Little Boots

Victoria Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), known professionally as Little Boots, is a British electronic musician. She sings, plays synthesizers, the Yamaha tenori-on and the stylophone. She was the former lead singer/synth player in Dead Disco.

Hesketh was born in Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool, Lancashire and now lives in London. She attended Rossall School, Blackpool Sixth Form College and then the University of Leeds, gaining a first-class honours degree in Cultural Studies, with a dissertation on “The concept of originality in the music of Jamie Cullum”.

At the age of 18, Hesketh participated in television talent show Pop Idol, being eliminated after three rounds. She went on to form a Jazz trio, toured Europe with a big band, and later formed the dance-pop band Dead Disco, gradually shifting away from the band and their style, she bagan to write songs of her own and left Dead Disco in August 2007. Her solo stage name comes from a nickname given to her by a friend after watching Caligula (the Latin name Caligula translates as “little boots”).

Little Boots appeared on Later… with Jools Holland in November 2008. She has collaborated with electropop band Hot Chip. In December 2008 she was completing her début album with producer Greg Kurstin.

The track Stuck On Repeat was produced by Joe Goddard from Hot Chip and was released on limited 12” white-label vinyl in March 2008. The track gained popularity via attention from many popular music blogs.

She released her second single Meddle on 18th August 2008 on the 50 bones label. It was available as a limited-edition 7” and was produced by both Joe Goddard and Greg Kurstin.

In January 2009, she won the BBC Sound of 2009 previously won by the likes of Keane, Mikaand Adele. (BBC link)

Her début album “Hands” was released in June 2009, with the lead single “New in Town” charting at #13. “Hands” peaked at #5 on the UK charts.

Little Boots performed at numerous festivals in summer 2009 to support the début album.

via last.fm

Remedy

New In Town

Little Boots on iTunes:

Rilo Kiley

Rilo Kiley

Rilo Kiley’s audiences have a strong tendency to fall in love on the spot. Perhaps it’s their beaming faces or laid-back, admirable West Coast attitudes. Or maybe it’s just their uncanny knack for designing nuanced pop songs and performing them with flair. Maybe it’s lead singers Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennet‘s adorable onstage banter and scissors-sharp wit. Whatever that little something extra is, Los Angeles, CA’s Rilo Kiley has it times ten. (Sing 365)

Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis

Born in Las Vegas in early 1977, singer/songwriter Jenny Lewis is one of indie rock’s treasured songbirds, known for her work as the primary vocalist of Rilo Kiley as well as her burgeoning solo career. A former child actress, she helped launch Rilo Kiley in 1998 with fellow musicians Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock (who was later replaced by Jason Boesel in 2001). Lewis steadily developed her own vocal style, drawing from the sly country twang of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Patsy Cline while remaining indebted to pop music. Collaborations with the Good Life, Cursive, and the Postal Service helped expand her audience, and Lewis began working on her debut solo effort in the midst of Rilo Kiley’s third full-length release, More Adventurous. Rabbit Fur Coat was released in 2006, featuring vocals by Kentucky-born singers Chandra and Leigh Watson (thus the moniker Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins) as well as contributions by M. Ward, Ben Gibbard, Jason Boesel, and Conor Oberst, who released the record on his own Team Love label. Jenny Lewis then made the jump to Warner Bros. for the release of Rilo Kiley’s Under the Blacklight, which gave the band an unprecedented amount of chart success in the U.S. and overseas. Following that album’s accompanying tour, Lewis announced that her sophomore solo effort, Acid Tongue, would be released in September 2008. The record arrived on schedule, featuring collaborations with Elvis Costello, She & Him, Chris Robinson, and Lewis’ own family members. (StarPulse)

With Arms Outstretched (Rilo Kiley)

Acid Tongue – Jenny Lewis

Rilo Kiley on iTunes

Jenny Lewis

Sia

Sia (full name Sia Furler) hails from the famously laid-back Australian city of Adelaide. Boasting a powerful, soulful voice, she worked the Adelaide jazz circuit during the ’90s as a vocalist for the band Crisp. However, the blonde, blue-eyed antipodean’s big break came only after she followed in the footsteps of many other Aussie artists and hopped on a plane to the U.K.

While in London, Sia landed a gig as a backup singer for the very popular and extremely hip English outfit Jamiroquai. In early 2000, she released her first solo single, the alternative pop tune “Taken for Granted,” which debuted at number ten on the busy U.K. singles chart. Soon after, a string of big names in the British music scene asked for Sia’s services; projects with Massive Attack, Zero 7, and William Orbit ensued.

