Marques Toliver, White Sails - LIVE on Jools Holland

Just discovered this guy! 

Check him out!

     

The Old Souls perform LIVE at The Troubadour 12/02/12 - 'Falling'

The Old Souls LIVE at The Troubadour 12/02/12 - 'Stay With Me'

Etta James

             I was very sad to hear that the legendary soul and blues signer Etta James lost her battle with Leukaemia today, age 73. Her voice was incredible, and she has been one of my huge inspirations since I was a child. I have no doubt that her music will live on to inspire generations to come.

This is one of my all-time favourite songs, ever. Rest In Peace Etta James. 

Birdy - Bring on the Album

I am SO excited for this lady.

She won the Open Mic U.K competition at the tender age of 12 , released her self-titled debut album at just age of 15, and now, there's another album on the way!

Birdy has been given the go-ahead to release an album consiting of entirely her own material. After speaking to her family over the christmas holidays, I know that they can't wait for her music to be released to the world. Bias they may be, but nobody could deny the excitement and sincerity in their voices as they talked about Birdy's own material - to which they described was "absolutely amazing".

Her debut single (a cover of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love') shot into the top 20 of the UK singles chart within a few weeks of its release, and her self-titled album reached number 13 in the UK album chart. She has an amazing voice, and has achieved so much at an amazingly young age, so there's no reason why I wouldn't be excited about the prospect of a new album from this talented young musician!

Here is my favourite song of hers so far, a cover of Ed Sheeran's 'The A Team', performed in the Radio 1 live Lounge. 

Stranger - The Old Souls

Another Assessment....  

Hey You (make a move) - The Old Souls

As promised, here are some videos of The Old Souls performing for their uni assessments. Let me know what you think!

      

Lead Vocals - Becci Ridout

Backing Vocals - Adam Glover

Backing Vocals + Sax - Nicola Hogg

Keys - Antonio Paulo

Bass - Sam Burnett

Guitar - Sebastian Langkamer

Drums - Justine Sleigh 

Another Win for Westminster! Michael Kiwanuka tops 'BBC Sound of 2012' list

In December last year, former University of Wesminster student Michael Kiwanuka was nominated as one of MTV's 'Brand New for 2012' in their end of year poll. Now, he's done one better, and topped the 'BBC Sound Of 2012' list.

The 24 year old soul singer/songwriter, and fellow 'Commercial Music Performance' student, beat hundreds of other candidates to the top spot of one of the most promising and accurate predictive polls within the music industry. The list has succesfully predicted some of the most famous names to flourish within the industry; Adele, Mumford and Sons, Florence and the Machine to name but a few. 

Admittedly, there are some names listed who wont deliver to expectations, but most do, and I hope that this is the case for Michael. Another successful alumnus from the University of Westminster! ...and who knows, maybe some fellow course-friends of my own will find the same success in the not-so-distant future.... a cheer for Bmus Commercial Music Performance! 


Have a listen to Michael's new single 'Home Again' =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ4s3G7hgR4

Good Note: Any recording artist who has topped the 'BBC sound of...' list has gone on to great success!

Bad Note: Will we still be here at the end of 2012....? 

'Cold War' for a Cold January

I blogged a bit about this lady last year, but I feel she deserves another mention! Janelle Monae's 'Cold War' has been on constant repeat on my i-pod this last few weeks. Check it out.

Good Note: Perfect work-out song to help guide the new years resolution to success!

Bad Note: She hasn't announced anymore U.K tour dates for 2012.

Zalon Thopson

The name Zalon Thompson might be familiar to a some of you already, especially those Amy Winehouse fans out there. Zalon was Amy's backing singer for years and was one of her main supports throughout the highs and the lows of her career. 

The singer has always been praised for his amazing voice by Amy, and fans alike, and was often encouraged to perform solo by Amy, at her own concerts. So,  I am pleased to hear that he is launching into his own solo career, and 2012 looks set to be a big year for him!

After Working with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga, he should know how to do it, and do it well. He's got the looks, the experience and he's certainly got the voice, an unstoppable combination wouldn't you agree? So, I am excited to hear what he is going to bring to the table this year, it's going to be a big one for him. 


This is one of my favourite songs of his so far, ft. Mark Ronson.




Good Luck Zalon!

Visit his official website www.zalononline.com