GHOSTPOET + ALT J

Whelanslive.com presents 2010 Mercury Music Prize nominee

GHOSTPOET

+ ALT J Migrated from the capital city of the West Midlands – Coventry – to the southerlyclimes of London, Ghostpoet looks set to make his mark on 2010. The softlyspoken 24 year-old has already won over BBC Radio 1’s foremost taste makerGilles Peterson and his Brownswood recordings with a handful of off-kilter,loopy electronic ditties blessed with his delightfully rambling musings onmodern life. Born and raised somewhere between London, Coventry, Nigeria andDominica, Obaro admits that his heritage is important to him, but that it hasn’tconsciously affected his musical career: “My parents enjoyed listening to musicaround the house but never really encouraged it as a career. I kind of pursuedlistening to various sounds late into the night when the house was asleep.” Don’tsleep on this young, inventive, British artist – he’s destined for greatness. …………. “With lullabies to hypnotise, this somnolent spirit is sleepwalking his way togreatness” The Guardian “(A voice that is) idiosyncratic. It has a quality of it’s own. Languid, laidback,pensive, wise and broken. Sad but hopeful at the same time.” Nobodydancenomore Recently migrated from the capital city of the West Midlands – Coventry – to thesoutherly climes of London, Ghostpoet looks set to make his mark on 2011. Thesoftly spoken 24 year-old has already won over BBC Radio 1’s foremost tastemakerGilles Peterson with a handful of off-kilter, loopy electronic ditties blessed with hisdelightfully rambling musings on modern life. Signing to Peterson’s BrownswoodRecordings imprint, a free EP entitled ‘The Sound Of Strangers’ sidled into the publicdomain in June 2010. Comprising four tracks, three original compositions blessedwith playful prose, one remix of A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Electric Relaxation (RelaxYourself Girl)’… and a feature from left-leaning pop mastermind Micachu, it hit ahungry online audience and earned Ghostpoet a coveted spot in The Guardian’sNew Band Of The Day feature as well as glowing recommendations from NME,CMJ, RCRDLBL, URB, Drowned In Sound and The Mercury Prize. Born and raised somewhere between London, Coventry, Nigeria and Dominica,Obaro admits that his heritage is important to him, but that it hasn’t consciouslyaffected his musical career: “My parents enjoyed listening to music around the housebut never really encouraged it as a career. I kind of pursued listening to varioussounds late into the night when the house was asleep.” And as for attempting topinpoint his tastes… it’s hard to gauge when his palette flips from Badly DrawnBoy’s ‘The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast’ (the first CD he ever bought) to the angulardynamics of the UK grime scene via Iggy Pop, Fela Kuti, Radiohead, MF Doomand Squarepusher. This was the music that captured his imagination at university,where Obaro was part of a grime collective: “One of the guys made the beats withReason, he taught me the basics and I kind of stumbled, bumbled and fumbled myway to the present.” ShowcasingGhostpoet’s loveably ramshackle, but hook-laden productions and his lazy baritone,‘Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam’ is a neat summation of the MC’s musicaljourney to date, but also an impressive statement of intent. Don’t sleep on this young,inventive, British MC – he’s destined for greatness.

ALT J

The quartet first entered our consciousness with their debut release of ‘Bloodflood’ / ‘Tessellate’ in October 2011. Released on 7” via Loud & Quiet, it sparked a wave of interest in their brilliantly unique and compelling sound. Radio support came through almost instantly from Radio 1’s Zane Lowe, Huw Stephens and Nick Grimshaw while the BBC Introducing team didn’t hesitate to get them booked in for a live session, which was broadcast on both Huw Stephens’ and Steve Lamaq’s shows. More recently they were selected to perform as part of Radio 1’s Festive Festival to showcase new, exciting acts for 2012 alongside Emeli Sande, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Jakwob, Dot Rotten and others. Previous artists to be given the same accolade have included Katy B, The Vaccines, Wretch 32, Plan B, Mumford & Sons, The xx, Florence & The Machine and Chase & Status. Now signed to Infectious Music for their debut album (due May), next up for alt-J is the release of two tracks that are sure to cement the early love shown to boys whilst also drawing in a wealth of new fans and supporters for 2012. ‘Matilda’ is a beautifully penned ode that gets under your skin and refuses to leave while ‘Fitzpleasure’ brings out the raw, inspiringly inventive side of the bands music. Two impactful pieces that illustrate the spectrum of their influences and forward thinking approach to music for the year ahead, both polished off with Joe’s brilliantly distinctive vocals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H75_ezNWQs4

TICKETS:

€17 available online from WAV Tickets [Lo-Call 1890 200 078]. (50c per ticket service charge applies on phone or creditcard bookings)