So the holidays are over, the unnatural drudgery of the working or schooling world is flooding over us once again and it seems a bloody long time until Christmas (yes, I said the word.) So, I thought that I'd try to shoot a little pellet of optimism and happiness into your lives and tell you 5 musical acts to be excited about in the coming months. I'm trying to meet in the middle and select people who will be big hits but are also actually quite good. Difficult nowadays I know. But anyway, onwards!
5. Everything Everything
These guys gave me the rare pleasure of hearing something genuinely new. Four crazy kids who take the frog of pop music, split open its seemingly vile and unimpressive exterior and then gleefully tear out its colourful insides, shifting them into whatever bizarre shapes and patterns suit their twinkling Magpie fantasies. Their insane debut Man Alive is out now. Listen to: MY KZ, YR BF, Schoolin', Photoshop Handsome. This is pop music on some kind of drug that would send The Daily Mail into a governmental crusade quicker than you can say "mephedrone".
4. Hurts
Hurts draw heavily from their predecessors in the synth pop trade, but then gloriously reshape things in their own dark, slick image. Imagine Spandau Ballet with the cheese replaced by terrifyingly beautiful ice from the darkest English sky imaginable. Imagine the Pet Shop Boys but darker and fiercer, like some shadowy phantom fleeting under a street lamp on a dark industrial estate, on his way to an underground rave. A few of their songs have been knocking around for a while, and their debut album comes out this week. I really think these guys could make it big, they have it all. Listen to: Wonderful Life, Better Than Love.
3. Kings of Leon
"Huh? But Rhys, we know Kings of Leon! They're huge. They've been around the block. And who are those hairy douche bags in that picture?"
THEY my friend are Kings of Leon. Not the stadium playing, drive time rocking, Capital Radio favourited, crowd baiting douche bags who rose to international fame on the back of their worst album yet. No, above you see the wonderfully individual band who made three stunning albums of undiluted quality, who loved their fans, who were just such a breath of fresh air. These guys broke my heart with what they became- high street sell outs who abandoned musicality and their sound and rode it all the way to the top. I was genuinely upset by it. However. I think I may learn to love again. Their new album, Come Around Sundown, is due for release in October, and the first single on the 8th of September and I must say I'm optimistic. I get the sense that they're getting back to what they're meant to be, and what they do so unbelievably well- make stunning indie rock. Come on lads.
2. The Libertines
The Libertines are one of those bands who lots of people have just never heard of. Most of the general public only have a vague clue of Pete Doherty as the junkie who Kate Moss used to deal with (he's hardly a saint, but the media turned on him with a tide of unprecedented malice that I struggle to believe). If you have heard of The Libertines however, you either love them or you hate them. I'm in the former camp. They are without a doubt one of the single most important indie acts ever, second only to The Strokes this decade. They broke up in messy circumstances in 2006 and unfinished business has hung in the air ever since. Carl Barat has wandered off and formed Dirty Pretty Things, Pete formed Babyshambles. Both are ok but came nowhere near the shambolic brilliance of The Libs. And this summer they reformed. They played. And by all accounts it was glorious. We have no clue what's in store. There's talk of a tour. Talk of an album! If they can hold it together then the return of The Libertines could well be just what the indie music scene needs right now. Or maybe they'll disintegrate in a blitz of heroin addiction and on stage brawls. Let's get ready for whatever goes down folks.
1. Kanye West
"Huh? Again- HUH?! But he's so mainstream! He's an arrogant tit! He's the world's biggest douche bag! What about the whole Taylor Swift thing? That's been an internet meme! Surely you can't recover from being an internet meme?"
The arguments against Kanye are endless folks. And if you know me well, you may be stunned that I have him at the top of this list. Well, say what you will, Kanye is a truly fascinating figure. His Twitter feed is one of the most interesting and personal around. Last week he tweeted for about an hour with one long epic apology to Taylor Swift. It was hardly perfect, but the main apologised on a forum seen by millions (and no music media reported it. Should give you an insight into how the media controls your perceptions of people) Kanye made some epic hip-hop back in the day folks. "Touch the Sky?" "Jesus Walks?" "Stronger?" You cannot deny their immensity. I was hugely let down by 808s and Heartbreaks, but Kanye's new stuff is insane. I DARE you to listen to new track "See Me Now" (available here: http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/2010/08/see-me-now-feat-beyonce-charlie-wilson/) and not love it. We're ready for the next round Kanye. DING DING!
