The soulful tones of Joss Stone, choruses as infectious as a double dose of Umbrella-ella-ella, and a squeeky clean image make Pixie Lott comparable to a substance-free antidote to the drug-riddled train-wreck that is Amy Winehouse. Pixie has the tracks, the voice and the look to be the UK’s next huge Soul / Pop Diva, and I can’t see her pulling out of gigs due to drug-induced respiratory problems.. nor can I see her public persona and media attention being dominated by stories of break-downs and rehab. Ok so this is turning more into Amy bashing than a positive review, so I will wrap it up with: click the image, head to her myspace and check out Here We Go Again to find out exactly why this gorgeous Pop Diva is set to support the Saturdays and the Script among other huge acts in the coming weeks.

The Best of New Urban

At the risk of pigeon-holing myself I have predominantly focused on enlightening the world to the best up-and-coming Indie / Rock / Emo… so far. So here’s a bit of the best of Grime / R’n'B / Soul / Breakbeat and all things Urban:

Bisa of ‘Jake Jon & Bisa’ – Live

Jake Jon & Bisa – Influence from genres as diverse as Ska, R’n'B, Pop, Soul and Urban make Jake Jon & Bisa a unique and refreshing listen, appealing to a wide variety of fans. Their chilled out, smooth sound complete with processed beats, pop-hook synth lines, bass loops, funk guitars, close harmonies and impressive rhymes makes for the perfect Summer-time companion. For me, the raw talent evident in this Soul Boy-Girl duo act more than makes up for the, at times, slightly amateur production and tacky synth sounds, and the fact that epic and infectious Pop tracks like See Dat Dude and Synthony Song have only had 18 and 17 Myspace plays respectively is frankly criminal. So if you want to be part of something really intimate: if you want to be able to say ‘I spotted them first’, head to their Myspace, or better yet come on down to The Great Escape Festival and check them out there:

Now for some camp-as-a-row-of-tents, energetic, sexed-up, Disco Sec-Rap, check these guys out:

 

Ezra Bang of ‘Ezra Bang & Hot Machine’ – Live

Ezra Bang & Hot Machine – A blend of Beastie Boys and Public Enemy-esque Rap and Hip Hop over a wave of thrashed and trashed synths and samples. There are so many influences goin on here it’s hard to know where to start. What You Can’t Kill You Must Envy takes Psychedelic Disco-Rock synth sounds and drum loops, throws in some Andre 3000 style vocals, and mixes in a Rage Against The Machine-esque chant of ‘What You Can’t Kill You Must Envy’ reminiscent of the epic lyric ‘Fuck you I won’t do what you told me’ for good measure.We On Top A Dis meanwhile puts an oddly synth and sample-inthused camped-up spin on Gangsta Rap: kind of how I would imagine a Mika / Dr. Dre collaboration to sound, while Gezundheit Zeitgeist takes the Rock riffs and rap-stylings of Beastie Boys and throws in infectious dance synths a la Hadouken!. I could go through all the songs and compile a list of all the influences here, and there is a hell of a lot going on, but maybe it would be easier if you just checked it out! To sum it up though I think Flamboyant Disco Sex-Rap is how I would describe this genre-defying Machine… The Best of the Rest:

Trip - Promo Shot

Trip – Punk Rock crashing guitars and Grime MC Urban poetry, think The Streets v The Clash.

Master Shortie - Promo Shot

Master Shortie - All the ability, pomp and cheeky chappy charm of Soulja Boy and the vocal prowess of Chris Brown over, at times, Prodigy-esque tribal rhythms and chants, indie guitar licks, and Klaxons-style synths.