Without any search for a modicum of sympathy, we think it's fair to state that organising a successful music blog is a pretty big effort from the outset. Compiling the contents is an un-ending road of work, but making sure that those contents are of good quality, whilst delivering them in a tidy package, is a major time consumer. So what drives our commitment? We hope we speak for all music bloggers out there by offering one unified reason - the love of music and the desire to deliver it to our audience. Now factor in the way [...]
With this brand spanking new trio from London we are in the action of watching a set of artists step out from the darkness and into the light. This three-piece are an electronic act, but they've actually been floating around the London scene for a few years in other guises. Very other guises. They used to be in different bands, none of which were particularly successful, but who had been compared to the likes of Interpol and The Editors . Considering the dark edges of those comparisons, it's perhaps a little surprising to hear their new work [...]
In general we like to operate in the emerging music category. With The Recommender being part of the public's 'music discovery' service it is actually very rare for us to provide coverage of an artist who's already signed to a major record label, has had a string of massive sold out shows in her adopted home country of Australia (she's was born in Papua New Guinea), picked up two ARIA awards, and had her debut album go platinum. Surely that's a little bit too emerged, right? Wrong. Washington may have found lots of success in Australia over the [...]
When people start music blogs they do so with humility and usually have absolutely no idea where it can lead. If they do a good job, soon enough the readership expands beyond expectations, a few guest list offerings arrive and the odd free promo album turns up in the post. The 405 is a site that began one month after The Recommender, and since that launch it's mushroomed beyond most others in the UK. As a leading voice in the online music community we're more than happy to get them onto this regular series. We're sure [...]
Here's a band capable of brilliance, but also of frustration. They seem to have been in a battle with themselves ever since they first burst onto the scene last year. Coolrunnings are a quartet from Knoxville, Tennessee, who have been known to expand to a 7-piece on occasion, showing off yet another example of a band that isn't sure what it wants to be. And herein lies their story, because on occasion they're utterly fantastic, delivering music to your ears like a masterful butler, but other times they seem to bash their songs around your head until you [...]
What's in a band's name? Does it make a difference to your perception of the artist? Does it matter? We recall a pub conversation many years ago in which our friend declared with conviction that you " shouldn't name your band anything you can't imagine being declared over the PA at Wembley stadium ", as the announcer introduces you onstage to the giant crowd. Well, ladies and gentleman tonight we introduce you to..."Bluuuuuuuue Hawaiiiiiiiii"! OK, so that doesn't quite work, but one glance through the blog posts that have covered the Montreal duo, Blue Hawaii , since [...]
The Recommender has been invited to be part of a yet another global music blog collective. Talks are going on in the background to discuss the eventual site and relationships are being forged between all the bloggers. It's a hugely rewarding experience, particularly when we all join up for a natter on a Google Plus 'Hang Out' - a form of webcam conference call on the new social network. Through this we've been planning a CMJ showcase using the brand of the new collective, which will act as an introduction and a teaser for the collective's plans. The [...]
We're all aware of the term 'buzz band', right? It's something applied to emerging artists who are riding the (usually online) cultural chatter, the 'band of the moment' if you will. It's obviously a horrific title to apply to any new band, as although it suggests excitement among the taste-makers, it's likely to burn bright, but ultimately burn out as fast as it arrived. It's temporary. It's brief. It's deadly and no bands want their hard work to be labelled as something that's so instantly due for rapid decline. It's the media coverage equivalent of striking a match - hot, [...]
We're not entirely sure if a bonafide music scene can actually exist in a city anymore. Since that damn Internet thingy got invented it seems that everyone's " into a bit of everything ", so tribes don't properly exist in large numbers like they used to in decades gone by, and scenes -where lots of bands share a sound, a fashion or a culture - don't generally gather much momentum in the modern era. These days, what we seem to have in their place is simply a bunch of bands, from all ends of the spectrum and a multitude of genres, that [...]
If we mention the genre of pop to you who do you think of? Britney? Rhianna? JLS? They are all totally fair answers, as there's often a lot of mainstream and stardom associated with pop - we often think of the 'pop star' - so it's not surprising those kinds of names come to mind. Unfortunately with that type of star there's also a lot of elements that are manufactured, in order for the star to be fully propelled into the lucrative limelight. Sadly, in pursuit of the important dollars we notice that a lot of the pop music can [...]
