With the UK music scene growing tired of the same old indie bands, KOJO seems destined to fill the void for those looking about in search of something new. The band’s unique blend of funk, rock, soul and electro conjures up a cocktail of influences from Sly and the Family Stone to Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all encapsulated in a slick set full of energy and instantly memorable melodies.

Formed and based in West London, the band’s music is a mix of all their influences, cultivated in a rehearsal studio off Portobello Road. Lyrics cover everything from getting out of London’s rat race in “ Let’s Go,” to the superb reflection on their 80s childhood name-dropping Thundercats and Super Mario with some original computer samples in “8 Years old.”

KOJO is currently working with Grammy Award winning producer Simon Gogerly (U2, Gwen Stefani) whilst finishing the writing on their debut album. Mates Duffy, Estelle and DJ Yoda regularly come to see them play and you can check out their video blogs on Nokia’s Royal Artist Club.

Catch KOJO at their Summer Party this Friday June 20 at DEX, where they’ll be laying on a fantastic set as well as DJ’s all night, a BBQ and hot tub action.

For more info and a sample of KOJO’s tracks, click here

DEX

476 Brixton Road

London SW9

Doors 7pm to 4am £5 Before 9pm £10 after

Following the mutually agreed-upon departure of Marina at the end of last year, Gorky and Pedro came up with the genius but slightly random idea of auditioning for Bonde de Role’s new band member through what seems to be the usual reality TV route of searching for one on air.

With the help of MTV Brazil, screening over 100 Bonde wannabes and an extensive schedule of karaoke comps and mud wrestling, the victorious new members are Ana Bernardino and Laura Taylor.

You heard right; they decided not on one but two new female vocalists!! The new quartet have announced plans for a North American tour kicking off in late April in which the band will hit Miami, cross coasts to the Coachella Festival and then work back east from there.

Bonde Do Role will be performing on Saturday, April 26th along with Prince, M.I.A, Hot Chip, Marc Ronson and many more at Coachella, running from today through Sunday at the Polo Fields in Indio, California. Other exciting performances across the weekend include; Black Kids, The Raconteurs, Santogold and Spank Rock.

It’s going to be hot…literally!!

Check out Coachella’s full listing here and Bonde de Role’s schedule here.

For one week starting tomorrow, Brazil is bringing a slice of its beauty and color to London. Bárbara Wagner exhibits her work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) from the 12th of April, carrying photographs that capture the urban beach of Brasília Teimosa. Screaming bold colours, stark shapes and oodles of light depict supposedly flawed standards of beauty, revealing a sense of joy in a world that requires an enormous amount of strength and character.

As Bárbara says, “a Sunday at the beach with music and dancing can bring to light subjects that are rarely dealt with by the media, which flattens and stigmatises the margins of society”.

Kicking off the week is the 10th celebration of Batmacumba — the longest running Brazilian club night in England that was started by DJ Cliffy at the (ICA). Aiming to corner the contemporary Brazilian culture market, never did DJ Cliffy imagine that it would become a benchmark for the Brazilian scene in London. On the 12th of April, Batmacumba kicks by also documenting the fantastic city of Recife showing short films and photography from one of Brazil’s most stimulating areas.

Founded in 2006, the Trinity International Hip Hop festival was created to tackle the segregation and violence of Hartford, CT and Trinity college. Focusing on hip hop’s global proliferation and power as a communicative idiom, the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival tries to unify Trinity College, the city of Hartford and the world.

Some folks argue that the corporate world of entertainment has played a major role in sapping American hip-hop of the positive energy that was once been represented in its roots stages. They also argue that American radio stations focus on the ‘consumer-driven’ choices of pre-selected hip hop tracks and carry play lists that only express views on materialism and use derogatory language. For them, it would seem that only outside the US have the majority of hip hop artists preserved its true form of expression, spreading a collaborative fusion of cultural influences and generally re capturing the cultures more positive elements. Whether or not this is true, those folks are going to love this year’s festival.

Talent from all over the globe — Israel, Puerto Rico, Liberia, Kenya, Brazil and many more — are representing this year to reinvigorate our faith in global hip hop’s ability to enlighten, empower and cross cultural borders.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, is taking place at Trinity College April 4th, 5th and 6th.

Check out the rest of this year’s participating artists, activists, graffiti writers and films here.

Acronym-izing “you’re only young once”, Yo Yo is the infamous night pioneered by Seb Chew and Leo Greenslade. The West London urban hot spot has played host to talent across the board including TRACE sweethearts Lilly Allen and Santogold and it’s not uncommon to see Mark Ronson dropping by for a spin.

The music policy is varied with an eclectic mix of everything from 80’s classics through to hip hop, R’n'B, ragga and even a touch of old skool drum n’ bass. Leaving their usual weekly London spot for the first time in six years, Yo Yo will be gracing Miami’s Delano tonight and tomorrow with spinsters DJ Medhi, A-Trak and, of coruse, Mark Ronson.

So if you fancy a little boogie, or are already there lapping up the energy that surrounds the Miami winter music conference, check it out here.

Buraka Som Sistema are a freshly wrapped parcel straight out of Lisbon, Portugal that will be headlining tonight at FabricLive in London. A sound that will stimulate your daily audio in-take, Buraka Som Sistema (BSS) brings us a melodic mix of grime, hip-hop, house, and most prominently, Kudro.

The heart beat of BSS’s sound, Kudro — meaning “hard ass” for those of you who don’t already know –  originates from Angola, and has been huge in the clubs of Lisbon since the early nineties, mostly enjoyed by the migrant Angolan communities in Portugal.

Buraka Som Sistema have folded an exciting and genius musical blend of Angolan beats with contemporary electro, and the result is a unique, explosive sound; which arguably in the current climate of copy and paste artists is hard to come by!! Over a million views of their Yah video, BSS have been championed by M.I.A., Santogold, Diplo, Sinden, Switch & many more.Complimented by an amazing African dance troupe BSS are one of the most exciting live acts you’ll see are in London. Do not miss!

Tickets for the Fabric show here.

Check out this new video, “Sound of Kuduro,” shot in Angola and featuring M.I.A.