KBPS Edition 1 by KBPS Magazine

KBPS

The music magazine

#1 August 2015

MAKING WAVES Emma Stevens on her new deluxe album

JESS AND THE BANDITS We get down to the Nitty Gritty of their new single Plus Son of the Wind Sweet Crisis

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Music News Liam Walters on the battle between the digital and the physical Alistair Proudman: The Rolling Stones Conundrum Rob Beezley’s Top Forty Little Mix’s Black Magic video analysed This year’s songs reviewed and more!

Want More Music? Hear the latest music, the newest film reviews, what’s on and exclusive interviews each Saturday

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Rae Morris Fryars Dave Fidler Lucy May The Actions Paddy Clegg Chris Pope Jazz Mino Young Kato Chelsea Lane Daphne & Celeste Inego Ward Thomas Flower Fellow Youth Club Makala Cheung Matinee Lady Lykez Jacob and Goliath Frogbelly and Symphony Symmetry Ben Williams Wings of Pegasus Nizlopi Steed Nova Heart Franklin Lake Callaghan

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WELCOME TO KBPS! Hello and welcome to the first edition of KBPS, a new music magazine focussing on, well, all music. We live in exciting times musically. The rise of internet downloading and social networking that was established many years ago by sites such as MySpace has seen the number of music artists flourish with all this extra publicity. Throw in the rise of consumer-based tech that means more people can make music more easily at home it means we have an explosion of music available to listen to, and more music that is aimed more squarely at your own individual tastes.

But whilst this is great for quantity and in many ways quality, it’s also increasingly difficult to find music. Each week hundreds of songs are released and how can you have time to listen to it all and find out what you like to hear? Well, that is the mission statement of KBPS: listening to as much music as possible and helping you discover new artists ,alongside new songs by artists you’re familiar with, to help you discover some new favourites. Here at KBPS we have no genre boundaries like many other music magazines. Whether it’s pop, rock, classical, indie, RnB, house, metal, garage or whatever, if it’s good and great to listen to we’ll promote it. This is our first edition of the magazine so it’s a testing ground of what works and what doesn’t so we’d love your feedback to our social network handles to the right! Plus, if you have a band or artist you think should have more exposure let us know we love to hear new music! In this edition we have all the latest news from key artists plus some exclusive

interviews. I find it incredible that even in the first edition of what is a publication established as an idea late one night that I got to speak to two incredible artists: the brilliant Emma Stevens, who is such an incredible talent with two albums that are pretty flaweless, plus Jess Clemmons of Jess and the Bandits, whose ‘Single’ Tonight’ song was the first of many incredible records she’s released. There’s also two further interviews with Son of the Wind and Sweet Crisis who were just as fun to speak to. Outside of these four central interviews three of my favourite fellow radio DJs I’ve met over the years have penned some really great columns, and also my hours and hours of music listening has paid off with a catalogue at the end of all the songs you should hear this year. I’ve probably listened to around 2,500 songs in 2015 alone so you can understand then that the 400 or so songs I recommend at the back of this publication are the best of this year’s new music.

So grab a cuppa or your drink of choice and prepare for an exploration of just what great music there is out there. KBPS is a new music magazine for music lovers, and I hope you’ll love reading it as much as I’ve loved compiling it. Philip Lickley Editor, KBPS

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All web links were correct at time of press. Please report any mistakes, typos etc to our FB page! Cover photo: Rosie Hard, courtesy of Emma Stevens

MUSIC NEWS

Life’s Too Short For Scouting For Girls “Just kiss me / who cares if we get caught?” Scouting For Girls have previewed a brand new single live and online. Called ‘Life’s Too Short’ the sub three-minute pop song has a surprising country-twang to the sound, though it will certainly please their fans with its familiar pop sound.

The Hoosiers announce new fourth album

You can listen to the new song at youtube.com/watch?v=1xEb-AUoZQU fb.com/ScoutingForGirls

Pop indie band the Hoosiers, famous for their hits like ‘Choices’, ‘Goodbye Mr. A’ and ‘Somewhere In Their Distance’, have announced their LP follow-up to 2014’s ‘The News From Nowhere’.

Their fourth album ‘The Secret Service’ will be released on October 9th and they have announced a series of packages for fans who pre-order to support the album, including pre-release EPs, t-shirts and other treats yet to be announced.

EP ‘The Wheels Fell Off’ is already available to download and features three new tracks - ‘Pristine’, the acoustic ‘Don’t Say What Nobody Wants To Hear’ and the title track, alongside live versions of ‘Fidget Brain’ and ‘Worried About Ray’. Find out more and support their package at thehoosiers.com/preorder/ fb.com/thehoosiers

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Singer-Songwriter Nerina Pallot premiers new track Rousseau Nerina Pallot performed new track ‘Rousseau’ live on the Chris Evans breakfast show on Radio 2 in late July. It’s available to download now. fb.com/NerinaPallotOfficial

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MUSIC NEWS

One Direction release surprise track online post-Malik

Love Criminal becomes Cruel in new Magalie single

Four-piece boy band One Direction released a surprise track online on Friday 31st July. Called ‘Drag Me Down’ it’s their first released recording since Zayn Malik left the band earlier in the year, and it soon topped the chart.

London popstress Magalie has released the video for her Love Criminal followup online. ‘Love Is Cruel’ sees the singer performing in an ever-changing room, and you can view the promo at youtube.com/watch?v=qdD49j6RiHY

Malik himself also hit the news by signing a record deal with RCA in July, so it can’t be long until new music appears from him. ‘Drag Me Down’, which is available to download now, is taken from their upcoming fifth album due out later in the year.

Naturally the 1D fans were pretty happy with the new track appearing, which marked the fifth birthday of the band.

As big fans of her last two songs - and this one - we look forward to an album release! fb.com/magalieofficial

Prince returns with a new album Prince has announced his 38th studio album entitled ‘HITNRUN’. twitter.com/Prince3EG

fb.com/onedirectionmusic

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MUSIC NEWS Don’t Cross the Streams In July music streaming passed the milestone of 500 million streams per week, according to figures from the Official Charts Company.

Streaming services, such as Spotify and the recently launched Apple Music, see users stream music rather than download it and has seen its popularity sky-rocket recently. Streams now count towards to the chart but has proved controversial with some artists, such as Taylor Swift, who’ve highlighted issues with revenue streams from the services.

Robyn speaks to BBC about collaboration with Christian Falk Swedish singer Robyn was working with the artist when he revealed he had cancer, which he later sadly died from. You can read more about the project at bbc.co.uk/ news/entertainment-arts-33609122

Taylor Swift also continued to make the news in July thanks to a misunderstanding on Twitter with Nicki Minaj; her open letter with Apple Music about their streaming; and her own battles in relation to her contracts for photographers at her gigs.

Ivy Levan announces new album

Hey! Hey! More from the Monkees!

American singer-songwriter Ivy Levan - whose ‘Hot Damn’ EP is one of our favourite releases in the last few years announced her debut album which was released on the 7th August.

There were 11.5 billion streams in the first six months of 2015, an 80% increase over 2014. Ed Sheeran is the most streamed artist of 2015.

Fans have discovered master tapes of new music recorded by Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz in the wake of the band’s split in 1970, including collaborations with Harry Nilsson.

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‘No Good’ includes singles ‘The Dame Says’ and ‘Biscuit’, alongside the title track and eight other songs, but doesn’t include ‘Hot Damn’ or her recent contribution to Mellisa McCarthy film ‘Spy’. fb.com/ivylevan

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MUSIC NEWS

Gabriella Aplin, What Did You Do? Ahead of her second album ‘Light Up The Dark’, Gabriella Aplin - famous for her cover of ‘The Power of Love’ for the John Lewis Christmas advert a few years ago - has previewed the song ‘What Did You Do’ from it.

We love it, and you can hear a live version of it at youtube.com/watch?v=LYuD4jihK08 fb.com/GabriellaAplin

As slow as snail mail: Lemar finally returns with a new single Fame Academy contestant Lemar ends as five-year drought with a new single called ‘The Letter’ from an upcoming new album. You can listen to it at youtube.com/ watch?v=gtqXwG1_h_s fb.com/LemarOfficial

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Music becomes global as NEW MUSIC FRIDAYS LAUNCH The biggest change to the music charts in decades took place on 10th July as the release dates of new music globally changed to Friday mornings just after midnight.

This shift also saw the BBC Radio 1 chart shift from Sundays to Friday evenings as part of the Greg James show.

“Historically, release days for music have varied from country to country. In today’s connected world that means that fans often have to wait for days to get music that has already been released in other countries”, reads the website. “New Music Fridays is an initiative to unify all new music release days worldwide so that fans can access new music on the same day everywhere. Find out more at newmusicfridays.com/

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MUSIC NEWS Singer Cilla Black Passes Away Singer and presenter Cilla Black passed away on the 2nd August following a stroke at her Spanish home.

Maxïmo Park frontman goes solo

The Rev Returns! You can now support a PledgeMusic campaign for the new Reverend and the Makers album ‘Mirrors’. With lead singer ‘Black Widow’ preceeding it, the 14-track album is accompanied by a tour and the pledges include signed CDs, a vinyl and a special CD/DVD, as well as a selection of bonus tracks. Find out more and support at pledgemusic.com/projects/mirrors fb.com/ReverendAndTheMakers

The lead singer of the band Maxïmo Park will release album ‘Contradictions’ on 21st August 2015. Released under Paul Smith and the Imitations it comes as the main band celebrate ten years of their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger’ from which hit single ‘Apply Some Pressure’ was taken.

Westlife’s Shane Filan Announces Second Solo Album ‘Right Here’ is the second solo album from Filan and includes the single ‘Me and the Moon’. It is due out on 25th September. fb.com/ShaneFilanOfficial

Latest Radio Figures Released BBC Radio 1 has seen its listeners figure climb by 737,000 in the last quarter, though BBC Radio 2 remains the most popular station in the country.

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MAKING WAVES

Emma Stevens on her new deluxe album, learning bass and drums and whether she’ll be presenting Top Gear... Emma Stevens is a singer-songwriter from Guildford who shot to fame in late 2013 when her single ‘Riptide’ was made iTunes single of the week. Specialising in pop-folk and known for being able to play many, many instruments, Stevens has released two albums, including second album ‘Waves’ which is receiving a deluxe version on 21st August. Ahead of this release I spoke in length to Emma about her career and her current successes and began by talking to her about her new single ‘Never Gonna Change’ which appears on, and precedes, the deluxe take of ‘Waves’.

““Never Gonna Change” is about staying true to who you are. Never feel like you have to change or act a certain way to fit in. We are all unique and beautiful in our own way. This is such an important message for me to share with you all and I hope you like the song!” ‘Never Gonna Change’ is taken from her second album ‘Waves’ Originally released in 2014 and featuring singles ‘Make My Day’ and ‘Gold Rush’, the deluxe version features that new song and seven further ones: ‘CGI’, ‘The Star That Guides You Home’ and ‘Let Me Guess’, plus a cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ before remixes of ‘Happy’ and ‘Once’, and a live version of ‘Gold Rush’ complete the additions. I asked Emma about how these tracks came about. “I found I was still writing after I had finished the album. When “CGI, Never

Photo: Rosie Hard

Gonna Change and Let me Guess” came about I thought of doing a deluxe album of Waves because they’re similar in sound to the album. I also reworked a couple of older songs from my first EP and also tried a couple of different versions of songs. I think it’s really interesting to hear “Gold Rush” (probably the fastest paced song on the album) totally stripped back in piano ballad style live. “There are eight new tracks on there including my cover that I performed on Terry Wogan’s show – Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.” Emma Stevens has had plenty of radio exposure recently. She has been a regular on BBC Radio 2, typically on shows with Chris Evans and Terry Wogan. I asked her about her most recent cover with Terry and her choice behind it.

“Sometimes it can be hard taking on a cover. Especially when you’ve been so used to writing your own songs. I chose “Can’t Help Falling in Love” because of nostalgic reasons and it’s such a beautiful song! I had a lot of fun putting my own spin on it and it’s certainly a lot different to the original!”

