It's been an amazing year for us here at Neon Gold, and as we approach the nexus of 2010 and 2011 we've got a number of exciting new ventures in the works to take the label to great new heights in the year to come. One such thing we are able to share with you today, as we bring the curtains back on POPSHOP, a new monthly pop club night that endeavors to bring the best new pop music the world has to offer to the streets of New York City every month. Together with our dear friends at HeavyRoc Music and the amazing Popjustice, we'll be bringing you POPSHOP on the first Thursday of every month at Tammany Hall, a brilliant new venue in the heart of the Lower East Side (Orchard between Stanton and Rivington) in the space where Annex used to be (which has been gutted, completely overhauled and fitted with a soundsystem that is amazing rather than completely shit).
We've put together a lineup of some of the best new acts the NYC pop scene has to offer for our launch party January 6th, as the brilliant MNDR headlines with live support from French Horn Rebellion and BRAHMS (both fresh off of amazing sets at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival this past weekend). Chiddy Bang beatsmith Xaphoon Jones rounds out the lineup dropping jams on the laptops of steel all night long, along with opening DJ sets from the Neon Gold Beat Company and Popjustice NYC. Our friends at Absolut have come on board to sponsor, bringing you 2-for-1 drinks from 8pm-9pm and more drink specials throughout the night. And the best part? It's all 100% FREE with RSVP to POPSHOP@neongoldrecords.com. It all kicks off Thursday, 6th January with doors at 8pm and lasting until well into the early hours. Full schedule below.
List season, y'allll. The BBC published their annual Sound of... list last week and now it's time for us to follow suit with our very own annual list. We're going to stick with the whole Sound of... route in terms of criteria - artists can't have had a Top 20 single or album to date, can't be a solo project from an established artist or someone who's already achieved fame by other means (sorry Willow), etc - and what follows are our 15 picks for superstardom in the new year.
We've got a habit of being a bit far-sighted with our lists in the past - many of the acts on last year's list still are yet to release their debut albums and thus a few will make repeat appearances this year, but all in all we like to think we've got a pretty decent track record with these things. After overshooting our mark in years past with bands that failed to get an album out in the following calendar year, we'll be focusing this list on bands that will definitely have albums hitting the streets in the next calendar year, with another list of fresh up-and-comers set to make their first foray into the limelight in 2011 to follow at the beginning of the year. But for now, let's get down to the business with our very own Sound of 2011 presentation.
JESSIE J // You can't fuck with Jessie J. With an absolutely killer voice, swagger for miles and the writing chops to match (homegirl wrote "Party In The USA"), not to mention fans in Justin Timberlake and Dr. Luke, she's already blowing up (debut single "Do It Like A Dude" is currently at #29 in the UK charts) and is about as close as you can get to a lock for superstardom in 2011 on both sides of the Atlantic. STREAM: "Do It Like A Dude" (Labrinth Remix) - Jessie J
STARSMITH // With Calvin Harris' recent announcement that he's retiring from the limelight of pop stardom to focus on his DJ and production work, the door's been opened for a new producer-cum-popstar to take the throne. And who better than Starsmith, who in the last 18 months alone has definitively established himself as the best pop producer in the UK under 25, with principle songwriting and production credits on four #1 albums in 2010 alone. Though massive, his debut single "Give Me A Break" (released on Neon Gold last month) is but the tip of the iceberg, as 2011 finds Starsmith set to release a debut album of more straightforward (yet still entirely banging) pop and vocal tracks featuring his own vocals as well as contributions from Alphabeat's Stine Bramsen, Daley, Ellie Goulding and many more. STREAM: "Give Me A Break" (Starsmith Remix) - Starsmith
CLARE MAGUIRE // We've been preaching the gospel of Clare Maguire for nearly two years now, but 2010 saw her finally make the first steps towards her superstar destiny on debut single "Ain't Nobody", and with her debut album slated for early 2011 and featuring such surefire megahits as "Last Dance" and "Sword & Shield", the girl with the golden voice looks set to at long last fulfill the promise that's made her the talk of the industry since 2008.
BROTHER // First things first: Brother are not the future of music. They're pretty fucking great at what they do though, and with their naturally controversial disposition, big hooks and fuck-off swagger, they'll make headlines as one of the most polarizing bands of 2011 but could ultimately outsell every single artist on this list. With their signature by-the-people-for-the-people "gritpop" sound and a music industry desperate for the return of big guitar bands to Britain, Brother are destined to make a lot of noise in 2011, whether you like it or not.
STREAM: "Darling Buds of May" - Brother
THE NAKED & FAMOUS // Up against The Vaccines to nab the token indie spot on the BBC's shortlist, our Neon Gold darlings look set to follow in the footsteps of their Down Under contemporaries The Temper Trap as an absolutely massive 2011 looks albeit inevitable for the Kiwi five-piece. Nevermind the fact that their album's already out in New Zealand and Australia (and thus already making its rounds on the internet), when you've got an chart-toppling single like "Young Blood" - not to mention brilliant ace-in-the-hole set up singles like "Punching In A Dream" and "All of This" - in your repertoire, big things are bound to happen. Expect to see this lot EVERYWHERE next summer.
STREAM: "Young Blood" - The Naked & Famous
ALEX WINSTON // We love Alex Winston like one of our own, and it's with ear-to-ear smiles that we've watched her absolutely smashing the game to bits over the second half of 2010. A refreshing departure from the at times painfully now cred-pop ladies of recent times, her style refuses to welcome lazy comparisons as she establishes her own niche in the current landscape of pop music. She's got less than ten live shows under her belt to this point, but anyone lucky enough to see her perform can attest to how special she is as an artist and performer. Homegirl is an absolute superstar, and while her best tracks remain unheard - expect that to change with her debut mini-album on the way next month - you can rest assured she'll be making serious waves in the new year.
STREAM: "Choice Notes" (Labyrinth Ear Remix) - Alex Winston
PENGUIN PRISON // Our flagship artist and the coolest thing to come out of the NYC pop scene in a long minute, Penguin Prison is set to turn serious heads when his debut full-length arrives in the first half of 2011. With three Neon Gold singles already under his belt (including the amazing "Golden Train" out this week), he's no stranger to the carousel of hype that defines this industry, but with massive singles "Don't Fuck With My Money" and "Multi-Millionaire" still awaiting deployment in the new year, you should trust us when we say you ain't heard nothing yet.
STREAM: "Golden Train" (The Royal Palms Remix) - Penguin Prison
JAI PAUL // Standing out from every single other artist on this list, Jai Paul is the UK's next great hope for an alternative male pop star. Your quintessential XL artist (with whom he signed earlier this year), he sounds like nothing else around at the moment, blending a broad spectrum of styles and genres with athletic ease. It's still early days with debut track "BTSTU" his only real offering to speak of, but with XL at the helm and their nigh-on immaculate track record of late, we can easily see Jai Paul coming out of left field to make considerable noise in 2011.
STREAM:"BTSU" - Jai Paul
JAMIE WOON // With dubstep creeping further and further into the mainstream with each passing year (see Skream's gamechanging remix of La Roux in 2009 and Katy B and Magnetic Man's chart success in 2010), the nexus of 2010 and 2011 sees a new movement emerging from the genre with Woon (and fellow crooner James Blake) turning heads with their soulful electronic, "post-dubstep" sound. It's Blake who's the industry darling at the moment , but it's Woon who gets the nod from us here - his Burial-produced lead single "Night Air" stands out as one of the sexiest tracks of 2010 and has us champing at the bit to here more from the Polydor-signed up and comer. STREAM: "Night Air" - Jamie Woon
MNDR // Already finding main stream success via her feature on Mark Ronson's Top 10 hit "Bang Bang Bang", the seeds have already planted for MNDR (née Amanda Warner) to do big things in 2011. With her phenomenal debut release E.P.E. and it's triumphant singles "Fade To Black" and "I Go Away" already garnering her a burgeoning fan base and rampant critical acclaim, she's got starpower for miles (just check her brilliant one-woman live show for proof) and some serious anthems - "Sparrow", as performed with The Business Intl. as her backing band on the Ronson tour, is an absolute belter - waiting in the wings, it's time to welcome the new heir to the cred-pop (*cringe*) throne.
STREAM: "I Go Away" - MNDR
GROUPLOVE //I mean, have you SEEN this band live? They absolutely crushed as the breakout band of CMJ, with one of the most thoroughly entertaining and invigorating live performances we've seen in a long minute, and with their debut single "Colours" arriving on Chess Club in February and an album following on Atlantic/Canvasback later in 2011, we can't wait to see what these kids have in store for us next year.
STREAM: "Gold Coast" - GROUPLOVE
MR. LITTLE JEANS // Mr. Little Jeans is kind of a wildcard. Photographs of her are few and far between, she's yet to play live outside of Scandinavia, and there's no shortage of confusion surrounding the fact that this Mister is really a Miss, but we're yet to hear a single song from her we haven't absolutely loved and if she can keep up the gold standard of songwriting and hold her own in the live realm we can see things really taking off for the Danish chanteuse in 2011.
STREAM: "Rescue Song" (The Naked & Famous Remix) - Mr. Little Jeans
MORNING PARADE // Like Delphic if last year's list darlings hadn't gone so full-on electronic and weren't so mind-numbingly dull, Morning Parade fuse electronic elements with a classic Britpop sound on their epic, arena-ready anthems. Sky-scraping melodies, flitting electronics and ocean-sized guitar riffs converge on lead single "Under The Stars"and "In The Name", like a distinctly 2011 take on the "new British invasion" sound of the mid-2000s, and with what's apparently one of the best live shows in the game, we expect Morning Parade to rock a lot of faces off in the months to come.
STREAM: "Under The Stars" - Morning Parade YADI // Jessie J and Clare Maguire are the talk of the industry as 2011 creeps over the horizon, but next year's new wave of female pop icons can hardly be considered complete without Yadi in the mix. With the vocal prowess of La Roux and all the swagger and power of Marina & The Diamonds - not to mention solid gold hits like "Guillotine" and "Gold" already in her arsenal - Yadi is one of the most exciting prospects for superstardom in the years to come. With the ink still drying on her major label deal, it's still quite early days for Yadi and she may end up more likely to top hotly-tipped lists for 2012 than to get an album out next year, but either way she's one to keep an eye on in the new year. Expect BIG things.
STREAM: "Guillotine" - Yadi
CLOCK OPERA // Having rapidly become one of our favorite bands since we put on their first London show back in 2009, Clock Opera will at long last release their debut album into the world in 2011. We've heard a good deal of it and can say with confidence that it will undoubtedly be one of the best records to come out next year, a beautiful compilation of haunting torchsongs and cinematic epics that has is sure to awe and inspire listeners in equal measures. They're hardly the stuff Radio 1 dreams are made of, but keep an eye on Clock Opera as a Mercury Prize darkhorse next year. STREAM: "Once And For All" - Clock Opera
And while that concludes our Sound of 2011 longlist, we've got a few more contenders we expect to see making waves in 2011 that are more than worthy of your attention below.
2010 has been a big year for Neon Gold replete with releases were extremely proud of, so it's fitting we bring the year to a close with the third single from an artist who has quickly become one of our flagship acts, the inimitable Penguin Prison. "Golden Train" was the first song we ever heard from the Penguin and remains one of his most essential tracks to date, coming off like Justin Timberlake fronting a DFA track, all heaven-sent vocals and Penguin's signature churning synths. It's absolutely massive, and the track we've been waiting to unleash on the world since first crossing paths with him nearly 18 months ago. A unique beast, it opens with a sparse vocal and synth arrangement and builds slowly throughout, evolving steadily as more and more layers are added to the mix until the song reaches a triumphant climax of spiraling synths and Penguin's falsetto'd vox by its conclusion. One of our absolute favorite tracks of the year, it's just another reason Penguin's forthcoming debut album should sit high atop your most anticipated albums of 2011 list.
You can stream the original above or get at the exclusive B-side remix from Pink Stallone - who you may remember from their killer remix of Marina & The Diamonds' "Obsessions" on Neon Gold way back when - for free download below. The whole package is out December 14th with preorder available now from the Neon Gold Shop and Puregroove, complete with artwork from the amazing FRAUGRAU and limited to only 300 copies worldwide. Our firsttwo singles from Penguin Prison - 2009's Animal Animal/Funny Thing 7" and 2010's The Worse It Gets/Something I'm Not 7" - both sold out with the swiftness, so make sure you move fast on this. Song's like this don't happen all the time.
As the year winds to a close, Patrick Wolf's comeback single "Time Of My Life" stands out as a late entry to our singles of the year race and the most exciting thing we've heard from the British troubadour since 2007's The Magic Position. While we can't share the original ahead of its December 6th release date, we've got the next best thing for you in the form of yet another immense Leo Zero remix. The single's an orchestral pop masterpiece and Leo Zero keeps its blueprint faithfully intact, transposing churning synths and a balearic bounce over the emotive piano stabs and lush strings arrangements of Wolf's original. Hot on the heels of the truly amazing Lissie remix we couldn't stop playing a few months back, Leo's latest takes Wolf's inspiring anthem of life after love to triumphant new heights and is just another reason he's one of the most sought after remixers in the game right now.
We won't front like we're overly familiar with San Franciscan nightcrawler oOoOO - or anyone else from that whole witch-house/drag scene for that matter - but his rework of Marina & The Diamonds' destabilizing anthem (and vintage Neon Gold single) "Obsessions" just arrived on the scene and it's nothing short of amazing. Haunting and emotive, oOoOO's remix underscores the intense drama of the original, enunciating each piano chord with expansive reverb as ominous synths wash eerily across the mix and Marina's lyrics drift in and out of the track's consciousness like a beautiful nightmare. Heavy.
Savoir Adore are quietly becoming one of our favorite bands in New York City, as they continue to rise to prominence as one of this town's best up and coming live acts and purveyors of the highest standard of boy-girl fronted indie pop. Having first hooked us with 2009's In The Wooded Forest LP and it's triumphant single "Bodies", the Brooklyn four-piece continue to shine on new single "Loveliest Creature". Standing out as the sterling highlight of their recent set at our CMJ showcase last month (complete with its own choreographed routine), they've since made the track available for free download as their new single. Recalling the best moment of Stars' cherished catalog, it's a much-welcomed addition to our fall playlist at Neon Gold HQ, its understated natural beauty complimenting the change of seasons perfectly.
Mr. Little Jeans was one of our most cherished additions to the Neon Gold roster in 2010, so it's with great pleasure that we announce her hotly-anticipated sophomore single on our little label this month. A significant departure from the roaring guitars of debut single "Angel", "Rescue Song" is her most intimate track yet, all soft tones and wintry comforts as the Norwegian chanteuse draws the listener to safety with her gentle, honey-throated vocals. It's been the definitive fan favorite from day one - an early version of the song soundtracked HP's Create Amazing ad campaign last year - and it's the perfect track to bundle up with by the fire as the winter months arrive and the first snowfall drifts silently by the window. On the flipside is "Valentine", another heartfelt slowburner that rides a percussive gallop through a thick fog of dreary industrial synths towards one of the strongest choruses of the young singer's career. The two tracks compliment each other brilliantly, coming together in perfect harmony as the quintessential double A-side single on what's yet another reason why Mr. Little Jeans should be all over your radar are as one of the most hotly-tipped artists for 2011.
And as if the single itself wasn't exciting enough, there's also a phenomenal remix package coming together around the release. We premiered the epic Royal Palms remix on the blog last month, and still to come are amazing reworks from The Naked & Famous and RAC, so be sure to watch this space. The whole affair is limited to 300 copies and is released on the 29th of November, complete with another round of perfect cover artwork from our beloved FRAU GRAU and available for preorder now from the Neon Gold Shop and Puregroove. Get some!
After storming through London last week, our Kiwi heroes The Naked & Famous make their way to New York for their debut US shows this week, lighting up an already sold out show at the Mercury Lounge on Friday before taking it across the bridge to Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday. We're thrilled to announce we'll be putting on the latter (in affiliation with Filter and GBH), complete with Savoir Adore supporting live and our bros for life Yes Giantess on the decks all night long. It's a late show (just the way we like it) starting at 11:30 with bands on at 12 and 1, and with tickets only $5 on the door (or FREE WITH RSVP) it just might be the best night that money can buy next weekend. To ring in the occasion, we've got an exclusive remix of the band's triumphant Neon Gold anthem "Young Blood", courtesy of Australia's Thieves of Aon. It's 6 minutes of unadulterated hands-in-the-lasers dancefloor fury, the sonic equivalent of Lindsay Lohan on a three day coke-and-ecstasy bender. You've been warned.
We've been meaning to write about London's FOE for so long it's not even hilarious, but fortunately the British chanteuse writes the kind of haunting torchsongs that refuse to fade with time. Together with her writing partner in crime Entrepeneurs, FOE pens the kind of eerily mesmerizing ballads that recall early Florence & The Machine, before the major label budgets and popstar makeover brought her sound to the masses. "A Handsome Stranger Called Death" is her quintessential track, all funereal synths and doom-and-gloom beats as FOE sings of a brush with death himself: "tall dark and handsome / a cigar in your mouth / a little black dog and the biggest smile".
It's been an amazing year for us here at Neon Gold, and as we approach the nexus of 2010 and 2011 we've got a number of exciting new ventures in the works to take the label to great new heights in the year to come. One such thing we are able to share with you today, as we bring the curtains back on POPSHOP, a new monthly pop club night that endeavors to bring the best new pop music the world has to offer to the streets of New York City every month. Together with our dear friends at HeavyRoc Music and the amazing Popjustice, we'll be bringing you POPSHOP on the first Thursday of every month at Tammany Hall, a brilliant new venue in the heart of the Lower East Side (Orchard between Stanton and Rivington) in the space where Annex used to be (which has been gutted, completely overhauled and fitted with a soundsystem that is amazing rather than completely shit).
