The BBC Names 2009's Most Likely Breakout Acts
It's an annual thing, this BBC list. Last year they bestowed the top three slots upon Adele, Duffy, and the Ting Tings. So, music supervisors for Apple commercials and Saturday Night Live, here's another list to pick over. This year's spread numbers 15 -- five honorable mentions with the top 10 ranked -- based on a poll of 134 UK music pundits including magazine editors, newspaper critics, DJs, radio/TV program directors, bloggers, and cetera. Some you've heard before (Passion Pit, Little Boots, Empire Of The Sun), some you've yet to hear, and some you'll wish you never did. Here's the list with listen links affixed for your clicks:
And your BBC Sound Of 2009 Top 10:
10 Dan Black
09 Passion Pit
08 Kid Cudi
07 VV Brown
06 Lady GaGa
05 La Roux
04 Empire Of The Sun
03 Florence And The Machine
02 White Lies
01 Little Boots
The UK's going double down on electropop in '09. More on the artists at BBC. As of now, only two from the list -- White Lies and the Temper Trap -- are confirmed for SXSW '09. But there's a million more waves of announcements to go so don't worry friends. There will be BBQ and BBC-hyped bands aplenty. I cannot believe that shit is in like eight weeks.
Posted at 12:54 PM by amrit
Tags: Dan Black | Empire Of The Sun | Florence And The Machine | Frankmusik | Kid Cudi | La Roux | Lady Gaga | Little Boots | Master Shortie | Mumford And Son | Passion Pit | The Big Pink | The Temper Trap | White Lies
Little Boots blows. I was wondering who the hell she was after seeing her on the cover of Fader (another Fader misstep, they seem to be really sucking lately) and could barely make it through a few tracks. Generally forgettable crappy euro pop. Not even cute in an Annie/Lykke Li way, just plain bad.
Score = 3
I wholeheartedly agree with that first sentence.
She's like a cheaper, blander, and less-talented Lady GaGa.
Score = 0
Not sure I can support anybody that wrote songs for the Pussycat Dolls, but I suppose if you did, your name would be Lady GaGa. According to some of the stories on her Evri profile page, she probably sold more records than most of the other folks on the list combined.
http://www.evri.com/person/lady-gaga-0xdef90.html
Score = 2
omg i cant weight for passion pit!!
Score = -1
All these bands suck.
Score = -2
the honorable mentions are far more interesting than the Top 10 with the exception of white lies which are ok but highly derivative/retro. all-in-all a disappointing selection this year.
Score = 0
a.k.a Top 10 bands we may come to hate due to overexposure...
I'm not riding the Passion Pit wave at all and Little Boots it's completely forgettable.
All I'm going to say is that Empire of The Sun's Walking on a Dream has become a bit of guilty/not-so-guilty pleasure of mine lately. They sound like a better MGMT, that meets M83's S=Y along the way. So, I'm expecting them to break out huge!
Score = 6
Lady GaGa- Meh
Passion Pit- Great (Though I am biased, they're hometown boys)
Florence and the Machine- actually pretty good, Florence has a fantastic voice. Very bluesy and heavy.
White Lies- UK version of the Killers?
Little Boots- Not bad. "Stuck on Repeat" is a great track. Can't really say until a formal album is released.
The Rest- Never heard of 'em.
Score = 1
Excellent detective work, Amrit, as this list is already about a month old.
Score = 0
You realize when people do these "most likely to beakout" lists, the bands DON'T. It's always some unknown band that explodes out of nowhere... not some band the BBC tells us is going to make it big.
Score = -14
Yeah, smart guy. The BBC's 2008 list was full of people you never heard from again:
10 Santogold
09 MGMT
08 Black Kids
07 Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
06 Vampire Weekend
05 Foals
04 Glasvegas
03 The Ting Tings
02 Duffy
01 Adele
Score = 25
I've only heard like four of those bands, and it certainly wasn't because of the BBC that they got any recognition.
Score = -27
If you haven't heard of at least 9 of them, you haven't been reading Stereogum for more than a day.
Score = 7
Man, he just keeps asking for it, doesn't he?
Score = 1
I don't about Frankmusik's music, but I love this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yBaFtE34Fw
Cute girl in panties + glow-in-the-dark hoola hoops = AWESOMENESS!!
