QUOTE
Keep your eye on these names, set to become the next big thing for 2008...
Foals
Like Battles and Vampire Weekend, Oxford’s Foals are out to shake up indie guitar music’s long reliance on straight 4/4 rhythms. Their debut album Antidotes, produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek and due in March, promises to be an itchy patchwork of layered, stop-start beats and spiky melodies. Frontman Yannis Philippakis has said that Foals’ guitar effects pedals are designed to “mimic the sound of the solar system.” Now who said today’s young bands lack imagination?
The Poems
Counting The Lovin’ Spoonful and Françoise Hardy among their influences, this Glaswegian sextet sounds like the natural successor to Belle & Sebastian. Their winsome debut Young Americawas released by hip Chicago label Minty Fresh last year, and has since been scheduled for UK release on X-phonics early in 2008.Muchof its charm stems from the guileless vocals of Kerry Polwart, kid sister of folk singer Karine Polwart.
Howlin’ Rain
Howlin’ Rain’s eponymous 2006 debut packed beardy, psychedelic wig-outs that would sit nicely on the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe’s paean to Seventies rock, Almost Famous.The follow-up Magnificent Fiend is due in March and reportedly finds the Californian band exploring country-gospel territory. Producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin is involved, so let’s dispense with that crystal ball and declare them a success now.
Yelle
“Dance or die!” orders French Euro-crunk chanteuse Yelle, and her squelchy electronic nugget “Tristesse Joie” – arguably the catchiest record to come out of her homeland since Air’s “Sexy Boy”– certainly sounds like a floor-filler. You can catch the sassy, irreverent Breton at Brixton Academy on 26 February when she supports (and most likely blows away) Mika.
Vampire Weekend
These brainy bloodsuckers from The Big Apple are pioneering the“Upper West Side Soweto” sound, a quirky strain of indie with taut Afrobeat guitars. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, nodding at Congolese soukous music, is one of the most intricately joyous grooves you’ll hear all year. “This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel” sings front man Ezra Koenig, his tongue quite possibly in his cheek.
Black Kids
“Pop music is all about theft,” say Florida-based quintet Black Kids, but when you pilferfrom The Cure, Arcade Fire and a plethora of old school R&B records, you end up sounding rather unique. “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You”, warns the group’s front man Reggie Youngblood on a song inspired by a real-life rug cutting experience. The Beastie Boys’ Mike D is a fan.
Peggy Sue and The Pirates
Though the name suggests a decent body count, Brighton’s PSATP are in fact comprised of Rosa Rex, Katy Claw and their “rather impressive guitar- tuner” Sir Pablo. Their succinct, acoustic guitar-based songs are pleasingly devoid of lyrical cliché, hence “Superman” finds said hero in uncharacteristically despondent mood as he reflects on the varying quality of the actors who have played him. Way to go.
The Domino State
Joining the dots between Joy Division and the best of the Eighties’ shoegazers, London's The Domino State make brooding, intense music that knocks spots off much of the competition. Their slow-growing anthem “What’s The Question” benefits greatly from the simpatico production of The God Machine’s Robin Proper- Sheppard, while “Iron Mask” has distinct shades of classic period Smiths.
Ebony Bones
What do Grace Jones, Timbaland and Jarvis Cocker have in common? All three are fans of Family Affairs actress turned-out-there pop singer Ebony Bones, AKA Ebony Thomas. Miss Bones’ tribal rhythm-inspired, MySpaceaired nugget “Don’t Fart On My Heart” conjures lippy teenagers partying on the top deck of a school-run Routemaster. Expect to overhear it on an MP3 player near you soon.
Fink
Think 21st-century John Martyn with a dash of José Gonzaléz’s fuzzy intimacy and you’ll have a decent handle on this troubadour. Brighton’s Fink trades in a strain of laid-back future-folk with trace elements of dub and trip hop. Though perhaps a little too dark to keep the chill out tent chipper, previous iTunes single of the week “This Is The Thing” testifies that his is a beautiful melancholy.
