Amber Davis – Light Years

I am loving this song, and starting to love Amber Davis more and more each time I listen her records.  Being from the Philippines, Amber is not a singer we hear much about (if at all) over in the UK.  More fool us, because her R&B Pop is up there, if not better than the majority of music in the charts (and beyond) at the moment.  Light Years is a slightly electro-R&B record, without the cliche of a David Harris collabo and all the heart and promise of what we sorely miss about R&B.

Great work on the song, hope it helps her to breakthrough over here, the radios will be all the better for it!

Siberia – Where The Fence Is Low

Fancy an Ellie Goulding clone?  Thought not.  Well I’m gonna shove one in your face anyway.  Roll-Up Siberia to fill the void while Ellie is taking a break, trying to crack The States, recording a new album, fighting on the front line in Afghanistan or whatever she is doing.

So what if Siberia looks like Ellie with black hair? So what if the album sounds like an edgy version of Lights, in many ways Lights needed a little less polish.  Fence Is Low is what Ellie would have sounded like with a little less super-shine long-lasting lip gloss, and a bit more grime and mud in her nails… ya know what, it sounds pretty good with the extra dirt thrown in.

Phlo Finister – Bang Bang

Mixtapes are no longer the way of the future, they are an essential part of the new R&B/Hip-Hop (I refuse to use the “U” word) artists repertoire.  Not having a mixtape would be like jumping on the tube without an Oyster.  You could do it, but it’d cost you an arm and leg

Bang Bang! takes Mobb Deep’s classic Shook Ones Part II beat, and mixes it with the “made famous by Tarrantino” lyrics of Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang!  The outcome is a mysterious record; the thumping hip-hop driven beat is offset by vocals that float.  Each “Bang, Bang” lingering for a little longer, looking for a space to fill amongst the razor sharp, head nodding beat.  It makes for a cocktail of hip-hop and beauty that I’m starting to really like.  Plus, any video that features said artist on an escalator while reading the Evening Standard wins in my book… keep winning Phlo!

Betty Wright & The Roots feat. Lil’ Wayne – Grapes on a Vine

OK, I am loving this record, and praying there is a Betty Wright album coming along somewhere, somehow.  Man this is a special record.  The rolling soul, that fills your headphones with warmth and colour (yes, even on my £3 TK-Maxx work headphones!).  Then, as the chorus hits, the lead guitars rock out and boom, we have a great record.

Only downner is Lil’ Wayne.  Probably on the record so that it gets noticed… two problems with that.  a) he sounds really out of place, and b) everyone does a record with Lil’ Wayne!  Not much of a USP these days!

Grapes on a vine don’t always make sweet wine… true.  Betty Wright can sure make one sweet record though!  So, so, so looking forward to hearing more!

Rob