When I heard the 'Grimsby rapper' was coming to Radio 1's Big Weekend I have to admit I was excited. Ever since hearing Braintax (the Yorkshire rapper) I've always paid close attention to anything claiming to to come from the northern hemisphere of UK hip hop. 

So did Lincoln Savage a.k.a Linc live up to the hype? Well, you can see for yourselves:

With a live band backing him up, he married rock with rap, and the relationship was explosive (explosive in the thrilling, exciting sense, not the kind of explosive that ends with a broken jaw, a mystery pregnancy, and a divorce three weeks after the wedding).

The Carlisle crowd seemed to approve too, and almost everybody in a packed-out tent could be seen screwing their faces up to the final track.

This track, Mars, features the vocals of Anjlee Desaid and will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week. British hip hop on the daytime playlist. Braintax would be proud.

Links

www.soundcloud.com/lincthedreamer

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linc/

https://twitter.com/Linc_oln_line

Ok, so it's not the smallest, most underground label this week, but you still get the feeling that Rough Trade have kept their DIY dream alive.

Walking into their now legendary Brick Lane store, there are still lovingly handwritten labels seperating your folk from your minimal techno; there are still flyers scattered across the entire floor promoting raves, gigs, festivals and everything in between; the last time I went, there were even some of those old-school 'bass player wanted for 60s prog rock revival project' notices on the pinboard. You don't get that in your major highstreet chain of record stores. 

On last night's show, Huw Stephens had a chat with the legend Geoff Travis who started the label way back in 1977. Ever wondered about Geoff's favourite office snack? Listen on...

Links

https://www.roughtrade.com/

https://twitter.com/roughtradeshops

Katy Noone produces BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside on Sundays at 8pm. This weekend, they'll be broadcasting live from Springboard Festival, which runs from today until Sunday.

My favourite moment at Springboard Festival 2010 was Jim Sorrow, former frontman with Hull Punks Freaks Union, thrashing his guitar, screaming at the audience and then being joined by some bloke down the front doing a solo on the spoons. Classic audience participation from one of my favourite festivals of the year!

James from Late Night Fiction, headlining on Sunday night at Springboard

Cottingham is a small town, practically a village just outside of Hull but for the past six years it’s put on this brilliant music event which just keeps getting bigger and bigger every May. They’re promising 180 bands and acoustic artists this year, all playing at six venues in Cottingham.

I love this festival NOT because it’s all in pub venues and I can leave my wellies at home. No. It’s because of the atmosphere and the camaraderie and the sheer scale of it.

Every band from our part of the world is on the bill, some of them ditching their amps for acoustic sets, others giving it their all on makeshift stages in corners of the bar. Everywhere you go, there’s music. You start at midday at one pub and then just hop to the next one as soon as you fancy something different.

BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside broadcasts live from Cottingham Springboard Festival on Sunday 29th May from 8pm. Can’t wait.

Links

Listen to BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside

www.springboardfestival.org

BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside Facebook page

Twitter - BBCAlanRaw

Joseph 'JP' Patterson was back with Ally McCrae this weekend on Radio 1, broadcasting across Scotland and England. You can listen again to the whole show,featuring TeKlo in session, until Sunday 29th May. In the meantime, here's JP with his latest undergroup tips for you...

Another MC who has impressed me from the Midlands is SP, hailing from Birmingham. He has teamed up with Funtcase, who produced the track, for this dubstep head-banger. If you like dark, dirty, dubstep that you can shake a leg to, then you’ll enjoy this one!

1. TRACK OF THE MONTH: Dot Rotten – Resurrect Young Dot

Follow Joseph 'JP' Patterson on Twitter.

For an unsigned band Don Broco have got a pretty impressive network behind them. Just flick over to their myspace page and you will find every musical weblink known to man.

They're half way through an action packed tour that has taken them everywhere from Colchester Twist to Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach to Newcastle Riverside, and if you want to see if they're swinging by your town in their final week look here.

There's something very American about this band. They seem to capture that real American punkrock pop vibe that takes me back to the days of Blink 182 and Sum 41 (cmon we've all been there), mixing high energy riffs and drumkicks with cheesy lyrics and wholesome fun. Their videos play on this too, as there's always some poor geeky guy in glasses, shirt and dungarees losing his girlfriend to the arrogant jock. You can't get any more American than that!

Just so you know, they are actually four lads from Bedford. Beautiful Morning is a classic example of their sound, and will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week. Like, totally killer dudes.

Links

https://www.myspace.com/donbroco

https://www.facebook.com/donbroco

This week's Label of Love is Weepop! a beautiful DIY label that puts out limited runs of music by special artists like The Just Joans, Tigercats and Let's Whisper. I had a wee chat with Camilla about how they run the label, choose the music, and go about the business of putting out the music they love....