Emma Stevens A Potted History • • • • • • • • • •

Born: 4th May 1986, Guildford Start playing guitar from a very early age Began piano lessons at six years old Appeared on stage for the first time aged 13 Attended the Academy of Contemporary Music from 2006 - 2007 Worked a session musican Wrote music for BGT’s Andrew Muir and Korean boy-band SHINee Was part of a band called ‘Shooting Lead Rabbits’ Began planning a solo career in 2011 with writer Charlie Midnight and her mother Tina Collaborated with Passenger in 2013 on song ‘I’ll Be Your Man’

Emma Stevens Discography

Emma was very enthusiastic about how she’s been embraced by the radio shows, and has even performed live at Chris Evans’ pub.

“It’s a real dream to have people so prolific championing my work. I will always remember where I came from and the people that helped me right at the very beginning. I feel truly honoured to have been interviewed by some wonderful people and that they have faith and belief that I’ll make it. Being invited to chat and sing on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show was amazing - it’s the most listened to radio show in Europe apparently! To then be invited twice now to play at Carfest was incredible!

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Album #1: Enchanted. Released in 2013 after four EPs from 2012-13. Includes ‘A Place Called You’, ‘Once’ and ‘Riptide’

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“[Chris] actually invited me down [to his pub] and then invited me back again. It was great fun. It was really good to see him again and to see new talent as well. It was a really good night and actually the pub is such a lovely pub.” With talk about Chris Evans I asked Emma if she was ever keen on maybe slipping him an audition tape for Top Gear!

Album #2: Waves. Released in 2014, featuring the singles ‘Make My Day’ and ‘Gold Rush’

“I would give anything a go! I love cars, I’m no mechanic, but I enjoy driving. My red beetle is renowned for breaking down, it’d be rather nice to be able to drive some super cars every now and again…!”

Though cars may not be up there on her list of hobbies, away from music Emma has some unusual likes outside of music for someone from the South of England “Considering I’m a Guildford girl, surfing really shouldn’t be top on my hobby’s list… But it is! I really enjoy it! I have a purple 8ft mini mal which I take to Cornwall and Devon whenever I can. I also enjoy sports - tennis, golf and I got up to my red belt in Tae Kwondo! I hope at some point to continue on to get black belt but at this time my music career has to come first… It’s just a bit too dangerous right now!” Emma Stevens on videos

Album #2 (Deluxe): Waves. Soon to be released, featuring new track ‘Never Gonna Change’.

Emma Stevens Online

Web: emmastevensmusic.com fb.com/estevensmusic twitter: estevensmusic

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Emma Stevens is also a very visual artist and her videos all have very distinct and warm looks to them, and the video for ‘Never Gonna Change’ is no different. The concept for this video came about between Stevens and her videographer. “It was all shot in one day. The idea was to have a photo album which sprung to life.”

Emma told me that her favourite video so far is probably the one for her song ‘Once’ from her first album ‘Enchanted’, which was originally released

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as four EPs before being released as one long LP.

“This is one of my favourite music videos I’ve shot because it was a mighty collaborative effort with Jarred Seng (Ed Sheeran and Passenger’s videographer) who was living in Australia! My part was shot in England. I love the story line, the fact that my lead character is a big teddy bear and that this kind of this is possible to do!”

This visual side to Emma continues with the photography she did recently with Rosie Hard, shown in our cover photo and on her new ‘Waves’ front cover. I asked her about the new LP sleeve and whether she found herself submerged into water…. “That would be telling… It did rain…”

On her social networks there are plenty of photos of her on tour and recording and I asked if the visual side of her music is important, and whether she has a passion for fashion. “I don’t think I necessarily fit the criteria of being overly “Fashionable” - I just wear what I like to wear, really. I’m standing here in elephant baggy trousers! Just be true to who you are and be free to express yourself and to go with it.” Emma Stevens live

Since 2012 Emma Stevens has been a regular on the touring circuit, from her ‘Heart on Hand’ tour late that year to supporting her first EP, through to her support tour with Jenn Bostic in 2013 and her own tour just after. She continued over the years with further tours with Sam

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Gray in late 2013, again with Jenn Bostic just after where I first saw her live, and a full tour for her first album ‘Enchanted’ in Spring 2014. She was back with Blair Dunlop a year later to promote her second album. I asked her about her upcoming dates for later in 2015. “I have had the privilege of having a band with me on the road a lot, and so sometimes it’s nice to change it up a bit, I’m going to be doing a few dates with the wonderful Ben Montague and then a few dates on my own. I’m supporting Ward Thomas at the Cottingham Festival which is coming up. I’ll be there with as many instruments that will fit in my car!”

Emma complemented her tour plans with a StageIt performance in late July, showcasing her involvement with technology as much as her more traditional gigs. “I’ve done StageIt a few times and it’s a really, really great thing. It’s a really cool online gig. You can stay at your house or wherever you are – an internet cafe – and you basically tune into me in my living room or my bedroom or wherever I am basically doing a gig. And it’s all really interactive and a fun thing to be part of it.

“You can buy tickets literally for 3p if you want. It’s all based on tipping hopefully. It’s really, really good fun!”

Emma has built up an impressive live resume of working with a range of exciting and interesting artists. I quizzed her on her favourite experiences and her most recent tour with Blair Dunlop.

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“It’s daunting sometimes when you collaborate with someone as you realise how far you have to go. I had a really great collaboration with an artist called Passenger a couple of years ago. He really was a wonderfully inspiring singer-songwriter, independent, completely DIY. And that was great fun. I’ll write with anyone. For me I learn every time when I go into a writing session or a collaboration.

“[On the recent tour] Blair’s very much more folk – I’m very much more poppy singer-songwriter so it was a very interesting draw to do but we got on like a house on fire. The band was great. It was really good fun and I think I learned a lot from him. He’s a great guitarist as well as singer so I really, really rate him and I had a lovely time.” Emma Stevens spent much of June over in Nashville, spending three weeks over there, and she told me of her experiences with writing with lots of people there, and naturally that led to questions about a potential third album and whether one would be appearing.

“I’ve begun work on my third album!! Which is very exciting! I am trying to pull myself away from my comfort zones a little now and see what happens when I really try to expand my writing techniques that I’ve picked up along the way!”

But it’s not just all about her own music. She got some time off to see Taylor Swift perform in Hyde Park. Emma confessed to be something of a fan of Swift. “One day I want to support her, it’s a dream. I saw her play at the Shepherd’s

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Emma Stevens: The Influences

James Taylor James Taylor is a classic artist born in 1948 famous for many hits but especially “You’ve Got A Friend”. He continues to make music. His seventeenth studio album ‘Before This World’ came out in June. fb.com/JamesTaylor

Jason Mraz Jason Mraz is an American Singer-Songwriter famous for hits such as 2008’s top twenty hit ‘I’m Yours’ and 2012’s ‘I Won’t Give Up’. Mraz has so far released five studio albums including 2014’s ‘Yes!’. fb.com/JasonMraz

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Bush Empire years ago before she was really famous and it was incredible. Just seeing her go from strength to strength over here suddenly and playing to like 65,000 people at Hyde Park it was great. Actually the last time I was at Hyde Park I was performing myself on the BBC Introducing stage when I headlined it a couple of years ago, so it was really cool to suddenly go there and see her, one of my idols. I went on to ask her about her other favourite artists.

“I really, really love Jason Mraz. I think his new album is one of my favourite albums ever. John Mayer for sure; he’s always been a massive influence on my life. I’m into the male singer-songwriters. I find I like to listen to them more than the female singer-songwriters but there are so many incredible musicians and artists that I’ll listen to all the time, so it’s a hard one to narrow down to say specifically, but those two – Mraz and Meyer – are totally in my top two.” Emma Stevens on the internet and her fans

Having a strong presence online has never been more important for artists looking for exposure in 2015 and Emma is pretty well versed in such things with very active presences on Facebook and Twitter. I asked her about how important it is for musicians to keep engaged with her fans on social networks.

“Some people love it, some people like to keep their life really private. For me I’m just so grateful to my fans and the people who’ve supported me, I want to keep them in the loop. I want to keep everyone in the

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Emma Stevens team family because if it wasn’t for those fans I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing. Honestly, people buying concert tickets, people buying albums, people downloading my music, it really, really does help so much. “Yourself, giving me this interview, I feel very, very lucky and I’m totally genuine when I say that. I want people to see what I’m doing, I want people to see what I’m up to, and that the investment is worthwhile. I’m loving what I’m doing.” ‘Waves’, Emma’s most recent album, was funded by online pledges. I asked her whether she thinks this is the future for artists to make new music as Kickstarting becomes more and more popular.

“Pledge enabled me to make my second album. If it wasn’t for all my amazing fans and supporters it would have been a lot harder. They all came together and supported me by purchasing different things that I was offering, which gave me enough money to record the second album. “I think this totally depends on the artist. Some might want to sign to a major label, some might now. There’s no right or wrong way to do it as long as you’re staying true to yourself!” Going back in time

As well as wanting to find out more about her new music I was keen to talk about her earlier childhood and previous releases. I discovered Emma through her up-tempo pop-folk hit ‘Riptide’, and I wondered if that was the first point of contact she had with many of her fans.

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“Riptide being single of the week on itunes certainly was a great way of people finding out about me. It hopefully lead to a few album downloads, too! A lot of my music has been heard in different shops and restaurants around the world, too.” ‘Riptide’ was taken from her first album ‘Enchanted’ as I was intrigued to see if Emma felt whether she’d changed as an artist in the two years since that was released.

“I think I’m certainly evolving as an artist especially with stuff that I’m writing. I’m exploring new territory. I think the second album was similar sounding as I used Pete Woodruff again, the most amazing producer, who produced Enchanted. I think my lyrical content is slightly changing as well and I’m kind of exploring different avenues of writing, metaphorically as well. “There is a song called Helium on there which is probably my favourite song I’ve ever written which is a very strong metaphor. It’s an interesting one because I find it very hard to see that I’m changing because I’m so involved in the project but a lot of people from the outside are saying it’s the same, but it’s different. It’s hard to say. I’ll let my listeners decide! Emma Stevens on music

Much is made of Emma’s talents as a multiinstrumentalist. She told me how she grew up in a very musical family, learning cello and piano at an earlier age. “I went down the classical root, and that set up a really strong foundation for me in terms of moving forward and learning new instruments and wanting to develop my craft I guess.”

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Emma plays a variety of instruments including cello, piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo and ukulele, but even with that impressive roster of instruments under her belt there’s still room for her to learn some more as she told me.

“I’m learning bass, I’m learning the drums, but I’m terrible at them both! I think my favourite instrument is the banjo. I know it can be a marmite instrument - some people love it some loathe it. But I love the sound. I love the percussive nature of it and I love country music so banjo has got to be my favourite.

“[Bass and drums are difficult] to be good at. My boyfriend is an incredible bass player. For me to play bass, especially next to him, is kind of embarrassing. But my drummer that I go on tour with, is teaching me slowly how to play the drums. I’ve always had that natural rhythm so it’s about learning the techniques and learning how to play. But they’re really hard instruments. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to play them live properly, but I like to give everything a go! “I’d like to be really, really good at one of them at some point in my life, so maybe I’ll sit down and really really work at the banjo for a few years. I could be a seventy year old banjo maestro – how cool would that be? “I come from much more of a playing background than a vocal background. I never started off going ‘I want to be a singer’ – it was always ‘I love song writing and I love playing instruments’. And I’m pretty good at poetry, and it was like a combination – I should try being a singersongwriter, so I know where my strengths and weaknesses are. I get a bit of a head start because I play so many instruments; when it comes to picking up a new one it’s a

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little easier than someone who doesn’t play one.” I asked Emma about her song writing process and how she gets inspiration for her music and lyrics, considering her love of instruments and poetry.

