Major Music Stars To Curate An Unprecedented Series Of Albums On Unsigned British Artists
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Written by Jon Stickler
Today, ground-breaking new-music site Unsigned Band Review announces the launch of an unprecedented series of albums of unsigned artists curated by major music stars - the Emerging Icons series. The first album is curated by BRIT award-winning band Kaiser Chiefs and will be released on 30th April via iTunes.
The Emerging Icons series is an innovative initiative to unearth the best in new UK musical talent. Each album in the series will contain a selection of thirteen original tracks by thirteen unsigned artists. The tracks will be hand-picked by an established music star from a pool of unsigned artists who have signed up to the highly successful new music community, Unsigned Band Review.
A percentage of the sales from each album will go directly to each unsigned artist with the remaining money getting invested back into the Unsigned Band Review community to provide opportunities for other unsigned acts.
“At a time when there is more music to listen to in more ways than ever before, it is getting increasingly hard for unsigned artists to get heard above the general noise. It is also becoming more and more important to give audiences a filter which highlights good new music and shuts out the bad. The Emerging Icons initiative not only gives exciting new musical talent a platform to get heard but also gives audiences a trustworthy new way to find good new music - recommended to them by their existing favourite music artists,” said Kat Jackman, founder of Unsigned Band Review and Emerging Icons.
Multi-million selling band Kaiser Chiefs have released four studio albums to date and have enjoyed international success. They are set to release a new album, a collection of their past singles called ‘Souvenir’, on 4th June. Band members Peanut and Simon have curated the first Emerging Icons release, selecting their favourite artists from Unsigned Band Review:
The artists chosen for the first album are Auction for the Promise Club, Gentleman Starkey, Hot Vamp Club, (Silver) Souvenirs, 3 Hour Week, Robert Bowers, The Woo!worths, Fjokra, Pippa Marias, Young Electrics, Wille and the Bandits, Locomotives and IC1s. See below for more info on each artist.
Leading music site Unsigned Band Review, founded by award-winning music entrepreneur Kat Jackman, provides unsigned bands with a platform to get heard, reviewed and publicised by key and influential music industry experts. Since launching the free sign-up, ad-funded site in 2008, Unsigned Band Review has gone from strength to strength, attracting over 13,000 musicians to sign up and gaining attention in the national media for its innovation in music.
Auction for the Promise Club
Introduced on BBC 6 Music by Tom Robinson and on XFM by John Kennedy as well as regional BBC Radio Shows across the country, the Cornish 3 piece female-fronted rock band have garnered critical acclaim for their unique sound, which channels shoe-gaze through giant hooks and huge choruses.
Gentleman Starkey
Brighton’s Gentleman Starkey strike a 50s vein, cinematic and filmic, evoking references to a Tarantino/Lynch or a Sergio Leone soundtrack, with tremolo guitar and vocals ranging from sweet-toned crooning to raw-powered howling, lyrically both macabre and tongue in cheek . A contrasting rhythm section often leaning towards more modern dance rhythms, makes for an unusual mix of melodic-intricacy, sparse-frenetic energy and danceable rhythms. Their single Bones was released earlier this year, and look forward to further single releases and a debut album in early 2012.
Hot Vamp Club
Hot Vamp Club are an alt-rock quartet from London and Bournemouth, who have been interviewed and featured on BBC Radio One, BBC Introducing for BBC 6 and chosen as Annie Mac’s Unsigned Band Of the Week. Praised as “lovingly crafted, sincere indie pop,” by BBC Introducing, their third demo was picked up by Topman US and is now played in the Topman/Topshop UK in-store playlist. Their debut EP is a more mature, faster-paced and darker sound than previous demos and has earned comparisons to The Smiths and Joy Division in the press.
(Silver) Souvenirs
If you’ve not heard of this band and you live in Birmingham, where have you been? Silver Souvenirs combine the intricacy of a modern day indie-pop outfit with the euphoric stadium-like sound of a platinum album seller. Think Talking Heads meets Bloc Party. They’re currently on tour with The Twang, taking in cities including Northampton, Portsmouth, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool and their last date Manchester this Saturday (October 22) – and have been on the receiving end of nothing but praise. Their next local date is with Tribes at the O2 Academy on October 26, and just under a month later they support Dutch Uncles at the Hare & Hounds on November 23.
3 Hour Week
3 Hour Week are an up and coming electro/indie-pop band whose colourful, energetic, upbeat music offers a stark contrast to the sleepy industrial town in which the four members were raised. Formed in 2010 through a mutual love of danceable guitar-based music, 3hour week took to the stage for the first time in the summer and have since dominated their local music scene.
Their eccentric blend of disco beats, driving bass-lines, relentless riffage and catchy vocal hooks, combined with a high energy, attention demanding performance have helped the band develop a loyal fan-base. The next 12 months will no doubt be extremely interesting for such a professional and capable band, given their refreshing and uplifting song writing capabilities. Robert Bowers
Robert Bowers first picked up the guitar at 15 years old. Since then he has written music he describes as "heavy soul”. His main topics for song-writing are everyday feelings and emotions. He cites his love of Verve as one of his biggest musical influences; “for me The Verve where like a football team that played beautiful but never won anything (in terms of mainstream success) so when Bittersweet Symphony, Drugs Don’t Work and Lucky Man came out and did well in the charts, as a fan it felt like a triumph in a way!”
The Woo!worths
The Woo!worths make infectious, colourful, harmony-heavy & rhythmic Pop music with a blend of organic & electronic sounds. Their trio of members originate from Brussels, Brighton & Isle of Wight but they reside and make music in their home studio/s in Brighton.
Lots of good things have happened over the last couple of years; from winning Rankin Live and being photographed for Dazed & Esquire by Rankin, playing Big Chill Fest 09 and 2010, supporting Little Dragon, Two Door Cinema Club & Little Boots, to making their first music video. Fjokra
Earnest singer songwritery balladeering? NO! Retro revivalists? NO! 'Hip', urban funkateers? NO! 'Queen on crack'? Perhaps. Chuck in a liberal dose of Mike Patton/Mr Bungle, Todd Rundgren, Prince, Rachmaninoff interludes and metal riffs the size of skyscrapers and you're halfway to describing the musical smorgasbord that makes up Fjokra's music. Oh, and there's some Latin grooves and some monstrous Dubstep chucked in as well.
Pippa Marias
Electro-pop sensation Pippa Marias will launch their debut single Shoot me Down on this year’s rare palindrome date Friday 11th November 2011 – 11.11.11. Coinciding on this date with a headline NME slot at Koko, the Scandinavian troop is set for big things in 2012. The band, which formed in London after they ended up living together in the same flat in Dalston, began jamming in January 2010 and started making catchy and melodic tunes inspired by the beat of the streets of London and pure unashamed Swedish pop. Pippa Marias have been compared to everyone from The Cure, Hot Chip, Zdar and Phoenix and offer dance pop with an added cutting edge.
Young Electrics
Young Electrics have settled into the Brighton Scene very comfortably and are about to release their E.P Caught in The Rain which has already received pick of the week on Absolute Radio. Their guitarist is Moore’s son! With the interview in Wired Mag hitting shelves Oct 5th and a lead support slot with "Transformer" for Crash Records night at Brightons Green Door Store there's lots of good things going on in the Young Electrics’ world.
Wille and the Bandits
Wille and the Bandits, the internationally acclaimed artists have been receiving praise across the globe for their fresh approach to roots music. This year alone the band have been tour support for Status Quo been hand picked to open for blues legend Joe Bonamassa in the world famous Olympia in Paris and opened for John Butler Trio, all this has been achieved without the band having a record label or management just an astounding work ethic that sees them play over 200 shows a year. Locomotives
Locomotives’s music inspirations include The Clash, Queens of the Stone Age, The Chemical Brothers and The Rolling Stones.
"Simmering tension and numerous moments of outright fascination... a verve and versatility to hand here that ought to be embraced entirely." – The Fly
IC1s
IC1s are 5 lads from North West London.The band formed in the summer of 2010 over a mutual respect for music and being excellent. Since then the band have been shaking up the music scene with their cock sure brand of Indie Rock. After conquering their local town in 3 minutes and 17 seconds the band branched out and have already played with acts such as The Cribs, Tinie Tempah, Proud Mary, The Charlatans, Buzzcocks, Twisted Wheel, Tim Burgess, Calvin Harris and Ocean Colour Scene. With the backing of the likes of Alan Mcgee (Creation Records) and being signed to Gary Powell (The Libertines) 25 Hour Convenience Store label, IC1s are the ones to watch.
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