The Clear

Now you know Ralph's a fan of unsigned Indie and that's mainly all he writes about. However he does indulge himself now and again when a truly classic piece of songwriting finds it's way into the kennel.

Sheffield's The Clear and their latest single America which is fresh, yet nostalgic and beautifully channels classic West Coast Pop is just such an example. 

America is a slice of classic songwriting, harking back to that golden age of perfectly-crafted pop songs which Ralph's playing on Radio KC next Sunday

Colin Elliot (producer of fellow Sheffield star Richard Hawley) heard The Clear and their songs so after working with Kylie Minogue at Abbey Road Studios he invited them to his own studio to capture their warm & glossy sound. A fruitful session followed out of which the tracks America and Sunlight were born.

The debut single was released a while back and DJs Gary Crowley, Tom Robinson, Janice Long and top tastemaker Simon Raymonde rushed to play it on this shows. Gary went as far as naming Sunlight one of his “favourite songs of the summer.” 

Since Sunlight the band have been signed by the inimitable Lance Freed to Rondor Music and America is the new single to be released this summer by The Clear as part of the build up towards their debut album. 

Personally, I can't wait!

The Little Secrets

Now given that Edge Hill University is just 'up the road' from Ralph's kennel and The Farm's Carl Hunter (who is a senior lecturer at the university) heads up their newly formed record label The Label Recordings which has just recorded a track for Liverpool duo The Little Secrets, it's only fair he had a listen in.

Indie popsters The Little Secrets have just released All I Need and it's a gloriously exuberant piece of shiny pop which has already garnered critical acclaim and mainstream radio play. Janice Long was quoted as saying - "It's like having sunshine poured in your ears".

The Little Secrets formed in 2010 after meeting at The Cavern, Stacy was singing with another band when Kevin spotted her and decided to ‘steal’ her for his new project.  After two years of writing together and experimenting with different line-ups and sounds, the pair hit on their infectious slice of pop, echoing the likes of Glasgow's Camera Obscura and Ralph's long time favourites BMX Bandits (all the best Indie Pop comes from Scotland of course).  






“We asked ourselves what kind of songs would we like to hear and set about writing them” Kevin explains. “The songs are written as a true partnership, both musically and lyrically. The initial idea can start from either one of us and is then crafted further towards the sound we are trying to create, infusing as many of our influences as possible.”











As it's Christmas and Ralph's Radio KC Show is taken up with The Crimble Top 50 next week and his 100 'Best Of' extravaganza to celebrate his 100th Show on the 28th, it'll be the January 4th Sunday Indie Show before he'll be spinning All I Need, so be sure and tune in! 

The Inkhearts

North West band The Inkhearts are due to release two tracks - Temper Temper and Uptight - by digital download on November 17th of this very year.

The Inkhearts formed in 2010 when the members, then young teenagers, were introduced to each other at a music tuition initiative at The Engine Rooms, Skelmersdale.





  

Originally a seven piece, it was only when three original members left that the band found their sound and started to write and gig more seriously. 

With three members aged just eighteen and one aged nineteen, The Inkhearts’ music is full of enthusiasm and teenage energy yet it's underlined by a songwriting ability that belies their youth.








 Citing influences typical of their young years like The Vaccines, Two Door Cinema Club and The Libertines, the band seem well versed in the art of mainstream indie pop and their intricately layered tracks have a degree of individualism due to their North Western roots that sets their sound apart, giving them an identity all of their own.

Their last single 'Keeping Up', described by XFM Scotland's Jim Gellatly as a ‘cracking track’, was produced by The Farm’s Carl Hunter and Gary Westhead at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool. The single received widespread airplay across the UK, Europe and America and was chosen as Janice Long's BBC Radio 2 Janice Loves track plus was selected by Artrocker for inclusion in their New Blood feature.







Following on from the excellent Keeping Up which was their last single release, Temper Temper is a bouncy, pop fuelled track reminiscent of another North West band and long time favourites of Ralph,The Lottery Winners. Uptight is slightly moodier lyrically but none the less listenable with choppy guitar and Northern infused vocal.

If they steadily improve in this vein they'll continue to garner more airplay and industry attention in the months to come. 2015 is looking like it'll be a great year for The Inkhearts.

