Cringe.....

The Maccabees & Roots Manuva - Empty Vessels

The Xx @ Audio

So the ugliest band that have ever lived (Magic Numbers aside..) came to our fair shores last week to play a sold out gig at Audio, put on by our dear friends at Lout Promotions. It sold out so easily that another gig in March is already booked in at the Komedia and if you missed this show, i recommend getting a ticket.

Support came in the form of brighton band Esben and The Witch. I was quite looking forward to seeing them as id heard nothing but good stuff about their goffik reverb shenanigans and although i wasnt disappointed as such, it wasnt quite as good as id thought it might be. The songs all seemed quite shambolic and unfinished, and 2 minute moments of brilliance would be followed by 7 minutes of pissing about with FX pedals and banging a floor tom over and over. Basically it was quite pretentious but at the same time, they were pretty mesmerising and there is definitely some potential there. The birds quite fit aswell...

The Xx album, simply titled "xx", is quite possibly my favourite record of the year so far so i was really looking forward to this gig and they didnt let me down. The Xx have had an extremely quick rise to fame since their album was released by Young Turks in late August and have since toured with The Big Pink and Florence WENCH to name a few. They also went to the same school as Hot Chip, Fourtet and Burial which is kinda quite cool i guess....

They came on to 'Intro' which was to be expected and continued to play the album song by song which definitely seemed to work in this case. It was basically a perfect rendition of the album without any surprises or new bits and if im honest, this was exactly what i was hoping for as i love the album so much. If you havent heard it yet its full of insular, glacial pop tunes which are hauntingly brilliant and weirdly uplifting at the same time, id even go as far as to say its the 'Dummy' of the Noughties... Goosebump moments were "Crystalised", new single "Islands", the Chris Isaac - Wicked Game-esque "Infinity' and the amazing cover of 'Teardrops' by Womack and Womack so all in all pretty much spot on. Im looking forward to March already...

The Xx - Islands - Live on Jools Holland

For sufferers of saturday night fever everywhere...

So Liam Maher from early 90's baggy outfit "Flowered Up" died yesterday aged 41. The drugs dont work ladies and gentlemen. Anywho, it reminded me of the classic 2 part video for the rave classic "Weekender". It was directed by W.I.Z who went on to direct videos by Oasis, Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys and Dizzee amongst others and while its pretty fucking dated and cringe looking back, it was a pretty epic video at the time (over 15 minutes in total). Flowered Up were dubbed the "Cockney Happy Mondays" but were never quite as good and after some hype and NME / Melody Maker covers they disbanded a few years later. I digress, i just thought id post the videos up on here. Makes you wonder exactly where the makers of Human Traffic got their inspiration from....anyway, RIP and all that lad.






Let us never be cured indeed...

Mumford & Sons @ Komedia

Well i hate to say it (i dont, i fuckin love it), but i said these guys would make it big this year in my "top 10 bands to watch in 2009" ALL the way back in december. Their album 'Sigh No More' came out this week and went in at number 1 on iTunes which they followed with this sellout show at the Komedia the day after. I love being right.
If you dont know, Mumford & Sons are a four-piece folk band from the Big Smoke who play lovely irish-tinged ditties with accordians and banjo's and stuff. I think they're dope and it was only a matter of time before they crossed over into the mainstream and made middle class mothers cry into their glasses of wine after reading about them in the Observer Music Monthly. They were personally invited to support The Pogues at their christmas shows last winter and any band who can manage to wake Shane Macgowan out of his whiskey and cheap hash slumber for long enough to actually make a judgement on their music gets some props from me.


If my slightly drunk memory serves me correct they opened with "Awake my Soul" and started plouging through favourites such as "Little Lion Man", the new single that is on BBC6 seemingly every 5 fucking minutes. It was a lot dancier than i was expecting which was definitely a good thing, but halfway through they brought the tempo down and started playing some new songs. GREAT. Nah, new songs sounded good but it just seemed an odd setlist in my opinion. Things picked up at the end though and they even used a real life drumkit in a few songs (!). They finished with the brilliant "Roll Away My Stone" and although they didnt play "Liar", this was only a minor glitch. Id been wanting to see this lot for ages now, having missed their last brighton gig exactly a year ago and it definitely wasnt a disappointment. It seemed like a band on the cusp of something pretty special and they've certainly got the songwriting talent to take the potential further. Expect some pretty impressive festival shows next summer id imagine...

