chamber pop
Field Music
Field Music are the latest product of a long-running musical expedition, directed by Andrew Moore and brothers Peter and David Brewis. Their debut album, imaginatively titled Field Music, was released to surprising critical acclaim in August 2005, accompanied by the singles Shorter Shorter, You Can Decide and, most recently, If Only The Moon Were Up. B-sides and rarities compilation Write Your Own History followed in 2006.
Team me
Team Me play warm and rich orchestrated pop music in the same vein as Sufjan Stevens, Efterklang, Patrick Wolf or Jónsi. This used to be Marius D. Hagen's one-man band - a recording project where he could play the songs that didn't fit in his other bands. But Team Me has grown into a six-strong orchestra and the fragile acoustic songs Hagen used to play have been transformed into a much larger and richer sound.
Edmund Cottam
Edmund Cottam is a Manchester based singer songwriter (previously, and still often know as just Ed Cottam). Imagine what a quintessentially Victorian Englishman would sound like after being affected by Nick Cave’s whole back catalogue. “His voice is incredibly distinct, a bit reminiscent of Antony and the Johnsons (he’s probably fed up of being described thus) but my knowledge of haunting melodramatic singers is limited. It’s kind of like you’d think Edgar Allen Poe might sing like, resonant and melancholy and a touch gothic and fragile.”
The Miserable Rich
Hailing from the fertile Brighton acoustic scene, The Miserable Rich take strands of chamber music, pop music and children's lullabies and weave them into a tight ball of thoughtful loveliness. Along with Shoreline, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Moonshine Moonshine and The Leisure Society they form part of the Willkommen Collective. Their debut album, 12 Ways to Count, is about to be released by Hazelwood Vinyl Plastics in Germany and a double A side single is being released by Humble Soul - based in Manchester.
Cinerama
Cinerama from Leeds, UK started life as a duo in 1997, The Wedding Present's David Gedge and his girlfriend Sally Murrell, together with a shifting line-up of collaborators. 1998's Va Va Voom "turbo-driven melodies and bittersweet vignettes taking in everything from John Barry to the Zombies" (The Times) featured The Church's Marty Willson-Piper and Emma Pollock from The Delgados. Then later in 1998, Gedge rescued the rhythm section of the disbanded Goya Dress ([Terry de Castro and Simon Pearson) and combined them with Wedding Present guitarist Simon Cleave.
Tindersticks
Tindersticks is an alternative band from Nottingham, England. Their sound is characterized by a synthesis of orchestral backing, lounge jazz, and soul; the lush orchestrations of multi-instrumentalist Dickon Hinchliffe and the smoky baritone of lead vocalist Stuart A. Staples are the band's hallmarks. Tindersticks have employed electric guitars, as most rock bands have done, but augment their instrumentation with a wide array of instruments: Rhodes piano, glockenspiel, vibraphone, violin...
The whatevers
The Whatevers are a boy and a girl from Leeds who met at school in Ripon and bonded over indie music. They both experimented with eyeliner and self harmed on general principle.They cheered up a bit with age. After they spent fourteen years breaking each others hearts they formed a band. They have just recorded their first single and are playing their first gigs around Leeds.
'rhapsody in blue jeans/be you and your twisted romance' was released by holiday records, which is a lovely free online thing run by jacob out of the drums.
Owen Pallett
Owen Pallett (born Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright, on September 7, 1979) is a violinist and singer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and winner of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize. On December 18th, 2009, Pallett announced that he would be retiring his old artist name, Final Fantasy, and would be henceforth releasing his material under his own name. Previous albums released under the Final Fantasy name are planned to be re-packaged and re-released under the new name of Owen Pallett.