In mid-2001, Sia once again made a splash on the U.K. singles chart with the moody offering “Drink to Get Drunk,” a track that would appear on her 2002 full-length debut, Healing Is Difficult. Ironically, it was only after her considerable success abroad that she began to make a real impact down under. Colour the Small One appeared a year later. The track “Breathe Me” from the album gained attention when it was used in the elaborate final scene of the Six Feet Under series that aired in 2005. After a successful 2006 tour, as well as more appearances on Zero 7’s album Garden, Sia issued the live album Lady Croissant, which also included the new studio song “Pictures.” In 2008 she released Some People Have Real Problems, her fourth studio album.

via StarPulse

Taken for Granted

The Girl You Lost to Cocaine

Sia on iTunes

Kimya Dawson

Kimya Dawson was born and raised in Bedford Hills, NY. After meeting Adam Green in a record store in upstate New York, the duo formed a band called the Moldy Peaches. They began playing the anti-folk scene in New York City, and slowly built a very loyal following. Since the Moldy Peaches went on hiatus a few years ago, though, she’s opened for artists like They Might Be Giants, Regina Spektor, Third Eye Blind, and the Butchies.

She’s leant her voice to recordings by Ben Kweller, The Mountain Goats, and others. Dawson released her first solo album in 2002. Both as a member of Moldy Peaches, and as a solo artist, Dawson has toured extensively throughout the US and Europe. She’s released four solo albums. Some work the Moldy Peaches did years ago was picked up as the soundtrack to the major motion picture Juno in 2007.

via FolkMusic.about.com

I Like Giants

Loose Lips

Kimya Dawson on iTunes:

Jaymay

Jamie Seerman is an American folk singer-songwriter from New York. She performs under the name Jaymay. She grew up on Long Island and in 2003 after graduating from New College of Florida, she could not find a job in book publishing and moved back to New York to play open microphones. Her major musical influence is Bob Dylan. She has been described by BBC as “darling of the New York Anti-Folk” scene “and the New York Times as a” big name indie universe “ In 2007 Jaymay moved to London after signing with Heavenly Records distributed by the major EMI label Jaymay’s debut album Autumn Fallin ‘, released in Europe November 12, 2007 and in the United States on 11 March 2008 by Blue Note Records.

via Artist Wiki

Gray or Blue

Sea Green See Blue

Jaymay on iTunes

Petracovich

Based out of San Francisco, Petracovich is Jessica Peters with an old-world version of her family name. Her great-grandfather came to the US from Russia at the turn of the century, and one of the only things Peters knows of Abraham Petracovich is that he loved to listen to the New York Opera from the radio in the living room. Out of respect for the music, he would always wear his best suit.

Many years later, his 9 year old great-granddaughter would be at the piano, practicing Chopin and Debussy, which evolved into writing unrequited-love songs in highschool, and spending her 20’s in long, blissful hours on a living-room floor, creating sounds and beats, twisting knobs, tinkering and writing.

The new live show includes drummer Max Diez of Audio Outsend, adding a momentum and dyanamic to these tunes with skill on a standard kit and various shakers and tambourines, and cellist Heather Houseman.  Jessica plays the keys, banjo and loops bells and percussion.

Petracovich just released her third album, Crepusculo, which was recorded two years ago while Peters was pregnant with her first child, Otto, and shelved when he died 8 days after he was born. Now, two years later, she is finally releasing the album and touring behind it while she is pregnant with her second child. A joyful album filled with stories of interesting characters inspired by events in songwriter Jessica Peter’s life including the tale of a wayward father created from a son’s letter that Jessica found in a book on the street, a fantasy about leaving the gridlock behind on a sundown on a traffic-filled freeway which came to her as she was stuck in traffic on her way home from work, hotels overgrown with wildflowers, arrests at gun point and a love affair with her own heart, all sung with heart and truth.

via Petracovich.com

Nighttime

Petracovich on KCRW – San Rafael and others

Check out her myspace. I also love Heaven Help the Day.

Eliza Doolittle

Eliza Doolittle – strong of opinion, smiley of face, loud of tights – is the freshest girl on the block. London born and raised, she knows about the stresses of modern city life, teenage aggro, old soul and the appeal of simple, strong melodies built from clanking percussion and jazzy licks.

“Every song is an individual song,” she says of her debut album. “And the sound is just really happy and summery and light and breezy, but with thoughtful lyrics.” Her attitude, whether on-mic, in-studio or onstage, is not that of a high-maintenance diva. “You pick up something, you just play it…I love that whole sound – really simple – where you can just put it together and anyone can play it.”

Raised by a piano-playing dad and singing mum, Eliza’s been writing songs since she was 12. Her first songs came quickly, with Eliza eventually writing songs on the piano at 15. “Mr. Mysterious” was one of the first – I was listening to Destiny’s Child, and I thought I had to write about a boy. It actually put me off writing about boys forever,” she laughs.