The video below for Keeping Up was shot by students at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk.

Lumin Bells

Bucking the trend for raucous Indie thrashings Ralph's been playing the Lumin Bells track 'Somehow The Same' with reasonable regularity on his Radio KC Sunday Show these last few weeks.  It's a gentle, reflective tune with hints of the early Moody Blues (I'm trying to avoid the obvious Nick Drake comparisons) or the subtle vocalisations of America and it's been received with no small amount of favourable feedback.  None more so than by Janice Long on BBC Radio 2 after they took the 'Ones To Watch' category at the Liverpool Music Awards at the weekend.








Liverpool six-piece Lumin Bells are - Nico Hercules, Mick Dolan, Danny Poole, Austin Murphy, Nick Henman and Colin Lamont. 

The band formed after Nico found a creative collaborator in Mick Dolan through an advert placed in the music press. The duo immediately bonded over a mutual love of artists such as Brian Wilson, Nick Drake, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Byrds.










Their first release 'Hold You Inside' immediately found critical acclaim both by music bloggers and the likes of Tom Robinson. It's a sensitive, wistful and soothing track with immaculate musicality and vocals. Many bands strive for years to grasp what Lumin Bells have crafted on their debut. They're currently in Track Studios with Steve Powell putting the finishing touches to their debut album 'The Hidden Room', scheduled for release later in the year.  They're playing a gig with Red Sails and This Morning Call at LEAF in Liverpool's Bold Street on the 13th September and Ralph's been invited along by Tilt Shift Music and will bring you a live review.

Graham Marshall

"Nothing's really over until you stop trying".....

I was sent a You Tube video a few weeks ago that not only made me laugh but also renewed my faith in seeking out unsigned indie music.  It was self-made by Graham Marshall who three years ago tried to make a living in music but had to do the unthinkable – go back to a 'real job' as a truck driver for ASDA. Almost giving up hope of a musical career he now boasts a trophy awarded by the panel of the Barcelona International Film Festival and a newly released EP.






Graham, currently living in Sunderland, had been a struggling singer/songwriter for over 15 years; success always eluding him. Three and a half years ago, he took matters into his own hands when he self-financed his first EP, a collection of five acoustic guitar driven songs he appropriately titled, 'Ten Years Stuck in Traffic'. Without much fanfare, Graham took to the road, something he knew a little about, to celebrate his self-released collection of music. He vowed to perform his way from John O'Groats to Land's End, busking his way through 18 cities in just 7 days. 








Graham Marshall not only achieved his goal, but with the help of his wife, Helen,  documented the entire experience on a camcorder and despite never having used any form of editing software cut his teeth and his film on Windows Moviemaker. He admits, "I had no clue what I was doing or what I was going to do with it when I finished it!". Inspired by the reality of unfulfilled years attempting to unsuccessfully break into the music industry, he titled his film, Out In The Cold.






Graham submitted his home-cut film to various film festivals and essentially forgot about it. That is, until recently when he received the unexpected news that he'd actually won at Barcelona. Ironically, after his film submission, he received attention from Forward Motion Records, a small independent record label in LA, who opted to produce and release a full arrangement of 'Makin' It On My Own', a track from Graham's 5-song acoustic EP.







Upon learning of his film award, Marshall, in the midst of an all-night driving shift, immediately sent a text to BBC Radio 2's Janice Long with the news. Janice, clearly touched by Graham’s good news, decided to call him immediately for a live on-air interview. So impressed was Janice by Graham’s story that she asked him to send her his debut single. Two nights later, she played the track to a UK-wide audience which received rave reviews from the public.

Graham has been receiving an outpouring of support on his film, his Castell Award, as well as his new single, 'Makin’ It On My Own. ASDA, the company for whom he trucks, are in full support of Graham’s upward momentum and discussing ways in which they can help Graham Marshall fulfill his musical journey.






His music ranges from the introspective and insightful 'Makin' It On My Own' to the original and humourous 'Mr Complicated', all in his gravel voiced Dylan-esque style. His film is an endearing, sometimes emotional - always fascinating insight into the man and his music during difficult times. The one constant on his journey is he (mostly) never looses his sense of humour, determination or Helen - his long suffering wife - with whom I'm certain he will end up doing it all over again with in America, but the kids'll have to come too!

