Using the word epic to describe yourself immediately puts some pressure on your music to live up to the claim, but after releasing their self-titled EP in 2010, parts of the online music community appeared to agree.

“If you like the idea of a less self-conscious and more approachable version of post-rock, this could well be your favourite new Scottish band.”  The way Scotland bloggers The Pop Cop put it.

Taking inspiration from the likes of The National, Arcade Fire, M83 and Band of Horses, and with their similar brand of slow building atmospheric crowd pleasers, you could see these guys aiming for the big festival sunset moments of the future. They've already built up a bit of a reputation as a big hitting original live act, and with a growing back catalogue of tracks to back this up, why shouldn't they be aiming for The Pyramid Stage! 

This track Young Wounds was the first BBC Introducing track to be selected for the Radio 1 playlist slot in 2012 and if you really like it's available for free download on their website. How kind!

Links

www.galleriesband.co.uk

twitter.com/galleriesband

facebook.com/galleriesband

Entering the music-making game as Twin Falls, he roped in friends and family to play the instruments he couldn't manage and within a year had self-released 2 EP's. His music was picked up by Tom Robinson and Steve Lamacq which lead to airtime on BBC 6 Music and a series of live dates across the land. He then went on to release his debut album Slow Numb in 2011, an album recorded in various living rooms, sheds, barns and pubs around his native Somerset.

This track Janie I Will Only Let You Down is a rather sad song, and you have to feel for poor Janie when you tell her things like 'you couldn't leave me for a minute I could leave you all day', but hey I guess the guy's just being honest. So as you wipe the wet salty tears from your eyes as this song reaches the Radio 1 airwaves, spare a thought for Janie, and appreciate the honesty. Oh and feel free to enjoy it too!

Links

www.twinfalls.co.uk

www.facebook.com/twinfalls

They were first discovered by BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester, and were one of the early bands to go from the uploader to getting real Radio 1 airplay. Having been supported by Tom Robinson, Huw Stephens and Nick Grimshaw, the offers quickly came in to play at Bestival, Underage Festival, and HowTheLightGetsIn at Hay-on-Wye.

They also played live at the BBC Introducing Christmas Party alongside Florence and the Machine and have even had a bit of commercial success when their song Somebody Tell was used for an ad on the telly! Very rock n roll.

This track On Beyond is the latest addition to the Radio 1 playlist, and we hope it sends you all into ecstatic delirious trances up and down the land.

Links

http://muchuumusic.com/

http://facebook.com/pages/Muchuu/

He has been raised jamming with his father's friends and gigging in local pubs, and is now ready to take his music from his Northampton basement to the huge audience of the Radio 1 playlist.

 This track Balance will be played on the Radio 1 daytime shows all week and it's a song that really epitomises the folky story-telling feel of Billy's music. If you like Mumford & Sons, I think you'll really appreciate the opening 30 seconds of this at least. Enjoy!

Links

http://www.myspace.com/billylockett1

http://www.facebook.com/billylockettmusic

http://twitter.com/billylockett

Save Your Breath are yet another South Wales talent, a band finding their feet in the UK hardcore scene, and looking to step from the underground into the spotlight. They've shared the stage with the likes of Funeral for a Friend, Kids In Glass Houses, Polar Bear Club, Set Your Goals, Young Guns and The Rocket Summer, so you can expect a lively noisy encounter if you get yourself down to one of their gigs.

I was lucky enough to be in the pit taking photos of them at Reading 2011. The tattoos, raw expression, dives into the crowd and capillary bursting screams were a pleasure to photograph, and they played some pretty decent music too. Here are the explosive highlights from that set.

Dealing with family tragedies, drug addiction and discontentment, the positive influence of friendship has provided the band with strength and inspiration whilst everything else has fallen to pieces around them. Playing live it's 5 friends on a stage with their lives laid bare, sharing their experiences with anyone and everyone who will listen. Bear that in mind when this track Don't Let Me Down comes on the Radio 1 playlist this week, and I'd encourage you to drift away and join the boys in the virtual moshpit, as I know that's where they'd be. 

