Tag Archive for "Little Boots"

THE RECOMMENDER – YADI

Far away from the X-Factor, Simon Cowell-induced coma that he calls music, it’s well worth noting that in recent years, in the UK, we’ve had a perfectly efficient factory line producing female pop stars of the future. Bright, shiny new ones throughout each year.

Just take a look back at the BBC Sound Of 2010 Poll from January, in which this supposed barometer tipped it’s hat to the stars of the year ahead. They predicted in first and second place two female solo pop artists in Marina & The Diamonds and Ellie Goulding, both of whom have gone on to further successes. Look back yet another year and you will see Little Boots and La Roux, or back further for Adele and Duffy , all of which adorned their respective year’s lists of fancy soothsaying.

So year on year there is a hotbed of female talent in this country, but how does Hannah Yadi compare, for comparing is something any exciting new female talent will unfortunately get quite a lot of, especially if they’re actually any good.

Yadi is certainly a box of tricks and a delightfully talented one at that, having previously heard her in other capacities, with Will Betts in the band Hella Cholla, as well as her guest vocals with the dance duo Eskimo Twins. Upon turning our ears to her solo work we first noticed that the standards were also reaching high with this project too. There was an array of feathers on show, with her sound very much slotting into the pop cap, with piano-led tunes, twinkling synthetic beats and the vocals pushed front and centre. Choruses are stomped through, whilst the verses show off her range of singing abilities, where comparisons to the likes of Alison Goldfrapp, Tahita Bulmer, or upon reflection a bit of Eddie Reader, will no doubt come to mind.

Utilising pop traditions is admirable, but is there anything that makes her stand out? Her dark good looks steal your attention through the lens and clearly come from her Algerian heritage, but her love of warping out North African instruments and utilising a more percussive beat will be what gives her the required edge.

Sadly, this tribal tinkering she talks of still needs to find the foreground, but her blend of common pop and all it’s structural strengths, with this authentic, atypical ingredient certainly has potential. With each new demo that appears she seems to ride along more confidently and subsequently creates more intricate and attractive performances. Like all of the truly special female pop artists, past or present, the comparisons with others off the lengthy production line is actually irrelevant, for we know they always break the mould when it comes to genuine talent. (MB)

Find her here: Myspace

Hear her here: YADI – RUSSIAN LOVE

Hear her here: YADI – GUILLOTINE

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Published: July 6th, 2010
Author: The Recommender
Category: The Recommender
Tags: Adele, Alison Goldfrapp, Duffy, Eddie Reader, Ellie Goulding, Eskimo Twins, Guillotine, Hella Cholla, La Roux, Little Boots, Marina & The Diamonds, Russian Love, Tahita Bulmer, Yadi

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 83 – CLASS ACTRESS

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As the ripples from March’s SXSW festival continue to throw bands to this side of the pond we carry on holding out our net in the hope of catching onto some exciting discoveries. Swimming into view (OK that’s enough water-based analogies – Ed) are this fresh trio from Brooklyn. 2010 is looking like it already belongs to this corner of New York, seeing as it’s pretty much single-handedly set about shaping it. Could that Borough’s buzz get any louder!? This latest band consist of two producers, Scott Rosenthal and Mark Richardson, fiddling with their knobs behind the vocal seductress that is Elizabeth Harper. It seems the current set up has very much evolved from the efforts of Elizabeth, who worked as a solo artist prior to this trinity. She continues to be the main creative element, writing the music and enjoying the front of stage. The slow-paced electro pop sound will remind you of the disco-ballgames that The Golden Filter punted around over the last couple of years and Goldfrapp before them. Thumping beats, handclaps and a whirlwind of synths are penetrated by the lush vocals, but it never gets too ostentatious, preferring to gently massage your neo cortex, rather than force it like some kind of buzzing vibrator to the brain. Their five track EP, Journal Of Ardency, was out in February on Terrible Records, (the label recently started up by Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear), and it contains the astonishing hit, Careful What You Say (listed below). We also hand out the clunky, but still remarkable, Class Actress mashup that The Hood Internet created when they fused them with Dr Dre’s 1993 hit Nothin but a G Thang. Mashups aren’t normally something we get into, but this made us smile broadly, so we wanted to share it. Recently you may have seen Class Actress Stateside supporting the likes of Yeasayer, Little Boots and current Recommender favourites Phantogram. We will try and get them to play the UK at some point this year, once they reach the front of the Recommender’s lengthy, Brooklyn-dominated queue. (MB)