FC Barcelona 2014/15 Nike Third Kit

 Nike has released the FC Barcelona 2014/15 third kit. It will be available World Soccer Shop, Subside Sports, Nike and Kitbag Barca stores along with the Blaugrana’s home and away uniforms for the ongoing season.

This season, FC Barcelona will wear a bold new third kit that captures the club’s inherent brilliance and energy.

The kit consists of two tones of Volt yellow, which first appeared in Barcelona’s away kit in 2005. The shirt, shorts and socks all feature the distinct Volt color on the front, with a darker tone of the same yellow on the back.

The two tones are divided by blue stripes — honoring one of Barcelona’s famous home colors — that stretch along both sides of the kit from the collar, along both shoulders, down the shirt and shorts, and right down to the socks. The stripes are designed to accentuate the impression of speed when the players are in motion.

“The half-and-half appearance is a traditional football design, but we added a new twist,” said Martin Lotti, Creative Director of Nike Football. “We wanted to utilize vibrant color so the kits look brighter at night against the grass and beneath floodlights. Under a dark sky, the kits will look electric, as if powered by batteries, and will provide an almost electric flash of color on the pitch.”

The shirt also boasts a classic design with a sophisticated polo neck collar and a three-button placket in the darker tone of Volt.

The right sleeve of the shirt features a small Senyera, the flag of Catalonia and an enduringly proud symbol for Barcelona.

Inside the back of the neck, a blue pennant tab displays Barcelona’s inspirational club motto, “Mes que un club” (More than a club) and their foundation year of 1899, while “Barca” adorns the back of the neck in the same blue as their iconic home kit.

Music News

The BBC Music Sound of 2015 longlist has been revealed, and with it numerous newspapers and blogs have released their lists of new music artists to watch in 2015. It would seem that we agree on most but there have been a whole host of pleasant discoveries too, perhaps you’ll find something new here that you can get your ears around.

From rock and roll to soulful sisters, and from new electronic wizards through to new Motown crooners, 2015 is already sounding very exciting indeed. Here’s the first 10 on my list of new music artists to watch.

Black Honey

To kick things off I’ve got Black Honey, a UK band that formed in Brighton whose dreamy arrangements, soothing female vocals and American surfer jams have already gained these guys a lot of well deserved attention, and they haven’t even released an official first single yet. Over the last five months, they’ve slowly been treating us to various songs, kicking off with the Sleep Forever and most recently the ridiculously cool psych jam Bloodlust. They dropped their first EP last month and it has been making the best kind of waves possible. But, they only way to get your hands on an actual physical version of it is by attending one of their secret shows… sneaky little shits. Think female led punk and rock of the 90s and you’re on the right path. Brilliant. They have a tour coming up in

Vince Staples

Loving this guy so much! He’s one of the notorious Odd Future crew from LA but now he’s ready to drop his debut album in early 2015. He’s been putting out his own mixtapes over the last few years but last month he gave us he’s first EP and, woah, it’s sure is something. Just listen to his track ‘Blue Suede’ and pay attention to the depth of the lyrics; they’re dark, heavy and pack a punch. The production on the EP is excellent and is sure to keep you hooked through to the end. Exciting stuff and he’s only 21.

Honne

Ohhhh those vocals. Having just released their warm, electro-soul Baby Please EP and with one in the works coming soon, Andy and James, the two guys behind Honne, are on to something good. With jams that are reminiscent of smooth rnb tracks of the mid 90s, these London boys are looking to give us a much-needed dose of baby-making music for the new year. They’ve drawn comparisons to the likes of Drake and even Frank Ocean, and have succeeded in penning intelligent, simple and honest lyrics that speak directly to the listener. The word Honne is a Japanese word that means real intention and desire, something that Andy and James say matches their music much more than you’d think it would.

Rae Morris

Where to start with the beautiful and talented Rae Morris? She’s inspired by the likes of PJ Harvey and Kate Bush, and has the show stopping vocals that could be likened to those of Florence Welch and Ellie Goulding. She made her debut on the BBC Introducing stage at the Reading & Leeds festival back in 2011. Since then she’s been working on her craft and working with various artists including Bombay Bicycle Club, but now it’s time for her to make a name of her own. Singles ‘Cold’, ‘Closer’ and ‘Under The Shadows’ are all featured on her debut album ‘Unguarded’, a coming of age tale that documents the lesson’s she has learned. Keep your eyes on this one. Years and Years

I’ve already raved about these guys on Swide this year and it looks like things will be hotting up in 2015 for the trio. Consisting of bassist Mikey Goldsworthy, synth player Emre Turkmen and Olly Alexander, these guys are putting out tropical tinged alt-dance records that are intricate, catchy and cool. What’s more is that lead singer Olly Alexander’s vocals are smooth, golden and memorable. Oh, and they’ve been nominated for the Brit’s Critics’ Choice Award too. Not bad lads.

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Ten Walls

You won’t know it but you most probably heard Ten Walls hypnotizing, sexy dance track ‘Walking with Elephants’ being played on the radio, in clubs and throughout the internet this year. He’s already got a couple of EPs to his name but it wasn’t until the aforementioned track started to get picked up by bloggers that Ten Walls started to get some proper attention. The BBC have already had him create a mini-mix for them has been called one of the most interesting minds in music right now. Not bad. Listen and love.

