Dreamin’ has already got the quirky couple noticed both in their homeland, where the single won Song Of The Year at the Icelandic 2010 Music Awards, as well as being selected by trendsetting French boutique label Kitsuné for its Maison 9 compilation.

Feldberg – Dreamin’

The track has also been chosen to feature on the Ministry of Sound ‘Late Night Sessions Compilation’ alongside The xx, Hot Chip and Moby which is due for release later this month.

Consisting of singer Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld and multi-instrumentalist Einar Tönsberg (better known as Eberg), Feldberg first came together in 2008. Einar had recently returned to Iceland from London and was looking for a vocalist to record ‘Running Around,’ a song he had written for an advert for an Icelandic shopping mall.  “It was a lovely accident,” explains Einar. “I needed a vocal, somebody to do a female vocal. I called up my friends and they all said ‘You have to call Rosa.’ She was at my studio ten minutes later and she hasn’t left.”  Rósa adds: “It was really comfortable from the very beginning, like it was destiny. I felt like I should stay once I was there. It’s kind of like a relationship without the romance.”

“We kind of decided not to analyse anything,” says Einar. “Our rule was just to do the first thing that came to mind. Keep it fun and simple. I guess we’ve both been in projects where we’ve over-analysed things and wanting to do the most special music in the world but now we just want to do what’s natural for us.”

Feldberg release the single Dreamin’ on April 11th, the album Don’t Be A Stranger is available now via the Smalltown America label.

Jil is Lucky

French alt folk band Jil is Lucky are gearing up to release their self titled debut album on February 21st, but they have a slice of good fortune by having the current single The Wanderer, taken from the album, used as the soundtrack to the latest TV advert in the UK for Kenzo perfume.

It is a great introduction to the band who have already achieved success across the rest of Europe and is the brainchild of 24 year old Jil who is a persistent wanderer himself, but currently resides in Paris.

Having attached himself to various forms of music during his travels, the album is an effort to sit down and make some sense of it all in the recordings that make up the album.

Drawing his own influences from a wide range of music to start with, Herman Dune, Jonathan Richman, Bob Dylan, Sebadoh, dEUS and even the Violent Femmes, Jil has amalgamated the various forms of music he has picked up on his travels to carve out a rather ingenious first album of songs.

The result is an album that is both melodic and quirky, a mixture of traditional folk and pop music, sincere, humorous and clever that begs to be heard.

It will take more than one listen to adjust yourself to the album, Jil does much of his thinking outside of the box and is not afraid to break any rules in his search for a sound that he can truly call his own.

The Wanderer is a slice of near pop perfection and you can hear it being used on the TV commercial for Kenzo perfume. Jil says; “We were thrilled to hear that the track would be used on the new Kenzo ad. It’s very tastefully used and exudes sophistication when you hear it alongside the ad’s graphics. When we think about how much has happened to the band over the last year, we’re extremely happy to know that so many people will get to hear The Wanderer through this advert over Christmas. We think people will really love the album when they hear it too.”

Watch the Kenzo ad here:

Shona Foster falls firmly into the category of interesting although I have to admit it is difficult, even impossible to pigeonhole her style and sound. There is something of the early Kate Bush about her, with a touch of vaudeville and big band musical style vocal theatrics thrown in.

The Scottish born, Brighton based singer will release her debut four track EP called Hard Work on October 26th through Beach Hut Records, available as a limited edition CD or digital download.

There will be a ‘London launch‘ for the EP on October 28th at The Slaughtered Lamb in Great Sutton Street, London.

Watch the video of Shona Foster performing the title track from the Hard Work EP.

For more information visit Shona Foster’s MySpace page

The UK tour includes one night in Dublin and finishes in Europe again for the final three gigs which will take place in Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.

Local Natives will be releasing their new single Camera Talk on October 19th, with the much anticipated debut album Gorilla Manor due a week later on October 26th. Both single and album will be available through independent label Infectious Music.

Check this video of Local Natives @ SXSW 2009

Local Natives UK & Europe tour dates

26th Sept – Oxford, O2 Academy 2 (NME Radar Tour)
27th Sept – Sheffield, University Foundry (NME Radar Tour)
28th Sept – Manchester, Academy 3 (NME Radar Tour)
29th Sept – Dublin, Academy 2
30th Sept – York, The Duchess (NME Radar Tour)
1st Oct – Glasgow, Oran Mor (NME Radar Tour)
3rd Oct – Newcastle, Northumbria University (NME Radar Tour)
4th Oct – Stoke, Sugarmill (NME Radar Tour)
5th Oct – Liverpool, University Stanley Theatre (NME Radar Tour)
7th Oct – Portsmouth, Wedgwood Rooms (NME Radar Tour)
8th Oct – Bristol, Thekla (NME Radar Tour)
9th Oct – Coventry, Warwick University (NME Radar Tour)
10th Oct – Wolverhampton, Civic Hall Bar (NME Radar Tour)
12th Oct – Norwich, Waterfront (NME Radar Tour)
13th Oct – London, Koko (NME Radar Tour)
14th Oct – Brighton, Concorde 2 (NME Radar Tour)
15th Oct – Paris, La Maroquinerie w/ Peter Bjorn & John
16th Oct – Amsterdam, Paradiso
17th Oct – Berlin, Bang Bang Club

Nominees for the Best International Act at the Balcony TV Awards, The Fancy Toys have already garnered an incredible following due mainly to their incredible live performances, creating both an audio and visual experience that is quite simply unforgettable.