Links

https://www.weepop.net/

The dubstep train just keeps on coming! When you look back at the Radio 1 Big Weekend line-up and see the likes of Magnetic Man, Nero, Katy B, and Chase & Status brushing shoulders with Lady Gaga and Foo Figthers, you have to admire how far this dark electronic species has come.

From the depths of Croydon to the headline spots in Carlisle, it's crawled into many unexpected places, and the BBC Introducing stage is no exception. We invited MyElectrik up from Lichfield in the Midlands and he and his bandmates unleashed a whole host of electronic tricks on the North West crowd.

They didn't dissapoint. Playing with a live band, MyElectrik went far beyond dubstep, producing a whole array of electronic sounds to shake and vibrate our tent in Carlisle. I found it particulary amusing how he used the opportunity to have a dig at all the 'unfaithful Stacys out there'. So, if your name is Stacy, and you have cheated on your boyfriend, SHAME ON YOU!

There were many, many other fantastic acts gracing our stage this year, and if you read this blog you will be familiar with lots of the acts who have featured on the Radio 1 playlist this year. If you haven't done so already, I URGE you to get over to our BBC Introducing Stage page, and spend the whole day flicking through the photos and videos. Forget work, there are new bands to discover.

Prior to Big Weekend, MyElectrik had been busy developing his own unique production sound over the past nine years, as well as creating his own record label - Dusted Records. It looks like the years of hard work has paid off, as his track Let It Rain will be on the Radio 1 playlist all this week.

• See more from MyElectrik's set at Radio 1's Big Weekend
• Check out all the videos and photos from the BBC Introducing stage or Listen Again to highlights
• Read Director Will's behind the scenes blog post about the filming of the BBC Introducing stage

Links

www.facebook.com/myelectrik

www.myspace.com/myelectrik

Hi, thanks for clicking through to my little blog. I’m Ally McCrae, presenter of BBC Introducing in Scotland (Radio 1 every Sunday night 12-2 - check it!) and I’m here in Carlisle to host the BBC Introducing stage at Radio 1’s Big Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Before that, BBC Introducing has invaded Carlisle’s favourite venues to host three fringe gigs with some of the best unsigned and undiscovered talent from this neck of the woods.

Wednesday night saw our second gig here (read my report on Tuesday night’s opening acoustic night, which turned into a bit of a rammy) so it was time to crank things a bit louder and show off some of best in Carlisle’s rock, indie and pop acts. 

The venue for tonight’s show was the brilliant Brickyard in the centre of Carlisle, which in my mind is a proper gig venue: it's dark, it reeks of beer, the bar staff are all well cooler than me and oh yeah, the sound system is huge.

So, for the second night running we already had an amazing crowd queuing up way before the doors opened (it’s just how we roll... haha!). First up, four lads from Barrow-in-Furnace called Audio Conspiracy took to the stage and were a brilliant way to get things started. Sounding like the rockier side of the Editors and with lead singer Phil Hampson sharing the kind of intensity, persona and charisma you would expect of someone who’d been gigging for decades, I think they made a lot of new fans tonight. Big up.

Next onstage was a power of pop-punk from The Alleys. Turning up for sound check still in their school uniforms, you’d be forgiven for wondering what was coming up, but from the minute they struck the first riff they had the Carlisle crowd with their arms in the air and had me wanting to get back into crowd-surfing. I definitely heard girls screaming for the drummer.

Speaking of the Carlisle crowd, I hope the rest of Radio 1 realise what is in store at the weekend for them; I get the feeling the Cumbrians are a wee bit excited about it. Everyone is so damn friendly, coming up and saying hey, screaming and generally going nuts for the acts - there was even a brilliant lady who dressed up, wrapped in a set of fairy lights. Need I say more?

Read the rest of this entry

Dream Beach is a beautiful new label run by Eddy from the brilliant band Fair Ohs. The label concentrates on non-Western music, and its sole release so far is by Kenyan band Nguuni Lovers Lovers.

To hear more about their aspiriations to release records by artists from around the world, I invited Dream Beach on to the show. We got the lowdown on their reasons for being, and heard two tracks from artists on their roster...

Tracks

Nguuni Lovers Lovers - Cheza Ngoma

Grani%20Tufan%20-%20Agir%20Delilo

Links

https://dreambeachrecords.blogspot.com/

https://soundcloud.com/dreambeachrecords

Hallo! I'm Ally McCrae, I present BBC Introducing in Scotland on Radio 1. I'm going to be invading this blog for the next few days, because BBC Introducing has hit Carlisle in the build up to Radio 1’s Big Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

BBC Introducing has its own stage at the festival, showcasing some of the most exciting emerging artists from all over the country, but in the days leading up to it we are taking over some of Carlisle's favourite venues with some of the best unsigned talent from the area.