Score = 1
Oh man that makes me tingly.
Score = 3
Broken link (La Roux)
Score = -1
LadyGaga and Empire of the Sun are already breaking out, if not have already broke. Not that those 2 artists are good or anything, but at least they know they'll be getting 2 correct. Unfortunately, I gave each of these a listen (aside from the honorable mentions) and some of them may indeed "breakout", but I certainly won't be giving a shit.
Score = 4
little boots is the best! boots and florence will both be at sxsw pretty sure, unofficially.
Score = -1
People just love to hate.
Great songs by these guys you should check out: Frankmusik - Mader Her Smile (incredibly upbeat synthpop, fun to party to), Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone (anthemic building folk-pop, very similar to Johnny Flynn / Frightened Rabbit in a good way), Dan Black - HYPNTZ (people will immediately hate this as it devles into mashup territory, but great usage of Notorious BIG lyrics and 'Umbrella' beat. As my sister-in-law put it, 'meta-hipster', but again great). Think this is a good list if not terribly new.
Score = 0
florence and the machine is actually amazing!
Score = 0
The Big Pink!
Score = 1
Right. So a list of recently signed mainstream bands. So, so useful.
Score = 0
Mumford & Sons is great!!! fleet foxes of 09????
Score = 0
lady gaga is disgusting, has no appeal whatsoever, has no creative talent or ability in any creative avenue that i know of, and above all, is extremely unattractive.
she looks like a grand theft auto: vice city hooker.
and i sound like a complete loser.
Score = 4
She writes her own (quite catchy) songs, plays piano beautifully, and apparently has some appeal (even if it's just her butt), because she's sold more albums than you could dream of.
Score = 0
Kid Cudi is amazing, "A Kid Named Cudi" is one of the best mixtapes i have ever heard.
i have heard Passion Pit and they were ok and i heard of White Lies but thats the extent of my knowledge.
But "Day N Night" by Kid Cudi will be the biggest song in the world i promise you
Besides Cudi i think another name to watch out for is the Postelles, really really fantastic and a lot of fun live
Score = 3
LOVE passion pit and little boots.
I would keep an eye out for Here We Go Magic, their stuff is amazing.
Score = 1
la roux all the way! =)
Score = 1
Perhaps I set my expectations too high. I'm not entirely sure that Empire Of The Sun is not MGMT?
Score = 2
Empire Of The Sun = MGMT in disguise?
Score = 0
Empire of the Sun can't be MGMT in disguise. Their video is actually pretty.
Score = 0
Here's what I want to know: Is this the Dan Black who was frontman of the now-broken-up awesome-music-terrible-lyrics-decent-vocals band The Servant (who you may know from The Music For The Sin City Trailer)?
If so: It really is a mad mad mad mad world.
Score = -1
Awesome, as a big fan of the no defunct British band The Servant, I'm stoked to see Dan Black make the list. His solo demo covers of Biggie Smalls and The Smiths have been pretty damn good. I'm just afraid that the music industry is going to try and shape him into a British Justin Timberlake, or another Robbie Williams, which i don't think he is. Dan Black rocks, can't wait to hear his debut album...
And all the nay-sayers one here who probably fell in love with "That song from the sin city trailer!" and then got all upset when they found out it had words, can really just piss off and go listen to their animal collective.
Score = 1
kid cudi kid cudi kid cudi kid cudi ... a name you should know.
Score = 1
Just in case non-Brits don't realise, the BBC is predominantly for 'Middle-England' - i.e. middle-class, middle-aged people who have degrees and nice jobs but little to no interest in and knowledge of the arts beyond the Monet print they have in their bathroom...
I just thought you should know...
Score = -2
florence is fucking dope.
Score = 0
Just in from Liverpool: A band with 4 guys that play their own instruments, write their own songs and sing three part harmony is NOT going to be there. Thank You.
Score = 0
passion pit - new, creative and just happy! can't wait for the new stuff and if it's anything like what we've heard - wow! just read their latest blog from the studio: http://passionpit.wordpress.com/
Score = 0
Hey, I just heard White Lies on the radio, and their song was pretty good. Maybe this list was right after all.
Score = 2