About Rita

http://www.twitter.com/rita_ita

Rita is a PhD student at King's College London, doing research on the relationship between international investment law and cultural rights. Despite this (now 10-years long) path in law, her real passions are music, photography, fashion and cooking. She is a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, probably because her parents fed her too much of that cake that makes people be too small or too big for a certain place and time (or so she believes).

Posts by Rita Mota:

royal blood

Royal Blood are bloody royal.

Royal Blood are storming the UK. They are Michael Kerr and Ben Thatcher, a couple of friends from Brighton, but I confess that for a few months I thought they were a 3 or 4-piece band – that’s how powerful their sound is. But they’re not; they’re only two. It’s only bass, drums and vocals, and it’s absolutely genius. They are also in their early twenties and have released their first album in 2014, although the quality of their music would suggest that these are seasoned artists. Plus, at the BRIT Awards, just last month, they won the Best British Group Award – and that was against heavyweight nominees such as alt-J and Clean Bandit.

The video for ‘Out Of The Black’ is also absolutely brilliant: a violent, rock-induced, cartoon-filled action sequence which perfectly matches the song’s feeling and lyrics (‘I’ve got a gun for a mouth and a bullet with your name on it /But a trigger for a heart bleeding blood from an empty pocket’).

Awards, dates, facts… none of that matters as much as the fact that their self-titled debut album only has 10 tracks, and each one of them is a standalone manifestation of pure rock’n’roll brilliance. Royal Blood are bloody royal and I bet they’re here to stay.

icky blossoms

In Folds.

Finally, finally, finally! Icky Blossoms just released the first track from their forthcoming album, ‘Mask’, and it’s as awesome as you would expect it to be if you heard their first album! I confess I’ve been waiting for this for a while…

But ok, first things first. For those of you who never heard of Icky Blossoms before (you’re missing out!), they’re an electronic trio from Omaha, Nebraska, and they are incredible. Just to give you an idea of how impressed I was with their work, the first gift I ever gave my boyfriend was their special edition vinyl. They are bold, experimental, sometimes freaky, sometimes romantic, often sexy and, most of all, incredibly interesting. You’ll never get bored. So go ahead and listen to “In Folds”, it’s totally worth a few plays on repeat.

P.S. – ‘Mask’ will have a 3D cover, so the physical versions of the album will come with 3D glasses. Quirky!

acre tarn

Dawn Faces

Anna-Louisa Etherington, aka Acre Tarn, just released the single “Dawn Faces”, an epic track reminiscent of Niki & The Dove or Florence + The Machine. It is electro-pop as much as it is hymn-like, probably due to some excellent production choices such as the participation of a children’s choir and the use of samples recorded in a cave (!), as reported by the PR team behind Acre Tarn.

Go and give it a try; and if you haven’t already, check out some older tracks – Acre Tarn‘s gracious vocals, reverberating bass lines and dreamy synths could be the soundtrack to your future favourite contemporary dance choreography or short film.

https://soundcloud.com/acre-tarn/dawn-faces

natalie mccool

“Pins” by Natalie McCool

We’re all at least a little bit broken. And we all like tracks that appeal to that, tracks that get under your skin and provide the empathy you really need, that appear as a promise that you are not alone in your pain. Natalie McCool is a British singer-songwriter who understands that feeling better than you’d expect.

There is serious emotional and musical maturity in “Pins”. The lyrics promise ‘I know what it feels like to be hurt, I know what it feels like to have cracks in the surface.’ And Natalie really does. Her delicate velvety voice, coupled with soft electronics and incredible spirals of feeling and melody, turn out to be the beautifully dark yet comforting kind of alt-pop that you need on a rainy day.

karen o video

A Few Minutes Of Summer

Karen O did it again: she wrote one of those songs that take you from a dark, cloudy and cold day, to a distant, warm, instagram-y summer where people still use analogue cameras.  She also made a genius decision regarding the video for “Day Go By” – a short film by Wiissa aka Vanessa Hollander and Wilson Philippe – which is absolutely adorable.  I’m in actual awe of it.  So stop whatever it is you’re doing, put the video into full screen and enjoy the ride.

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