Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Melodica, Melody and Me have already achieved a great deal for what is still the bands very early days and their individual early years. Their first two singles Piece Me Back Together and Come Outside were play-listed by XFM and enjoyed repeated outings on Radio1, Radio2 and 6Music. While the early internet buzz soon bubbled into the print sphere, with glowing coverage in - to name only a few- NME, Sunday Times Culture Magazine, Songlines and Guardian. Having toured with Laura Marling, Monford & Sons , Bombay Bicycle Club and Johnny Flynn MM&M have, in the past, been filed under nu-folk. However as their new single Imperfect Time - and the forthcoming debut album from which the track is taken - will prove, the sound of MM&M is something far bigger, wider reaching and adventurous. Growing up in Brixton, they were raised on the sounds of thier multi-cultural neighbours spanning countless continents and genres. The songs of MM&M therefore seamlessly marry Latin Amer...

‘My Head Is an Animal’, the debut album from Icelandic alternative folk sensation Of Monsters and Men- #1 in the US iTunes charts, is scheduled for UK release on the 23rd July through Island Records. Of Monsters and Men began as the solo project of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir however it quickly grew with the additions of friends Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson (co-singer/guitarist), Brynjar Leifsson (guitarist), Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson (drummer), Árni Guðjónsson (piano/accordion player) and Kristján Páll Kristjánsson (bassist) Crafting epic songs inspired by their amazing homeland, fairy tales and personal history, the band went from battle of the bands winners to the breakthrough act at this year’s Iceland Airwaves and SXSW festival. The bands self-released, first single ‘Little Talks’ to date has sold an impressive 400,000 copies and received 3 million views on YouTube. Of Monsters and Men continue to make waves among fans and tastemakers alike. ‘My Head is an Animal’ has already e...

Dubbed “the UK’s answer to John Legend”, South Londoner Josh Osho is a naturally gifted singer-songwriter with a life-story packed full of the stuff that films are made of. Born to a half Northern Irish, half Nigerian mother and Nigerian father, Josh Osho has had the life experience of a person twice his age. Following an unconventional and often tempestuous childhood, Josh went from being in and out of home at the age of 16 and dealing drugs from notorious half-way house Ebenezer hotel at 17, to signing a deal with Island Records at 18, finding himself recording in a studio with two members Wu Tang Clan at 19, and releasing his debut album ‘L.I.F.E’ at 20. It may be a universal cliché to say someone has been saved from a darker route in life by music, but when it comes to Josh Osho this really is the case. He is a young man and artist who has come up the hard way and it is there for everyone to hear in his music. Among those to hear it first was Josh’s musical hero Ghostface Killah...

I just love this rousing song co-written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations. It features musicians from across the Commonwealth and the wonderful Military Wives Choir. "Sing" released 28th May - Check out the video here Official Diamond Jubilee song unveiled - Read all about it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18101473

John Osho ‘GIANTS’ EP featuring Childish Gambino Released May 14th . In the run up to the release of ‘GIANTS’, Josh Osho recently supported Emeli Sande and Rizzle Kicks on their UK tour/ Watch the video here: ‘GIANTS’ EP TRACKLISTING: 1.     Giants ft Childish Gambino 2.     Giants ft Childish Gambino (Midi-Mafia remix) 3.     Giants 4.     Giants ft Childish Gambino (Stickey Remix) 5.     Giants ft Childish Gambino (Swindle Remix) Click here to read main post about John Osho and the Giants EP http://joshosho.com/ - http://www.myspace.com/joshoshomusic

Fresh from playing a sold out 5 night run at the Roundhouse and still batting off high praise for number 1 album Sonik Kicks, Paul Weller releases When Your Garden’s Overgrown, the second single from his outstanding new album. The follow-up to That Dangerous Age, When Your Garden’s Overgrown features Noel Gallgher on bass guitar and tips it hat to a certain Syd Barrett: “I think this song’s about Syd Barrett” says Paul. “It’s like, what would it have been like if he hadn’t got into music? If he’d gone off to the continent and just been an artist on the side-street in France. He probably would’ve been happier. There’s some lines in there about the brush strokes of fame and I’m thinking of Syd at the time. He was an artist at heart, not a rock star.” When Your Garden’s Overgrown will be released as a Digital EP and will be backed by new tracks We Got A Lot & Lay Down Your Weary Burden. Paul Weller heads off to play a few live dates in New York and Toronto in May. He fits in a sma...

