The Devil is dedicated to unearthing unknown, unheard, unseen, unheralded, unfamiliar or down right unbelievable bands old or new that have not yet hit the radars of the British public. If you are a new band or artist and would like to be considered for inclusion then please contact me via email, twitter, myspace or facebook.
Maxwell Panther From: Sunderland, North East, United Kingdom
Sunderland no-fi troubadeur Matthew Panther is so D.I.Y he should be on the shelves at B&Q. His short, sharp, rough diamonds have been cut from a crystal forged from the back catalogues of The White Stripes, Syd Barrett, The Moldy Peaches and late 60s' Paul McCartney at his pithiest
Matthew doesn't trouble himself with trivialities like production and, as a result, his songs have more humanity than a truck load of Lady Gaga remixes. They might be rougher than a sandpaper toilet seat and sound like the microphone was in the toilet while he was in the kitchen but they sound real. They sound like they have been created by a genuine human being rather than a computer programme.
It may be a little rough around the edges, and around the middle if truth be told, but there is an ageless beauty that shines through the murk. If you want to hear more then Maxwell Panther's new album 'Do You Feel Different Yet?' is out now on Song,By Toad Records.
Warpaint From: Los Angeles, California, United States
In a perfect world Warpaint would be soundtracking the lives of everyone on earth. Their sound, think Mazzy Star meets Blonde Redhead in a dense California fog, is simply breathtaking.
The haunting 'Billie Holiday', a spine tingling cover of Mary Wells' 1964 hit 'My Guy', is possibly the best cover version I've heard since The Cowboy Junkies sublime cover of 'Sweet Jane'. Warpaint turn Well's original inside out until it sounds like the last lament of a bunny boiler. It's a contender for the Devil's track of the year and there's still eleven months to go.
The standards set by 'Billie Holiday' would be difficult for any band to maintain yet Warpaint have a whole kitbag full of tracks that tingle the spine like a massage from a snowman. Check out the primal, pagan hymn 'Burgundy', the heartbreaking 'Elephants' and the funereal, yet beautiful, 'Set Your Arms Down'.
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are all linked direct from the Warpaint Last.FM site and are all therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
On Top Of The World sounds like a toytown Daft Punk with vocals courtesy of Lizzy Mercier Descloux. Aseptique is an oblique slab of electronica, the kind that the streets of Sheffield used to be paved with in the pioneering days of the late 1970s. 'Funny Symphony' could well be the missing link between New Order'sBlue Monday, Madonna'sVogue and The Human League's 'Circus Of Death' and is as good as that sounds.
Go Try
MP3 - Ninca Leece - Funny Symphony If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Bureau B so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. MP3 - Ninca Leece - On Top Of The World MP3 - Ninca Leece - Aspetique If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked from the Ninca Leece website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Hallo...I Love You, the side project of Chris McIntosh, lead singer with Liverpool band 28 Costumes (featured on the Devil's blog back in October 2007, Liverpool Explodes Again), and number 6 in the Devil's most loved tracks of 2009 will be releasing their first single on the 8th March. Those of you who loved the band's track Hallo I Love You won't be surprised when I say that it's a charming number.
The single, 'Walk Me To The Sea' will be released on deepest sea-blue 7" vinyl complete with fuzzy felt casing and 'under-the-sea' themed fuzzy felt shapes to create your own fuzzy felt adventure on your sleeve!!
Go Try
MP3 - Hallo...I Love You - Hello I Love You If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked from the Hallo...I Love You Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
If you like this then check out Chris's other band 28 Costumes...
Go Try
MP3 - 28 Costumes - This Band Has Eaten All Our Money If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked from the 28 Costumes Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Will 2010 herald the return of loveliness to music? The Devil has already featured the eternally lovely A Smile & A Ribbon and tonight's band, London five piece The Madrigals, are lovelier than an angel's dream.
As you may have guessed from their name the Madrigals' music is influenced by traditional English folk music which they weave with modern indie pop like Belle & Sebastian if they'd been brought up in a monastery.