“It can be a concept that comes to mind then I decide to write about it. It could be a piece of melody that I’ve sung, and a chord structure. It really depends. I tend to spend a lot more time on the lyrics than I do on the melody, because for me the lyrics have got to be important, especially in the singer-songwriter category I’m in. “It chops and changes all the time. I’ve worked with producers before who’ve said ‘I’ve done a track can you send me what they call a top-line, which is just the melody and the lyrics. I don’t really like that way of writing as I come from a playing background so I’m like – when can I play on it? There’s lots of different processes for song writing.”

that’s my top, top priority. Just to be able to keep doing what I’m doing really, and hopefully expand my fan base. It’s never going to be an overnight journey - the whole point is to evolve and enjoy and that’s exactly what I’m doing!”

Ever since discovering Emma Stevens with her song ‘Riptide’ I’ve been consistently impressed with her music catalogue. ‘Enchanted’ is one of my favourite albums of all time and ‘Waves’ a great follow-up. Her live sets are definitely something to see as well and she always come across as a genuine and friendly person keen to really connect with her fans. Here’s looking forward to more music from this brilliant singer-songwriter. Waves (Deluxe) is out in August on all good download sites.

Emma Stevens: where next

With my interview time with Emma drawing to a close and with discussions earlier about a potential third album, I spoke to her finally about where she’d like to go from here.

“I’d like to release the third album within the next eighteen months definitely,

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PHILIP LICKLEY

My Favourite Music Of All Time I suppose it’s only fair that in edition one of KBPS I try and establish my music credentials so you don’t think I’m just some chancer has decided to chance his arm with a music magazine. So here I have attempted to go through my music collection and choose my ten favourite albums of all time and, most trickily, my all-time favourite songs. Naturally moods and much more change what you enjoy at a particular time but as of August 2015 here are my chosen LPs and singles (in no order of preference) Agree or disagree? Let me know. The Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere (2006, B-Unique Records) Though the two albums that follow it are as fun, this debut from the Welsh band is a great and consistent collection of twelve songs with a distinctive battle of two vocalists.

Darren Hayes - This Delicate Thing We’ve Made (2007, Powdered Sugar) This double disc concept album about time travel is both a very personal record for the Savage Garden lead singer and a collection of touching, well-written and produced songs.

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Electric Six - Señor Smoke (2005, WEA) The second album from Detroit’s Electric Six is the ultimate pop-rock record with thirteen incredible and varied tracks and a flow that doesn’t relent for 43-minutes.

Kaiser Chiefs - Education, Education, Education & War (2014, B-Unique Records) The fifth album from the Leeds-based band was the first released after their main songwriter left, but even in the face of this, this first-world-war inspired concept album coming 100 years after the Great War is an incredible mix of pop-rock, electronica and touching spoken word.

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The Killers - Day and Age (2008, Island) The third album from the American rock band is a huge roller-coaster of emotions with ten incredibly involving songs. Marina and the Diamonds Froot (2015, Atlantic) It’s difficult to pick the best of the three albums by Marina Diamandis but her third album from this year pips the other two to the post, thanks to such songs as ‘Froot’, ‘Blue’ and the amazing ‘I’m A Ruin’. Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures (2007, Warp) Released on my birthday, this second album by the Northern band is a continuous joy of tracks and never grows old. Robbie Williams - Reality Killed the Video Star (2009, Virgin) Robbie’s eighth solo album is one of his best, with some brilliant production from Trevor Horn. The opening three tracks are unbeatable and there are plenty of highlights elsewhere.

Röyksopp - Melody A.M. (2001, Wall of Sound) Focussing more on the music than the vocals, this is a relaxing but listenable collection of atmospheric pop songs. Beautifully made and beautifully produced. Sparks - Hello Young Lovers (2006, Gut) ‘Dick Around’ was an incredible single and this album is just as eclentic and crazy, but all in a good way!

Naturally there are some albums that just escape my top ten... Daft Punk - Human After All ELO - The Very Best Of Gorillaz - Demon Days The Hoosiers - The Hoosiers and the Trick to Life Labrinth - Electronic Earth Muse - Black Holes and Revelations Reverend and the Makers - The State of Things The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

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Top Ten Favourite Tracks Of All Time It’s difficult to work out what my favourite ten tracks of all time are, but after many days of headscratching and thinking, here are the ten songs I think I’d take with me to a desert island or wherever!

Abba - Lay All Your Love On Me (1981) The Boo Radleys - Wake Up Boo! (1995) ELO - Mr Blue Sky (1978) Elton John feat. Alessandro Safina Your Song 2002 (2002) The Feeling feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor Leave Me Out Of It (2011) Madness - NW5 (2008) Maxïmo Park - Our Velocity (2007) Moby - Slipping Away (2006) Morcheeba - Otherwise (2002) Queen feat. David Bowie - Under Pressure (1981)

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THE NITTY GRITTY

We spoke to Jessica Clemmons about her new single, her work with the Bandits and her role as an ambassador for women with a little more bass...

Jessica Clemmons is an American singersongwriter from Houston who enjoyed some great solo singles before teaming up with British group the Bandits to form a new super-group with an incredible debut country album. I spoke to Jessica ahead of rehearsals for her new tour and began by asking her how her birthday had gone which she’d celebrated a week earlier!

“It went pretty good. On my actual birthday I had rehearsals then I spent the rest of the day sleeping. I was so tired. I said ‘forget it, I’m going to sleep for my birthday’ so I got exactly what I wanted!” Jess and the Bandits have released a new album called ‘Here We Go Again’ and it’s a fresh country album, but I’ll let Jessica explain how the album sounds to you.

“I spent a lot of time writing in Nashville, trying to make sure we got the best songs possible for the album, being a debut record, especially as a band. We wanted to make sure we made the best impression possible, so spent a little under a year in total just working on it. I think it’s a great blend of country music and the different genres within country music that is going on right now, so it’s a little bit of that country-rock, pop-country and some traditional Texas country and even a cover of Wichita Lineman, the Jimmy Webb / Glen Campbell song from the seventies. “We really tried to make sure we had an album that had a different feel to it, where every song felt slightly different, but they all tied together nicely. And it seems like we’ve accomplished that and people seem to really love it.” Country music has certainly seen a rise in its popularity recently, thanks to the hard

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work of many acts, with duos such as Ward Thomas and The Shires breaking through. I asked Jessica what she thought was the sudden appeal about the genre in Britain.

“I think it’s fresh and new, it’s something different, which for me being a Texan I find this really fascinating and exciting because I’ve grown up with country music, and there’s not one person in the United States that doesn’t know country music so it’s really cool to be part of a genre that’s been around for ever but it’s almost like it’s something new. “It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of that and to be one of the bands here in the UK that seems to be trying to pave the way for country music to have a strong staple in the UK and it’s really interesting how exciting it is for so many people. They just really seem to be drawn to this new genre of music so it’s cool to be part of that.

“I think with country music especially, country fans are unlike any other fans and it’s the same in the States as it is here in the UK, that country fans just love good music. It’s very different from pop music fans, because people tend to jump on a bandwagon with pop music and then jump off it really quickly onto a new one. And I find that especially UK fans are really, really supportive and loyal of new artists, and that’s not actually something you see as common in the United States, so for us especially being a new band. To be a new band here is a really great thing because we’re finding the fanbase is just so loyal and wonderful that it’s definitely a good place to be doing this right now.”

Country is never bigger than at the annual Country-2-Country (or C2C) festival held in the O2 arena. Jess and the Bandits played

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at this year’s festival and Jessica was really positive about their time there.

“That was amazing. I did it the year before just on my own but this year was just different. When the Bandits and I get together a lot of times people say, what has been one of our most exciting experiences so far, and we’ve all said that C2C this year was something special, it felt like something of a game changer for us. “We didn’t know until a week or two after that we filled the Brooklyn Bowl up to capacity on both days, and we didn’t even know! So for us, it was just such an amazing experience. “It’s really great to see it so exciting and have this breath of fresh air, it’s a wonderful thing to be part of.” Jessica live

A few days after I spoke to Jessica the band performed live at the Rambling Man festival but there are further tour dates coming up for them in October. I asked Jessica how preparations were going.

“Really well. We’ve already had our rehearsals for Rambling Man and we’re getting together next month and we’re going to start doing rehearsals for the tour so we’re beyond excited about this tour. The buzz has been really great, the ticket sales are going well, and I think we’re going to be adding in a couple of dates so we’re excited. It’s nervewracking when you do your own tour for the first time.

Jess and the Bandits A Potted History • • • • • •

Jessica born: 16th July 1981 in Houston, Texas Released album ‘Permanent’ in 2007 and ‘Loving This Day’ in 2012 ‘What If’ EP was released in 2013 including the song ‘Single Tonight’ Supported The Soldier, The Stylistics, The Overtones and Boyzone Teamed up with the Bandits Ricci Riccardi, Louis Riccardi, Dave Troke, Steven Reid Williams Style ambassador for Evans (#StyleHasNoSize)

“There’s definitely a scary feeling about going out on your own as opposed to supporting someone else, but it’s something you have to do and I think we’re ready for it, and we’re really excited about it.” The band, and Jessica solo, are no strangers to touring, and have an impressive roster of

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supported bands. But what was her best experience?

“Being on tour with Boyzone was incredible as we played arenas and that was something that is a dream come true – to actually play the O2 and Wembley – and to do something like 24 dates on an arena tour – is incredible. And plus they’re just such great guys to work with. Touring with the Overtones, because it was a smaller tour and it was theatres it’s a really great family environment and because that’s where I met the Bandits, and that holds a special place in my heart for sure. “ Jessica on the Bandits

Following her work as a solo singer, releasing two albums – ‘Loving This Day’ and ‘Permanent’, alongside a clutch of singles and EP ‘What If’ – I asked Jessica what attracted her to working as part of a band instead.

“I’ve been at this for a long time. I started travelling to the UK back in 2006 as a solo singer and I was doing pop-soul music and I then decided to get back to my roots and that’s when I did the EP. I met the guys when I was touring with the Overtones in 2012 and from that point on we spent a lot of time together.

“As the years have gone on, we just continued to work together: we wrote together, we were always performing. It just seemed that that was like the next logical step, when you’re spending all your time working together and I loved these guys as artists as well. They’re all so incredibly talented that it’s great to be able to make it a group effort now instead of it just being on me, and it has probably been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

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Jessica on covers If you pick up a copy of their new album ‘Here We Go Again’ you’ll see it ends with a beautiful cover of Glen Campbell’s ‘Wichita Lineman’. Alongside this ‘Brave’ by the Shires and ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ have also had the magic touch from Jess and the Bandits. But what attracts them to particular songs to cover? “I’m a huge fan of the Shires and they’re great friends of ours. We decided with it being C2C to do a cover of another artists and that’s why we chose the Shires, and I love the song Brave. So we wanted to do that. [With] Wichita Lineman [we did that for] Terry Wogan over a year ago now as we had heard he was a fan of Glen Campbell, so the guys and I got together and tried to really choose a good song and fortunately the band are such amazing musicians it was a really easy thing to be able to make the song our own, but still respecting the song and keeping the song intact.

“And that’s what we did with Wichita Lineman, and Terry Wogan loved our version so much we ended up having to put it on the album. And for Mama Told Me Not To Come that was a last minute decision. We were going back on with Terry Wogan and Tom Jones was headlining Cornbury, and we were at Cornbury, so we thought let’s do a Tom Jones song. We got together at rehearsal and it sounded like a complete mess, and then we kept working on it, and then it turned out to be such a fun song, and we’ve decided to add it into our sets. Down to the Nitty Gritty

Jess and the Bandits have just released their latest cut from their ‘Here We Go

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Again’ album, a positive up-lifting number called ‘Nitty Gritty’ and the band have been busy recording the promotional video for it.

“That was so much fun. I think it’s probably the most fun we’ve had on a shoot in a long time because sometimes they can be kind of stressful, but this one was a blast. We have teamed up with Evans clothing and as you may or may not know I’m the Ambassador for their new campaign, ‘Style has no Size’. ‘Nitty Gritty’ is like their theme song for that campaign, so we did that video in conjunction with Evans and did a competition to get ten real women, everyday women, to be part of the video, and that’s what we go. It’s being edited and we’re supposed to have a first glimpse of it next week, so I’m really excited.

“I spent some time in Nashville and wrote this song with three other amazing female writers in Nashville and it was right at the height of ‘All About That Bass’ being really, really popular and though everybody really loved that song, I loved that song, there is a real divisive spiel about this song. There were a lot of women, just let’s say, that maybe didn’t have as much bass, that didn’t like the song or they were upset by it. There’s always going to be someone upset about something.

“There were people upset about this song. So I told the girls – someone needs to write something, we need to write something, that brings everyone together and it’s all inclusive, especially of women because we’re terrible about ourselves [with] self-image, and I’m sure men are too, but women are the ones who have the issue. So that’s when we got together, we wrote the song in a couple of hours, and it’s turned into a fan-favourite and a personal favourite of mine.” Intrigued by her role as a style ambassador, I asked Jessica how that was going.

“It’s really cool to be a part of that. Every girl loves the idea of getting clothes and dressing up and doing photo shoots, especially for such a good cause. Although Evans clothing is a plus-size brand their campaign is trying to bring all women together and I think that’s something it’s about time, that there is something like that, and it’s great to be a part of that.” Jessica on her career

For someone still only in her thirties, Jessica has had a lengthy career which has included a huge hit with ‘Single Tonight’ and lots of tours. She was also a contestant back on American Idol ten years ago in 2005. I asked her whether that was a good experience for her.

“I’ve definitely moved on from it. The story keeps following me everywhere I go but I think you take everything that happens in life and you try to use it as a learning experience and for me I never went to that audition to become the next American Idol, I actually I had no interest in that. I just needed validation, and I got it, I got the validation I needed, I got the tips that I needed to work on and that has helped me to shape who I am now.”

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, the UK seems now to be a second home for Jessica. I asked her how she found balancing presences in both countries.

“I spend the majority of my career life here in the UK and in all honesty it’s a bit more difficult in terms of commercial radio. [With] country music in the US there’s not a lot of rules when it comes to a certain sound or certain lyrics or things like that. You don’t have to make anything too pop. Because country music is something we have in the UK, and have always had. Here in the UK the only difference I would say is that there’s a bit of an easing into country here in the UK. “It’s not full on Texas country, which is real proper hardcore country and western, so there is a difference between the US and UK but I would say the great thing about our band is with me being Texan and the band being British, we’re really able to take those two cultures and blend them really well to where you kind of do have the best of both worlds. I’m able to bring a little more of that American style country in, and the guys can give their British influence with what they grew up in country music, and we’re able to do a really good blend that I think is different from a lot of other bands.”

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Jessica on the future With the single release and video for ‘Nitty Gritty’ arriving, it looks to be a great summer for the band. I ended my chat with Jessica about how she’s filling up her free time but also what the plans are for the band in the future.

“When I’m home I just spend a lot of time with friends and family, and I’ve got a nephew, and I just love to watch a sports game – soccer primarily in the states – but I do a lot of sleeping when I’m not working because as I’m sure as you know the hours of a band are generally pretty crazy and it can be pretty hectic, but once I’m home I like to unplug for a bit and spend time with friends and family as I don’t get to see them that often.

“[As for the future] we’re thinking world domination, but we are going to start working on the next album. We’re going to start in August writing together and starting to slowly work on the next album. The current album has only been out for a couple of months and it’s done really well. We’ve got big shoes to fill. “We’re going to have to work really hard and we don’t want to put out another album, we want to make sure we put in a lot of time and effort just like we did the first one, so we’ve got that coming up. [There will] possibly [be] a deluxe edition of this album and definitely more tours next year as well, and all through the end of this year, so we’re going to be some really busy people!” Nitty Gritty is available for download now!

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LIAM WALTERS

I’m a 21st Century Digital Boy It’s something we’ve all done, whether we want to publicly admit to it or not. It’s something I’ve done throughout the night, and it’s something I know my parents have done too. I’ve even watched my closest friends doing it… I’m talking, of course, about ripping music CDs. So if you’re anything like me, you’ll have been vaguely aware that you aren’t really supposed to rip music CDs. But apparently, for a wild few months in 2015 it was fully legal to rip any music CDs you wanted, as long as they were for personal use only. That was until, in July this year, when a high court judge decided to reverse the ruling on ripping CDs, therefore making it once again illegal to do so.

It firstly begs the question of who even buys music CDs anymore (I asked on Facebook. Two people replied saying they did). Nothing is wrong with buying a music CD, the cover art is pretty cool, but it just seems so… archaic in a time where there are more mobile phones in the UK than there are people. As it turns out though, I was quite wrong. In April 2015, for the first time ever, digital music revenues overtook physical CD

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revenues globally. That means before April 2015 more people were buying CDs than downloading the digital equivalent, and it’s possible that this is still the case. I used the word ‘revenue’ because music streaming services, such as Spotify, count towards digital music revenue (roughly 40% of all digital revenue).

Looking closer at the UK (where the new law applies) by February 2014, digital revenues accounted for 50% of the total UK record industry income, which still leaves another 50% resting in the hands of customers buying physical CDs, but it’s likely that when these customers got home, their first priority was a good cup of tea… and then ripping their new CD, because of course you want to take your music with you, and if you’ve spent the money purchasing an album, then obviously you should be able to put that music on your phone too, right? Well, not according to the music industry, who were the ones wanted the freeripping law overturned. Their main line of defence was that it was ‘unfair’ to UK music creators. You see, when you buy an album, you aren’t buying the contents of the CD; you’re buying a licence to

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LIAM’S COLUMN

I’m a 21st Century Digital Boy listen to the contents of the CD in that particular format. If you wish to listen to the CD digitally, then you should also buy the digital tracks, which have a licence separate to that of the CD licence you bought… So essentially, it’s unfair to UK music creators, because it means you don’t have to buy their music twice. Which begs the question… If this rule was enforced, who would really choose the CD over the digital copy? I don’t exactly see the personal CD player making a comeback any time soon (even if it came with a picture of a partially eaten fruit.) But ultimately, this law is unenforceable. With or without David Cameron snooping on your Facebook wall, no one can really track whether or not you rip your music CDs. There are other ways the music industry could protect themselves, such as the widespread use of anti-rip protection (which I first encountered on the Linkin Park album, Minutes to Midnight), but ultimately, this law doesn’t change anything. People who buy CDs will still rip them, and people who don’t won’t notice. When Liam Walters isn’t drinking tea, ripping CDs or remembering the days when Linkin Park used to be a thing, he runs a blog, which you can find at dragonfruitdigital.com/

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Re-discovered Older songs I came across this year... Sometimes, as well as stumbling across brand new tracks you will come across music that’s a little bit older. Whilst compiling this issue here are some of the songs from 2014, and a little earlier, that are not from this year but are well worth finding, listening to and maybe even downloading! Brooke Fraser – Kings and Queens (http://bit.ly/13FUxVt) Carrie Underwood - Something in the Water (http://bit.ly/10yJoUl) Echosmith - Cool Kids (http://bit.ly/1qRu9yF) Emmy The Great - Swimming Pool (http://bit.ly/1Cji7lI) Family of the Year – Hero (http://bit.ly/PfidZn) Hozier - Take Me To Church (http://bit.ly/OHJvqI) Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys (http://bit.ly/1fY1MrY) Milky Chance - Flashed Junk Mind (http://bit.ly/1rGB8eb) Philip George - Wish You Were Mine (http://bit.ly/1xbQlYI) Pitbull and Ne-Yo - Time Of Our Lives (http://bit.ly/1HJTalm) The Heartland - I Loved Her First (http://bit.ly/1KXnEXy) Santa Esmerelda - Dont Let Me Be Misunderstood (http://bit.ly/1EptJpk) Seafret - Play with Guns (http://bit.ly/1Mhy0lu))

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We speak to Smรกri Tarfur about his new project Son of the Wind and how visitors to Iceland are embracing his spiritual soundscapes

CHASING WATERFALLS

Smári Tarfur is an exciting Icelandic artist whose new project ‘Son of the Wind’ sees him performing music live besides a dramatic looking waterfall to create a soundscape unlike any other. I caught up with him, speaking to him live from Iceland, about how the project was going.

“Things are actually going great. I’m having pretty much the most fun I’ve ever had in my life so I’m super happy these days. I’m doing a lot of playing at the waterfall and meeting new people and having fun.” Tarfur has spent his career touring the world as part of many musical projects including Quarashi, Hot Damn! and Ylja but in the spring of 2014 left Reykjavik to set up camp at the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall at the base of the famous Eyjafjallajökull glacier. With such beauty surrounding him I asked Smári how his music was influenced by his location. “In my case I would say that nature plays a big part in it and especially with the Son of the Wind project because it’s all written outdoors. The music was written by the waterfall that I play at so when I started doing this, entirely new music came out and it wouldn’t stop either. New idea to new idea kind of flowed through me so nature definitely plays a big part in it for me.” The ‘Son of the Wind’ project sees the sound of the waterfall being an essential part of the experience. I asked him what the process was in creating his music.

“[On my debut album] I recorded the waterfall before then the guitar in the studio but the next one I will record completely live on location. That will feature the waterfall; bird singing; people

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talking; and what not, just the whole wide situation of Son of the Wind.

“I would say, for instance last month when I’d been eagerly waiting since last summer to start this again, I would say 90% of what I played in the first month was entirely new music and I was actually thrilled about this as all of a sudden I had this whole new album written already, so most of the time I’m trying to go for something new but I will also add stuff that I played before. “I love the silences of the guitar because then you can hear the sound of the waterfall better and that’s the way I experienced it when I started doing the music. I was sitting by the waterfall and whenever the guitar would sort of fade out I would get this really comfortable sounding waterfall in my ears and that’s the reason I wanted to include that because it plays a big part in the sound.”

There is a video of a road trip by Olivier Chalier that uses some of the music as its soundtrack, and I was intrigued whether Smári wrote his music with visuals in mind.

“That tends to happen naturally for me at times but the thing is that I try to get into as much free flow as I can and therefore I am not really trying to do anything so to speak. I try to kind of look at music taking me somewhere and I can’t say that I try to aim for a certain frame of mind other than that, the free-flow mind so to speak.”

With the tranquillity of the waterfall present in the music, I asked him about the spirituality of his music. “[Spirituality is] essential for me as musician. In a lot of ways I’m being led

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somewhere if I just allow that to happen and it makes things so much more exciting for me and dangerous at the same time because at times I really don’t know where I’m going and mistakes are bound to happen from time to time and that makes it more exciting for me.”

As mentioned in the introduction, this project is a change of pace for the musician who has in previous guises played festivals like ‘Summer Sonic’ to crowds of over 40,000 people. So what does he think of this new venture?

“It’s definitely way different! In the past I’ve done stuff from metal to pop-rock music to bluesy stuff to acoustic stuff, and it’s always been within a frame of a song, like a three-five minute song but there’s much more freedom in Son of the Wind because the song might go on, for instance like one of the songs on the album called ‘Windenslong?’, it actually goes for about half-an-hour and that gives me the chance to pretty much go wherever I want, wherever I feel like but when you play three-five minute songs the format tends to be a bit strict, there’s not too much space for improvisation. That’s the biggest difference. “It’s the most freeing music I’ve ever played for sure and the environment that I’m playing that music in is actually very freeing too because there’s a constant flow of people coming to enjoy that waterfall and walk behind it and what not, and it’s not like a concert situation where you have people sitting and watching you and all that, it’s very freeing, definitely.”

Smári plays a lot of music live to tourists visiting the waterfall and he was positive both to their reaction to his music and the support they give him funding his work, which is all paid for by the tourists to the area contributing to his music.

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“I’ve had a great reaction and it’s been such a blessing for me to be able to sit outside by the beautiful waterfall and get the whole world for a visit. You have people from all over the world, from Asia, from America, from Europe, from Russia, and the list goes on and on. It’s been great to hear the passing reactions from people. Incredibly, and that actually played a big part in why this all happened. “I was playing my guitar and I was having this great moment of improvisation and I looked up and I saw, thirty-forty-fifty people that stood still and were watching what I was doing, and it plays a huge part on this, the constant flow of people. The reaction that’s been great.

“So many people were willing to do that and actually in the album cover there’s a poster with signatures and messages from those people and that was actually really important to me to give back to the folks that played a part in this, in funding this. I wouldn’t say it was nerve-wracking as it started off really well, right from the gate, it went really well! With the summer months quickly moving on, I was keen to hear his plans for the future.