“I would never have been able to be Britney or anything like that – someone who just sings. I love being involved with every bit of the music, making it from scratch. It’s really fulfilling.”

And Eliza Doolittle believes in herself – no record company makeover for this young woman, no spin’n’slap’n'tickle courtesy of stylists and scenesters and hipsters. “Kicks and funky tights and cute dresses, that’s me. I’m not saying no to high heels but I just feel more comfortable in this.”

via EMI Music

Skinny Genes

Rollerblades

Elle King

So I came across Elle King this week pretty unexpectedly by browsing through Jezebel. And…well, you’ll see.

The fashionable 19-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter’s piercing voice and heartfelt lyrics will captivate you. “I feel completely at home when I’m performing, and it gives me the biggest rush,” she said. “So, I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to be a performer.” King, who was born in Los Angeles “to some crazy, wonderful parents,” moved to New York when she was 11 years old. “My amazing step-dad was the lead singer in a kick-ass band called Bob City,” she said. “He was from New York, so he moved us with him.” King, who just finished her “pretty outrageous” first year of college, explained that he was the one who put a guitar in her hands.“I practiced until my fingers bled and sang until my voice went out,” said King, who has been writing music since she was 13 years old.

She will be rerecording her songs and dropping an album as soon as she can, she said. “Music brings me happiness, and I want to feel this way forever,” she said. “I think that means that I’ll be singing and performing for a long time.”

via – The Examiner

No One Can Save You

No One Can Save you is her only video out…but check out her myspace: myspace.com/ellekingmusic. Mexico, Missing Parts, and The Captain Song are all pretty amazing. But so are the rest of them. Seriously, I have the biggest girl crush.

Laura Izibor

Born to a working class family in Dublin, Ireland, Izibor admits she didn’t grow up in a musical household. “My mother raised five kids on her own, so there wasn’t much time to buy records – it wasn’t that kind of home. I found myself fancying music at about 13.” Once the love for musicians like Stevie Wonder, Candi Staton, and Roberta Flack took hold, she was smitten for good. “One door opened to the next – first I discovered Marvin Gaye, and then Otis Redding, and I just fell in love with soul music.”

At the age of 15, Izibor won a prestigious national performance competition, the “2FM Song Contest.” At 17, she started work on her debut album, taking the time to really hone her songs. Let The Truth Be Told was recorded over the course of four years in a diverse range of cities: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Dublin among them. Laura also performed live constantly during this period, finding her true home onstage. Having performed several sold-out shows in Ireland, and opened for acts including James Brown, Angie Stone, and The Roots, she’s earned the affectionate moniker “The Soul of Ireland” from the folks back home.

Early 2009 will reveal the fruits of this process, when Izibor releases the fully self-penned and co-produced Let The Truth Be Told. “The title felt like a strong, almost biblical statement,” she explains. “I’ve written this album because it’s my truth. It’s a sincere record and it has a feel of survival in it as well.” Izibor resisted the urge to feature established artists on various tracks, instead creating a revealing, and very personal, document of this moment in her life. “I didn’t want to be anybody’s protégé,” she says. “It’s very tempting to put in the reinforcements, but for my debut album I wanted it to be 100% from me.”

via LauraIzibor.com

From My Heart To Yours

Shine

Laura Izibor on iTunes:

Eleanor Jackson of La Roux

La Roux are an English Electropop/Synthpop band made up of singer Eleanor Jackson and synth player, co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their respective roles as “very much a half and half sharing situation… not like a singer producer outfit”, but also recognizing that it often can “look like a solo act.”

Their music is influenced by 1980s synthpop including Yazoo, Erasure, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Heaven 17, and Blancmange. The band’s name originates from Jackson’s red hair; she has said
“To me, it means ‘red-haired one’ – and it does, vaguely. It’s just a male version of ‘red-haired one’, which I think is even cooler, because I’m androgynous anyway. So it kind of makes sense.”

Elly Jackson’s first interest in music revolved around folk music. She was particularly interested in Carole King and Nick Drake whom she discovered in her parents’ record collection.Her taste in music changed during her mid-teens when she became involved in the rave scene. Jackson has been critical of other musicians. She feels that a culture of positivity has lowered standards. Reacting to the polarization her remarks have caused, Jackson noted that she makes a distinction between a person’s work and how they are as a person. Jackson does not feel that social networking will help musicians’ careers in the long run because it makes them too accessible at the expense of mystery and intrigue.

via Wikipedia

Bulletproof

I’m Not Your Toy

La Roux on iTunes: