Dear Pariah live session and interview

Dear Pariah

Charlotte Hinchcliff is the angel-voiced singer songwriter behind Dear Pariah. She came into the studio at Amazing Radio to play us a few tracks including So Close The Divide, our firm favourite. We chat about Jeff Buckley, feeling like a 'pariah' and how 2013 is panning out.

6 Music picks: The Van Allen Belt & Silvermoths

Every week we get to play two tracks for Tom Robinson on his excellent BBC 6 Music Introducing show... you can listen again here.  

*The Van Allen Belt - Out To Lunch

 
Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this band have been described as making music that's: “soaringly epiphanic and euphoric post-everything meditations on 21st century America" by none other than Julian Cope! We kinda can't compete with that can we? But we LOVE this track... the soaring chorus of backing vocals, big cymbal crashes and strong vocals from frontwoman Tamar Kamin. It's a power ballad for the indie generation. The album Superpowerfragilis: Or How I Learned To Stop Caring And Love The Drug is out now and you can buy it at the Bandcamp above.


*Silvermoths - Superhero

   

 
Then we come to this beautiful wee ditty. Silvermoths are a west London band. That's Emma Churchly on the soft whispery vocals and various instruments partnered with guitarist and songwriter Kaziu Gill... both make up the flame around which the Silvermoths fly. Sorry that's super cheesey but we couldn't help ourselves! If you can't be cheesey on your own blog then when can you be?! Either way there's something seriously magical about this band, we look forward to more.

Marissa Nadler interview: making music and performing strictly on her own terms

  

TOW met Boston guitarist and singer songwriter Marissa Nadler ahead of a show at London's Bush Hall. Armed with guitars and a weighty transistor, she plays solo and after years of struggling with stage fright, she says: 'It's worth getting over it'.

We talk about breaking out on her own with this eponymous album on her Box of Cedar Records, the joy of 'getting' finger-picking right for the first time, her unique sound and, like everyone, having ups and downs along the way.

Unsure about continuing with touring after years of traipsing the globe, Marissa Nadler said she may consider this her last. But then in a tweet after the show at Bush Hall, she says, scrap that - the audience were so lovely, she'll definitely be back. Gotta love London audiences - you guys did good!

Oh, and check out this gorgeous version and free download of Leonard Cohen's Winter Lady which popped up on her soundcloud recently:

  

6 Music: Genius Collective & The Liminanas our picks for Introducing

Every week we get to play two tracks for Tom Robinson on his excellent BBC 6 Music Introducing show... you can listen again here.  

Genius Collective - Future (Breaks)



We really like this lot, a bunch of uber talented musicians fronted by one fine singer Kezia Johnson equals something funky, fresh and entirely NOT derivative which is always refreshing. They're a seven piece from Birmingham with an EP due out later in the year, this track Future is a free download - here.

The Liminanas - I'm Dead



This band seemed to have dropped off the face of the planet since releasing this in May last year. We've just stumbled across it and really love what they - were? - doing. This French trio are everything you'd expect from a band like this: dark haired, black polo-neck bedecked skinny kids who you know will survive on nothing but nicotine and Vin Rouge... 

6 Music: Silver Fox & Trogons our picks for Introducing

Every week we get to play two tracks for Tom Robinson on his excellent BBC 6 Music Introducing show... you can listen again here. 


Silver Fox - Waves On In

 Daniel Robson

We are utterly smitten with this four piece from Newcastle. From the woozey, lazy psychedelia of Waves On In to the short, sharp punk of Capital Kiss. We found them via Upset The Rhythm's excellent line up for the Yes Way festival last month, where we also spotted this lovely lot:

Trogons - Awakenings

    

Trogons release Awakenings very soon on X Ray Recordings, we love the urgency in the track and Gemma Fleet on vocals is ticking all our boxes.

Thanks to UTR for some ace tips!

6 Music: Wild Flag & Elan Tamara our picks for Introducing

Every week we get to play two tracks for Tom Robinson on his excellent BBC 6 Music Introducing show... you can listen again here.

