Angel investor: Markus Dravs, the producer/songwriter best-known for helming rock full-lengths like Coldplay’s “Mylo Xyloto” and Mumford & Sons’ “Babel,” has followed up his work on Arcade Fire’s upcoming “Reflektor” with Detroit-bred rapper Angel Haze’s debut, “Dirty Gold,” due in January on Republic. Dravs tells Billboard that he worked on “70%” of the project, and compared the 22-year-old’s vision for the album to Björk’s work on her 1997 classic, “Homogenic,” which he helped engineer. “I was very impressed early on that she’s got a really good singing voice,” Dravs says of Haze. “Rapping is something she obviously doesn’t need any help with, but her voice has got a lovely tone.”
The End’s new start: Billboard ran into Andreas Katsambas, founder of the End Records, at a sold-out Anathema show in New York on Sept. 14, where he told us the Brooklyn indie had inked a global distribution deal with Alternative Distribution Alliance. “The world is shrinking, so I was looking for an option that would allow me to develop my artists outside of the U.S.,” Katsambas said, adding that ADA’s presence on both coasts was also a big attraction. The End was previously distributed by RED; its eclectic roster includes the Lemonheads, the Dandy Warhols and the Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson.
Country Christina: Reflecting on her tenure as a coach on “The Voice,” Christina Aguilera told Billboard the show has opened her up to a whole new world: country. “I didn’t know that much about country music, actually,” she said at a recent dinner with “Voice” executive producer Mark Burnett in West Hollywood, after a taping of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” “I’ve opened up my ears. I became a Miranda Lambert fan — she’s a clever, interesting songwriter and a kick-ass female.”