“I have a very exciting schedule ahead of me. I’m doing the Son of the World project until probably mid-September then Iceland becomes very freezing and very cold and then I’m recording at least two other albums. There’s one where I perform an acoustic guitar and sing and there’s one done by a rock and roll band that I’m in called Belford so there’s plenty of stuff happening in my life. It’s very exciting!” fb.com/The.Son.Of.The.Wind

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ALISTAIR PROUDMAN

The Rolling Stones conundrum Why knowing when to quit is the most important skill to have In all the debates that rage between the Stones and the Beatles I’ve never understood why Rolling Stones fans don’t point to the questions of who the better live band is, and who had the longer peak - with The Beatles finding touring to be pointless when they couldn’t hear themselves over the crowd, and Lennon’s death, these are easy wins for the Stones; they’ve kept touring and kept going right to this day.

Should they though? Decline is an inevitable part of being a band. Even if you repeatedly revolutionise and keep up with the times, you can’t keep up with time itself, and the general consensus of the Stones over the past decade is that they’ve become a bit of a spent force. Whilst the early reviews of their Zip code tour are generally positive, they’re notable for two things - the stripped back nature of the shows, with the spectacle now side-lined and the songs becoming more of a bluesy stroll than stomping rock, and the wobbles that Keith Richards has been having. The former may not be a bad thing, but what it demonstrates is a band that can’t keep up with themselves.

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Which brings me on two big name bands making quite remarkable returns as the summer ends - Iron Maiden after Bruce Dickinson got the all clear from throat cancer, and after Lemmy’s health problems last summer, album number 23 from Motörhead. Having listened to the first two singles (Thunder and Lightning, and Electricity) from Bad Magic, Motörhead have the same sound they’ve always had, and I can’t fault that personally, but it runs the risk of becoming stale - and singles aren’t always the best guide to the quality of an album. Beyond that though, and my major concern, is that Lemmy seems to be flagging now. Their Glastonbury set saw him gradually lose the plot, particularly during the Overkill/Ace of Spades confusion; these are classic staples of the Motörhead back catalogue. That they’re being confused by the band suggests a worrying future.

As for Dickinson and Iron Maiden, I’ve got the utmost respect for him for managing to come back from throat cancer, and I’m excited to see how the new album turns out (their first double album), but it must be said that it’s incredibly unlikely that his

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ALISTAIR PROUDMAN

The Rolling Stones conundrum

MY PLAYLIST

What I am listening to

Why knowing when to quit is the most important skill to have

A brief exploration of my current mobile phone playlist. Texas - Are You Ready youtube.com/watch?v=WrNqYlxZHYY voice will have escaped unscathed, and when Iron Maiden were so focused on his incredible vocal ability, it seems inevitable that the style will have to have changed, or declined. It’s perhaps harsh to make this judgement before we hear from the album, but there’s an obvious decision to make after such a massive event as Dickinson’s throat cancer – to carry on or bow out; to leave with the “what if?” hanging or to risk the down trajectory that the likes of the Stones have begun to tread – and as a Maiden fan, I’m not sure which would be worse. Alistair Proudman enjoys his music almost as much as he enjoys his football. But only one can be truly enjoyable for ninety minutes if it involves twenty-two men and a crowd of thousands.

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Robbie Williams - Bongo Bong and Je N’Taime Plus youtube.com/watch?v=-zCUKGc3Vns

Marina and the Diamonds - Sex Yeah youtube.com/watch?v=ophnmGWQGsU Bomfunk MCs - Freestyler youtube.com/watch?v=ymNFyxvIdaM

Electric Six - Wikileaks (From Mimicry and Memories, above) youtube.com/watch?v=PUApnWxU5_E Bellowhead - Let Her Run youtube.com/watch?v=sNpimJwf2lo Madyx - Some Kisses youtube.com/watch?v=lmgyz9Bfi4c

Si Cranstoun - Dance For Evermore youtube.com/watch?v=MEIaFa3oPGc

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FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT

Sweet Crisis are in the studio recording their first album and we joined them for a chat about their music and plans for taking over the world

Leo, Piers and Dave are an English rock band from Cambridge who formed in 2013. As they prepare to release their new single ‘Fight About Nothing’ we caught up with them in the studio writing and recording as they work to finish their new album. They describe their new single as ‘ballsy rock and roll. Big riffs, big catchy hooks, and a nice groove’. There’s also a definite retro feel to the song and I asked them if that was intentional. “Definitely. We’re massively influenced by the old school rock and roll – seventies. Plugging and playing – record it! Stones, all that kind of stuff. Massive influences for us, we really like to have our kind of sound but tip our hat to that sound.” This throwback feel continues in their videos with a moody, black and white vibe to them. “That was more to get across to people – this is what we do live. It’s a good time, and it’s a good atmosphere and we’re all about live and I think that puts us in a strong place, which is playing live, that is where we really shine. We thought it really emphasised the track well, when you watch it and us playing live, and just playing to the track.”

Sweet Crisis are due to release their debut album later in the year. I asked them how it was going and whether they had a particular track on the album that stands out as a favourite.

“Massively, we love doing this. We keep getting to new stepping stones and binning tracks and getting new ones, as we’re still defining. We’ve just got to the point now where we’re happy – we know what we want to do basically. We’ve got a good

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idea of how we want it to sound. We think it’s going to go a little more live in places and even more live than it already is. Completely raw and full of energy!

“[On a favourite track] we try and leave that up to other people really! ‘Touch’ is good if you want a funky little dance, and ‘Identity Crisis’ is good if you want to make a real statement; that’s why that was our first single because it kind of summed up where we were at, at the time as a song.

“If we’re happy with the body of work that we’ve got then we’re going to release it. We want to release it sooner than later so we will be definitely isolating a lot of time to get into the studio, maybe for a month, and crack down to finish it all!” Like many bands Sweet Crisis have been capturing moments in the band with technology.

“We’ve just started doing that just to change it up from posting photos the whole time, but we like to do that. I think merchandise and fans and the way the world is now online, you have to give people content and Vine is a great little thing that you can do in just a few seconds. It’s kind of nice to have more than just the music but ultimately it’s about the music.” Sweet Crisis have had a couple of live gigs this year. They describe their live gigs as ‘raw rock and roll, energetic’.

“It’s very free and a lot of energy on stage between us. We like to rock out. Letting our hair down. We’re not one of these bands who just stand there and hide behind their instruments and sing – we do jump around a bit! When I haven’t got a guitar in my hand I find it really hard to jump around but I give it a go!”

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The band have been friends for a while outside of music, but how does that translate outside of friendship?

“[It’s] good and bad! We’re still together. We can say anything we want to each other but at certain times we get serious now. We love each other; we’ve been with each other a long time. It’s a family really and you can say what you like to your family! We’ve got all the same ambition and the same drive so that’s always kept us together through hard and really good

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times being in a band. Although Sweet Crisis was born in January of this year we’ve kind of feel fresh with one another and musically we know one another inside out which I think is really important.

You can find out more about the band at sweetcrisis.com. Sweet Crisis will now be spending the rest of the year writing music, playing gigs and then releasing their album either at the end of 2015 or early next year. fb.com/sweetcrisisband

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ROB BEEZLEY

The Top Forty Column Hello all! I hope you’re well and welcome to my new monthly column here at KBPS!

Firstly, a brief introduction to myself, I’m Rob, I’m 26, and I’m a radio presenter on www.HD1radio.co.uk every Sunday from 8pm to 10pm and I also work in a cinema doing a range of jobs. My hobbies include music (any genre really) and sport..I support Arsenal and Lincoln City in Football (someone has too!) and Bradford Bulls in Rugby League. I also like spending time with my Family and Friends. My forte is the top 40 and new releases so lets get started: The only place to start with in regards to the top 40 and new releases is of course the race for number one! We spent most of last month with Little Mix at number one

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and the girls are still hanging around the top 40! However it seems it is now time for Jess Glynne and her massive new single “Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself” which is set for big things, that’s if Meghan Trainor isn’t there with one of her TWO huge hits that will definitely do well: “Marvin Gaye” feat. Charlie Puth and also “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” feat’ the “Legend”-ary John Legend. We also can’t count out new releases from Arches and Karen Harding, The latter had a massive Clubland smash with “Say Something” and their new song “New Love” is expected to do very well with the younger generation and also clubbers. Maroon 5 also have a new release out this week with “This Summer”. As the lyrics contain some colourful language I can’t

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go into too much detail with this but it should hit at least the top 20 and maybe even the top 10, It’s catchy, I’ll give it that!

Martin Solveig is back with yet another dance smash hit (Is there anything this guy cannot do?!) and the song is with band duo GTA who cover all sorts of different types of music (they’re worth a look on YouTube) so look out for “Intoxicated” in the clubs around your local area! (Resists joke about Intoxicated in club) Two absolute masters of music Chris Brown and Rita Ora have combined for collaboration “Body on Me” which lures you in with a very foot tapping intro and isn’t quite as explosive as you would expect but nevertheless it makes the song and it gets you extremely hooked with the beat!

Last but not least is Tough Love (remember So Freakin’ Tight) with rapper Genuwine and they’ve made Pony (Jump on It) which you will have been hearing since around March and is still getting a lot of very good feedback and everyone still loves it! (I know its only just released, how?!) Big hits to also look out for over the next month include: Sigala and Easy Love which is going to be a worldwide smash as it samples The Jacksons with ABC. Natalie La Rose and Fetty Wap also combine for “All Around The World” which is well worth a listen!

So that’s that, My first article for KBPS! Thank you so much for reading and staying with me till the end, I really do appreciate it and any feedback is welcome.. I’m on Twitter @robbbeezley so let me know what you think? See you again next month! Rob

Out and About

Discovering music around the UK

Toucan Uke I had the pleasure of seeing this pair at the recent Bradford Urban Festival. Though not particularly urban themselves, their collection of uptempo summer-friendly hits were great, and picking up a copy of their album for just a fiver was a steal! fb.com/toucanuke

Ticket 415 Managed to hear this covers band whilst enjoyed a pint at the Black Sheep tent at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show. Well worth checking out. fb.com/Ticket415 Iain Morrison – eas Picked up at Coda in Edinburgh on a recent trip to Scotland, Morrison’s 38-minute 9-track album is a calm and sedate listen mixing up gentle folk, spoken word, the sounds of the recording process and interviews into a relaxing, atmospheric soundscape that delivers a Gaellic-tinged audio journey from the slow starting ‘Siubhal(47)’ to the surprisingly anthemic closer ‘You’re My Letting Go’, the emotions weaving in and out of the lyrics through other standout numbers such as ‘Crackle’ and ‘Too Long In This Condition’. fb.com/ iainmorrisonpeatfire

POP-CORN

MUSIC IN THE MOVIES Southpaw soundtrack punches above its weight Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams star in the new film about boxing but it’s the soundtrack that’s making waves too, featuring a strong (sorry!) collection of songs including lead single ‘Phenomenal’ performed by Eminem.

Ivy Levan asks ‘Who Can You Trust?’ We were big fans of the Melissa McCarthy comedy vehicle ‘Spy’ from earlier in 2015 (in particular Jason Statham’s hilarious send-up of himself) and we also loved the opening credits which saw American singer Ivy Levan belting out the Bondesque ‘Who Can You Trust’ over the opening credits. You can watch the dramatic video for the powerful track at .youtube.com/ watch?v=SSBYAKdiUno

Who’s recording the new James Bond theme? The artist who has recorded the theme song for this October’s Spectre film starring Daniel Craig as 007 for the fourth time but the rumours seem to be focussing either on Ellie Goulding or Radiohead...

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Pixar’s Lava Short Gets Love If you’ve seen the excellent ‘Inside Out’ recently, Pixar’s latest film, then unless you were getting extra popcorn then you would have also seen the ‘Lava’ short featuring a very catchy hawaiian-style love song, which you can listen to any time at .youtube.com/watch?v=8f4BpGbVnDk

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VIDE-OH

LITTLE MIX - BLACK MAGIC

Concept: Life isn’t good for the Little Mix girls. They’re distinctly uncool at school but when they find a magical book in the library, Harry Potter style, and complete a magic spell they suddenly become much cooler and also help spread this magic around helping other uncool people and getting revenge on the girl that bullied them.

