LoneLady

Julie Campbell, better known as LoneLady, is a musician from Manchester, England. Campbell graduated in Fine Arts and discovered that she hated being in bands before embarking on a solo career. Inspired by post-punk legacy of her hometown, as well as classic college rock of the '80s and early '90s, LoneLady began her forays into lo-fi art punk by making four-track recordings with her guitar and drum machine in 2004. Her first single, Hi Ho Bastard/Fear No More, was released by Filthy Home Records in summer 2005. That fall, LoneLady issued the Have No Past EP and began playing solo gigs around Manchester. Her first show outside of the area was a showcase at 2006's SXSW festival. In 2007, LoneLady connected with two musicians, Oid (drums) and China Tom (keys), and the project became a trio. The Army/Intuition single arrived early that year, just before another appearance at SXSW. That fall, LoneLady inaugurated Too Pure's singles club with Early Comes the Haste/Joy; released in a limited edition of 500 copies, it marked the band's first sessions in an official studio. LoneLady signed to Warp Records and released the limited-edition single Inmaterial before issuing her debut album Nerve Up in early 2010. This is her song "Intuition" off of the debut album.

www.lonelady.co.uk

Smelly Dog

Kings of Convenience

Kings of Convenience are an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway. Consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies. Øye and Bøe both compose and sing the songs. Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on November 21 and Bøe on October 25) and have known each other since they met while participating in a geography contest at the age of 10. At sixteen, they played together in the band Skog ("forest") with two other friends, releasing one EP, Tom Tids Tale, before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo. There first album (released 2001) was a great success and a remix album was released shortly afterward. After this breakthrough year, not much was heard from the band. Øye spent the next few years living in Berlin and doing solo material, releasing music under the DJ Kicks series as well as a solo album titled Unrest. He also has a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive. It was not until 2004 that the Kings' follow-up Riot on an Empty Street was released. Once again, the band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. It wasn't until 2009 that they released their 3rd album entitled Declaration of Dependence. This song is "Mrs. Cold" from that very album.

http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/

Smelly Dog

Dum Dum Girls

Dum Dum Girls are an indie pop band from California currently signed to Sub Pop Records. Their name is a homage to The Vaselines album Dum Dum and the Iggy Pop song "Dum Dum Boys". The group also cites The Ronettes, The Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Patti Smith, Spacemen 3, and Mazzy Star amongst their major influences. The current lineup consists of Dee-Dee (vocals/guitar), Jules (guitar/vocals), Bambi (bass/voclas), and Sandy (drums/vocals). Taking their name to the next level, each of the girls has "Dum Dum" tatooed on a finger. The band's sound and persona have likened them to "The Bangles mating with the Cure". This is "Jail La La" off their debut album I Will Be. A photo of Dee Dee's mother is what graces the cover of this album.

http://wearedumdumgirls.com

Smelly Dog

Fol Chen

Fol Chen is a musical group from Los Angeles, CA. They are signed with Asthmatic Kitty records. The current Members are Samuel Bing, Sinosa Loa, The Booksman, Gmo, Julian Wass, and Patrik-Ian Polk. The band has "maintained utmost secrecy from the start", and frontman Samuel Bing drew a black mask around his eyes for a performance on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in July 2009. The band wore Hamburgler eye makeup for their performance at SXSW in 2009 as well. The cover art for the two albums so far also features silhouettes, and the music video for the song No Wedding Cake features the theme of being masked by representing the band members as cartoon animals. I don't know much about the band, but you can see some live material on YouTube. This is the band's video for "Cable TV" from their debut album Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made.

http://asthmatickitty.com/fol-chen

Smelly Dog

Bonobo

Bonobo, the stage name of Simon Green (born March 30th, 1976), is a British musician, producer and DJ. Green has recorded and performed solo DJ sets under the name Barakas as well. Bonobo's first release was in October 1999 with the song "Terrapin" on the Tru Thoughts compilation When Shapes Join Together. He released his debut album Animal Magic on Tru Thoughts in 2000. With this album, completely self-produced and mainly self-instrumented, he became one of the "new downtempo pioneers" and his chilled, beat-driven music captivated press as well as many major labels. While often touring solo, and performing DJ sets, in 2004 Bonobo opted to follow the growing trend amongst electronic acts of playing with a full band. The band plays live renditions of studio material, with a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, string section, electronics, and drummer. Simon Green mainly plays bass guitar, and leads the band from the middle. This is the song "Flutter" from his 2nd album Dial 'M' for Monkey.

www.bonobomusic.com

Smelly Dog