Yes, it's Top Of The Spots time again as Nicky Thompson-Quartey digs up all you need to know - and more - about some of the less well-known but arguably much more exciting acts which have been synced over the last few weeks.
Rustie
Title: Velcro
Record Company: Warp Records
Brand: Adidas Football
Born Russell Whyte, hip hop producer Rustie first came into prominence with his 2007 EP, Jagz the Smack. The album was distinct for its ‘lazer hip hop’ sound - a genre defined by experimental electronic flourishes, warped bass lines and 90s video game sound effects. Like fellow Scot, Hudson MoHawke, Rustie also found himself one of the regular DJs at Glasgow’s semi-legendary LuckyMe club nights before joining Warp in 2009. From that deal came the 2011 Glass Swords collection which would go on to receive outstanding reviews and a covetted First Album award from The Guardian. Velcro is the second Rustie track to be used in an Adidas sports campaign. Fans will recall his signature single After Light appearing in the brand’s lead-up to the 2012 Olympics. This timely feature comes on the back of his 2014 LP Green Language, proving Rustie to be a savvy industry player with a core audience within the sports-fanatic community.
Artist Website: http://greenlanguage.rustie.net/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/rustie666
Fake Club
Title: Bring It
Record Company: Rosie Bones
Brand: Nivea
Be afraid, be very afraid of FAKE CLUB. This self-described ‘Spice Girls with guitars’ share the feisty energy of their predecessors whilst priding themselves on their DIY work ethic. Led by singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Rosie Bones, they attribute their creative freedom to the absence of a label. With angry guitars and hard hitting drums, their sound bears favourable comparison to bands like grunge-pioneering Nirvana and girl rockers Haim. The outspoken girl-group regularly voice their frustrations with contemporary celebrity culture and the politics of body image as played out on glossy magazine covers. But, despite their rebellious nature, it seems the band are still willing to play the game in order to put themselves on the map. Bring It can be heard in a skin commercial by Nivea – a brand that promises women a flawless look to rival any catwalk model. Other credits so far include a sell-out headline show in Berlin last year and a silver screen debut in the 2013 British comedy, Powder Room. Appearing as the in-house act, FAKE CLUB provided the film’s entire soundtrack. Undoubtedly, with such a provocative attitude and a band name that literally shouts at you to be noticed, FAKE CLUB are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Artist Website: https://soundcloud.com/fakeclubband
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/fakeclubband/
Stockholm Syndrome
Title: Pretty Girl
Record Company: Warner -PLG
Brand: L'Oreal Feria
Before they were Stockholm Syndrome they were Love Generation - a Swedish five piece formed in 2010 when Roshana Hossein, Cornelia Jakobsdotter, Melanie Taylor, Charly Q and Mikaela Urbom beat 500 other contestants in a talent contest masterminded by a handful of producers at Universal Music Group, including the Moroccan hit-machine RedOne. But tensions grew within the group after a string of commercial misfires resulting in the resignation of three members. As the last two girls standing, Cornelia Jakobsdotter and Charly Q knew they couldn’t continue under the same moniker and reinvented themselves as Stockholm Syndrome. The Swedish duo subsequently coined a fresh, novel sound which they describe as ‘EpicElectronicProgressiveHouse’, and signed a new recording deal with Warner. Pretty Girl, which underpinned the recent L’Oreal Feria commercial, finally feels like a step in the right direction for this tenacious girl group.
Artist Website: http://stockholmsyndromeofficial.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/StockholmSyndromeOfficial
Raleigh Ritchie
Title: Stronger Than Ever
Record Company: Sony
Brand: De Montfort University
You may not recognise the new name but perhaps you’ve doubtless seen his face every Sunday night. Today, Jacob Anderson is best known for playing the Khaleesi-worshipping Greyworm on Game of Thrones but admits acting is merely a stepping stone for the ultimate dream. What surely sets Anderson apart from many other actors-turned-musicians is that music has always been on the agenda. Originally from Bristol, Ritchie moved to London at age 17 to launch his music career as a solo singer but found himself guest-spotting in British dramas like The Bill and Casualty instead. He contributed his own I Need Love to the soundtrack his big screen debut, Adulthood – a song recorded with Plan B. Once his acting schedule had cleared, Anderson signed with Columbia Records in 2013 and subsequently released The Middle Child EP under the pseudonym, Raleigh Ritchie. Having grown up on everything from The Smiths to Stevie Wonder, versatility is clearly part of his MO, but it’s a love of hip hop that has mainly shaped his sound. Stronger Than Ever hails from his most recent EP Black and Blue and has a youthful swagger that places him firmly alongside the best of today’s Urban Pop acts.
Artist Website: http://www.raleighritchie.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/RaleighRitchie
Birdy Nam Nam
Title: Defiant Order
Record Company: Sony France
Brand: Lynx/Axe
When these four DJs met as members of Scratch Action Hiro, winners of the 2000 DMC World DJ Team Championship, they knew there was a chemistry that they couldn’t let go to waste. The following year Crazy B, DJ Pone, Little Mike, and DJ Need formed Birdy Nam Nam and went on to win the 2002 DMC World DJ Team Championship. Creating minimalistic abstract hip hop with an electronic twist, Birdy Nam Nam are to turntables what Kraftwerk were to synthesisers, making music which is entirely turntable based. Taken from their third studio album of the same name, Defiant Order makes its impression on Axe/Lynx three years after its release and, with luck, the association with such a prominent youth brand will propel this underground French quartet into the consciousness of a more mainstream audience.
