Pet Sounds #1

I’m sitting in my mobile office, AKA the Oxford Tube, en route to London for a day of meetings, drinking and giging. The bus isn’t my friend this morning. The often-disappointing wireless internet is refusing to connect (at least it’s consistent), the lady in front is insisting on tilting her seat back into my knees and the man a few rows in front with the gravity-defying hair is laughing louder than I’d like him to right now. To make things worse I’m nursing a Tesco Value vodka hangover and am only four hours of sleep richer than I was this time yesterday. Thankfully Apple have my back. My iPod. My salvation.

Here are five bands/artists who have received their fair share of headphone time recently, not to mention keeping my aching head from exploding all over these grubby windows.

Kevin Devine
I must admit to being a late arrival in the Kevin Devine camp. I’ve been aware of the man for years, both for his solo work and also his influential emo band, Miracle of ’86, but it was only the latter stages of 2008 when I finally stood up and took notice. Perfectly filling the gap currently left unattended by Brand New, Kevin’s music will please Bright Eyes fans as well as it will Dashboard Confessional disciples with it’s beautiful melodies, intelligent lyrics and a youthful maturity many will never reach. Forthcoming album, Brothers Blood, is an absolute gem and deserves to see the Brooklyn troubadour take the world by the scruff of the neck upon its release this Spring. Oh and he has good initials, too.
www.myspace.com/kevindevine

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Jaydiohead
And now for something completely different. These ingenius Jay-Z vs Radiohead mash-ups (the clue’s in the name) swept around the “blogosphere” recently and were rightly marvelled by fans and critics alike. Taking the rap kings clever rhymes and the brilliant music of Oxford’s finest; it’s a winner right from the word go. ‘No Karma’ is the ballad Mike Skinner could only dream of and ‘Dirt Off Your Android’ is the perfect soundtrack for my inner gangster and his hard-knock life.
Download the album for free at www.jaydiohead.com

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Heathers
A new entry at number three, a friend recently told me about this Irish duo and it’s been difficult to dislodge their catchy little songs from my head ever since. 18 year old female twins from Dublin is more commonly a concept for a Gaelic porno than it is a band (I guess, wouldn’t know for sure though, honest!), but with accents like these it almost ticks both boxes. Recent US tour supports to Ghostmice, any fellow B*Witched fans missing their fill of Irish pop will be (river)dancing in the streets when they hear ‘Remember When’. www.myspace.com/heatherswhatsyourdamage

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Copy Haho
Alright so I’m biased here but seriously, what a band! Bigger hooks than Peter Pan’s nemesis and Buster Bluth combined, I guess when you come from a remote Scottish town like Stonehaven your time is little better spent than writing some of the best indie pop songs of recent times. This lot could be huge, so long as their record label pull their fingers out. Oh, wait…

mp3:> Copy Haho: ‘Pulling Pushups’

www.myspace.com/copyhaho

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Mortzo
There’s nothing about this ex-Grange Hill come, erm, “interesting”(!) songwriter that I haven’t already said here. A picture speaks a million words, a video says it all.

www.myspace.com/desolateicon

Who’s occupying your stereo right now?