Modern music started with Big Star it's just that no-one new it at the time. The cult band's cult band only received the recognition that their offbeat pop deserved long after they'd ceased to exist. The tracks on Chris Bell's 'I Am The Cosmos' were born out of the ashes of Big Star but, tragically, the album didn't see the light of day until almost 14 years after his death from a car crash in 1978.
I was first introduced to Bell via two amazing cover versions of I Am The Cosmos and You & Your Sister on This Mortal Coil's 'Blood' album and was therefore excited to hear of the release of the deluxe edition of 'I Am The Cosmos' by Rhino records which includes no fewer than three different versions of You & Your Sister and two versions of I Am The Cosmos. The album is a welcome reminder of how Bell's genius with 27 tracks including a whole disc of rare and unreleased music.
The tracks on the deluxe edition of the album suggest that Lennon & McCartney's reign as the worlds greatest songwriters would have been under threat if Bell had lived to fulfil his potential. The album is a heady cocktail of bitter ballad's (Speed of Sound), gritty rockers (Get Away), heads down no nonsense mindless boogie (Fight At The Table), meaty power pop (I Don't Know), and acoustic hopelessly romantic songs of love and regret that bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye (Though I Know She Lies and You & Your Sister).
I Am The Cosmos is like two classic albums in one. There are moments where Bell revives memories of Nick Drake at his most heartbreaking and there are moments when his inner rocker comes screaming out like he's been possessed by the spirit of Lennon.
Bo Bruce, a close runner up in last year's Orange Unsigned took time out from her hectic schedule to talk to the Devil. Bo, who the Devil described as havingthe haunted look of Garbo, the golden voice ofDidoand is as clean and fresh asOmo, shared her influences, her inspiration and what she would say to Simon Gavin and Lauren Laverne if she met them in a dark alley! The Devil - Who are your biggest influences?
Bo - Annie Lennox, Durutti Column,Mum, The Cure, Massive Attack, my mates with real jobs, London town, Neil Young, Sigur Ros.
The Devil - What was the first record you owned and what was the first record you ever bought?
Bo - Patto banton..baby come back
The Devil - What makes you stand out from the millions of other bands in the world? What makes you unique?
Bo - erm.. I guess I'm ok to listen to sing . . I don't really believe in all that "look at me freaking out, forward slash I'm so different from everyone else...but I've also never really cared what music vibe was "on trend" so I don't feel like I have a particular shelf life either. So does the make me M.O.R?!
The Devil - What's the strangest place you've ever played and would you go back there?
Bo - Whats that hotel from James Bond? The one in Monaco? After the UK smoking ban when Monaco were still smoking inside, we sat in this great hall with gold leaf everywhere,singing kareoke on their baby grand- sucking on B&H. good times..
The Devil - If you met Simon Gavin and Lauren Laverne in a dark alley what would you say to them?
Bo- I'd ask them both to lend me a tenner and definitely give gavo hell for some of his recent signings...and contrary to what people think, I'm actually very fond of Lauren Laverne. She's got a very cute kid as well with a genius name. Its something like "Roy" or "Alan" (it's Fergus James - The Devil).
The Devil - Where do you get your inspiration from when writing your songs?
Bo - My view on life. Its so self obsessed isn't it. Oh dear. and I love my books. you're in this person's company for 300 pages. You get inside their thought processes, and that becomes part of your mental landscape. Joy.
The Devil - If you weren't a singer how would you keep yourself occupied?
Bo - I once wanted to be a bus driver. At some point that might've been a peaceful job, but I'm guessing it's probably quite stressful now.
The Devil - What's your favourite joke?
Bo - Anything non p.c
The Devil - Anything else you'd like to say to the Devil's readers?
Bo - Thank fuck its fridaaay people, and thanks for asking. xxxx
Go Try
MP3 - Bo Bruce - Brighter Moon If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Bo Bruce so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright
MP3 - Bo Bruce - Fighting Arizona MP3 - Bo Bruce - Black Ice If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from Bo's Last.FM site and are therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright
Bear Pilot From: Sweden The Devil's mission is to unearth unknown, unseen and unheard bands and artists. Well they don't come much more unknown, unseen or unheard than Sweden's Bear Pilot. With less than 400 visits to their myspace site, just 30 myspace friends and less than 200 plays of the tracks on their myspace site you could say that Bear Pilot have a lower profile than the invisible man on a nudist beach. However it surely can't be long before the rest of the world catch on. With a sound that harks back to the woozy psychedelia of Love and the reflective pop of the Pale Fountains (a seriously underrated and fondly remembered band in the Devil's house) it won't be long before Bear Pilot are flying high.
