Unearthing MySpace Gems

Unearthing MySpace Gems

There are millions upon millions of budding musicians and artists on MySpace - 90% of them are… shit. But, I’m here to separate the wheat from the chaff, I am the gem finder general. So five more pages for you this week. A quick reminder on how this weekly feature works; all pages featured have had less than 10,000 page-views. If you know of any artists on MySpace, with less than that many page-views, that you think I should feature, please let me know. You can either email me to the address at the left, or send me a message and/or friends request (if you are an artist or band) at my personal MySpace page or the >>just like music MySpace page.
THE MISCELLANEOUS - http://www.myspace.com/miscymusic
This German trio create what I guess you would describe as electro acoustic music, or acoustic electronica, depends which way you wanna look at it! Vocally they are like a less whiny version of TV on The Radio, and musically they create quite downtempo tracks with a large emphasis on leftfield beats and acoustic guitar. All four of the tracks on their page are very strong, and I particularly liked LETTERS and PEARLS. You need to hear this for yourself.
Chini - http://www.myspace.com/djchini
As his MySpace page says, Chini is a keyboard player / producer / DJ. He centres himself around the hip-hop, jazz, and breakbeat sounds, and the results are fantastic. Check tracks like boom boom and Break Fluid to see what Chini is all about. I really like Chini’s jazzy angle on cut-up style tracks, so funky and such energy - all you folks in the Manchester area can see him play out live quite regularly, check his page for more details.
16pac - http://www.myspace.com/16pac
16pac are a French duo consisting of Emma Delaval and Francois Puech - they were born out of similar influences, namely Bjork and Portishead - now they create their own brand of electro folk music, with Emma on the vocals and Francois on production. I also believe a chap called Vincent is involved somewhere, but it’s hard to work out from their page. The music is an intricate blend of the organic with a pinch of electro and Emma’s vocals are as soothing as they are soulful. All four tracks on their page are great and Ghost World grabbed my attention for sure.
Saving Grace - http://www.myspace.com/savinggracesyd
With influences spanning from Lior to Damien Rice to Ben Harper, you’ll be pleased to know that this Sydney quintet have the minerals to back it all up. As you will hear on tracks like A Better Day, one thing this group has is a multitude of sounds. The use of violin and cello is a welcome surprise in these over-saturated days of indie rock, the use of the classical instruments is very much underrated and Saving Grace have shown that effort clearly pays off.
Mowgli - http://www.myspace.com/mowgliuk
Mowgli is an emcee from London, a place home to a lot of good hip-hop, but also a lot of bad stuff, many wack emcees come and go, but Mowgli has the master flow. At the moment a chap named Chris Fader produces the beats and Mowgli does his thing over the top, but as you can hear through the two tracks on Mowgli’s page - back to the bricks and silent riots - this dude is here to stay. UK emcees listen up, this is how it is done.
Right old mixture for you this week then! Don’t forget to add the artists above to your friends list and leave them comments, every little helps.