The music scene has been quietly abuzz with news of singer-songwriter Andreya Triana for some time now – her debut album was released in 2010 – but her sounds have yet to filter down to the masses. Collaborations with various prestigious artists including Bonobo (who produced said debut), Flying Lotus and Mr Scruff serve as true commendations in the music world, so, interest piqued, Twin headed down to favourite venue The Lexington to see her showcase tracks from her new album, Giants.
A combination of velvety-smooth vocals, catchy lyrics and beats peppered with brass melodies made for mesmerising listening, complimented by her wonderfully friendly, down-to-earth stage presence. Unsurprisingly, the set was sold out.
Favourite tracks include Gold, which is written about the simple love of music, as well as Giants, not to mention A Town Called Obsolete from her previous album.
The Southbank Centre is well known for its slightly off-piste yet very cool summer festivals: Udderbelly, the Festival of Love, London Wonderground to name but a few. It has also long embraced the burgeoning trend for feminism, with this year being its fifth annual Women of the World festival.
WOW, as it is better known, will be taking place from Sunday 1 to Sunday 8 March this year to mark International Women’s Day. The festival is designed to present, recognise and celebrate women, and this year’s line up is no exception.
With acts including electro-pop from tUnE-yArDs, afro-funk from Ibibio Sound Machine and jazz and soul from Bunmi Thomas, amongst others, the all-female event firmly cements ladies at the front of popular culture. The flagship event, Mirth Control, will fuse comedy and music in one night, starring Sarah Millican, Sharon D. Clarke, soprano Angel Blue, Southbank Centre’s vocal initiative Voicelab and an all-female orchestra conducted by Sian Edwards and Alice Farnham.
2015 looks to be an exciting year for our favourite Icelandic oddball export, Björk. Today saw her release Vulnicura, her eighth studio album, on iTunes, while fans wait with bated breath for her hugely significant MoMA retrospective.
The rush-release comes almost two months ahead of its scheduled release date, as the singer becomes the latest artist to have music leaked online. The CD and vinyl are being held back for the original March launch.
Björk will be putting on a series of intimate shows at Carnegie Hall and City Center to celebrate the launch, finishing with a performance at the NY Governor’s Ball music festival in June.
Combining the ideals of folk with the beats of electonic music may sound a bit strange, but for Sofie Winterson she’s found a common ground that creates a modern sound. Her songs could be labelled indie pop but we think her music is going to be much more than that. With only a few songs released, one EP under her belt and an album on the way Twin caught up with the singer/songwriter from Amsterdam to find out more. She even lifts the lid on the albums title.
Did you always want to become a singer? As a kid I wanted to be a writer until I got more and more involved in music and then it changed from writer to actress to singer. And now I can combine it in songwriting.
What’s your earliest musical memory? There were a lot of musical instruments in the house and I remember seeing the violin and hearing my father playing it, the instrument made a big impression. I started learning to play the violin myself at age 6.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing? That’s hard to say, maybe a writer or a doctor.
What does Said & Done mean to you? It means a lot of things but one aspect is the fact that something can feel so exiting and new even though it is something you experienced before.
What inspires you to make music most? I get a lot of inspiration for writing songs when I travel by car or train or when I read. And it’s really inspiring to play the first drafts of a song with the band. I love the moment when a song is finished and that you from then on can keep on playing and arranging it.
What was it like working with Pinar & Viola on the video? It was a special and lovely experience. There work is really creative and innovative and I was really excited about working with them. It’s always a special moment when you give your music to someone else and together create an image around it!
What can you tell us about your debut album? The album has a more melancholic and darker side as well. I arranged a lot together with my band members and it’s produced by Rimer London. It’s gonna be released on Magnetron Music this spring and I can also give away the title; Wires.
FEATHERS, the female four-piece from Austin Texas are starting off 2014 by releasing a new EP. Out on Monday 13th January, Only One will feature new tracks Wild Love and The Only One, as well as never heard before remixes of Believe and Familiar So Strange, both of which were originally released on the band’s debut album If All Here Now. A Twin favourite, FEATHERS atmospheric synth sound translates beautifully onstage with front-woman Anastasia Dimou’s mesmerising stage presence. With their European tour, supporting Depeche Mode, they will be heading to the UK at the end of January and have planned a headlinning gig at Birthday’s February 1st, giving you plenty of chances to see them live.
What can I say about Bleached… Firstly, they are two sisters (Jennifer and Jessica) who are effortlessly oozing the Twingirl attitude and energy. They follow no rules. But perhaps if they did, the pair’s understanding of regulative instruction would probably be something rather similar to those catchy slogans you find printed on stereotypical punk tees at festivals and Camden Market: ‘Live fast, die young,‘ ‘No Regrets,’ ‘Rock ‘till you die.’ The title of their debut album, ‘Ride Your Heart’ is another addition to this Bleached-Rule-Book…
Secondly, they also create some pretty awesome music. The sound is rough yet melodic, focused yet loud – Essentially a wonderful gnarly noise of bouncy punk-pop reminiscent of the music produced by fellow Rockin’ ladies, Vivian Girls and Wild Flag.
Ride you Heart is released tomorrow, followed by an extensive European tour.
This week we’ve been lusting over a girl. In particular a Girl Called Johnny – the latest musical project from ex-Ramona vocalist and front-woman, Karen Anne. The debut single Heaven Knows is a beautiful story of heartache and lost love featuring catchy heartfelt lyrics that can undoubtedly relate to any twenty-something-year-old girl (even those not called Johnny).
Since going solo, Karen has embraced the opportunity to create a completely personalised record whilst swapping Ramona’s staple punk-rock sound for a refreshingly mellow indie approach reminiscent of early sixties mod-pop, “Ray Davis is a major influence – he writes the most beautiful lyrics, especially about London,” she told Twin. “Also a lot of the other bands I love like The Smiths and New York Dolls are influenced by all the sixties’ girl bands so I guess it all comes from the same place…”
As well as her music, Karen Anne has also become renowned for her sugary-sweet boyish looks (think Debbie Harry meets Edie Sedgwick) after posing as the face of Burberry back in 2011. However music is most certainly on the top of her to-do list for 2013. “Expect an album for sure, I’m also working on a new video right now which is exciting!”
Twin decided to get to know A Girl Called Johnny with a quick either/or game…
Colleen Green is a single guitar, a drum machine and a pair of oversized sunglasses, whose catchy, fuzzy tunes fuse Nineties surf rock with pop-punk… If California were a sound, it would be the sound of Colleen Green.
Time In The World is the first song to be taken from her latest album, Sock It To Me available from 19th March with HardlyArt.
For this week’s Sunday Soundtrack we’re stealing time with Stealing Sheep, three very lovely Liverpool lasses (Emily, Rebecca and Lucy) whose shared love for three-part-harmonies, whiskey and an eclectic mix of experimental music genres first brought them together back in the summer of 2010. Their debut album Into the Diamond Sun was one of the most exciting new releases of last year that subsequently took them on numerous adventures touring around the UK and Europe. Twin spoke to the musical trio to discuss future plans, the Merseyside music scene and telepathic dinosaurs…
Your music has been described as everything from psych pagan folk to post-punk pop, but how would you describe your sound?
We’d say something like… dreamy, doom pop with hypnotic boomy beats, slinky pitch bendy guitars, voodoo folk harmonies, 60’s drone Synths and 16-bit fantasy style keyboards frilled with accidental percussions such as zithers, tuned cow bells and far away howls.
You’ve just finished supporting Villagers on their UK tour – how was that? Do you currently have plans for any other live shows coming up soon?
It was really nice – they are sound lads – very down to earth and into whiskey just like us! We went straight to Europe after that to join Alt-J (who we also toured with before Christmas) and that was well fun. It was great to see them again and watching them play was as great as ever! We’re looking forward to the festivals next and our dates supporting The Postal Service.
What ideas inspire your music?
We play a word game in the car. It goes like: Moon. Spoon. Lagoon. Lilly. Pond. Fish. Plate…etc. You sort of say whatever that word reminds you of and only get a split second to say it so it’s random and fresh. We write it down and put the words together to see what we can create. In Paris last weekend we created a Telepathic Dinosaur with a Death Mind. So that’s the start of a couple of new songs or a new illustration, animation, music video idea… anything! We also listen to loads of music on tour. We listen to anything from composers such as Gustav Holst (The Planets) and Vernon Elliott (Noggin the Nog and Clangers), to Alt-J or Ariel Pink. This really inspires a mixed bag of ideas.
You were one of the coolest new female bands of 2012 – who are you keeping your eye on for 2013?
Girl band wise we’d say Novella and Pins are looking pretty hot!
You girls are all originally from Liverpool – tell us a bit about the music scene there?
…and we’re still here! There’s a good healthy mix of old and new bands. They’re all pretty diverse and doing their own thing. There’s a really cool art collective called The Kazimier and they run a club and do loads of performing arts style nights which are really inspiring musically and visually. There is such a great crowd of amazing artists and musicians so it’s great to be here and be part of it!