Now, I had no idea what to expect, having never been to Carlisle, but a queue round the corner before the doors even opened on our first night was an alright way to kick things off!

The plan was to ease into the week gently with a nice wee night of acoustic artists in The Calva Bar in the grounds of the University of Cumbria, but by the end of the the night, the uni's crowd had sweated, danced and drank the (ludicrously cheap) bar dry. Not exactly easing in.

First up, Carlisle’s Laura James and the Lyres took to the stage to give us a set of folk-tinged indie pop. They are based around singer Laura James who has been performing since the tender age of 14. She possesses some really delicate vocals and was a really engaging front women to watch in the Regina Spektor/ Joanna Newsom kind of way.

She and her band are heading out on a tour of the North of England in the summer, at night playing in proper venues but by day they have a flat-bed trailer, which they intend to just ride around town centres playing and causing a nuisance.. Go here to find out more.

Read the rest of this entry

Rizzle Kicks. If you wanna get a feel for what these guys are all about you're gonna have to just get down with the trumpets:

The video captures everything you need to know. Cheeky lyrics, bouncy beats, trumpets, cheeky chappies; I have no doubt these boys are gonna tear up the Introducing Stage at Radio 1's Big Weekend this Saturday.

The boys in question are Sylvester and Rizzle from Brighton. They played together as kids, were reunited eight years later during a Sunday league football match, and four years later ended up in the same college. One day Rizzle got Sylvester to 'la la la' over some of his mixtapes and Rizzle Kicks were born.

With the likes of Gorillaz, Lily Allen, and Arctic Monkeys listed as favourites, and with an aim to bring the fun elements of old school early 90's hip hop into their music, I for one cannot wait until they release an album. They already have two massive songs behind them in Miss Cigarette and Down With The Trumpets, and their latest - Prophet (Better Watch It) - is our Tip of the Week. Fearne Cotton played it earlier this morning, and you'll hear it throughout the week on Radio 1. Here it is:

Like what you hear? Check back next week for highlights of their Big Weekend performance (and if you're going to Carlisle, we'll see you at the front!)

Links

https://www.rizzlekicks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RizzleKicks

https://twitter.com/RizzleKicks

This week on his Wednesday night show, Huw Stephens spoke to Alex Clapworthy from this week's Label of Love, Pictures Music.

The label was formed in August 2010 by Alex and his friend, Matt (former members of ambient electro act, Head and Neck Sessions). Their roster currently boasts Chairman Kato, Koreless, Lapalux, Seams, Dark Sky and, most recently, Dauwd.

They're clearly doing something right, as the label was responsible for two tracks in Gilles Peterson's 'All Winners 2010' programme, where he listed his favourite tracks of last year.

If you missed the show, here's Huw's chat with Alex, plus tracks from Seams and the increasingly popular Koreless:

Don't forget, Huw's Label of Love is features in the Huw Stephens podcast - yours to download for free every week!

Tracks:

Seams - Hung Markets

Koreless - MTI

Links

https://www.picturesmusic.co.uk/

https://soundcloud.com/picturesmusic

https://twitter.com/picturesmusicuk

Superstar DJ collaborates with British hip-hop artist and releases summer smash hit anthem. You're thinking Armand Van Helden / Dizzee Rascal with Bonkers right? Or maybe you were thinking of another pair milking the DJ/urban artist combo. David Guetta and Akon, perhaps? Or David Guetta and Rihanna, David Guetta and Lil' Wayne, or David Guetta and Flo Rida maybe? Come to think of it, are there any R&B artists left out there that Guetta hasn't made a music video featuring a swimming pool and semi-naked women collaborated with?

Well, my friends, we don't need to rely on French DJs to make this dream team a reality anymore, for now we have our very own combo right here in Nottingham; DJ Vimto and Jah Digga, whose music really wouldn't feel too out of place in a David Guetta set.

Vimto's claim to fame comes in the form of Toca's Miracle. The story goes like this; Vimto was the first DJ to conjour up the idea of mixing the acapella of Coco’s I Need a Miracle with Fragma’s Toca Me. Vimto’s illegal bootleg version was played by the likes of Judge Jules and Pete Tong, and eventually Positiva records released it with Fragma where it sold over 500,000 copies and went to number 1 in the UK charts. I wonder if Vimto saw a penny of this money?

Anyway, 11 years later Vimto teamed up with Jah Digga, a 24-year-old youth worker, also from Nottingham. Jah has been writing lyrics since the age of 13 along with his co-writer 2 Tone, and teamed up with Vimto after they took part in a community football project together.

Who knows where this somewhat romantic story will go from here? All I know is, they're playing together on our stage at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle on Sunday 15th May, and this track will be on the Radio 1 playlist all this week. Let us know what you think!

Links

https://djvimto.co.uk/

https://www.myspace.com/djvimto

https://www.myspace.com/jahdigga