Rainy Milo

There’s little-known about South London-based talent Rainy Milo, except she’s refusing record deals left and right, and she’s still only in her teens. Like her music, which clearly possesses a haunting cadence and vocal stylings that oscillate perfectly between gruff-raspy and lilting, there is a certain something about her that hints at a wisdom beyond her years. She may remind you of artists like Delilah, and Lily Allen and their tradition of Grime-y-Soul, with her smooth, harmonic runs that are half-sung. half-spoken in a strong London accent. She could even remind you of Amy Winehouse circa Frank, as she occasionally steps into smoky, Jazzhouse territory in ‘The Other Way’ and 'Don’t Forget Me’.

But her best work is the cover of classic 'Make Me Smile’ by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which she slows down into a mournfully wistful ballad and croons like an old soul. We can’t wait to hear what’s in store, and if her commitment to working on her 'sound’ before releasing a full-length album says anything, it’s that there’s hope that when she does, it will be well worth our wait…

You can download her EP Limey, linked here via her Soundcloud

Originally found here

M.I.A

M.I.A first sent flutters into our heart in 2005, with the opening bars of ‘Galang’ and she’s been a fixture there ever since. If like us, you can’t get enough of her and her music (and we are breathlessly waiting on the release of Matangi, if you’re reading this) then this news will be right up your street.

 If you ever got the sense she was such a creative and talented artiste, the music industry didn’t have a box or a genre big enough to contain her, well you’d be right. Now, she has a book. On October 23rd, publishing house Rizzoli released ’M.I.A: The Book’, which sounds exactly like the kind of personal, idiosyncratic collection of scribbles we would kill to get a look at:

“A groundbreaking and always controversial musician, M.I.A. is an influential artist and an important cultural figure of the last decade. Here is a documentation of her entire visual output and a telling of her story in collages, photos, and prints from her early years in art school at Central Saint Martins London through to her hugely successful three albums, mixtapes, and live performances at PS1 MoMA, Coachella, various exhibitions, installations, and music video shoots. The artwork is comprised of a wide variety of materials and media: video stills turned to stencils pieced back together to make animated installations; spray-painted canvasses scanned then made into digital collages; photographs videotaped, then run through bad computer connections to create graphic prints; artwork on nails, walls, prints for T-shirts, handmade stage costumes—anything she could find while she was touring. Also included are assorted lyrics and portions of an exclusive interview in which she discusses candidly the personal events and themes which informed her art and music at the time of each campaign. Includes foreword by Steve Loveridge, friend since her art school days and frequent creative collaborator with M.I.A.”

When a coffee-table book has a trailer, you know it means business! So we shall just sit here patiently, awaiting word on an international release. And that album.

M.I.A. The Book, is available here for you lucky North-Americans: 

Originally found here

Petite Noir aka Yannick IIlunga

The 22-year old Cape Town-based producer Yannick Illunga, aka Petite Noir is making a name for himself (not just with the music journalists who always bring up the problematic gender agreement of his alias. *yawns* Yes, well spotted. You have some hold on the French language. You are so clever)! In a matter of months, journos all over the world have been bewitched by this guy’s mix of deep vocals, heavy bass and electronic echos…

It has been described as ‘Noir-Wave’, 'Joy Division meets Paul Simon in Graceland’, 'Kwaito-pop’. However you want to define it, it needs hearing for yourself…I haven’t stopped listening to 'Pressure’ since I first heard it. You’ve been warned.

Petite Noir is currently touring Europe, and will be releasing an EP on Bad Life Records in 2013

Originally found here