Friday 28 March 2014

Bat For Lashes

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Khan was born to English mother and a Pakistani squash player Rehmat Khan. She is the step-daughter of singer Salma Agha, step-sister of actress Sashaa Agha (born as "Zara Khan"). She is the niece of World Open winner Jahangir Khan and Torsam Khan, and paternal grand-daughter of Nasrullah Khan, a squash player. Khan attended many of the squash matches, which she felt inspired her creativity: "The roar of the crowd is intense; it is ceremonial, ritualistic, I feel like the banner got passed to me but I carried it on in a creative way. It is a similar thing, the need to thrive on heightened communal experience." After her father left the family, Khan, aged 11, taught herself to play the piano, which became "a channel to express things, to get them out".

After completing her GCSEs and A-Levels, Khan took a job in a card-packing factory where she would work while listening to songs she had made. She said: "My internal imaginary life was really fruitful at that time. I remember packing cards and just listening to songs that I had made the night before on my mini-disc player. All day long just listening and dreaming, while counting the cards to be packed; 'One-two-three… four-five-six-seven-eight-nine… 10-11-12.'"
With money saved from the job, she embarked on a three-month road trip through America and Mexico. After returning to the UK, Khan settled in Brighton to study music and visual arts at the University of Brighton, where she produced sound installations, animations, and performances influenced by artists including Steve Reich and Susan Hiller.After finishing her degree, Khan worked as a nursery school teacher and began writing the material for her first album.

Monday 24 March 2014

George Ezra


George Ezra (Born George Ezra Barnett, June 6, 1993) is a singer songwriter from Bristol, United Kingdom. Ezra grew up in Hertford, attending Simon Balle Secondary School.
Ezra released his first EP "Did You Hear the Rain?" in September 2013, and released the accompanying music video on Vevo.
He has played support spots for Lianne La Havas and Tom Odell.Ezra was longlisted for the BBC Sound of...2014, where he eventually finished in fifth place. In the summer of 2013 he played the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival. He achieved airplay on BBC Radio 1 in late 2013, with songs "Did You Hear the Rain?" and "Budapest" regularly featured. He was included in MTV's 'Brand New for 2014',Vevo's 'DSCVR Ones to Watch 2014' and iTunes' new artists 2014.

George Ezra (Born George Ezra Barnett, June 6, 1993) is a singer songwriter from Bristol, United Kingdom. Ezra grew up in Hertford, attending Simon Balle Secondary School.
Ezra released his first EP "Did You Hear the Rain?" in September 2013, and released the accompanying music video on Vevo.
He has played support spots for Lianne La Havas and Tom Odell.Ezra was longlisted for the BBC Sound of...2014, where he eventually finished in fifth place. In the summer of 2013 he played the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival. He achieved airplay on BBC Radio 1 in late 2013, with songs "Did You Hear the Rain?" and "Budapest" regularly featured. He was included in MTV's 'Brand New for 2014',Vevo's 'DSCVR Ones to Watch 2014' and iTunes' new artists 2014.

Francesca Michielin


Francesca Michielin (born 25 February 1995) is an Italian singer-songwriter. She rose to fame after winning the fifth series of the Italian talent show X Factor. Her first single, "Distratto", debuted atop the Italian FIMI Top Digital Downloads chart and was certified double platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Michielin's debut studio album, Riflessi di me, was released in October 2012, preceded by the single "Sola".


Francesca Michielin (born 25 February 1995) is an Italian singer-songwriter. She rose to fame after winning the fifth series of the Italian talent show X Factor. Her first single, "Distratto", debuted atop the Italian FIMI Top Digital Downloads chart and was certified double platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Michielin's debut studio album, Riflessi di me, was released in October 2012, preceded by the single "Sola".

Mika


Mika (/ˈmkə/; born Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.; 18 August 1983), stylized as MIKA, is a Lebanese-British singer-songwriter.
After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act, and receive a Grammy Award nomination. In 2006, Mika started up his company, Dodgy Holiday Tours Limited. Two years later Mika released his second extended play, Songs for Sorrow, of which limited edition copies are now sold out worldwide. In 2009 Mika released his second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Finishing his worldwide tour, Mika recorded his third album, The Origin of Love, stating it would be "more simplistic pop, less layered than the last one". The album was released internationally on 16 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012.

Mika (/ˈmkə/; born Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.; 18 August 1983), stylized as MIKA, is a Lebanese-British singer-songwriter.
After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act, and receive a Grammy Award nomination. In 2006, Mika started up his company, Dodgy Holiday Tours Limited. Two years later Mika released his second extended play, Songs for Sorrow, of which limited edition copies are now sold out worldwide. In 2009 Mika released his second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Finishing his worldwide tour, Mika recorded his third album, The Origin of Love, stating it would be "more simplistic pop, less layered than the last one". The album was released internationally on 16 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012.

Birdy


Birdy was born on 15 May 1996, in Lymington, Hampshire. Her mother is a concert pianist, and Birdy learned to play the piano at the age of seven, and began writing her own music at the age of eight. Birdy studied at Brockenhurst College in Brockenhurst, a sixth form college in the New Forest, as of 2013. She sings and plays the piano. Her great uncle was the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde. Her great-great-great grandfather was Belgian, the rest of her ancestors were English and Scottish.
Her stage name comes from the nickname her parents gave her as a baby, because she opened her mouth like a little bird when fed.[citation needed] Her family and friends call her Birdy while only teachers call her Jasmine, her given name.

Open Mic UK

In 2008, as a 12-year-old, Birdy won the UK talent contest Open Mic UK, a spinoff of the Live and Unsigned competition. She won both the under-18s category and the Grand Prize, against 10,000 other competitors. She performed her own song at the competition called "So Be Free" in front of 2,000 people.

Damien Rice


Rice was born to George and Maureen Rice, and raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.
Rice began his music career using the stage name Dodi Ma[citation needed] and formed the rock band Juniper along with Paul Noonan, Dominic Philips, David Geraghty and Brian Crosby in 1991. The band met whilst they were attending Salesian College secondary school in Celbridge, Co. Kildare as students. After touring throughout Ireland the band released their debut EP Manna in 1995.
Based in Straffan, Kildare the band continued touring and signed a six album record deal with Polygram. Their recording projects generated the singles "Weatherman" and "Single of the Fortnight" which received favourable reviews.


After achieving his musical goals with Juniper, Rice became frustrated with the artistic compromises required by the record label, and he left the band in 1998. Rice moved to Tuscany in Italy and took up farming for some time, then returned to Ireland before busking around Europe. After returning to Ireland a second time, Rice gave a demo recording to his second cousin, music producer David Arnold who then gave Rice a mobile studio.

Solo career

Damien Rice at Coachella in 2007In 2001, Rice's song "The Blower's Daughter" made a top 40 chart. Over the next year he continued to record his album with guitarist Mark Kelly, New York drummer Tom Osander aka Tomo, Paris pianist Jean Meunier, London producer David Arnold, County Meath vocalist Lisa Hannigan and cellist Vyvienne Long. Rice then embarked on a tour of Ireland with Hannigan, Tomo, Vyvienne, Mark, and Dublin bassist Shane Fitzsimons.
In 2002, Rice’s debut album O was released in Ireland, the UK and the United States. The album peaked at No. 8 on the UK albums chart and remained on the chart for 97 weeks, selling 650,000 copies in the US. The album won the Shortlist music prize and the songs "Cannonball" and "Volcano" became top 30 hits in the UK.

Lorde


Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known by her stage name Lorde (/ˈlɔrd/), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Born in Takapuna and raised in Devonport, Auckland, she performed in various singing and drama classes as a child, and at the age of thirteen signed with Universal. Yelich-O'Connor adopted her stage name due to her fascination with "royals and aristocracy", but felt the name Lord was too masculine so added an 'e' to make it more feminine.
Her musical debut was an EP, entitled The Love Club, which was released in November 2012, and her first single, "Royals", debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, making her the first New Zealand solo artist to have a number one song in the United States. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, was released in September 2013, receiving critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.
Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades. In October 2013, she jointly won the 2013 Silver Scroll award for "Royals", which celebrates outstanding songwriting achievements in original New Zealand pop music. For the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Lorde received four nominations, in which she won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Royals". In February 2014 she was chosen International Female Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards.