5 Great New Bands Of 2013 (#whiskyrocks)

I put together another post today for Aux’s Whisky Rocks competition, today talking about 5 of my favourite new artists of 2013.

from aux:

I never have a hard time recommending new artists when people ask me what I’m really into.  The hard part though is narrowing down that list to just five bands.  Looking back on 2013, which has been a pretty fantastic year for new music, I’d say these were the 5 you should take note of.

Big Data (Brooklyn & Rochester, NY)

Big Data, the duo of Daniel Armbruster (of Joywave) on vocals with the production work of Alan Wilkis.  Separately, these guys have spent a lot of time on the Hype Machine charts and all over hundreds of music blogs.  Now as a duo, their first single “Dangerous” (a song about bizarre cycle voyeurism in the digital age) became an online hit.  Its really early for this band, so you never know what will come next.  My hopes are high though, call it a hunch.

Check out “Dangerous“.

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Dan Croll (Liverpool, UK)

Influenced by “the world music influence of Paul Simon, experimental orchestral work with African choirs, 1960’s psychedelia, the early sounds of Mars Volta, Beruit, Bon Iver and then more modern sounds such as Metronomy and Dirty Projectors”, Dan Croll is a nice surprise in 2013.  Already reaching massive status in the UK, fans are growing here in North America.  My first taste of his musical talent was in “From Nowhere”, but I’d like to point you to a newer track thats’ “indie afro-tinged synth‘n’b” will be the catchiest thing you hear today.

Check out “IN/OUT“.

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The Colourist (Orange County, CA).

This foursome from Orange Country, CA wrote me an e-mail months back asking me to take a listen to their song “Little Games”.  I get a ton of e-mail from bands asking for the same and unfortunately, most of the time the music is either irrelevant to what I normally post about, or just plain horrible.  The Colourist was one of the rare exceptions.   You might have actually heard them already, as the band not only lent their song to the latest AT&T ad, but they appeared in it.  For fans of bands like Stars, Races,California Wives with boy/girl vocals and catchy choruses, take a spin.

Check out “Little Games“.

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Alice Boman (Malmö, Sweden).

Like with my recommendation of Big Data above, I might be taking a chance on Sweden’s Alice Boman.  I’ve really only heard a couple songs from this newcomer, but I can get hooked on an artists with just one fantastic song.  ”Waiting” is such a haunting song, featuring Alice’s sweet delivery.  It comes from an EP called “Skisser” (“sketches” in Swedish), and thats exactly what the EP is.  The song ideas were recorded in Alice’s home just so she could remember them, not really intended for anyone else to hear.  I can tell you a lot of people have heard her now, and are “Waiting” for more.

Here’s “Waiting“.

——

Jagwar Ma (Sydney, Australia).

Jagwar Ma are the psych-pop duo of Jono Ma and Gabriel Winterfield.  For fans of ’90s alt-rock, particularly the Screamadelica-era Primal Scream, or the Stone Roses, look for the bands’ debut albumHowlin’ (featuring the songs “The Throw” and “Man I Need”).   I like how these guys are going against the grain, releasing songs well over 6 minutes!  Great jams though; seems like each song has a rhythm that gets you moving.

Check out “Man I Need“.

All this talk about my favourites, who have you discovered in 2013 so far?