Spotlight!: Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles

billy bibby

The former founding member and guitarist of Catfish & the Bottlemen has struck out on his own and is rapidly growing a following just as passionate and loyal as that of the band he helped propel towards stardom. With being a key player on one of the best debut albums of the decade already under his belt it’s hardly surprising that his solo career boasts some of the best indie hits of the year. A self assured musician with talent beyond his years, Billy has gathered a top notch band to help bring his vision to light. Tracks like ‘Don’t Fall’ and ‘Waitin’ For You’ blend together the intricate and impassioned indie rock that made him famous with a subtle hint of Americana. Billy and his Wry Smiles are masters of anthemic choruses and summer ready “sing your heart out” hits. With some top tracks at his disposal it won’t be long until this ex-bottleman and his burgeoning fanbase are selling out venues across the UK.

Fans of Noel Gallagher, Kurt Vile, The Maccabees and (of course) Catfish & the Bottlemen should check out the latest single ‘Are You Ready?

Top Tracks: Keaton Henson – Alright

One of Britain’s best kept musical secrets has new music on the way. Championed by Zane Lowe and rightly considered in the same light as folk genius Nick Drake, Keaton Henson has released the lead single from his upcoming album Kindly Now which is released 16th September. It is a glorious return to his roots after dabbling in classical music on Romantic Works and with electronica on his side project Behaving. It is another example of the transcendent beauty that we have come to expect from one of the most underrated songwriters in the world.

Top Tracks: Shenna – So Low

New York based indie pop and alternative R&B singer/songwriter Shenna has brought together a diverse range of styles on her latest single from her upcoming album Made of Gold. Starting with a simple guitar intro it soon builds into a hypnotic mix of electronica and undulating synths. Even dabbling with Eastern influences, this deceptively simple pop hit is more complex than it first appears. Carrying a message of strength and independence, and sinfully addictive as all good hits should be, ‘So Low’ could easily be the first step towards Shenna’s chart topping future.

 

Vicious attack in Turkish record store

radiohead band

The Velvet IndieGround, a record store in Istanbul, was attacked while customers were taking part in a worldwide listening party of Radiohead’s new album A Moon Shaped Pool. A mob of around men armed with pipes and glass bottles attacked customers as they were drinking alcohol during Ramadan. Following this petty act of barbarism the band have issued a statement: “Our hearts go out to those attacked tonight at Velvet IndieGround in Istanbul. We hope that someday we will be able to look back on such acts of violent intolerance as things of the ancient past. For now, we can only offer our fans in Istanbul our love and support.” It is still unclear precisely how many people were injured.

Spotlight!: r e l

r e l

This budding young alternative pop singer/songwriter is already making waves in her native Los Angeles. Her heartfelt and edgy “evoca-pop” carries a deeper message and a greater diversity which by all counts sounds like the future of what pop music should sound like. Tracks like the haphazard ‘Factory’ which deals with conformity in modern society and ‘Growing Pains’ which talks about facing change and overcoming insecurity carry exactly the kind of message that the world needs right now. With her narratives draped over a backdrop of electronica and subtle R&B, r e l has a wisdom and self assuredness of someone far older and more experienced. She may have a long way still to go but the future is bright for this rising star and if she keeps things up for her upcoming debut album then it’s surely only a matter of time before she’s topping the charts.

Fans of Lorde, Halsey, Grimes and Rationale should check her out on SoundCloud

Copyright Chaos

copyright

There is a new blight on the music industry that is working to besmirch the name of hardworking artists. There is a growing number of groundless copyright cases in recent years that have done their best to steal millions based off of simple musical coincidences. Cases have been raised against the likes of Sam Smith, Led Zeppelin and Ed Sheeran of so called copyright infringement based on very little evidence. There have been songs all throughout history that have had similarities, coincidence or otherwise: ZZ Top’s ‘La Grange’ riff is just a sped up ‘Spirit in the Sky’, Vanilla Ice stole the bass line for ‘Ice Ice Baby’ from Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’, The Phantom of the Opera theme was stolen from an excerpt of Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’ and almost all blues songs can trace their origins to Robert Johnson. Usually such similarities went unnoticed, but these days people are eager to exploit the slightest few notes in common. It’s a trend that needs to die out sooner rather than later, and to do so all you have to do is follow these three steps: Continue reading