If you really had the power of foresight, and its outer limits were the ability to predict next year's breakout music artist, in this fiscal climate it'd be about as lucrative or useful as Isaac's albino-eyeballed painting-predictions about people you don't know. (That often don't even come true, but that's for another, post writers-strike day.) But hey, you'd have a kick-ass music blog! And, you'd look great in hindsight when you gave quotes to papers about next year's biggest acts. Guardian's gone and asked nine music on the other side of the Atlantic about the artists most likely to make some noise in '08, and we've assembled 'em here with some illustrative links so you can see what they're on about.
Simon Moran, promoter, SJM Concerts
- Duffy
- Adele
- One Night Only
- The Twisted Wheel
- The Script ("They've got a track called The Man Who Can't Be Moved that's going to be a worldwide hit.")
Nick Huggett, head of A&R, Columbia Records
- Sam Sparro ("He sings soulful electro dance music - Gnarls Barkley meets Scissor Sisters. He's quite camp but very fresh-sounding and his song Black and Gold is a massive tune.")
- Adele
- Eg White
- The Ting Tings
Alison Howe, producer, Later With Jools Holland
- Duffy
- Adele
- Vampire Weekend
- Black Kids ("like the Go! Team mixed with Arcade Fire")
- Yeasayer ("look pretty awful in the way they dress, but musically they make no sense and I like that")
- The Whitest Boy Alive
- Cajun Dance Party
- Hot Chip
Conor McNicholas, editor, NME
- Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong ("was the drummer in the Pipettes and he's also an actor ... he's like Pete Doherty - when he walks into a room the lights come on")
- Does It Offend You, Yeah?
- Late Of The Pier
Nihal Arthanayake, DJ, Radio 1/BBC Asian Network
- Superswamis ("mix Gnarls Barkley, the Doors and Asian classical music")
- RJ Productions ("A bedroom producer in Leicester ... sounds like a drum'n'bass Unfinished Symphony")
- Cage The Elephant ("could be 2008's Strokes)
- Dawn Kinnard
- Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly (new album's produced by Nitin Sawney)
- Estelle (could be the next Ms. Dynamite)
Matt Cook, director of talent and music, MTV2
- The Ting Tings
- Vampire Weekend
- MGMT
- Alphabeat
- Adele
- Duffy
- Jacob Golden
Sean Adams, founder, drownedinsound.com
- The Kills ("will be listened to more than they were now that Jamie Hince goes out with Kate Moss")
- Magnetic Fields
- Friendly Fires ("like a Rapture for Kooks fans")
- Errors
- Foals
- These New Puritans
- "New" Age ("art rockers who've just signed to Sub Pop" -- EDITOR'S NOTE: he meant No Age)
- Youth Movies ("a cross between Mars Volta and Death Cab for Cutie")
- Laura Marling
Niall Doherty, deputy editor, The Fly magazine
- Foals
- Dead Kids ("wild, electro groove that sometimes sounds like Joe Strummer fronting PiL, and sometimes like a new rave Bowie")
- Vampire Weekend
- Yeasayer
- MGMT
Nick Tesco, writer, Music Week
So if you're keeping score, looks like it's all about Duffy, Adele, MGMT, Yeasayer, and Vampire Weekend. But that's coming from nine people -- now we turn to thousands. If there's someone poised for goodness in '08, consider this the official thread. Post 'em up (listen links preferable).
