Bands to emerge from Oxford have become uniquely identifiable since coming together in a creative collective now known as Blessing Force – and through this artistic and musical army comes not just great music, but fantastic videos.

Jonquil enlisted the skills of producer/director/editor Franklyn Banks to create a weird and wonderful video to sit alongside their song ‘It’s My Part’ and the result is bang on beautiful.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIiV6uw2QWo

The new Black Keys album has been a joy to the ears as well as the eyes with the first official video going mega-viral and now we’ve got a more conventional yet great visual aide for Gold on the Ceiling.

I’m sure the festival schedule is lining up nicely and with some luck some of our choices will ensure we get to see them on stage!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yCIDkFI7ew

We’ve become good friends with David’s Lyre since he featured on a session in the early stages of our channel and again at the Great Escape festival in Brighton as well as loads of editorial posts on the blog containing his unique blend of modern folky music that we’ve grown so fond of.

His album, Picture of our Youth, is due out at the end of this month and so, on an extremely (!!!) cold day on Hampstead Heath in London, we decided to meet up for a pre-album session…

‘This Time’ is track 2 on the album and one of our favourites and Paul Dixon aka David’s Lyre performed a fantastic version for us.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD6NaA8eC_U

The album will be available to buy/download on 20th February via his Bandcamp and find more info on a whole via his Facebook.

Still haven’t gotten round to listen to the new Maccabees LP but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what’s been released to YouTube thus far, including this new one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HaW5alLnC0

Marie (Paris) and Bruce Driscoll (New York) aka Freedom Fry came together with the pure intention of creating alluring and exquisite music. Using both French and English lyrics, the pair have hit the nail on the head when it comes to their sound which is already distinctive and inspired.

The above stream is taken from their recent debut 5-track EP, ‘Let The Games Begin’, which throughout incorporates their love of autoharps, ukeleles, dulcimers and harpischords and the this next song is a great example of that.

The next song is scheduled for release on Valentine’s Day (14th Feb) and the music video was released just recently. There’s a full length LP on it’s way at some point as well as some live dates due to be announced and given they’re listed as based in LA, you can expect the first run to in the States.

I first heard Clock Opera back in 2010 when they released a lively upbeat single called ‘A Piece Of String’. Lead singer Guy Connelly’s slightly quavering vocals were just gorgeous and the mix of real instruments and samples gave them a unique twist to their indie rock sound. So I was pleased to hear that the band are due to release their debut LP ‘Ways To Forget’ in April 2012.

Clock Opera – A Piece Of String

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFW7Q6q8-e4

Clock Opera – Belongings

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnDqI_F6pnQ

The band use a combination of real instruments and samples, many of which are found sounds. The ‘Making of…’ video below really brings to life how Guy and the band weave these found sounds into melodies and beats. Its impressive stuff. If haunting tracks like ‘Belongings’ are anything to go by, the song writing is going to make for a brilliant album.

The Making of White Noise

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KHytLcqRzc

In the run up to his first formal headline tour, Jamie N Commons has released a full length preview of his next single and it’s another confirmation of how powerful and evocative his music is.

With a similar big band feel to The Preacher, this song has a bigger soul punch to it whilst the gritty Americana remains.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kvHQPWy8aA

Watch Jamie perform The Preacher on our Mahogany Session channel here.

Josh Record is one of those artists on the cusp of something really big in 2012 and he’s certainly a man that deserves it. We showcased him alongside his band on our first Introducing sessions and he’s climbed to become the 9th most session overall this month.

He’s just revealed a new demo recorded at home but it’s a stunning piece of work and sets our tails wagging for the upcoming EP!

Watch his Introducing session here.

To say that Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, makes music that is otherworldly is a massive understatement. Her art house looks and siren-esque vocal style combine to make you feel like Grimes really did drop to earth straight from the heavens.

Hailing from Montreal Canada, Grimes should really need no introduction having recently released the sublime sounding single ‘Genesis’ from her 4th studio album ‘Visions’. Grimes has an hypnotic ethereal sound and as a performer she weaves visual arts, performance and culture into her delivery – making her one of the more unique and exciting artists out there at the moment.

Grimes – Vanessa

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC2XLePDWQ

 Grimes – Heartbeats

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJEnkJHumLU

Grimes EP collaboration ‘Darkbloom’ with Canadian lo-fi RnB vocalist D’eon proved to be fruitful musical partnership. This EP saw this track ‘Crystal Ball’ alongside D’eon’s 90s inspired ‘Transparency‘. Both are synth heavy tracks which compliment each other perfectly.

Grimes – Crystal Ball

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bWmLFaJA-Q

Catch Grimes’ dream-like live show on one of the below dates in May.

May 6th – Bristol, Simple Things Festival

May 7th – Glasgow, Berkeley Suite

May 8th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club

May 9th – London, XOYO

May 10th – Manchester, Islington Mill

The ever eccentric and uber-talented Kate Bush has released a gorgeous shadow puppet video for her track ‘Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe’ from her most recent album ’50 Words for Snow’.  This is a visual feast.

Kate Bush – Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKPHA3_cBus