So that was the noughties... Now what? What is that going to stop? Certainly not me or this little venture. What will it bring and more importantly who will it bring to the ever spinning wheel of musical greatness and quirkiness. I have been trying to whittle this list down for a fair few days now and have found some amazingly fresh and hugely talented wonders. The act of 'whittling' things down takes me back to when I was a wee lad and not a lanky streak of wee that I am now. It takes me back to when I used to pick up a fallen branch and try to strip it of all its bark and sharpened the end then run around the woods playing cowboys and indians! I guess the female equivalent of this type of frustration would be if you were making daisy chains when you were slightly too young to have nails that could cut through the stems or then again maybe it was cutting off your Barbie/Troll/My Little Ponies hair and waiting for it to grow back? So, I have tried to whittle down my predictions and place them into two categories. Bands I think will hit the front of the pack and bands that will make the pack for the latter part of the year and into next.
Now to the hard part and the bit that I will need your input on. My shouts for the cream of the year include:
Cream of the crop...
What, If, Maybes...
The Leisure Society - Already big guns fingers crossed there is more
The Finest Hour - Bringing raw rock n roll to the table
Betty Steeles - fresh, fun and tidy beats - Nash/Allen/Skye Edwards
Jose Vanders - self claimed stories to music. Truly amazing voice
Dry the River - beautiful folk lullabies
ART vs SCIENCE - party time trickery, big beat electro tangytastic
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - refreshingly chilled
The Lieutenant's Mistress - Beautiful, British brilliantness. Boom
Frightened Rabbit - The boys from the motherland are to deliver their third album early this year which is super exciting news and they also tour again with a big focus for me around the KoKo on the 16th of March. Read my previous blog on the boys who will ensure another big hitting album with some top tunes to roll to this summer. http://ctrlaltthebeat.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-working-on-my-backwards-walk.html
After a very successful fourth album and use on the BBC's radio TV advert, Phoenix are finally hitting the headlines and I expect them to be over subscribed for this years festival season. The boys are back in the picture and hitting the, excuse the pun, right notes at the right time. An uplifting album from an ever changing, boundary pushing band.
On to The Drums. Exactly what is needed for the dark winter months and a perfect tonic for any of you kids who suffer from S.A.D. This is uplifting happy music that will make you want to pull up your socks and bound down the street, across the kitchen or spin round the front room. They have a calmer side too with the track "Down by the Water". I hear pranges of The Jam with a spoonful of The Rifles here especially within the track " Submarine". Then again the tune " Instruct Me" draws me to comparisons with The XX. These boys will be drumming their way onto many an iPod this year for sure.
Next stop brings me to a band who have named themselves after a place I thought as a kid didn't exist. Stornoway was the furthest place you could travel to on a board game my mother bought me called The Great Game of Britain Steam Trains. I had such a blessed childhood. I couldn't and wouldnt make it up, and yes it is still being produced and sold to all the other lovely mothers who want their sons to grow up full of learnings. Look here - (Amazon).
This choir boy sounding outfit are incredibly mellow and thoughtful. The music is gracious and has an almost holy feel to it hence the choir boy connection. Now these are not songs to bounce on your bed to but will certainly have you lying down on your bed with you mind being stimulated and will provoke deep whirring of one's brain.
Off to a Park Bench Poet near you now. These boys have been kicking around for a little while now on the unsigned scene and are gaining in confidence and coverage. I have seen these guys a few times and they truly make the Secret Garden Party for me. The soulful beats, heavily strum basslines and cleverly moulded words that wrap around the melodies like a sock hugging my cheesy foot are truly soothing and deep. The big beat, reggae and riffs make you want to gently rock your body and nod your head, especially in a tent full of festivalities, and you will see the movement is like a huge infection. Perfect camp fire, sunset, beach picnic magic.
Oi, feckin oi. Oi oi. Oi oi. Officer Kicks next and these wonderus fellas are the epitome of modern day rock 'n' roll and after all there is nothing conceptually better than rock 'n' roll. These boys are top and they are producing tip top tracks and they will continue to make huge strides through 2010. Get yourself in front of these men as soon as you can as they will only be playing the pokey venues for a while more before they are propelled to status. http://ctrlaltthebeat.blogspot.com/2008/09/officer-kicks-will-kick-your-back-doors.html
Keeping with the army theme and from officers throwing kicks to swans dropping bombs. The Swanton Bombs will be exploding onto the scene this year and will bringing with them an artillery which is full of big hitting bangers. Their first single Viktoria is out now and draws likeness to early Strokes, Dirty Pretty Things and The Finest Hour (one for the future) brashness. They are hotly tipped for stardom this year so stick this on your wishlist and show the boys some love.
I Blame CoCo is a London based reggae loving beauty. The offspring of Trudie Styler and none other than Sting, this girl has some serious backing and support. This young songstress will certainly have the musical know-how to enter the brimming music industry. She has a fantastic voice which brings a sublime moodiness to her music. It has a reggae underlying with a modern electronic overlay. HOT, in every sense of the word, TIP for this year this one. Keep your ferguson pies (eyes) out for her debut album 'Island' released at some point this year.
Alan Pow Pow Pownall - sorry that wasn't a stammer it was my shear excitement for this boy and this year combo. Alan Pownall has been slowly cooking in the background on the festival scene and the anti folk styled arena for a fair number of months/years now which has seen and made his music. Big tracks to listen out for include Heart of Hearts, Clara (released single) and Take Me. The boy is likened in looks to David Bowie but this upper class Londonite will make you feel at ease with his soothing melodies and woody, rustle and organic sounding guitar. Lovely jubbly.
My final big bang crash wallop for this wee piece is a band that I am simply adoring at the moment - Sons of Noel and Adrian - safety in numbers? Ploy to avoid small venues? 12-a-crowd? This ensemble, is the only way to describe this collection of talent, similar to that of a footballer's garage or model's walk-in-wardrobe has some extremely talented marksmen within its ranks. The 12 piece experimental folk themed orchestra deployed mainly in Brighton but not entirely include Nick Hemming of The Leisure Society, Lightspeed Champion and Mike Siddell of Hope of the States. These kids aren't to be sniffed at and with their immense depth, thought and structure running through their music these guys could conquer any musical task and inspire all you darling buds of May. Some pieces of this wonderful music will whisk you away to enchanting woods and make you feel like Lucy Pevensie stepping through Narnias wardrobe or like the little boy taken to the skies by The Snowman. The epic arrangement of sound during 'Damien' will make you concur with my thoughts and make you to appreciate this army. Touring soon with Alessi's Ark and returning to London again in late Feb. Pull your hay-bail out, bring your best whistling voice and trumpet and be there.
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My beard's itchy
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