Links

http://www.saveyourbreath.net/

http://www.facebook.com/saveyourbreath

https://twitter.com/saveyourbreath_

Bluzey & Swift-Lee - two rappers born and bred in Peckham, South London - make up Future History, and come armed with life-inspired lyrics about growing up in the city.

Back in June they joined our Introducing family on the muddy pilgrimage down to Glastonbury. Bringing urban city stories to a farm in the West Country can be a difficult marriage, and occasionally when hip hop acts step out of their van in fresh kicks and crisp T's onto the wet brown sludge, I fear they don't quite know what they're getting themselves into. Future History however, handled it expertly as you can see here

See photo and video highlights of Future History at Glasto here

This track Money Cash Now will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week, and feels like a rather fitting track to fill the airwaves after being captivated by Top Boy on Channel 4 last week. If you missed it, watch it, and remember kids, crime don't pay!

Links

http://www.futurehistoryonline.com/

http://twitter.com/followfh

http://www.facebook.com/FUTUREHISTORYONLINE

Well, now we have another one for you! Her name is Jess Hall and she is also a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from the south west. Hailing from Wiltshire, a place just a hop skip and a jump away from Gabrielle, you have to ask yourself what they're putting in the water down there?

When singer-songwriters come through at young 'tender ages' you often hear words like 'mature' or 'beyond their years' as people decide they are slightly wiser than they ought to be. Well Jess has already been tagged with some of these expressions and she is certainly capable of manufacturing a confident tone that captivates the listener from the start. Jess grew up around music; both her grandfather and mother played the piano and the organ which inspired Jess to learn both the piano and guitar. On top of singing, songwriting and playing instruments, she also produces all of her own material from a studio she set up in her parents’ garage which makes her an impressive one man band (well technically a one 'woman' band, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it).

Depsite her individual talents Jess has decided not to go it alone and now comes complete with a band formed of childhood friends, how cute! Their mission statement is "We make music. Pure and simple", so let's hope they stay that way. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes and Damien Rice you can expect a chilled folky affair when you hear her track Play Shy on the Radio 1 playlist this week.

Links

http://www.facebook.com/JessHallBand

http://soundcloud.com/thejesshallband

Well Norwich rapper Context MC has done just that, and has released a track which pays tribute to music that was desiged for those walks home; the music of Burial. Critically acclaimed producer Burial describes his music as being:

“about when you come back from being out somewhere; in a minicab or a night bus, or with someone, or walking home across London late at night, dreamlike”

A vibe that Context MC has pounced upon.

Burial's Untrue album - Essential walk-home-from-a-rave music?

Through a slow Giggs like delivery, Context MC explains how he uses Burial to help him "float back down to earth" after those all nighter affairs. He calls his track Listening to Burial "the anthem to the walk home after a rave, the dreamlike, ambient city walk as the sun comes up. It's the tale of every weekend and a tribute to one of the most emotive producers in music."

He's been supported by 1Xtra's MistaJam, Ace and Vis, Twin B and Charlie Sloth, and Huw Stephens played his very first track all the way back in 2008 on Radio 1. Three years later and Context MC has moved from the late night depths of Huw's show, to the bright daytime lights of Fearne Cotton and co, which is a rather fitting story for this track. So as you leave the dark underground club of Huw and enter the real world with Fearne, whether you're in that warm fuzzy bubble or a quivering shivering mess, just make sure you've got some Burial with you.

Links

http://contextmc.co.uk

http://www.twitter.com/contextmc

Their debut single, The Celebration, really sums up their sound; a militant introduction marches us bravely into a powerful wave of keyboards, drum crashes and dark blues vocals that make it near impossible not to be swept away by it all. They've got a pretty freaky video for it too which should serve as a stark warning to all you avid metal detector enthusiasts out there that plan to venture into the forest this week!

