Two years ago the Guardian wrote about Cassie's brilliant second album, which never saw the light of day. Now the R&B singer is finally getting some attention thanks to leftfield artists

Posting a picture of your new tattoo to Twitter on 1 January generally means that your New Year's Eve got a bit out of hand. But for Robin Carolan, who runs the Tri Angle record label and tweeted a "Me & U" design freshly emblazoned on his arm, it was a considered and sober homage to an unsung R&B legend ... Cassie.

"Getting the tattoo was a sincere thing", he tells me. "I genuinely view her as someone who in 20 years' time will be re-evaluated. I'm stunned [that] she can be making such good songs but still be in complete limbo."

Cassie is the model and singer who scored a hit with Me & U in 2006, but who has since seen her second album shelved (Electro Love is apparently due this year, but don't hold your breath) despite the beauty of leaked tracks such as My House and Stray. Tri Angle puts out records by acts who have been tagged with the "witch house" label that did the blog rounds last year; but while there are (sometimes literally) echoes of R&B in their work, it's a long way from Cassie's expensive American studio sheen and makes Carolan perhaps an unlikely person...

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CREEP: "Days [ft. Romy Madley Croft]"

On December 19, Young Turks will release "Days", the debut single from argument-starting Brooklyn witch house duo CREEP. The single's title track features a very special guest: Romy Madley Croft, the similarly gothy and capitalization-abusing co-leader of the xx. Up above, you can hear the CREEP/Croft collab. Also check out an ominous slo-mo video for the track "Intro", also from the "Days" single, here.

Trio set to illuminate Putney next month

Damon Albarn's musical collective Gorillaz covered fellow U.K. rockers the xx's "Crystalised" on BBC 1 over the weekend, but instead of channeling the band's stripped down electronics, Albarn goes for a more organic approach.

Photo by Kirstie Shanley

Damon Albarn brought his Gorillaz project to the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge over the weekend, accompanied by singer Daley. They performed stripped-down takes on new single "Doncamatic" and "On Melancholy Hill", as well as a suitably spare, mournful cover of the xx's "Crystalised". You can watch video of them performing all songs below, via Some Kind of Awesome.

Photo by O-Ten

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: "VCR" (the xx Cover):

Long-running synth-pop duo Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark just recently released their first LP in 14 years, History of Modern.  They're keeping the train of productivity running with this cover of the xx's "VCR". OMD's take on the sparse, smoky tune is a little more synthetic and New Romantic-reminiscent, but it still retains the original's simple charms. Take a listen above (via the Quietus).

After touring the US with The xx, seeing his album Drift top countless Best Of lists last year and showcasing the beta version of his audio visual experience at Sonar festival in Barcelona, Los Angeles’s best beat baller Nosaj Thing (aka Jason Chung) is back in London. This time he comes armed with his full audio visual spectacular, made in collaboration with LA immersive design studio, Fair Enough. The creative duo of Adam Guzman and Julia Tsao also created the incredible lights for Holy Fuck and the nostalgic visuals for Toro Y Moi. For the London debut they takeover... article continues »