Something for the weekend, sir? OK, here is a new artist that's gonna put the neon strips in your Saturday night. You're going to love this recommendation - if you don't you've lost your fun button - but there's an underlying discussion point that's something of an elephant in the room, so we may as well hit it straight on. This artist is only 16 years old! There. We. Said. It. That is exceptionally young by anyone's standards and it raises the question - can you be too young to be credible? Without intending to be in [...]
Ever been to a micro-festival? In fact, what is a micro-festival? No, we're not sure either. One thing we are sure of is that if the line up is good enough then we're attracted. Today we want to talk about one that's come under our radars, with a particularly decent lineup, that we think may just be worth your effort. Binnacle is a two day line up of bands hosted at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch this weekend (on 15th and 16th September). It's focus is on emerging music, although in all honesty some [...]
This London duo are about as hard to pigeon hole as we imagine it is to physically squeeze an actual pigeon into an actual hole. As you know, The Recommender usually deals in cutting edge music, so you may be wondering why they're appearing on here, seeing as they've been floating around since 2009. That's understandable, but in all honesty they're one of those bands that feels like they've established a foothold on the underground music scene without actually releasing much original work to date. One search on the Hype Machine and you'll see a reasonably [...]
In an arena in which millions of blogs exist it's tough getting noticed. Even if you're doing a great job, there's still lots of other decent bloggers matching your skills. Where can a blogger turn so his thoughts can be reached? Well, today we are bringing you Anthony Fantano, the editor for the American music blog, The Needle Drop , and it's fair to say that he's found new ways to try and shine a light on his efforts. Above all else, Anthony is a blogger that strives to be original and one that embraces the 'new'. This [...]
It's well-documented that bloggers and music critics get many emails each day from artists approaching them for coverage. Just one glance through the series of Q&A 's that we've been completing this year with the editors of music blogs, where we posed the question - " Approximately, how many emails do you get in your inbox each day? " - and you will see the answer varying between " over 100 " and " hundreds ". It's impossible to keep up without being brutal towards your admin, hovering over the delete button for just a few seconds before reaching [...]
As we've recently mentioned on previous posts here on The Recommender, Brighton is definitely enjoying something of a buzz spotlight as a multitude of exceptional bands have appeared from this city throughout 2011. Today we bring you the next in line for our attention, a new duo called Curxes (pronounced Curses). The thing is, whilst we are more than happy to claim them as our own, it's thrown up a debate about what constitutes the linking of a city with a band. Is the issue of a band's geography even relevant? Perhaps not in [...]
They say that some of the best music blogs are by those who are working inside the music industry. You won't find a better example of this than with Ollie Clueit - or Ollie Russian as he's perhaps better known - and his blog My Band's Better Than Your Band . Here is a blog editor who, in the right circles, is as close to 'internet fame' as a music blogger can get. His reputation is earned too, as his ability to spot a new artist is razor sharp. On many occasions The Recommender has located a [...]
It's going to be impossible to get through this recommendation without discussing the British-born genre of shoegaze . Nick Benton and Lucy Wilson are Carousels and both come from Cambridge, although they're apparently now based in Guildford, (and surely about to move to Dalston), and they deliver a replica of the genre's ingredients, but with their new incarnation the packaging has changed and what we receive from this new duo is a twist on the long-term British obsession. Shoegaze is mainly named as such due to the performances of it's 1980s pioneers who stood relatively [...]
We love it when a band arrives and in some intangible manner seems to sum up our detached, sweeping generalisations of the place from which they came. The Beach Boys sounded very Californian, right? The Smiths sounded very Manchester, didn't they? The Strokes couldn't appear from anywhere other than New York could they? Well, if you imagine the Eastern Gold Coast of Australia to be all slacker surfers, with a relaxed, sunny disposition, where partying and enjoying life is the common path of choice, then you're on your way to finding Gung Ho [...]
What does it take to make your band a success in the music industry? Good music? A charismatic frontman? Good looks? An obvious single? Well, yes, all of these will help, but the labels are also looking for this element they refer to as 'traction', before they indulge in you. This golden factor is harder for musicians to design, and is what the likes of Simon Cowell are ultimately masters of for their artists. Transfer first appeared in 2009, self-recording and self-releasing their debut UK album, Future Selves , but due to a lack of impact first [...]
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