Its funny, i really dont see myself as a folk/acoustic fan, but two of my favourite shows of the last year have been this and Bon Iver...Maybe im becoming a middle class mother? Oh well, rather that than some brainless little twat who's still banging on about dubstep i guess....

Thugs battered by cross-dressing cage fighters..

God this is good..


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218651/Thugs-attack-men-dresses--turn-cage-fighters.html

Passion Pit @ Concorde2

It must be a weird feeling being pretty much certain you'll only be famous for 6 months. Whether Passion Pit actually know this or not is another matter of course, i was just thinking out loud.

This gig sold out pretty easily as can be expected i guess and was full of "cool" parents standing at the back and "cool" 15 year olds jumping around and drinking cheap vodka out of water bottles. Oh to be 15 again...

Anyway, onto the music. Passion Pit started gettin some recognition with the release of their 'Chunk of Change' Ep last year with its "pop gems" and its perfect-for-adverts beats. Personally i was really underwhelmed and slightly irritated by the record, but that was nothing until i heard the full length LP 'Manners'. Ok, so i do like 'Sleepyhead' but since when was fusing Friendly Fires, Mika and the worst parts of Nu Rave a good idea? GROW A PAIR LAD. The live performance was hit and miss. Songs such as the aforementioned 'Sleepyhead' and 'Ive Got Your Number' werent the worst live renditions ive ever heard, and i even found myself bopping my head to songs like 'The Reeling' but mostly i stood there generally hating the general public and wondering if 3 cigarettes during one 40 minute set was too many.

Passion Pit? PASSION THE PITS MORE LIKE. MAD LOLS.

Cherbourg @ Prince Albert

Went to this gig on a tuesday after a particularly heavy Bank Holiday weekend and almost didnt go, but im glad i did as it was exactly what i needed. It was in the small venue of the Prince Albert pub and thankfully i managed to grab a chair and a couple of drinks to see me through. A band called Karran and the Wolfnotes were supporting and did their thing pretty well. It was poppy new-folk stuff as i expected, with accordians and ting. The songs were good and his voice is strong, but some of the lyrics left something to be desired. Cherbourg are a london folk-band who have toured with Mumford and Sons recently, which gives you an impression of their style of music. They opened with one of my favourite songs at the moment, Man, which was amazing and continued to play songs off the two EP's 'Into the Dark' and 'Last Chapter of Dreaming' as well as a batch of new stuff. While they do have some great songs such as 'Let Yourself Love' (some of the new ones sounded great aswell), it can all get a bit dreary and heartbroken for my liking sometimes. Thats just a side note though, all in all this was a really nice gig and perfect for my suicide tuesday...

Cherbourg - Man

Secret MGMT show @ Digital

So MGMT chose our fair city for their festival warm up show (mainly 'cos last time they were down here they were given a massive bag of drugs and "had a blast"). It was announced two days before and tickets sold out online in 10 minutes, so i guess people still care about these arrogant electro hippies. Support came in the form of 5 manc lads who's name escapes me. They played Primal Scream-esque sleazy physchedelic indie, and to be fair it was pretty good although ever so slightly underwhelming. MGMT came on to 'Weekend Wars' which is one of my favourites off their last album and it was obvious they've grown as a live band since i last saw them. All the singles sounded a lot fuller and 'anthemic' if you'll allow me to be a bit over the top for a second. This was also a chance for them to play a load of new material which was to be expected i guess. It seemed to me that they seem to have got a bit more indie-schmindie but i guess its hard to tell with live performances, especially as the production was such an important part of the last record. Once 'Kids' had finished, i assumed the set was over but they carried on for another half hour seemingly making songs up on the spot and noodling shit guitar solo's for days. Everyone got a bit confused at this and half the crowd left, and the other half just stood there wondering how long this was actually gunna go on for...It was certainly a weird way to finish a gig, but i spose it wont do them much harm. Reactions to the new stuff were mixed from what i gather, so the jurys still out on that but judging on the crowd during the crowd favourites from the first album, they could probably get away with touring that record for another year at least, and why not eh?

