Work has been intense for the past couple of weeks, but this new Carl Barat (former Libertines co-front man with Pete Doherty) demo has just been released (see below) and I had to share my excitement! Listening to War of the Roses has given me high hopes for his forthcoming solo album.  With the Babyshambles (Doherty) Vs Dirty Pretty Things (Barat) debate still ongoing and rumors of Doherty also releasing a new solo album, it’ll be interesting to see each individuals successes over the next year. Also this could mean some festival

Alt-J – An Awesome Wave

2012 was a great year for the UK. Between hosting the Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee, British music outdid itself and really shone through while all eyes were on our little island. Alt-J’s debut album An Awesome Wave is an example of the UK’s indie scene innovating and advancing, with ‘Breezeblocks’ being one of the biggest tracks of the year.

Alt-J took the UK by storm last year by touring the festival circuit in the summer, including Reading/Leeds festival (Where I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them!). They have recently announced a UK and North American

Peace – “Wraith”

I wasn’t really feeling Peace and their Delicious EP; it probably had something to do with the fact that they were just another four-piece Vampire Weekend-wannabe English indie guitar band. But then they released their song Wraith (the fact that it was produced by Arctic Monkeys producer, Jim Abiss, was probably something to do with my change of heart).

Their debut album (title still to be confirmed) will be released March 25th, but luckily Wraith was released on the 13th of January on iTunes and I for one will have this on repeat for days.

Give the song a listen. You’ll start to get into their more Californian beach vibe and realize there’s more to them than being a standard British boy band.

Video: Disclosure – “Latch”

Right here, this right here is probably — most definitely — the best song I’ve heard all year. Give me some Boyz II Men-like vocals coupled with just a hint of today’s pop-tuned sounds and we have this: a most-delightful, and delirious song.

Disclosure, made up of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, use vocals from Sam Smith to create a sound that almost literally make you want to latch on to someone else’s lust-yearning body.