Having shared stages with bands like Maps & Atlases, The Fall, The Vaccines and Shy Child, they've been learning what it takes to create a captivating live show, and by many accounts it's something they've already acheived in venues across the country. The aim of this band is plain and simple:

“All we have ever wanted to achieve was to create a really strong collection of songs that we are really proud of. We want to release as much as possible, play lots of shows and just share our music."

You have to respect that.

Their latest single A Drowning has been described by lead vocalist Sammy as "a simple love song. It talks about the experience of drowning, but as a metaphor, that celebrates giving yourself up to something or someone". Something a bit thought-provoking on Radio 1 is always welcomed by me, but whether you want to get deep and explore your inner thoughts on love, loss and life, or you just wanna sit back and enjoy the music, it's on the Radio 1 playlist all week for your listening pleasure.

Links

http://www.facebook.com/blackblackhills

http://twitter.com/blackblackhills

http://soundcloud.com/blackblackhills

http://www.blackblackhills.com/

Another way Tomahawks for Targets have been described as is ‘jigsaw pop’, a term the band are not uncomfortable with and fairly apt for the twisting, interweaving textures of their music. They took their textured sound to the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading + Leeds this summer, here are the highlights from their performance at Reading.

This track Total Collapse of it All is the latest addidtion to the Radio 1 playlist so will be filling the airwaves all week.

Links

http://www.myspace.com/tomahawksfortargets

http://www.facebook.com/tomahawksfortargets

http://soundcloud.com/tomahawksfortargets

I'm sure you are just itching to hear what this sounds like so I'll let you crack on and watch the highlights of their Reading performance but be warned; they do reach their top speeds of 118 BPM during this set so 'don't spin off the end or anything' as the lead singer puts it.

They've already received airplay on Radio 1, 6Music, Kiss and Xfm, and have been supported by BBC Introducing in Leeds from the off. The more they get played the closer they get to world domination and fulfilling their mission of bringing slo mo to the masses... muhahaha!

This track I Dreamt We Were Bank Robbers mixes Kanye West style synth vocals with an All Saints style female voice and reminded me of the rather cheesy moment in The Beach when Leonardo Di Caprio goes swimming with the French girl amongst all the disturbed glowing plankton! In fact, if they ever make a sequel to The Beach, this should definitely be used on the trailer. Until then, it's on the Radio 1 playlist all week.

Links

http://www.blackdiamondbay.co.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/blackdiamondbaymusic

On the positive side, it means it’s also time to look back and reflect on some of the weird and wonderful moments on the BBC Introducing Stage this summer. As the stage photographer I saw everything from bras in the air to mosh pit congas and seeing as though we filmed and photgraphed almsot every performance, I thought I'd pick out some highlights for you. 

The glorious BBC Introducing Stage

First up we went north to Carlisle where we set up our stage in an air-field and got ready to go Gaga at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2011. On Saturday we were treated to a double dose of cheeky chappy rap from Aaron Delahunty and Rizzle Kicks, but the spine tingling moment for me came from Among Brothers. Their violins, drums, keys, and beautiful vocals filled the smoky orange air, creating a fairytale like atmosphere

Among Brothers - Great Famine Family

Next we went south. And a little bit west. All the way down to Glastonbury where we had three whole days of BBC Introducing delights. Nestled deep inside the dance village and trapped inside a 12 foot moat of thick sticky wellie stealing leg-breaking mud, it was surprising anybody made it into our tent alive. But the lucky few who did got to see masterful headline performances from Ed Sheeran, Vessels, and The Good Natured, who all knew exactly what they were doing in terms of putting their crowds into their proverbial pockets.

