The line-up for Motel Mozaique is something to drool over. This makes it difficult to actually pick a reasonably few acts we’d like to stress on here at Rockstone. So we didn’t. Well, kind of. Here’s twelve artists you really, really need to check out. But just to make sure you don’t miss out on anything and you want to make a proper decision yourself, we added a Spotify list including all the artists (available on Spotify).
BRNS
Belgian band, pronounced as Brains. A name that is derived from the many zombie movies they watched and since zombies eat brains, well, one plus one makes two. Nevertheless, great, experimental music with a touch of Alt-J and a beat of early Foals. Awesome video’s as well.
Denai Moore
You might know her from her collaboration with SBTRKT in ‘The Light’. Truth of the matter is, Denai Moore makes great music when flying solo as well. It’s touching and soulful, with a voice that gives you goose bumps.
Ghostpoet
Ghostpoet is one of the most diverse artists in the scene of hiphop. His debutalbum ‘Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam’ combines hiphop, with funk, rock, triphop and dub. He recorded his third album, ‘Shedding Skin’, in a traditional live setting, with band and all. Creating a different sound that is still recognisable.
Ibeyi
These twin sisters from France mix up the sound of their father’s Cuban roots, also known as Yoruba, with a contemporary, electronic sound. It’s both unique and mesmerizing and praised in the media as the festival promise of 2015.
Jake Isaac
While we’re discussing artists that know the art of mixing up styles anyway, Jake Isaac is another one that belongs to that category. He likes to call his genre “rock ‘n soul”, but we’re sure to recognize folk and pop in it as well. So, let’s just stick to popfolk ‘n soul, that’s a bit rough around the edges.
Kate Tempest
She started writing lyrics at the age of sixteen and released her debut album ‘Everybody Down’ eleven years later. She raps on catchy beats and shows talent not many spoken word artists can live up to. Her lyrics are witty and funny and apparently her shows are practically comedy. So even if you don’t like her music, you can at least go for a good laugh.
Lapalux
Although not so new in the field of music, it’s just recently that he’s getting more and more popular. Lapalux’ new track ‘Don’t Mean A Thing’ is smooth, has just the right vibe to it and sounds like he shaped this until he had the perfect song. His second album ‘Lustmore’ will not let you down.
Mister and Mississippi
Rockstone recently shot an acoustic session with this talented Dutch band and it worked out just perfect. Their song ‘We Only Part to Meet Again’ is one of the many touching songs their second album has. Be prepared to gaze and listen in awe to Mister and Mississippi.
NIMMO
A funky housebeat and deep toned female voices; NIMMO is the up-tempo version of the XX. Perfectly suitable to dance to and sing along with. Especially their track ‘Jaded’ is one for the repeat-button.
Purity Ring
Sensual rhythms and edgy, clear vocals supported by powerful beats. It’s in short why you need to listen to Purity Ring. This Canadian duo represents a genre that’s popular the last few years and we can understand why. Think CHVRCHES; the charming voice of a woman meets electronic , danceable beats. A hell of a combination, that doesn’t gets old. Yet.
The Staves
There are two trends going on these days: folk is taking over pop music and sisters are uniting to start band. The Staves is doing both and are practically showing us that the combination is a guarantee to success.
Weval
This duo from Amsterdam under the name of Weval are doing well when it comes to releasing EP’s, because the third one called Easier was released last November. It’s not necessarily music to dance to, but you can certainly try bouncing. They ingeniously mix tatters of vocals with electronic beats and easily build up to a certain high, while the chill vibe remains.
And the entire Motel Mozaique playlist: