A Glance at the BBC's Sound of 2010 Poll

Of course, nobody likes to be told what to listen to. I say this despite constantly using this space to broadcast my opinion in the hopes some of you may check out the various albums/films I suggest but that’s beside the point. Anyway, in principle I don’t agree with the idea of the BBC’s annual ‘Sound of…’ poll, I think it makes finding new music too easy and the victors usually carry the burden around them like an albatross (eg Adele and especially Little Boots last year). Nevertheless, the longlist has often been correct in picking out emerging artists, even if it’s often way off the mark in terms of ranking. It is taken seriously, so here I’m going to have a look at all 15 of them and work out how well they will do over the coming year. In December I’ll have a look back at this and pat myself on the back if I’m right and allow myself to by duly rebuked if I’m not.


Daisy Dares You: This is pretty awful. 16 year old Daisy claims to aspire to be like Kurt Cobain and Karen O, but ends up sounding like a poor mans Katy Perry. It is bad pop music masquerading as what people annoyingly like to call “real music”. Still, her debut single features current chart sensation Cipmunk and success is probably fairly certain for her. Expect her to do very well in the charts and for lots of snooty music fans (probably like myself) to moan about it.


Delphic: Definitely my favourite act on this list. I saw them twice over the summer at festivals both sober (very good) and not (AMAZING!). I also bought their debut album ‘Acolyte’ on its day of release and was not disappointed. As a major New Order fan, I take comparisons with my favourite Manchunian indie/dance outfit very seriously, but on here this Manchunian indie/dance outfit more than deliver. I write this while the album is in its first week of release. The superb single ‘Doubt’ has debuted at a fairly disappointing 79 in the charts the album should probably scrape the top 20. Although they are not particularly original, they have crafted a very good debut album and certainly lead the pack. I can’t see them being massive, but most of the albums tracks will probably find themselves into adverts and BBC/Sky Sports ads throughout the year. They may well be as big as the Klaxons were in 2007, but probably not bigger.


Devlin: I’m not really into grime at all and will probably embarrass myself here but Devlin basically sounds like a weak version of the Streets (when Mike Skinner was singing about the moniker he adopted). Not a fan of this at all, I don’t think he’s got much credibility to him to appeal to the music press either. I’m sitting on the fence here, but he’ll probably have average success. According to the BBC site his song ‘London Boy’ spent a while on some chart on some freeview channel, so maybe that will build some kind of momentum.


The Drums: One of my favourites on this list. The Drums are probably the best of the obligatory indie bands to be found here. ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and ‘I Felt Stupid’ have had a fair amount of play on BBC6 music and I like what I’ve heard. Once again through, they aren’t very original and don’t really ‘point the way forward’ as some publications may say. The NME are very much behind them at the moment, but despite the lack of innovation they have the songs and the credibility to be successful and not be later on despites (like Kaiser Chiefs or Razorlight). The previously mentioned ‘I Felt Stupid’ is a really good single and I reckon they’ll do fairly well and deservedly so.


Ellie Goulding: 21-year-old Ellie Goulding topped this years poll and one listen to the single ‘Under the Sheets’ pretty much shows why. It’s a good single, catchy, immediate and possessed of all the synthy, quirky qualities that seem to be a hit on the charts at the moment. She has quite a good voice, but her songs seem a little over-produced and would probably sound better without the synthesisers. As a number one act on the list though, she’s a little disappointing and seems like a late comer on an already slowing down trend. I cannot see her becoming a huge star, she does not have as big a persona as someone like Florence, not from what I’ve heard does she have the tunes, yet. She’s not bad, but isn’t exactly re-inventing the wheel.


Everything Everything: This lot seem to be trying to style themselves away from normal indie by installing angular guitars and synth stabs in their sound. Once again, nothing particularly original about this lot and from the songs I’ve heard so far, not enough decent tunes to make that ok. The infuriatingly titled single ‘MY KZ, UR BF’ was probably enough for me to not like them though. Everything Everything are a fairly bland lot who in my opinion are unlikely to make any sort of major success. Still, like Delphic they sound like a band who will make a living out of 30-second soundtrack samples in tv.


Giggs: Rapper from South London who certainly comes with the background to make songs about ‘the streets’ having served two years in jail on gun charges. Again, this isn’t my sort of music but he’s got far more talent than Devlin and has a more interesting backstory. He’s rubbing shoulders with the right people, collaborating with Mike Skinner and is currently signed to XL, home to The White Stripes and M.I.A. Will probably do well with the critics but might not catch on with the general public.