James Duncan (28) and Mickäel Téo (27) have been writing, playing live and recording in the studio with many artists, since they were really pretty young. They have performed at some of the most prestigious venues, all around the world and have now come together to form The Fancy Toys.

They take influences from across the globe (Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock…)  and implement them into a new, exciting and refreshing way of making music. With the Fancy Toys, they unleash their creativity, challenge themselves through the use of different and unusual instruments and explore new sounds.

The Fancy Toys have recently released the single Gypsy Eyes to critical acclaim. To see what the fuss is about watch the video here:

The next single from The Fancy Toys will be For You and Me.

The Fancy Toys UK dates:

8 oct 2009      19:30
The Bedford – Balham – London

9 oct 2009     18:00
Academy Stage – City Festival     Derby

13 oct 2009     21:00
The Oxford Union     Oxford

15 oct 2009     20:00
Roehampton University     London

22 oct 2009     20:00
University of Huddersfield     Huddersfield

24 oct 2009     20:00
Durham Uni     Durham

10 nov 2009     19:30
The Bedford – Balham – London

After setting out their stall with the album Parachutes, Coldplay’s cult following became mainstream with the release of their second album A Rush Of Blood To The Head in 2002 and the subsequent singles In My Place, Clocks and The Scientist.

A Rush of Blood earned the band numerous awards including a  Grammy Award for the Best Alternative Music Album in 2003 and Record of the Year Grammy Award for the single Clocks in 2004.

The release of the bands third album X&Y continued the meteoric rise in Coldplay’s popularity, with constant comparisons to U2 and Radiohead, and their live shows earning them a place amongst the UK’s top performing alternative indie rock bands.

The latest Coldplay album Viva La Vida released in 2008 saw a shift in musical direction from the band. Recorded under the watchful eye of Brain Eno the album pulls on Hispanic influences with less falsetto than on previous albums and evidence of distorted guitar riffs and bluesy undertones.

In June 2008 Coldplay began their Viva La Vida tour with a free concert at Brixton Academy in London. They are currently appearing at European venues in Switzerland, Barcelona, Paris and Holland and return to the UK on Saturday September 11th with a gig at Lancashire County Cricket Club in Manchester.

The concert will be supported by Jay-Z who featured on the Coldplay single Lost.
The American rapper will join Coldplay again in the shows at Hampden Park and two nights at Wembley Stadium, where the ever popular girl band Girls Aloud will also support. Demand for Coldplay tickets is always high, but the with the added bonus of the featured support are likely to sell fast.

Coldplay Ticket Information

At viagogo, every Coldplay transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure. As well as making it easy and simple to buy Coldplay tickets or sell Coldplay tickets, viagogo ensure their safe and prompt delivery with online tracking.

Coldplay UK and European Dates
Wednesday
02 September 2009
19:00
Stade De Suisse
Bern Switzerland
Coldplay
Friday
04 September 2009
21:30
Estadio Olimpic De Montjuic Lluis Companys
Barcelona Spain
Coldplay

Monday
07 September 2009
21:00
Parc de Princes
Paris France
Coldplay

Wednesday
09 September 2009
18:00
Goffertpark
Nijmegen Holland
Coldplay

Thursday
10 September 2009
18:00
Goffertpark
Nijmegen Holland
Coldplay

Saturday
12 September 2009
20:00
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Manchester United Kingdom
Coldplay feat. Jay-Z

Monday
14 September 2009
18:00
Phoenix Park Marquee
Dublin Eire
Coldplay

Wednesday
16 September 2009
20:00
Hampden Park National Stadium
Glasgow United Kingdom
Coldplay feat. Jay-Z

Friday
18 September 2009
20:00
Wembley Stadium
London United Kingdom
Coldplay feat. Jay-Z & Girls Aloud

Saturday
19 September 2009
20:00
Wembley Stadium
London United Kingdom
Coldplay feat. Jay-Z & Girls Aloud

In aid of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, the event at Knebworth featured the likes of Robert Plant, Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney. An incredible line-up of former Silver Clef award winners performed to 120,000 fans in a show that raised over three million pounds.

Now nineteen years later a new generation are set to do it again at The O2 arena. Rockwell promises to be the star-studded musical event of the year with some of the world’s most influential musicians sharing a stage with the best of UK talent.

