Video: Heavy Sea - Thom Cross

Full disclosure: The Thom Cross lead singer is a personal friend, but still, this video and debut single are pretty strong. There's a big Bowie vibe to the song and you can consider my emotions amped...

The video for Heavy Sea was created by WHAM BAM in Melbourne.

You can grab the single on iTunes.

Stream: Massive (KRTS RMX) - Fem Fel X PBJ

This remix of Massive by Fem Fel X PBJ from KRTS is all kinds of nice. I've been following KRTS since his excellent album The Dread Of An Unknown Evil and he continues to deliver the goods.

If you don't already know it, the original track is also worth checking out, the loose feel of KRTS' mix really adds a contrast to this.

Video for FEM FEL X PBJ - 'Massive' "re-uploaded version" Taken from the 'Left of Centre' EP - Released through Invader Music Nov 25th 2013 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/left-of-centre-ep/id733158468 @FEMFEL https://www.facebook.com/femfel?fref=ts WWW.INVADERMUSIC.COM

Video: Heart & Soul - James Wolf

Directed by Chloe Hayward // Get the Heart & Soul EP 10.02.14 // See James Wolf LIVE at the Notting Hill Arts Club: 12.02.14 Tix: http://bit.ly/1lmE679 ** www.iamjameswolf.com ** https://www.facebook.com/iamjameswolf https://twitter.com/IamJamesWolf

Heart & Soul feels a little too obvious in some ways... Nu disco / house painted a little by numbers perhaps, but there's no denying it's catchy as hell. Heart & Soul is produced by Tom Neville, whose credits include Kelis and Ellie Goulding - and you can feel his influence all over this track.

D/R/U/G/S was responsible for one of my favourite tracks of last year and here he provides a remix of Heart & Soul that pitches down the vocals to create something a little more moody and smokey:

Hearts & Soul is out on Monday through Herculean Records.

2014 Hype: Realize You - Empress Of

It seems almost impossible to get any information about Empress Of, which is kind of ridiculous because despite her aloof approach to PR she is screaming for some cross-over success. With slinky indie sass meets snappy synth pop melodies it's hard to figure how you could not love every one of the handful of tracks Lorely Rodriguez has put out as Empress Of.

Rodriguez is Brooklyn based and appears to divide her singing between English and Spanish, with her Systems EP featuring two tracks in each language. That EP is good - Hat Trick being a particular highlight. But the track that has me most excited and caught my attention in the first place is the the single she released towards the end of last year, Realize You. There's a high-art angle to all of this - a sort of synesthesia that comes from Rodriguez's experiments with colour, as explained on Dazed Digital last year when they interviewed her.

Realize You is a beautifully slinky yet stumbling and obsessive record. Soft bubbling electronic melodies and those gorgeous slightly Germanic, slightly techno drums. It is Rodriguez's vocals that steal the show though, her obsession shining through, scary yet alluring: I want to be your boyfriend / and I want to be your girlfriend / and I want to take you there / and I want to watch you do it.

Check out Hat Trick below:

There is also quite a bit more on the Empress Of Soundcloud page and a rather surreal video for Champagne:

7" available here: http://no-re.co/rdings http://empressof.me Written and recorded by Lorely Rodriguez in New York, NY. Mixed by Patrick Canaday in Atlanta, GA. Mastered by Joe Lambert in Brooklyn, NY. Pressed to 250 seven-inch records in San Francisco, CA. Released by No Recordings on November 5, 2012. Directed and edited by Samuel Morris Hamad.

This is probably the last in my series of posts on artists I'm tipping for big things in 2014. You can read the rest here and check out my Spotify playlist containing some of the bands best songs (and some bands I haven't had time to cover) here.

2014 Hype / Stream: Brain - Banks

I'm already about 57% in love with Banks, and I barely know anything about her. Born and based in LA she started to gain attention last year when she toured in support of The Weeknd and released a couple of pretty stunning EPs last year. Her sound isn't a million miles from The Weeknd's, but definitely benefits form Banks' femininity - this is rough edged indie R&B and I can't wait for an album. It doesn't hurt matters that just looking at her makes my eyes hurt.

All of Banks' material to date has been pretty stellar but her latest track Brain, produced by Shlomo, kind of blows them away:

Whilst you are here, check out Warm Water and This Is What It Feels Like:

Written by Banks. Prod. by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. https://www.facebook.com/hernameisbanks http://twitter.com/hernameisbanks http://soundcloud.com/banksbanksbanks http://www.hernameisbanks.com https://www.facebook.com/totallyenormousextinctdinosaurs https://twitter.com/TEEDinosaurs https://soundcloud.com/t-e-e-d http://totallyenormousextinctdinosaurs.tumblr.com/ Out Now on GOOD YEARS RECORDINGS: SPOTIFY: http://open.spotify.com/track/5ytd0G5I1FsPsmrdLxqKJt iTunes US: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/warm-water-single/id641823481 iTunes UK: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/warm-water-single/id641823481 https://www.facebook.com/goodyearsldn Shot by Dylan Knight - http://dylanknight.com/

You Should Subscribe Here Now: http://bit.ly/VErZkw Understatement is a greatly underutilized tool and BANKS knows its power. Noisey's first taste of BANKS' minimalist mastery came at the top of this year with "Before I Ever Met You." Raw, sultry, and seductively delivered, it marked LA-born BANKS out as an intriguing talent.

Don't forget to check out the rest of my 2014 hype here, and listen to the Spotify playlist here.