LAY DOWN YOUR SWORDS.

Hannah Yadi is the real deal. We've had our eye on her for quite some time, but with the recent unveiling of new demo "Guillotine", she's made a quantum leap to the next level with what is truly one of the biggest singles we've heard from any artist this year, let alone one who at this time remains unsigned. Don't expect that status to last long though, cause when you're packing heat like "Guillotine" - not to mention other surefire singles "Gold" and "Wow" - you don't tend to stay off the market long. With shades of La Roux in her vocal delivery and all the powerful confidence and arresting good looks of Marina & The Diamonds, Yadi is the stuff A&R dreams are made of, an artist possessing all the chart-friendly hooks and major label starpower to hit the bigtime while at the same time remaining unique enough to stand out from the pack. "Guillotine" is literally massive, all epic choruses soaring over primal, militaristic drums and sparkling production flourishes, a serious coming out party for what will surely be one of the most sought after new talents of the next six months. Get ready 2011, your brightest new star has arrived.

MP3: "Guillotine" (Demo) - Yadi

FALL BACK IN LOVE EVENTUALLY.

Quite possibly our favorite new band of the year and architects of the essential summer anthem 2010 has been waiting for, The Naked & Famous emerge from Down Under as New Zealand's next (first?) great hope for international pop stardom. Like Passion Pit if they fucked with guitars and had an anthem-of-a-generation like "Kids" or "Sweet Disposition" in their arsenal, the song is a breath of fresh air, a wistful celebration of the ephemeral pleasures of youth. Built around an amazing central riff of heavily-affected guitars, the song soars on the wings of singer Alisa Xayalith's urgent vocals, their breathless innocence juxtaposed sharply against the ominous rumble of the overdriven bass that lies beneath the song's surface.

And as if the song itself wasn't brilliant enough, NZ's finest visual team Special Problems have directed a masterful video (viewable above) for the track - beautifully reminiscent of Levi's recent "Go Forth" campaign - all jubilant shots of young people being young interspersed with footage of the band amongst the picturesque environs of their native New Zealand. Already chart heroes back home, the band saw the self-release of "Young Blood" go straight to #1 in the NZ charts last month, holding off the likes of Katy Perry and B.o.B in the process and making them the first New Zealand band to do so in three years. Now it's time to introduce the them to the rest of the world, and with "Young Blood" locked in for a September 6th release on Neon Gold, we're honored to be the band's vessel of choice to do so. Preorder will be available soon, but for now grab the track below and lose yourself in its briliance, we hope you'll love it every bit as much as we do.

MP3: "Young Blood" - The Naked & Famous

UN DEUX TROIS.

Russ Chimes will be releasing his Midnight Club EP next month, and from the looks of the above trailer it is going to be COMPLETELY AMAZING. And while you've got the Completely Amazing drawer open, you'd do well to file Monsieur Chimes' latest remix for Mark Ronson in there too because, yeah, it fits the bill and then some.

MP3: "Bang Bang Bang" (Russ Chimes Remix) - Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

SIDE BY SIDE.

Like a parallel universe Vampire Weekend hailing from the wilds of Denmark rather than the ivy-and-brownstone environs of the Upper West Side, Age of Giants waltz onto the scene with a sunny disposition about them that immediately brings to mind the prim-and-proper pop of VW's eponymous debut album. It stands to reason that time drifts by a little slower in rural Denmark than it does in the Big Apple, and you can feel it in these tracks, replete with laid back melodies, playful keys and breezy pop choruses. "Dreamy Nights" is our track of choice from the up-and-coming Danes' early offerings, an ethereal slice of carefree warm-weather pop music that will no doubt get heads turning beyond Scandinavian shores as the band look to put themselves on the indie map in the months to come.

MP3: "Dreamy Nights" - Age of Giants

THE KNOCKS SINGLE LAUNCH AT BROOKLYN BOWL.

To celebrate the release of their new single "Make It Better" next Monday on Neon Gold, The Knocks are taking over the decks at Brooklyn Bowl this Saturday night. Presented by GBH and FILTER Magazine, the night also features a headlining live set from Australian electro heavyweights Midnight Juggernauts, as well as performances by Teengirl Fantasy and YAWN. Brooklyn Bowl is pretty much our favorite place in NYC and The Knocks know how to bring the party on the ones and twos, so you better believe we'll be there posted up at the bar and pulling shapes on the dancefloor all night long. Leave your worries at home and come out with your party pants on, and be sure to bring all your friends and an appetite for destruction. Doors at 9pm, you must be 21+ to get in and tickets are $10 before 12:30 and free after. As further enticement to get you that much hungrier for the weekend, grab a free remix of the single below from our main man Monsieur Adi, proving once again why he's the hottest new remixer in the game with an immense hands-in-the-air electro rework of the original.

MP3: "Make It Better" (Monsieur Adi Remix) - The Knocks [exlcusive]

SO UNHOLY.

We initially wrote about Clare Maguire as one to watch when we first met her back in January of '09 - then again in our Sound of 2010 feature this year - and now 18 months on it seems things are finally coming together for the girl with the golden voice. With her debut single proper coming this September and an album done and ready to drop early next year, the time has finally come for Ms. Maguire to step out into the spotlight. "Strangest Thing" was the track that initially turned heads at breakneck speed when the Primary 1-produced demo first hit the scene in late 2008, and now we're back with the real deal finished version, all touched up and pleasantly polished while still managing to retain all the raw emotional power that made the original so special. With a voice that puts every other girl in the game to shame and an album that's sounding nothing short of incredible, it looks like 2011 is shaping up to be the year of Clare Maguire, and we couldn't be more excited.

MP3: "Strangest Thing" (Album Version) - Clare Maguire

TURNS ME TO WHITE GOLD.

Not gonna lie, we kind of slept on MNDR when she first hit the streets late last year, but recently we've been seriously making up for lost time with her debut offering E.P.E. in permanent rotation on the Neon Gold stereo. She's also been burning up our speakers via her feature on the new Mark Ronson single "Bang Bang Bang" (peep the brilliant Warren Fu-directed video for it above), which just debuted at #6 in the UK last week. So yeah, it's safe to say shit's kind of popping off for her right now, and if the buzz surrounding her first UK live shows last week is anything to go on, sounds like it's pretty damn well deserved. We'll have some exclusive new MNDR material coming at you in the next few weeks, but for now familiarize yourself with E.P.E. standout "Fade To Black" and brace yourself for MNDR's reign of buzz to continue dominating summer twentyten and beyond.

MP3: "Fade To Black" - MNDR

WE GOT THAT NEW SHIT.

Rai Knight skipped across our radar the other day and we haven't been the same since. Representing hard for Detroit, she joins Alex Winston as our favorite new export from the Motor City, and her triumphant summer single "New New" has been stuck on repeat around Neon Gold HQ for a minute now. All ebullient piano chords and carefree horns, "New New" is a reason to celebrate and establishes Rai as a serious rising star in the sprawling pop landscape of 2010. This is the sound of a breakthrough, that moment when your hopes and dreams fall perfectly in alignment with reality and it suddenly seems like everything in your life is might actually work out exactly as you'd always wanted, and it's fucking MAGIC.

MP3: "New New" - Rai Knight

REFUSE TO BE FORGOTTEN.

So our dudes Samuel and The Knocks did a cover of that Drake single a little while back, and while we don't really have time to write about it since it's Friday night and we're trying to hit the streets, you should know that it is quite literally Very Good and you can get at the mp3 below. Cool? Cool.

MP3: "Find Your Love" - Samuel [exclusive]

GOLD017: THE KNOCKS

The last time we checked in with The Knocks they were igniting dancefloors across the nation with their debut single "Blackout", and now they're back with their amazing second offering, "Make It Better", out on Neon Gold this month. Trading the grimy late night dancefloors of "Blackout" for white sand beaches and the long light of summer, it's an effervescent slice of breezy dance pop that'll have you whistling it's tune well into autumn. Like The Avalanches meeting Delorean for margaritas on the seaside as "Young Folks" drifts by sweetly in the background, it's been the official soundtrack to our summer thus far and we hope it'll make an equally indelible mark on your season as well.

MP3: "Make It Better" - The Knocks [exclusive]

Out 27th July and available for preorder now, the 7" is limited to 300 copies and comes with another round of dazzling artwork from our beloved FRAU GRAU. We've also built a fairly exciting remix package around the release, featuring reworks from Neon Gold favorites Dom, Emil & Friends, Pink Ganter and more. As usual, you can preorder the track from both the Neon Gold Shop and Puregroove, for delivery on or around 27th July. Yo world, it's time to get your summer on.

CAN'T SWIM ANYMORE.

Just over a year on from it's release last June, it's still hard to fathom exactly how brilliant Florence & The Machine's Lungs actually is. Sounding every bit as fresh and enchanting as it did upon it's release last summer, it's truly made it's mark on history as one of the finest female solo debuts of all the time. The album needs no further testament to its brilliance, but it really is amazing to consider songs as good as "Swimming" were relegated to mere B-side status. The track, off the deluxe re-release of the album, will likely be old news to her more devout followers, but it's just so completely amazing we had to serve it up a little love of our own. "Swimming" sounds like drowning and flying at the same time - a feeling we can pretty much relate to on a daily basis - and it's completely and utterly amazing.

MP3: "Swimming" - Florence & The Machine

DOWN HERE IT'S OUR TIME.

Last year our main man B-Roc (of The Knocks fame) dropped his debut mix on the world, aptly titled The Transplant. It ruled and all (and you can and probably should still check it out here), but now that he's back with the next installment, The Transplant II, that original effort seems like nothing more than a prelude to the greatness of its amazing sequel. He's been hard at work on it since we were on tour with him and Samuel on the west coast last month, and believe us the effort paid off. This is easily our favorite mix of all time, replete with Neon Gold classics both old and new. From beloved alumni like Marina & The Diamonds, Ellie Goulding and The Sound of Arrows, to the new class of Neon Gold all stars like Dom, The Naked & Famous and The Knocks themselves (all singles we haven't even announced yet but will be coming your way on 7" later this summer), this shit is off the chains. 40+ minutes of absolute bliss, you better believe this is worth your time.


MP3: The Transplant II - The Knocks