What have we learnt? • You are uncool if you wear glasses. Becoming cool also improves your eye-sight • Students in 2015 still wear glasses fixed with tape • If you do break wind it comes out in a weird green colour like something out of Ghostbusters • Little Mix actually look better when they’re nerdier. Seriously. • It’s possible to trip on a flat pavement

• • • • •

The band members won’t be going solo yet as they’re not well known enough individually not to have their names as captions at the start You can interupt the cutting of a music video to clearly show Beats headphones again When magical books hit your head they don’t give you concussion even well falling from a high shelf Teachers still fill blackboards full of mathematical formulas that mean nothing The song is called ‘Black Magic’ and it’s directed, according to the caption, by ‘Director X’. Is this a demo reel for a new PowerPuff Girls movie?

Watch the video at youtube.com/ watch?v=MkElfR_NPBI and make up your own mind!

NOT NEWS

News stories that might not be entirely genuine... Engagement Cancelled As Ed Sheeran Doesn’t Turn Up For Proposal

Lenny Kravitz tells his trousers ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ or break?

Bob Smith, 23, was disappointed when his fiance of two years Charlotte Jones rejected his romantic proposal at their favourite local restaurant as Ed Sheeran had not turned up to sing their song.

Early Charlie Puth Drafts Revealed

Drake Disses Kanye After He Has Beef with Meek Mills

Several rappers laid down tracks this month to criticise other rappers, as Meek Mills revealed he’d dissed Eminem after he in turn had dissed 50 Cent, who has also dissed Nicki Minaj who had...

Power Cuts At Alnwick Castle Sees Old Joke Brought Back

A power cut fifty-minutes into a performance by Tom Jones at Alnwick Castle saw an old unwelcome joke return. “Is it common for their to be an outage at a Tom Jones’ gig?” / “Well, it’s not unusual...”

Spice Girls Deny Planned 2016 Comeback

Plans for the Spice Girls to reunite twentyyears after their debut single have been put on hold whilst journalists try and come up with witty and Buzzfeed-friendly new names for them. Contenders so far including Old Space, Grey Spice, Not-SoSporty Spice and Don’t-Scare-Her-SheMight-Have-A-Heart-Attack Spice.

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There was a wardrobe malfunction last night as Kravitz accidentally exposed himself on stage through a hole in his trousers, not through his zipper, the ‘Fly Away’.

Drafts of Puth’s new single ‘Marvin Gaye’ have been released on Twitter, showing the song wasn’t always about that singer. Previous attempts include ‘Let’s Marc Bolan and Get It On’, ‘Let’s Robson and Jerome and go up on the roof’ and ‘Let’s Men at Work and go Down Under’.

Chinese Winter Olympics Anthem Sounds Like Disney Tune Composers have denied that the new theme for the Winter Olympics in China sounds like the Frozen hit ‘Do You Want Us To Make A Frozen Snowman / The Labour’s Much Cheaper Here’.

X-Factor Voice Guy Leaves

The famous voice behind talent shows such as the X Factor Peter Dickson has left the show. As he left the studio for the final time people were heard to say... something in a less familiar voice.

Calais Migrant Crisis Delays X-Factor Single Release So it’s not all bad then.

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DISC-OGRAPHY

Every song on these pages has been listened to, liked and rated so you can take our assurance that every song on here is worth buying. Each song gets a three-note rating, with the cream of the best given three notes. It also shows the date of release, chart position and a YouTube link. ‘DNC’ means ‘Did Not Chart’ and may mean that the data doesn’t exist or it’s not yet been released

January Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato – Up (4th, #4, TTT, http://bit.ly/1upfBFb) Kid Rock - First Kiss (6th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1tPGoAU) Texas - Start A Family (6th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1xZ0ll9) Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (7th, #1, TTT, http://bit.ly/1yvktyY) Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye to Yesterday (8th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1FtK0M6) Sia - Elastic Heart (9th, #10, TTT, http://bit.ly/14vD3vA) Gwen Stefani - Baby Don’t Lie (11th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1FxcsvL) Rae Morris - Under The Shadows (11th, #53, TTT, http://bit.ly/1uWMFsR) Gregory Porter feat. Laura Mvula - Water Under Bridges (12th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1AzlBCN) Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song (12th, #7, TTT, http://bit.ly/1LPKJd1) Longfellow – Medic (12th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1E9TT2Z) The Prodigy – Nasty (12th, #98, T, http://bit.ly/1ycleLO) All Time Low - Something’s Gotta Give (13th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Chptqc) Ivy Levan – Biscuit (13th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Lirl8M) Maroon 5 – Sugar (13th, #7, TTT, http://bit.ly/1IKajeZ) Take That - Get Ready For It (12th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1B1l7Gy) First Aid Kit - Master Pretender (12th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1B4mTXB) Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Ballad Of The Mighty I (13th, #54, TT, http://bit.ly/1AR4QDX) Lonely The Brave - Trick of the Light (14th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1UvaMcS) The Wombats – Greek Tragedy (14th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/156MAZE) The Shires - Friday Night (Jeremy Wheatley Single Mix) (16th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1AYxuAB) Hannah Jane Lewis - Run With Me (18th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Iy6H00) Holly Johnson - Heaven’s Eyes (18th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1glylWu) Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin (18th, #2, TTT, http://bit.ly/1F1kGt3) Anushka – Kisses (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1J8ZMdJ) Blossoms, The - Cut Me and I’ll Bleed (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/18u0Aif) The Waterboys - November Tale (19th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/18Tlt6n) The Hearts – Lips (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1W8VNXZ) Giorgio Moroder feat. Kylie Minogue - Right Here, Right Now (20th, #125, TT, http://bit.ly/1vppkCM) Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Little Boys with Shiny Toys (20th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1T6bOPn) Seafret – Oceans (21st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Df4jeD) Gretchen Peters - When All You Got Is A Hammer (Radio Edit) (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/15Myhdt) Alle Farben feat. Graham Candy - She Moves (25th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1l2rmN5) Chris Lorenzo and Hannah Wants – Rhymes (25th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Aqs6Gf) Dreadzone - Fire in the Dark (25th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1glqrwk) Fergie - L.A.Love (La La) (25th, #3, T, http://bit.ly/10TwKzs) Karen Harding - Those Girls (25th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1CcyDTa) Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants (25th, #15, T, http://bit.ly/1s8U3eB) Madeon feat. Kyan - You’re On (26th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DCr3HP) Sheppard - Let Me Down Easy (26th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1T8ufQM) Train - Bulletproof Picasso (26th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1CZ49pG) The Score - Oh My Love (27th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1uASVbt) Kaiser Chiefs - Falling Awake (28th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1KSUKbo) Bryan Ferry – Driving Me Wild (30th, DNC, Thttp://bit.ly/1FXK73E)

February Kodaline – Honest (1st, #39, TT, http://bit.ly/1Bjv7ax) Mike Mago & Dragonette - Outlines (Radio Edit) (1st, #8, T, http://bit.ly/1gSoybh) Youth Club – Breathe (1st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DDelJD) Youth Club – People (1st, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1DvHscU) All We Are - Keep Me Alive (2nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1yRdCPH) Gavin DeGraw – Fire (2nd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1rYvzrw) Sam and the Womp – Zeppelin (2nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1W8NRWF) Shake Shake Go - England Skies (2nd. DNC. T, http://bit.ly/1MYXxPo) Hayley Kiyoko - Girls Like Girls (3rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1eNL6c7) Lunchmoney Lewis – Bills (5th, #2, TTT, http://bit.ly/1GbWdU7) Charli XCX - Doing It (feat. Rita Ora) (6th, #8, TTT, http://bit.ly/1AHQvop) Say Lou Lou - Nothing but a Heartbeat (6th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1CP4SLA) Lady Antebellum - Long Stretch of Love (7th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HI3QXi) Ady Suleiman - So Lost (8th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/184VRmZ) Bakermat - Teach Me (8th, #22, T, http://bit.ly/1ykjUcc) Bipolar Sunshine – Daydreamer (8th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1zSuHFz) DJ Fresh feat. Ella Eyre – Gravity (8th, #4, TT, http://bit.ly/16Qo7sG) Jack Savoretti - Written In Scars (8th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1f16Npe) Ne-Yo - Coming With You (8th, #14, TT, http://bit.ly/1Iz3m2l) JD McPherson - Let The Good Times Roll (9th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1CGtSSh) Kodaline – Ready (9th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1eHRt0O) Taylor Swift – Style (9th, #21, TTT, http://bit.ly/1ywfhq7) Ariana Grande - One Last Time (10th, #24, TT, http://bit.ly/1zGImPU) Soak - B a nobody (12th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/13JP9Ay) Clean Bandit – Stronger (13th, #4, TT, http://bit.ly/1AfZe1l) Chic feat. Nile Rodgers - I’ll Be There (14th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1xof6U1) Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life (16th, #27, T, http://bit.ly/1vJiSiT) Passion Pit - Lifted Up (1985) (16th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1L5BJyZ) Texas - Are You Ready (16th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1DD9GaD) Cris Cab – Fables (16th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1K9dqxH) Brian Wilson - The Right Time [feat. David Marks] (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1G8ID3R)

Everything Everything - Distant Past (18th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1vgxuwQ) The Prides – Messiah (18th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1hdIPkM) Sizarr – Timesick (19th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1KaADzB) Krista Siegfrids - On & Off (20th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1J2rxKt)

David Guetta - What I did for Love (feat. Emeli Sandé) (22nd, #6, TT, http://bit.ly/1y804S0)

Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1K99SLT) I Am Harlequin - Kill the Night (23rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1gRZgtX) Longfellow - Where I Belong (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Hx8iBx) Public Service Broadcasting - Go! (23rd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/18RW5h0) Swiss Lips – Books (23rd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1J2XHWh) Charles Perry - Stranger To Love (24th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1J2l42f) Iggy Azalea - Trouble [feat. Jennifer Hudson] (24th, #7, TTT, http://bit.ly/1zlFU1m) Connell Cruise - Into The Wild (25th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1KC9Kdp) Madonna - Living For Love (25th, #26, TT, http://bit.ly/1DNnjPZ) Madyx - Some Kisses (25th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1gm91Qj) Take That - Let In The Sun (25th, DNC. TT, http://bit.ly/1MR5ENp) Sonus – Fascination (26th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1hqjXNz) Years & Years – King (27th, #1, TTT, http://bit.ly/1zs11Vu) Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes (28th, #11, TT, http://bit.ly/1xrjD2w)

