seasons greetings

just want to say happy holidays and hope that everyone has a great time. to help you get all festive heres a few tracks that should help.

last christmas - erlend Øye (mp3)

sister winter - sufjan stevens (mp3)

balkan lowrider anthem - alaska in winter (mp3)

wish it could be christmas everyday - wizzard (mp3)

so that was 2009 - the albums

it's that time of the year, where we briefly glance back over our shoulders and take a look at some of the musical highlights of the last 12 months. so to kick things off heres the albums that shaped the last year for ilovepie.

1. little boots - hands (itunes) (mp3)

2. sneaky sound system - sneaky sound system (itunes)

3. frankmusik - complete me (itunes) (mp3)

4. la roux - la roux (itunes) (mp3)

5. lady gaga - the fame monster (itunes)

6. patrick wolf - the bachelor (itunes)

7. pet shop boys - yes (itunes)

8. cassette's won't listen - into the hillside (itunes)

9. passion pit - manners (itunes) (mp3)

10. girls - album (itunes)

watch music videos from all the above on pieTV here.

marina hits the road

marina and the diamonds have just announced a load of new tour dates for the new year dates at the end of the post. aswell as a new single. 'hollywood' is due to be released on the 1st of february (if marina's peeps are reading, advance listen would be cool) and follows up on 'mowgli's road'. will get the pre-order link up here as soon as i can.

marina and the diamonds tour dates

january

26 london, mtv 10 for '10 @ dingwalls


29 london, new to Q @ the tabernacle, notting hill

febraury

14 norwich, arts centre


15 brighton, audio


17 nottingham, bodeg


18 newcastle, digital 


19 glasgow, oran mór 


21 manchester, deaf Institute

22 bristol, cooler 


23 london, bush hall

newbie of the week : name the pet

this weeks newbie is, swedish electro pop princess ... name the pet. full frontal electro pop is the order of the day, with a heavy helping of rnb. with a vocal reminiscent of saint etienne's, sarah cracknell. she's already worked with the likes of the sound of arrows and has been recording for doleres/emi. so expect massive things from this one. oh and go give name the pet some myspace loveing you'll not regret it.

club kid - name the pet (mp3) (itunes)

american boys (i always wanted a pony version) - name the pet (mp3) (itunes)

from russia with electro love

russia ... mainly famous for it's vodka, slightly less than road worthy cars and tetris. not the place that springs to mind when you think glittery, electro pop. well cast them aspersions aside, and say hello to xuman. xuman's sound can best be described as gran turismo, glitter disco pop with guitars. his new single 'panic' features on the upcoming compilation 'tales', which is the first release from xuman records, which if they keep this up could be my new fave label.

panic - xuman (mp3)

don diablo ... does he ever sleep ??

don diablo is the dj that just keeps on giving. not only is he about to embark on a north american tour, he's also been busy remixing a tracks again. this time it's 'salvation' by the scanners ... no i haven't heard of them either :? don't let that put you off, it's a 'monster' of a track, with guitar licks and hard basslines a sunder. the 'salvation' remix EP is out today, catch it on beatport.

salvation (don diablo remix) - scanners (mp3)

top secret

camp pop doesn't get enough radio air play. well not until now anyway. lately scott mills from radio 1 has been playing private's 'my secret lover'. now yes i know it's been knocking around the blog-o-sphere for ages, but it's still sounding just as cool as it did when i first heard it. anyway now that mr mills has played it i thought i'd hop on the band wagon thats no doubt about to start rolling.

my secret lover - private (mp3)

my secret lover (starsmith remix) - private (mp3)

frankmusik unplugged

frankmusik's new acoustic version of his debut album complete me, is out now. 'completely me' features tracks from his original debut album, but performed by frankmusik, unplugged. get the album now from itunes and all the other places you can find music.

completely me - frankmusik (itunes)

awesome christmas

what do you get, when you take a load of indie artists and combine them with a christmas charity record. well heres the answer. 'the magic of christmas' features los campesinos!, sky larkin, sound of arrows, james yuill and more. it's out on the 14th december and all proceeds are gonna go to the RSPCA ... which is nice. so don you santa hats and all together now ... chrisstmasss !!!!

xbox reverb

xbox have a interesting new project, called reverb. it's allowing fans to directly interact with artists, with the aim of staging a gig. the final gig is been held at colchester arts centre on 8th december, headlining act is esser, with support from local boys the magistrates and manc indie band egyptian hip hop. your not to late to get free tickets, just head on over to the reverb facebook page to register.

headlock - esser (mp3)

london love affair

'i love london' by the crystal fighters has been floating around the web for ages now, but it's finally been released as a single by kitsune. cowbell at the ready people ...

i love london - crystal fighters (mp3) (itunes)

i love london (80kidz remix) - crystal fighters (mp3)

i love ldn (the slips extended rmx) - crystal fighters (mp3)

hidden gem

just found a random slice of musical goodness hidden away in my itunes. it's a remix/cover of passion pit's 'sleepyhead' performed by ellie goulding and starsmith. this cover takes the original and gives it a much more upbeat and sparkly feel. enjoy.

sleephead (starsmith remix feat. ellie goulding) - passion pit (mp3)