The music business is in unseasonal heat today, with the publishing of the BBC's Sound Of 2008 poll. The winner, unsurprisingly, is Adele, who's OK. But I must admit I'm a bit suspicious of the whole self-perpetuating hype of all this - I agree with most of this piece from The Observer from last month. Tellingly, Kitty guessed eight out of ten right in the BBC list, proving how predictable these things have become. To admit some culpability, though, I was one of the voters in the BBC poll, though I did the online equivalent of spoiling my ballot paper by voting for things I was really interested in, rather than things that'll actually become big (like, say, Adele, Duffy, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong etc). For what it's worth, my "tips" were No Age, Wild Beasts and Yeasayer. I must admit, I've jumped on the No Age bandwagon pretty late after reading the compelling Sasha Frere Jones piece on them in The New Yorker (and what a great writer he is, apart from that dubious indie/racism thinkpiece which generated some wearying debate last autumn). No Age - as their terrific "Weirdo Rippers" comp on FatCat proves - are an innovative punk duo from LA, who remind me variously - and sometimes simultaneously - of vintage DC hardcore, My Bloody Valentine, and a surprisingly poppy take on the avant virility of Lightning Bolt. Can't wait to see them live. Wild Beasts I've written about before here; they're a pretty conventional British indie band in many ways, but it's the extraordinary tonsil origami of the singer which makes them so interesting - and so difficult to sell, I fear. Yeasayer I've covered here, too. I see MGMT and Vampire Weekend both made it into the BBC chart, but of the new Brooklyn bands (there's a good piece on them all in the new Uncut, incidentally), Yeasayer strike me as the most intriguing. But let's see what you think. How about posting your tips here, and see if we can reach some kind of alternative consensus?
The music business is in unseasonal heat today, with the publishing of the BBC’s Sound Of 2008 poll. The winner, unsurprisingly, is Adele, who’s OK. But I must admit I’m a bit suspicious of the whole self-perpetuating hype of all this – I agree with most of this piece from The Observer from last month. Tellingly, Kitty guessed eight out of ten right in the BBC list, proving how predictable these things have become.
To admit some culpability, though, I was one of the voters in the BBC poll, though I did the online equivalent of spoiling my ballot paper by voting for things I was really interested in, rather than things that’ll actually become big (like, say, Adele, Duffy, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong etc). For what it’s worth, my “tips” were No Age, Wild Beasts and Yeasayer.
I must admit, I’ve jumped on the No Age bandwagon pretty late after reading the compelling Sasha Frere Jones piece on them in The New Yorker (and what a great writer he is, apart from that dubious indie/racism thinkpiece which generated some wearying debate last autumn). No Age – as their terrific “Weirdo Rippers” comp on FatCat proves – are an innovative punk duo from LA, who remind me variously – and sometimes simultaneously – of vintage DC hardcore, My Bloody Valentine, and a surprisingly poppy take on the avant virility of Lightning Bolt. Can’t wait to see them live.
Wild Beasts I’ve written about before here; they’re a pretty conventional British indie band in many ways, but it’s the extraordinary tonsil origami of the singer which makes them so interesting – and so difficult to sell, I fear.
Yeasayer I’ve covered here, too. I see MGMT and Vampire Weekend both made it into the BBC chart, but of the new Brooklyn bands (there’s a good piece on them all in the new Uncut, incidentally), Yeasayer strike me as the most intriguing.
But let’s see what you think. How about posting your tips here, and see if we can reach some kind of alternative consensus?
