I do not believe in the new year any more..

Sorry it's been a while boys and girls. I'll try and make these more regular...


So in the spirit of the new year, I took a look at the pitiful issue of NME my mother bestowed upon me. The cover preaches 'NEW BANDS OF 2009!', accompanied by a picture of smiling Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, surprise surprise. The NME have been brown nosing FATM for a few months in anticipation for her 'big break', which came in the form of her first big single 'Dog Days'. Is anyone else a bit bored of her yet? I know when this blog first began, about a year ago, it was full of praises for this then fresh-faced new artist. But I've gradually become bored of her. I get this with many artists - when they're shoved down my throat constantly I just tend to dislike them.

Another person I'd like to complain about is Little Boots. This girl has to be almost as highly preached as Florence - well known for her Youtube covers on piano and synth. Yet after all this hype, if you take a look at her stuff it's really not that great. She's a pretty girl with an average voice who can play piano. Well, fucking round of applause, someone get this girl an NME award and a place on their 'cool' list. The song every one's been ranting about is her mediocre pop record 'Medal', which can be found here;



Oh okay, this song is admittedly pretty good. The verse pisses me the hell off and I hate the cowboy-style noise but the chorus and bridge are both pretty awesome. The layers of the song are intriguing and it's got a nice melody, I suppose. But surely this girl doesn't deserve the amount of hype she gets. The majority of her covers sound like Diana Vickers. Here's her butchering Lightspeed Champion;








There's one more little lady I'd like you to meet, tipped for 2009. La Roux is hotly tipped for 2009 by anyone who doesn't live under a rock. She sounds almost exactly like Little Boots only slightly more promising, although the same repetitive synth is present. Also, La Roux's music all sounds pretty much the same, although she's very radio-friendly.



Before I go crazy from slagging off all these woman, we can move away from the girls and look at the bands.

White Lies have already broken the mainstream, and I have to say they're looking pretty good. Although they do quite often sound like, as a friend of mine put it, 'an edgy version of the Editors', White Lies bring some good rock to the table in times of Kings of Leon being overplayed and Katie Perry giving music a bad name.

Other great names include Empire of the Sun; the MGMT rip-offs from Australia. Seriously, could you make it any more obvious?! It's just a bit boring. Frankmusik, who's been around for ages so I don't understand why he's suddenly famous is also 'hotly tipped'. The Virgins interest me a little more and I recommend you go and check them out. Personally, I think you should look at the following for 2009:
Frank Turner - Been knocking around for ages, about to get his big break.
We Have Band - Inspiring new band, their name's been around for ages too.
The Joy Formidable - Crazily catchy new music.
Pull in Emergency - Smiths-inspired band with beautiful vocals.
Nick Harrison - Nice guy with a few good singles out.
Elephants - Sounds like JoFo, Los Campesinos!, Pull in Emergency...
Tommy Sparks - Really really good! This year's FrYars.