As soon as I heard 'Flaws' by Dan Smith, or as he is better know, 'Bastille' I was hooked. His first few releases, including an Ep called 'Laura Palmer', and a few other singles, have been made up of extremely catchy pop synth tracks, including 'Flaws' and Icarus'.
What I love about Bastille's music, is that even when tracks such as 'Flaws' are completely stripped down to an acoustic guitar, they still sound great, which shows he can actually write well, and possesses real talent.
Bastille first gained recognition online due to his home made video for his track flaws, which contains vocals
that remind me of artists such as Jack Peñate and Wolfgang.
Icarus (Unplugged)
Although it might still be early days for Bastille, it has been a while since the UK charts have been graced with a serious contender from the male pop genre, recently being dominated by female pop singers. I'm definitely excited about future releases and am looking forward to hearing more from him!
Having gained almost all of her recognition through youtube, Myspace and local gigs, Gabrielle Aplin, is a completely self promoted musician. She now has over 5 million views on youtube and 1.3 million on Myspace. It seems like she must be doing something right!
However it was not her covers that got my attention, but in fact her own written pieces, which include the catchy 'Never Fade' and 'Panic Cord'. Influenced by artists such as Damien Rice and Jamie Cullum (Who she also happened to attend the same school as!) and with a voice comparable to that of Ellie Goulding's acoustic work, she manages to combine fantastic vocals with her guitar and piano playing. However I think it would be unfair to constantly compare her to any particular artists as I feel she has her own unique style, as demonstrated on her first two EP releases (Acoustic EP and Never Fade EP).
The first song she covered that started to draw a wider audience was her cover of 'Liar and The Lighter' by You Me At Six, hitting over 600,000 views on youtube. She went on her first big UK and Ireland tour in May 2011.
I think that Gabrielle Aplin is going to have a huge year in 2012, having already entered the UK, Australian and US charts, with both of her first EPs, and having bought both of them recently I'm definitely look forward to a full album sometime in the near future!
You can visit http://gabrielleaplin.co.uk/ to download two of her tracks from her acoustic EP, 'Mountains' and 'On Your Knees' for FREE, and both of her EPs are currently only £1.79 each from iTunes!
This is a guy I have been listening to on youtube for a couple of weeks now, and I'm quite excited writing about him! David McCaffrey has a couple of stand out songs including 'stars' and 'sons and daughters'. These two, especially 'stars' have grown on me and got stuck in my head without me having much of a choice really! His music sounds fresh and original, besides it being incredibly catchy!
If you're into alternative/acoustic sounding stuff
I recommend giving him a listen,
and I'm definitely listing him as one to watch out for in the future!
I could not think of a more appropriate way of starting my music blog than by introducing this artist, to those of you who are not familiar with him already. Considering the labels' history of successful artists, Ben Howard decided to sign for Island Records, with whom he has recently released his debut album 'Every Kingdom'.
The album was released on the 30th September, and interest in Ben Howard is rapidly increasing. The album includes 3 singles released previously including the track 'Old Pine', which was released in April, peaking 36th in the UK indie chart.
Over the summer, Ben Howard release a further two tracks, 'The Wolves' (June 2011) and 'Keep Your Head Up' (August 2011) which both entered the top 100 of the UK singles chart. Keep Your Head Up - Ben Howard The Wolves - Ben Howard
What strikes me most about Ben Howard, is even at young age he is able to captivate audiences who may otherwise have no interest in the 'folk singer-songwriter' scene. He has already shown an incredible amount of versatility, which can be seen by watching his live performance of his first single from 2010 (These Waters) which takes up a different style from his recent album, attempting to draw in a wider range of audiences. 'These Waters' shows Ben Howard as he is supposed to be viewed; live. Ben is often accompanied by India Bourne who adds to the unique feel of Howard's music with her cello and harmonies. Ben seems to have gained an ever growing fan base simply by word of mouth, and with the help of youtube and radio stations, both local and national, much like Ed Sheeran. He is often being compared to John Martyn, but I wouldn't think twice about fitting him comfortably into a playlist with the likes of Jose Gonzalez, Bon Iver and Jack Johnson (who alike Ben Howard is a keen surfer). All in all, I think Ben Howard has set himself apart from the usual singer songwriters that seem to come and go, but this is not just down to his complex tuning and catchy melodies, I think that he is one to look out for in 2012, where I think he will get his break through.
Hey everyone!
This is my first post on my new blog! Hopefully over the next couple of weeks you will see it fill up with loads of musical talent, including my favourite artists and songs of the week!
