[ArtistOTD] TC4

Artist: TC4

Genre: Experimental/Dubstep/Grime

Location: Dudley, Birmingham, UK

Label Type: Unsigned

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/tc4wolves

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tc4wolves

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tc4wolves

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tc4wolves

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/tc4wolves

TC4 are a self-proclaimed programming/production duo consisting of Tom Calder and Kate Turley, hailing from the Midlands. The pair, who formed last year, tend to make their own beats as well as carrying out remixes and samples. Drummer Kate provides energy and vigour in abundance illustrated by some live drum performances that you can check out on their YouTube channel.

Their best song is undoubtedly ‘Exit’, an example of a masterfully constructed dubstep tune. If this song was released by a top famous artist, it would be a world beater for sure. It really is that good! The male and female vocals complement each other superbly, while the heavy drops are timed to perfection.

Probably the bands best remix, is their dubstep version of Ellie Goulding’s ‘The Writer’. The build up to the drop is so intense while the drop itself portrays the razor like sound that you can hear in most TC4 tracks. They have also managed to pick and choose parts of the vocals cunningly and reproduce them accordingly. Moreover, their dub mix of Heart's Under Fire’s ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ is another one to take note of.

In addition, the twosome have since recorded a sick dubstep remix of Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Testify’, and an equally dope remix of Chiddy Bang’s ‘Truth’. This as well as their experimental remixes of such artists as Bomma B, Mr Vegas, Slick Don, Trilla, and Movez.

A collaboration that also deserves a mention is the jungle style ‘Babylon Warrior’ ft. Slam Coke. This creates a mash-up between grimy dub beats and reggae vocals.

However, away from their re-mastering, the band’s early songs are short and sharp providing in your face grime. Personally, I would love to see them go back to these roots as they give the band more personality and character. Recently they seem to have focussed more on mixing songs from other artists. Even though these are carried out well, it would also be good to see more of their own stuff again like ‘Hardbass’ ‘Drought’ ‘Reflex’ and ‘Dubchant’.

Feel free to check some of their songs for yourselves and see what you think!

Matthew Evans

[ArtistOTD] The Relay Company

Artist: The Relay Company
Genre: Electronica/Pop/Rock

Location: San Jose, California, USA
Label Type: Unsigned

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheRelayCompany

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/therelaycompany

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therelaycompany

The Relay Co. were originally formed in 2006 under the name ‘The Day’ by brothers Adam and Stephen Mariucci who write and record all their songs. Lead guitarist Jonathan Fernandez and drummer “Skinny” Jake Pooser have since joined the band, but the drummer slot was previously been filled by Lachlan Franckx for the bands 1^st album, whilst Ryan Rosendin has also played guitar for the band in the past. TRC are a pop rock group with great vocals and lots of talent and over the years have performed with the likes of Gym Class Heroes, OK Go, and on 25^th March will be supporting Good Charlotte. They do all their own recordings and produce their own music videos independently whilst continuing to exhibit supreme effort and determination as they aim to pursue a successful career in the music industry. The band continually strive to incorporate fresh and new ideas into their sound as well as continuing to aspire in being a positive influence for the youth of today with their catchy guitar riffs solid drum playing. 

August 2009 saw the release of their self-titled debut album, consisting of just 8 tracks. The song ‘Run’ is one which begins as a soft song, but overtime becomes an upbeat Pop song, while ‘Little White Lie’ and ‘I’ve Been Screaming’ are also highlights of the record. The latter uses a lot of piano to create the melodies, while the vocals of lead singer, Adam Mariucci supply catchy lyrics to match the bouncy beats.

The album titled ‘X’ was the bands next release in December 2010. Of the 9 tracks, ‘Marco Polo’ and ‘Love Me Hate Me’ are the two which possess official videos whilst there is an unofficial video for ‘Remedy (La Da Da)’. However, ‘Out Of Time’ is highly regarded by some to be the best track on the record, integrating a great blend of heavy guitars and hard dance-like synth lines. This particular song demonstrates more than most, the likeness of the vocals to pop boy bands, in particular, N Sync.  

In February 2011, the band released a cover of the hit single by American pop star, Ke$ha titled ‘We R Who We R’. Their version stays pretty close to the original but through simply replicating the beat with live instruments they have done an incredible job and have turned a truly awful song into a bearable and even enjoyable one!

The band strike a very similar sound to that of Fall Out Boy, especially the sound created from their 2008 album ‘Folie à Deux’. There seems to be an increasingly large number of bands within this particular scene, and they’ll have to do a lot to stand out as a pop rock band. Nevertheless, TRC seem to be heading in the right direction but there’s still a lot of work to be done for one of the US’s up and coming pop rock bands! 