Photo by Sam Hiscox - http://partiepartie.blogspot.com

Level Army

Pointless big up...

Over the last 6 months or so, mates of mine from darrrn Tha Lev' have been compiling nuff skate footage and compiling them into some pretty sick vids, culminating in the full length video "Brighten" which had a viewing at the Sallis Benney theatre which had pretty much every cunt in brighton being a pissed idiot. It was fuckin hilarious and KICKED OFF BLAAAD. Heres a couple for your enjoyment:

Teenage Wasteland:


Brighten promo:


The Brighten Premiere:



"Brighten" Available now from 'Another' SkateShop or www.levelarmy.com

Great Escape 2009

Ah the Great Escape, everyones favourite attempt at drinking as much and sleeping as little as possible over a weekend. This year i was stuck working for the festival at Audio so unfortunately pretty much all of this review will be bands that played there..but piss off...

Kicking things off on thursday we had Video Nasties with their distorted post-punk thing who i had never heard and was reasonably impressed. Ive since checked out album 'On All Fours' and while not particularly exciting, its certainly not the worst thing ive heard all year. Following them it was Mika Miko who were a female 5 piece who play bouncy riot grrrrl stuff. A bit like X Ray Spex crossed with Operator Please. They were quite cool but not really my bag maaaan. Next on were scottish band Danananakroyd who despite their awfully gay name, were and are actually pretty good. They play arty post-hardcore but with more indie vocals which i know sounds terrible, but they have a few good songs up their sleeves. Check the album 'Hey Everyone' if you care...So with the crowd having been warmed up by these bands, the kings of the overrated came on - Black Lips. Its not that i think this band are shit, i just never understand how they manage to have SO many fans...They were cool though and the crowd was pretty mental. They do manage to put on a good show fo' sho'.

Friday was by far the worst day line-up wise, but first band on To The Bones still pulled a good crowd with their skewed take on grungy rock. Chew Lips filled the venue with their hype thanks to recently signing to Kitsune and being touted by NME as "the next big thing" (although, who fucking isnt these days?). They played their bleepy, shouty crystal castles thing with varied success. New single "Solo" was good anyway. Dinosaur Pile-Up were next but i cant for the life of me remember what they were like since id chosen Friday to really take advantage of the free Red Stripe on offer. On record they sound a bit shit though, sound like some weird early 90's "alternative" rock band which isnt the hottest look ever in my humble opinion. Last band, The Twilight Sad are some moody scots who play "atmospheric" indie stuff and managed to clear most of the venue because its not really what you wanna be hearing on a friday night. The sound was gash as well. The highlight of the day was the singer of Twilight Sad getting into a fight with an audience member while on stage, who then turned out to be one of the sponsors...good times...After work i went to check out Metronomy at the Corn Exchange which was pretty good but again, i dont remember much. The drummer was HAWT though. You cant beat a fit female drummer, they make sex faces while they drum.

Music on Saturday started off with a "secret" gig on the terrace of Above Audio. Dont think it stayed secret for very long though because there was a queue of people with Babyshambles t-shirts on queueing up outside all day...So the king of the smackheads-who-should've-died-a-while-ago turned up and did a 20 minute set for probably about £20,000. Opinions were mixed and while i didnt think it was a good gig (i dont like Babyshambles either) it was certainly surreal and enjoyable in a "christ, this is weird" kinda way. Music downstairs started with Rogues who are an "Up and coming" band who make camp indie with 80's pop ideas thrown in the mix. Definitely a bit of Duran Duran in there. I thought they were pretty gay really but what do i know, apparently they're gunna be massive...Only caught a few songs by Fight Like Apes but they did their irish punky-synth thing im sure. I was really looking forward to next band, Soft Pack, because they had sounded great during soundcheck but they actually ended up being really disappointing. They have some really great guitar hooks and melodies, but his voice is just so "meh" and theres always just something missing from their songs. Still, early days i guess. Hockey finshed off the weekend with their dancey indie stuff which the huge crowd went mental for. They're currently touring with Friendly Fires which makes sense. I think they're ok but the show was wicked and was a good way to end The Great Escape.

