Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - This Is Christmas (2011)

5/10   

I’ll be honest. When it comes to Christmas music, I’m something of a Scrooge. With this year’s main festive entries coming courtesy of the likes of Bieber and Bublé, can you really blame me?

So I was highly surprised to learn that an artist who I’ve keenly followed over the last few years, Emmy The Great, was releasing a Christmas album with her significant other, Tim Wheeler of Ash. Just to add to the romance, they began work on the album last year while trapped inside by snow, aww... As much as you’d like them to succeed with their first (and surely not last) collaborative effort, it doesn’t exactly scream potential masterpiece.

Kito & Reija - Sweet Talk EP (2011)

7/10  

Aussie duo bring some very palatable dub-pop

The dubstep scene isn’t exactly flush with female producers, but Perth-based Kito created such a stir with her early work that she attracted the attention Skream, signing to his Disfigured Dubz label. She teams up with singer Reija Lee to bring us Sweet Talk, a four-track release with as much emphasis on the sweet-as-sugar vocals as the impact of the bass kick.