In the meantime check out the Cajón on this:

So it was with a certain degree of trepidation after I saw ‘classical music’ as an influence that I pressed play to hear the music of The Shadow Orchestra. It is with a great degree of jubilation that they are no Katherine Jenkins.

I was contacted by the Band’s harpist Kat Arney. Yes, you read that right – Harp – and it features heavily on their new Remaker EP. The Shadow Orchestra though was originally the solo work of cellist and producer Chris Bangs – and his 2006 eponymous release received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and 3.

Despite the record’s success Bangs decided to rely less on his laptop and assembled, alongside Arney, drummer Dave Oliver, guitarist Nick Siddall and singer and multi-instrumentalist Mary Erskine.

The expansion of The Shadow Orchestra seems to have worked wonders. Remaker still has plenty of hints towards the experimental electronica of Aphex Twin or even composer Jonathan Harvey. But with the added forces you can appreciate some exquisitely performed instrumental layers which have been crafted together to make ethereal soundscapes, whilst Esrkine’s vocals float elegantly above.

You can buy Remaker for what you like. Before you decide how much you want to pay, have a listen to my favourite track from the EP. Thanks to the band for this song – cause it’s helped take some of the edge off that saw.

The Shadow Orchestra – Time and Distance mp3

Having laid drum tracks for Alesha Dixon, Girls Aloud, The Pet Shop Boys and Kylie - Florrie has decided she wants her own piece of pop super stardom.

Surprisingly the Bristolian singer is still unsigned – but I doubt the record industry will allow that to remain the same for long – especially with the release of her latest and strongest track Give Me Your Love.

For Florrie’s first two releases Call 911 and Panic Attack she has worked closely with house DJ and producer Fred Falke - and with Give Me Your Love she has continued this partnership.

Her first two tracks have gone far more down the house route, but with Give Me Your Love you can tell she’s put a lot of love into the drums and seems to have steered towards a stronger pop.

You can get all her tracks plus their remixes for free from Florrie’s website but you can also listen to her latest here:

Florrie – Give Me Your Love mp3

Florrie is extremely talented. If she sticks to her drumsticks and Fred Falke and gets signed to a good record company that treats her as a musician – she’ll rasp the crown off the tyrant GaGa and become the rightful queen of pop.

Thom Yorke

Despite murmurs from the Oxford group that after In Rainbows they wouldn’t be releasing a full LP again - according to Ed O’Brien they are in fact close to finishing off their 8th album. Just as Michael Jackson used to create a media storm with a  new record release – a new album from Radiohead will surely be broadcast on news bulletins worldwide, especially after the coverage In Rainbows received.

Here is Thom in all his new beardy glory performing Give Up the Ghost. Quite a tasteful use of the looper – although nearly everything Thom Yorke comes up with is tasteful in my opinion.

Last year Entrepreneurs gained some recognition with a remix of Marina and the Diamonds - but it seems what’s going to set him apart is his own astonishing music.

Entrepreneurs offers on his debut EP Uv Been Robbed (joking, but not) a glitchy industrial electronica backdrop over catchy pop melodies – delivered with distant crunched vocals not too dissimilar to Julian Casablancas.  Listen out for the great little guitar solos too.

In true entrepreneurial spirit you can buy Uv Been Robbed (joking, but not) for what you like. Although all the songs are great – Hunting Roger Rabbit is one of my favorites – with a great chorus and awesome beats. Tim over at The Blue Walrus –  where I found Entrepreneurs - loves Bubblegunk - and as he says shows some ‘great finesse’ – there are lots of elements that on paper shouldn’t mix.

You can choose which one is best by listening to all the tracks on this Sound Cloud:

Uv Been Robbed (Joking, But Not) by Entrepreneurs

Next big thing? I think so.

Other than the museum I struggle to come up with a reason why you wouldn’t visit Seattle – it’s lovely and also where Nate Moceri of Frame the City comes from.

Moceri now resides in Portland – and as Frame the City grafts some slick laid back electro rock. The mixture of Moceri’s distant but compelling vocals with well written songs work perfectly and keep me coming back for more.

Memories of his hometown’s rock legends are conjured up by Moceri’s voice – you can find out more about Seattle’s musical past at the Museum there. No wait – look it up on Wikipedia instead.