Female solo artists seem to be dominating the music world as of late but there are still very few all female bands out there in comparison – why do you think that is? Is there an additional pressure on females trying to make it in the music industry?
Maybe fewer girls are interested in being in bands? We’re not sure really. We like working together but not necessarily because we’re all girls. We’re all into having three-part harmonies and naturally interested in similar things. Maybe with all girl bands you find a nice intuitive level between you because of how the female brain differs creatively… or does it? Music industry wise, there are different kinds of pressures for all bands depending on your genre and style. Whether you’re targeting audiences that are interested in the music or the style or the looks. It all depends what you are in it for, it’s how you perceive it. We don’t want to be pressured into anything: if we don’t want to do it, we won’t. So I guess it’s simple. It’s all to do with how strong-minded you are!
What can we expect from Stealing Sheep in the near future?
We’re designing costumes, new music videos, writing new material and we’re touring a hell of a lot, so come an’ see us!
It was back in May of last year when the Scandinavian siren, Beatrice Eli, first stole our hearts. Now with her latest single ‘It’s Over’ and a new EP due for a worldwide release later this month, we’re ready to fall in love all over again…
As the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait. So when Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes returned at the end of last year with The Haunted Man — her highly anticipated follow-up from 2009’s acclaimed record Two Suns— we were more than excited.
Album number three is often referred to amongst artists as ‘that difficult third album’, however Khan injects hers with even more magic, escapism and mystery that we’ve all been left completely mesmerised. And it’s not just the music that captures a sense of surrealism. Earlier this week the rather weird yet wonderful video for new single Lilies was released, which features Khan amongst a cast of animated monster puppets. Need we say more?
In the spring of last year, Lakisha Kimberly “Kish” Robinson a.k.a Kilo Kish surfaced onto the New York music scene, bringing along with her a poetic and slow-tempo take on hip hop through her debut self-released EP, Homeschool. For 2013, the 22-year-old female rapper and vocalist is back with some new material and an additional musical project entitled k+, a collaborative mixtape featuring a long list of creative contributors, producers (and friends) including SBTRKT, Earl Sweatshirt, A$AP Ferg, CRONOS, Childish Gambino and The Internet.
Kilo Kish will be playing several UK shows next month.
Commercial electro-pop with soulful synths and catchy melodies is the sound of MØ, Scandinavia’s latest rising star who has already been dubbed by many as the next Grimes. That’s certainly no bad thing in our book!
MØ’s debut album is expected for release in the UK later this year.
This weekend we’ve been losing ourselves in the sounds of Tamaryn, a San Francisco based singer who fuses shoegaze with dream-pop through ambling guitar riffs, steady emphatic beats and soft ethereal vocals. Tamaryn and her creative partner-in-crime, Rex John Shelverton, will be touring Europe next month, opening with a London show on January 31.
The brainchild of singer Francesca Ross and instrumentalist Ian Watt, electronic pop duo I AM A CAMERA is responsible for infectiously catchy songs such as Commuter Love and their most recent single Factory Boys, set for release on May 27.
The duo met by chance in a club in Manchester, shortly before starting the band in October 2010. “We ended up chatting late into the night about everything from our favourite lyrics to Coronation Street to drum machines. We started writing together shortly after and that”s how it began. We knew straight away we were onto something,” recalls Ross.
Influenced by the likes of Astrid Kirchherr, Paisley Park and Arthur C. Clarke, I AM A CAMERA underpins their hypnotic beats with dreamy yet dark lyrics, visually captured in their atmospheric music videos.
Twin spoke to Ross about the inspirational appeal of the everyday mundane and her nine favourite tunes of the moment…
Describe your music in three words.
Beats, Drama, Strings.
What inspires you?
We”re inspired by everyday life. The most mundane things can be made in to a sinister subject. It can be a photo we”ve seen or a story on the news, even a sinister-looking woman on 60 Minute Makeover. We like to find the stories behind things.
Do you ever find that the city of London feeds into your work?
We live, eat, sleep & dream in London. We are inspired by the things that go on in everyday life so it inevitably feeds through into our work. The people around us become the subject of songs without even knowing it. It’s a huge city with so many individual stories and events. We”re always pondering over what goes on behind closed doors, what people are really thinking about and their darkest secrets.
How would you describe the creative collaborative process?
It differs with each song. Sometimes it will be one of these stories that sparks an idea. Otherwise, when I get to the studio and Ian will have stacks of chords & beats to work on and we just go from there.
