FEATURE: Dan Croll

*Originally published for The Generator's Tipping Point blog (13/12/12)

I’m honoured to at last reference a musician with (phonetically) the same strange surname as me, but only because the artist in question is breathtakingly good.

Dan Croll was first tipped by us in August when Toby Rogers praised his Flaws-era Bombay Bicycle Club balladry. A couple of months later, the Liverpool musician has come forward with a debut single sounding broader than all of his tracks put together (this is far from a discredit – check out the wonderful ‘Home’ and ‘Always Like This’) – so much so that the likes of Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac have aired/interviewed him on their shows.

‘From Nowhere’ literally has arrived from another part of Croll’s mind, opening with a fairground organ that wouldn’t feel out of place on The English Riviera. It bursts forth with a statement bass-line, reggae rhythms and vacant jazz chords that, in all honesty, make you wiggle like a child in your desk chair. There’s a boyish, earnest tone to Croll’s singing, which nonchalantly glides over the track’s shimmering multicultural sound.

In essence, ‘From Nowhere’ does nothing less than hark to the kind of cool pop music that Santigold writes across the pond, but Dan Croll makes it in Britain. His debut album is out next year.

PREVIEW: Lewis Watson headlines BBC Introducing's Upstairs at the O2 Academy

*Originally published for BBC News Oxford (6/12/12)

Oxfordshire internet sensation Lewis Watson will be supported by four local singer-songwriters at December's Upstairs at the O2 Academy in association with BBC Introducing.

The gig on Saturday 8 December will see performances from Adam Barnes, Jasmine Hill, Gavroche and Alex Lanyon.

Lewis Watson, 20, was first played by BBC Introducing in 2010 and has received almost five million video views on YouTube.

He performed the lead single from new EP Another Four Sad Songs on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show after it charted on iTunes in November.

He said: "I've been to plenty of gigs at the O2 Academy, but now I'm headlining. It's great.

"Oxford is a great place to start out [as a musician]. I started doing open mics and it's fantastic for that."

Although not one to shrug off comparisons to artists like Ed Sheeran, Lewis likens himself to musicians a little further from the spotlight.

"It's a massive compliment to be compared to Ed Sheeran. I like to think that I draw more influence from Ed's workrate than his music though.

"I'd compare my music to City And Colour, or maybe Benjamin Francis Leftwich." 

The Oxford singer-songwriter is signed to Warner Bros and expanded much of his early fanbase through social media.

His success in the virtual world is now very much in the real, with the recent announcement that he is to support Birdy on her Australian tour in April 2013.

He added: "I'll be playing the Sydney Opera House before I'm 21. Mental."

Thriving scene

Adam Barnes will be playing a BBC Introducing gig for the second time Adam Barnes played an Upstairs gig in support of Glasgow's Admiral Fallow in May, but this month the event is completely bursting with local music.

Speaking of the "thriving" Oxford music scene, Adam said: "The best part is that there are always great bands to listen to who are currently doing well, not just in Oxford but across the UK."

He is also acutely aware of the important role that solo musicians play in the music industry.

"More have moved into the spotlight recently, but there are just as many as there ever were.

"You have to think that within every band there are one or two songwriters. The time period does change and different musical genres do steal the limelight, but songwriters have always been up there, from the Bob Dylans to the Springsteens to the Damien Rices."

Adam's music has taken more of a contemporary folk route of late, something that he is proud to exhibit at the Introducing gig.

"It's going to be a good show. It's always great to be involved with BBC Introducing in Oxford so I'm really looking forward to it.

"I'm also heading into the studio over Christmas and starting the recording of my debut album which is really exciting for me."

'Endlessly buzzing'

Jasmine Hill, 17, from Hook Norton, is another young act performing on the night.

She describes her music as "hook-based with pretty quirky productions... a mash up of Paloma Faith, Newton Faulkner, Adele, and Ed Sheeran".

While her covers of similar pop artists have garnered her attention on the internet, Jasmine is determined to share more of her original songs.

"I currently have a stash of originals in the bag and I'm now really focusing on adding to these as well as working and writing with top musicians and producers."

She has also found a way to get her music into a different medium.

"A song I wrote awhile back called 'Free' is being used in a film out early 2013 which is extremely exciting," she said.

Jasmine believes the support she has received from people in the local creative industries is down to their generally "open-minded" natures.

"The music scene [in Oxford] is endlessly buzzing with new talent and fresh music. The majority of people in Oxford are supportive of new artists and genres, so it's awesome for me to showcase my music."

The next couple of weeks are booked up with studio dates in London to record her material.

Also on the line up is Lucie Norton a.k.a. Gavroche who describes her music as "alternative angst folk with electronic tendencies". Singer-songwriter Alex Lanyon will open the night.