Rockwell 2009 is a unique one off event that features collaborations never seen or heard before, between some of music’s major acts, the concert takes place on Friday 11th September at London’s O2 Arena.

A few of the collaborations for Rockwell 2009 have already been announced, among the first was Tom Jones who will sing on the night with Joss Stone.
Beverly Knight has been teamed up with Dan Gillespie-Sells and the latest announcement is Ronan Keating who will be joining Australian teenager Gabriella Cilmi on stage.

Although no songs have been announced yet it appears that the collaboration between Ronan Keating and Gabriella Cilmi could well be a version of the Cat Stevens song Father and Son.

Cilmi has often said that the Cat Stevens song taught her that music had the power to change lives. Of course the song was also a massive hit for Keating and his band Boyzone, so both are very familiar with it.

Among other names confirmed to appear at the Rockwell 2009 concert are Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, one of the artists who played at the original event in 1990. He will  perform on stage with Gambian musician Juldeh Camara and British rock guitarist Justin Adams.

The pair previously accompanied Robert Plant at the WOMAD festival earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, with their performance labelled by many the highlight of the festival.

Razorlight, David Gray and Danny and Gaz from Supergrass are other names lined up for the event, with the promise of even more surprise announcements.

Rockwell Ticket Information
At viagogo, every Rockwell transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure. As well as making it easy and simple to buy Rockwell tickets or sell Rockwell tickets, viagogo ensure their safe and prompt delivery with online tracking

diversity

Britain’s Got Talent winner Diversity have been signed as support for Boyzone at The Big Gig Weekend music festival at the Bristol & West showground on September 26.

Diversity will perform the set they had intended to do for Michael Jackson’s This Is It series of concerts at the O2 in London, before his tragic death. Jackson became a fan of Diversity when he saw them on YouTube and was in talks to make them part of his O2 concert series. Diversity are made up of three sets of brothers who all dance, something that Jackson could relate to.

Property tycoon Kevin Newton, promoter of The Big Gig Weekend, feels that Simon Cowell was a little hasty in dropping the dancing group because ‘they dance and don’t sing’ and says he is keen to discuss signing Diversity to his own label Cent Records. “Done right, they could be marketed in much the same was as Lord of the Dance, which wasn’t about singing but was still promotable,” says Newton.

The Big Gig Weekend has been labelled the ‘mainstream alternative to Glastonbury’ by Newton. The Somerset festival will feature James Morrison on Friday, September 25.  Boyzone and Diversity will appear on Saturday 26 and Katherine Jenkins will appear on Sunday 27.

lightspeed champion

Lightspeed Champion fans will be able to share their thoughts with like minded others on the brand new fully interactive website just launched. Fans can create a profile, load up images and video and keep in touch with other fans a swell as developments from Lightspeed Champion, aka Dev Hynes.

Anyone who signs up to be a member of the site will also have access to a free download of a brand new track called Heavy Purple. Dev recorded the track in New York and says;

“I started writing and recording the track at my friend Scott’s studio in Williamsburg and finished the song at Patrick from Chairlift’s home studio in Bushwick. I played all the instruments, and my vocal was done in one take. The intro features Aaron from Chairlift (extracted from an old song of his), which has Caroline from the band doing weird vocal things, and Aaron also does a monologue at the end. The song was basically written as it was recorded.”

Dev will update the site on a regular basis, uploading content including short films, photos and exclusive music as well as continuing his ever popular blog. Check out brand new Lightspeed Champion site here

Max Tundra

Max Tundra aka Ben Jacobs releases Which Song as a digital download single taken from his third studio album, Parallax Error Beheads You.

Sometimes the music of Max Tundra is full of warped, genre-hopping experimentation.  But with Which Song you will find Tundra at his most accessible and pop-tastic.

Think 1980’s Prince and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside at a helium pop party.

Which Song is full of analogue synth sounds and a skipping drum machine-driven beat.

The radio edit is accompanied by two remixes, the Silverline remix is similar to the original while the electronica Gummi Kruppe1 mix is about as experimental and bizarre as the the title suggests.

In between furiously mixing and matching and inventing new futures for pop he’s been supporting himself by doing remixes of other bands, both unofficially (Missy Elliot, The Strokes) and officially (Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, Pet Shop Boys).

Max Tundra is a self-taught pianist who, with the help of  a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer and some cheap music software, began to explore the world of electronic composition.

Triumphing over his meagre equipment, he released a single, Children At Play on Warp Records, thus began a diverse and eclectic musical career in which time signatures, genres and instrumentation have been given a thorough shake-up. His debut album Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be and his subsequent singles for Domino have given the world a set of dense, multi-textured, emotionally-charged tunes, each of which has a different story to tell.

For more information visit Max Tundra’s MySpace page.

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