Tiny Vipers From: Seattle, Washington, United States
The year may still be in it's infancy but it's already shaping up to be another year of the electro-pop female. The global success of Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, Lily Allen, La Roux, Pixie Lott is influencing a generation of female singer songwriters to leap onto the bandwagon like an olympic long jumper on steroids (yes Ellie Goulding I do mean you!).
Thankfully there are some female singer/songwriters who can resist the urge to lay on the synths with a trowel. Check out the amazing Tiny Vipers, the pseudonym of Jesy Fortino. She's like a blast of fresh air through a hazy fog of deodorant spray and there's not a synth in sight, or sound.
Jesy has a distinct style, equal parts Cat Power, Cowboy Junkies and the Velvet Underground. Minimal yet complicated her sound has crossed over from the more conventional pop sound of her Sub Pop debut Hands Across The Void.
In a year when the airwaves are destined to be saturated with the sound of single women and their synths Tiny Vipers offer the perfect antidote.
Go Try
MP3 - Tiny Vipers - On This Side MP3 - Tiny Vipers - Dreamers If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from Sub Pop Records and are therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright Go Visit
I was saddened to hear about the death last week of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. otherwise known as Jay Reatard. With 22 full-length albums and over 100 releases in his short career, Jay leaves behind a lo-fi legacy that'll echo down the decades. The world will be a little quieter and a little less punk rock. Go Remember MP3 - Jay Reatard - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from Stereogum and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright
The Hush Now From: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Boston indie-popsters, The Hush Now, are releasing the second single, Contrails, from their upcoming, sophomore album, Constellations which is due out February 16th.
The Hush Now's ivy league, indie-pop-rock sound is reminiscent of early Weezer and Wilco with the muscle of shoegaze’ s glory days thrown in for good measure. If that excites your taste buds little Devilettes 'Constellations'will be offered as a free download when it's released in February. So it's true the best things in life really are free.
Go Try
MP3 - The Hush Now - Contrails If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of The Musebox so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright MP3 - The Hush Now - Landlord and the Tenant MP3 - The Hush Now - Hoping and Waiting If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Hush Now Last.FM site so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright Go Visit
Winner of the worst band name of the week award goes to One In A Googolplex ( the number 10100 nothing to do with the similarly sounding search engine) the pseudonym of a German singer/songwriter. The band name is taken from a line in the movie 'Back To The Future III' the worst of the trilogy which somehow makes it even worse! Luckily the band's cosmic, electronic, folk, pop, kinda like Sufjan Stevens let loose in a sound effect studio, more than makes up for saddling himself with a stinker of a name.
Today's post on the Devil's blog is dedicated to the kings of independent labels Kill Rock Stars. It's hard to believe but 2010 is the 20th year of existence for the hugely influential label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Over the 20 years the label has skillfully avoided pigeonholing by simply adopting the tried and tested indie of approach of releasing stuff that they like rather than the latest flavour of the month. It's this, with their leftist, feminist and anti-war philosophy and their unwavering commitment to underground punk bands and the artists of their hometown, that has enabled them to survive and thrive.
To celebrate the 20th year of existence here are some tracks from just a few of the brilliant bands to walk through their door over the past 20 years...
If anyone from the IFPI is reading the following tracks are all linked direct from the Kill Rock Stars website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Some bands are defined by their name. Let's face it Megadeath were never going to be a disco band, Iron Maiden were hardly ever gonna be anything other than a heavy metal band and Haircut 100 were always gonna be a little twee.