March

Alex Adair - Make Me Feel Better (1st, #13, T, http://bit.ly/1AfbW3D) Marlon Roudette - When the Beat Drops Out (1st, #7, TT, http://bit.ly/1uOKRT3) The Veronicas - If You Love Someone (1st, #98, TTT, http://bit.ly/1sKDc3A) Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You (2nd, #3, TTT, http://bit.ly/1wNvzRq) Major Lazer - Lean On (feat. MO & DJ Snake) (2nd, #2, TT, http://bit.ly/1DNx04w) The Overtones - Something Good (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1EgbP7c) Conrad Sewell - Hold Me Up (3rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HsJf3A) Deorro x Chris Brown - Five More Hours (3rd, #4, T, http://bit.ly/1GLhlS4) Urban Cone - Come Back To Me [feat Tove Lo] (3rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1FD3rB6) X Ambassadors – Renegades (3rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1S2gNMS) Nickelback – She Keeps Me Up (4th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1G947Ne) Conchita Wurst - You Are Unstoppable (5th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1JhGwzc) CHVRCHES and Eric Prydz - Tether (Eric Prydz Vs. Chvrches) (Radio Edit) (8th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DFYXtk) Flo Rida feat. Sage the Gemini and Lookas – Gdfr (8th, #3, TT, http://bit.ly/1xKXkKe) Florrie - Too Young To Remember (8th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Efq8IZ) The Vaccines - Handsome (Single Edit) (8th, #74, T, http://bit.ly/15roDwb) Sheppard – Geronimo (8th, #36, TTT, http://bit.ly/1uMEMnr) Blue - King of the World (9th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IUd55b) Cold War Kids – First (9th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Lyd4pC) Doda - Not Over You (9th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Uv1fm5) High Tyde - Feel It (9th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1TdSp9P) Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me (9th, #1, TT, http://bit.ly/19gF4gw) Nova Rockafeller - Made In Gold (10th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DCm7AC) Madonna – Ghosttown (13th, #65, TT, http://bit.ly/1Na9gN3) Tough Love - So Freakin’ Tight (13th, #11, T, http://bit.ly/1DZKCtp) Young Kato - Children Of The Stars (13th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1OXU4PM) Becky G - Can’t Stop Dancin’ (15th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/12nDJAZ) The Script – Man On A Wire (15th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Biqj8h) David Guetta - Hey Mama (feat Nicki Minaj & Afrojack) (16th, #9, T, http://bit.ly/1eeYXb5) Kacey Musgraves – Biscuits (16th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1GAm7lB) Mark Knopfler – Beryl (16th, DNC, T http://bit.ly/1ES901f) Sykes - Best Thing (16th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HxHa5t) Van Morrison and Clare Teal - Carrying A Torch (16th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1MhAaBz) Enrique Iglesias - Let Me Be Your Lover [feat Pitbull] (17th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1K9i1je) Wiz Khalifa - See You Again (feat Charlie Puth) (17th, #1, T, http://bit.ly/1aEIcVa) Clairity - Sharks In The Swimming Pool (19th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1KWOEX7) Cheryl - Only Human (22nd, #70, T, http://bit.ly/1DC9KCD) Marina & The Diamonds – Ruin (22nd, #164, TTT, http://bit.ly/1zvlzeW) James Bay - If You Ever Want To Be In Love (23rd, T, http://bit.ly/1km2yQM) Krewella - Somewhere to Run (23rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1VFlBKO) Kygo feat Parson James - Stole the Show (23rd, #24, TTT, http://bit.ly/1FRJPdf) Striking Matches - Missing You Tonight (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HxGEnP) All Time Low – Runaways (24th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Mguw2H) Brandon Flowers - Can’t Deny My Love (24th, #60, TT, http://bit.ly/1Hf8qHU) Will Young - Love Revolution (27th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1DeoRot) Mr. Probz - Nothing Really Matters (29th, #72, T, http://bit.ly/1vvDD88) Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather (30th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1AoxBlY) ElectroVelvet – Still in Love With You (30th, #63, TTT, http://bit.ly/1A7tBam) Hoodie Allen – Dumb For You (30th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1p4dZxV) Joy Williams - Woman (Oh Mama) (30th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1bizxXR) Cam - My Mistake (31st, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Dx2j4S) Coasts - Modern Love (31st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1M3629I) Flo Rida - I Dont Like It, I Love It (feat Robin Thicke & Verdine White) (31st, #7, TT, http://bit.ly/1Hax3ty) Hollywood Undead - Usual Suspects (31st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IfaEWc) Nathan Carter - Wagon Wheel (31st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1gmvpsx)

April

FFS - Piss Off (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1FF7ydV) Whilk & Misky - Burn With Me (2nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IzTN4G) Robin Schulz feat. Ilsey - Headlights (3rd, #96, T, http://bit.ly/1GpUuO5) Bear’s Den – Agape (6th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1z3XnfE) Heymous Molly - Lifes A Beach (7th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1MXRLgX) Thomas Rhett - Crash And Burn (7th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1U458OG) Guy Sebastian - Tonight Again (7th, #178, TT, http://bit.ly/18vOZPg) Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck (8th, #27, TTT, http://bit.ly/1COoagZ) Blonde - All Cried Out (feat Alex Newell) (10th, #4, T, hhttp://bit.ly/1IN3JrE) Freddie Dickson – Speculate (12th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1MgH9Lc) Lucy Spraggan – Unsinkable (12th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1BADZqw) Shayne Ward - My Heart Would Take You Back (12th, #166, T, http://bit.ly/1GLrv6m) Beth Hart - The Mood That I’m In (13th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1TdDlJh) FFS - Johnny Delusional (13th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1GruktY) The Wombats – Give Me A Try (13th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1yaXHJn) Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman (14th, #71, TTT, http://bit.ly/1yBYWai) Halsey – Ghost (14th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Topfrv) Purity Ring – bodyache (15th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1vDTNgc) Andreya Triana - Thats Alright With Me (16th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HwVtqL) Avril Lavigne – Fly (16th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1b3DeBt) Giorgio Moroder feat. Sia - Déjà vu (18th, #194, TTT, http://bit.ly/1QhDGuS) Conor Maynard - Talking About (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/18eZHt2) Markus Feehily - Love Is a Drug (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/18NTgyq) Michael Calfan - Treasured Soul (19th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1zldPr3) Findlay – Wolfback (20th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1MgFFAz) FM - Shape Im In (20th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1IOPWNi) Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas - Caught Up (20th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1sgCPRp) Lower Than Atlantis - Words Don’t Come So Easily (20th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IOY0xt) Adam Lambert - Ghost Town (21st, #71, TT, http://bit.ly/1bRLvZN) Simply Red - Shine On (21st, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1FY9hjK) Jessie J – Flashlight (23rd, #13, TT, http://bit.ly/1KbDUQR) Blur - Lonesome Street (27th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1am5IpR) Blur - Ong Ong (27th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1M4bIjk) Caro Emerald – Quicksand (27th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1dcYZ2C) Kerri Watt – You (27th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1EUJHvF) Tori Kelly - Unbreakable Smile (27th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1JyEPgW) Asa – Eyo (28th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HwVDOX) Seether - Nobody Praying For Me (28th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1JQQF5R) Tessa Rose Jackson - The Pretender (28th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1b9TzDX) Everything Everything – Regret (29th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1zC38ac)

Albums

Rae Morris – Unguarded TT The Shires - Brave TT Little Big Town - Painkiller T Jess and the Bandits - Here We Go Again T Lucy May - Whirlwind TT The LaFontaines - Class TT FFS - FFS TT The Darkness – Last of our Kind T

Lancashire Hotpots – A Fistful of Scratchcards T Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect TTT Dick Valentine – Here Come The Bags! T Hudson Taylor – Singing For Strangers TTT The Wombats – Glitterbug TTT Marina and the Diamonds – Froot TTT

May

Etienne de Crécy – You (3rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1KWS10k) Magalie - Love Criminal (4th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1BPOM5B) Oliver Heldens - Melody (Radio Edit) (4th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/196X3Gj) Sia - Big Girls Cry (4th, #77, TT, http://bit.ly/1ITn48O) Mumford and Sons – Ditmas (4th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1SDvsN3) Brandon Flowers - I Can Change (5th, #52, TTT, http://bit.ly/1PAF8f3) The Chemical Brothers – Go (5th, #46, TTT, http://bit.ly/1QfZI1f) Walk The Moon - Different Colors (5th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1JN6URR) Charli XCX – Famous (10th, #176, TTT http://bit.ly/1EK6dUD) Seinabo Sey – Younger (10th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1vpHWyX) Walking On Cars - Catch Me If You Can (10th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1gn5VLT) Ed Sheeran – Photograph (11th, #15, TT, http://bit.ly/1dUJKf1) Hozier - Someone New (11th, #19, TTT, http://bit.ly/1vTbmsw) Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds – Riverman (11th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1ajDfQD) Stereophonics - Cest La Vie (11th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1QDKkvC) Thea Gilmore - Live Out Loud (11th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Dz66yC) We Are The Ocean - Good For You (11th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1VoEMsk) Billy Idol - Save Me Now (12th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1G5iANy) Sia - California Dreamin (12th, #92, T, http://bit.ly/1CsXBEq) Steven Tyler - Love Is Your Name (13th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1H59C1C) Zara Larsson - Uncover (Alt Version) (13th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1zKUmzN) Ella Eyre – Together (17th, #12, TT, http://bit.ly/1CFSJ9m) Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood (17th, #4, TT, http://bit.ly/1RZCPkn) Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern (17th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1G8S8Sh) Thea Gilmore - Coming Back to You (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1gT40iX) A-Trak feat Andrew Wyatt – Push (18th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1HwVU4k) Hunter Hunted – Blindside (18th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1MgLkXa) Muse – Mercy (18th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1JAlJHz) Kelly Clarkson – Invincible (18th, #141, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Aym2j2) Romans - Uh Huh (18th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1J2Omxz) The Vaccines - Dream Lover (18th, #155, TTT, http://bit.ly/1OZHjWB) Terri Walker - Already Told Ya (18th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1UvD333) Gabrielle Aplin - Light Up The Dark (18th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1FyQWru) Bean – Wildfire (19th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IOGOIB) Omi - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit) (19th, #1. TTT, http://bit.ly/1AWjHcW) Hunter Hayes – 21 (21st, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HsKfrS) Avicii - Waiting For Love (22nd, #6, TT, http://bit.ly/1KhAoWE) Nell Bryden – Waves (24th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Mck0Yt) Ivy Levan - Who Can You Trust (25th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1FlY0D3) Kids on Bridges feat. Shea Seger- When the Needle Drops (Radio Edit) (25th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Uva8w5) Will Young - Thank You (25th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1R593Yc) Charles Hamilton feat. Rita Ora – New York Raining (26th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Its07l) Katharine McPhee - Lick My Lips (26th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1KW0pKI) Lawson – Roads (31st, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1CKg6Cd) ZZ Ward - Love 3x (31st, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1GIC6kD)

June

HOLYCHILD - Money All Around (1st, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1KRhnZA)

John Newman - Come And Get It (1st, #5, TTT, http://bit.ly/1FScApu) Callaghan - We Don’t Have to Change the World (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1NiXT1a)

Clean Cut Kid - Vitamin C (2nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IOKgTr) Frankie Davies – Shivers (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1eZA0jD) Lucy May – Whirlwind (2nd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1W7V6Oo) MKTO - Bad Girls (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Nhl3Fs) Pop Evil – Footsteps (2nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1IgSfZp) Sundara Karma – Flame (4th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1HMBElU) Hermitage Green – Jenny (5th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Akf5Ca) Leona Lewis - Fire Under My Feet (7th, #51, TTT, http://bit.ly/1zVFCW3)

Misty Miller – Happy (7th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Itjq6c)

Robin Schulz feat. Jasmine Thompson - Sun Goes Down (7th, #94, T, http://bit.ly/1zGRmHi)

Young Guns – Daylight (8th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Hfm4hK) Young Guns - Rising Up (8th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1MUapqT) BØRNS - 10,000 Emerald Pools (9th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DVro51)

Axwell and Ingrosso - Sun Is Shining (12th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1IOnX61)

Olly Murs - Beautiful to Me (14th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1HNZWJ3) Sinead Harnett - She Aint Me (14th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1I2N6cz)

Laura Bell Bundy - I Am What I Am (15th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Te1nUr)

Taylor-Ann – Collide (15th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1f0pIjh) Beck – Dreams (17th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1FWpwZr)

Nothing but Thieves - Trip Switch (18th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Na7PKl)

Alesha Dixon - The Way We Are (19th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1BtdGtc) Sia - Fire Meet Gasoline (19th, #193, TTT, http://bit.ly/1HZrix7) Tinie Tempah feat. Jess Glynne - Not Letting Go (19th, #1, TT, http://bit.ly/1JZbJGE)

Stereo Kicks - Love Me So (21st, #31, T, http://bit.ly/1dMZtwx) Don Broco – Automatic (21st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1T8gHr2) Compny - Gently Let You Down (22nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DEQd9D) Everything Everything - Spring Sun Winter Dread (22nd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1IUL8fA)

Hilary Duff – Tattoo (22nd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1MZ96E3) Mika - Talk About You (22nd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Kp8FSB)

Christian Burghardt & Cady Groves - Whiskey and Wine (23rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Nb7tmr)

