The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - April 2012

April has been an eventful month for New and Emerging Music this year and that is putting it mildly - our long list of songs to choose our favourites from seemed never ending. While its crazy to even think that a good four weeks have come and gone since the last time we shared our Best New Music with you, those four weeks have come accompanied with some pretty amazing music thankfully. The month of April - week FOURTEEN (02/04/12 - 08/04/12) all the way through to week SEVENTEEN (23/04/12) - (29/04/12) of 2012 - has been blessed with at least one gem of a record in Hip-Hop, Afrobeats, Indie, Pop, R&B and everything in between. Here are our favourite picks as always...

We Plug To You... PJ Morton - Follow My First Mind EP

We plug to you singer, songwriter and musician PJ Morton with his most recent body of work, the 7 track EP titled Follow My First Mind (FMFM). PJ Morton recalls his musical upbringing in New Orleans where he was born and raised as having greatly influenced his musical style and allowed his talents to be early nurtured and developed. His first dive into music was with a band called Freestyle Nation which started right after Morton graduated from college. Over the years, the band went on to receive minimal recognition, however during this time Morton's stock as a songwriter/producer was beginning to rise in the industry and in no time, he already had a Grammy Award to his name.

We Plug To You... Dry the River

Fast-rising eclectic Folk band Dry the River - consisting of Peter Liddle (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Matthew Taylor (Guitar), Will Harvey (Violin), Scott Taylor (Bass Guitar) and Jon Warren (Drums) - are not your typical Mumford and Sons kind of folk-band even though everyone wants to call them "the next Mumford and Sons". Each member of the band has previously played in Hardcore Rock and Post-Punk bands and these elements shine through on Dry the River’s music, song lyrics and weirdly enough, the band members’ love of tattoos (uncanny for a Folk band surely).

We Plug To You... Bonaventure

Nashville-based Alternative Rock band Bonaventure is made up of Dan Smyers and Andrew Albert, both of whom are already well known in the music world to their respective fans - Andy is the lead singer of Pop-Punk band Holiday Parade while Dan is a successful solo singer and guitarist in his own right. The pair met up about a year and a half ago in Miami, Florida and after realising that they were both heading down the same path musically, began to explore and share a few song ideas between themselves over the internet. That path as well as the initial exploration and sharing of ideas eventually led to the formation of Bonaventure and both artists moving to Nashville, Tennessee - the city of such great songwriters as Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix - to create what they call "Rock with a Southern flavour".

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 12 & 13, 2012

And JUST like that, the first quarter of the year is well and truly gone! 2012 is not waiting around for anybody it seems and as we draw ever closer and closer to the Summer time and all the music festivals that come with it, I hope we all have our tickets and Wellington boots ready! Our Best New Music of the final two weeks of the first quarter range from UK Grime to Indie Pop to Brit Soul/R&B to Hip-Hop to Experimental so let's get right into it, shall we? Week TWELVE (19/03/12 - 25/03/12) and week THIRTEEN (26/03/12 - 01/04/12) of 2012 produced these entries into our Best New and Emerging Music series...

We Plug To You... Attention Thieves

We plug to you, unsigned Reading Rock band Attention Thieves with their debut EP Look A Little Closer which was released last week on Monday, March 26. Far from your generic guitar Rock band, Attention Thieves add many different layers and elements to what their sound is - from Progressive Rock to Punk to Post-Hardcore - and with fans and critics alike heaping praises on Attention Thieves and likening them to the likes of The Police and Foo Fighters, it will soon be very hard for your favourite mainstream radio station and the wider audience consciousness to overlook the anthemic and progressive Rock sound of Attention Thieves.

We Plug To You... Professor Penguin - Planes (Album Review)

I really need to start making sure I keep up to date with the music on our sister blog, Conversations but you know how it is right? You get busy with school and work and with life, you just can't keep track of the updates and you miss out on some pretty amazing music. Case in point is this next band... You see, I came across this album yesterday while actioning the emails I had received over the last few days and I listened to it until I fell asleep last night. Beautiful music brought forth by London 9-piece band, Professor Penguin.

We Plug To You... Wilson - Painted on Silence EP

Introducing emerging Brit Soul Singer/Songwriter Wilson with his debut EP, Painted On Silence. Hailing from North London, Wilson has been singing his entire life with performances starting from as early as primary school and according to his Facebook page, his influences range from the late great Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to Stevie Wonder and Donnie Hathaway among others. Wilson, who is a University graduate of Commercial Music, has performed at some of London's famous venues such as the Jazz Cafe, Hackney Empire and the Royal Albert Hall over the years but Painted On Silence marks his first public foray into the world of recorded music. Read on to find out what we thought...