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Now Mr Snuggles and I have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see which band's got what place.Tracks from the Top Ten Blogged Bands are played
every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of
Ralph's Indie Show.
No 1: Mt.Doubt
After giving the Mt.Doubt single Afterglow a spin on Ralph's Radio KC Indie Show a few weeks back it's about time we had a shuftie at the album from whence it came. Entitled In Awe Of Nothing it's the follow up to My Past Is A Quiet Beast, one of the best debut albums to come out of Scotland last year. It was released by Edinburgh based Leo Bargery as a solo project prior to the Mt. Doubt moniker and is a joy to listen to.
No 2: The Indigo Palms
Live It Up is the first taster of The Indigo Palms forthcoming new album Future Proof which is set for release in September.
No 3: Kids On Bridges
This has to be one of the strangest collaborations on paper, but it really works. The electro synths of Liverpool'sKids On Bridgesmeets the New Orleans Funk of Zigaboo Modeliste from legendary band The Meters, producing Say OK, a perfect feel good summer track.Described as Beck meets Prince and so fresh you could eat it, the track has already had over 88,000 plays on Spotify thanks toKids on Bridges' growing reputation as one of the UK's most exciting emerging bands through their top 25 iTunes hit Something in the Water and Hype Machine Number 1 When The Needle Drops
No 4: wojtek the bear
Self-confessed Frightened Rabbit fans wojtek the bear have released their debut single Dead From The Waist Up and proclaim "It marries quintessential indie-pop songwriting with melodies and hooks as big as mountains".Hailing from Glasgow this four-piece have indeed come up with a wee cracker of a debut release. It's nicely crafted and evocative soundscape gels nicely with a seemingly retrospective lyric.
No 5: HICARI
A young Liverpool band catching the imagination right now is HICARI (which means 'Light' in Japanese) the multi-cultural 5-piece synth-pop band who are based in Liverpool and influenced by the likes of CHVRCHES, The 1975 and St Lucia. Whilst HICARI also lean heavily on 80's electro influences as a foundation for their bouncy, synthy sound they're very much of the moment and that's evident in their debut release Catch Fire which is due for release in early August. Needless to say Ralph will be giving it a spin on the Radio KC Indie Show, so listen in on Sunday 17th of July and check it out.
No 6: Feral Five
Feral Fivedeveloped the mechanised yet organic production-line feel from the sonic generative geometry, and created new Rule 9s too - using nine different languages for the vocals, including Icelandic, Mandarin and Russian, and sculpting with synths and beats.“This collaboration speaks to the nature of digital work, it’s all data,” says Bitonti.
No 7: Hands Off Gretel
Hands Off Gretel was founded by nineteen year old Lauren Tate in 2015 and they are rapidly becoming a critically aclaimed force to be reckoned with.
Inspired by the likes of Brody Dalle and Courtney Love, Lauren made it her mission to ensure strong, young women had a voice in today's music industry, presenting an alternative to mainstream pop stars singing about broken hearts.
No 8: Hunter and The Bear
Ralph has given tracks from Hunter and The Bear a spin on his Radio KC Indie Show previously, so it was good to hear that they've got a new single planned for release on August 5th. Considered to be one of the UK's most exciting, upcoming bands, the release of Renegade will only help to reinforce that claim.No 9: Borrowed Body
Ralph has featured singer/songwriters Chris Tavener and Scott Dean in the last two blogs and to complete the set of three, we're featuring the debut album release by Borrowed Body aka Niall Hill this week. London-based, Niall has put The Rising Sea out via indie record label Screamlite and it's a collection of seven highly listenable, emotive Alt-Folk tracks which are evocative of Nick Drake or on a more contemporary level Bon Iver
Borrowed Body kicks off the the album in fine style with the meaningful soundscape of Over The Garden Wall. The poignant vocal backed by simple melody is a delight.
No 10: Scott Dean
Ralph is delighted to be featuring the new Scott Dean single Lucky Seven on the blog this week. It's taken from his highly impressive Neon album and it doesn't dissapoint with deliciously reverb-laden guitar and his atmospheric vocal giving the track an anthemic feel. It'll be getting a spin on Ralph's Radio KC Indie Show on Sunday the 19th of June and Scott will be playing shows in support of the single and album this summer. The lyrics of Lucky Seven were inspired by a brief period working as a croupier and explore the effects of obsession & addiction in society.