Wild Flag - Glass Tambourine


Wild Flag performs Glass Tambourine at The Rock Shop, Brooklyn from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo.

 
Bloomin' brilliant to have Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein back in the saddle with a fierce line up of Mary Timony (Helium), Janet Weiss (Quasi, Sleater-Kinney) and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). Takes TOW back to the mid-nineties, an indie disco night called Lipgloss and wishing to all hell we'd not given up playing guitar. Wild Flag rrrrrrock, a welcome relief from all the flimsy-hipster-electro trash knocking about.

Elan Tamara - Don't Know Why

Original songwriting and a talented musician, Elan Tamara has everything going for a young upstart. Especially when up and coming producer Kwes (DELS, The Invisible, The XX, and now of Warp Records) gets involved and Ninja Tune put out her Organ EP. The kind of artist that makes TOW's blood boil when watching the fawning praise over the numpties on X Factor who knock out pretty good rendition of a Christina Aguilera tune or two. Sigh. They look for clones, we look for uniqueness and Elan has that in spades.

TOW favourite 2diceproductionz made this EPK for Elan last year, in our hood - Walthamstow Marshes:

Brigid Power-Ryce & Micropixie - BBC 6 Music Introducing

Brigid Power-Ryce - The Waves Were Wild
 
   


Brigid Power-Ryce is a TOW success story... back in May 2009 we played Wild Grin for Tom on the show and he loved it, we loved it and then it all went silent. Until we got an email a few months back from Brigid with new songs, a six month old son and a support slot with Tune-Yards and Beirut at Brixton Academy on September 16th - yeeeeha! The  new stuff is as captivating as what we heard before - eerie, haunting and beautiful. See you on the 16th!

*Micropixie - Testosteronica

    
  
Micropixie sent us this little disco-funk gem a few weeks ago, from her album 'The Good, The Beige & The Ugly' (An Intergalactic Feminist Spy Thriller) on One Little Alien. Micropixie has made the track with UK-based, Grammy nominee Paul Horton and it's massively groovy. Micropixie says of herself: 'Made in Bombay, born & raised in the UK, and based in SF-Oh!, Micropixie aka MPX is the extra-terrestrial alter ego of writer, fillum-maker and fulltime human being, Single Beige Female.'

The song is about Micropixie's experiences in the music industry - 'Testosteronica', ah hem, a sentiment that's right up our street! Also, 10% of the sales from Testosteronica will go to Women's Audio Mission, a San Francisco based, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts. Here here!

New music from Ellie Rumbold/ Suburban Mousewife/ Anna-Anna

Ellie Rumbold

  Latest tracks by Ellie Rumbold

*Sigh* Ellie Rumbold is only 16. Think back to what you were doing at 16... were you playing thoughtful, sweet and finger-pickingly beautiful folk tunes? Well, we sure weren't. Time was spent mainly watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice box set, eating huge piles of peanut butter and honey on toast and wondering mournfully where our Mr Darcy was. Ellie plays the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell on the 31 August and it's free... get down there!


Suburban Mousewife - Hack Attack

  Latest tracks by Suburban Mousewife

Mums in a punk band... after having kids and now into their forties, these women decided to pick up their guitars again and rekindle their punk careers - cue some loud, thrashy noisy tunes. Also, Delia Sparrow, The Lexington booker and regular Girl About Town on The Other Woman Podcast is in this band, so thumbs up from us. Suburban Mousewife rock... songs about botox, getting hassled in the street and more... listen and download below, and check out the Woman's Hour (!) interview, which will tell you more here.
 
Anna-Anna - Last Night I Lit The Moon


Manuela Leal is from Rio de Janeiro and makes astonishingly weird and yet extraordinarily pleasing electronic music. Don't expect to be easily buoyed along by these songs tapping your footsies, you need to do some work and LISTEN. When you do you'll be delighted and also ever so slightly weirded out. In a good way. Thanks for emailing us Manuela...

