Kate Nash

...I wish that you knew
when I said two sugars,
actually I meant three...

Described as the “Garageband Lily Allen” and "like John Lydon and Joni Mitchell hanging out in a bus shelter,” Kate Nash is a girl on the rise.

Swamped with press attention of late, she has been hyped as Lily Allen’s natural successor. Despite some obvious similarities, the whimsical approach to lyrics and self deprecation for instance, her musical style could not be further removed.

Gritty sparse rhythms and synth bass replace Allen’s pop sensibilities, aligning Kate in a far more quirky neo electro folk camp. Debut release ‘Caroline’s a victim’ bears no real comparison to Allen’s ‘Smile.’

19 year old Kate Nash could have side stepped music entirely, auditioning at the Bristol Old Vic in February 2006 as an actress. Failing the audition, and breaking her foot falling down some stairs on the same day, led her to be bed ridden for three weeks. She has her parents to thank for launching her music career as they bought her a guitar to pass the time, causing her to write and record on her laptop.

Kate’s lyrics have a rambling yet poetic nature that reflects the everyday banality of teenage life. Whether they are about dancing at discos and eating cheese on toast, or having someone check out her bum, Kate captures the essence of the normal and somehow makes it beautiful.

Sensing a kindred spirit Lily Allen got hold of one of Kate’s demos and backed it wholeheartedly by placing it in her MySpace top 8. “Apparently she’s always bigging me up, which is really nice” says Kate.

“A blend of shimmery lo-fi soundscapes, lullabic vocals and sparse instrumentation has already marked her as a breed apart” - Hot Press

“Kate Nash knocks spots of the competition” - NME

“Fresh, honest and experimental” - Vogue

MP3: Kate Nash - Merry Happy

MP3: Kate Nash - The Shit Song

MP3: Kate Nash - Caroline's a Victim (Tapedeck Remix)

Video: Kate Nash - Caroline's a Victim

Air Traffic

...Your
face my
place...

Air Traffic are: Chris Wall (Vocals, Piano, Guitar) David Ryan Jordan (Drums) Jim Maddock (Bass) Tom Pritchard (Guitar)

One of many bands tipped to be the ‘Artic Monkeys of 2007’, Air Traffic are among the few actually living up to the hype.

Originally from Bournemouth, this piano-led, indie-rock quartet got their name from the air traffic control signals that they would pick up while they were rehearsing in abandoned industrial units next to an airport.

They released ‘Just Abuse Me’ which was declared “the hottest record in the world” upon its release last July by DJ Zane Lowe. Currently supporting Snow Patrol the band is also being championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq & Jo Whiley, plus they have been hotly tipped by NME, who likened the band to “Supergrass covering Little Richard”

Since their signing earlier this year to EMI the band has spent much of the summer hidden away recording their highly anticipated debut album at Rockfield studios in Wales.

2007 will see further UK tours, their first tour dates in Ireland, Europe and the US plus their first official single release and their eagerly awaited album debut.

To hear ‘Just abuse me’ and ‘Never even told me her name’ visit their MySpace page…

www.air-traffic.co.uk

Air Traffic release a new single ‘Charlotte’ on Feb 26th and are touring extensively throughout February including a performance at the NME brats show.

MP3: Air Traffic - Charlotte

Video: Air Traffic - Never Even Told Me Her Name

George Pringle

...I'm going to
kick that indie witch in
the tits...

Once you pop you just can’t stop.

No that’s not Keira Knightley gone mad with a marker pen, its Georgina Pringle, and she is about to be huge.

Probably.

With a rising MySpace fan base and shed loads of quirkiness 2007 could well be her year.

George Pringle is a girl from SW10, currently studying in Oxford, where she used to sing with Oxford based band ‘ this town needs guns.’ Nowadays she can be found creating metaphor-strung monologues over laptop tracks composed in her bedroom. Her homebrew of shoegazing poetry (referencing anything from Audrey Tatou to Sonic the Hedgehog) and electronica has seen her MySpace page rack up fans. Drawing inspiration from M83, Bjork, Patrick Wolf and The Kills, her songs are defined loosely as ‘Blogtronica’, a diary styled train of thought set to minimal musical accompaniment.

"I know who Mogwai are too, darling" is a scathing attack on the indier-than-thou scene. She pours scorn on those who “Wear a dead granny’s dress to the indie discothèque” whilst also lamenting a kidnapping whereby her hair was forcibly dyed black to the tunes of Belle and Sebastian.

Despite the fact she's only uploaded a few demos to MySpace and played 4 gigs, which she does as a twist on karaoke, she alerted the attention of PiL’s manager who flew from LA to see her. Her photo friendly face has adorned the pages of NME and Loud & Quiet magazines, plus she features in a forthcoming Guardian article highlighting women who are all tipped to make it big in 2007.

"Leftfield glitch-folk with bite”

“Anyone who can say the words "Belle and Sebastian" with such transparent disdain has to be worth a listen”

"Her performance was a lot like a joke that everyone gets but you. But from what I saw, she was hot, so I forgive her."

MP3: George Pringle - Kill Her If You Can Loverboy

To read ten facts you didn’t know about George Pringle, and hear some tracks, visit her MySpace page…

www.myspace.com/georgepringle

Mika

...Why don’t you
like me? Why
don’t you like me?...

Introducing the man who sang the orbit chewing gum jingle (for which he got paid £45)

With the weight of Music industry hype weighing heavy on his shoulders Mika is destined to be the voice of 2007.
A songwriter, performer, producer and orchestrator, this self-taught piano virtuoso with a staggering four-octave range just has to be heard. Straddling a line somewhere between the Scissor Sisters, and Freddie Mercury, his intimate first person and third person storytelling is the freshest sound around.

Mika grew up in Beirut in the middle of a war, his father was taken hostage and held at the American embassy in Kuwait, forcing a move to Paris and then finally to London. It was here, with the help of a “terrifying” Russian music teacher, that he found his musical desire, catapulted onto the stage of a Richard Strauss opera at only 11 years old. At 19 he nearly abandoned music leaving home to study for an academic degree at The London School of Economics. He quit on the afternoon of the first day and enrolled at The Royal College of Music two weeks later.

A welcomed, and retrospectively essential, early record deal saw him pitted against the music industry: “The bosses would try and twist me into a direction that went totally against my nature. Basically, they wanted me to follow whatever was popular at the time. And at the time what was popular was Craig David, so my depression was pretty deep.”

Mika’s myspace site has generated an incredible 650,000 plays in less than 6 months, he has been named the best new talent in the BBC's Sound of 2007 music poll, and to top it all download single ‘Grace Kelly’ has gone straight in at Number One on the iTunes singles chart.

‘he is going to be a huge star’ - Rob Da Bank

‘he’s pops new saviour’ – i-D magazine

‘a glorious new pop star’ - Observer Music Monthly

‘jaw on the floor performance’ - NME

To hear some Mika simply turn on your radio or visit the websites listed below:

www.mikasounds.com
www.myspace.com/mikamyspace

Single ‘Grace Kelly is physically released on Jan 29, the album ‘Life in Cartoon Motion’ follows on Feb 5.

Mika embarks on a nationwide tour in February and will play a sold out show at KoKo in London on Feb 22.

MP3: Mika - Lollipop

MP3: Mika - Grace Kelly (Pull Tiger Tail Remix)