Bristol based producer and artist Catraz introduces himself to the world with his first single ‘Knock Knock’. A cleverly written and upbeat tale of house parties, alcohol and Latina women!

Catraz, real name Alex Lucas, has been creating waves in the Bristol scene with his medley of originally composed and sampled tracks that it is of no surprise that fellow Bristol luminaries, Tricky and Massive Attack are also talking him up as one to watch.

His music, which is inspired by an array of artists from Kool G Rap, The Clash right through to the Gypsy Kings, is refreshingly simple and home grown although Catraz prefers to leave his sound definition to the listener.

He has recently been featured and interviewed on BBC radio shows including Steve Lamacq, Colin Murray, Nihal, Veena V and with growing support from various online and local stations such as BBC Radio Bristol, Phats Beats, Pulse Radio, Select Radio and Star Radio.

Knock Knock is released on August 24th as a digital download on Sidewalk 7

Meleka is the UK’s brightest and hottest new talent with her debut single ‘Go’ currently causing a storm across radio waves and dancefloors across the UK and online.

Hailing from north-west London singer/ songwriter Meleka, 21, was crowned HUGO URBAN RULES winner in 2008 after wowing music industry execs as well as chart toppers Estelle and Sabrina Washington.

It was Meleka’s soaring vocals, self-penned songs and fearless nature that made her the firm favourite for the grand prize at the prestigious urban talent event. “I couldn’t believe Sabrina and Estelle wanted me to share the same stage as them. It was such a privilege,” Meleka modestly admits.

As well as winning the chance to support Estelle (American Boy, Substitute Lover,1980) at HUGO URBAN RULES’ headline gig in Manchester and appearing in the subsequent MTV Base show which was broadcast over 100 times on the channel, Meleka is also featured alongside Kelis and Chipmunk on the title track of Basement Jaxx new album ‘Scars’. She is also featured on Don E’s new single ‘Time Is Now’ alongside Mutya Buena and has been tipped as one to watch by none other than The News Of The World.

This September will see a life long dream of Meleka’s become a reality with the release of her debut single, the funky house anthem “Go” produced by the Crazy Cousinz. We don’t use the term anthem lightly either, the track has already had almost 1 million views on Youtube from fans radio rips alone and 300,000 plays on Myspace.

It has been on the A List @ BBC 1xtra since the beginning of April and has been receiving plays from Galaxy Network, Kiss FM, & Choice FM all without being serviced to radio. ‘Go’ has also been picked as Urban Record Of The Month by Mixmag.

The video for ‘Go’ was directed by Ben Jones who started directing three years ago and was signed to Partizan films. He is now represented for Music videos by Davey Inc and previous work includes videos for The Streets, Lily Allen, Oasis and Example. He had this to say about making the video.

” As soon as I heard the track the idea came straight away. I like shooting narrative videos and giving them an unsuspecting twist at the end. I liked the idea of taking some of the standard RnB video ideas and mixing them up with a crazy fucked up narrative. A Rihanna video with a twisted ending! Meleka was great because she bought into the idea straight away, even though I described her in the videos narrative treatment as being one of the most beautiful murderesses in a video ever. She was great and wasn’t phased by anything I asked her to do, including kissing her leading man in front of everyone. A long hard schedule of playing live has taught her a massive amount about performing and being confident in front of the camera”

“Go” will be released this September and will feature remixes including a ‘refix’ from Booda Bassline, and additional mixes from Diamond ft Tinie Tempah, Sid Mercutio and Doug McCourt.

Meleka’s is currently finishing recording her debut album which is full of songs which speak straight from the heart to the young, sassy, independent women of today in a style which she describes as “beautifully honest” and which others say is reminiscent of a young Ella Fitzgerald or Brandy.

Once you hear Meleka’s fresh, irresistible vocals and her passionate song writing ability you’ll understand why others are referring to her as the next big thing to come out of the UK. Meleka is talented enough to hold her own on the world stage.

’Go’ is out in September! Check out the video below

www.twitter.com/melekamusic
www.myspace.com/melekmusic
www.meleka.co.uk

The fantastic video for Paul’s new single ‘In A Coma’ is now up online and features cameos from Ralph Brown (Withnail & Is Camberwell Carrot aficionado / Waynes World 2 / Aliens etc), Aaron King, Stars and Sons and old flat mates THE XCERTS. The single will be out to buy as digital download on July 6th and will be the second single to be taken from his new album Moon Rock.

THE BEAT Edition presents THE LAST CALL

Love dancing? Love music? Love to win €10,000 and rep your country in ‘The Eurovision Dance Contest’
Europe’s first 24 hour dance off! sign up now here www.thelastcall.tv

Core Facts

1. The Last Call is a brand new dance competition running from now until July 8th 2009, across Europe.
2. On July 7th, chosen contestants from around Europe will compete in a 24 hour dance-off at Matter (nightclub) at the O2 in London.
3. With a Samsung BEAT Edition DJ music phone, continuous playlist and a set of headphones, all 100 finalists must dance non-stop, hoping not to receive a single phone call or text from friends or family over the 24 hour period. If they do, they’re eliminated. There Can Be Only One!
4. The last contestant dancing will be crowned champion and will win €10,000 to spend on a night out with Swedish pop star September – and keep the change! Plus their trusted Samsung Beat DJ music phone.
5. Fresh from the huge success of her massive pop smashes ‘Cry For You’ and ‘Can’t Get Over’, Swedish superstar September returns triumphantly to the summer airwaves with the surefire hit ‘Until I Die’, released through Hard2Beat records on July 20th 2009.
6. September, a pseudonym for the stunning Petra Marklund, is a proud owner of a Grammis, the Swedish equivalent of a Grammy. She recently embarked on HARD2BEAT’s massive ‘Dance Nation’ UK Arena tour, performing to over 50,000 fans. This was September’s second major UK arena tour appearance in under a year, after playing on the huge ‘Clubland Live 2’ Arena Tour in late 2008.
7. From now until June 15th, anyone over 18 can enter The Last Call via the www.thelastcall.tv
8. In the lead-up to the final, each of the finalists will create a campaign page, with user-generated photographs and videos, and links to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, showing off their dance moves etc.
9. The entire 24 hour final will be streamed live and online through www.thelastcall.tv and a channel on the Beat DJ widget.

The David Saw video for ‘Buy My Record’ has a great Bob Dylan ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ feel to it without using the obligatory ‘cardboard swapping’ effect.

White Light Parade release their call to action video for Wake Up…

White Light Parade – Wake Up (official video)

The first video off Panjabi MC new album Indian Timing. Produced by Blaise Johal.

Benjamin Taylor will be releasing his first single, ‘She’s Gone’ from his new album ‘The Legend Of Kung Folk’ on April 20th in the UK.

The video was directed by Jon Seidman and can be seen below.

Promo video for Running Away

Steve Cradock releases his promo video for Running Away. Film during Steve’s showcase at The Prince Of Wales pub in Camden during his showcase by South Of The Rivers productions.

VBS release their new video for Multiplayer directed and produced by Simon Deshon. – Multiplayer is out on Split Records March 2nd 2009