Frame the City released their first album Someday We Will All be the Same in Janruary 2009 and the We Were Wolves EP in February this year, you can buy both from Amazon. Katie Byron and Ashley Ennis frequently collaborate with Nate as guest vocalists and Frame the City are currently in the studio recording their next EP.

As a preview here are two tracks courtesy of Nate. We Were Wolves is one of the most gorgeous tracks I’ve heard for a long time. It’s no surprise from both of these songs that Nate has previously been on MTV’s books for songwriting and composing. Hopefully before long Frame the City will just be on MTV.

Frame the City – We Were Wolves mp3

Frame the City – Wearing Jeans to Bed mp3

You can like Frame the City on Facebook.

What’s better? I’d say the:

• music
• cinematography
• bizarreness
• costumes
• beauty
• absence of Lady Gaga

I had no knowledge of IAMAMIWHOAMI, in fact looking around I don’t think many other people do. Well it’s all thanks to Bigstereo I found this. I’m speechless too. Apart from when I spent 5 minutes figuring out how to say IAMAMIWHOAMI.

This is the stunning music video to IAMAMIWHOAMI‘s single Y:

Its a wrap

Student debt sucks. I finished attempting to increase my brain capacity over four years ago and am still about as close as world peace to paying it off. To avoid paying it back I may soon take the approach of the members of DOM and remove my surname from the face of the earth.

Erik, Bobby K and front-man Dom are from Worcester, Massachussets and since forming early this year are now going on tour supporting Ratatat. No – they won’t tell us their second names.

Dom himself is quite eccentric – he’s writing a soft-core porn script, still collects food stamps and dreams of DOM being signed to ‘Lil Wayne’s label – you can learn more about him through his interview with Pitchfork.

I admire that the band is ambitious – they admit their music is developing and are keen to record in a studio to break out of their lo-fi limitations. Still, they have the strong foundations to create some great hits – I’m sure they’ll repay their debts before they know it.

Here’s the first track from their EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods and the one everyone’s downloading. Although not quite the “YMCA” pop anthem Dom was aiming for – it’s better than anything on MGMT‘s new album.

Dom – Living in America mp3

Buy Dom’s EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods on iTunes

Follow DOM on Twitter, oh and Follow Me

MNDING some buttons

Talented and suave Mark Ronson may be  - but subterranean sea deposits can flaunt more charisma than him. Or maybe it was just his way of dealing with another of those irritating as fuck Channel 4 presenters.

At least during the most boring interview drawn out on celluloid they managed to play Bang Bang Bang - his latest single with an awesome music video. It’s fantastic and made even better with vocals from the talented - MNDR. What a find – Ronson may be dull – but he does know his Michael Jacksons from his Leon Jacksons.

MNDR is actually a duo of singer/song writer Amanda Warner and producer Peter Wade. Amanda’s journey matches the changing geography of music in the US  – moving from California to New York (Brooklyn of course) to propel her music career. She soon met Wade and within a year was supporting Massive Attack and The Shins – and not to mention lending a hand on Mark Ronson’s single.

Amanda is well known for programming beats and recently put together the touring keyboard rig for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Most importantly though Amanda has a great and scarcely found voice that cuts through synths like a knife.

Watch out for MNDR and her massive glasses – you’ll see them everywhere soon.

Here is the synth laden single which also features on their EP:

MNDR – C.L.U.B. mp3

Buy the MNDR E.P.E from iTunes

Follow MNDR on Twitter – oh and follow me too.

Too painful to look at the camera

Synths and glam may have been part of my diet as an 80s child but I never totally fell in love with 80s music. It’s only now – and after the main revival of 80s chic has passed that am I coming to appreciate what the decade of decadence produced.

Recently I went to Lovebox in London’s Victoria Park and went bananas over the bananas Grace Jones. It turns out another 80s superpower won my heart more – Tears for Fears. Well not quite, a few acts before Grace came BBC Sound of 2010 nominees – Hurts. Tears for Fears can only dream of being able to produce their kind of music – with all the technological advancement in the last 30 years that Hurts have to play with.

The northerners’ powerful, catchy and epic pop surprised most of the crowd – especially when they started singing along to songs they’d never previously heard. Although they didn’t win the Sound of 2010 – I expect Hurts to be the most successful from the shortlist. Ellie Goulding? Yeah – no one cares.

Here is a live version of my favourite song at the moment Better Than Love:

You can also watch the music video for Better Than Love on youtube. Or you can watch the brand new music video for Wonderful Life which they are re-releasing as their next single.