In the past year 18 year old Newcastle based singer/songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton has garnered a reputation as an antidote to the current crop of acoustic songstresses. With her alternative blend of experimental folk, Beth has been hailed by the NME as "a Joni Mitchell for the anti-folk generation". With influences ranging from Frank Zappa, Vashti Bunyan, Fourtet and Love, Beth has cultivated a sound that is truly her own.
Dappled Cities (formerly Dappled Cities Fly) are a five-piece indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Their music has been described as art rock or experimental pop. Their guitar-based songs typically combine melodies with the complex time signatures and tempo changes associated with post rock. Occasional falsetto vocals and the use of effects pedals (delay in particular) are also characteristic of their sound.
Rush In Attack are a four piece melodic Indie Rock band based in Melbourne, Victoria. In the past year they have been tearing up Melbourne venues such as The Espy, The Arthouse, Pony, IDGAFF, Pogo and Noise Bar with their extremely catchy Pop Rock tunes. Ask them about their influences and you’ll get a wide variety of bands from early 90’s Britpop to Twitchy Electro to Melodic Hardcore. That’s the beauty of Rush In Attack, their sound can only be described as a modern mash up of the last 70 years of popular music in one explosive live set like an 8-Bit assault on the senses.
Pikelet is a band from Melbourne, initially just the name for solo artist Evelyn Morris (Baseball, True Radical Miracle), who begun playing music in indie and hardcore bands as a drummer and vocalist. After leaving these bands, she started overlapping acoustic guitar, piano accordion, voice and alternative percussion techniques with a looping pedal, and created a handmade demo CD, 'Chair + Lamp', unofficially released in mid-2006, followed by another self-released EP, entitled...
Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco, CA in 1981. In 1982 his family relocated to Emory, TX where his father Howard Kweller became the town's first doctor. In 1986, The Kwellers moved to a much larger city, Greenville, TX. Ben was exposed to music at a very early age. Howard taught Ben how to play the drums when he was 7 years old. For the next year, the father and son would jam together almost every night after Howard got home from work.
Hannah Hooper met Christian Zucconi late one evening on the lower east side of Manhattan. They had both been living in New York for years and had never crossed paths before. But from that night forward the two could hardly be pulled apart. Soon after their connection Hooper was invited to an art residency in Greece on the island of Crete and Hooper insists "without any hesitation" she invited Zucconi to join her on this journey.
The Cannanes have been described as 'the world's most indie band.' Despite never having a manager, agent or signing a record deal they have toured the world, produced numerous recordings, and been recognised internationally as one of Australia's best known bands. Even Kurt Cobain listed the Cannanes as a band he liked in his journals. Since the Cannanes' first release 'Bored Angry and Jealous' was named Single of the Year by UK music magazine NME in late 1986, the band has attracted an ever expanding international following.
Underground Lovers were an Australian alternative rock band. Although their commercial success was minimal at best, they were a much-lauded act in the country's alternative scene throughout the 1990's. While the band has experienced many lineup changes during its existence, the nucleus of the band since its inception has been Vincent M. Giarrusso (vocals, guitar, keyboard) and Glenn Bennie (guitar).
Florence + the Machine formed in 2007 in London, England, United Kingdom. The band is the recording name of singer/songwriter Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her; Florence Welch is the band's only constant member. The current touring lineup of the band is Florence Welch (vocals), Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Isabella Summers (keyboards), Tom Monger (harp), Mark Saunders (bass), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums).