Therefore it doesn't take a genius to guess that A Smile & A Ribbon may be a little C86, a little fey, a little lo-fi, a little jangly. The Swedish band, presumably named after the Patience & Prudence track of the same name which featured in Ghost World, don't disappoint. From covering a Television Personalities song, 'Magnificent Dreams', to songs with titles like 'A Walk In The Park' and 'My Bunny's Back' A Smile & A Ribbon could have been created in a laboratory from DNA found on an old Sarah Records compilation. Go Try
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are all linked direct from the Smile & A Ribbon Last.FM site and are all therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright
Les Fauves (French for The Wild Beasts) were a short-lived and loose grouping of early 20th century Modern artists whose works emphasised painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism (thanks Wikipedia). Les Fauves (still French for The Wild Beasts) are now an Italian born, London based grouping of early 21st century modern artistes whose music emphasises surrealist discord over the mundane bleatings of the landfill indie aristocracy. All too often the Devil opens emails from bands and PR companies with a heavy heart expecting yet another copycat band jumping on the latest bandwagon sounding as exciting as a five day seminar on paint drying techniques.
So thank heaven for those occasional flashes of authentic brilliance and originality like Les Fauves, which make it all seem worthwhile. The Italian five piece take the essence and spirit of Television, the Violent Femmes and Devo and give it a 21st century twist.
They're beasts, they're wild and they're coming for your young! Go Try
MP3 - Les Fauves - Death Of The Pollo MP3 - Les Fauves - Drops Drops Drops If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are published with the permission of A Giant Leap so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. MP3 - Les Fauves - Fava Go Go Dancer If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from Les Fauves Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
New York's Useless Beauty have just released their first EP a collection of songs that will bring a smile to your face and warm the cockles of your heart. A set of tracks that will have you grinning like a bushel basketful of possum heads. Their jaunty brand of catchy, melodic pop sounds like a pot-pourri of Keane, Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, KT Tunstall, Natalie Merchant, The Zutons and an excessive intake of sugar!
Useless Beauty's Sugar Crush EP is a friendly record for humans, mermaids and porcupines alike. Go Try
There's nothing like kicking the weekend off with new, free and brilliant music from one of the most remote places on Earth!
Icelandic 7-piece Seabear will release their sophomore album, We Built a Fire, in March 2010 on Morr Music. What started out as the lo-fi solo project of Icelandic singer/multi-instrumentalist Sindri Már Sigfússon's (aka Sin Fang Bous) has now morphed into a rambling experimental/indie/folk septet. We Built A Fire was recorded in the band's apple carton-covered basement studio and is the followup to their 2007 debut, The Ghost That Carried Us Away, which sold over 20,000+ copies with little to no promotion behind it.
Kicking their live stage vibrance into record format with their indie-rock boots tightly laced on, Mirrorkicks will be releasing their second single, ‘Anything’, on February 1st 2010. The band are currently sending viral shockwaves across the web with their version of Leona Lewis’, ‘Bleeding Love’, and will be heading out on a mini UK tour at the end of January including a headline slot at the Water Rats on 2nd February.
‘Anything’, pushes the band into a vivaciously-effervescent new dimension of pitch and sound exploration. With vocals akin to an unlikely fusion of the grittiness of Sting and the heady falsetto-heights of Perry Farrell, ‘Anything’ is certain to stir emotions and capture your imagination. The track has recently been added to the XFM evening playlist after a number of spot plays and support from John Kennedy. 2010 is set to be Mirrorkicks year.
Born and bred in South London and meeting at secondary school, Mirrorkicks are, Gerard De Waal, Edwin Pereira, and brothers Ingmar & Anil Kamalagharan. Following a period of musical experimentation, which saw Anil performing and recording with Imogen Heap, whilst Edwin, Gerard & Ingmar supported Razorlight at their 2006 Album launch, the guys’ passion for rock couldn’t be ignored and they cemented their relationship with the formation of Mirrorkicks in late 2008.
With their glam/indie/rock image and charged live performances, the band have become an uncontrollable force on the live circuit and are in high demand across the London scene. It is this support and demand which led the band to the recording studio, where they have successfully captured their on-stage magic and unfettered energy into record format.
