The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - May 2012

The last time we were both here, we were faced with the daunting task of summing up the Best New & Emerging Music of April 2012 into just five songs. We barely managed to accomplish this impossible feat - only just - because the amount of amazing new music that we've been blessed with so far this year has been ridiculous and April was no different. The weeks of May 2012 have not been an exception either, we literally have good music bursting out at the seams for us to share with you - from Hip-Hop to Electronic Music to Afrobeats to Indie to Pop and everything in between - so without further ado, here's your Best New Music of May (30/04/12 - 27/05/12) 2012...

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...

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 10 & 11, 2012

A full week late with this instalment BUT we are here nevertheless and what a month of March it has been so far for New and Emerging Music! The Sun is finally out and the music festival season has officially begun with South by Southwest (SXSW) kicking off the proceedings earlier in the month. In a way, you could say that our Best New and Emerging Music series is very much like the SXSW festivals. SXSW has always been known for unearthing some pretty amazing new  and emerging artists and that's exactly what our series has been doing all year so without further ado, here's our Best New Music of week TEN (05/03/12 - 11/03/12) and week ELEVEN (12/03/12 - 18/03/12) of 2012.

We Plug To You... Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again (Album Review)

It's a Friday night and I'm getting prepped for my radio show looking for new African acts delivering great music. It was while doing this a few weeks ago that I heard Michael Kiwanuka for the first time via Okay Africa. What I heard that day was "Home Again", the lead single and title track for his debut album which I have the pleasure of reviewing now. As such; without further ado, I plug to you the BBC Sound of 2012 winner, Michael Kiwanuka with his inspiring debut album Home Again.

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 8 & Week 9, 2012

Ladies and gentlemen, I am not going to lie to you. Being able to bring to you this rather fun and exciting Best New and Emerging Music series every week is proving harder than I thought and you will have noticed that over the last six weeks, it has become more of bi-monthly series rather than a weekly one. Notwithstanding, we are as still committed as ever to continue to trail and sifting through all the new music coming out in 2012 and bringing you the very Best New and Emerging Music of 2012 as and when they occur. Without further ado however, here's our Best New Music of week EIGHT (20/02/12 - 26/02/12) and week NINE (27/02/12 - 04/03/12) of 2012.

We Plug to You... BJ The Chicago Kid - Pineapple Now-Laters (Album Review)

OK so Pineapple Now - Laters is actually a candy! When I first heard the intro to this record, I thought  BJ was just reciting some really cool Spoken Word with some deeper meaning but he’s actually just talking about candy people! Apparently it was his favourite candy as a kid and in previous interviews, he has stated that this pre-album is just a taste of everything BJ - he refers to it as "World Soul R&B". I refer to it as a perfect mix of all things Soul and GOOD.

We Plug To You... Stacy Barthe

Hey folks! Apologies for the hiatus, but I’m back with an artist that you just have to hear about. I like to consider myself knowledgeable about music but it looks like somehow this Singer-Songwriter missed my radar last year.

She recently made it on to our Best New & Emerging Music list and with no further ado I present to you, Singer/Songwriter Stacy Barthe. Like most songwriters who transition into performing artists, Stacy’s first EP Sincerely Yours came about by her wondering what would happen if she answered the calling she felt within to create a personal work of art and to perform her own songs. Following that successful EP from 2011, came the birth of her most recent work In The Inbetween which was released in February 2012. Below is an excerpt on Stacy from her official website.

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 6 & Week 7, 2012

It's been a very eventful fourteen days in music and that is putting it very mildly. We begin this article by paying our respects to the late great Whitney Houston who passed away on February 11, 2012. May her soul rest in perfect peace and our condolences go out to the entire Houston family.

Now unto today's proceedings, we have been sifting through all the new and emerging music that has come away over the last two weeks - from February 6 to February 19 - and as we usually do, we've selected only the best of the best to share with you. Here are our Best New & Emerging Music from weeks SIX (06/02/12 - 12/02/12) and weeks SEVEN (13/02/12 - 19/02/12) of 2012.

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 4 & Week 5, 2012

Happy NEW month ladies and gentlemen. Apologies for the hiatus last week and we could get into a little back and forth about what happened to us BUT what good would that do anyone? What's important is that we're here NOW and we've got two full weeks of NEW and EMERGING music to sift through to bring you some of the Best New and Emerging Music from over the past two weeks especially for your listening pleasure. So without wasting anymore time, here are our very TOP picks of the Best New and Emerging Music of weeks FOUR (23/01/12 - 29/01/12) and FIVE (30/01/12 - 05/02/12) of 2012.

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 3, 2012

And just like that boys and girls, the first month of the "new" year is on its last legs. 2012 is going full steam ahead at this point with the third week of the year having whizzed quickly by without warning BUT thankfully NOT before it blessed us with some pretty AMAZING new and emerging music to carry us through the week. Here are our TOP FIVE BEST New & Emerging Music of the THIRD week of 2012 (16/01/12 - 22/01/12) after the jump, make sure you Listen + Comment + Share...

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 2, 2012

Here we go ladies and gentlemen! Week TWO of 2012 is officially OVER and just like that, the "new" year is already fifteen days deep and what a couple of weeks its been already. This second week has seen Jay-Z and Beyonce bring forth their first child to the world, Common take hard bodied shots at Drake on wax, the UK's Ed Sheeran sweep this year's BRIT Awards nominations and well of course - the reason why we all are here - a mad flurry of NEW and EMERGING music...