Just over a month ago the career of Alex Clare, whose debut album “The Lateness Of The Hour” was released to widespread critical acclaim in July last year, had reached a bit of a standstill. Alex had returned to working for a friend as an estate agent and had put his music career he figured out his next move. In the meantime he kept receiving emails asking if his single “Too Close” could be used in a Microsoft ad. Eventually he agreed and thought no more of it. Fast forward to now and “Too Close” has turned into a bona-fide worldwide hit single flying high in the charts in the US and the UK and topping the charts in Germany - with his full album peaking at #2 on the iTunes chart there last week. Microsoft poured millions of dollars into a massive US ad campaign with 60-second spots broadcast during prime-time TV shows and in cinemas before major titles like "The Hunger Games." TV viewers and cinema-goers began Shazam-ing the song and searching for the track on YouTube and i...

blink-182 have confirmed that their UK and European dates will go ahead as planned despite the cancellation of US tour dates. The band posted the following news on their website: “ The North American cancellation does not affect any European tour dates. blink-182 will start their summer run as planned in Birmingham, UK on June 7th”  The band will be touring in support of their album “Neighbourhoods” which was released in September 2011 and the first new music released by the band since 2003. Blink 182 were formed in San Diego in 1992 by Mark Hoppus and Tom De Longe and later joined by drummer Travis Barker. The bands breakthrough album, Enema Of The State, was released in 1999 and went on to sell in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. Their next two albums, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001) and blink 182 (2003) cemented their position as a pop punk supergroup. Additionally the band have won a number of MTV Awards throughout their career. The band will head to the UK n...

21 year old Salford born singer and widely rated newcomer Ren Harvieu, who was included in the BBC’s Sound Of 2012 Poll, has her much anticipated debut album ”Through The Night” released through Kid Gloves / Island Records. The album was originally set for release in the summer of 2011 when Ren suffered a terrible accident which left her with a broken back and not knowing whether she would ever walk again. Thankfully after a miraculous recovery, in less than three months, Ren is back on her feet and finally ready to release her wonderful music and perform live once again. Ren Harvieu is brand new, just turned twenty one. She sounds one way and looks and acts completely differently. No Brit School training, no showbiz connections, just a young girl with a truly remarkable voice and a set of songs that will stir your soul and break your heart. Ren sang in the odd local talent show, one called ‘Salford Superstar’ and attended what she calls the Primark version of a performing arts school...

Willy Moon’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ was a sharp and stylish opening gambit from dapper 21 year old Willy Moon, which has already clocked up over 400,000 plays on Youtube and had Rough Trade record shop call it the “best single of the year”. Since then, this sharp-dressed rockabilly Moon has been working on new music in his home studio, and ‘Yeah Yeah’ is the first result. Taking its cue from the early hip hop block party blueprints laid down by Afrika Bambaataa and his Zulu Nation, the track is a riot of explosive beats and blues shouting built around a sample from Wu-Tang Clan’s classic ‘Wu-Tang Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’Wit’. The result is the missing link between Sun Studios and Def Jam, a rowdy, highly compressed cut-up collision that sounds like Grandmaster Flash throwing down with Carl Perkins. Don’t step on his blue suede shell toes. Willy has recently taken his distinctive sound live playing at YoYo and an NME Awards show at Heaven and Camden Crawl. A killer club remix comes from ...

With over 17 million views on YouTube, ‘Frick Park Market’ is the massive new single from Pittsburgh native Malcolm “Mac Miller” McCormick, one of the most exciting young emcee’s of the moment. Named after the food store where Mac once worked, ‘Frick Park Market’ is taken from the No.1 US debut album ‘Blue Slide Park’. Keeping true to his backpacker style, Mac Miller was signed independently to Rostrum Records, also home to Wiz Khalifa, in 2011, ‘Blue Slide Park’ became the first independently distributed debut album to top the US charts in 15 years. On May 21st, ‘Blue Slide Park’ gets its UK release through Island Records. Still only 20 years old, in his early teens Miller began to take his influences from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Big L, and Outkast, which helped him develop a reputation for delivering jaw-dropping freestyles in Pittsburgh. Like most of his contemporaries, he first came to prominence by dropping a host of mixtapes, six in all. It was with ‘K.I.D.S’ and ‘B...