What's tickling our earbuds in July - part 2:

Kate Daisy Grant



Don't let the 'Daisy' in her name fool you - there's a dark underbelly to Kate Daisy Grant's writing which is compelling, intriguing and makes for a great listen.


Anna Madeleine - Milk and Water





Name your price for this little beauty from Hackney one woman electronic music making machine (and more) Anna Madeleine.

Citizen Helene - Citizen Helene EP



Thanks to the also-brilliant Mary Epworth for putting us in touch... what a glorious voice, fine turn of phrase and above all catchy tunes.

Annette Berlin - Remedy (Don't Pick Me Up)

Find more Annette Berlin songs at Myspace Music

Bristol's Annette Berlin popped us over this single recently... she's also the big voiced vocalist for Big Joan. Post the birth of her twins last year she's just started gigging again - happy days for us!

What's tickling our earbuds in July - part 1

Before TOW heads off on holiday on Saturday here's a run down of the aural delights that have got us hooked this passed month. Yes, it's lazy not to do individual postings but there's just TOO much good stuff out there! So wrap your ears around this very random list of newbies who've sent us a note in recent weeks... Then we'll be shutting up shop until The Other Woman Podcast goes to The Big Chill festival 5-7 August, for our show on Big Chill FM. Can't wait!


Shonen Knife - Perfect Freedom



New from these Osaka rockers from their album Osaka Ramones. Infectious, glorious pop-punk from these girls, they never let you down!

Mary Ocher - On The Streets Of Hard Labour



Thanks to Skopjemusic for the tip off on this one... she's like a Soviet Kate Bush with splashes of the brilliant Frida Hyvonen, this punk/folk poetess used to front Mary and the Baby Cheeses but is now solo.


Micropixie - Alice in Stevie Wonderland

  

Micropixie dropped us a line about her new cover of Sinead O'Connor's Sounds So Different, which you can hear and buy here, but we liked this little mini mix of her debut album Alice In Stevie Wonderland on Soundcloud too... She says of herself: 'Made in Bombay, born & raised in the UK, and based in SF-Oh!, Micropixie aka MPX is the extra-terrestrial alter ego of writer, fillum-maker and fulltime human being, Single Beige Female.'

Bachelorette interview on quitting and new album

  

Ha! That got your attention didn't it? Well, the New Zealander is not exactly quitting but this may be the end of the Bachelorette project... the world is Annabel Alpers' oyster!

Bachelorette is Annabel Alpers, a quiet New Zealander who has made a dreamy, other-worldy, electronic record filled with clever lyrics and melodies worthy of the pop greats. Bachelorette, her third album, is out now on Souterrain Transmissions and could be the end of the solo Bachelorette project, as she says, she may just find a band and start rocking out - who knows! We chatted backstage ahead of her show at Camp Basement in east London and - you lazy journo's who name check Bjork as her main influence - the Icelandic songstress had nothing to do with this!

Letters to Fiesta and Kissing Cousins this week's new discoveries

Letters To Fiesta - Drag The Fire

This Manchester band write fresh, catchy, uplifting pop tunes with layered lo-fi vocals, synthesisers a-plenty and some serious hooks... Anna Louise Etherington is who you hear on lead vocals and she pounds away at the synths too.

  


Kissing Cousins - Unfortunate End

From the cold, mean streets of Manchester to the hot, humid and definitely meaner streets of LA - Kissing Cousins are from Silver Lake and led by songwriter Heather Bray Heywood... she pumps out stark, dark rock tunes with an autoharp put through a delay pedal making most of the noise. Nice.

Unfortunate End the EP is out now on Velvet Blue Music.

  

The Other Woman on BBC 6 Music Introducing with Tom Robinson: new music from Sound of Rum & Barbara Panther

Sound of Rum - Icarus

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:  

Flipping heck. First of all it's not often you hear someone 'spittin' rhymes' about Icarus... but Kate Tempest does and it's bloody brilliant. Kate's the fast rapping frontwoman of this band, signed to Sunday Best (Rob da Bank knows a good thing when he sees one) their debut album Balance is a wholly excellent listen. There's a white vinyl edition too - how cool is that? Oh and we've not even begun to namecheck all the DUDES who think Kate rocks: Roots Manuva: 'her works are truly of upliftment and betterment' and Scroobius Pip: 'It astounds me. Her writing is epic, her delivery piercing, and with the addition of her band her potential is realised. Inspirational'...

Barbara Panther - Moonlight People

We here at TOW towers are absolutely mind-blown by Barbara Panther's self-titled debut album, which is out on May 16th on City Slang. Barbara was born in Rwanda and grew up in Brussels, Belgium, before making her home in Berlin five years ago - did we hear a German inflection in her voice? Thought so! Oh, and she's worked with Matthew Herbert on this record too. Turn your headphones up and feast on this, the new single Moonlight People...

The Other Woman on BBC 6 Music Introducing with Tom Robinson: new music from Kool Thing and Jude Cowan

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:  

Kool Thing - The Sign

Kool Thing were formed in Paris last year - they are Berlin based and consist of an Irish lass and an Australian gal, truly global, non?! Jon Dark is a classically trained musician and provides the at once soothing and harmonious, then pounding synthesised loveliness underpinning Julie Chance's gorgeous vocals. There's a darkness and moodiness which runs throughout their sound reminiscent of some of the great Skando-dance we've heard these passed years from the likes of The Knife and Fever Ray.

Jude Cowan - Post-Tsunami mix

Jude Cowan works in a dungeon. Well, sort of. She's based in the basement of the ITN building on Gray's Inn Road in London and her job is to archive all the reems of Reuters news footage sent in daily from around the world. As you can imagine, that's a mighty undertaking and not just a bit depressing to boot. Conflict, disaster, starvation - you name it. Jude has turned this into poetry and music. She's somehow managed to find some beauty in all the carnage, and her music pays homage to those who suffer. Impressive. (And Jon Snow thinks she's cool)

The Other Woman meets London trio Rayographs ahead of the launch of their debut album at Camp Basement

Rayographs are serving up their debut album, Rayographs (Desire), to the public this week, there's a God Don't Like It launch event at Camp Basement on Thursday too (28 April). We've had a sneak preview and love where these three have taken their sound... lots of fantastic melodies, thought-provoking lyrics and an originality which almost made us weep. Hurrah for the Rayographs! TOW met up with Astrud, Amy and Jess in The Horatia pub in north London to have a chat over a pint or two...
   

TOW on 6 Music: The Just Joans and Anguish Sandwich

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:  

The Just Joans - Your Pain Is A Joke Next To Mines

Major props to the brilliant Leg Guitar blog, the source of this pick for Tom's show. TOW has signed up to the mailing list and are thoroughly enjoying their mail outs. Check out the latest one about band's covering Madonna's True Blue... fabulous. Anywho, The Just Joans are based in Glasgow, originally from North Lanarkshire and have been around for ages! Plenty of back catalogue loveliness to get busy with then. They're signed to WeePop! Records and released their mini-album Your Pain Is A Joke Next To Mines recently. The name is in tribute to Scottish Daily Record's agony aunt of the same name... and their songs sort of have that bent to them - tortured love, wry but not too clever-and-smug songwriting and to top it all off a sensitive and beautiful approach to songwriting. Sit back... and enjoy.

Anguish Sandwich - Leave My Brain Alone Catherine, John and Chris make up this 3 pieces from Northampton. It's so lo-fi it's practically off the meter... so lo-fi can sometimes be off-putting, you need catchy melodies too and Anguish Sandwich have them in spades. The EP No More Cows is available for free a their bandcamp page and you MUST download it immediately. With songs like Leave My Brain Alone which we played for Tom and the one accompanying this video (one of our best of 2011) it's such fun and has such 'tude! We love it. Also check out Chris East's blog, he's the brains behind the band and it's quite read.

