Label: Back Yard Recordings
Country: Australia
Release Date: 2010.05.24

In a short space of time Teenagersintokyo have come from nothing to quickly rising as one the bands to watch in 2010; selling out venues across the UK, bagging support from the likes of Zane Lowe and the NME; and most recently topping the Hype Machine chart with The Horrors remix of ‘Peter Pan’. Following the celebrated release of their self-titled EP in 2009 the band caught everyone’s attention, landing themselves international acclaim, support slots with CSS, The Slits & Gossip, a record deal with Backyard and a move to the other side of the world.

The result is debut album ‘Sacrifice’; an album that promises delight, thick in imagery, where landscapes and fire dominate the pastoral gloom. Album references are immaculate: ‘Isabella’ recalls prime era Siouxie & The Banshees with a serrated electro punk edge; while ‘Long Walk Home’ is awash with Joy Division synth swatches. The relative light and optimism of ‘New Day’ is outweighed by the suicidal calamity of ‘End It Tonight’, and new single ‘Peter Pan’, whips, lashes and sparks like a loose electric cable. The bass is tar thick, the drums edgy and jittering, the guitars sharp and slicing. And caught in the centre, singer Samantha Lim’s veneer of fragile innocence fractures and collapses to allow glimpses to the turmoil beneath. It’s a crooked shadow racing for the dancefloor with its knives drawn.

Teenagersintokyo are poised to take their place amongst the art-pop new wave; now sultry shimmerscapes like ‘3046′ and deviant dancefloor destroyers like ‘Talk To The Fire’ and ‘Peter Pan’ are set to draw back the curtain on a more opulent Big Picture. Prepare to be dazzled, blackened, bewitched. (by recordstore)

Label: Phazz-a-Delic
Country: Germany
Release Date: 2010.04.09

The prolific De-Phazz was a jazzy, lounge-oriented downtempo project led by German-Austrian producer Peter “Pit” Baumgartner, who surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that featured vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton, as well as drummer Oli Rubow. Albums like Detunized Gravity (1997), Godsdog (1999), Death by Chocolate (2001), Daily Lama (2002), Days of Twang (2007), and Big (2009) explored various terrains of 21st century lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of jazz, soul, easy listening, and Latin music.
“LaLa 2.0” is the 8th De-Phazz album to date, showcasing a vast amount of international vocalists stemming from the ever expanding musical universe of one of the best selling lounge outfits out there.

Label: Brille
Country: United States
Release Date: 2010.04.26

After a string of widely-circulated singles and remixes, New York-based duo The Golden Filter will release their debut album, Voluspa, in the US on June 15th, following its UK release on Brille Records (The Knife, Operator Please) in April.
On the long road home after a round-the-world tour, Penelope and Stephen returned to New York City to self-produce their debut album which casts glimpses into their unearthly world where goddesses, love, myths and mountains reign. With drum circles, string sections, field recordings, and lots of microphones, they’ve gone beyond disco to unveil where their secrets are shared and where their mystery dissolves…
Lead single “Hide Me” is currently available to download for free from the The Golden Filter’s website and will be released April 27th. It includes Peter Bjorn & John’s Hortlax Cobra, and Clock Opera remixes.

Label: Mute
Country: United Kingdom
Release Date: 2010.03.22

‘Head First’ is the fifth studio album from British electronic group Goldfrapp. Having wandered into the realms of pagan folk for their highly-acclaimed 2008 release ‘Seventh Tree’, the band have once again drawn from the synthpop style of 2005’s ‘Supernature’, while maintaining much of ‘Seventh Tree’s subtle nature. Alison Goldfrapp’s vocals are as heavenly and bright as ever, while the synths of Will Gregory compliment her perfectly, as evident on anthemic single ‘Rocket’