To give you a sample of TRC, here is the video for 'Marco Polo':

Matthew Evans

[ArtistOTD] I Haunt Wizards

Artist: I Haunt Wizards

Genre: Electro/Alternative/New Wave

Location: Brighton, England, UK

Label Type: Unsigned
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/IHAUNTWIZARDS

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ihauntwizards

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Haunt-Wizards/38075542293

Souncloud:http://soundcloud.com/ihauntwizards

I Haunt Wizards are a two-piece band from Brighton in South England. The previously three-pronged group now consists of Helen Kirby and James Lavelle. Formed in 2007, they deliver a fantasy-like approach to music. There are no obvious bands that you could draw comparisons to, but they do produce beats similar to those of Partyshank. IHW are heavily influenced by their childhood and there seems to be an obsession with the supernatural, illustrated by such song titles as ‘Alien Mothership’ and ‘Vampire Aids’. Their sound is based predominantly on a combination of keyboards and synths as well as Kirby’s dreamy vocals. Her vocals produce a ‘’bunged-up’’ yet somewhat sexy sound to their music. IHW may be known to fans of UK metalcore group, Bring Me The Horizon for remixing the single ‘Diamond’s Aren’t Forever’. This was included in the Sheffield-based bands cut up version of their own 2008 album, Suicide Season.

IHW have written and recorded many different songs since their formation in 2007 but only released their first EP, ‘Fountain of Youth’ in September 2010 which was made available as a free download via soundcloud. The songs that stand out the most from the six-track offering are arguably the first two. Track one is the sparkly and electro-style ‘I Am Not So Evil’. Although relatively vague, the lyrics offer a seemingly existential explanation of life, questioning their own personality in which they struggle to dismiss the idea of them being a bad person. This is followed by the wonderful ‘Peter Pan Complex’, a far more bouncy and sharper tune, the meaning of which is pretty much summed up by the chorus line; ‘you’re much meaner than I thought’.

Prior to this release, the band had released the single, ‘Flowers Bloom’, on Ear Candy Music. The single also comes with a ‘Witty Boy Remix’ of the song as its B-side. The A-side is a love song showing a side of the band more in tune with reality. It has a more mainstream pop sound, but still retains the electro beats. 

Hopefully, in the near future the duo gets the recognition they deserve and reap their just rewards.

Feel free to check out their MySpace or Facebook, and download the EP for free on their Soundcloud!

Matthew Evans

[ArtistOTD] Unchained Breathing

Artist: Unchained Breathing
Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore
Location: Limburg, The Netherlands
Label Type: Unsigned
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ubnl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/unchainedbreathing
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Unchainedbreathing

Today's artist of the day is Unchained Breathing, an unsigned deathcore band from Limburg, NL. Over the last three years this group of rag tag ragamuffins have grown to become one of Limburg's most well known bands. Managing to build a steady fanbase, they currently tour all over Europe, playing alongside bands such as Blindsight, Sworn Enemy and Forget to Forgive among others. Their first offering, I Force Myself, provides a fantastic insight into this band's potential. While the members of Unchained Breathing are unable to drink in the USA, they've managed to create a surprisingly well developed sound.

Arguably their worst song is The Hudson, despite being a technically fantastic song, with Niels Kuchta and Dimitrie van Dijk combining stupendously to create a heavy and atmospheric vibe, they are let down by some amateurish vocals. Although versatile, Conner van Dijk finds it hard to steer the line between fog horn and terrified pig in oinking for dear life in the near frozen Hudson. Fortunately, his vocal performance improves greatly in Buried Between the Dead and the Fall, a more upbeat song with a faster tempo. Buried Between the Dead and the Fall brings to mind Obscura's masterpiece album, Cosomogenesis, although Unchained Breathing still have a little way to go before they could be put into the same league. Pull Here for the Parachute, is a darker, heavier tune. Although the occasional pig squeal reminds you that your listening to a group of Dutch 19 year old's, Pull Here for the Parachute once delivers a great listen for the educated pallet. Unchained Breathing are definitely a band to look out for in the future, it would be a great shame if they were confined to the back alleys of Limburg for many more years to come. 

Reviewed by Sam Barnett

[ArtistOTD] John Dignam

Artist: John Dignam
Genre: Fingerstyle/ Acoustic
Location: Swansea, South Wales, UK
Label Type: Unsigned
Website: www.johndignam.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/johndignam
Myspace: www.myspace.com/johndignam

John Dignam is a 21 year old acoustic fingersyle guitarist from Swansea in Wales. Since picking up the guitar at 13 years of age John has gone on to share the stage with some of the world's finest guitarists including the great Tommy Emmanuel, Clive Carroll and Joshco Stephan.John writes his own pieces which can be heard on his debut EP 'Down to earth...'. His original tunes have received airplay on many national radio stations including BBC Radio 2. John has performed throughout the UK and had also ventured in Europe and the USA. Some of his highlights include performances at Tommy Fest UK, Tommy Fest Germany, the London Jazz Festival, the Gower Guitar Festival and the Chet Atkins Apprecation Society in Nashville. John's debut EP can also be purchased from the website or any good download site (Itunes, Amazon, Tesco etc.) Since December 2010 John has also been performing with his 'Electric Trio', which comprises of John on Guitar and Vocal, Huw Rees on Drums, Danny Kilbride on Bass. The John Dignam Trio have been gigging around the Swansea area and plan to record an E.P in the near future.  

Check out the following videos to see John in action: