Things have been non-stop for the Ivor Novello nominated Ben’s Brother (aka Jamie Hartman) lately. Having worked hard on his new album, Battling Giants, Ben’s Brother was all set to release it on his own label Flatcap Records when Island Records stepped in and proposed taking it to a more international level. Packed with an impressive list of guest artists, such as Joss Stone and Jason Mraz, as well as song writing collaborations with Natalie Imbruglia, Battling Giants is set to be a hit.
Kings Of Leon / Closer Best start to an album for years. As soon as the first snare hits, you know you’re in for something good. And then his voice kicks in.
The Little Ones were formed in Los Angeles in early 2006. The summery-sounding band wear their influences (the Beach Boys, the Zombies) on their sleeves while composing some of the brightest indie rock of the new millennium.
Elbow / On a Day Like This We were in the UK when this record won the Mercury award. We finally picked up Seldom Seen Kid and were just floored. The whole record is really great and has such fantastic ideas going on. This song is so beautiful, lyrically and sonically. It’s been a permanent fixture in my morning routine. It just has that ‘I’m gonna take on the day’ vibe to it.
Brooklyn native, Los Angeles transplant by way of London, along the way The Angel has created a sound all of her own. The sound she has established through her recordings, remixing, producing and, most recently, scoring for film and television is an amalgamation of the many environments she has inhabitated.
Collie Buddz / Come Around Collie captured the classic vibe of Beres Hammond and Zap Pow’s Last War, using it as the backing track and giving it a whole new life. I love it! So when I was scoring a UK based TV show called, WEST10 LDN, I played this to Menhaj Huda, the director, and he just laughed at how perfect it would be for the scene where our main characters are looking to unload a kilo of hash. And in it went.
London-based duo, Honey Ryder , featuring Martyn Shone and Lindsay O’Mahony, have worked on their debut album, Rising Up, with London’s Goldust Productions team (Bryan Adams, Natasha Bedingfield). The album was mixed by Brad Gilderman, (Madonna, Outkast) and Bob Kraushaar (Pet Shop Boys, Robbie Williams).
Elbow / Grounds for Divorce This is a song with fantastic instrumentation. The riff is simple and so incredibly effective that you don’t even need to listen to the lyrics to be inspired as it’s the music that carries you.
Back in the day, Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd was the frontman for the awesome blues rock band, Mother Hubbard, who released one amazing album and then imploded. Since then, he’s reinvented himself as a mellow, melodic, and beautifully introspective solo artist, with a new album — Good In The Face Of A Stranger — to be released on November 1 through Inertia Distribution.
The Good The Bad and The Queen / Green Fields I love this track. In saying that though, I’m usually always blown away with anything Damon Albarn does. He seems to have his finger on the pulse and I admire his constant recreation of himself, not to take anything away from Tony Allen, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong making a very interesting, collaborative sound.
My Secret Playlist is a music discovery website and weekly email publication. We invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. These are their words on the music that inspires them.