Label: A:larm Music
Country: Sweden
Release Date: 2010.03.01

RebekkaMaria udgiver nyt feminint album 1. marts. ”Sister Sortie” er titlen på albummet – en plade, hvor den danske sangerinde hylder mangfoldigheden blandt kvinder og ikke mindst i den enkelte kvinde med musikalsk portrættering af forskellige kvindeskikkelser. Som optakt forærer hun et remix af hendes aktuelle single ”Oh Solitude væk gratis. Remixet er skabt af ét af Hollands fornemmeste elektroniske pop duoer – Anderson.
Fornyelse er overskriften for RebekkaMaria i 2010. Med udgivelsen af ”Sister Sortie” fornyer hun sig ikke kun fra eksperimenterende elektrodronning til feminin fuldblodssolist – prefikset ”As In” er nu slettet for at illustrere, at RebekkaMaria for alvor skyder sin solokarriere i gang med et sanseligt og soulet album. ”Sister Sortie” er lagt an som en række bemærkelsesværdige kvindeportrætter – komplet med karriere, hjemmebag, småbørn og blomstershopping.
Albumtitlen ”Sister Sortie” er ment som et frontalt kvindeangreb, en feminin mission, en søsterlig offensiv med RebekkaMaria i rollen som både bannerfører og hornblæser for et kæmpekor af kampklædte hverdagskvinder.

Label: Naïve
Country: United Kingdom
Release Date: 2010.04.05

London-based trio We Have Band’s debut album ‘WHB’ will be released through French label Naïve. The record will come out on 5th April, preceded by single ‘Divisive’ on 22nd March, and was recorded throughout 2009 with producer Gareth Jones.
Pounding drum machines, dirty basslines, even dirtier synths and a neat line in hypnotic, Hot Chip-style vocal hooks, We Have Band’s sweaty electro is simply irresistible. An adventurous & modernist concoction of post-new rave DIY sambapunkdisco jiggery-pokery that’ll come as a shot of distorted filth in the arm for an overflowing UK electro-pop scene… They got band. We found heroes.

Label: ChinChin Records
Country: Germany
Release Date: 2010.03.01

Music is the only realised Utopia. Here utopia is realized by Martin Strathausen, the brain of the German, French & Russian project: Tape Five, the retro-neobossa-swing-latin-jazzy-pop-flavoured-happening! Are you a Tango-dancing spy, that is searching suitcase No.347 with very suspicious contents in Nice, Havanna or Moscow in 1972? Are you wearing your best white linen suite doing the cha-cha-cha in Rico’s Bar or would you recognize the legendary ‘rat pack’ in a 60ies nightclub in Las Vegas creating a “swingfood mood”? No, this is not a James Bond movie, not even a Humphrey Bogart classic in Casablanca, neither a cotton plant in the Southern States in the ‘Summertime’, nor is it “Avenue du Gare” where you smoke your last cigar… Keep cool – it’s just the film in your head! Or maybe just simply wallpaper your home bar on the South Cape or your Westend chillout-lounge with the right sound? A retro-modern “Cocktail d’Amour” of swing, bossanova, lounge-latin and ambient jazz elements.

Label: Atlantic
Country: Greece
Release Date: 2010.02.22

‘The Family Jewels’ is the debut album from Welsh/Greek pop-songstress Marina Diamandis, more commonly known as Marina And The Diamonds. Her quirky songs show off both Marina’s eccentric personality and her unique voice, which sets ‘The Family Jewels’ apart from the other albums released by solo, female artists, which often don’t have the depth of originality possessed by Marina.

Marina Diamandis has already come a long way. Only six months ago she was playing to a half-empty third tent on a drizzly Friday afternoon at Leeds Festival. Now, she’s been named the runner-up in the BBC’s Sound Of 2010 critics poll and sleb blogger Perez Hilton is tweeting at her, declaring his undying love. Some of this could be put down to good timing, of course. One-woman bands with curious names and a penchant for quirky pop are pretty in vogue right now, after all. But Marina’s singles throughout 2009 showcased a genuine new talent, with Obsessions and Mowgli’s Road becoming two pop music highlights of the year. But the buzz has ensured that debut album The Family Jewels is one of the year’s more eagerly awaited releases. On first listen it’s a somewhat bewildering concoction, dizzily spinning from overtly theatrical pop at one turn to heartfelt ballads the next with, ever so occasionally, a song that sounds like it’s had everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink thrown into it. Mowgli’s Road is a good example of the latter. Brimming with energy from the first shout of ‘Cuckoo!” at the start, it packs in a staccato piano riff, jungle animal noises and more cutlery references than your average restaurant review. It’s certainly kooky, but with enough heart to keep things interesting. Her lyrics aren’t always so unconventional or Kipling referencing. Girls is a witty, knowing song about challenging female stereotypes: “I fall asleep when they speak of all the calories they eat”. The Outsider tackles alienation and insecurity amongst the first flourishing of fame: “Just because you know my name doesn’t mean you know my game.” It’s true that, sometimes, it gets a bit wearying. There are so many punchy choruses and electro hooks that, after a while, you start to feel a bit jaded – a point best made by the best songs here being the relatively downtempo numbers. Obsessions, a plaintive ballad about an abusive relationship, is beautiful, while I Am Not A Robot shows a pleasing touch of vulnerability which works very well. Marina’s voice will also divide people. In a similar manner to Amanda Palmer she takes a theatrical bent to her vocals, making sure to enunciate every word in a manner that becomes a bit grating after a while. She also has a habit of namechecking herself – whether you find Hollywood’s line about “Oh my god, you look just like Shakira, no no, you’re Catherine Zeta, actually, my name’s Marina” endearing or infuriating will depend on your taste. But she certainly has the charisma to establish herself as a proper popstar, and tracks like Oh No, Shampain and the aforementioned Hollywood are all infectiously catchy and have enough depth not to be dismissed lightly as bubblegum pop. The Family Jewels isn’t the classic debut album that her early singles suggested was on the way, but there’s enough promise here to carry her through the hype. (by john murphy)