After this i went to see Erol Alkan who was obviously dope, but i fucked off pretty early to go and do too much sniff for no reason and stay awake until late into sunday. GOTTA BE DONE YO! maybe...

If you read that, you're a fucking loser x

Bon Iver @ The Dome

So anyone who reads this might have noticed that im not one for gushing over-the-top rave reviews, probably because im a bitter twenty-something who takes solace in the fact that if i ever stopped being a lazy cunt and actually started a band then we'd obviously be better than all these other cunts...But fuck it, occasionally a gig/album does deserve mad props and this gig was definitely one of them. It took me a while to realise how good 'For Emma, Forever Ago' actually is and although i didnt spunk on it from a 5th floor window like most people, its still a pretty dope record. However i was quite apprehensive about how the album would come across live, especially in a venue the size of The Dome. I thought it could end up being weak and underwhelming but when i saw them setting up the stage i realised i shouldnt have worried. With two guitars, a bassist, two keyboards and two drumkits, this wasnt your usual wanky folk-fest. They opened with a few songs from the EP 'Blood Bank', the best one being the title track, but soon settled into playing the crowd pleasers from 'For Emma..'. Songs like 'Skinny Love' and "For Emma" were goosebump moments to say the least, and an acoustic interlude for "re: Stacks" was fucking intense. Due to the fact the gig was seated, you could literally hear a pin drop which was a weird and quite overwhelming experience. Anyway enough sounding like a tit, but if i see a better gig this year, i will have seen something pretty special....


Bon Iver - For Emma (Live)

iSnort

I officially give up on civilization.

Unifest 2009

So this was some small one day "festival" on Sussex Uni campus that i wasnt particularly looking forward to, but thought id head up anyway seeing as the weather was amazing. The set up was two large tents and 3 indoor "arena's". Im assuming the use of the word 'arena' was ironic in this case. Anyway the line-up was hardly spectacular but caught Peggy Sue and the Pirates early on who i usually cant stand and have spent many a time at the bar during sets of theres, but they've added a drum kit and i actually quite enjoyed them this time around. After this i drank beer and sat in the sun taking in all the student dickheads and god-awful dubstep. Possibly the funniest moment was when some dj dropped the Skream/La Roux remix and the students actually pissed their drainpipes and ran from all corners of the festival. As a result, the dj rewound the tune about 6 times so it actually lasted about 20 minutes. Christ. At some point Noisia came on and played a really standard d'n'b set, with the only highlight being when a beachball landed on the deck and fucked up his mix. Loefah followed with some dubstep set so i set off for the bar and spent the next few hours wondering about aimlessly, eating sausages. At some point Kissy Sellout came on who'd i never actually seen who was quite good in a 2-many-dj's-does-bassline kinda way, but it was hardly mindblowing, so i mugged it off and went to go see Andy C. All day id been planning to miss him simply because ive seen him about 300 times, but im pretty glad i did cos the fake mdma id been doing had kicked in and he played a pretty sick set full of old skool classics that the students blatantly didnt get. Good times. After this we got the bus back and got jawache in various clubs. It was actually a really good day, so props to UNIFEST!! that fucking name though....

Nick Cave - Disco 2000

Surf City

Surf City hail from that obvious hotbed of shoegazey lo-fi indie, New Zealand! Formed in 2004 i think they only have one EP out to date, recorded in various bedrooms and living rooms. The name is a reference to some obscure Jesus and Mary Chain b-side which makes sense as they definitely have that 80's sound down, with definite nods to Sonic Youth et al, but with a more contemporary pop sensibility to them. Songs of note from the Ep are Mt. Kill and Free The City and the EP is up on spotify if you use that. They also have a myspace an' dat: http://www.myspace.com/killsurfcitygo

Check em out if you care...

