The New Now
  • One of the major benefits of Austin's annual South By Southwest confab is its ability to draw worthy artists from around the globe, put them in close quarters, and offer up significant exposure to a vast, international audience.

    And for many, that may mean being introduced to Iceland's Ólöf Arnalds.

    A singer, songwriter, and skilled instrumentalist, Arnalds is an intensely creative performer with a bewitching voice and an amply evident sense of humor. Her two albums--2007's Við Og Við and her recent Innundir Skinni--are daring, folksy and avant-garde, often at the same time, and reveal her to be a creative spirit with vast artistic potential.

    To get a sense of Arnalds' creativity, check out the following musical video piece--"Eins Og Sagt Er" ("As They Say")--she prepared a few years back as a graduation project from the Icelandic Art Academy's music department. We suspect you will find it mind-blowing.

     

    But back in Austin, Y! Music immensely enjoyed our recent time with Ólöf--in

    Read More »from The Magical World Of Ólöf Arnalds
  • In a stunning version of musical New Math, Seattle duo Thousands actually consists of two people--Kristian Garrard and Luke Bergman--but the music they play sounds as if it's being played by...two people. Very quietly.

    The Sound Of Everything, the band's Bella Union debut, is one of this year's more fascinating records: Produced at a very low budget, much of the quiet, acoustic material was recorded outside the confines of a studio--by the banks of the Columbia River, a barn, a silo, a staircase with interesting acoustics, and, in general, places that lend an overall sense of "field recording" to the entire venture.

    Between them, Garrard and Bergman have been--and remain--in a variety of other area groups, including Heatwarmer and Born Under The Sun Of Death, many of which don't sound the slightest bit like Thousands; the duo's mixture of acoustic guitars and compelling harmonies was clearly unique enough to stand on its own as a separate unit. The band's introduction to England's

    Read More »from Thousands In One Hotel Room!
  • Don't be deterred by the "electopop" categorization: Fenech-Soler isn't all keyboards and fashion statements (OK, maybe a some metallics and textures for good show, but tame in this blogger's opinion).

    Made up of Ross Duffy, Ben Duffy, Daniel Soler, and Andrew Lindsay, the U.K. quartet's name comes from bassist/keyboardist Daniel's full hyphenated last name. I'm surprised it's not the lead singer's name for once. Admittedly, the name calls to mind a rare species of bird, or perhaps a mid-priced wine. These guys look like they would enjoy discussing orinthological oddities over a glass of red, right?

    Although they've been lumped into the indie camp built by Friendly Fires and Klaxons, there's a sort of orchestral element to their songs that sets them apart. That and the slightest twinge of MSTRKRFT and Simian Mobile Disco's lighter tracks. With catchy choruses and crescendoes, Fenech-Soler straddles the line between dancefloor tracks and onstage band music, thus giving them a wider

    Read More »from Fenech-Soler Flares With Catchy, Orchestral Electropop
  • It's tough to complain when the vagaries of the music business bring a rising British star whose debut album premiered at #1 on the UK charts face-to-face with the Y! Music cameras--all in a small hotel room in Austin, Texas, during the recent South By Southwest conference.

    But so it is that young Ellie Goulding, whose debut album Lights has managed to excite critics and consumers alike in her homeland, sits, speaks and sings for Y! Music and provides one of the personal highlights of this year's gathering.

    Goulding's intriguing blend of intelligent lyrics, melodies incorporating both acoustic and electronic textures, and overall catchiness mark her as one British success likely to be welcomed Stateside with open arms.

    At home, the singer's rise to fame was comparatively swift: After recording some acoustic home demos a few years ago, a pair of musical relationships with cutting-edge producers/musicians Vincent Frank, aka Frankmusic, and Fin Dow-Smith, aka Starsmith, laid the

    Read More »from Ellie Goulding Lights Up The Room!
  • Michaela Wallace, 14, has co-written the tween new girl anthem: a bubbly, Hanson "Mmmmbop"-esque song called "Justin Bieber's Girlfriend." The video for the song depicts Wallace receiving Bieber concert tickets in the mail and then attending his meet-and-greet and concert. It has received more than 1 million plays on YouTube.

    Though Wallace is a fan of Bieber she says that she does not really want to be his girlfriend--she just wanted to write a song for all his fans.

    "I really do like Justin Bieber, but...I wanted to write a song that could relate to all those girls out there that love him and want to be his girlfriend--not because I wanted to be his girlfriend," she explained during a recent question and answer session with her fans.

     

     

    Her idea worked. Girls have left adoring comments on her YouTube channel page saying, "You're like my idol! GREAT SINGER," "love your Justin Bieber's Girlfriend song!" and "Great job! You have a very good voice and I hope you[r] dreams come true!"

    As

    Read More »from ‘Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend’ Lands Viral Hit For 14-Year-Old Michaela Wallace
  • Singer and producer Oh Land, aka Nanna Øland Fabricius, is a record label's dream: She's a professionally trained dancer, writes her own songs that are unique yet accessible, looks like she stepped out of a fashion photo shoot, and is genuinely talented. 

    As a child, Oh Land trained to be a ballerina, until a severe back injury forced her to stop. It was during her recovery period when she discovered music, saying, "I was like a black hole during that period. The only thing that got me through was music because I felt like I could still dance through it--like I could lie down, close my eyes and figure out melodies without moving."

    Her music certainly gets me moving, and watching this cross between Nico and Françoise Hardy moving unabashedly onstage in a sea of balloons is mesmerizing. There's just something about music that comes from Nordic countries (think Bjork and the Knife--not metal) that has this "haunted dollhouse" sound--I really think it's the accents. But instead of evoking

    Read More »from Land, Oh! Danish Stunner Oh Land’s Nuanced Nordic Pop

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