Sinkane's new album Mars is due out on December 17th, but we've got a preview of Runnin' for you below.
Today's Advent Calendar post pulls no punches, with a particularly timely video of street violence and martial law, but it's a worthy addition to our December line-up with a free download of the track available via the SoundCloud player below.
Look out for a full album review closer to the 17th, and more track previews to come too as Mars nears its release date.
You can keep up to date with our Advent Calendar posts via RSS here.
Our second Advent Calendar post is Eugene McGuinness's Sugarplum, due out on December 10th, but here for you to preview below.
It's a punchy track with good development and, according to several commenters so far, a particularly good ending.
We'll let you decide what you think of it...
I'm in two minds on this one; I certainly don't think it's a bad song, and I love the punchy backing music and the catchy chorus.
There's just something in the verses that doesn't quite do it for me - although not to such an extent that I haven't listened to it quite a few times already.
Weirdly, I also find Sugarplum strangely reminiscent of Walk Like A Panther by All Seeing I (with vocals by Tony Christie). Obviously it's an up-to-date and much younger equivalent... or perhaps it's my imagination.
Anyway, make up your own mind - and you can find Sugarplum on iTunes via the button below.
You can keep up to date with our Advent Calendar posts via RSS here.
The award-winning (not really) Popsiculture Advent Calendar is BACK and this year we're kicking off with newcomers Among Brothers, whose 7" single I Am Certain was released on November 26th.
You can see the video below, and catch Among Brothers TONIGHT at The Chameleon in Nottingham, or tomorrow at The Croft in Bristol.
Your last chance to see them live on their current mini-tour of the UK is at London's Assembly Hall, Islington, supporting Los Campesinos! on December 15th.
I Am Certain is a musical and visual oddity, slightly unsettling in a Nick Cave or Smashing Pumpkins kind of a way, and with a couple of definite similarities to some of Smashing Pumpkins' more melancholy works, particularly in its opening.
But it's very much its own song, albeit an unusual song, and that personality is likely to attract a fair few fans to this track.
The Ale House isn't the most obvious of live music venues, hidden away on a Leigh side street with bar prices that would have seemed cheap 20 years ago, but Rachel Kaye managed to make this one corner of the world her own on Saturday night with a blindingly brilliant solo set.
It can't be easy setting up your own audio gear with no time for a sound check, before launching straight into a series of spellbinding renditions of all-time great tracks - not to mention remembering to change out of your Uggs before you start singing.
For Rachel - who by her own admission had not had the best of days - the set-up looked almost effortless, the show began within minutes of her entering the building, and she was warming up the crowd literally within seconds of walking in.
A lesser talented performer might have struggled to compete with the dozen or so TV screens showing live darts, but Rachel's glittering personality, instant likeability and sheer strength of talent meant there was only ever going to be one star of the evening.
We were only able to stay for her first set of modern classics - and I'd love to have been able to stay for the second half of the show, when she'd promised to bring out some of the oldies - but that was still enough to recognise the brilliance of this young lady.
When, halfway through her first song, the guy sat next to me turned and mouthed "she's good", there wasn't much to do but nod in agreement.
My personal high point among what we saw was Rachel's Devlinesque rendition of Torn, into which she managed to inject more character and finesse than Natalie Imbruglia's original effort, without over-complicating what is a fairly sweet and simple track.
In a dirt-cheap side-street drinking hole, Rachel was every bit the glittering star, and well worthy of a much bigger stage - and I say good luck to her. Instantly likeable and enduringly memorable, look out for her in any given bar across the north-west on a weekend night, and know that, if you spot her, your luck's in.
You can't always spend eight years on an album, but that's what Benjamin Gibbard did with Former Lives, his debut solo release.
You may know Benjamin better from Death Cab for Cutie - but Former Lives is an opportunity for an intimate glimpse into some of the landmark moments of his life from recent years.
"These songs span eight years, three relationships, living in two different places, drinking then not drinking," he explains. "They're a side-story, not a new chapter."
However, they're also more than just a release of pent-up angst - and while some of the music and lyrics are admittedly simplistic, I don't see that as anything of a problem.
Some of the greatest love songs ever written are equally free from complexity, and there's definitely nothing 'basic' about Former Lives.
Instead, this is an album with a charming honesty to it, lacking in the commercial cynicism that you may have become accustomed to.
Gibbard is both a storyteller, and the subject of these stories - making for a uniquely tangible character to this solo debut that you're unlikely to find in much of the album chart.
In years gone by, we've given quite detailed coverage to The X Factor - everything from live blogs, to exclusives on the latest odds, to compilations of some of those dramatic bits of music they use in their montages.
After last Sunday night's shambles of a show, I won't be watching The X Factor again. It's not even a case of whether or not it's fixed, it's more that I knew from the moment Carolynne Poole's VT began on Saturday night - portraying her as a perfectionist who'd beat people up for getting in the background of her camera shot - that she was doomed.
She's clearly not the worst performer in the show, and absolutely did not deserve to be the first to be booted off (even if she received the fewest votes, you only have to compare the sparseness of her production with the over-the-top glitz and glamour of Rylan's to see why she failed to connect with the viewers).
And yes, it's not really the unfairness of it - more the feeling that the show, and its outcome, are more manufactured and predictable than ever. If Union J win (and that's admittedly a very big 'if' at this stage) that will be hammered home like never before.
What this means for you, dear readers, is that there probably won't be any coverage of The X Factor on Popsiculture this year. We put ourselves through a fair bit in our pursuit of news and reviews to bring to you, but there are limits.
Best of luck to those of you who stick with the show - the only question we need to answer now is what to do with our Saturday and Sunday nights, here at Popsiculture HQ??
What did you do with your summer? Did you spend it in the sun (what there was of it, at least...), with an ice-cold cider in a beer garden? Or trapped indoors, watching the flood waters rise?
Given the weather, it's no surprise that Macclesfield four-piece Racing Glaciers spent their time working on this six-track EP that draws plenty of inspiration from rivers and the darker hours of the day.
Named after the group, Racing Glaciers was recorded in the summer of 2012, not in a recording studio, but in a living room - but there's plenty of quality underpinning this release, and it would be harsh to call it an amateur effort.
From the haunting opening of the EP's Intro, which leads directly into the anthemic South, to the energetic closing track Little River, there are more than a few goosebump moments if this is your kind of music (and enough to keep you listening, even if it's not).
Songs with a strong sense of progression and storyline to them are somehow still unafraid to return to their chorus to provide some continuity, while the musical motifs introduced along the way mix things up to prevent anything from getting stale - as if it even could.
Baby Come Home is the new single from Scissor Sisters, out on July 23rd and part of the line-up from their latest album Magic Hour.
Back in May, we gave Magic Hour a fairly conservative 70%, but hopefully we got the message across that, for fans of the Scissor Sisters (and fans of having a good time) that figure should really be much higher.
Now the singles are starting to hit the stands, it'll be good to hear Baby Come Home (hopefully) get some radio play in its own right - at a little over three minutes, it's primed for airplay.
Do we like Baby Come Home? Well sure - what's not to like? It's a simple but decent crowdpleaser that'll give you a chance to throw a few funky shapes on the dancefloor, and there's nothing wrong with that.
It's also a prime example of the Scissor Sisters ethos - not too hung up about breaking new ground, but happy to simply give you something to dance to.
And with The Dark Knight Rises due out any day now, Magic Hour's prospects in the charts can't have been hurt too much by an endorsement from new Catwoman Anne Hathaway in her recent Letterman appearance - skip to the nine-minute mark below.
Anne explains the idea behind a 'kiki' - a party to calm your nerves, a chance to kick back with some friends, and some good music - and it seems like the dictionary definition of what Scissor Sisters are all about.
Let's Have a Kiki is one of the Ana-led tracks on Magic Hour, and has been gaining ground in the past few weeks, thanks in no small part to the video below - which is totally unofficial, but you can still click the iTunes link to download the song if you want.
When tracks are finding videos and single-like popularity of their own accord, you know you've done something good with your latest album - although this may have put a spanner in the works of any plans to officially release Let's Have a Kiki in the future.
Still, if that gives another of Magic Hour's star tracks the chance to shine in its place, that can only be a good thing.
Diana Vickers brought Christmas to a rainy July in Manchester last night, with a tinsel-strewn glimpse of some of the tracks from her upcoming new album.
In an all-too-brief one-hour set, she delivered an intimate but exciting gig that some die-hard Vickers fans have already claimed was her best ever.
This was my first look at Diana Vickers as a live performer (not counting live performances on TV, obviously) and it was a far cry from the innocent-little-girl act she played back on The X Factor.
Present-day Diana is all grown up, and her music is maturing too - but there's still plenty of fun in there, too.
The inimitable Jennie Sawdon made a welcome return to The Sanctuary in Didsbury, Manchester last night, and I was privileged to be in the crowd - which I'm fairly sure has grown in size each time Jennie's provided the music at the bar's fortnightly Sunday Jazz night.
It's an unpredictable night, with musicians travelling the length of the country - sometimes literally - to be involved. Jennie is north-west based herself, but her ensemble had assembled from further afield. Anthony, who was recording the performance for a possible upcoming live album (yes please, Jennie...!), had made the journey up from London.
Each fortnight, this level of commitment delivers something a little bit special, regardless of your musical tastes, but Jennie's emotion-charged, flawless vocals add an unparalleled edge to her appearances, creating a genuinely intimate air that is not solely down to the bijou scale of the venue.
We're waiting with considerable anticipation on any firm details of the live album, but for those who already own their copies of Jennie's debut, self-produced album Fighting the Fairytale, the prospect of a professionally produced collection of her live work is tantalising indeed.
In the meantime, there's the album, the YouTube videos (such as the one above, and the beautiful video Jennie recently released for her love song Nothing) and the tracks that make it on to the front page of her website.
We're thrilled to have tracked Jennie's career almost since the day she launched Fighting the Fairytale, which in itself transformed her from a jobbing wedding singer into a fully fledged recording artist - and realised a lifelong dream in the process.
As always, Jennie was ably supported by an army of friends and family, including hubby Chris Geere of Waterloo Road fame (you may spot him in the video above) who is possibly even more generous with hugs than Jennie is herself.
I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it again, but in this new age of instant access via Twitter, it's the approachable stars who shine the brightest - not those with seven-figure follower counts - and Jennie, her parents and aunt, Chris and the whole entourage are among the most welcoming people I've met.
Undoubtedly, it is this sense of inclusion - bolstered by Jennie's heartfelt and revealing introductions to each of her songs - that keeps drawing her audience back again and again.
With all of that in mind, it seems particularly fitting that this time around, it was one of Jennie's covers that marked the emotional high point of the evening for me, alongside her own tale of sisterly love and perennial crowd-pleaser, Echoes.
This time out, it was her elegant and understated rendition of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time that really stole the show (although perhaps that's because it's one of my favourite songs...).
But between the covers and the original compositions, the jazz and the ballads, there was, once again, plenty for everyone to appreciate, regardless of taste - and Jennie's performance, accomplished as ever, has me counting the days until the Sawdon clan descend en masse on The Sanctuary once again.
