Oh hello, didn’t see you there reader, hope you’re well! Welcome to the third Found Of Confusion, the ONLY place in the WORLD you’ll see these great new bands getting a well deserved mention – they certainly wouldn’t, for example, be found on a weekly 6 music podcast freely available to all via ITunes, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar, A NO GOOD FILTHY ROTTEN LIAR!!! So let’s enjoy the fruits of my labour and get to it!
*mumbled* What do you mean my microphone was on....no don’t put it up on YouTube.....yes I know who Andy Gray is why?...
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While down the years ‘anybody’s for a fiver’ Liverpool has fluttered her false eye lashes at Detroit and suggestively unzipped her shell suit for New York, a genuine transatlantic love affair developed between the cities of Manchester and Chicago. This relationship certainly seems to have rubbed off on North West of England based producer STAR SLINGER, whose refreshing hip-hop beats owe more than a debt of gratitude to the sped up soul sample style innovated by Illinois’ favourite son Kanye West, (along with the late J.Dilla and 9th Wonder). That time spent digging in crates for old 45’s (or musty MP3’s!) has definitely paid off as Star Slinger fuses soul, funk, gospel - and anything else he can get his fingers on - into a harmonious blast of genre hopping fun . With beats such as ‘Extra Time’ and ‘Gimme’ crying out to be blessed by the top wordsmiths in hip-hop, surely collaborations and more remixes will be in the offing sooner rather than later.
Now we’ve all been in this situation haven’t we - he sits there docile, propped up against a tree munching some bamboo leaves and wondering why he’s not extinct yet, while we look on ‘awwwwing’ and knowing that the overwhelming urge to cuddle his black and white fur could result in us having our limbs ripped off – it’s the happy way us PANDAS AND PEOPLE co-exist! Fortunately the lads of the same name still have enough arms left intact to allow them to whip up a batch of great tunes for our enjoyment! Hailing from Redditch (nope I’ve never been either) this trio specialise in melodic indie rock which doffs its cap to the likes of Foals and The Electric Soft Parade. Having initially embraced Soundcloud as a means of sharing their demos with the public, the band are now enjoying the delights of a studio in Merseyside as they put the finishing touches on their debut long player. If tracks such as ‘Licking My Feet’ and ‘Hijamumpa’ make the transition to the final product, this will be an album worth raiding your piggy bank for. Stock up on the Bamboo folks, they could be around for some time!
Licking My Feet by Pandas and People
Moving on from the animal kingdom - hands up please, anyone planning on falling head over heels in love this summer? If you are then THE YOU AND ME ENSEMBLE have more than got your needs covered. In ‘See You’ they have magiced together the perfect soundtrack for your heart fluttering romantic dalliances in the sunshine. Surely destined to be coming to an advert near you any day now, this gorgeously simplistic melody skips along with an innocence and breezy air that warms the soul and swishes summer dresses, while trumpets add just the right amount of joyous exuberance to set off Kirsty London’s impassioned vocal. The project of multi instrumentalist Chris Read, this track is taken from last Octobers ‘Through The Forest And Into The Trees’ album, a record that has drawn favourable comparisons with Feist. There’s not much more to say about this one except sit back and enjoy it, but let’s leave the final word to the song itself ‘I can’t explain it, you’re just so amazing’ - I couldn’t have put it better myself
If your burgeoning relationship takes off, in the future you could find you and your beau creating music as special as that of New York duo WONDER BEAR. What makes this boyfriend/girlfriend combo’s work staggering however is that they’re both still only 16, THAT’S 16, years old! Their imaginative reinterpretation of the aforementioned Kanye West’s ‘Runaway’ single, along with 2009’s 4 track ‘Azul EP', displays enough creativity and craft to suggest a big future beckons for these teens. ‘Ghost’ encapsulates their sound perfectly, a slice of shimmering shoegaze tinged electronica washes beneath angelic vocals, not dissimilar to those of School Of Seven Bells’ Alejandra Deheza. The handful of songs they’ve offered up thus far simmer and tantalise, always hinting that something exhilarating is about to kick in, but slipping off before they outstay their welcome. With ample time on their side to hone their song writing skills, the potential for Wonder Bear is vast - watch this space.
Warning: Video Contains language some may find offensive.
If Wonder Bear plan to charm their way to world domination the name MOSCOW YOUTH CULT implies wholly different plans. This Stakhanovite bred Soviet elite squad will mobilise their T-34 tanks and march on our cities till the masses cower before them in fear saying, ‘please, you can take over our charts and radios but won’t you at least spare Simon Cowell’ ..... although actually they’re just some lads from Nottingham who sound a bit like Klaxons! They’ve got a new ‘MYC EP’ in the (efficiently constructed) pipe line and you never know this could trigger the re-birth of the not very memorable (and totally fictional) Nu-Rave movement –mind you I wouldn’t bet my Roubles on it.
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Star Slinger Bandcamp
Pandas And People Facebook
The You And Me Ensemble Myspace
Wonder Bear Bandcamp
Moscow Youth Cult Facebook
Should you so wish, you can read the same words but hear some different songs here
Management Note: On completion of this article The Found of Confusion Correspondent was removed from his position with the company due to gross misconduct. Should you wish to apply for his role you can do so via the comments box below or at the following places:
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