banger wasn’t it? And what about Honey to the Bee? Then she became a high-class hooker and after that tried to get into Dr Who’s pants. What a girl. Sounds a bit like Mrs Claus. She's always tryin' to get in my pants, but I keep tellin' 'er Christmas comes once a year and she'll have to wait. Now Billie’s havin’ another go at the old music, and this ain’t half bad. Not as good as Because We Want To mind you. What? Ey? Wha’ ya sayin? This ain’t that Billie? Oh for f*cks sake. I think oi’ve ‘ad too much of the old Christmas sherry already. Well, ‘tis the season to be jolly ain’t it?

So this Billie lass, she seems alright. She’s fookin’ dreamin’ of a white Christmas is she? She really ought to come up ‘ere to bloody Lapland then. We’ve got loads of the fuckin’ white stuff. There’s a few bits of yellow as well. Pesky elves – they’ve been pissin’ in it as well.

Right ho. Time for another sherry. Happy f*ckin Christmas kids. Let’s get rat-arsed.

Billie Marten - White Christmas

New Music : Introducing - Mosa Wild

Sometimes things just take a little time. Bands need to transition from one project to the next before they get it right. 

On debut track Smoke Mosa Wild get it absolutely right. They might not be totally new to this game, but I get a sense that something wonderful has been brewing from their earlier incarnation. This is a warm and evocative piece of music that recalls the gentler and more reflective side of The Maccabees (with perhaps a hint of Springsteen as well) and a vocal delivery that possesses the same rich quality as Matt Berninger of The National. In fact can someone double check this isn’t Berninger please? 

Smoke is both intimate and gloriously wide-screen in equal measure - and despite its obvious comparisons is rather wonderful.

Mosa Wild is Jim Rubaduka, Alex Stevens, Charlie Campbell and Edwin Ireland. For those websites who go late with their 2017 Ones to Watch lists, they're a recommendation from me to you.

Mosa Wild - Smoke

New Music: Clare Maguire - Keep Me Hanging On

Clare Maguire was one of my Ones to Watch in 2009. She was on the BBC Sound of List for 2011. But 2016 has really been her year. A very special album called Stranger Things Have Happened and some superb live shows that had everything from raw emotional singing to humour to me dancing on stage (yes, that actually happened at one show in London) have proved that sometimes the most important ingredient of good music, just like cooking, is time.

Now there’s no stopping her. “After years of being told 'no' I'm finally saying 'yes' and putting out tracks that have been shelved because I like them,” says Clare. Freedom suits her. 

Her latest back in stock offering is her version of The Supremes song You Keep Me Hanging On, which Clare has deleted the You from. It’s one of my favourite Motown songs and here Clare takes it in a different direction, but one that I can certainly feel love for.

There will be a new EP (including this cover) from Clare Maguire in the New Year. Let's hope that Stranger Things Have Happened finds its way onto a few end of year lists. 

Clare Maguire - Keep Me Hanging On

New Music: Introducing - Bien

They might hail from Nashville but Bien challenge all the preconceived ideas and assumptions you are probably making about their location and the genre of music they make. For they are as far away from country as you could imagine. Their stuff is all synths, beats and melodies and it sounds absolutely wonderful. Then just to add some variety they've recorded a gorgeous strings and piano duet as well; it will make you swoon a little harder.

Having released their debut EP in September, as yet they haven’t picked up much traction, with just a handful of plays on Soundcloud and around a thousand plays per song on Spotify. This is a real shame because the EP is a truly irresistible collection of pop songs – the biggest difficulty I had in writing this post was choosing which particular song to stream. Eventually I picked Crowd Goes Wild, a tune which mixes old fashioned geeky robot pop electronic sounds with plenty of modern flourishes, dreamy soft vocals and hooks galore. By the time they sing ‘throw up your hands, get up, get down,’ I pretty much guarantee that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. Get ready to feel the heat, as Bien drop the beat. Pop music of the finest order.

Try Crowd Goes Wild below and the whole EP on Spotify by clicking here.

Bien - Crowd Goes Wild