Surf City - Records of a Flagpole Skater:

The Virgins/Chew Lips @ Digital

Dont like The Virgins at all but ended up workin this gig so thought i might as well BLOG DAT ISH. Support came from Kitsunes latest signing, Chew Lips (geddit? say it out loud...its fuckin clever..). Id never heard them before but had heard all the bloody hype so was interested to check them out. They were ok in a lets-rip-off-La-Roux-and-watch-NME-spunk-all-over-us kind of way. Lots of synths, drum machines and high pitched female vocals. Nice guys though so i'll let em off. The Virgins came on to a barrage of screams from 15 year old girls who had heard them on the Gossip Girl soundtrack. Maybe their bandname is a reference to their target audience..? Anyway they were pretty shit. To be fair they had a fuller sound than i was expecting but its still weak pop-indie stuff with this weird funky edge...its quite hard to explain. Its like if Stock, Waterman and Aitken decided to put together a band that ripped off Vampire Weekend. Now theres a strange thought...Their t-shirts were really nice though so props for that i spose.

Foals @ Concorde2

So i know Foals are a bit gay with that whole "every 14 year olds favourite 'experimental' band" vibe they got goin on, but ive always harboured a soft spot for them, and anyone that can get weird angular math-indie songs about triangles onto the Radio1 playlist must be doing something right. This gig was, as can be expected, fuckin rammed but they had no problem with turning the concorde into a proper sweatpit. This was the third time ive seen Foals live and i do believe that you have to see them in the flesh to appreciate how good they can actually be. Songs like Cassius, Two Step, Twice and especially Red Sox Pugie really come into their own live and you realise how talented a band they are. They played a few new songs which seemed pretty "dreamy" compared to the first album which left the audience slightly bored on occasions, but ive got a feeling they will sound good on record. Apparently Blood Red Shoes filled in to do a support slot at the last minute which i missed annoyingly but hey ho. Anyway this gig was pretty sick and a perfect friday night warm up...didnt play Mathletics though...wankers.

Red Sox Pugie (live on Later..)

Top Tens

christ i didnt realise we were 11 days into a new month...how did that happen? anyway that means its time for yet another fucking amazing "Top Ten". This month its:

Top Ten most annoying cover versions! No particular order

Ordinary boys - Little Bitch
Oasis - My Generation
Mark Ronson - Stop me if you think you've heard this one before
Hundred Eeasons - How soon is now
Limp Bizkit - Behind blue eyes
Gallows and Lethal B - Staring at the rudebois
All Saints - Under the bridge
The Saturdays - Just cant get enough
Atomic Kitten - Tide is High
Jessica Simpson - These boots are made for walking

To be honest, this list could be a LOT longer...

The Walkmen @ Concorde2

I decided to go to this gig instead of Black Lips at Audio and i actually think i made the right decision. Ever since i saw the video for "The Rat" by this band on MTV2's "120 minutes" programme one stoned early weekday morning, ive never got bored of it. I think that song has managed to stop this band slipping into obscurity and means they can still sell 250 tickets for gigs, and as annoying as the shouts to "PLAY THE RAT" every 5 minutes by pissed up tossers must be, they can hardly be surprised as it is far better than any song they have ever written. That said however, they do have some other great songs in a more distorted, lo-fi indie vein. As a band i find them extremely hit and miss, and this was evident in the gig. Some songs had you totally fixated while the next had you thinking about whether you should get a Grubbs burger after the show or not. To be fair though, this is probably just my personal taste in music and as a gig i couldnt really fault it. Annoyingly, ive never really listened to the newest album which most of the material was obviously from, so im gunna lose points for not name dropping which album tracks were good or not but i dont really care 'cos its not as if anyone ever fuckin reads this thing is it....


PLAY THE RAT!!!?!?!

