This is the last record I expected to become an obscurity. I would have had money on Lincoln, from North London, to go from strength to strength after this outstandingly confident debut album. Stewart Lee gave a positive live review of a London gig for the Sunday Times, now, Mettle doesn't even have a review on allmusic - and the band have disappeared without trace. Their music is alt-country influenced, but with an idiosyncratic british New Wave sensibility - not dissimilar to Lambchop. Alex Gordon's vocals are pure honey, and oh my god - TROMBONES! I had tickets to go and see them play at the Royal Festival Hall, but had to give them away due to other commitments - one of my greatest music regrets.
Talented skinny kid brought up by his single-parent Ghanaian mother on a council estate in Bow, East London. Dylan Mills could have easily become a victim of gang culture, but instead, through his Dizzee Rascal moniker, he has gone on to be a hero, and one of the biggest selling artists in the UK. This is where it started - an album that burst out of the grime scene with vibrance, vulnaribility, and above all, urgent originality. Not sure why this album isn't higher in the list - there must be some filler in here somewhere - perhaps my scoring system was flawed afterall!
Scotland has a great track record of producing stalwarts of the indie anthem, and Frightened Rabbit have been custodians of this set-piece for the last few years. In a genre that is more traditionally uplifting, if in a morosse fashion, Frightened Rabbit buck the trend on this album with simple but brilliantly cynical storytelling. "Jesus...is just a Spanish boy's name. How come one man get so much fame?" ("Heads Roll Off").
This is JuJu from Little Fish, performing an amazing live acoustic version of the track "Heroin Dance" from the debut album, Baffled and the Beat which was released last month. Damn, she's got great pipes.