What is the story behind the song Factory Boys and its music video? Factory Boys is inspired by the true story of The Dupont Twins, two teenage boys who made their way from living on a gas station in a small town to the legendary New York club Studio 54. They went from being penniless one day to being paid by Warhol in Screen Prints to hang out with him the next. Amazing. We made the video ourselves by filming on our iPhones & iPads. We set it up like our own home studio. It”s inspired by the pop art and fabulous imagery that surrounds that time in New York and the glamorous debauchery of Studio 54.
How do you perceive positive and negative aspects of producing music in this digital age?
It”s positive because you can access so much and interact with so many people. We can upload a video in our studio in London, then within five minutes someone has blogged about it in Russia. We love that. The negative side is scary hackers stealing what’s not theirs.
What does the future hold for I AM A CAMERA?
The immediate future holds us making an amazing first album, lots of touring, new material and great hair.
1/ La Femme – Sur La Planche This band is from France, in case the name didn”t give it away. It sounds like the B-52″s on a night out with Bis. In France.
2/ Morrissey – Suedehead I have a slight fascination with redundant sea side towns. This song sums this up entirely for me whilst bringing some Manchester vibes at the same time.
3/ Canyons – When I See You Again (Nick Zinner Remix) This is a beautiful song from The Canyons, made even better by Nick Zinner”s remix. He”s really turned it around and made it in to a danceable track with shakers & electronic claps. The perfect track to get you ready for summer.
4/ Kleenex – Ain”t You Swiss post punk, best filed between The Raincoats & The Bush Tetras. I love how the sections are so different and how they stumble into each other.
5/ Bananarama – Aie A Mwana Loving this extended version. Bananarama”s first single in the pre SAW days, a cover of a song by Black Blood. The released version was actually a demo, & apparently this song also inspired the band’s name.
6/ Friends – I”m His Girl It”s all about the bassline in this song. That and the old school vibes in the video. Makes me want to get back to New York asap!
7/ Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy This was their debut single, it”s got such memorable riff which set the precedent for future dance music.
8/ Seasfire – Falling I went to see them play in London recently. This song really stood out, it”s full of raw emotion, contrasted only by its clean instrumentation.
9/ Donna Summer ft. Giorgio Moroder – I Feel Love One of the greatest songs ever recorded! The sounds and production are so ahead of their time. I recently watched a programme on the origins of disco, and it made me realise how much music owes to this genre and this man.
In the space of a few short years, Gemma Cairney has gone from fashion graduate to styling Florence and the Machine before a complete volt face into radio and TV presenting.
On the eve of her first breakfast show for Radio 1, Twin caught up with the rising star and asked for her top eight tunes…
You were a fashion stylist for a number of years and styled a number of musicians – was music always an inspiration to you?
Subconsciously, definitely. I”ve always shied away from considering myself a “muso” of any sort, but I”ve always adored it. Especially dancing to it.
When I was styling I knew some musicians and we all wanted to work together so we orchestrated some fun photo-shoots, that’s how it started really.
What have the past three years been like for you, the career change, finding yourself in front of the camera and on the radio?
Bonkers. I like trying things that make me excited and my stomach churn. When you try new things, I”ve found you continue to meet new inspirational people along the way. I was 22 when I decided I wanted to do more than just fashion and that I should try radio presenting. I loved it. The past three years has just been a continual stomach churn.
What”s your everyday mantra?
It”ll be alright.
What does being on Radio 1 mean to you?
A mind boggle of joy.
What else are you excited about for the future?
I have two documentaries coming out later this year that are quite serious, it will be good to share what I”ve been sinking my teeth into for quite a while now. Obviously, getting settled into my new Radio 1 role and lastly (the most boring) is putting up some cork tiles in my house! So that I have fixed notice board & can get more organised.
Gemma”s top eight tracks…
1/ Erykah Badu ft. Common – Love of My Life (Ode to Hip Hop)
I”ve been in such sparkling awe of Erykah Badu from around aged seventeen onwards. I just thought she was amazing, all of her songs hold such special nolstalgia for me. I remember finding out that she”d once been out with Common and I could hardly cope I found it so cool.
2/ Dub Phizix – Marka
This is new(ish) record that we played on 1xtra and I was gripped by the genre journey I was taken on. That sounds stupid, but if ya haven”t heard it listen and you”ll see what I mean.
3/ So Solid – 21 Seconds
The sheer frothing peak of garage raving. This tune is massive.
4/ Spice Girls – Spice Up Your life
Just beacuse I so did, most probably a generational thang.
5/ Mikey J and The Female Allstars
Rock the mic – female musical power in its current form.
6/ Barry White – Can”t Get Enough of Your Love
I used to swoon around the lounge to my mum”s Barry White section of her cd collection on repeat.
