BBC Sound of 2013: Who's made the cut?

This year's series of X Factor has just finished. Now what? 

The BBC yesterday released their longlist of fifteen music acts they predict will make it big (or, bigger)in 2013. 

Aimed at showcasing the talent of various acts of various genres, Huw Stephens has described the panel's favourites as "exciting", and sure to evoke "speculation about the state of the music scene" (BBC). The DJ will announce the winner of the BBC Sound of 2013 online during the BBC Breakfast Show on the 4th January. 

Acoustic and electro-pop act Ellie Goulding was among winners of the awards in previous years, while soul singer Michael Kiwanuka was last year's winner. 

You might think this involves the X Factor leftovers, like Lucy Spraggan or Ella Henderson, but competition rules state that competitors must not have reached the quarter, semi or final rounds of the show (thank God) within the last 3 years. They must not have had a UK top 20 single or album, nor been featured in the BBC Sound list previously.

Although I'm very surprised to find out that H A I M (the sister act equivalent of Hanson) haven't yet secured a high place in the UK charts, they are certainly a promising contender for this year's awards. They've recently toured with Mumford and Sons as well as Florence and the Machine, and with a Dad they dub "the original Simon Cowell" (BBC) again I struggle to see how these girls seem to get round the 'you can't be famous already' rule. Either way, the Californian chicks are proud to boldly claim their mixing of genres. Hit 'Forever' has already got them showing off their "Nu-folk–meets–nineties-R&B" with wild-spirited wheelies Bon Jovi would be proud of, hair even like Hanson and a Destiny's Child strut. With such big personalities, it's easy to understand why they've gone Miss Independent. After many auditions at the judge's houses(their parents' living room), they found out they were through. But soon after, they decided it wasn't for them and left the process and "RockinHaim". After resisting the urge to add copycat Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys dance moves to the family posse, the freshly liberated sisterhood could break free and combine their own 90s inspirations with the 70s rock their parents had got them into in their earlier years.

04/01/13 UPDATE: HAIM have secured the top position in the BBC Sound of 2013.
Reputably denounced with a "contagious enthusiasm", says DJ Huw Stephens, "they're brilliant musicians who have a real talent for tunes that merge their tales of growing up in the 21st Century with a classic songwriting ability."
With their increasing popularity, particularly following their recent tours with Mumford and Sons and also Florence and The Machine, HAIM announce they are "thrilled" and feel "overwhelmed and "embraced" by UK fans. With their increasing popularity in mind and the decision compiled using legitimate feedback from over 200 bloggers, critics and broadcasters, it's certainly easy to believe that the success of HAIM is highly deserved. 
Power to the bloggers. No vote rigging here... 

All images sourced from BBC Sound of 2013.

Tantrums, tips and Tumblr: When a music journalist doesn't get their own way...

A big artist finally announced they were coming to small little Exeter. 

But, guess what? 
Florence &  The  Machine's management wouldn't reply to my request for a press pass. Even after follow-up emails days ahead of the gig. 

Her performance is tonight and I'm here, sat alone, on Facebook seeing status proclamations of "FLO TONIGHT! WOOOOOOOOOO" and "Gunna use up all remaining air in my *'LUNGS'* to cheer on the glowing goddess tonight". 

Yeah, thanks guys.

Hmph.

florenceandthemachine.net

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Okay, after five minutes of deep breathing, inhaling, gasping and exhaling, I've calmed down.

At the end of the day, PR companies work very hard to make sure gigs run as smoothly as possible, contacting artist management to arrange interviews and/or free entry (in return for an at least relatively praising review) for the relevant members of press.

Any journalist, particularly an armature such as myself, needs to understand that they won't always get to review what they want, or what the company they are writing for needs. PR companies often deal and co-oporate with numerous artists at any one time- that's a lot of emails for them to read, reply to and send. And for particularly well-known acts, there's inevitably huge numbers of press wanting to feature their gig so competition is high.

My tips for aspiring journalists attempting to secure exclusive gig benefits:

1. Be polite and professional. Common sense, but you won't get an interview with your favourite act if you're yelling at the sir or madam reading your email in caps lock. You've been gifted with excellent communication skills, so utilise them. 

