FTC Discovery Round-Ups

Midnight Spin




Midnight Spin are a great band that bring back what made college rock important a couple of decades ago, part indie rock, part a battle between old/new school emo, really catchy rock songs stuffed with hooks. Energetically driven (although terribly titled) "Through the Mojo Wire" is a must listen for those who enjoy high energy radio-friendly pop rock.

http://www.myspace.com/midnightspin

SAADI

Saadi can steal your soul after one song, with a voice that can make you stop in the middle of a motorway along the same lines of everyone's favourite canadian princess Emily Haines with a street cred MC Edge (no rap here though folks). Her tunes are electic, one a guitar ballad, another encorporating a lively world beat closer to Imogen Heap's Frou Frou project with piled on harmonies part of the puzzle

http://www.myspace.com/saadinyc

Sean Walsh & The National Reserve

I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan this is no suprise or secret to anyone who knows me personally, I own every record/live record/rareties/best of/dvd/video and a couple of t-shirts. As a result I like anything that sounds like Bruce, Gaslight Anthem, Hold Steady, Lucero, on the other hand I hate all cover versions of Bruce Springsteen (even the ones done by aforementioned bands), so as an uber fan (and probably amongst the youngest, I'm 23) I am still very critical of people that call the boss a influence. Sean Walsh calls Bruce an influence and while there are a few musical cues to New Jersey's number one son, the real connection is in the honesty and personal storytelling elements to his songs, which do bring him closer to Jesse Malin more so than the boss.
Sean Walsh & The National Reserve have already played with Dr. Dog and Vampire Weekend and self-released an album "Homesick" and his music is already self assured and warm that beyond his inspirations is a young artist with rich songs worthy of your time and attention

www.myspace.com/seanwalshmusic

Kidstreet

Kidstreet are a sibling threesome from Waterloo, Ontario who make dance pop with a striking female vocal, "Grow Up" is the most striking example of their current canon, recalling mid 90s girl fronted electro pop with naive although strikly frank lyrics "I don't want to grow up, but being young ain't that great I'm sure that you can relate to..." is the peter pan role call of 2010. Although still a way to go to humanize their poppy anthems to a wider audience, keep your eyes out for these three. (Great remix of Caribou's standout track Sun on their myspace too)

www.myspace.com/kidstreet

The Travelling Band

The Travelling Band are from Manchester, UK so it puts me to shame that I hear about them whilst in New York. Big English pop with group vocals, great orchestration and some anthemic bridges that could easily out heart a lot of current critic and audience darlings.

www.thetravellingband.com

Street Chant

For Fans of more simplistic scuzzy punk rock, look no further, great rock and roll riffs, some great male/female call and response vocals, fresh from Auckland, New Zealand, and let's face it there are simply not enough bands from New Zealand getting any sort of international exposure. For Fans of The Thermals, Screaming Females and a rocking good time with plenty of sing-a-long indie rock harmonies! I think you'll like this @buyyourself

www.myspace.com/streetchant

Telenovelas

Telenovelas are from Brooklyn, New York (my current holiday spot) and I couldn't tell you anymore about them (as I missed them to see the above) but their music is shoegazey thrashy surf pop, and their three songs on myspace/bandcamp are what is good and pure about hazey guitar screaming lo-fi lazy creep pop in 2010. Supposedly they are great live too!

http://www.myspace.com/telenovelasnyc

Hazard Adams

Hazard Adams is good time rock and roll often drifting into country and americana, based in Boston, MA their solid guitar based pop songs with a raw and unnerving vocal performances and some good feelin' percussion, "Golden Oldies" is the ideal party music for a college dock party with a side of whiskey and a glance at the mainstream.

http://www.myspace.com/hazardadams