Thursday, 10 October 2013

Oxjam set to entertain us with live music in October


For those of you upset that festival season is over fear not as Oxjam, the UK’s largest charity festival has organized numerous events in Shoreditch, Dalston and Shepherds Bush and that’s just to name a couple of the venues.

The mini festivals at Shoreditch and Dalston will take place on the weekend of 19 October and are the closing events of over a month’s worth of one-off events and launch gigs, these events were organized by volunteers in order to raise money for Oxfam.

There are almost 100 bands and DJs involved and they will be performing at 12 venues, some of the acts on the lineup are Ligers, Sophie Jamieson, Hayley Cassidy, Zoe LDN and even Turkish Singer/Songwriter E.B.R.U is set to perform at the Shoreditch venue on 20 October.

Mohammed Yahya, who is one half of Afrobeat hip hop duo Native Sun was quoted as saying “I feel that it’s a great way to use our music for a positive cause.”

Wristbands for the day cost between £8 and £10 and provide access to all venues.

Tickets are available here





Introducing newly formed Manchester based Indie Band Puppet Rebellion


Puppet Rebellion were formed when front man Simon Monaghan met Chilean drummer Chris Carcamo who was selling puppets at the side of a dirt track and Chris was using a home made drum kit to attract customers to his stall.


The two quickly became friends and Simon persuaded Chris to move to England and start a band, through the Internet they discovered guitarist Craig Gibson who was also seeking a fresh challenge and their love of post-punk influences helped them to bond.


The name Puppet Rebellion came about due to the control of the company managing Simon's previous band and also Chris's previous occupation. Following auditions guitarist Paul Romans and Bass player Jim Halliwell joined with the others to create a five piece band, whose aim was to write fast, energetic Indie/rock with words and sounds that would speak to the world.


After months of writing and rehearsing along with a string of frenetic live sets, Puppet Rebellion's debut EP Chemical Friends was unleashed to the world.

http://soundcloud.com/puppetrebellion

Chemical Friends is a 3 track EP, these tracks can easily be compared with music from the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand. Puppet Rebellion should by no means be ignored and if this EP is anything to go by I'm sure their album will be an instant hit.

Website - http://www.puppetrebellion.com/



Post By - Boulent Mustafa
Twitter - @OBsMusicUk

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Jess Greenberg, a talented singer/guitarist who has become popular due to her Youtube Covers



I came across this rather talented musical performer on the Facebook page of a music website I write for, after listening to a few of her covers I was blown away.

Not only is Jess gifted with a powerful voice but she also appears to be quite adept on the acoustic guitar as well.

See for yourself in her first class performance of Underdog by Kasabian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-GYtRJV4IKs



Post By - Boulent Mustafa
Twitter - @OBsMusicUk

Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Here's a fun and quirky little song from guitarist/songwriter Ben Williams


www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQoF6logJx4

Presenting you all with a cheerful tune that's guaranteed to put a smile on your faces, Balloon String is part of Ben's 5 track debut EP of the same name. In addition to his musical wizardry, Ben also has a delightful and soothing voice, which is guaranteed to provide a true listening pleasure.

The Balloon String EP is available here - http://benpwilliams.bandcamp.com/

Ben has received some high accolade from Ken Nelson (Grammy Award winning producer who previously worked with Coldplay and Paolo Nutini) and Steve White (who previously provided drumming and production services for the likes of Paul Weller, Style Council and Oasis).

Following joint songwriting duties on Kristyna Myles debut album, which is due for release in 2014, Ben released his debut EP earlier this year and will release his debut album next year.

Website - www.benpwilliams.com

Post By - Boulent Mustafa
Twitter - @OBsMusicUk

Thursday, 3 October 2013

The Show must go on courtesy of Natalie Holmes and Sykes

Despite the headline act pulling out at the last moment, singer/songwriter and musician extraordinaire Natalie Holmes and the equally talented indie band Sykes kept the audience entertained.



Bristol native Natalie performed several of her songs, old and new plus she also threw in a cover of one of her favourites Chocolate by The 1975. In between each song and also at the end of her set, she interacted with the audience.

Natalie gave each song 100% in terms of the emotion behind her performance both vocally and instrumentally.


Next up on stage were Sykes, a four piece Indie band from London, however only three of the band members were present. Sykes are fronted by the vocally powerful Julia , with Kristian, Will and Dre making up the rest of the group. They entertained us with great tunes, both lively and slow paced.

Musically they were a contrast to the laidback nature of Natalie's music and this provided the audience with musical variety. It was such a delight to be entertained by such amazing musicians in an intimate setting as this and The Garage's upstairs venue is perfect for such events.





Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Introducing InsertAudio, a DJ/Producer who is fairly new to the scene


If you're into your experimental Hip Hop and/or UK Bass then you can do no worse then listen to Slvr - https://soundcloud.com/insertaudio/slvr

You're probably all wondering who InsertAudio is well wonder no further, InsertAudio is 25 year old Conor Carmody. His production style is mostly electronic based but it is also influenced by other genres and as a big fan of all styles of music he likes to rework and make them his own.

Conor started DJing from a young age and then turned his attention to production as he also wanted to play his own music as well.

Three years ago he upped his production game and hasn't looked back since, currently he is working on his debut EP. This EP will be a fusion of experimental Hip Hop and UK Bass as Conor is a big fan of these genres.

Following his EP's release, we can expect an instrumental LP and also some DJ Gigs to showcase his new material.



Post By - Boulent Mustafa
Twitter - @OBsMusicUk


Tuesday, 1 October 2013

The amazing vocals of Jasmine Thompson


I first came across this talented musician when I heard her vocals in a reworking of the Chaka Khan classic Ain't Nobody during a Sainsbury advert.

I just had to find out who the singer was so after a tweet to Sainsbury, I learnt she was 12 year old Jasmine Thompson.

Jasmine has already become a household name on youtube partly due to her amazing covers, some of which are better than the originals and partly because of her remarkable vocal skills. 

It would not be fair to try and describe her voice, so I'll leave that honour to you guys.

Ain't Nobody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDf3X1BYYk

She has also announced news of her forthcoming EP - Under The Willow Tree which will also be reviewed here. Pre-Sale orders for this EP can now be placed via iTunes and it is expected to be released on the 22nd of October - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/under-the-willow-tree-ep/id718134080 


For a taste of what we can expect from Under The Willow Tree, here's a brief appetizer in the form of the musically delightful Run - https://soundcloud.com/jasmine-thompson/run-jasmine-thompson 


Post By - Boulent Mustafa
Twitter - @OBsMusicUk