11 Artists & Albums you may not of heard of but you need to listen to!

This list brings you albums that go back as far as 2006, they have been the ones that have got me through the good times and the bad. They are all albums that you need to listen to from start to finish to appreciate them!

Hope you enjoy the MTN list of “11 Albums/Artists you may not have heard of, but you need to listen to!”

Urban Cone – Our Youth

A fantastic album with some great tracks that you can listen to over and over again. My favourite tracks on the album has got to be “Urban Photograph” & “We Should Go to France”. These are the first two tracks that got me into the band’s music and I am glad, because they are brilliant!

A bit about Urban Cone; they are a new wave, pop punk band from Stockholm, Sweden who found their success with the track “Urban Photograph” in 2010. They released their first album “Our Youth” (The album you need to listen to) in 2013, which consisted of 14 tracks.

They released a new album called Polaroid Memories in May this year and again this is a great album, but in my opinion their first one is the better of the two so far! In the past few years they have been collaborating with some of the big names in the EDM scene such as, Porter Robinson and John Dahlbäck.

Check out "Urban Photograph" below:

Seth Lakeman - Freedom Fields

Seth Lakeman is a lyricial genius, all of his songs especially on “Freedom Fields” are mainly written based on true stories from the past. The best tracks on the album in my opinion are “Lady of The Sea” & “The Rifleman of War”. Of course though we want you to listen to this album, enjoy the music and find your own favourites!

Freedom Fields was Seth Lakeman’s third studio album and was brought out in 2006 twice in fact, under iScream Records and then again later on in the same year with a few new bonus tracks by Relentless Records. I really do love this album,

The Lakeman Brothers band is where it all started for Seth in 1994, with his brothers Sean & Sam who together released their debut album that same year called “Three Piece Suit”. Towards the end of 1994 the three brothers joined a group called “Equation” with fellow musicians Kathryn Roberts & Kate Rusby, of which they released three studio albums in 1996, 1998 & 2000.

In 2001 Seth left Equation and decided to go solo and start writing his own material, with help from his elder brother Sean producing his first four albums.

Seth’s latest album “Word of Mouth” was released last year and I cannot believe it but I haven’t listened to it yet! Definitely the next album on my list to listen to!

Check out "Lady of the Sea" below:

Art vs Science - The Experiment

This trio of talented musicians produce a mix of electro house & dance punk which gives them their very unique sound and I must say I really do love the weird and wonderful sound of Art vs Science! Hailing from down under in the city of Sydney, where they formed in 2008.

Over the past 9 years as a trio they have released numerous EP’s, but more importantly in 2011 was the year they brought out “The Experiment” which is an album that draws you in from start to finish. The most memorable track for myself on the album is “A.I.M Fire!” it just makes me want to get up and dance around every time I hear it!

In March 2010 Art vs Science toured with synth-pop act La Roux and then Groove Armada in May the same year. So they have toured with some of the big guns in the UK music scene as well as taking over Australia with their wacky yet brilliant tunes.

I am really looking forward to their new EP/Album , which they are currently working on to come out and I will keep you informed if you are a fan when that will be!

Check out A.I.M Fire! Below:

Andy Burrows - Company

Some of you may already know Andy Burrows as the former drummer of Indie/Rock band Razorlight and current drummer of Indie/Rock trio We Are Scientists.

What you may not know is that Andy started a band in 2009 called I Am Arrows of which he is still part of. In 2010 they supported music giants Muse at Wembley stadium and they have recently confirmed their first UK tour.

Anyway, enough about that. The album called Company is the second solo album that Andy has produced with help from Tim Baxter and has some tracks that you just have to listen to, including “Hometown” & “Keep Moving On”. It is a total and utter masterpiece, he is one heck of a lyricist and I am looking forward to his new material with I Am Arrows and his solo stuff!

He has in fact recently brought out his latest album in 2014 called “Fall Together Again” which again is a great album that needs to be listened to!

Check out "Keep Moving On" below:

Beat Union Disconnected

This band may not have been one of the big guns in the pop punk world but for me after seeing them live supporting good charlotte when I was younger, I got hooked on their album Disconnected.

For myself this was one of the albums that made me love the pop punk genre to this day, so thank you Beat Union! Every song on the album, especially “My Heart Starts Beating” & “Can’t Stop the Radio” really do call out to the pop punk lovers of this world! For me this album takes me into another world when I listen to it and everything else around me is blocked out!

All of the members of Beat Union since their split in 2009 have gone on to bigger and better things, with a couple of the band members becoming part of punk rock band “The King Blues”. Another one of the members Luke Johnson joined new super group “No Devotion” at the beginning of last year but left and at beginning of this year to concentrate on his solo career. Of which you can hear on his Soundcloud page.

Check out "Can't Stop the Radio" below:

City Sleeps Not an Angel

Post Hardcore Quintet City Sleeps formed in 2005 after changing their name from Smugface and type of genre the played which was more Nu Metal sounding. I am glad they changed their style of music to be honest, because if they didn’t we would not have been blessed with the album “Not An Angel”, probably one of my favourite albums of all time.

I would like to tell you my favourite track on this album but it is damn near impossible because every single one of the tracks is brilliant. Ely Dye’s voice is just totally amazing, the range and power is insane! If I was forced to choose one track if I was faced with a life or death situation it would have to be “Ordinary High”, this is because it was the first track I heard by City Sleeps and it got me to loving every other track they produced on that album.

City Sleeps released their last album in 2013 called “Chariots and Riots” which consisted of unreleased b-sides and demos recorded from 2004 to 2007 with songs written for their album “Not An Angel” and more tracks.

One can only wish for some new music by City Sleeps, but I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon as I believe the band had a bit of a falling out. Then again, you say that but look at Blink 182, they got back together after a fall out, so you never know!

Check out "Ordinary High" below:

Mikill Pane Blame Miss Barclay

This guy is one heck of a “Dirty Rider” he lives “Life on the Line” from the “Rooftops” when it’s “Summer in the City”! That is my little story with names of a few of Mikill Pane’s tracks from his great album called “Blame Miss Barclay”.

For me, I think Mikill Pane may have been the artist that got me into the whole hip hop/rap genre in the first place. From the moment I heard his track “Dirty Rider” I was hooked and knew I had to listen to more of his tracks! Which brings me to talk about the album properly and why it is on this list.

Blame Miss Barclay has got to be my favourite Hip Hop/rap album that has ever been produced because it has comedy, honesty and passion from start to finish.

Most hip hop/ rap is usually a bit to gangstery* for my liking! So for myself there are two Hip Hop/Rap artists that I can listen to non-stop, one being Mikill Pane and the other one being Leicester based artist and a good friend of MTN’s Curtis Clacey who you can check out on SoundCloud. The reason behind my love for these two artists is that they both rap from the heart and a lot of people can relate to the lyrics!

I put a * next to gangstery as I know this is not a word but who cares! It is now part of the MTN Dictionary, which up to the moment of writing this I didn’t know existed!

Check out "Dirty Rider" below:

The Cab - Whisper War

The Cab are quite a well-known band within pop punk life as they have toured with bands such as Panic at the Disco, We The Kings, There for Tomorrow, Forever the Sickest Kids and many more! The band formed in early 2004 but didn’t get their rise to fame until early 2007 after releasing their first two EP’s “Drunk Love” & “Glitz & Glamour” the previous year. They have been published in the famous magazine Alternative Press in their section about “100 bands you need to know in 2008” and again the same in 2010. So compared to a lot of these bands/artists featured in this blog they are a bit better known.

Anyway, sorry I mumbled on a bit there! The album “Whisper War” was released in May 2008, which features Brendon Urie of Panic at The Disco and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy on their first single off the album “One of THOSE Nights”. Again it is quite a difficult decision to tell you my favourite song on this album as it is of course brilliant, otherwise I wouldn’t have put it on this list! Although if I had to choose two at a push they would have to be “I’ll Run” & “Vegas Skies”.

To finish off about The Cab, their latest EP “Lock Me Up” was released in April last year and according to sources they are still together minus Alex Marshall (Guitar & Piano as of April 2014). Let’s hope they bring out some more good tunes in the future, as they are definitely a band that I will keep up to date with.

Check out "I'll Run" below:

Walk Off The Earth - R.E.V.O

Where do I begin with Walk off the Earth? Well, for starters they have got to have the most fun ever shooting their music videos, as most of them are completely wacky and crazy along with a Chuck Norris lookalike in a few of them!

They did a cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” using only one guitar and all five of the band members playing a small part of hitting or strumming! It went viral in 2012, gathering just over 127 million views in four months. They have also covered songs such as, “Rude” by MAGIC! “Someone Like You” by Adele and many more famous tracks.

Although, Walk Off The Earth to me are not just a covers band but also a very talented originals band as well. If you haven’t already listened to their album called R.E.V.O then you are seriously missing out! It is just a fun album, great music from beginning to end. They have a very unique style to their music, it’s a mix between Indie, Alternative & Folk Rock and it really works! So get this album on your iPod and listen especially to “Red Hands” & “Gang of Rhythm”, guaranteed these will get your head bopping in no time at all!

Quick fact for you the album name R.E.V.O is an acronym for the bands motto, Realize Every Victory Outright.

Check out "Red Hands" below:

Jaymes Young Dark Star

Combine Alex Clare with Death Cab For Cutie and you get a very talented artist called Jaymes Young. His first EP was called Dark Star and it contains some brilliant EDM/Pop style tracks that get you off your chair dancing in the mirror (that might just be me)!

In 2013 Jaymes signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records and toured with the very talented indie rock group London Grammer. He was also featured on David Guetta’s track “I’ll Keep Loving You” alongside Birdy. His latest EP “Habits of My Heart” was released at the end of September last year and again is a very good album that you need to listen to!

I look forward to future EP’s and albums from Jaymes and hope you enjoy his music as much as I do!

Check out "Dark Star below:

Fenech Soler Rituals

I first heard of Fenech Soler when I heard them on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show, of which he was playing their first single“Stop and Stare” which is on their first album which is self-titled. The “Stop and Stare” singles proceeds all went to the Teenage Cancer Trust (What great guys)! To be honest with you it is usually the first album for me that is the one that gets me going, but I think they found their style in their second album “Rituals”. “In Our Blood”, “All I Know” and “Magnetic” I think are the best ones on the Rituals album, but to be fair they are all bloody good!

As for what they are doing next, I believe they are working on a new album for near future release, from what I can see on pictures on their social media sites, however this has not been confirmed.

Lastly, a quick fact for you. Fenech Soler’s band name comes Daniel’s full surname which is of a Maltese origin!

Check out "All I Know" below:

To finish with I will just say what you have got to do with this list. Get your Mp3 player….Got it? Good. Now get out your headphones, go for a run and just listen to these totally awesome bands/artists! ENJOY!

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