Sound of 2013 - BBC, MTV and iTunes

It’s that time of year again when various music experts try to predict what’s going to be big in 2013. From a pool of thousands of fledgling artists, just a few souls get picked up by the hype-machine for an extra leg-up on the slippery pop music ladder.

When I first scanned through the BBC Sound of 2013 longlist I was a little underwhelmed - yet repeated listens have yielded sufficient reward, and you must admire the BBC for their broad-mindedness in including this many genres. Of course this is mostly pop music of one description or another - from electronic to mass market indie rock. The post-punk of Savages though is a brave inclusion, and one which I’m rather partial to. I don’t believe Savages have any change of winning, but it’s nice to see them at least namechecked. My favourites are the R&B electropop of AlunaGeorge - and the more Depeche-Mode-ish sounds of Chvurches, although I see much to admire in Angel Haze, Haim and Kodaline too. Most of the populist indie rock here is a bit pedestrian, and Kodaline is the best of these.

Key:

(x3) - how many lists artist/s appear on

(+) - good

(+++) - great

(~) - lala

BBC Sound of 2013

• A*M*E - effervescent pop-princess in the making - not a lot of output yet, but shows promise (+)
• AlunaGeorge - slighlty reminischent of 80’s R&B pop with a more modern edge, nearest equivalent is somewhere around NuShooz ’I Can’t Wait’ - one of my favourites (+++)
• Angel Haze (x2) - Slick rap delivery with sweet vocals too - somewhere along similar lines to Azealia Banks but with more vocal delivery (+)
• Arlissa - gorgeous soulful vocals, needs to find her niche, shows plenty of promise though (+)
• Chvrches - my equal favourites with AlunaGeorge - great electronic pop with definite Depeche Mode influences even though vocals are mostly female (+++)
• Haim (x3) - Easy 70’s style west-coast inspired pop-rock from these 3 sisters, should do really well in 2013 (+++)
• King Krule - Laconic modernist indie rock somewhere along similar lines to Joe Strummer - with a definite urban edge (+)
• Kodaline (x3) - Great harmony-tinged mid-tempo indie rock - just left of Snow Patrol - great narratives and visuals (+++)
• Laura Mvula (x2) - A series of one tone slow laments, unfortunately not particularly to my liking (~)
• Little Green Cars - Harmonious indie rock with somewhat droning underpinnings (~)
• Palma Violets - Sparkly indie rock, particularly ’Best of Friends’ (+)
• Peace - Tuneful indie rock from Birmingham, somewhat lacking in memorable hooks though (+)
• Savages - Wonderful rhythmic post-punk with yelps and whoops and full-on attitude (+++)
• The Weeknd - On most people’s lists for 2011/12, misplaced here - already a long-time favourite of mine with 3 informal and 1 official albums already released! (+++)
• Tom Odell (x2)- Token emotive one-man-with-a-piano singer songwriter, has at least one great song in the guise of ’Another Love’ (+)

MTV Brand New for 2013

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zoCEBLy4Pk

• Angel Haze (x2) - as before (+)
• Disclosure (x2) - UK Deep House / Garage outfit with some credible club hits and remixes (+)
• Ebony Day - Winner of MTV Unsigned Artist Award - along similar lines to Gabrielle Aplin - sweet-voiced singer-songwriter (+)
• Gabrielle Aplin - Elegant singer-songwriter already with number one hit in the bag - Christmas special ’Power of Love’ (+)
• Haim (x3) - as before (+++)
• K Koke - UK Urban Rapper on Jay Z’s label now, best we’ve had coming out of UK for a long time now (+++)
• Kodaline (x3) - as before (+++)
• Little Nikki - Really only known for ’Intro Intro’ thus far, shows promise (+)
• Rascals - UK Urban Rap Crew somewhat overshadowed by K Koke (+)
• Tom Odell (x2) - as before (+)

iTunes New for 2013

• Azealia Banks - love her already, but was on BBC’s list for 2012!!! Misplaced here (+++)
• Bastille - Whimsical electropop, not quite as good as Hurts! (+)
• Daughter - Like a more analogue XX (+)
• Disclosure (x2) - as before (+)
• Foxes - Brilliant effervescent electropop, not a million miles from Niki & The Dove (+++)
• Gabrielle Aplin (x2) - as before (+)
• Haim (x3) - as before (+++)
• Kodaline (x3) - as before (+++)
• Laura Mvula (x2)- as before (~)
• Rudimental - Eclectic dance-pop not a million miles from DJ Fresh (+)
• Syron - Upcoming club chanteuse with a number of great feature vocalisations already to her name (+)
• The 1975 - Sparkly indie rock (+)

Stef Additions:

• Elliphant - More fabulous Swedish electropop with tinges of MIA and Diplo - see ’Down on Life’ above (+++)
• Evy Jane - Moody Canadian R&B (+)
• Iggy Azalea - The Australian Nicki Minaj! ’Murda Bizness’ (+++)
• ItaLove - Swedish Italo Disco Trio with great melodies (+++)
• Kate Boy - Yet more great Swedish electropop evolving from The Knife and Niki & The Dove (+)
• Koven - UK Dubstep artist responsible for best bassline track of 2012 - ’Urban Forms’ (+)
• Madeon - One of my greatest discoveries of 2012 - Hugo Pierre Leclercq is the Daft Punk of the future (+++)
• M.O. - Urban Girl Group with plenty of promise ’Wait Your Turn’ (+)
• Oliver - Very French sounding production / DJ duo - check ’Dirty Talk’ (+)
• Ria Ritchie - R&B and club vocalist has one single and some featured vocals to her name, in 2012, 2013 should be a good year for her (+)

NOTE - music videos for all above featured artist can be found in Social Media section of this website - easiest access is to just hit up the Instant Search top right corner of this screen - type and see options revealed (don’t hit return!).