Faze Miyake was one of grime's most refreshing success stories in 2011, with his take on bass-laden, hip-hop inspired beats capturing the grime scenes' collective imagination to great effect. His breakthrough single 'Take Off', widely acknowledged as the year's defining underground anthem, was selected as the official backing track for the third installment of rejuvenated legendary battle-series Lord of the Mics and follow up EP, 'The Second Six' also drew plaudits from all the right places. 2012 began with MC favourite 'Dead Battery', only to be overtaken in the demand stakes by the monstrous 'Gunpowder', both of which ...

An abundance of Triangles. Art school heritage. Songs with names like 'Fitzpleasure'. You'd be forgiven that Alt-J were one of those fictional bands that troll social networks making satirical remarks about their marketing plans. Yet, pleasingly, the quartet transcend their early hype-wave caused by run-away smash 'Breezeblocks' with An Awesome Wave , a stunning debut that deserves at very least a cursory listen from any music fan; even if you were into them before they were cool. The first thing that stands out above all else on this collection of 13 tracks is Joe Newman's voice. It's not ...

Right now, Beatport Play is off and running with another slew of remix contests and prizes. This month, remix John Dahlback's "Phoenix," Hot Chip's "Night And Day," Oxia's "Harmonie," or Cedric Gervais' "Molly" and you could come out more than just a winner. Sure there's a whack of prizes to take home—like the iZotope Iris soft-synth, the IK Multimedia SampleTank 2 , a Novation Impulse 25 controller, an Odyssey Redline DJ bag and laptop stand , and Acrylick t-shirts—but what's even better than that? Ask Zedd , the two-time Remix Contest winner who laid the foundations ...

(Roadrunner) She has the swagger of Jagger Releasing a debut album followed by vigorous, almost non-stop touring is often a dangerous combination, commonly leaving a sub-par sophomore release in its wake. But for female-fronted rockers Halestorm, sharing the stage with the likes of Avenged Sevenfold and Papa Roach has instead reinforced the foundations laid by their self-titled release. And while sonic comparisons are due for the aforementioned artists, Halestorm have a secret weapon within th ...

Death Rattle From: London, United Kingdom Gloomy, dark, doomy electro from London duo Death Rattle (not to be confused with the American queercore band of the same name, Death Rattle ), with battering beats that will shake your house to the foundations. If Fever Ray and Nine Inch Nails joined forces to cover Depeche Mode's Violator on the San Andreas fault the resulting cacophony would sound like Death Rattle.  Go Try   Do As You Please by Death Rattle   The Dig by Death Rattle Go Visit Death Rattle - Facebook : Website : Last.FM Go View Death Rattle Do As You Please Death ...

Getting set to play Splendour in the Grass, as well as releasing their debut EP... Larry Heath caught up with the band to talk about playing the festival, what we can expect from the EP and much more... Let’s get rolling, what’s your schedule like today? Just this and then going to hang out! Ah that’s easy! Cool. Alright, well, we’re here to talk many things, I guess firstly, you’re back on the Splendour line-up. You were on it last year as well, but I remember it being a very early spot from memory how ...

The bravery of Russian fem punks Pussy Riot (check out the latest news and donate to their cause here ) has reminded the world that Riot Grrrls haven't retired to a comfortable middle class Kirsty Allsop fantasy world of baking, pinafores and aga cookers. They're still out there fighting for justice, for equality, for tolerance and a better world. They're still laying the foundations for the arrival of the new renegade girl/boy hyper-nation and it's time we started listening to them.  With thanks to the Riot Grrrl UK Facebook site and Not Right Punk.Com  for ...

You can’t talk about Sara Watkins without dropping some big names. The former Nickel Creek member produced her first, self-titled 2009 album with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. She’s spent the years between now and then as a touring fiddler and backing singer for the Decemberists, as performer and occasional guest host for “Prairie Home Companion” and continuing the foundations of the Watkins Family Hour at L.A. mainstay Largo with her brother and Nickel Creek cohort Sean. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/immaculate-noise

In the last of the Guardian Northerner 's posts on Wearside's great music debate, musician Neil Wood and student Hannah Matterson put their views Neil Wood is a musician and blogger in Sunderland. He's on Facebook and there's more here too . At 21 years old, I am slightly too young to recall the splendour of 1999-2005 in Sunderland. I was too busy playing football in the park and trying to conquer the SATS. Remember them? However, as a musician and blogger based in the city I can offer my own views on Sunderland and the music that ...

Another slant on the who, whats, whens and whys of how Sunderland became the north-east's hotbed of musical creativity. Dan Carson speaks to today's young musicians and promoters on Wearside "What is it that transforms an area's local musical landscape into a credible national scene?" asks Live UK journalist Allan Glen, in his post on the Guardian Northerner which has triggered passionate debate. His answer seems to place the credit squarely at the feet of Sunderland City Council's 2008 Music City initiative , an 80-page document outlining plans to build upon the foundations laid by the likes ...

Daze : “New York 1984” (feat Girl Is Tough) - Stream -  From the “Foundations” EP coming soon !

Levon Helm, best known as the drummer and singer of The Band, passed away today after a long fight with cancer. He was 71. Helm's distinct voice and drumming style cemented him as a legend in 60s and 70s rock, soul and rhythm & blues. Helm grew up in a small town in Arkansas, and it was there that he was taught the foundations of American blues and bluegrass by his family. After joining forces with fellow southerner Ronnie Hawkins in the early 60s, Helm recruited the Canadian super force, futur

Sufjan Stevens--"Too Much (live)" (mp3) No, no, no, this is not about politics! Wait! Come back! I know you don't read political stuff. We've learned that over the years on this blog. I promise, this is not about politics. I promise. This is about America. Regardless of which way your preferences tend, there is one thing that you will have to concede: the candidates know your country a lot better than you do. All of them. For months, even years, they have been to the major cities, the small towns, the unknown corners of states we may ...

There have, and most probably always will be beings and bands so unearthly that their very existence defies all logic. So gawkily lissom is Bradford Cox for instance it's a wonder he retains sentience on a daily basis. There's a being, and here's a band: French/Finnish pop pioneers The Dø . Returning to the hubbub of London in order that they may maintain the foundations cemented by the release of sophomore full-length Both Ways Open Jaws  and to initiate a brisk European jaunt, the cirque stylings of the duo comprising vocalist/ guitarist Olivia Merilahti and multi-instrumentalist Dan ...

Desperate times call for desperate musics, to bastardise the age-old hackneyed proverb. And although there may be some utterly tragic frequencies forcibly lodged in the mainstream and consequently indelibly inscribed into a collective memory contemporarily, touring Minneapolis troubadours Dark Dark Dark exude a despair to beguile perhaps the more amenable of A List zealots. Reticent as many great musicians before them may be recalled, they shuffle onstage unannounced and indeed unnoticed by some, immediately having to contend with ill-timed technical issue. "That's it; show's over", bespectacled banjoist-cum-clarinetist Marshall LaCount wryly sniggers. Thankfully for we and – if his interpretive ...