The word unique is thrown around far too easily but it's the first adjective that comes to mind when you hear Black Sabbath Black Fiji. I can guarantee that you won't hear anyone like Blue Sabbath Black Fiji this year. Their sound is a genre all of it's own, a genre that hasn't been invented because you can't really have a genre for one band's sound.
If you took The Jesus & Mary Chain's feedback and forced it through a poor quality amp with the volume turned up to deafening the result would be Blue Sabbath Black Fiji.
If you thought Lou Reed's'Metal Machine Music' was extreme then Blue Sabbath Black Fiji have raised the bar with a sound that's just about as far from the mainstream as you can get.
Tonights post is the second of the Devil's two part predictions of the bands and artists who will breakthrough in 2010. In no particular order the Devil's second set of tips for 2010 are...
Spirit Spine From: Bloomington, Indiana, United States Blissed out looped and layered experimental post-pop from the one man psych machine Spirit Spine. A likely candidate for global domination if the world wants to turn on, tune in and drop out. Go Try
The classically named Othello Woolf has cheekbones like geometry and a voice like David Byrne giving birth. He has a better than even chance of bathing in Davina McCall's milk in 2010.
If Carlsberg did garage bands they'd probably sound like The Super Vacation. With a surf board under one arm and a Nuggets album under the other they're cooler than a Polar Bear's todger.Outsider for global domination unless the world is waiting for Roky Erickson on a surfboard.
Reading Rainbow From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Reading Rainbow make music so rich and saturated in reverb and bright, sun drenched psychedelia that it will make your headphones sweat like a cold can of pop in the summer time. It's simple, short, sweet indie pop like your granny used to make. Worldwide domination beckons only if everyone in the world is injected with the John Peel gene. Which you have to admit is a cool idea.
Predictions of who will make it big are always liable to provide a journalist with more egg on face than Humpty Dumpty's renologist. The history of music is littered with band's who were destined for greatness and disappeared without leaving so much as a smudge on the window of the music world. It's even harder for bloggers like the Devil because, by our very nature, we deal in the obscure and the uncommercial. However I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that during the next twelve months at least one of the bands featured over the next two days will become bigger than Obama.
In no particular order the Devil's first set of tips for 2010 are... First Aid Kit From: Stockholm, Sweden
First Aid Kit are young sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg and they sound like angels tears falling into a dark, deep fjord. They are the most likely of the Devil's tips to be household names by the time Father Christmas puts on his boots again.
Lord Auch are a hammer horror version of Nick Cave covering early Echo & The Bunnymen b-sides and could be the band that take Darkrock into the mainstream. They are the sound of hard times and their chances of making the breakthrough are inextricably linked to whether Britain ever crawls out of recession!
The Lyrebirds' sound is austere, minimal, monochrome yet powerful and beautiful. Over the next twelve months they will be scuffling with Lord Auch for ownership of the Darkrock crown. Their chances of breaking through will be improved if they can avoid the tag of the new Editors.
The sound inside an antipodean robots head after a bad dream. Their chances of worldwide success are limited unless there is a mass ingestion of LSD although stranger things have happened.
Go Try
MP3 - Blank Realm - Untitled If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Blank Realm Last.FM site and is therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Britain continues to shiver with further snow on the way so today's post is a follow-up to yesterdays snow and ice special with a few more tracks from the same bands to warm you up like a hot water bottle for the ears.
If anyone from the IFPI is reading the following tracks are all linked direct from the artist's Last.FM site, website or label and are all therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Britain is so cold it feels like the hell is freezing over. The country is blanketed in the white stuff and the country is grinding to a halt. Rumour has it that this is largely because the stiff upper lip has frozen to stiff lover lip. The blitz spirit so beloved of lazy journalists across the country has been buried under a couple of inches of snow and a few days of slightly cold weather!
Well to celebrate the return of proper winters (god how old does that make me sound?) here are a few snow and ice related bands to warm the cockles of your hearts...
If anyone from the IFPI is reading the following tracks are all linked direct from the artist's Last.FM site, website or label and are all therefore freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. MP3 - Fall Of Snow - Pretty In Pink (Psychedelic Furs Cover)
