Ladyhawke
I don’t know much of New Zealandian(??) pop music but I’m intrigued now I’ve heard a few songs by Ladyhawke. Her real name is Pip Brown, and she’s going for an 80s electro sound. The music isn’t pure pop but it’s got some catchy elements and her voice is easier to listen to than a lot of her fellow electro ladies, such as Karin Dreijer, Uffie or Yelle. She’s playing loads of gigs in the UK in the next few months, so there’s plenty of chances to catch her live if you take a liking to her – I’ve already added her to my ‘to see’ list for this year’s Great Escape. My favourite Ladyhawke song that I’ve heard so far is Paris Is Burning, as it reminds me of Feist in disco mode on One Evening. Very cute. And she features on an ace song that’s like a dance-pop version of The Knife, Embrace by PNAU, an Australian dance duo.
Hit Potential: 45% Poptasticness: 80%
Kris Demeanor
A mildly amusing name, but Canadian Kris is actually more than mildly amusing. The only downside is he seems to be quite the druggy, with a band called the Crack and a song called Perfect Buzz! Still his songs kept me amused, especially I Have Seen The Future, a story about when Kris and his dad played tennis and got picked on by some local idiots. A spoken word act is not so likely to reach the top of the charts, and unfortunately his songs are not quite up to the standard of MC Lars, but they’re quite jolly and I’ll be interested to hear more of them. I used to find Canadian accents too extreme, but I’ve grown to love them for it (especially since Avril Lavigne turned good), so Kris Demeanor gets my seal of approval, also for the quote on his MySpace, “I wanted more than anything else to live in a world of gnomes.” As you do…
Hit Potential: 15% Poptasticness: 60%