Ralph's Top Ten Blogged Band Chart...12/1/13

OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans, the higher you go.....
So tweet it, Facebook it.....and generally expose yourself.....








Now Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.   
So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....

No 1..... Bird




Three piece Liverpool band Bird is the creation of Adele Emmas (singer, songwriter) Sian Williams (guitar, harmonies) and Alexis Samata (drums) Together they create dark, haunting, atmospheric music which will entice you in to their magical, other worldly universe. With beautiful, siren-esque vocals, tribal, hypnotic drum beats and spellbinding guitar work, Bird are refreshingly unlike anything that's currently on the music scene.







No 2..... Wullae Wright




Everybody likes to make a comparison about artistes and Ralph's old man is no exception. He heard Wullae Wright's 'Halo Effect' playing on my laptop and next thing he was wiping the dust of his collection of vinyl, dug out Led Zeppelin I and stuck it under my nose muttering....."Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".  Chance would be a fine thing some would say, however I had a listen and low and behold Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did. 




No. 3..... Fiona Soe Paing




After reviewing Plum and Pumajaw recently Ralph's continuing in his mission to bring you the best in Scottish electronica.  With that in mind he could go no further than introduce the sublime Fiona Soe Paing, based in Aberdeenshire and who has been evolving her unique brand of experimental, vocal-led electronica since 2007. 







No. 4..... Pumajaw


About to ride high on the current tsunami of electro/pop sweeping the country are Scottish masters of the art Pumajaw, who are in the throes of planning a gig assault on Britain and Europe.  The release of the album Demonmeowmeow at the end of 2011 saw them tour Europe where for some reason they are more revered than back in the Old Country.  Maybe the more cosmopolitan nature of the Italians is better suited to Pumajaw's 'music is art' approach.  No lightweight electro here but hypnotic, sleazy, mean and moody jazz infused synth.





No 5..... The Tea Street Band




Ralph has just been extolling the virtues of Johnny and the Giros up in Scotland for getting us up on the dance floor and getting down with our bad selves when lo and behold Liverpool lads The Tea Street Band are doing exactly the same thing!

No 6..... Mog Stanley



The laid back, sharp dressed man that is Mog Stanley describes himself as a song singin', guitar playin', foot tappin', blues, folk, indie musician which sounds like he's got a sponsorship with Coca Cola but that really does sum up his stylee.




No 7..... The 1004's


So I got the jungle drums about this Edinburgh band The 1004's who were making big noises.....(on stage and in the press) in the music world.  Favoured by none other than the Jim Gellatly Podcast (Jim himself was heard to say  “One of the hottest bands in Scotland right now”) and they were certainly flavour of the month last August when they released their second single,  a double A side - Lights Out (gonna be an anthem) and Pull It Apart

No 8..... My Forever




Now Ralph's had his eye on My Forever since June of last year and since then things have escalated rapidly for this young band from Thirsk.  They've gone from almost a covers band to a fully fledged in your face rock/pop group with a stellar future in one fell swoop.  









No 9..... The Velocets


Despite Manchester band Velocets describing themselves as being 'relatively new to the scene', 2012 proved to be a very promising year.  After the BBC Introducing picking up on their debut track 'Sophie', the band were constantly gigging throughout the year and went on to play a number of summer festivals including Big Bear, Farmer Phils & ROTR Festival.

No 10..... Southern Tenant Folk Union

One of the most highly acclaimed folk/bluegrass bands in the UK today, Southern Tenant Folk Union are coming to the Live Room for the Yorkshire launch of their fifth album ‘Hello Cold Goodbye Sun’. 

The Tea Street Band

Ralph has just been extolling the virtues of Johnny and the Giros up in Scotland for getting us up on the dance floor and getting down with our bad selves when lo and behold Liverpool lads The Tea Street Band are doing exactly the same thing!

Remember the spirit of 88? Dole queues getting bigger, the Tories in power and class war on the streets.  But at the same time, shining out of the gloom, came the birth of Acid House which was one of the most significant cultural movements of the 20th Century. For those of you too young to remember the first time round Jack to Phono bring us the combined musical goodness that is Tea Street Band!





The big news at the moment is that 'Disco Lights' is building airplay on BBC Radio's 1 and 2 with long time fan Janice long featuring it this week.  Here's a video of the guys at Red Bull Studios performing the anthem that is 'Disco Lights'.

Other big news The Tea Street Band are featuring in New York SoundCity 2013 along with Reverend And The Makers, The Enemy, K.O.F,The Verdict and Brodka

 Latest and most up to date news is their Pledge Music project to fund their debut album.  Details below.....

• PLEDGE   NOW
• ALBUM
• 106PLEDGES
• 52DAYS LEFT

The Tea Street Band' debut album project is under way! 

Be part of it & make it happen through PledgeMusic #ptfo

The Tea Street band are ready to record our debut album….

With an arsenal of tracks already written, we are ready and itching start work in the studio. Rather than sit and wait around we discovered that PledgeMusic could provide us with the platform to maintain momentum, looking to have the album recorded and ready for release by autumn 2013.

We love the idea of giving our fans the opportunity to follow the making of the album closely with us. From day one of recording, through to its release.
We also want to raise some money for charity and we plan to donate some of the proceeds of our campaign to the ‘Alder Hey Childrens Charity’. This helps fund the busiest children’s hospital in the UK and its research, which helps to improve the quality of life for children across the world.

We’ve come up with a list of special things for the project, there is a good mix of items and exclusive experiences. The idea is simple; check the list, see what you like the look of, make a pledge and get a boss Tea Street item or experience that you won’t find anywhere else. Once our target has been reached the album will be under production, ready and available to enjoy as soon as possible.

Massive respect to you all for taking the time to read this. Thank you, the amazing support we receive means a lot.

xxx PUSH THE FEELING ON xxx

CHARITY

10%POST GOAL

10% of any money raised after the goal is reached will go to Alder Hey Children's Charity.

learn more

In the past 12 months they've organized a series of pop up warehouse parties in their native Liverpool. These have featured DJs from the city’s famous venues such as Cream and Chibuku. Tea Street Band are a combo that combines 808 State with Doves and The Happy Mondays. The band have a remix and production relationship with fellow Liverpudlian Kooky Music. 

Recent appearances at Liverpool Sound City and Hoxton have only boosted their live credentials. They join Bird and The Seal Cub Clubbing Club onto the London based Jack to Phono's Liverpool books . Already making waves on BBC Introducing in Merseyside , Dave Monks is tipping them as one to watch.

'Fiesta' has Ibiza anthem written all over it, visions of sunny summer days on the beach and heady nights in the clubs.....a bit of a floor filler that's got to get the crowds attention at their gigs.....

In a recent interview they said....."I think we need to keep doing our own raves, keep playing to more people and spread the love."  It's that mentality of taking their music to the people in pop-up gigs that keeps them fresh in today's climate where bands struggle to find venues.

Get on it!  As for me I'm stickin' the headphones on and playing 'Push The Feeling On' full blast.......







 

Recent press quotes.....

“Think of The Charlatans meeting The Chemical Brothers and lap up the finest cuppa that clubbers can come across”

John Earls, Daily Star

“Think of 808 state having a meeting mid channel to hear some French electronic by Space Disco You need to check these out soon – Come on were British we love a cuppa”

Dave Monks, BBC Introducing

“A glacial slab of guitar-led house that flies us to an Ibizan terrace for cocktails with The Whitest Boy Alive and Aeroplane. It’s really quite beautiful”

Neil Condron, High Voltage

“A shared love of rave culture is present in their output – it’s soaring, distinctly Balearic and sounds as much European as it is rooted in English rock and roll”

Peter Guy, Liverpool Echo

“Their unique sound consisting of straight forward rock n roll combined with heavy drum and bass, techno and House music creates a fusion that can only be described as euphoric; carrying everyone along on the wave of euphoria sweat was dripping everywhere as the five guys sent the crowd delirious.”

Gina Kershaw, ManGoneBlog

“After a scintillating recent performance at Liverpool Sound City, they’ve ardently begun to win over very man and his dog“

Joshua Nevett, Bido Lito

“Played on show”

Eddie Temple Morris, XFM

“Great Record, I’ll play it again on the show!”

John Kennedy XFM

“The Tea Street Band are cool as F**K”

Clint Boon XFM/Inspiral Carpets

“I love this record”

Janice Long- BBC Radio 2