Thief (formerly known as Thief Urban) is a new Australian producer slash songwriter you're about to get real familiar with. After arriving on the scene with a lights-out debut offering in "Closer" earlier this year, he returns today with an updated name and his debut single proper, "Broken Boy". Soul-stuffed with sinister hooks and dark, ominous synths, "Broken" channels the most addictive parts of Clock Opera and Metronomy like their long lost brother from Down Under. "Broken Boy" is out worldwide September 6th, enjoy the exclusive premiere below.
The rumors are true, All Things Gold has officially gone national. This SXSW, we're teaming up with All Things Go once again to bring the rage to Austin with a slew of heavy-hitters such as the powerhouse Chiddy Bang, our almighty alum Penguin Prison, and America's best untapped new rock band, Walk the Moon. Warming up the soundstage, we've got PLAINS, Vacationer, our new favorites, Incan Abraham and our all-time favorite, Clock Opera. And rounding things out with DJ sets from Ghost Beach and Brenton Duvall, plus complimentary Redrum cocktails from 12pm-1pm, you'll want to get involved and RSVP now HERE. Just a warning: Chiddy Bang played to 3,000 people last SXSW and we've already had 1000+ RSVPs for this event, so if you don't want to get shut out of all the action, you'd be wise to come out EARLY. Like, mid-day early. Just don't say we didn't warn you.
Because one of anything is never enough (and for those of you who can't/won't make it out to Brooklyn), we're ready to announce round two of our pre-SXSW New Shapes weekend. It's all going down in Manhattan at our new live headquarters Santos Party House two days later, on March 12th. This time out we've got Clock Opera and Charli XCX back for another round of blinding pop brilliance, as they open things up for another one of London's finest in experimental popstars Django Django. These New Shapes shows will most likely be our biggest shows of the spring and considering how fast tickets are selling for our Brooklyn show the Saturday prior, we highly recommend snapping up a pair HERE before it's too late.
By now you're likely well familiar with our annual New Shapes extravaganza every CMJ, but now it's time to introduce it to the spring as we establish a new Neon Gold tradition. The weekend prior to SXSW will henceforth be celebrated (by precisely no one but those attending) as New Shapes weekend, as we look to bring those of you unable to make the trip down to Austin our picks to steal the show as the reigning acts of SXSW. This year's festivities will be a two night affair, popping off Saturday March 10th in Brooklyn with a second night to follow Monday March 12th in Manhattan.
It all kicks off at the Knitting Factory March 10th, as we bring you a triple threat of our favorite new international acts in Niki & The Dove, Charli XCX and Clock Opera, plus one of the best new bands in the NYC in Ghost Beach. For Niki & The Dove it'll be their first NYC headline play, while Clock Opera and Charli XCX will be playing in our fair city (and on US soil in the case of Charli) for the first time ever. All signs point to this being one of our biggest events of the spring and tickets have already been selling like hotcakes on the back of the Knitting Factory's soft announce last week, so move swiftly and get your tickets NOW before it's too late.
With only a few more weeks to go before the long-awaited release of her debut album, our girl Alex Winston goes under the knife of 17 year old J£ZUS MILLION on this chopshopped remix of "Choice Notes". Precisely splicing Winston's vocals over pounding beats and whirring synths like the demented bastard child of Clock Opera and Star Slinger, J£ZUS shifts to warp drive in the chorus as you hurtle towards an ominous conclusion. Yet another remix trophy for Winnie's mantle.
DOWNLOAD: "Choice Notes" (J£ZUS MILLION Remix) - Alex Winston
More and more, it seems our main man Clock Opera has been predestined to slay remixes like Hercules on a neverending quest for pristine pop glory. While the Blood Orange original by the legendary Dev Hynes is a lush intimate outpouring of love, Clock Opera ticks all the boxes for a flawless groove, taking the original from 1980 to 2080 in a single stride. On the one hand, drizzling synths fall like diamonds on your dashboard, as windshield wiper drums sweep any and all tension aside. On the second hand, Clock Opera's dazzling arrangements take cover under a self-validating umbrella of backing harmonies in the bridge. It's pretty much everything we've come to adore about his meticulousness handiwork, neatly packaged together in what's just another testament to The Clock's status as one of the few untouchable remixers in the game right now.
Going to Austin next week? Then you're gonna want to make sure you keep your schedule clear on Wednesday, cause it's all going down at Bat Bar for our official Neon Gold showcase. Little Red. Walk The Moon. Alex Winston. Clock Opera. Penguin Prison. The one and only Ellie Goulding. We've got them all under one amazing roof on the first night of SX, the perfect way to kickstart your SXSW 2011 experience. As it's an official showcase it's badges and wristbands only (we don't make the rules y'all), but we've got a special day party on the Saturday for those of you keeping it real at SX this year without an official badge. Look for an announcement on that by week's end, but for now behold the lineup for our official night below and mark your calendars. You won't want to miss this.
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.
We've been driving the Starsmith bandwagon for as longaswecanremember, so it's with great pleasure that we finally announce his hotly-anticipated debut solo single on Neon Gold, coming this October 18th. Two sides of scorching club electro, his debut 12" features lead track "Give Me A Break", a massive, club-swallowing anthem built around a huge Richie Family sample (from their track of the same name) that would have lit the clubs up all summer long had it seen a release six months ago. On the flipside we've got "Knuckleduster", an aggressive instrumental that provides the perfect compliment to it's A-side counterpart. Together they're the perfect teaser for his more vocal-based and pop-oriented solo work, set to drop in the new year with his debut album as he readies his debut album for release in 2011. From what we've heard from it, it's shaping up to be one of the fiercest debut albums of the year, so cop this 12" while you still can as Starsmith looks set to be killing the game for many, many years to come.
The record is available for preorder from the Neon Gold Shop and Puregroove now, and to celebrate the release Starsmith's curated an amazing line up for his single launch party, being put on by Scandalism at The Queen of Hoxton on October 23rd. Featuring a live set from Neon Gold favorites Clock Opera, as well as DJ sets from the amazing Russ Chimes and Alan Braxe - not to mention Starsmith himself - this looks like one of the best lineups London will see all fall, so anyone in town would do best to get involved. Full line up and ticketing information can be found at the Facebook event page for the night here.
Everything Everything's "MY KZ, UR BF" was one of our absolute favorite songs of last summer, and it still sounds every bit as fresh and brilliant one year on as Geffen readies it for a proper major label re-release. As if that wasn't exciting enough, our main man Clock Opera gets involved on the official remix package and smashes it out of the park once again. Easily one of the most innovative remixers around, Clock chops and pops the original into a stuttering, stammering mess of a masterpiece, every bit as off the wall as Everything Everything themselves. A truly eccentric union of some of the most inspired and original minds in the game.
We've shown no shortage of love to Clock Opera as of late, but how could we not when dude is just deserving it so hard with every move he makes. First he dropped jaws with his immaculate remix of Marina & The Diamonds, then last week he unveiled his brilliant new single "A Piece of String", and now he's back with yet another beautiful rework, this time for Brooklyn dreamweavers Au Revoir Simone. Employing similar techniques to those in play on his Marina remix, Clock keeps the verses largely intact and splices together words and sounds to reinvent the chorus entirely, as pulsating synths churn ominously beneath pristine piano notes and icy Sigur Ros-esque atmospherics.
The Great Escape had no shortage of delights on offer last weekend in Brighton, but for us there was perhaps none greater than Clock Opera at Hector's House on the Saturday. We've been fans of the group from square one, having put on one of their first ever live shows last July and given them their first remix commission (and we all know how that one turned out), but even we weren't prepared for how far they'd come in the last 12 months.
With an arsenal of new tracks mixed by Dan Grech - fresh off his amazing work with previous Neon Gold all-stars Sound of Arrows and Penguin Prison - and a completely revamped live show, they're one of the most exciting new acts in the game right now. For proof of their progress, look no further than new single "A Piece of String", out next month on new French imprint Maman. Our favorite track from them to date, it finds the group at their absolute best as frontman Guy Connelly's haunting vocals take centerstage while a wire sharp synth riff cascades back and forth across a melange of chopped up guitar and strings samples. Coming off like Antony & The Johnsons collaborating with Four Tet, it's something strange and wonderful and entirely their own, and just one of many reasons they're one of the most exciting acts to grace our radar in ages.
Last summer we put on one of Clock Opera's first-ever live shows opening for Marina & The Diamonds at a birthday party we threw at Notting Hill Arts Club. They killed it, and though we'd only heard bits and pieces from them to that point, you could tell there was something really special in Clock mastermind Guy Connelly's one-of-a-kind approach to pop songwriting. We'd just released Marina's Crown Jewels EP at that point and had the remix parts for "I Am Not A Robot" chilling on our hard drive and figured he could do something magical with them, so we broached the idea to him, he seemed up for it, and we passed them his way. Four months passed and we pretty much forgot about it, and then one day in late November he got in touch to say he'd finished the remix and sent it over to us. It was worth the wait.
Simply put, this is our favorite remix of all time. It's no secret we've got a penchant for hyperbole in these here pages, but after nearly six months of living with this remix we can honestly say that this is a once in a lifetime kind of track, a veritable holy grail of emotional pop perfection. "I Am Not A Robot" was already a masterful pop song in it's own right, but the Clock Opera remix takes it above and beyond, to soaring new heights of heartwrenching brilliance. Keeping the blueprint of the original verses more or less intact, Clock draws you in with all manner of pulsing strings samples and dramatic piano stabs until that chorus hits, in which Connelly masterfully splices together Marina's vocals to invent a new vocal melody and an altogether new refrain of "our. love's. fading. our. love's. fading.". Forget tugging, this'll rip your heartstrings straight out of your chest and then some. Trust us, it really doesn't get any better than this.
Your Twenties brilliant new single "Billionaires" drops on Neon Gold today (purchase here and here) and to celebrate we've teamed up with London's finest indie club night White Heat to launch the single next week at Madame Jojo's (advance tix here). The main support will be Clock Opera, who amazed us so much last week opening our party at Notting Hill Arts Club that we just had to have them back for one more go under the Neon Gold lights, and opening will be Sunderland newcomers Frankie & The Heartstrings. We've already breathlessly extolled the virtues of Your Twenties and Clock Opera, but the Heartstrings are new to these pages. Bros with The Futureheads and looked after by the lovely dudes of Hit Club, the fivesome are purveyors of some of the finest retropop sounds in Britain at the moment and this will be their hotly anticipated London debut. Enjoy "Fragile" below, alongside more familiar fare from Your Twenties and Clock Opera.
We've got an absurd amount of Neon Gold events on in the weeks to come, but if you've only got room in your life for one night of Neon Gold raging, this should absolutely be it. In what we hope to establish as a monthly occurence in the months to come, Neon Gold Presents makes its proper London debut at Notting Hill Arts Club next Tuesday 21st July.
Starring our very own superstar-in-waiting Marina & The Diamonds playing live with support from hotly tipped experimental pop whiz Clock Opera, the live portion of the night alone is enough to warrant the negligible £4 entry fee. We’ve also got a sterling DJ lineup beyond the live stage though, highlighted by sets from Frankmusik, Russ Chimes and Starsmith, who together ride high as the three kings of London's electronic pop scene. With only £4 entry and this likely your last chance to catch Marina and co. in such an intimate setting, this is truly a can’t miss event. BE THERE.
Marina needs no introduction by this point, but Clock Opera is a brand new name on the scene and an extremely special talent in his own right. With his own unique "chop pop" approach to composing sample based pop masterpieces, he sounds like nothing we've ever heard before. "Once And For All" is his debut track and statement of intent, a swirling opus of chopped up samples and shimmering instrumentals that steadily builds before exploding into a climax of pulsing, emotive energy. Rumor has it the live show is something of a spectacle and you better believe we're over the moon to have him supporting Marina at Neon Gold Presents next week. Yes mate.
Thief (formerly known as Thief Urban) is a new Australian producer slash songwriter you're about to get real familiar with. After arriving on the scene with a lights-out debut offering in "Closer" earlier this year, he returns today with an updated name and his debut single proper, "Broken Boy". Soul-stuffed with sinister hooks and dark, ominous synths, "Broken" channels the most addictive parts of Clock Opera and Metronomy like their long lost brother from Down Under. "Broken Boy" is out worldwide September 6th, enjoy the exclusive premiere below.
With only a few more weeks to go before the long-awaited release of her debut album, our girl 
More and more, it seems our main man 
