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John Mayer
Genre: Rock/blues-rock/singer-songwriter.
Why: There’s a reason why Guitar John, despite being a Grammy-winning superstar, is on this t2 list of hot-and-happening artistes. Evidently, much of us still associate the 31-year-old Mayer with his smash Your Body Is A Wonderland and hail him as the handsome bubblegum-popper who dated Jessica Simpson and has a knack for hits. Which only means that many of us haven’t had the opportunity to experience Mayer’s guitar god avatar with his John Mayer Trio, featuring seasoned veterans and session greats Pino Palladino on bass and Steve Jordan on drums, or listened to his 2006 record Continuum.
The best thing about Mayer is that not only is he an exceptional songwriter, he’s also an arranger, composer, lyricist, singer and a highly original guitarist. When it comes to the guitar, Mayer always tips his hat to his bluesy roots, but stands out with his melodic space and thus surpasses by far the other ‘blues prodigies’ that the American Midwest regularly churns out. There’s a John Mayer sound. About time you soak in it.
Hottest hits: Why Georgia, Waiting On The World To Change, Daughters, Gravity, Neon and Your Body Is A Wonderland.
Achievements: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for Your Body Is A Wonderland in 2003. Also won the Song of the Year Grammy in 2005 for Daughters. Was nominated in five categories for the 2006 Grammies and won two: for Best Pop Song for Waiting On The World To Change and Best Pop Album for Continuum.
Hear him @ www.johnmayer.com
RACHEL YAMAGATA
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Genre: Blues/2-step/singer-songwriter.
Why: A fourth-generation Japanese American, Yamagata sings as if she breathes music and essentially writes on heartbreak. Her 2004 hit single Worn Me Down, from her album Happenstance, got her noticed initially. The pop sensibility with her piano skills works well. With soulful covers, like the 1957 song I Wish You Love and the more recent, bittersweet Elephants, Yamagata has certainly arrived. Her songs are now regularly included on popular TV series like How I Met Your Mother, Nip/Tuck, One Tree Hill and The .C.
Hottest hits: Elephants, Worn Me Down, Letter Read.
Achievements: Most of Yamagata’s songs have been featured on The OC and that’s no mean achievement. She also made an appearance in Jason Mraz’s second album, singing on the duet Did You Get My Message? In 2008, Yamagata’s single Elephants, off her last album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart, hit No 3 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales. The album reached No 10 on the Billboard Digital Downloads chart.
Hear her @ myspace.com/rachelyamagata
KEZIAH JONES
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Genre: Blues/funk.
Why: The Nigerian-born, Paris-based singer-songwriter Keziah Jones calls his genre of music “Blufunk” — a fusion between raw elements of blues and the hard, edgy grooves of funk, driven by his distinctive style of guitar-playing, above all his percussive right-hand technique, akin to a slap bass player’s. With his African roots and the influence of soul music, Jones’s sound stands unique; a riotous blend of new-age with old-school that comes together with the intent of moving bodies and hearts, not to mention minds, with their often political lyrical direction. There’s equal parts Fela Kuti and Jimi Hendrix in Jones’s music and that makes for a terrific blend.
Hottest hits: My Kinda Girl, Lagos vs New York, Free Your Soul.
Achievements: One of the most exciting crossover artistes of recent times, Jones has been at the forefront of raising consciousness on race and colour with his brand of music. The awards are around the corner.
Hear him @ myspace.com/keziahjones
TEXTURES
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Genre: Technical/progressive/death metal.
Why: Metal, at its core, is still a non-mainstream musical genre. While bands like Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Metallica have broken the barrier, the metal community holds its underground status close to its heart, rebuking mainstream success as a sign of selling out. One of the bands in recent times to take a step towards global fanfare is the Dutch outfit Textures, and it is doing it without risking alienation from its hardcore fan-base, already spread across mainland Europe and America. Blame it on the extremely complex metal style that Textures specialises in.
Closely linked with experimental/progressive metal (and bands like Meshuggah), featuring elements of death metal and thrash, Textures also incorporates moving melodic interludes into songs, a formula that’s been working wonders for its 2008 release, Silhouettes. Not every metal band can boast of a frontman like Eric Kalsbeek, who’s a growler one second and the harbinger of melodic Goth doom on the other. Textures is here to stay.
Hottest hits: Swandive, Storm Warning.
Achievements: Essent Award for Most Promising Act in 2004 for its debut album, Polars. Nominations in three categories of Holland’s Live XS Awards, tours with The Ocean, Gojira and Arch Enemy across Europe in 2006 and 2007. Hear them @ myspace.com/textures
IMOGEN HEAP
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Genre: Electro-pop/indie.
Why: Imogen Heap was the voice — and face — of the British art-electronica act Frou Frou, till she decided to go solo. In the process, Heap, now aged 31, carved out a sound that emerges as much from the singer-songwriter space as it does from lush sampled audioscapes, forging a meeting point between poignantly personal pop ditties and rich, textural instrumentation. The experience is worthwhile.
Hottest hits: Hide And Seek, Goodnight and Go.
Achievements: Heap’s 2005 solo record Speak For Yourself was written, produced and mixed by herself. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2006.
Hear her @ myspace.com/imogenheap
Jason Mraz
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Genre: “Minimalist/ Jam Band/ Japanese Classic Music” is what Mraz’s MySpace page declares as his genre. It’s singer-songwriter pop, really.
Why: The song that greets you on that page is I’m Yours, a perfect example of Mraz’s songwriting that dances around reggae, folk and jazz, all encapsulated within a pop sensibility that screams class, without abandoning a sprightly sense of humour.