Label: Sony Music
Country: United Kingdom
Release Date: 2010.02.09

Soldier of Love is only the sixth studio album the band Sade have released during their 25 year career, and the first since Lover’s Rock in 2000. For Sade herself, as the lynchpin of the group’s songwriting effort, it’s a simple matter of integrity and authenticity. “I only make records when I feel I have something to say. I’m not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand.” The call went out in 2008 for the group to re-convene at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio, near Sade’s home in the countryside of south west England. It was the first time the four principals had met up since the Lover’s Rock tour wrapped in 2001. Bassist Paul Denman de-camped from Los Angeles, where he had been managing his teenage son’s punk band, Orange. Guitarist and sax player Stuart Matthewman interrupted his film soundtrack work in New York, and keyboardist Andrew Hale gave up his A&R consultancy. In a series of fortnightly sessions at Real World, Sade sketched out the material for a new album which, they all felt, was probably their most ambitious to date. In particular, the sonic layering and martial beats of the title track, Soldier Of Love, sounded quite different from anything they had previously recorded. According to Andrew Hale: “The big question for all of us at the beginning was, did we still want to do this and could we still get along as friends?” The answer soon came back as a passionate affirmative. (by amazon)

Label: Six Degrees
Country: United States
Release Date: 2009.02.17

It’s no coincidence that Nancy Kaye, Ireesh Lal and Carmen Rizzo chose to name their groundbreaking collaboration after the ancient Sufi folk song, “Lal Meri,” an interpretation which closes the trio’s seductive and refreshing Six Degrees Records debut. “The message of the song is unifying different people from different cultures and beliefs,” says Nancy, the mystery-laden honey-and-sand voiced siren, with a gift for expansive turns of phrases and indelible melodies. “Why can’t we basically be together as one? It’s a beautiful message.”

If ever a band represented such ideals, it’s Lal Meri, with each musician coming in from different backgrounds, cultures and musical sensibilities, all combined into a unified, vibrant whole. Nancy’s singing and writing – both urgent and timeless – have powered her forays in pop (a 2002 debut album for Island/Def Jam Records) and jazz (her recent, saucy tour de force Luckiest Girl), both under the artist name Rosey. Ireesh’s multiple instrumental, composing and arranging talents have been spotlighted in his previous bands Hot Sauce Johnson and Animastik. Carmen’s global-conscious sense has brought him to the forefront as a writer, producer and remixer with Seal, Coldplay, Paul Oakenfold, Jem and countless others, while his expansive vision is at the core of his own wide-ranging album and his work as a member of the groundbreaking world-fusion act Niyaz.

On their self-titled debut album, these distinctly creative musical minds and strong individual personalities form at once a microcosm or mirror of the whole world — and a whole new world unto itself. Nancy’s voice intertwines with R&B punches and smoky cabaret inflections, while Ireesh blends reggae & jazz on the trumpet. Seductive trip-hop beats mix with oud and tabla. Emotions run deep, in matters of romance and the state of the world, the music and lyrics alike questing for the best instincts of the human spirit. From the soulful bounce of opener “Dreams of 18” through the closing title song, Lal Meri is three artists inventing a new common language. (by last.fm)