Rob Forster - On my mind

Rob Forster is a new singer/songwriter, originating out of the Manchester music scene for whom 2009 promises big things. Previously fronting and leading a number of respected bands in the area, Rob spent the last years honing his craft in Europe and the States and now brings a world wizened authenticity to his craft. The style and sound, combine contemporary story telling and commentary on the world with an insistence on and love of genuine melody and musicality. His eyes see a world painted in its many shades of grey, and the human spirit in light of all its flaws and greatness.  Lyrically every word is considered and placed with meaning and purpose. This is a soul exposed. 2009 sees his eagerly awaited first full production, full length release ‘Frozen’. The track On My Mind wets the appetite for this and gives an great preview of what is surely to come, exemplifying the integrity and depth in this new artists work.

 Dale Olivier says" Robert Forster delivers a slow, dreamy and melodic melancholy masterpiece with beautiful epic Jeff Buckley esque guitars and open and honest lyrics. Rob sings about how he loves his partner but is really thinking about "Sarah". A lovely song that takes you on a relaxing, dreamy journey and then twists lyrically to reveal a darker, sensitive and yearning nature. A love song of different and great proportions...nice.

http://www.myspace.com/robforster

Jade - Follow me down

Jade is an Italian duo of Gianluca Ghersetti and Riccardo Piemonte that melds gentle acoustic guitar songs with some mean programming and ethereal moods. Stylistically hard to pigeonhole, Jade are an eclectic outfit, writing beautiful, melodic music.

David Says:

This stuff is very hypnotic. The two guys have created a sonic-scape that slurps you up and keeps you hooked. Hard to put your finger on why this happens, but the combination of acoustic and electronic elements defiantly playa bog role.

www.myspace.com/thejadetime 

 
Jointpop - Monday morning love situation

Jointpop was formed in 1996 in Trinidad and Tobago and currently includes singer/songwriter Gary Hector (Guitar-Vocal) and Damon Homer (Guitar) Dion Camacho (Drums) Phil Hill (Keyboards) Jerome Girdharrie (Bass). As the name suggests they draw on a wide range of influences which they meld into one. These include Clash style rants to Velvet-like laid back grooves and Dylanesque lyrics.

David Says:

A really old-school rock n roll style that is revived with vigour here. It’s a catchy song with all the old-school values in place. Pretty damn cool!

www.myspace.com/jointpop

 The Lost Heights - Come back to me
The Lost Heights are a five piece from England, consisting of Adele, Lewis, Pearce, jack and Dave. Formerly known as simply Adele, the band is fronted by the powerful vocals of the aforementioned young woman and present powerful blend of ballade fuelled pop.

David Says:

This is a direct kind of pop music, with soaring chorus and rhythmic verses. Adele’s voice certainly catches the ear from the first note, and her band is no slouch either!

www.myspace.com/thelostheights   

Disc 2:

The bouncy, sing-along but rocking band The Dancing Bullets shooting to NO 1 above.

 
The Dancing Bullets - Violet row

A straight up old school rock n roll band from the UK, the Dancing Bullets consist of members Gary Price on vocals and guitar, Roy Price on vocals and Bass and Anthony Jones on drums. They claim to be influenced by the likes of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Louis Jordan, The Everly Borthers and The Ramones. Oddly enough, not only can you hear this, but it sounds great and most certainly their own at the same time.

David Says:

Its not often you find a band that wears its influences so much on their sleeve and still manage to pull off not sounding hackneyed of cheap. The Dancing Bullets are a good band and Violet row is a cracking, catchy song in the way that a lot of rock n roll was before the cynicism set in.

www.myspace.com/dancingbullets   

Croatia's hottest modern rock export ROCK BUS above.

 Knife - Wild fear

The band “Knife” currently consists of Samuele Venturini (Guitars & Vocals), Theo Milani (Lead Guitars), Soliman Biolo (Bass Guitar), Marco Violato (Drums), and Tony Hard-Ina (Synth/Samples - Backing Vocals) was formed at the end of 1999. Knife recorded their first self-produced album of the band “The soul of the bull” during November and September 2000. In the spring of 2003 the band recorded the demo “Vertebra” at the “Zerobstudio” (Padua): it contains 5 more melodious and electronic songs than the ones found on the first album.

David says:

A wild mix of really heavy rock with Gothic overtones and some nice electronic elements. Knife produce an epic heavy sound that will pin your ears to your head.

www.myspace.com/knifeworld   

Going after Zen - Tantric Templars

Going After Zen or GAZ to give it its abbreviated name is the solo pseudonym of Chris Hirons who has a fondness for the crafting of looped grooved progressively psychedelic mantras at a home based studio in the heart of England.

David Says:

Layers of trippy, eastern influenced sounds loop and swirl over a steady pulsing beat. It’s hypnotic and pretty damn cool actually!

www.myspace.com/goingafterzen   

Unbreakable - In the mirror

From the Chisinau (Republic of Moldova), Unbreakable is Pavel (25) and Sergiu Caruntu (22) and producer and composer Alex Brashovean. After some domestic success with local battle of the bands contests, they decided to switch to singing in English to better their chances of reaching an international artist.

David says:

Vocally-driven commercial pop for the radio charts. These two guys can sing and the compositions are definitely of the radio-charting, epic variety.

www.myspace.com/unbreakablespace

David Tyrrell - The Entire World

Hailing from Liverpool and consisting of Chris Mckeown, David Tyrrell and John Mulholland, David Tyrell is both a band and a person. With a debut EP released in 2008, the band made a dynamic entrance onto their native Liverpool scene.  The band combines David's powerful lyrics with blazing drum tracks and bouncing bass lines to fabricate yet another disc full of pulse-pounding scorchers. With standout tracks like "Believe" and "For You" look for David Tyrrell to be a major part in the music landscape for years to come.

David says:

A gentle piano driven ballade that has haunting lyrics and real power. You can see why these guys fancy their chances!

www.myspace.com/davidtyrrellmusic

The dark but deliciously melodic and dreamy singer songwriter Darren Ramshaw live in action above.

Darren Ramshaw – Fakers

Daren hails from Ashby De La Zouch in the Midlands of the UK. He writes his won material and sings, as well as playing guitar, mandolin, violin, keyboards and harmonica. His sound is a lilting Celtic folk sound, with a slightly spacey feel.

David says:

Darren will soon be working with a percussionist as well, and I’d like to hear how his songs change. As acoustic folk, this song is excellent, but he clearly can take it further.

www.myspace.com/darrenramshaw    

The distinctive heartfelt but rock troubadour Matt Charlton above.

Matt Charlton - Despre tu

Don’t be fooled by the song titles, Matt hails from England. Although is range of influences is big: anything from Van Morrison to the Wu Tang Clan, Pentangle to Pantera to Marlena Shaw to Metallica to Tool.

David Says:

Intense and heartfelt while remaining sparely driven by only the acoustic guitar. Despre Tu is an intense song, and the Eddie Vedder-esque vocals only add to the sense of alienation.

www.myspace.com/charltonmatt   

 The Woodlands - Forward

The band was born in Fano in the province of Pesaro/Urbino, Italy in September 2007. The current line up is 5 members: Tommaso Pallucca (vocals), Giacomo Pallucca (lead guitar& back vocals), Alessandro Ferri (drums), Luigi Eusebi (rhythm guitar) and Matteo Colocci (bass guitar & Keyboard). Their sound is originally “indie”, with a lot of influences from the English scene.

David Says:

Catchy, jangly guitars drag your head into the heart of this engaging song. It’s simple yet persuasive, with great harmonies and an interesting, catchy structure.

www.myspace.com/thewoodlandsindie  

The Stilts - Sunshine Breaks

Formed in North-West London in 2006 The Stilts have made practising an obsession and obsession an art form, creating an impressive range of their own material.

The Stilts play balls-out rock and roll with lashings of punk and ska thrown in. Citing influences ranging from The Clash and The Who through to Cage the Elephant and The Paddington’s. Over the last year and a half they have worked their way through quiet Monday night gigs to packed weekenders in top venues, delighting promoters and picking up fans on the way.

David Says:

One of the quieter tunes from eh Stilts’ repertoire, proving that they are more than just out and out rockers. A clever, held back number that shows they can write songs as well as they rock.

www.myspace.com/thestilts  

The Geoff Stein Project - Saddle Up Your Broomstick

Geoff Stein and Baub Eis are the primary driving forces behind this project. Geoff is the song writer and Baub is the producer/orchestrator/musician finder/guitar player.
In the past year Baub has opened up for the likes of REO Speedwagon, Starship, Willie Nelson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, Jimmy Van Zant Band, Unkle Kracker, Head East and Air Supply. This music is the result of two years work with various musicians.