Pendulum
Comprised of two record producers and a DJ, Perth, Australia’s Pendulum relocated to London in 2003. They specialise in futuristic industrial rock, the beats-per-minute sometimes straying into drum ’n’ bass territory. Were Ridley-Scott to make a sequel to Blade Runner, Pendulum could supply a great soundtrack. Apropos their new, as yet untitled album, they say they’ve spent two years “creating a monster.”
Adele
No tipped-for-2008 list would be complete without Adele Adkins, touched by the soul gods on one of their rare excursions to Tottenham, North London. After a leg-up from her pal Jamie T and a stint at the Brit School performing arts college, Adkins has blossomed into an Ella Fitzgerald/Dusty Springfield for the Noughties. Tender, streetwise, and capable of detecting bullshit at 50 paces, her time is now.
Zoey Van Goey
This memorably named trio has members from Canada, Ireland and England, but they are currently based in Glasgow, where Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian produced their sunny, synthesizer-imbued debut “Foxtrot Vandals”, later “single of the week” on Xfm Scotland. Think cute, pleasantly bookish folk-cellar pop with electronic elements, the subject matter covering everything from impending apocalypse to teaching English in Japan.
Ghislain Poirier
Montreal’s indie guitar bands got plenty of coverage last year, but in 2008 they might be usurped by Ninja Tunessigned hip-hop producer Poirier. The French-Canuck connoisseur of grime, booty bass, ragga and “world riddum idioms” makes music that is accessible, innovative and above all danceable. They call him “The King Of Bounce”, and his remixing skills have been employed by the likes of Lady Sovereign and Thunderheist.
Dead Rabbit
Targeting the place in your heart currently occupied by The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, Staten Island New York’s Dead Rabbit have a song of weightless, undulating beauty in “Mechanical Animals.” It is a cruel world indeed that finds them currently unsigned, their deliciously idiosyncratic sounds and the selection of “ghost bunny” paintings on their MySpace site clear markers of the band’s artistry.
Riuven
Had Eminem grown up on the set of Brookside, he might have sounded something like this. Broad Scouse rapper Riuven reportedly first realised his gift for free styling at a Toxteth Special Brew and skunk party. Targets of his potty-mouthed ire have since included Lily Allen and fans of US rockers Slipknot, the latter comprehensively panned on the somewhat self-explanatory “Goths Are Not Boss.” Gimmick? Envelope-pushing scally? The jury is still out.
Cajun Dance Party
The members of Thom Yorke’s favourite new band were still at school in London when they released their choice debut single “The Next Untouchable” in April 2007. Said tune is a breathless break-up tirade built around an edgy, twanging guitar riff. Their debut album, due after their A-levels and to be produced by erstwhile Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, should be special. Study hard for those exams though, Cajuns. Pop is a fickle business.
The Whitest Boy Alive
This much-tipped quartet came out of Berlin’s long-buoyant electronica scene back in 2003, but only now – post evolution into a more organic-sounding prospect – they are raising eyebrows here. Signed to UK imprint Modular Records, they play spare, stark music with clean, quirky guitars. Frontman Erland Øye moonlights with Norwegian folk-pop outfit Kings Of Convenience.
Santogold
Great name, great sound. Santogold, AKA Santi White, is a black, Brooklyn-via-Philadelphia- based singer and lawyer’s daughter whose CV documents stints studying Cuban hand drumming and a spell with punk band Stiffed. These days, she’s big on dub-tinged electronica and new wave guitar-infused mash-ups. MIA and Mark Ronson are pals and Björk has invited White to tour with her.
Semi Precious Weapons
Readers of the Big Apple’s arts organ The Village Voice recently voted SPW “Best Band In New York”. Their Tony Visconti-produced glam and garage-rock assault has an urgency that grabs you by the lapels. Yelped songs such as “Her Hair Is On Fire” crying out for a parental advisory sticker. “I can’t pay the rent but I’m fucking gorgeous”, advises frontman Justin Tranter elsewhere. Look no further for the new New York Dolls.
Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong
Not content with acting in hit shows such as Peep Show, Joe Lean AKA Joe Van Moyland now leads the well-tailored Jing Jang Jong Their plethora of off kilter hooks – and a sparkling live show honed on support slots with the likes of The Kaiser Chiefs – should ensure that they begin the indie-apolis 2008 in something close to pole position.
Pete Molinari
Possessed of a stirring alto that gets right under the skin, Chatham, Kent native Molinari is a country-folk classicist big on Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Appropriately, his upcoming second album A Virtual Landslide was nailed at Liam Watson’s famed analogue Toe Rag, previously studio-of-choice for The White Stripes. The record is reportedly magnificent stuff, pedal steel virtuoso BJ Cole is one of the musicians who guests.
SuperSwamis
“Urban lyricist” Rishi, musician/producer George and “onsite medic” Govin are London’s SuperSwamis, arguably British Asian music’s brightest new prospect. Theirs is an expansive, cinematic sound incorporating Indian classical music, Bollywood flavours, traditional Rajasthani folk elements, electronica, and all manner of samples. Think Pink Floyd meets Gnarls Barkley in a sari.
Dawn Kinnard
This gravel-voiced daughter of a preacher man is a big hit with BBC Radio 6 listeners, and understandably so. Given her strict Pennsylvanian upbringing it is perhaps unsurprising that she counts The Staple Singers and Sister Rosetta Tharpe among her influences, but songs such as “Devil’s Flame” have a seductively noir flavour, Kinnard’s backing band coming on like Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds with Marc Ribot (Tom Waits) on guitar.
Oh No Ono
Listening to Danish indie-pop’s latest export is a bit like channel hopping between music stations where every network is broadcasting Eighties pop specials simultaneously. Back come the gaudy sounds of A-Ha, ABC and Talk Talk in a dizzying, candied jumble. “Causes constipation, strokes and heart attack” councils their website. You have been warned.
Foals
Like Battles and Vampire Weekend, Oxford’s Foals are out to shake up indie guitar music’s long reliance on straight 4/4 rhythms. Their debut album Antidotes, produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek and due in March, promises to be an itchy patchwork of layered, stop-start beats and spiky melodies. Frontman Yannis Philippakis has said that Foals’ guitar effects pedals are designed to “mimic the sound of the solar system.” Now who said today’s young bands lack imagination?
The Poems
Counting The Lovin’ Spoonful and Françoise Hardy among their influences, this Glaswegian sextet sounds like the natural successor to Belle & Sebastian. Their winsome debut Young Americawas released by hip Chicago label Minty Fresh last year, and has since been scheduled for UK release on X-phonics early in 2008.Muchof its charm stems from the guileless vocals of Kerry Polwart, kid sister of folk singer Karine Polwart.
Howlin’ Rain
Howlin’ Rain’s eponymous 2006 debut packed beardy, psychedelic wig-outs that would sit nicely on the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe’s paean to Seventies rock, Almost Famous.The follow-up Magnificent Fiend is due in March and reportedly finds the Californian band exploring country-gospel territory. Producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin is involved, so let’s dispense with that crystal ball and declare them a success now.
Yelle
“Dance or die!” orders French Euro-crunk chanteuse Yelle, and her squelchy electronic nugget “Tristesse Joie” – arguably the catchiest record to come out of her homeland since Air’s “Sexy Boy”– certainly sounds like a floor-filler. You can catch the sassy, irreverent Breton at Brixton Academy on 26 February when she supports (and most likely blows away) Mika.
Vampire Weekend
These brainy bloodsuckers from The Big Apple are pioneering the“Upper West Side Soweto” sound, a quirky strain of indie with taut Afrobeat guitars. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, nodding at Congolese soukous music, is one of the most intricately joyous grooves you’ll hear all year. “This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel” sings front man Ezra Koenig, his tongue quite possibly in his cheek.
