Underage Festival
After the repeated success of the greatest event of the summer, Underage Festival returns to bring seasonal cheer to a no-adults crowd at the Scala during the short, dark days of December for an Underage Festival Christmas Special, its first indoor extravaganza.
Underage collaborators CONVERSE host the main stage and it features the hottest line up around. Not to be out done in any way, shape or form ARTROCKER have lovingly cherry picked the best in underground music for the NEW BLOOD stage.
This room is dedicated to the NEW BLOOD section of Artrocker Magazine, which is supported by Conversemusic.co.uk and pushes the newest and freshest talent in the biggest way possible. This includes interviews in the magazine, FREE MP3 downloads on conversemusic.co.uk and Live events such as this with NEW BLOOD bands.
Bowling on to the scene a few years ago as one of the most hotly tipped new electronic artists, METRONOMY’S new album Nights Out has been received to great acclaim, credible creators of great electro-pop.
Their distinctive production sound is rich in melody and has a well-developed pop-sensibility. They write instrumental-electro-pop where the guitars, melodies and accordions sing the tunes. With inspiration from just about every corner of pop counterculture, their sound is both familiar and totally fresh. Metronomy bring something a bit special to the discount-disco low-fi scene while charming the new-new wave rock / pop crowd.
Taking all the enchanting attributes of Echo and the Bunnymen and the rumbling bass of Joy Division, London four-piece WHITE LIES could well be the best band you've never heard. So epic is the sound they create, death's foreboding of fear is almost entirely dissolved by the gliding vocals and dream-like bass carrying throughout.
DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP have become the new faces of 'outsider pop'. Visually they defy any prefab industry model. Their towering structures of Casio enthused electro-hip-pop are alien to the conventions of radio programming. Their lyrics even dare to ask questions of themselves and the listener. Combining the unique delivery style of SCROOBIUS PIP and the industrial and conversely elegant electro and hip-hop grooves of DAN LE SAC they are one of the most interesting acts around right now.
GOLDEN SILVERS make minimal, engaging 80's music with sharp keys and catchy choruses. Led by Gwilym Gold, with Ben Moorhouse on bass and Alexis Nunez on drums, Golden Silvers are THE band that London is talking about.
THE MYSTERY JETS have not only featured a father and son in the band and cite King Crimson and Syd Barrett as influences, they also hail from that legendary bastion of bohemia on the Thames, Eel Pie Island: a place that gave birth to the musical careers of The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd among others.
Sheffield quintet ROLO TOMASSI affect a perfect balance between unhinged noise and unexpectedly beautiful atmospherics. Theirs is a sound which is visceral, acerbic, fiery, convulsive, combustive.
Last but by no means least, TOMMY SPARKS showcases his unique sound that has often been described as a reflection of social life and a critique on human relationships.
The NEW BLOOD room this year takes on the darker side of xmas with KASMS (Rory Test Icicles new band who are ripping the country apart) TELEVISED CRIMEWAVE (one of the best band of 2008 feat. former Black Wire members) AN EXPERIMENT ON A BIRD IN AN AIR PUMP (top notch goth post punk) & EX LION TAMERS (recent winners of Artrocker Unsigned comp). CHEEKY CHEEKY & THE NOSEBLEEDS also play to shine a torch through the dark side of the room.