Dizzee Rascal is back!
Dizzee Rascal
London rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal returns to the FIB after his hugely successful 2010 appearance. Dylan Kwabena Mills released his first album ‘Boy in da Corner’ in 2003, quickly reaching top spots on British charts and receiving a Mercury Prize at 19 years of age. That was the beginning of an ever ascending career centered on UK Garage, making him one of the most reputed MCs in the UK. Rascal admits to influences that range from Old Skool Hip Hip to Jungle, with a stop at Heavy Metal.
Since 2003 he has released another three albums, the latest ‘Tongue ‘N’ Cheek’ (2009) contains a noteworthy collaboration with Calvin Harris in the songs ‘Danve wiv Me’ and ‘Holiday’, both of which have a clear pop vocation.
Nevertheless, and when it seemed Rascal was going totally mainstream -remember Shakira- the king of grime has just released the free mixtape ‘DirteeTV.com’ which takes us back to his most radical and primary side. His overwhelming presence will shine again at FIB 2012, Benicàssim.
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Kurt Vile was born in 1980 in Lansdowne, a suburb of Philadelphia. His father, a bluegrass fan, introduced him to music through the banjo. Vile also learned to play guitar, began composing material with strong influences from Bob Dylan, and discovered the pleasures of recording at home.
At the same time he began to work with guitarist Adam Ganduciel on a parallel project they decided to call The War on Drugs and which became notorious before Vile’s own solo career.
‘Constant Hitmaker’ (2008) and ‘God is Saying This to You’ (2009) are the titles of his first two albums. With these two works under his belt he started touring, sometimes on his own, sometimes in the company of The Violators and that got him noticed by the prestigious label Matador. ‘Childish Prodigy’ (2009), his first album at Matador, and ‘Smoke Ring for My Halo’ (2011) have taken him one step closer to American underground aristocracy.
Joe Crepúsculo
‘En el caldero’ will be the title of his new album, his fifth taking into account ‘Nuevo ritmo’ –re-recorded songs that belonged to his first two works ‘Supercrepus’ and ‘Escuela de Zebras’-. At the dawn of the new century, the young Joe Crepúsculo –Joël Iriarte- began to stand out both for his unique melodic talent and for his absolute lack of prejudices.
A friend of karaoke and general musical gadgetry, Crepúsculo has revealed himself as a composer of songs that linger between the surreal and the sensitive, with a special knack for cooking up agile, lively melodies sustained on bases and instrumentation that are lo-fi only in appearance.
Critical acclaim was immediate, and it was soon followed by the audience. Up to now, his record is immaculate.
Disappears
It would be unfair to define Disappears as Steve Shelley’s -Sonic Youth- band just because he’s the best know of his members. In fact he’s the been the last to join, right after the release of the group’s second album, ‘Guilder’ (2011).
The band from Chicago took off when Brian Case took a break from his other projects, namely The Ponys and The 90 Day Men. With strong influences from Can -and krautrock in general-, psychodelia and garage, they published their first album ‘Lux’ in 2012.
March 2012 will see the release of their third album, ‘Pre-language’, the first one with Steve at the drums. This work has been recorded at the Echo Canyon studio in Hoboken, which belongs to Sonic Youth.
Maverick Sabre
At the beginning of 2011, Professor Green released his single ‘Jungle’, where he shared the vocals with a Maverick Sabre, a barely 20 year old guy from London with a magnificent voice. In march Sabre made his solo debut with the EP ‘The Lost Words’ which set him on the path of success and recognition from Jools Holland and his ‘Later’ amongst others.
Fast-forward one year and his first album ‘Lonely Are the Brave’ has been released. Urban and folk under the shadow of Finley Quayle
Todd Terje
Norwegian born Todd Terje -Terje Olsen- follows Prins Thomas and Linstrom’s premises and mixes dub, synth pop, techno, house and disco producing a concoction of lysergic cosmic disco landscapes, dub madness and electronic mantras.
Disciple of the purest scandinavian style, Terje began to stand out with the help of the aforementioned Prins Thomas and Hans-Peter Linstrom at the beginning of the noughties. Champion of cosmic disco for the past five years, his latest work ‘It´s the Arps’ (2012) follows new and equally interesting courses, such as kraut and prog in the search for new paths for his compositions and high-intensity themes.
Howler
America’s new teen pop-rock sensation hails from the State of the ten thousand lakes, Minnesota. More specifically, form Minneapolis. With an average age of less than 20 years, Jordan Gatesmith’s (guitar and vocals) band oozes freshness from head to toe. Infectious tunes, fuzz and reverb from their Mosrites and a desire to take the world by storm have taken them straight to Rough Trade Records for their debut.
‘America Give Up’ (2012) is the title of their first album which includes smash hits like ‘Told You Once’ or ‘Back Of Your Neck’. They have immediately been compared to The Strokes, although Casablancas’ lot never had the insolence of this band from Minneapolis
