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Bands To Watch: White Lies

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

As the festival season is quickly approaching us, each week we will be taking a look at a band or solo artist which will be doing the UK festival rounds this year. Last time we showed you guys American electronic band Passion Pit. This week we are taking a closer look at alternative rock band White Lies.

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White Lies consists of Harry McVeigh (lead vocals, guitar) Charles Cave (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Jack Lawrence-Brown (drums). The threesome are from Ealing, London.

They’ve toured with some fantastic acts such as The Maccabees, Jamie T and Laura Marling. They released their debut album (‘To Lose My Life…’) earlier this year which flew to #1 in the UK Album Charts.

The band are playing a handful of UK festival dates. They will be playing at Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Oxegen, T in the Park, Isle of Wight Festival and Latitude. They are also set to play a number of overseas festivals including Benicassim and Hove.

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Bands To Watch: Passion Pit

Friday, May 29th, 2009

As the festival season is quickly approaching us, each week we will be taking a look at a band or solo artist which will be doing the UK festival rounds this year. Last time we showed you guys indie quartet Bombay Bicycle Club. This week we are taking a closer look at American electronic band Passion Pit.

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Passion Pit consists of five band members: Michael Angelakos (lead vocals/keyboards), Ian Hultquist (keyboards), Ayad Al Adhamy (synth/samples), Jeff Apruzzese (bass) and Nate Donmoyer (drums). The band formed back in 2007 in Massachusetts, USA.

After coming top in a new music poll in 2008, the band was signed up by Columbia in the UK and Frenchkiss Records in the US. In the same year the band put together an EP called Chunk of Change. The band released their debut album, Manners, in the UK and North America earlier this year.

The band was announced to be playing at three of the UK’s largest festival earlier this week: Glastonbury Festival and joint festivals Reading and Leeds. The band is also set to make appearances right around the UK festival scene this year. Stopping off at Latitude, Bestival, Jersey Live, Oxegen and T in the Park with more rumoured stops still to be confirmed.

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Bands To Watch: Bombay Bicycle Club

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

As the festival season is quickly approaching us, each week we will be taking a look at a band or solo artist which will be doing the UK festival rounds this year. Last week we took a look at Kiwi electro-pop artist Ladyhawke. This week we are taking a closer look at indie quartet Bombay Bicycle Club.

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Bombay Bicycle Club are from Crouch End, London. Jack Steadman is the frontman for the band who plays lead vocals and guitar. Jamie MacColl is the lead guitarist, Ed Nash is on bass and Suren de Saram plays drums.

BBC, as they are commonly known by fans, have had recent success with their single Always Like This. After joining Island Records, the band brought out the single which reached #97 in the UK singles charts.

The band have been playing together since they were 15 and have previously entered the acclaimed Road To V competition which sees unsigned bands battle it out for a chance to open V Festival. The band went on to win the competition and opened the 2006 V Festival on the Channel 4 Stage in Chelmsford.

After a fantastic 2008 festival season, the band are looking to go one better this year. With a new single under their belts they’ve decided to take on several more festivals and they will be playing higher up on the line-ups. Their performances are fantastic and full of energy, they are always surrounded by a screaming allegiance of fans. Their performance at Reading festival in 2008 saw them joined by a dancing panda (from the Evening/Morning video).

The band have already played a couple of festivals this summer including Radio 1 Big Weekend and The Great Escape. If you missed them there take a trip to see the band at one of the following festivals this year: The Island 50 Festival, Monarchy Live, Latitude and Lovebox Weekender. The band are also strongly rumoured to be playing Glastonbury (check back on UKFests later this week for the announced line-up).

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Bands To Watch: Ladyhawke

Monday, May 4th, 2009

As the festival season is quickly approaching us, each week we will be taking a look at a band or solo artist which will be doing the UK festival rounds this year. Last week we took a look at solo indie sensation Bat For Lashes. This week we are taking a closer look at Kiwi electro-pop artist Ladyhawke.

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Ladyhawke is the alter-ego of New Zealand musician Phillipa Brown. Brown came from a musical family which has supported her quest for stardom in the music industry. Brown’s music has been compared to that of New Young Pony Club, Annie and Cyndi Lauper.

Her single “Paris is Burning” has been a popular release, however, it has struggled to make a major impact in the sales charts around the world. The release has led to increased promotion for the singer which, I’m sure, was greatly welcomed.

Ladyhawke’s self titled debut album has been rather more successful. Released in 2008, the album has broken into the top twenty in the album charts in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Brown is also reported to already be writing material for her second album.

Ladyhawke is making her mark on the 2009 festival circuit playing at many festivals in the UK and abroad: Radio 1 Big Weekend, Evolution Music Festival, Dot to Dot, The Island 50 Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Hurricane (in Germany), The Hop Farm Festival, The Eden Sessions, Oxegen, T in the Park, Latitude, Lovebox Weekender and Underage Festival.

Check out Ladyhawke’s Myspace here.

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Bands To Watch: Bat For Lashes

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

As the festival season is quickly approaching us, each week we will be taking a look at a band or solo artist which will be doing the UK festival rounds this year. Last week we took a look at British indie rock act Noisettes. This week we are taking a closer look at solo indie sensation Bat For Lashes.

Bat for Lashes is the pseudonym of English singer and song-writer Natasha Khan from Brighton. Khan, originally a nursery school teacher, experimented with music during her university years. After leaving uni and becoming a teacher she found a lot of inspiration for her initial album ‘Fur and Gold‘.

‘Fur and Gold’ was one of the albums nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize. Unfortunately the album didn’t win the award which went to Klaxons’ Myths of the Near Future instead.

Her second album, ‘Two Suns‘ was released earlier this year (2009) with the song ‘Daniel‘ released as a single from the album.

Bat For Lashes name has been popping up on several large festival line-up posters. She has so far been confirmed for Bestival, Latitude and Electric Picnic. In 2007 she played Glastonbury and she’s heavily rumoured to be on the bill again this year.

For a listen to her work, check out her myspace.

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