Like the festival itself, our stage at Glastonbury hosted the most eclectic, diverse and magical mixture of musical genres that even an iPod shuffle would have been be proud of. For the electronic heads out there D/R/U/G/S whipped up some hearty home baked tracks through his mean lean beat making machine and Worship bought a real haunting atmospheric edge to the stage. However, I just couldn't leave out the moment of pure joy when F-Block stepped out to a huge crowd (who were admittedly all waiting for Ed Sheeran) and milked his moment in the limelight for every last drop! His beaming ear-to-ear grin, dive into the crowd and word for word memorisation of the 'mad as hell' scene from Network will be sure to make you chuckle.

F-Block - Mix

Shammi Pithia was like a modern day musical Pied Piper, using his flute to entice cellos, violins, singers, guitars, drums, and MCs on to the stage, Jake Bugg bought that Dylan-esque man-with-a-guitar moment that every Glastonbury needs, and The Patrick James Pearson Band with their keyboard playing Doom t-shirt wearing frontman were excellent. It’s always a joy taking photos at Glastonbury, you can see the best shots here.

Next we went back north, this time all the way to Kinross, Scotland for T in The Park. Sadly I was missing for this as I was busy getting lost in a Serbian Fortress at EXIT Festival but upon my return I was sure to watch all of the performances online and was instantly attracted to Bwani Junction (not in a sexual way, purely musical) for their silky smooth riffs and deep male harmonies.

Bwani Junction - T in The Park Highlights

Then it was time for Reading and Leeds which was quite literally insane. The younger more hyped crowd turned up in astronomical force at Reading, creating the biggest and rowdiest crowds I’ve even seen on the BBC Introducing Stage. The artists fed off the crowds, the crowds fed off the artists and through some complex crowd-artist exponential relationship this multiplied into some of the most electrifying performances of the summer, perhaps ever! This was most definitely the case for Ham Sandwich..

An army of fans descended on the stage with the words ‘Ham Sandwich’ scrawled across their faces in mud, they carried signs denouncing all other kinds of sandwich, chanted ‘Ham Ham Ham Ham’, and munched through chunks of bread and ham like wild carnivores throughout the performance. At one point I got slapped in the face by a piece of ham that had been flung from the crowd. As I peeled back that flap of processed pig from my wet cheek, I heard Ham Sandwich play Ants and it became one of the defining moments of summer. Possibly of my life.

Ham Sandwich - Reading Festival Highlights

Reading really was all about the performances. Don Broco bought their own milk crates so they could fling themselves to the very edge of the stage, and their lead singer threw himself into a raging mosh pit then completely disappeared under the mass of filthy perspiring bodies. A few minutes later the microphone was slowly reeled back on to the stage without the singer attached, like an empty hook on a fishing rod that had just lost it’s bait. For a minute I feared I would never see him again, until moments later he rose magnificently from the muddy ground, threw himself back on to the stage and orchestrated what I could only describe as a mosh pit conga!

The Minutes brought some real 'Rock 'n Roll' to the stage, the Irish front man gazing wide eyed into the distance like a man possessed. Solo female artists Rae Morris and Daughter both left the unsuspecting crowds speechless with their mesmerising voices and thought provoking lyrics but another performance that really took my breath away (and almost my lens) were Murkage, the grimy hip hop fuelled outfit from Manchester who sent the crowd into mosh pit frenzies with their thumping track In The Jungle.

Murkage - Reading Festival Highlights

With our tent left battered, bruised and shattered, we only had enough energy for one last event; The London Mela. Foji brought some traditional Bhangra beats and an array of dancers and drummers, however there is one image I just cannot get out of my head from that day, that was of Shizzio’s monster bodyguard who stood planted to the stage whilst deciding who in the crowd deserved to win a T-shirt! He whispered in the ear of Shizzio like he was carefully selecting the winner of musical statues during a children’s party, then patiently waited for the set to finish and waddled off with his monstrous arms protruding out from his frame like that muscle-man toy from Toy Story.

Shizzio's bodyguard. Get hench or die trying.

