“One Sees the Sun” is the debut single from Jim Kroft, an up and coming singer/songwriter based in Berlin. The single is taken from Kroft’s forthcoming album “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” which is about a young man’s effort to grow up sane in a bonkers world.

`One Sees the Sun´ was inspired by a meeting with Colin Wilson, author of the famed 1956 masterpiece The Outsider, who Kroft went to Devon to meet one summer. The strange old sage insisted on the young songwriter staying the night in his library which housed over 40,000 books.

In just a few short years, and over the course of two acclaimed albums, pianist Neil Cowley and his band mates, bassist Richard Sadler and drummer Evan Jenkins, have carved out a reputation as one of Britain’s most exciting bands. Radio Silence, their Naim jazz debut, is their most complete and eloquent statement yet.

Radio Silence is the sound of a band fully comfortable in their unique sonic skin. And if an album is simply a snapshot of a work in progress, then this is a perfect portrait, capturing Cowley and his co-conspirators in the right place at the right time. This is the record that he has been working towards, documenting the magical empathy of a unit, who, with thousands of hours under their belt have learnt to breathe and listen as one.

Mamas Gun, the funked-up five-piece fronted by singer/composer/producer/designer Andy Platts, release their new single Wishing on February 28th. This stunning Hall and Oates-tinged masterstroke (incidentally, in recent years, Platt has worked with the latter) features on the ‘deluxe’ version of the band’s debut album ‘Routes To Riches’ which was co-produced by Julian Simmons (Guillemots), mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones) and mastered by the equally notable Bob Ludwig. It will be released as a double A-side along with another track lifted from the album, the delightfully dirty, ‘Grove is in the heart’ vibe ‘Finger On 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.

ONETASTE FESTIVAL 2009 SUNDAY 8TH NOVEMBER AT THE BEDFORD, BALHAM, LONDON.
New musicians, poets, alternative thinkers & practitioners, filmmakers, actors, DJs & dancers converge for the 1st time in a unique festival for London.
“…a series of MCs, poets, witty musicians, and beat boxers each took turns on stage, none of them outstayed their welcome and all of them were red hot. OneTaste deliver a night out that’s both theatrical and b-boy sharp. I wandered into the Glastonbury night with that rare, gleeful feeling I’d made a great discovery. OneTaste will go far….” Thomas H Green – The Telegraph

he most ferocious roots guitarist from the UK since The Yardbirds, 22-year-old Isle of Man born Davy Knowles returns to the UK with his band Back Door Slam and a brand new album “Coming Up For Air” produced by Grammy Award-winning guitarist Peter Frampton and mixed by Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, The Who and Paul McCartney). Davy Knowles has spent the last two years on a US blues pilgrimage wowing audiences in every state, even giving guitar legend Jeff Beck a run for his money, having just finished a support tour with him. He has rubbed shoulders with many other guitar greats, opening for the likes of The Who, Kid Rock, Chickenfoot, Joe Bonamassa, Lynyrd Skynrd, Buddy Guy, Eric Burdon and George Thorogood.

Speed Caravan started performing as a trio: Haddab, with bass player and long-time friend Pascal ‘Pasco’ Teillet; and electronic beat mistress and former Ekova member, Hermione Frank. Word of mouth spread, as audiences marvelled at Haddab’s flamboyant, frenetic style (not for nothing has he been called the Hendrix of the oud); at the way Pasco’s bass underlined the oud’s arabesques; at the way Frank grooved at her computer. Later the trio were joined by deft percussion skills and throaty vocals of Moroccan-born Mohamed ‘Simo’ Bouamar, who kept the vibe firmly in the East.

In just a few years Portico Quartet’s hypnotic music has taken them from busking on London’s South Bank, to a Mercury Prize nomination, to performing at the Royal Opera House (with support from Wiley and Chipmunk) and recording at Abbey Road with producer John Leckie. Famed as a nurturer of young bands (Stone Roses, Radio Head etc), Leckie has brought a powerful clarity to the band’s music and Isla is a darker, more mature, expansive statement than their debut, Knee-Deep In The North Sea. However, it is still very much a Portico Quartet album.

Following an inspiring hiatus where she toured extensively with some of the world’s most notable artists, West London’s Izzi Dunn is ready to return with her scintillating second album Cries And Smiles.

Cries And Smiles is the latest unique chapter from a self-sufficient musician (she writes, produces and plays most of her own material) who has already had a remarkable career. As a cellist she’s played for the likes of Mark Ronson, Gorillaz, Chaka Khan and Soul II Soul. Izzi has also graced the cream of the UK music scene with her talents, The Brand New Heavies, Roots Manuva, Beverley Knight, Jamelia and Bugz In The Attic are just a few of those who have benefited.

The new album showcases her skills as a versatile singer-songwriter who has some important things to say. Her distinctive, soulful voice is on full display. However, her skills as a cellist and arranger, continually honed since childhood, are an indispensable aspect of proceedings. There are no sampled strings here people.

Tits and Ass is the first single from her new album, which expertly and bravely derails the sexism and hypocrisy that many take for granted. This is her announcement and calling card that the album is coming soon.

The single will be available as digital download and limited 7 inch that won’t take long to become a highly sought after collector’s item!!

www.izzidunn.co.uk
www.myspace.com/izzidunn

One of the UK’s most exciting live bands are about to make one of 2009’s hottest album debuts. Mamas Gun, the five-piece fronted by singer/composer/producer/designer Andy Platts, will release their superb first album ‘Routes To Riches’ on September 28th, previewed by the single ‘You Are The Music’ on September 28.

Both are on their Candelion label, underwritten in a groundbreaking “business angel” deal by investment company Icebreaker/Shamrock Solutions. Fuelled by heavyweight media momentum which included a month on the BBC Radio 2 playlist for the 2008 single ‘Pots Of Gold’, the band release ‘Routes To Riches’ to great expectations, and it fulfils all the promise of their superb live show.

Mamas Gun have got soul — but they’ve also got pop, jazz, funk, blues and rock, and the album delivers on all fronts. Together in this five-piece line-up for two years and taking their name from an Erykah Badu album, Mamas Gun are already knocking out five-figure festival crowds in Europe. ‘Routes To Riches’ is predominantly written by Platts, who co-produced it with Julian Simmons (Guillemots), and takes inspiration from the best contemporary and classic artists, but with a style that’s completely theirs. It was mixed in Los Angeles by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones) and mastered by the equally notable Bob Ludwig.

The hook-laden single ‘You Are The Music’ evokes the Average White Band at their blue-eyed-soul best, while ‘House On A Hill’ is a summer breeze of pop positivity, ‘Chasing Down Shadows’ is a heavy-duty soul ballad to rank with the best and tracks like ‘Finger On It’ and ‘Bitch’ are dripping with delightfully dirty funk. Their sense of musical adventure, reinforced by the spirit of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and acid jazz, screams out of the grooves.

Platts, born in a military hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong, learned his chops at Liverpool’s LIPA institute and played on Corinne Bailey Rae’s hugely successful debut album and, in 2006, landed a publishing deal with Zomba Music, leading to writing sessions with such giants as Rod ‘Thriller’ Temperton, John Oates and former Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Brian Jackson. Mamas Gun is the band Platts always wanted to front, underpinned by a brilliant band of musicians with worldwide experience.

“Hopefully when you listen to the album, it’s a kaleidoscope of a record that travels through genres and isn’t tied down by anything,” explains Platts. “It’s just about good songs and a bunch of guys enjoying themselves playing it. It’s not trying to be anything, it just is.”