2. Show off your blog or magazine. If you've got stats on how many views you've had, or how many people are reading your magazine every issue, feel free to brag about it when contacting PRs. It will help to brief the person reading your email on what you do, and what your music-y blogspot or Tumblr has achieved- what is your Tumblr magazine about? What do you aim to achieve with your audience? Do you just feature music articles or lifestyle too?

3. Follow-up, but don't nag. There's nothing wrong with sending PR's a 'Hi there, did you get my email RE...?' if it's been 2 weeks and no reply, but don't keep duplicating them. One will be enough to show them that you're really interested and enthusiastic about reviewing their act. Leave it at least a week until you follow up, unless the gig is really really close. 

4. Be flexible. The reality of the fact is if you're a trainee, you might still be at school, college or have a part-time job alongside your journo. PR's might not reply to emails until the actual day before the gig, so assume you're going... unless it's in a faraway place and you need to book train tickets. Try local gigs first.

5. Ask for an interview. Always worth a try. With bigger acts, schedules are likely to be too busy for a Q&A, although try getting in early with your request. Interviewing will build your confidence as a trainee, and you never know when you might form some crucial contacts who might be able to offer you a journo job or opportunity. 

- Any questions? Comment below with your experiences of contacting artist management, or interviewing artists. Can you recommend any tips too?

The Script - #3

Older and wise, The Script reflect upon an intimate parchment of personal memoirs in their third album release. Perhaps also echoing the own trials and tribulations of his The Voice contestants, disciple Danny (assisted by co-judge will.i.am.) nurtures the potential of generations in lead single ‘Hall Of Fame’. Wiseman Will has certainly reunited the Dubliners with their rhythm and blues roots, directing him to hit stardom with this number one triumph. After a certainly long and winding journey, the disciple seems on his last legs with his urgent breaths in the ‘Six Degrees Of Separation’ chorus. First, we might think the worst is a broken heart but really what's gonna kill us is the second part- Danny captivates listeners alike when he quantifies heartbreak whilst recollecting upon his split from ex-girlfriend, model Irma Mali. ‘If You Could See Me Now’ delicately deals with the previously unspoken words regarding the loss of both Danny and guitarist Mark’s parents, later amalgamating into track ‘No Words’. With recurring themes of abandonment and sadness, we’ve heard similar things from them before but now it’s on a whole new level. Don’t worry boys, chin up, we’re certain the ‘Good ‘ol Days’ aren’t too far away…

Pebble: issue two is HERE!

In my last post I wittered on about the next issue of Pebble. 

Well, that issue is now here. This time around the theme was brothers and sisters, and although the music section doesn't directly adhere to that completely, there's some brilliant bits on brotherhood in film making and sisterhood in fashion design.

Music wise there's eleven album reviews, gig reviews on Bon Iver, Alt-J, The Maccabees, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and more.

http://issuu.com/pebblezine/docs/issue_two

Enjoy.

Here's my review of Green Day's latest addition to their album trilogy, ¡Dos!.

Pebble: Skimming the surface of alternative publishing..

So, this is what I've been up to recently and it's so much damn fun. 

Back in August, a work-mate on their summer break back home from Bournemouth Uni told me about a new webzine they're helping out with. Knowing my love for journalism, she too encouraged me to get involved with Pebble. 

It's not all music-y, there's beauty, lifestyle, fashion and culture in there too.

Our first issue was released on the 30-something-ith of September. We've had 11,000 views to date for that. Next issue is out on the 30th of November. IT'S A MATTER OF DAYS. 

And on that note, The Killers had 'Day And Age' out recently. Check out my review of the album for the first issue of Pebble above.

http://pebblezine.com/

Update

I now write for  the UK's largest independent music and comedy reviews and interviews site, 
Lyric Lounge Review, so I've been pretty busy with stuff on there.

Here's an archive of articles I've written for Lyric Lounge Review:

BASTILLE - gig review & interview:  Genuinely cannot sing out enough praises for this upcoming indie group, you ALL need to go and check them out.