Black Kids
“Pop music is all about theft,” say Florida-based quintet Black Kids, but when you pilferfrom The Cure, Arcade Fire and a plethora of old school R&B records, you end up sounding rather unique. “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You”, warns the group’s front man Reggie Youngblood on a song inspired by a real-life rug cutting experience. The Beastie Boys’ Mike D is a fan.
Peggy Sue and The Pirates
Though the name suggests a decent body count, Brighton’s PSATP are in fact comprised of Rosa Rex, Katy Claw and their “rather impressive guitar- tuner” Sir Pablo. Their succinct, acoustic guitar-based songs are pleasingly devoid of lyrical cliché, hence “Superman” finds said hero in uncharacteristically despondent mood as he reflects on the varying quality of the actors who have played him. Way to go.
The Domino State
Joining the dots between Joy Division and the best of the Eighties’ shoegazers, London's The Domino State make brooding, intense music that knocks spots off much of the competition. Their slow-growing anthem “What’s The Question” benefits greatly from the simpatico production of The God Machine’s Robin Proper- Sheppard, while “Iron Mask” has distinct shades of classic period Smiths.
Ebony Bones
What do Grace Jones, Timbaland and Jarvis Cocker have in common? All three are fans of Family Affairs actress turned-out-there pop singer Ebony Bones, AKA Ebony Thomas. Miss Bones’ tribal rhythm-inspired, MySpaceaired nugget “Don’t Fart On My Heart” conjures lippy teenagers partying on the top deck of a school-run Routemaster. Expect to overhear it on an MP3 player near you soon.
Fink
Think 21st-century John Martyn with a dash of José Gonzaléz’s fuzzy intimacy and you’ll have a decent handle on this troubadour. Brighton’s Fink trades in a strain of laid-back future-folk with trace elements of dub and trip hop. Though perhaps a little too dark to keep the chill out tent chipper, previous iTunes single of the week “This Is The Thing” testifies that his is a beautiful melancholy.
Pendulum
Comprised of two record producers and a DJ, Perth, Australia’s Pendulum relocated to London in 2003. They specialise in futuristic industrial rock, the beats-per-minute sometimes straying into drum ’n’ bass territory. Were Ridley-Scott to make a sequel to Blade Runner, Pendulum could supply a great soundtrack. Apropos their new, as yet untitled album, they say they’ve spent two years “creating a monster.”
Adele
No tipped-for-2008 list would be complete without Adele Adkins, touched by the soul gods on one of their rare excursions to Tottenham, North London. After a leg-up from her pal Jamie T and a stint at the Brit School performing arts college, Adkins has blossomed into an Ella Fitzgerald/Dusty Springfield for the Noughties. Tender, streetwise, and capable of detecting bullshit at 50 paces, her time is now.
Zoey Van Goey
This memorably named trio has members from Canada, Ireland and England, but they are currently based in Glasgow, where Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian produced their sunny, synthesizer-imbued debut “Foxtrot Vandals”, later “single of the week” on Xfm Scotland. Think cute, pleasantly bookish folk-cellar pop with electronic elements, the subject matter covering everything from impending apocalypse to teaching English in Japan.
Ghislain Poirier
Montreal’s indie guitar bands got plenty of coverage last year, but in 2008 they might be usurped by Ninja Tunessigned hip-hop producer Poirier. The French-Canuck connoisseur of grime, booty bass, ragga and “world riddum idioms” makes music that is accessible, innovative and above all danceable. They call him “The King Of Bounce”, and his remixing skills have been employed by the likes of Lady Sovereign and Thunderheist.
Dead Rabbit
Targeting the place in your heart currently occupied by The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, Staten Island New York’s Dead Rabbit have a song of weightless, undulating beauty in “Mechanical Animals.” It is a cruel world indeed that finds them currently unsigned, their deliciously idiosyncratic sounds and the selection of “ghost bunny” paintings on their MySpace site clear markers of the band’s artistry.