David Says:

With all of this alt country around, it’s refreshing to hear some really old school Americana… and boy is this old school. Country and Blues and some Blue Grass. These guys know their stuff!

 www.myspace.com/geoffsteinproject  

Polands hottest new export Scant Mirror above

Scant Mirror - None Left

SCANT MIRROR was formed in August 2003 in Jarosław, Poland, consisting of Marcin Dudek on vocals and guitar, K.Nowowiejski on bass and W.Pysz on drums.
In December 2004 in MOK, Jaroslaw the band recorded its first demo consisted
of 9 tracks composed in the very early period. Scant Mirror is a rock-metal band whose sound is based on a rhythm, guitar riffs all summed with expressive vocals.

David Says:

Power metal and groove, Scant Mirror will overpower you. It’s dark and dangerous: perfect for really getting lost in.

www.myspace.com/scantmirror

The fantastic and rocking Rockadelica above

 
Rockadelica - Rumble in town

The band began in the summer of 2000 when Dani from Minnesota established his new home in Bilbao (Spain). Here he teamed up with George, a well-known drummer, and created a new rock band rich in improvisation and respect for all types of rock music. T Xema, Juan and William, open-minded musicians, have been with the band throughout these six years.

David Says:

A laid back brand of blues fuelled rock, this is great stuff. Drawled vocals over comforting guitar. What more could you ask from a rock song?

www.myspace.com/rockadelica

Inertia Avenue - Live Forever

This outfit started out as a solo home studio project by founding member and principal writer Hammy. It basically strove to write ear-catching tunes that were accessible but not token, within the context of a hard rock sound. Now seeking musicians to complete a full line-up, Hammy is looking to break out with Inertia Avenue as a band

David Says:

A very diverse influenced rock sound is underpinned by some great guitaring and decent vocals. Will be very interesting to hear a full band version live!

www.myspace.com/inertiaavenue    

No Way - Red Bullets

From Salamanca, Spain, No Way is a four piece rock band consisting of Gonzalo Oria on Vocals & Guitar, Guillermo Hermosa on Guitar, Carlos Alberca on Bass and Raúl Martín on Drums. Formed in 1998, they have done well on their local circuit, now looking to break out onto bigger things.

David Says:

Wall of Sound guitars with a plaintive Sex Pistols vocal give these guys an interesting sound. Given some more time to experiment in the studio I reckon they could be HUGE!

 www.myspace.com/anywaymyway   

Coloured Plastic Guitars - Into the shade

A two piece from Westcliff On Sea, Coloured Plastic Guitars are Jamie Pearce an Australian singer/songwriter/lead guitar and Victoria Holmes, who is English and does the percussion percussion/backing vocals and piano bits. They met randomly and discovered a musical chemistry which has resulted in all these songs.

David Says:

Acoustic, song based artists often run the risk of sounding samey. Not so this duo who somehow cooks up a quirky, melodically haunting brew that demands repeat listening.

www.myspace.com/colouredplasticguitars  

The distinctive and dreamy guitar genuis Nathan J Lark above

Nathan Lark - Sorrows Edge

Nathan is the bassist for Sacred Harts and Sorrow’s Edge is his first solo outing. An instrumental, solo rock guitar showcase, that harks back to the classics of the genre.

David Says:

Almost Satriani-esque in its other worldly feel, this is an intriguing instrumental track. No doubt guitar fiends will go mad for it, but you’re not exactly going to hear it on the Top 40 next week.

www.myspace.com/nathanjlark   

Antistene – Fuego

Antistene is a musical project by an Italian living in England by the name of Francesco. He plays acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica and synth and partner in crime Wara plays synth, and some drums. Francesco studied fingerpickin’ guitar with Rosario Volpe in Napoli, Italy. He arrive din London in 2007 to get a job, for his studies and has been playing and busking everywhere ever since.

David Says:

A clear and simple acoustic guitar song, this certainly showcases Francesco’s skill on his instrument.

www.myspace.com/antistene

Switzerlands amazing Fakir above

Fakir – Emanation

Fakir hail from Bern in Switzerland. A four-piece, they describe themselves simply as Mr. Fakir, Mr. Fender, Mr. Jazz Bass and Mr. Boss. Once you get to the music you begin to see why. A minimalistic sound of drifting sound as opposed to songs, Fakir are playing with the idea of song based music, rather than playing song based music

David Says:

Sound scapes and dream music. It’s pretty dark and may well have come out of something like the Bladrunner soundtrack. Must be great for late night driving.