Kacey Musgraves - High Time (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1eZHN0E) Kacey Musgraves - This Town (23rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1KYpMOF) Rod Stewart - Love Is (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1CtNslp) The Heydaze – Dumb (23rd, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1eeTYGT) Sugar & The Hi Lows - High Roller (23rd, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1OXNZmp) Nickelback – Satellite (25, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1BON2LU) Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better (28th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1lp55i1) Lauren Housley - Ghost Town Blues (29th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1V6sVii) Natalie Imbruglia - Instant Crush (Radio Edit) (29th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Eqi39v)

Zella Day – Hypnotic (29th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1ALOMEI) Bonnie McKee – Bombastic (30th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1HwX146) Pharrell Williams – Freedom (30th, #36, T, http://bit.ly/1g558Q3) Seafret - Be There (30th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1T6nhsU)

July

Austin Mahone - Dirty Work (1st, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1MRfcGC) Kwabs - Fight For Love (2nd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1JILe9Y) Years & Years – Shine (3rd, #2, TT, http://bit.ly/1GmnyW0) Nathan Sykes - Kiss Me Quick (5th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1HxxLRj) Netsky feat. Digital Farm Animals – Rio (5th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1JTLH6u) Petite Meller - Baby Love (5th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Cdzbfe) Rhodes - Close Your Eyes (5th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1QQbXlc) Saint Raymond - Young Blood (5th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1IGzfIr) Lucy Rose - Like an Arrow (6th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1MksZom) Lucy Rose - Our Eyes (6th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1xy3mce) The Strypes - A Good Nights Sleep And A Cab Fare Home (6th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1DCRfmq)

Rixton - We All Want The Same Thing (7th, #21, TTT, http://bit.ly/1IPllze) Walk The Moon - Shut Up and Dance (7th, #4, TTT, http://bit.ly/12jQNYP) Jessica Ridley - One Of Those Days (8th, DNC, Thttp://bit.ly/1eZGPlf) Conor Maynard – Royalty (10th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1A7NI8J) Fuse ODG – Only (10th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1GXlFOA) Halsey - New Americana (10th, DNC, TTT http://bit.ly/1RnGdYo) Ill Blu - Lonely People [feat James Morrison] (10th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1EJBxWf)

Kerri Watt - Long Way Home (10th, DNC, T http://bit.ly/1RoS82Q) Little Mix - Black Magic (10th, #1, TTT, http://bit.ly/1Jbd2l7) Owl City feat. Hanson - Unbelievable (10th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Jl0gQ7) Andy Grammer - Honey, I’m Good (13th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1BFYtjS) Duran Duran feat. Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers - Pressure Off (14th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Lthv1K)

Jungle – Julia (14th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1CaCEtQ) Chvrches - Leave A Trace (16th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1O9kCwM) 5 Seconds of Summer - Shes Kinda Hot (17th, #18, TT, http://bit.ly/1IfdspD) Carly Rae Jepen - Run Away With Me (17th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1Jn6BId) Emma Stevens - Never Gonna Change (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1J2nspx) Gin Wigmore - Written In The Water (17th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1N07XOM) Hey Violet - I Can Feel It (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1UaNqt0) Hometown - Where I Belong (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Uv6bHD) Magic! - #SundayFunday (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1NaSrxx) Maverick Sabre - Walk Into The Sun (Radio Edit) (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1diQ2EL)

Samantha Jade feat. Pitbull - Shake That (17th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1PdsXAK)

Ward Thomas – Guest List (17th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1NiXewV)

Stereophonics - I Wanna Get Lost With You (20th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1HTP4aF)

Sunset Sons - She Wants (23rd, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1IVywmw) Hurts - Some Kind of Heaven (24th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1GEv9uH) Jax Jones - Yeah Yeah Yeah (24th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1N1Do8S) Mendoza - Love Druggie (Addict) (24th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1Tepn9X) Foxes - Body Talk (24th, #25, TT, http://bit.ly/1N2mSWm) Sigma feat. Ella Henderson - Glitterball (24th, #4, TT, http://bit.ly/1EgkPcq) Nerina Pallot – Rousseau (29th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1FPLgqm) The Maccabees - Something Like Happiness (31st, DNC, T http://bit.ly/1epQP7M)

August

Magic! - No Way No (4th, DNC, TT, http://bit.ly/1N8z1uG) Reverend and the Makers - Black Widow (5th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1M7FeqD) David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock (6th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1SwiFBa) Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor - Marvin Gaye (7th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1F4Yy0E) Lianne La Havas - What You Dont Do (7th, DNC, TTT, http://bit.ly/1LqzetR) Only the Young – I do (7th, DNC, T, http://bit.ly/1KZvcYc) 14th August Jess Glynne - Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself (http://bit.ly/1UEBIIc) Madcon - Don’t Worry feat. Ray Dalton (http://bit.ly/1Hdf9Dc) Maroon 5 - This Summer’s Gonna Hurt Like A Motherf****r (TT, http://bit.ly/1Kzjrp7) 21st August Ella Eyre – Good Times (TT, http://bit.ly/1MdpX7J) Rachel Platten - Fight Song (TT,http://bit.ly/1LxCfFZ) Sage The Gemini - Good Thing ft. Nick Jonas (T,http://bit.ly/1LqlEnC)

September 4th September Aha – Under the Make-Up (TT, http://bit.ly/1MUnbm8) Demi Lovato - Cool for the Summer (T, http://bit.ly/1CWYDsl) Oh Wonder - Body Gold (http://bit.ly/1wpApUP) 7th September American Authors - Go Big Or Go Home (TT, http://bit.ly/1CyToip)

11th September Melissa Steel feat. Wretch 32 – You Love Me (T, http:// bit.ly/1DENhK6) 18th September Hayden James - Something About You (http://bit. ly/1RHcxlV) Gabrielle Aplin - Sweet Nothing (TT,http://bit. ly/1IuOJO7)

October

9th October Lemar - The Letter (TT,http://bit.ly/1MnVWCA) 16th October Tori Kelly - Should’ve Been Us (http://bit.ly/1TIxte5)

Ungettables

The songs we want to download but can’t get them... yet. Have you found them? Let us know! Adley Stump - Damn You (http://bit.ly/Z56JfT) Allen Stone – Freedom (http://bit.ly/1KYnsra) Ashley Clark – Greyhound (http://bit.ly/1FNtd79) Bea Miller - Fire N Gold (http://bit.ly/1BZ88Xu) Chase Rice - Gonna Wanna Tonight (http://bit.ly/1AToNoF) Chloe Howl – Disappointed (TTT,http://bit.ly/1n1kJvz) Clock Machine – Wonderland (TTT,http://bit.ly/1Tg9n7r) DJ Cassidy - Future Is Mine feat. Chromeo (http://bit.ly/1hr7xF6) Foxes - Don’t Stop Me Now (TT,http://bit.ly/1nkulYI) Gravity - Against The Current (http://bit.ly/1vhOEU8) LunchMoney Lewis – Mama (http://bit.ly/1PelAch) Machine Gun Kelly - A Little More (http://bit.ly/1UwvF7m) Magalie - Love Is Cruel (TT, http://bit.ly/1NiWh7I) Marc Scibilia - How Bad We Need Each Other (http://bit.ly/1IuOaUD) Michael Franti & Spearhead - Once A Day (http://bit.ly/1LVt59p) Mickey Guyton - Better Than You Left Me (http://bit.ly/1vhLYXS) Parade of Lights - Feeling Electric (http://bit.ly/1BIdGjY) Plantains - I Feel Love (http://bit.ly/1li1dRf) Port Isla - ALIVE (http://bit.ly/1PelTUs) R5 - All Day, All Night: Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight (http://bit.ly/1djUvXi) Sam Hunt - House Party (http://bit.ly/1HUpCGk) Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan - Crossing Muddy Waters (http://bit.ly/1GM3xFP) Scouting For Girls - Life’s Too Short (http://bit.ly/1HyGRHn) Sweet Suspense - Here We Go Again (http://bit.ly/1DEOoJJ) Teemid - Crazy feat. Joie Tan (http://bit.ly/1kSHbZm) The Karma Killers – Domino (http://bit.ly/1Dz4gOi)

Ones to Watch

New songs currently considering for inclusion Alexa Goddard – We Broke The Sky (http://bit.ly/1Wa2s3U) Anna Naklab feat. Alle Farben & YOUNOTUS – Supergirl (http://bit.ly/1MlUPB8) Baby Strange – California Sun (http://bit.ly/1HyMKEH) Bon Jovi - Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning (http://bit.ly/1KYrFLg) Eminem feat. Gwen Stefani - Kings Never Die (http://bit.ly/1KYrsbb) Fuse ODG - Top Of My Charts (http://bit.ly/1f1aDhg) Josef Salvat - Open Season (http://bit.ly/1IB0DUx) The Honey Ants - The Sound Of You (http://bit.ly/1Ehf1PK) Klingande feat. Broken Back – RIVA (Restart the Game) (http://bit.ly/1Dz6UDq) The Libertines – Gunga Din (http://bit.ly/1UwyJR0) Lost Frequencies feat. Janieck Devy - Reality (http://bit.ly/1KbuAuo) Mikky Ekko – Watch Me Rise (http://bit.ly/1EheUDY) Natalia la Rose feat. Fetty Wap – Around the World (http://bit.ly/1T8kmoW) Nero – Two Minds (http://bit.ly/1gTWqoj) Sigala – Easy Love (http://bit.ly/1T8kggX) Sinead Harnett - Do It Anyway (http://bit.ly/1hrcsGc) Syron – Talking Crazy (https://youtu.be/MFSHxSluq98)

FLASHBACK 10. Reverend And The Makers – Bassline Released: 13th February 2012 A change in sound for the Sheffield band on this release, it both manages to make a joke out of the genre whilst also making great use of its conventions. A great return single. 09. Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used to Know Released: 30th December 2011 Though released in the dying days of 2011, it was 2012 that it made its big impact and was the biggest selling single of the year until the X-Factor release. The only mystery is what happened to a follow-up single.

08. Noisettes – Winner Released: 12th August 2012 This come-back for the Noisettes trumps even their huge debut. With a great guitar backing and brilliantly sung, this was an under-heard but no-less great track back in August 2012.

07. Marina and The Diamonds – Primadonna Released: 20th March 2012 Though ‘Homewrecker’ was an equally great track, it’s this big hit from March with its electronic backing and nice blends of verses and chorus plus some well included backing vocals that make this the bigger one. 06. Ke$ha – Die Young Released: 19th November 2012 Though it took a while to reach these shores, this new track from Ke$ha may rely as heavily on autotune as expected, but it’s speedy lyrics and production values make it incredibly catchy, and it’s even better than ‘TikTok’ tune wise.

KBPS

Let’s take a look back at 2012 and my ten best tracks from that year... 05. Gossip – Move In The Right Direction Released: 29th June 2012 Though I was never a huge Gossip fan originally, this first cut from their latest album is a brilliant showcase. A song that is both lyrically fun to listen to but musically interesting to hear as well, this has many, many enjoyable elements. 04. Robbie Williams – Candy Released: 28th October 2012 It may become slightly irritating after many listens due to its nursery-rhyme style structure and the lyrics don’t hold up to much scrutiny, but if you want a more singable song this year then you’ll struggle to find it, plus the trumpets are great. 03. Olly Murs feat. Flo Rida – Troublemaker Released: 19th November 2012 Olly Murs came back with this stonker of a pop song, that ticks all the pop boxes and really grabs you with its structure. Flo Rida’s appearance may be as clichéd as you’d expect, but elsewhere it’s a brilliant pop classic.

02. Train – 50 Ways To Say Goodbye Released: 13th April 2012 This Mariachi-sounding ‘Phantom of the Opera’esque alternative to Paul Simon’s ’50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’ manages to sound great and make you laugh. A brilliant sound, mostly wellwritten lyrics outside of a few clangers, this still makes me smile eight months on. 01. Spector – Celestine Released: 18th May 2012 This first major release from Spector still sounds great with some well-written lyrics, great production and a well-made breakdown.

The music magazine

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Coming in the next edition of

KBPS

The music magazine

Interview with Josh Savage Honey Ryder

and more Available midSeptember

Continue the issue online: twitter.com/KBPSmag/lists/kbsp-1 Photo courtesy of joshsavagemusic.com/