Riuven
Had Eminem grown up on the set of Brookside, he might have sounded something like this. Broad Scouse rapper Riuven reportedly first realised his gift for free styling at a Toxteth Special Brew and skunk party. Targets of his potty-mouthed ire have since included Lily Allen and fans of US rockers Slipknot, the latter comprehensively panned on the somewhat self-explanatory “Goths Are Not Boss.” Gimmick? Envelope-pushing scally? The jury is still out.
Cajun Dance Party
The members of Thom Yorke’s favourite new band were still at school in London when they released their choice debut single “The Next Untouchable” in April 2007. Said tune is a breathless break-up tirade built around an edgy, twanging guitar riff. Their debut album, due after their A-levels and to be produced by erstwhile Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, should be special. Study hard for those exams though, Cajuns. Pop is a fickle business.
The Whitest Boy Alive
This much-tipped quartet came out of Berlin’s long-buoyant electronica scene back in 2003, but only now – post evolution into a more organic-sounding prospect – they are raising eyebrows here. Signed to UK imprint Modular Records, they play spare, stark music with clean, quirky guitars. Frontman Erland Øye moonlights with Norwegian folk-pop outfit Kings Of Convenience.
Santogold
Great name, great sound. Santogold, AKA Santi White, is a black, Brooklyn-via-Philadelphia- based singer and lawyer’s daughter whose CV documents stints studying Cuban hand drumming and a spell with punk band Stiffed. These days, she’s big on dub-tinged electronica and new wave guitar-infused mash-ups. MIA and Mark Ronson are pals and Björk has invited White to tour with her.
Semi Precious Weapons
Readers of the Big Apple’s arts organ The Village Voice recently voted SPW “Best Band In New York”. Their Tony Visconti-produced glam and garage-rock assault has an urgency that grabs you by the lapels. Yelped songs such as “Her Hair Is On Fire” crying out for a parental advisory sticker. “I can’t pay the rent but I’m fucking gorgeous”, advises frontman Justin Tranter elsewhere. Look no further for the new New York Dolls.
Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong
Not content with acting in hit shows such as Peep Show, Joe Lean AKA Joe Van Moyland now leads the well-tailored Jing Jang Jong Their plethora of off kilter hooks – and a sparkling live show honed on support slots with the likes of The Kaiser Chiefs – should ensure that they begin the indie-apolis 2008 in something close to pole position.
Pete Molinari
Possessed of a stirring alto that gets right under the skin, Chatham, Kent native Molinari is a country-folk classicist big on Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Appropriately, his upcoming second album A Virtual Landslide was nailed at Liam Watson’s famed analogue Toe Rag, previously studio-of-choice for The White Stripes. The record is reportedly magnificent stuff, pedal steel virtuoso BJ Cole is one of the musicians who guests.
SuperSwamis
“Urban lyricist” Rishi, musician/producer George and “onsite medic” Govin are London’s SuperSwamis, arguably British Asian music’s brightest new prospect. Theirs is an expansive, cinematic sound incorporating Indian classical music, Bollywood flavours, traditional Rajasthani folk elements, electronica, and all manner of samples. Think Pink Floyd meets Gnarls Barkley in a sari.
Dawn Kinnard
This gravel-voiced daughter of a preacher man is a big hit with BBC Radio 6 listeners, and understandably so. Given her strict Pennsylvanian upbringing it is perhaps unsurprising that she counts The Staple Singers and Sister Rosetta Tharpe among her influences, but songs such as “Devil’s Flame” have a seductively noir flavour, Kinnard’s backing band coming on like Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds with Marc Ribot (Tom Waits) on guitar.
Oh No Ono
Listening to Danish indie-pop’s latest export is a bit like channel hopping between music stations where every network is broadcasting Eighties pop specials simultaneously. Back come the gaudy sounds of A-Ha, ABC and Talk Talk in a dizzying, candied jumble. “Causes constipation, strokes and heart attack” councils their website. You have been warned.
I guess there was no way of knowing the boom of glasvegas and MGMT back in feb 