Gold Panda: Bit of a left-field choice of the BBC to put this quirky dance producer on the list. He utilises obscure samples apparently from Bollywood films and rare VHS tapes to create summery ambient electronica. The BBC seem to be bigging him up as this years ‘Mylo’, but I don’t feel he has that kind of pop sensibility. However, he is one of the more original sounding artists here, and could find a cult audience. He is definitely not destined for any major commercial success unless he crosses over into soundtracks.


Hurts: Yet another Manchester band, this one harking back to the city’s more gloom driven merchants. Styled in elegant suits with an Corbijn-esque mystique, they seem to conjure up images of detached electronic stars like OMD. Musically, they’re not too bad but the lead singer sounds like he’s being too ‘earnest’ in his songs and I was put off as a result. I predict they will do for indie/electro what Coldplay did for groups like Oasis. I think they’ll find success, and lots of ‘trendies’ will like to forget they ever liked them in the first place.


Joy Orbison: 22-year old dance producer Pete O’Grady aka Joy Orbison has slowly been getting decent press over the last couple of months. Track ‘Hyph Mngo’ brought him some notice for his dark textures inspired by dubstep and house and is not dissimilar to ‘Burial’. Joy Orbison is actually rather good, and is being played by all the right DJ’s. He’s not going to set the world on fire, but is probably destined to be a darling amongst critics and thoughtful club goers.


Marina & The Diamonds: I’ve been aware of Marina for a little while now, popjustice.com has given her a lot of press recently. She is being touted as this years’ ‘Florence & The Machine’ and does seem to follow in the footsteps of Florence and other similar artists from 2009. Her single ‘Hollywood’ is on the Radio 1 b-list at the moment and is a decent enough song. It just doesn’t have enough ‘oomph’ I think to make her anywhere near as successful as Florence or La Roux. I’ve heard about three of her singles and I don’t think she has the right pop aesthetic to have major hits, and her craft isn’t strong enough to be a smaller critical favourite like Ladyhawke. She’s not bad, but nothing to write home about.


Owl Music: The project of 23 year old Adam Young, is very ‘nice’ sounding electronic driven singer songwriter fare. To me it’s incredibly lightweight and annoyingly ‘soul searching’ without displaying any real sense of emotion. Of course, this means he is very commercial and exactly the sort of act that I can imagine making it big.


Rox: This years obligatory soul artist. There is nothing unique about Rox at all, she’s perfectly competent, has a decent band, been on Jools Holland and would not sound out of place on Radio 2 at all. Likely to be a hit amongst the parents, but this is so unremarkable I am almost blinded to making any kind of commercial judgement.


Stornoway: Indie folky outfit made up of a bunch of Cambrdige graduates. They sound pleasant enough, describing themselves on their myspace page as “a living breathing Mark Twain novel”. There definitely is some kind of woodlands vibe to them. They’re pleasing enough and if their album is not an immediate hit, it’s the sort of thing that will probably grow in stature via word of mouth or possibly radio 2. Not bad.


Two Door Cinema Club: Yet another indie/arty/synthy outfit. They’ve had a couple of releases out on the Kitsune label and they certainly seem to fit the French labels image. Smart, angular and bouncy they have potential and their songs are ok, but it’s just nothing new! Quite good, nothing special, expect average success.


OMISSION: Mini Viva Slowly started getting press in July, they appear to have all the right ingredients to make it big, and as a result it seems odd they’re not on the list. They are the latest group from the Girls Aloud songwriting/production team Xenomania and are being managed by Simon Fuller’s ’19 Entertainment’, the latter fact I found out while researching for a job interview at that company. I didn’t get the job, but I’m not a bitter man and I wish their artists all the best. Anyway…last years top ten hit ‘I Left My Heart in Tokyo’ was poppy and had enough credibility to grant this ‘manufactured pop group’ some press in NME, though the second single ‘I Wish’ stalled at 73. The album is out this year, and if they can bring out a big single to go with it they should do very well indeed.


OMISSION: Music Go Music This lot appeared on my radar thanks to popjustice back in the summer and they have supported Franz Ferdinand on their last tour. They are a pseudo ironic pop band, who could almost be described as neo-ABBA. Don’t let that put you off though, ‘I Walk Alone’ is a really good single, they have already had press in the Guide and in NME and I’m surprised they have been left off the list. The album is out in March, and from what I have heard, it deserves to do well. Conclusions: Oh dear, 2010 seems to be a general re-tread of 2009 only with weaker artists. Delphic are far and away the best act here but there is a lot to hang your head at. If this is what the major labels have to offer us this year, then my advice is to scour the internet and look elsewhere, because on the basis of these acts we haven’t got anything amazing in store for us. In fact, listening to all these acts in one evening has been a little exhausting. Or maybe I’m just getting old…