Indie-boys MORAIN unveil new material: “With a debut this strong, Morain are quickly going to find themselves racing towards their destination.” – Rock Sound (8/10)

YEALLOW - The Void/Blown Away: This Strasbourgian quartet blew me away with  their enticing guitar riffs. Lots of say-day (we think that’s the pronunciation) sales success already abroad.

BASTILLE announce new single 'Flaws': (Again): I got a bit obsessed with them after experiencing their modesty and charm for myself...

TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS - Household Goods: Fresh new roar of remixes from this dude with a twist on his original single. 

THERE THERE - Like Love EP: Unquestionably promising. Surprisingly accessible, surprisingly likeable for such a fresh group.  Indie for the twilight hour, chilled and calm.

MARCUS REEVES - Black Tears: If glitter, jazz hands and drama was a genre...

Bombay Bicycle Club: Bristol o2, 12/10/11

Equipped with an oversized tandem, they pedalled onto the ‘underage’ music scene back in 2005, surprisingly not even school leavers. Outside of GCSE Music lessons, winning V Festival’s Road To V gave them a headstart in the race. Here,‘V’ wasn’t losing their virginity, but the pursuit of success.

 Beginning as an innocent amateur cycling day trip, from the indie-pop first album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose to a more electro feel in the most recent, A Different Kind Of Fix, you do wonder if they meant to stumble and Shuffle onto the stage; was their discovery of their roots coincidentally accidental? 

   Typically indie, The Club have a sort of unique flavour. Their bouncy tunes, despite being chilled and summery, work paradoxically and create eruptions of heavy mosh-pits at gigs. There you’re likely to find annoying indie-sorts, producing photos of themselves in the crowd, maybe the occasional attempt at a crowd-surf in an attempt to show off their chinos and Vans (oh so ironically mainstream). Nevertheless, an indie gig just wouldn’t be the same without. The urgent choruses of Always Like This, Evening Morning and Dust On The Ground have the whole crowd going. Hands flying, heads bouncing, feet everywhere. Pulsating lights synchronised to the percussion, vigorous ‘bombastic’ strumming of increasing intensity, fringe-flicks from the boys. The crowd roars. Always Like This, a personal favourite, always goes down a treat.
   Sweat pouring from his forehead, with a geeky bowl-cut greasy and long and the top button of his shirt awkwardly done up, frontman Jack Steadman clearly isn’t the average ‘cool’ musician. Yet it must be his distinguishably different charismatic Kermit-the Frog-like-voice which pulls the indie chicks in. Steadman grins to yelps of ''Jack. you're my soulmate''. Evidently, it isn't always manufactured predictability and familiarity which is attractive.

   Dusting off the debut album, I Had The Blues…, Steadman recalls a shy love in What If? (‘If only one of us had the guts tonight’), maturing into an absorbed infatuation in Lamplight (‘these scattered flashes of delight, they can't help but sway your mind’). The Hill is an energetic nostalgia of a lost youth of summer weekends lounging on Hampstead Heath, perfectly capturing the very clichéd essence of adolescence. We are soon submerged into summer, forgetting the drissle of the Brissle gig venue.
   The band’s BFFL, a parallel to the acoustic goddess Laura Marling, joins them on stage. Lucy Rose’s beautiful sandy voice really does compliment BBC. We are reminded of the raw talent of the band, their minimalistic nature; the epitome of the acoustic genre. Forget spoilt pop bands with their flaunty outfits and manufactured images. Bombay Bicycle Club effortlessly bring authenticity to the music industry.

   Both band and audience thoroughly enjoy themselves, explaining Bombay’s recent string of sold-out gigs. Emerging from a mist of smoke and strobe lights, Steadman promises ‘meets and greets’ by the merch stand, gifting the crowd with even more than their £18 bargained for.

   Their stabilisers now abandoned, we do find ourselves wondering what the boys will fix us up with next- will they go hip-hop for their fourth album? Unconvinced? Then you need to hear their cover of Derulo’s Whatcha Say...