7/ Lauryn Hill ft. D”Angelo – Nothing Even Matters Such a beautiful song. You JUST get it. Not to mention how stand out brilliant the album it”s from is.
8/ TLC – Creep
It was hard to choose between TLC and Destiny”s Child – who I”m obsessed with – but I had the Crazy Sexy Cool album on cassette before Destiny”s Childs” Writing”s On The Wall, so they win.
Listen to Gemma”s playlist
From 7 April 2012, listen to Gemma Cairney at the weekend, 7am-10am, on BBC Radio 1.
In a world dominated by endless choice, sometimes the hardest decision can be deciding between one or the other. Enter Mélanie Crété’s highly addictive Tumblr blog, This or That.
Ranging from the age old question of Audrey versus Marilyn to Ferrero Rocher versus Mon Chéri, in Crété’s online world, everything boils down to the idea of a simple choice. We sat down with the digital marketing and social media manager to talk about the idea behind her blog, print versus digital and to play a round of This or That Twin style…
What prompted you to start This or That?
I have always been a bit obsessed with DIY collages and mood boards. Then Myspace came in and I discovered the joy of Photobucket while trying to teach myself photoshop and basic html, which I guess lead the way to This or That. When I started working in digital marketing and social media four years ago, I spent days researching blogs, organising them by theme in a very anal way and got completely hooked on Tumblr which I decided was the perfect platform to showcase my very messy iPhoto library. The concept somehow came very instinctively, the name came from the fact that I actually never know when to use ‘this’ or ‘that’ (I’m from Paris).
When did you first become fascinated with all things digital?
In 2000 when I installed Napster and ICQ on my PC.
How do you see the relationship between print and digital publications developing, will one replace the other?
Nothing will replace anything. I just see digital being integrated in all parts of the process with both digital and print teams working in synergy to produce amazing content and using different formats which is relevant to all platforms, including social media.
You are also a DJ, what are your top five favourite tunes of all time? I used to DJ—I don’t think you can be good at everything so I had to make choices!
But my favourite tracks at the moment are:
The Pharcyde – Passing Me By
Machinedrum – Van Vogue
ASAP – Peso
Grimes – Oblivion
Mos Def – Auditorium
In the sense of This or That…Blackberry or iPhone?
iPhone.
Either coffee or tea?
Coffee.
Either Bikini Kill or Courtney Love?
Courtney Love.
Either The Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
Rolling Stones.
Either the city or countryside?
City during the week , countryside at the weekend.
Either Eddie or Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous?
Patsy.
No overnight YouTube success can sing a tune quite like Lana Del Rey. Ever the DIY recording star, the 24-year-old’s self-edited clip of debut single Video Games has garnered over 2 million hits and spawned the album Born To Die, set for release in early 2012.
The New Yorker, whose stage name is derived from a combination of film noir actress Lana Turner and the Ford Del Rey automobile, cites Nirvana and Biggie Smalls as two of her biggest musical influences. It is through this combination of retro nostalgia and catchy lyrics such as “you fit me better than my favourite sweater” that the artist also known as Lizzy Grant evokes the days of Sixties sirens singing in small jazz club venues, served with a 21st Century twist.
Del Rey kicks off her UK tour on November 4th in Manchester. It will be the chance to prove to her critics what we already know: she doesn’t just meet the hype surrounding her persona; she exceeds it.
The double single Video Games/Blue Jeans is out now. lanadelrey.com
Alison Mosshart is one of the most genuinely rock and roll women alive. Once again – with her musical partner Jamie Hince of The Kills – Mosshart is the face of the brand Zadig & Voltaire. Ok, the merger between fashion and music has been seen before – think Mark Ronson with Gucci, Kanye West with Louis Vuitton – but we love it anyway! Photographed by Olivier Zahm – the editor of Purple magazine and France’s answer to Terry Richardson – the band’s poise and pout is enough to make us head to their shop to find out whether their collection is as cool as their campaign.
American rock band, OK Go, are in danger of becoming better-known for their videos than for their songs. The latest, This Too Shall Pass, took several months, around 60 people and more than 60 takes to realise. The result is an insanely good chain reaction filmed in a single shot. Put together in a two storey warehouse in Echo Park, L.A, the chain reaction machine was designed and built by the band, with the help of members of Syyn Labs.
Geek facts: The wooden tracks that guide the metal balls at the beginning of the video had to be waxed after each take to prevent dust from slowing them down, and the angle of the board had to be at a precise incline of 3.4 degrees.
The video has already had over 2 million hits on YouTube. See it for yourself.
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