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Ryn Weaver

Picking apart tribal percussion and putting them back together with crashing synths, her song OctaHate saw this girl getting reblogged all over the world and offered the accolade ‘the next big thing’. Having worked hard at her craft over the years, she’s already working with big names on the current music scene like Charli XCX, who co-wrote OctaHate with Ryn. On her Promises EP we experience her skills at emotional pop balladry with ‘Stay Low’, again showcasing her gorgeous vocals and songwriting skills. Big things to come for this one.

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Turtle

I can’t get enough of Glasgow-based Jon Cooper’s project ‘Turtle’ but it was when he put his latest track ‘Lavender’ up on Soundcloud, I knew I was in love. It’s measured, soaring and uplifting, reminiscent of early Moby stuff and even Four Tet. Last year’s Who Knows EP, incorporated acoustic elements and vocals, creating textured tracks that were both heavy and affirming, leaving the listener wanting more. The track ‘Lavender’ is from the upcoming Colours EP.

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Marika Hackman

Another solo woman for you here, and this time its 22-year old ‘abstract folk’ artist, has got 3 EPs of acoustic stories to her name and is now preparing to reveal her debut album ‘We Slept Last Night’, produced by Charlie Andrew who has worked with Alt-J. Last week we were presented with the calmly haunting Drowned music video, an sign of amazing things to come from this delicate singer songwriter.

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George Maple

Another name that is already been making huge waves with her beautifully sultry Talk Talk, which put the internet in a spin a few months ago. It was last year’s collaboration with Flume that helped put name out there and she followed it up with the unexpected ‘Fixed’, a swelling chilled out dance track that spans house, techno and rnb… somehow. Her latest track ‘Vacant Space’ was just as surprising, living up to its title and creating a hollow yet rounded frantic love song, that shows just what her vocals can do. Too good! She’s obviously been com

4 Singers You Need To Know For 2015

4 Singers You Need To Know For 2015

For the second year now, Spotify has crafted a list of the dozen-plus artists and groups that they believe will make it big in the US in the next year or so. After some incredible success last year and a number of music experts behind the ranking, it’s very likely that some (or all) of these acts will become household names very soon, so if you’re looking for some new music, these are some pretty good bets. Here are four that I believe are most likely to grow immensely in 2015:

James Bay

The English singer-songwriter is still incredibly new to the scene, but already he is being tapped as the next big thing both here and across the pond. Of all the names on the list, he is one of the surest things, as he has already been awarded the Critic’s Choice Brit Award, which is chosen every year and named ahead of the Grammys-style British award show. He follows in the footsteps of past winners, almost all of whom have gone on to massive global success, such as Adele and Sam Smith.Bay is currently out on tour with Irish guitar slinger Hozier, promoting his upcoming debut album, which is due in March.

Ryn Weaver, one of Spotify’s Artists To Watch in 2015 (photo courtesy of the artist’s Facebook).

Ryn Weaver

Newcomer Ryn Weaver received plenty of attention this past year, and more is bound to come. She only released an EP, but it contained the track “OctaHate”, which was co-written by Charli XCX (so you can’t really go wrong with that), which has plenty of other outlets calling her a name to watch.

 Francesco Yates

Though only a teenager, Yates already has some of the biggest stars on the planet shouting his praises, with Pharrell going so far as to say “He’s absolutely gonna be just a huge, huge, huge pop star”. The exceptionally talented multi-instrumentalist and singer recently stirred up some noise with his latest jam“Call”.

Mikky Ekko

While most people probably don’t know his name,Ekko is already doing fine for himself in the music world. He actually has a top five hit and Grammy nomination to his name, as he co-wrote and was featured on the Rihanna song “Stay”. After the worldwide success of that track, some of the biggest names in the business were clamoring to work with him, including David Guetta and Lil Wayne.

On top of the above names, there are a dozen other acts that have just as much of a chance of exploding onto the international scene in 2015. The other acts that Spotify has chosen are George Ezra, Pell, Catfish & The Bottlemen, BØRNS, Kim Cesarion, MLKMN, Young Fathers, Ezra Vine, Raury, MisterWives, The Bohicas, and Houndmouth.

To create this list, the people at Spotify spend the year looking at who is charting well on their own virality rankings, as well as noticing which acts are getting buzz online, who performs well live (they say a good live show is a must), and what they are listening to. Katie Schlosser, Director of Label Relations for North America, said “It’s not an easy task. A lot of debate goes into the decision making process” when describing just how much the team looks at when picking names.

Last year’s Artists To Watch list was fairly comprehensive, and in only twelve months several of the names included have gone on to do incredible things. Two of the acts named were just recently nominated for big prizes at the upcoming Grammy Awards: HAIM for Best New Artist and Hozier for Song of the Year, thanks to the newfound popularity of his track “Take Me To Church”.

Also included in last year’s predictions were the likes of Sam Hunt, FKA Twigs, and Tove Lo, whose “Habits” was one of the big smashes of the year, going all the way to number three in the US.