The Maccabees - No Kind Words

Theres a new Maccabees single coming out and you can download it for free, if you care, on their website:

http://www.themaccabees.co.uk

It sounds alright, a bit more brooding than earlier stuff. Could be a "Grower"..

Rihanna got merked..

http://www.heatworld.com/Article/8963/Rihanna+/Rihanna+was+%e2%80%9cassaulted+with+a+deadly+weapon%e2%80%9d+by++Chris+Brown

Apparently, R'n'B has its gully moments as well...

Top Ten #2

This months stupidly interesting "Top 10" is: Shit indie songs i know i should hate, but unfortunately quite like...No particular order

10 - We Are Scientists - Its a Hit
9 - The Killers - Jenny was a Friend of Mine
8 - Kubichek! - Roman is Better
7 - Von Bondies - Cmon Cmon
6 - Hot Hot Heat - No, Not Now
5 - The Hives - Die, Alright!
4 - Guillemots - Trains to Brazil
3 - Cajun Dance Party - Amylase
2 - Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline
1 - Bluetones - Slight Return


christ, i feel so much better having got that off my chest..

La Roux @ New Hero

For an artist who is touring with Lily Allen (cunt) next month, it was quite a coup for Somewhere In The Universe to book the "Next Big Thing For 6 Months" at the intimate venue of New Hero. The gig was a bringing together of all the unashamedly scene wankers in Brighton to stand at the back and drink Bulmers while not really sure whether they should enjoy this gig or not, due to the fact she could become quite uncool in a few months. Personally, i didnt think it was that interesting. The set was under 30 minutes long and the sound was bloody awful (not her fault of course). The crowd was generally quite uninterested, apart from the 3,000 "photographers" at the front of the stage and a personal highlight was a little scenester ruck that kicked off for about 3 seconds. Quicksand was obviously quite good, as were a few other tunes, but anyone who introduces songs by saying "Now, lets get ready to rave!" in 2009 should probably be shot. I dont know, maybe im being harsh on "the future of pop" because the soundsystem really didnt do her any favours, but shes hardly the new Kate Bush is she...

The Lonely Island - Jizz In My Pants

For once, im actually completely and utterly fuckin lost for words...this was on MTV2 today!??!!? No wonder there are terrorist organisations who's sole aims are to blow our culture to shit, just look at what we've become! This country...

Mumford and Sons - White Blank Page

Ive really gotta see this band live soon..

Rex The Dog - Bubblicious

Not a big fan of Rex The Dog really, but this video is brilliant:

Animal Collective @ Concorde2

"Oh hi, my names Oliver. I work in Resident and i put Animal Collective albums in every "favourites list" i ever make". Chriiiiiist. So basically i thought id try and win some scene points by goin down to see this lot last night, and i wish id never fucking bothered. Since when did this band sound like an hour and half long Orbital build up on a cocktail of Quaaludes, ketamine and whiskey? I think i went for a record number of fags during a gig ever last night, this was literally such a pointless and boring show. To be fair, im not really into them on record which probably had something to do with it, but i still didnt expect it to be this bad. None of their songs went anywhere, and even when it sounded like they were about to, they'd just change it cos to actually write a good song might be deemed "commercial" or something. Everyone there had goatees and glasses and i saw some people with their eyes closed, shaking their heads as if they were in some psychedelic trance...FUCK OFF this isnt the 60's, this is the age where everyone is too fuckin vain and scared to look like they might even be close to expressing themselves...get with the times everyone? At the end of the gig, all the flannel shirted cunts all tentively asked each other whether they enjoyed it, and the brave few puffed their skinny chests and announced "Yeh it was amazing". Upon hearing this, all their friends would agree wholeheartedly. This either means i was at a different gig to everyone else, or simply im not a stupid fuckin wanker taken in by the idea of "cool". I was pretty pissed though so maybe its the former...

