1. STEPHIE COPLAN & THE PEDESTRIANS
A young singer songwriter/pianist who recently moved from New England to NJ, Stephie Coplan is not just your regular "girl with a piano." Sure, she can write your classic emotional ballad ("Marilyn Monroe"), but she can also surprise you with a cover of Fountains of Wayne based on diy beat box layered loops ("Someone to Love"), or attack you with a piano-less, hyper-charged power pop tune like "JERK!". Her attitude, talent and versatility convinced us to select her as our #1 choice from the artists who submitted to our poll through SonicBids.
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2. MERRILY & THE POISON ORCHARD
Breaking things down to a level even adults can understand, the gently rolling lullabies of Merrily and the Poison Orchard take us back to an idyllic time of cloud watching and tree climbing. Merrily’s love for vaudeville-era jazz comes through strongly here, but her simple approach to storytelling with jaunty ukeleles and bouncy percussion will lift you up like a cool breeze.
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3. YVETTE
This band has the rare ability to create noise that’s also very musical and textured. Industrial is definitely their primary genre – the clanging drums and mechanical, metallic, and often dissonant guitars play the main characters here – but this dark soundscape becomes an almost cathartic, religious experience because of the choral, ethereal melodies that reference the shoegazer genre.
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4a. SINEM SANIYE
Born in Germany, but with roots from Turkey, Sinem Saniye blends Middle-Eastern and Jazz styles together to create lush, evocative tunes. From the bossa nova of ‘Boom Sheke Nana’s’ harmonies, to the romance of ‘In My Slumber’, Saniye covers a broad range in her music. She even has a new Christmas song and calendar to welcome the new year available for purchase.
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4b. BLONDE VALHALLA
Sounding like the exciting conclusion to an 80’s John Cusack film, Blonde Valhalla are bringing back the New-wave anthem with only a drum machine, guitar and keyboard to their name. Fronted by Suckers’ drummer Brian Aiken, this is synthesized jams stretched to their most anthemic.
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4c. MY PET DRAGON
Borrowing a guitar sound The Edge might be proud of, My Pet Dragon singer Todd Michaelsen belts his tenor up to the rafters. Playing anthems better suited to arenas than small Brooklyn clubs, it’s really only a matter of time before this band is all over the radio.
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4d. GRACE WEBER
An original choir girl with roots in Gospel and Jazz, she can croon over a bouncy ditty in ‘hitchhiker’ or belt over the lush ballad ‘Leave the Light On’ with equal power. Her latest effort ‘Hope & Heart’ is one of the better sounding records to come out last year, featuring production from Grammy-winning producer Mike Mangini. Who knows… maybe America has found our own Joss Stone.