The 9pm London Mela curfew was met with a crisp cool sunset and that was that, the BBC Introducing Stage was packed away and we were left with a big empty space in our hearts.. but a lot of new music! 161 performances across six different festivals, from hip hop crews to Punjabi MC’s, from 'Rock n' Roll' to slo mo, we heard it all. If you want to discover even more new music, all the videos are up online forever for your viewing and listening pleasure. Who needs X-Factor eh?

See all the photos and videos from the BBC Introducing stage 2011 at:

Radio 1's Big Weekend

Glastonbury

T in The Park

Reading & Leeds

London Mela

 

During the summer they added 'BBC Introducing Stage - T in The Park' to their massive list of gigs, and an excellent job they did as well. You would think after 500 gigs as a band you might start getting fed up of each other, but not these guys (well, they didn't show it at least).

This track  does exactly what I like indie rock to do to me. To suck me in with some slow minor chord guitar picking, to make me question the relevance of my existance and the state of the human race with cryptic melancholic lyrics like 'as humans we might live to rule the soil, as we fight to burn the remaining midnight oil, some may stand up high while others crawl, but it's only from the grass that they stand tall'. Then it holds my attention with the slight change of pace, building slowly but surely adding more layers and texture and volume, next comes the drum roll of anticipation and then BANG into some rock! It's on the Radio 1 playlist all week y'all. Enjoy.

Links

http://fightthebear.net/

https://twitter.com/fightthebearuk

http://www.facebook.com/fightthebearUK

Here are the highlights of that very performance, the opening track Portuguese Solid Summer is particulary uplifting and you have to say somewhat ironic as the camera pans to the crowd to reveal a  wet miserable Scottish summer rather than any glimmer of Portuguese sunshine.

Despite the weather, Hugo has that blend of chilled electronic music and soothing vocals that makes you feel you are watching the sunset from a terraced cafe in Ibiza for a brief moment, even if you do have to come crashing down to a muddy field in Kinross a few moments later.

This summer Chad Valley has played in Dublin, Paris, Budapest, Belgrade, Istanbul, and In The City, and has supported the likes of Amiina, The Mountain Goats and Foals. His music has been a big hit in the blogosphere, and in October was the fourth most blogged about artist on the planet apparantly.

This track Up and Down has far more up's than down's, and is one of those songs you would imagine underneath a reflective montage of all the fuzzy magical moments of Glastonbury on the final BBC2 programme of the weekend (you know, everyone smiling, the silliest costumes, Beyonce saying hello Glastonbury, children eating ice cream whilst sitting on their dads shoulders, a shot of Wayne Rooney in wellies and a young couple passed out in eachothers arms as the sun sets majestically over the stone circle). Anyway, maybe it will be used as that track at Glastonbury 2013, but for now it will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week, maybe you can make your own summer montage of your festival memories as you listen. Awwwwwww

Links

http://www.myspace.com/hugomanuel

http://twitter.com/chad_valley

In June 2011 this international rap collective played on our stage at Glasto, bringing a touch of bling to the muddy fields of Pilton, and the traditional Hindi vocals certainly turned a few unsuspecting heads as they escaped the beats of the dance village.

See more videos and photos of The Truth at Glasto 2011

Following this performance, they were invited to play the BBC Introducing Stage at the London Mela 2011 on Sunday 4th September alongside other up and coming Asian acts like Garry Sandhu, Sam Khan, and Preeya Kalidas. For musical highlights from our stage at the London Mela, be sure to listen to Bobby Friction's radio show - 10pm Monday night on the BBC Asian Network, and for videos of all our acts get yourself on to Bobby Friction page after the show has gone out.

That makes The Truth our first act to step off the stage at the London Mela and on to the Radio 1 playlist, and here is the track that will be filling the airwaves all week, I Heard 'Em Say.

Links

www.thetruthmusic.co.uk

www.facebook.com/thetruthuk

www.twitter.com/thetruthmusic

www.soundcloud.com/theruthmusic