Artist Website: http://www.birdynamnam.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/birdynamnamofficial
George Ezra
Title: Blame It On Me
Record Company: Sony
Brand: ITV
George Ezra took a risk when he dropped out of the award-winning Brighton Institute of Modern Music to pursue a live career. The risk paid off: agencies were blown away by Ezra’s immense talent and he soon landed numerous supporting slots for established acts around the UK. After a successful stint at Glastonbury 2013 as part of BBC’s Introducing, Ezra geared up to release his critically acclaimed debut EP, Did you Hear the Rain? He was subsequently awarded fifth place on the Beeb’s Sound of 2014 list of rising stars, and they’ve had his songs on loop ever since. The fresh faced 19-year-old from Hertford struck gold when his smash hit Budapest stormed the charts earlier this year. It currently shares a Top 20 place with Blame it On Me, Ezra’s most recent single which ITV used for its Autumn Drama trailer. Blame It On Me perfectly demonstrates Ezra’s trademark sound of deep baritone vocals over an unrelenting acoustic guitar rhythm. Its refusal to slip back down the charts proves British audiences just can’t get enough of this up-and-coming songwriter.
Artist Website: http://www.georgeezra.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/georgeezramusic
Woodkid
Title: Run Boy Run
Record Company: Green United
Brand: Cancer Research
While Rayleigh Ritchie makes a compelling argument for actor-turned-musicians everywhere there’s another double-threat trending: music-video-director-turned-recording-artist. Yes, after years of gazing longingly behind the camera as big-haired, pouty-lipped pop stars crooned to the fourth wall, Frenchman Yoann Lemoine decided to step in front of the camera and embark on a recording career of his own – inspired by Sixties folk protest icon and Woodstock veteran Richie Havens who gave him a banjo during a video shoot. Whilst making the Teenage Dream promo for Katy Perry, ‘Woodkid’ began recording his Iron EP which has so far spawned two TV titles and various computer game syncs. The title track can be heard underneath Volvic’s stupendous Giant clip while Adbreakanthems first tracked Run Boy Run in a Nike commercial back in 2012 before seeing it again in this summer’s Cancer Research campaign. Written and recorded while he was working with Lana Del Ray on Born To Die, the video to Run Boy Run won Lemoine Best Director of the Year Award at MVPA and a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video. Among the other acts who have benefited from his keen eye are Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. With his fingers planted firmly in all the pies, Woodkid is sure to be a face (and a name) you can’t escape in 2015.
Artist Website: http://www.woodkid.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/WoodkidMusic/
Yaoband
Title: We Just Love It
Record Company: Beat Machine
Brand: Apple iPad
It’s 2010 in Beijing, China. Luke Wang and Peter Feng, two successful music producers/vocalists bored of penning tunes for everyone else, vow to front their own project and approach hitherto luckless rapper Mr How at a party. Shortly after, the trio recruit funk guitarist Yu Chi Chun Xiao, a reggae loving bassist Jah (of course!) Yang and rock-and-roller drummer Diao Lei and the Yaoband is born. Evident from the title of the commercial, Yaoband's Verse is as much a platform for the band’s blend of hip hop, rock and dance as it is for Apple, and the band’s in-person appearance successfully marries both in an organic fashion. We watch in awe as they use clicking billiard balls and steam from a kettle to create We Just Love It on their iPad Air tablets. As if that wasn’t enough, Yaoband can be seen on stage towards the end of the clip working the crowd into a quasi KPop frenzy. It will be interesting to see what effect this infectious energy will have on the wider (Western) world. And what it will do for the profile of guest vocalist (and local Beijing TV personality) Aventurina King.
Artist Website: https://soundcloud.com/thehonor
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/YaoBand?ref=stream&fref=nf
MØ
Title: Walk This Way
Record Company: Sony Music
Brand: Boohoo.com
Danish songstress Karen Marie Orsted knew she wanted to be a pop star the moment she first heard the Spice Girls – and would later honour them with a cover of Say You’ll Be There. As she grew older, her tastes matured and she began listening to bands like Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins while developing a further taste for hip hop resulting in a spunky, electronic pop sound. Her big break came when she was invited to play the CMJ showcase in New York where she blew critics away with a captivating performance. It was at this time that she began writing songs with fellow Dane Ronni Vindahl and at the beginning of last year she released her debut single, Glass, as MØ. A second single, Pilgrim, followed shortly after and landed her a Top 20 hit in Denmark. From the accompanying album, No Mythologies To Follow, she released two further singles Don't Wanna Dance and the quirky Walk This Way which was used in the trends showcase for designer clothes retailer Boohoo.com. Otherwise a guest vocal on Swedish DJ/Producer Avicii’s Dear Boy from his True album remains the most notable feat of her career to date.
Artist Website: http://www.momomoyouth.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/MOMOMOYOUTH/timeline
Parov Stelar
Title: All Night
Record Company: Etage Noir
Brand: Paco Rabanne Lady Million
Austrian producer/DJ Marcus Füreder cycled through a number of stage names before settling on the Parov Stelar moniker. He began his career in the 1990s as a DJ before morphing into Plasma for a 2001 record, Shadow Kingdom. Two years later, he founded Etage Noir Recordings and has been Parov Stelar ever since. His modern electronic twist on jazz and swing samples was so idiosyncratic that music pundits and fellow artists alike felt it deserved a genre title all of its own and was dubbed Electro Swing. Pioneering this new style, Stelar’s tracks have been used in numerous TV ads, soundtracks and compilations, with Paco Rabanne perfume being only the most recent addition to what promises to become a very long list. All Night is taken from his Top 5 hit album The Princess and was re-released on last year’s follow up The Art of Sampling and helped win him a brace of Austria’s Amadeus Music Awards in 2013 and 2014 for both his studio recordings and his live performances. To date, Stelar has sold 250,000 albums independently and continues to be an influential presence on the Electronic scene.
Artist Website: http://www.parovstelar.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/parovstelar
