You! Me! Blogging! Part 1

Now that Klaxons have been announced as Mercury Music Prize winners, thus shattering my 100% win record and signalling the decline of my blogging career, I am about to introduce you to the bright young things of the music blogging world. This is part 1 of a multi part series (hopefully) about new music blogs. That's not necessarily "new music" blogs, rather new "music blogs". If you're still lost, then there's no hope for you. Oh and this isn't about who's better than who, it's simply to point people in the direction of new exciting things.

Anyway, I got in touch with the people behind several music blogs that have popped up recently with a view to finding a little bit more about themselves and their blogs. Here's what some of them had to say....

Sahil Varma//London, England//[Transparent]
Sahil is one of the few bloggers/people that I actually know. He is the editor of Transparent mag, an irregular but impressive fanzine type publication. His Transparent clubnight offshoot has introduced me to many of the bands I've featured on my blog, including Late Of The Pier and Jack Penate.

As Transparent is currently clubnight first, publication second, Sahil decided to start a blog as it "gave us the freedom to post regular updates about new stuff we were into and what Transparent was up to in terms of upcoming nights, DJ'ing and the like".

He recommends Esser, Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, Eugene Mcguinness, FrYars and Tinseltown for your immediate consumption before they grow into stadium filling monsters.

Sahil also donates Dan Deacon's 'The Crystal Cat' as his favourite track which has appeared on his blog so far, loving the "high pitched vocals and unrelenting beats". He also claims "Dan's live videos are a bit special". Whether that's actually alluding to any sort of political incorrectness I'm not sure...

Dan Deacon - The Crystal Cat [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link]

---
Jon Sidwell//Chepstow, Wales//[Music Liberation]
Jon represents one of the oldest blogs to appear in this feature, having started WAY back in March. He has a no nonsense attitude to blogging, posting swathes of mp3s for his readers to enjoy. Importantly however, when he finds the time writes passionately about the music that he's enjoyed recently.



Jon used to do a weekly radio show entitled 'The Weekend Mash-Up', and considers Music Liberation to be an extension of that. He also "wanted to spread [his] "knowledge" and excitement about bands and artists for other people to read, and hopefully find something new they can listen to".

Mr Music Liberation considers 'Let's Make Out' by the sooooo now Does It Offend You, Yeah? as his fave posted track so far. "It's a mixture of crazy nu rave synths, heavy drums and guitars, powerful and catchy lyrics, full of samples and beats, and with an underlying tone of attitude and having a good time".

As with his mp3 posting, Jon recommends a whole heap of bands to look out for soon - Does It Offend You Yeah?, The Wombats, Alloy Mental, Afrikan Boy, Blamma! Blamma!, Blood Red Shoes, Foals, The Ghost Frequency, Kissy Sell Out, Laura Marling, The Neon Plastix, Evile, Reverend And The Makers, Sub Focus and Turbo Fruits.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Let's Make It Out [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link

---
Nestor W//Leeds, England//[The Deku Tree]
Nestor notices that a "blog is a perfect excuse to be completely self-indulgent and ramble about music as much as I like". The Deku Tree features some lengthy reviews on both new and old music, and according to Nestor, there's plenty of "relatively obscure music featured on there that I think a lot of people would like."

When asked who he thinks we should watch out for, much like his blog, Nestor doesn't opt for the fashionable. Instead, he champions The Veils, one of New Zealand's finest exports. He feels that although "their first few singles gained a little hype and airplay, they never quite got the attention they deserved". He strongly urges everyone to go see them on their UK tour in October!

His favourite Deku Tree song so far is 'Little Birds' by Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel) from a live bootleg he posted. "I have this idea Jeff Mangum’s just been in exile for almost ten years writing songs as beautiful as this… and just the thought of it sends shivers down my spine."

Jeff Mangum - Little Birds (Live) [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link

---
If you've started a music blog in the last few months (or want to recommend someone else's), get in touch! My email's in the top right hand corner of the page or just leave a comment with your email address included.