The BBC has yet again held a survey to see what a bunch of music pundits think will be the 10 hottest new musical acts of 2008. As John Peel's ((Hey! There's a nice video biography here, together with a downloadable PDF.)) no longer my anchor and rudder in this world and OiNK is dead, I survive on tips of others and this is a nice list of artists and here you'll find links to where you can sample and listen to their music.
The list isn't devoid of interest - to me, at least - as they've previously uncovered a few sweet bands for me. A few comments on the BBC's top 10 of new artists by yours truly, and I say the best bands on this list are MGMT and Glasvegas:
Adele: sounds like Amy Winehouse with a not-as-dark voice. Piano-led, but without the passion that Amy has.
Duffy: compared with Dusty Springfield? Why? Because they're in the same genre? In my mind, this is like comparing f-ing Joss Stone with Aretha Franklin: a notion suggested by somebody who hasn't got a real clue. Duffy has two mini-versions of songs on her MySpace-page, but they're not enough to form an opinion on whether she's got songs interesting. Final verdict: so far, boring.
The Ting Tings: any band that samples a jump-rope to kick off one of their tracks must be good, right? Sadly, not. This is the sound of two people that like to experiment but don't come across as passionate about their songs.
Glasvegas: BBC says it best: "A Glaswegian four-piece who play vintage rock and pop with brooding guitars, like the Jesus and Mary Chain covering the Grease soundtrack." Very true. Reminiscent of Swedish band Weeping Willows' early phase. And the tracks reek of 50's rock, reverb-laden. The guitars are more harmonic than melodic. The track "Daddy's Gone" is a really sublime, lovely track that spurts honesty by giving more than it lends. "Flowers and Football Tops" culls a whoa-oah nicely from Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". I'll be on the look-out for their debut album.
Foals: upon hearing their single "Balloons", I thought of Wire with Robert Smith on vocals. Reminiscent of Bloc Party. Good influences aside, I'd prefer listening to Talking Heads' wonderful album "Remain In Light", plus all three current MySpace-tracks sound the same.
Vampire Weekend: a backbeat steering a band whose singer isn't afraid to use stomach-muscles to do his bit, this is promising if you're into Caribbean rhythms and A Certain Ratio. And perhaps Peter Gabriel. I'm not.
Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong: cowards! Scrubbers! Only letting people hear bits of their tracks on MySpace is baaad. Still, they're a jangly (no pun intended) unit with their feet in the 60's and The Libertines, and I'm afraid their songs have but one sound, which churns, churns, churns and disconnects me after a short while.
Black Kids: it's as if Mercury Rev and Arcade Fire had kids who've listened a bit to The Hidden Cameras. With Robert Smith on vocals again! No trend, please. The band's EP "Wizard of Ahhhs" is actually pretty good, rocky and lo-fi. This is a indie outfit that sounds twee and sweet.
MGMT: Pitchfork named their track "Time To Pretend" one of the best of 2007, rightfully so. It's a distorted hip-shaker with a great melody played on organ. Too bad the rest of the tracks on their MySpace-page reek of 60's psychedelica, but on the other hand, they're demos. Debut album, come hither.
Santogold: reminds me of M.I.A. but has more of a new wave-thing going. Still, the track "LES Artistes" on her MySpace-page is quite different from the rest of the tracks on there, that all sound a lot like M.I.A.. I'm hoping for a heap of eclectic tracks on her debut album.