South Central

Ive known about this band/DJ act for years now, having been managed by my old lecturer at music college. I even worked with them for a few months, and it seems they're finally getting the real recognition they deserve, with BBC6 picking up on the song "crystalling" and inviting them on for interviews and the like. As a DJ act they're a two-piece using laptops and keyboards and basically, they fucking kill it with their mix of glitchy electro and indie remixes. They also have use a live band for own material and have toured with the likes of Pendulum (for some reason), Does it Offend You, Yeah? and The Whip. They've also remixed bands like Maccabees, Van She, Metronomy and made an infamous bootleg remix of Klaxons - The Bouncer that the sniffed-up stalwarts of the Nu-Rave craze werent entirely happy about...Anyway, id just never done a post about these brighton lads so thought id better do it now before they get bigger and i look terribly uncool. If you ever get a chance to see them DJ, definitely take it. Theres apparently an album finally dropping in 2009 as well.

http://www.myspace.com/southcentralmusic - theres loads of shit on here including videos and mix downloads innit. check it out fassys.

Top Tens

So with a slight nod to High Fidelity, ive decided to do a "top ten songs for a certain situation" every month. I can see on your faces that you're all FUCKING EXCITED so heres the first one..

Top 10 songs to drink red wine on your own at 2am to (in no particular order):

10 - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Nobodys Baby Now
9 - Pulp - I Spy
8 - The Pogues - Dirty Old Town
7 - Belle and Sebastian - Dylan in the Movies
6 - Jesus and Mary Chain - April Skies
5 - The Smiths - How Soon is Now?
4 - The Cure - Lovesong
3 - New Order - Age of Consent
2 - The Chameleons - Second Skin
1 - Echo and the Bunnymen - Killing Moon

Fascinating stuff im sure you'll agree. More Top 10's coming soon...

Ones to Watch 2009

TWO THOUSAND AND CRIME! whats good?

1. The Soft Pack - Formerly known as The Muslims, The Soft Pack are a garage band from San Diego who are gettin quite a bit of hype at the moment. Sound a bit like a stripped down Black Lips with more melodies.

2. Foamo - Along with Fake Blood, i can see Foamo being one of the breakthrough DJ's of the year. Hes only 21 and is already making some interesting bassline-heavy electro shiznit. Havent seen him yet, but i intend to!

3. The Virgins - I dont actually like this band, but i reckon they might do pretty well in 2009 and i guess thats the point of this article...The Virgins have been knockin about for a few years now, but have only really come to people attention after featuring on the Gossip Girls soundtrack. Rock 'n' Roll or what. Its just pretty rich kids playing watered down New Yoik new wave with a bit of a FUNKAY edge. dope.

4. Yo Majesty - Yo Majesty are two dykes from Florida who make "Party Hop", which basically just means rapping over electro influenced beats, a la Spank Rock et al. They supported Neon Neon on their recent tour and have people queuing up to work with them, Bassment Jaxx being just one of them.

5. Little Boots - Ive already spoken about this electro synth-pop goddess already, just check that article innit.

6. Mumford and Sons - Finishing the year on a definite high (supporting The Pogues at one of their christmas gigs), 2009 is set to be big for these lads. Having already toured with Laura Marling, the folk band are gettin some real critical acclaim with just two EP's out. Expect to hear the name a lot when the album drops. They're meant to be incredible live as well.

7. Violens - Check article Below.

8. Chairlift - Being mates with MGMT, Yeasayer etc will never hurt your press release and it seems to have helped this lot. You probably heard (or read the lyrics on someones facebook status update) the single "Bruises" which threatened being a big single earlier this year. They make slightly gothic 80's style pop music and if they have other singles like Bruises then they could easily be a Guardian Music Monthly darling in the next year.

9. La Roux - La Roux is a little red haired woman who makes electro pop in the vein of Eurythmics/Depeche Mode but with the modern twist of having grown up in Brixton in the DIVERSE "noughties". Quite similar to the whole Little Boots/Ladyhawke thang. I like.

10. White Lies - You've probably already heard these 3 london lads pretty much ripping off every 80's indie band ever with their "gothic", "dark" and "brooding" indie that actually sounds a bit like The Bravery... They've already sold out gigs at the Manchester and Glasgow academys so its safe to say we'll hear more of these guys this year.