TOW on 6 Music - Emily and the Woods and The Werewanda's

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:  

 
Emily and the Woods - I Can't

First off TOW just has to say how excited we are that Emily and the Woods has agreed to support Madam at The Horatia on 30 April, we CANNOT wait to see her live! Emily plays guitar and sings, supported by 'The Woods' - ie her Dad, who has been a musician full time for 30 years, and her brother. Emily started playing and writing in her late teens, inspired by a solid roster of folk talent: Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel. A recent Philosophy and Theology graduate from Exeter University, you can hear the influence of her studies in her lyrics... this tune she wrote for a friend who passed away and it gives us goosebumps everytime we hear it.

The Werewanda's - My Little Sister

The Werewandas have a fantastic sense of fun and it comes across in the tight little 60's-infused rock numbers they knock out. Also, TOW is biased as one of our favourite people is in the band - Delia Sparrow from The Lexington, well, you could argue she IS The Lexington and often our Girl About Town on the podcast... she's on guitar and you can hear her doing a fine job backing up 'Heavy Metal Lucy' on vocals...

You can download the debut release from this utterly rocking quintet for free at Where It's At Is Where You Are.

The Other Woman's Ruth Barnes presents 6 Mix on BBC 6 Music: 10 & 16 April

As part of 6 Music's 'Sunday Girl' day, 6 Music Introducing's Girl Music Guru Ruth Barnes looks at the best in new music from leftfield female electro artists in a special 6 Mix. From Miss Kitten's role in the electroclash scene to current dubstep pioneer Ikonika, female producers are often at the heart of the most innovative and progressive electronic movements of recent years. Ruth talks blogosphere favourite Glasser about her influences and there are also mini mixes from Berlin based producers and label bosses Anja Schneider and Ellen Allien, who have been at the forefront of the Berlin techno and electro scene for the last two decades. 

Broadcast:

10 April 2000-2200

16 April 2200-0000

Click here for playlist and to listen again!

TOW on 6 Music - Seaming and Ana Silvera

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:  

Seaming - Dreaming

Seaming's debut solo album is out soon on Honalee Records and we await it's arrival with baited breath! You'll know this songstress' voice as she's been a staple vocalist for Ninja Tune's Homelife these passed few years, including being the stunning and, what we love about her the most, slightly weird voice on Mr Scruff's, Beyond. This track, Dreaming, is gorgeous... at once softly dark and mysterious and then operatic in it's scope.

Ana Silvera - Salome
TOW had the absolute pleasure of sharing a bottle of red wine with London born singer-songwriter Ana Silvera after Alice Gun's album launch a few week's ago. After giggling hysterically about dog's with underbites we discovered that Ana is a singer... well, she wasn't exactly forthcoming but our mutual friend Stuart wouldn't let us go home without yelling 'Ana Silvera! Salome!' at us several times. Ana is operatically trained and her songs are rooted in a classical sensibility and lyrics which seem better suited to a book of Rennaissance poems than 'modern' song lyrics. In Salome she breathe's new life into the figure from the New Testament... something about John the Baptist's head... Bible geeks will know what she's on about...

6 Music Introducing: Tanya Auclair & Nat Johnson and the Figureheads

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show: 


Tanya Auclair - Illiterate

How utterly compelling is Tanya Auclair? If you, like we here at TOW, are feeling a bit stupid for not having found her before - don't despair, we're blaming it on the fact that NOTHING this interesting ever breaks into the mainstream. NOTHING this interesting will get picked up by a major label, especially as Tanya Auclair is doing it all herself - her EP Thrum is up for grabs for gratis at her Bandcamp. Why isn't Jools Holland's production team all over this artist? She needs some late night BBC 1 exposure. Maybe one day... Tanya's already embedded in the London soul circuit having sung as part of the Goldsmiths Ensemble, in the choir for the brilliant Alice Russell and currently supporting producer Yult. More please!

Nat Johnson and the Figureheads - Margot

   Margot by NatJohnsonband


This has been a staple on the TOW stereo since Nat, former singer, songwriter and guitarist from folk-pop favourites Monkey Swallows The Universe, sent us the tracks. Sheer, indie-pop loveliness from the Sheffield five-piece. Their EP What the Heart Pours Into is out now on Damaged Goods. What are you waiting for?! Get buying!