Every month a selection of local talent play the regular band nights at the O2 Academy, with highlights featured on BBC Introducing in Oxford.

REVIEW: Bos Angeles - Taking Out The Trash

*Originally published for The 405 (27/11/12)

It's mid-summer, the car windows are wound down, your friends are drinking in the back seat and the air stinks of West Coast hubris. You're not in Los Angeles, however, you're in Bos Angeles, UK and it's pissing it down with rain.

According to a local travel website, Boscombe is lovingly referred to as 'Bos Vegas' or 'Bos Angeles' (though we'll leave the level of irony to the opinions of those who've visited). Three lads from the area have also decided to name their band after it, and they're here to brighten things up a bit.

'Beach Slalom' catapulted Bos Angeles into buzz band territory in November last year, catching them the attention of many a tastemaker. Such a response was inevitable with the band scoffing the liquid hooks of Beach Fossils, WAVVES and Girls, yet sounding distinctly rawer. Lazy, pubescent vocals groan over prickly guitars on 'Beach Slalom', with distorted bass and kitchen pot drums thrashing in the background. It's an addictive sound.

A year later, Bos Angeles have decided to compile all their unreleased EPs onto a retro, yet of-the-moment 21-song cassette tape, Taking Out The Trash as their final parting shot (they disbanded this year). 'Beach Slalom' opens the thick onslaught of lo-fi surfer-rock tunes, followed closely by 'Days Of Youth' with its assured oohs and ahs and happy-go-lucky guitars. It's a strong start and adheres to the 'bedroom pop grunge lo-fi post-punk surf' that the boys have previously (and a little humorously) marketed themselves on.

The next ten minutes do not allow you to lose sight of these genres, so much so that the tracks merge into one another. 'Making Waves' plods in 4/4 like a tired indie filler, lacklustre lyrics grate rather than satiate, and 'Endelss Summer' makes of a double-mockery of its title. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition with the ferocious 'Beach Slalom' and 'Days Of Youth', but either way, it feels like you're looking up from the foot of the mountain.

You can wipe away the beads of sweat once you've pass the halfway mark where, at last, a good cluster of songs breathes life back into the record. 'Stone Washes' is a wonderful early noughties pop-punk with its jangling bass and classic three-chord guitar progression and 'Shallom Goy' boasts of a fresh identity with its battered vocals and anthemic punk-rock chorus. There's something all the more different in 'I Hate It When You Look At Me', which shuffles its shoegaze feet and lets guitars gnaw beneath an impossibly slow beat.

You're just about getting somewhere until a couple of dreary numbers ('Friendzoned', 'All I Do Is Dream') take pole position once more. But the Boscombe boys are clever and draw the compilation to its close with some stellar tracks in 'You're The One That I Want' and 'Pretend With You.'

'You're The One That I Want', unfortunately, isn't a Grease cover, but it is fortunately two minutes of scorching post-punk. 'Pretend With You' is where you can't help but scream "more of this" into your speakers, with its stunning guitar stumbling over calypso drums and ghoulish vocals. Seriously, more of this please.

In all its giant, aggregated glory, Taking Out The Trash is more of a curse than a blessing. Chop it up into bits and it's perfect for easy listening, but swallow it whole and you'll choke before you reach the end. There are some great tracks hidden in its spools – you'll just have to play cassette roulette to find them.

6/10

FEATURE: SOAK

*Originally published for The Generator's Tipping Point blog (19/11/12)

Hello there again, girl + guitar. You’ve been defying the music industry of late with your Marlings, Roses and Daughters and you’ve been doing a fine job of it. Is it beginning to wear a bit thin, though? Aren’t we beginning to tire of all the cute acoustics and breathy vocals? No, not just yet, because 16 year old Bridie Monds-Watson a.k.a. SOAK is here to shake things up a bit.

Originally from Belfast but now based in Derry/Londonderry, the unsigned singer-songwriter has already released two EPs, supported bands like The Undertones and Villagers and even leapt onto the Radio 1 playlist. It’s not so much the complexity of her music that has stirred such attention, but its simplicity. Listen the components of her latest single, ‘Sea Creatures’ (taken from her recent EP of the same title) and you’ll see why. There are no interweaving guitars, just a gently plucked acoustic. There isn’t a full-sized drum kit pelting in the background, just a gently rumbling cajon drum. Dust those elements with the most untouched vocals imaginable, and you’ve got a perfect little nugget of acoustic pop.

Far beyond musical analysis of ‘Sea Creatures’ is the importance of SOAK’s lyrics: lyrics that tell of innocence and experience. “They don’t know what love is, throw it around like it’s worthless,” her precocious head cries, but we also hear her cursing the juvenile “Sea Creatures” that inhabit her world. She’s at once older than her years, yet too young to be ahead of them. That’s her charm.

