This Friday, April 19, Quietus ed John Doran will be Liverpool bound to join his fellow judges in attending the second annual GIT Awards ceremony, where Peter Guy, who runs the city’s Getintothis blog, will be presenting the finest new act in Merseyside with the titular honour and £1000.
In advance of that, we give you an introduction to the shortlist, alongside links to interviews with those we’ve talked to before on the site.
Baltic Fleet is the motorik-inflected synth rock of Paul Fleming, who began writing 2008’s self-titled debut while on a world tour with Echo & The Bunnymen, and for last year’s Towers returned to the industrial landscape of northwest England.
Barberos are a noise trio, whose high-energy electro borrows a range of elements from jazz to prog.
By The Sea are a Wirral-based dream pop band, who have lofty expectations for their blissful tunes: “We hope it sounds like a series of failed Springsteen anthems played with too many chorus pedals.”
Clinic are long-running post-punk revivalists proffering some experimental electronics to their hazy psychedelia, who recently worked with Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, on their latest album, Free Reign. Read our interview with the band’s Ade Blackburn in full here.
Conan are a metal band, if the name wasn’t evidence enough, who deal in doom riffs on an earth-shattering scale.
Dan Croll is a singer-songwriter, whose lively sound incorporates acoustic folk and electronics in equal measure.
John Heckle is a producer who joined Mathematics Recordings in 2010, releasing debut EP Life On Titan. As we described him: “Heckle has the ability to take classic Chicago house signifiers – simplicity, machine drive and raw sex – and blast them way outside the confines of the nightclub to the far reaches of space.” Read our interview with Heckle in full here.
Jetta is a soul pop singer who came to prominence last year with Start A Riot, following stints as a backing vocalist for Paloma Faith and Cee Lo Green.
Nadine Carina is a Swiss-born singer, whose folky tendencies and electro flourishes conjure a nostalgic atmosphere.
Tyler Mensah is a young singer-songwriter, whose acoustic guitar pop is overlaid with melodic but dexterous vocals that suggest rap influences.
Stealing Sheep – Genevieve from Stealing Sheep on Vimeo.
Heavenly-signed trio Stealing Sheep’s music is a “beguiling blend of styles from three musicians who independently cite psychedelic rock, electronica and gypsy folk as sources of individual inspiration.” Read our interview with the band in full here.
Wave Machines are an electro-pop band, with falsetto vocals and heavy doses of funk in their optimistic sound.