In the best traditions of American singer-songwriter sensibilities, Mraz is a handsome bundle of words and music and sings with a passionate voice that brings back everyone from Dylan to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Simon & Garfunkel. His latest album is called We Dance, We Sing, We Steal Things. Go get it.
Hottest hits: I’m Yours, Geek In The Pink.
Achievements: We Dance, We Sing, We Steal Things is now certified gold in the US, peaking at No 3. The single I’m Yours became Mraz’s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No 6.
Hear him @ myspace.com/ jasonmraz
KARNIVOOL
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Genre: Alternative/alt-metal.
Why: Even before you listen to them, you know that a fivesome from Perth that cites Nirvana and technical metal legends Meshuggah and Carcass as primary influences has some serious aggression in place. While bone-splitting heaviness is certainly an element of the Karnivool sound, what’s unique is the sublime melodic and rhythmic passages that intertwine to elevate this band’s songs, leaving an impression of musical maturity that’s certainly lacking in the rebirth of punk that the world seems to be going crazy about. There aren’t many bands that can break away from genres and forge unheard of music: and make it work for layman and technical geek alike. Tool was one. Karnivool is another. Listen to the band’s 2007 full-length debut, Themata. As far as rock music goes in 2008, Karnivool is a torch-bearer of a new sound. This, truly, is “new” metal.
Hottest hits: Cote, Themata, Mauseum, Sewn And Silent.
Achievements: Themata is steadily climbing rock charts in the US while the band tours incessantly. The video to the single Themata was recently included in MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, while the band lapped up five trophies at the 2007 Western Australian Music Industry Awards, or WAMingtons, including Most Popular Act and Best Hard Rock Act.
Hear them @ myspace.com/ karnivool
JOJO MAYER & NERVE
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Genre: Live drum’’bass/jazz-fusion.
Why: One of the most exciting live drum’’bass innovators of all time, Swiss drummer Jojo Mayer (whose session credits include the seminal jazz-rock band Screaming Headless Torsos, bassist MeShell N’Degeocello and guitar god Vernon Reid) introduced the concept of “reverse engineered electronica”. By emulating the idiosyncrasies of contemporary electronic drum-programming and incorporating them into his playing, Jojo has created a “kinetic, original and unprecedented style” of drumming. In Nerve, Jojo teams up with DJ Roli Mosimann, Takuya Nakamura (keys, samples and trumpet) and bassist John Davis. This is right at the cutting-edge of things to come.
Hottest hits: Vienna, Inner Surface.
Achievements: Burning up every major electro-jazz festival and numerous dance floors across Europe and the US.
Hear Jojo Mayer & Nerve @ last.fm/music/Jojo+Mayer+%2526+Nerve
TAL WILKENFELD
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Genre: Jazz/funk/jam band.
Why: Born in Sydney, Tal first picked up guitar at age 14 and switched to the bass guitar three years later. The prodigy became a professional bassist after only three years on the instrument. Tal has impressed critics and fans alike with musical achievements usually reserved for players with relatively long established careers. Tal burst upon the jazz-fusion scene as a sideman with pianist Chick Correa in 2006, and soon after, with legendary jazz/blues guitarist Jeff Beck, alongside drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. Tal is currently bandleader of The Tal Wilkenfeld Trio, which includes living legends like Wayne Krantz on guitar and Keith Carlock on drums. The trio’s 2008 debut, Transformation, is hot stuff!
Hottest hit: Coz We Ended As Lovers, a Jeff Beck tune, Cosmic Joke, The River of Life
Achievements: On Bass Player magazine’s reader’s choice poll, Tal was voted “The Year’s Most Exciting New Player” for 2008.
Hear her @ myspace.com/talwilkenfeld
FEIST
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Genre: Folk/alternative/indie.
Why: Canadians seem to have a knack for hitting it at the right place as far as songs go. In the tradition of Canadian singer-songwriters — Alanis Morisette being an important reference — the 32-year-old Feist is the biggest name across the Atlantic at the moment.
Feist’s third solo album, The Reminder, was released in 2007. The album features the song 1234, which became a surprise hit after being featured in a commercial for the Apple iPod Nano, hitting No 8 in the US. That was a rare feat for an indie rocker. The track also hit the Top 10 on the strength of downloads alone. But Feist is here to stay: The Reminder has sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide and is certified gold in the US. It’s only a matter of time before she takes on the world.
Hottest hits: Mushaboom, Let It Die, Lonely Lonely.
Achievements: In 2004, Feist won two Canadian Juno Awards for Best New Artiste and Best Alternative Rock Album for Let It Die. In 2008, she swept the Juno Awards with five awards, including Songwriter, Artiste, Pop Album, Album and Single of the Year. The Reminder has gone gold. And Feist was photographed by celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz for the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine as part of a photo essay on folk music, also featuring Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul and Mary, and The Guthrie Family.
Hear her @ myspace.com/feist
THE SCRIPT
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Genre: Rock/alternative/pop/soul.
Why: Danny O’Donoghue (lead vocals and keyboard), Mark Sheehan (guitar and vocals) and Glen Power (drums and vocals) — collectively known as The Script — are being hailed as the guys who will signal the return of Irish rock to the world, albeit laced with healthy doses of soul and hip-hop. The Dublin-based trio seems well on its way — its first single We Cry, said to be about people Danny knew in the town he had grown up in, was a UK smash and is steadily climbing charts on the other side of the Atlantic. Poignant storytelling from Dublin in a smooth voice, with great grooves and catchy guitar hooks — that sounds like a sureshot formula for success. We know another band who followed this formula about two decades back. They are a little band known as U2.
Hottest hits: We Cry, The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.
Achievements: World Music Awards for “Best selling Irish act” of 2008.
Hear The Script @ myspace.com/thescript
Text by Arka Das