The ‘Juno’-isms and the twee nature of her music might not suit everyone, but there’s no denying that SOAK has penned a contagious number in ‘Sea Creatures.’ It’s bound to stick in more heads to come.

*Tip comes courtesy of Damian Baetens

FEATURE: KHUSHI

*Originally published for The Generator's Tipping Point blog (7/11/12)

Unsigned London songwriter and producer KHUSHI should be one self-assured fella. He’s received substantial attention on the blog circuit and repeated airplay on Huw Stephens' In Huw Music We Trust – yet just a handful of songs make up his back catalogue. Some stellar tracks must be at his disposal, then.

As stated on his Facebook page, KHUSHI is influenced by the likes of Bon Iver, The National and Alt-J. It would be superfluous and exhausting to pinpoint these sounds out however, for KHUSHI actually acts on his own territory. There may be the odd nod to Justin Vernon-like falsettos, but these are few and far between and there isn’t really one artist to attach him to (alright, I lied, there are a some stirring similarities to Colorado bedroom musician, Mesita).
 

On KHUSHI’s recent track, ‘Magpie’, an assured vocal tone and cutting lyrics tumble from lips, muted guitars mimic violins and careering drums drag root notes behind them. The entire song has a minimalist structure – starting small and ending big – and a brooding pulse that picks dirt up as it rolls. It does nothing less than entices you to explore more.

With an exciting career ahead of him, here’s to everyone doing the same.

Today's tip comes courtesy of Jeremy Lloyd from Laissez Faire Club.

REVIEW: Singles Round-Up - Pistols At Dawn, Grass House, MAIA, Pipers, Mt.Wolf

*Originally published for For Folk's Sake (26/10/12)


Pistols At Dawn – 'Man.Wolf.Man'

The centrepiece bass on this recording-project-turned-band’s latest single is so like the brooding bass line on ‘Come Together’ it’s uncanny, but its goes far beyond its bluesy sound. The track’s scuffling brush beats, jangling acoustics and warped, wheezy vocals are dangerously addictive and, as the grooves thicken and congeal, it becomes apparent that the band also owes much to the shuffle-pop of Dark Captain. You’re absolutely dying for it to reach the 5 minute mark, but it teases you with a commendable 4:52.

Grass House – 'The Boredom Rose'

The northern bred, southern-based four-piece are masters of theatre on this playful single; their guitars plot in the background, drums bounce with heart and character and the band harmonise with a densely-layered, chatty singing-style not unlike The Suburbs-era Arcade Fire. It’s catchy, pulsating and woozes with a twisted Americana.



MAIA – 'The Grandfather Plan'

It’s very tempting to do prior research on a band before reviewing them, but not doing so allows for a truly unprejudiced perspective. In MAIA’s case, with the Mediterranean acoustics and mischievous brass found on ‘The Grandfather Plan’, it was therefore a huge surprise to discover that they’re from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire (now who’s prejudiced?) Gorgeous, falsetto vocals hover over plucked strings and driving cajón drums – it’s immensely exciting.

Pipers – 'Ask Me For A Cigarette'

Pipers have clearly huddled themselves away in a lonely log cabin wearing woolly jumpers and sipping on organic cider while perusing a volume of ‘How To Write Sickly Indie-Pop.’ Of course, their primary-school piano, awkward vocals and twee acoustics might just be your cup of tea, but not mine.

Mt.Wolf - 'Life-Sized Ghosts'

'Dreamfolk'/'Folktronica' lot Mt.Wolf do exactly what it says on the tin. Ambient, dub-inflected soundscapes, breathy female vocals and alluring guitars enclose you in a euphoric dream, where the classically-trained singer Kate Sproule nurses you with her stunning chamber-choir harmonies. Like MAIA, this bunch are doing something quite different, so don’t lose sight.

LIVE: Oxjam Oxford Takeover

Richard Walters

*Originally published for the Oxford Music Blog (24/10/12)

It’s a chilly Autumn night in the city of dreaming spires and something strange is happening. There are no university gowns in sight, nor any scantily-clad teenagers slumped on the side of the road. Tonight isn’t about the city’s students or tourists; tonight is a whirlwind celebration of Oxford’s famous musical heritage, its cosy contemporary music scene and the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, now known globally as Oxfam. Put simply, it’s an exciting music festival that raises awareness about poverty and injustice without shaking a jar at you.

The Cellar is a welcome respite from the crisp air outside and has already been warmed by cider-drinking punters awaiting ToLiesel’s set. The band play like they’re headlining; their feet set wide apart, guitars held aloft like godly relics and lead singer Jack Olchawski glowing with confidence. New single, ‘The Light’ is a charming song that bursts open with energy, healthy Americana and swashbuckling rhythms, but ‘Whispered Half Asleep’ sees ToLiesel at their most accomplished.  Aquatic guitars quiver and heavyweight three-part harmonies boom around The Cellar’s tiny underground space. “I’m flattered so many of you are missing We Aeronauts for us,” Olchawski says wide-eyed, “try and see some of their set.” And with that, a quick walk next door to The Purple Turtle allows gig-goers to catch the end of We Aeronauts’ set.

Sweat is dripping from PT’s cavernous walls and We Aeronauts are looking suitably bemused on stage. Technical difficulties have actually postponed their performance and the seven or so twenty-somethings are beginning to share perspiration with the walls. When all things are go, their first few minutes on stage are understandably a little flustered, but lead singer Anna is a force of nature and really pulls the band forward with her Feist-like vocals. A twee accordion and trumpet nicely pepper their grounded folk-guitar, piano and drum arrangements, but ongoing complications with the sound lets them down a bit tonight.

Sisterland

Thanks to the hard work of the festival organisers, all the Oxjam venues are in close proximity and the clubs themselves are fitting for each act. Take Sisterland for instance, a fuzzy garage-punk who have been wholeheartedly embraced by the local Blessing Force collective. They couldn’t be better suited and booted for Modern Art Oxford, A.K.A. Oxford’s hipster haven (it’s a visual art gallery-cum-performance space that sells seasonal food and soft grain leather rucksacks, for Christ’s sake). Musings aside, Sisterland play a remarkable set. The lead vocalist’s choir-boy vocals add a sugary sweetness atop the trio’s concoction of heavily distorted guitars and thrashing drums. Their set is criminally short, but Pet Moon are on next.

Sporting a rather unconventional short back and sides, Andrew Mears of Pet Moon immediately jumps into action, strutting around the stage and bouncing his RnB vocals off Modern Art’s whitewashed walls. They’re regulars on the local circuit and have been in some form for years (Mears was one of the original founding members of Foals and the since-dissolved Youthmovies). But it’s a rather odd affair watching them tonight. Mears intermittently hits the high notes and rarely engages with the audience, which is a surprise when considering the context of his established musicianship. Perhaps it is just his style. It could also be an extended metaphor for their somewhat disjointed and unpredictable music, where synths scurry like mice, trigger-sharp rhythms cut and splice and warm vocals wash with the beat. Their sound certainly lies somewhere between ambient producer How To Dress Well and a modern Prince, especially on the rousing ‘Superposition.’ Pet Moon have some fascinating experimental sounds at their disposal, but they just need to find a way to execute them live.

Pet Moon

Shortly afterwards at The Turl Street Kitchen, Empty White Circles take over the stage like there isn’t a moment to spare. Fronted by two American brothers but seemingly rooted in Oxford, the five piece play glorious Americana and rootsy folk ballads. Lead vocalist Kevin Duggan is a young incarnation of Marcus Mumford, who projects with a wholesome country hum and ‘woahs’ like he invented it. ‘Positives’ is an infectious shuffle-pop tune played with remarkable assuredness, but it’s ‘Adventures’ that really sells the band live. All five of them flank the edge of the stage and just as the Duggan brothers lull the crowd with their honeyed harmonies, the whole band stomps in unison like a strange, sedated hoedown. It’s powerful, engaging and damn-impressive from start to finish, just like their entire set.

Empty White Circles

Lamp shades add a rather domesticated feel to the venue, perfect for headlining solo acoustic hero Richard Walters' stripped-back sound. He’s just flown in from Ireland and looks bloody knackered, grinning and bearing the first few songs but eventually warming up to the attentive crowd. Walters is a captivating performer who never once opens his eyes but completely envelopes audiences in his stories of love, loss and life. New single, ‘The Escape Artist’, proves that he doesn’t need a full band behind him to stun everyone to silence. The recorded version – although in itself a beautifully undercooked composition – features yearning strings and tumbling drum patterns, but it couldn’t be better heard than live with just Walters and his solitary guitar.

The Turl Street Kitchen is enjoying a quiet crowd that takes comfort from Walters’ aching melodies and ecclesiastical vocals. Recognising this, Walters decides to dig out a couple more songs from his back catalogue, including the mesmerising, ‘Weather Song’, in which he compares his lover with natural elements over a trickling, plucked guitar.

The fact that Walters brings Oxjam Oxford to its close with this song is not only fitting for tonight’s breezy Autumnal weather, but it nods to the city’s love for performers of all kinds – from lo-fi garage bands to sensitive one-man band balladeers. After tonight, Oxford should be extremely proud of its charitable and musical heritage.