Brighton festival The Great Escape has announced the first wave of bands to play this year’s event on May 13-15. Among the headline acts will be Manchester electro-pop trio Delphic, dubstep masters Chase & Status and Canadian indie behemoths Broken Social Scene. The three day event is seen as the opening weekend of the UK festival season and has consistently showcased some of the best rising talent within the industry. The Great Escape is comparable to SXSW in Texas as bands can be found playing a number of venues across the city and ticket holders are given a free reign to choose between them. Since its inception in 2006 the festival has played host to the likes of Kasabian, Gang Of Four, Mystery Jets and The Cribs to name a few. The lineup announced so far is:
Delphic
Chase And Status
Broken Social Scene
Marina And The Diamonds
Ellie Goulding
Crystal Fighters
Slow Club
Cold Cave
Esben And The Witch
Japandroids
Real Estate
Timber Timbre
Darwin Deez
Best Coast
The Cheek
Wild Palms
Ruby Suns
For full ticket information and line up updates, head to The Great Escape site.
As the year draws to a close, the focus quickly shifts from assessing which acts were big in the last 12 months and turns to working out which artists will break through in 2010. Buzz lists such as The BBC’s Sound Of 2010 and Spin magazine’s ‘10 Artists to Watch’ are widely recognised as being among the best at predicting which acts will breakthrough in the following year. However these lists are mainly subjective, based on the individual tastes of those compiling the pole. Shazam’s Sound Of 2010 is different. Derived from the music tastes of its 50 million users, Shazam’s Sound Of 2010 brings a quantifiable quality to its predictions for the New Year and picks many bands that have been heavily talked about on this very blog!
As Will Mills, Shazam’s Music & Content Director says; Music & Content Director says; “User generated data from Shazam has for the last two years picked out some of the most successful acts mooted for stardom by the critics from Duffy to Empire of the Sun. Our 50 million users have spoken and this year have picked out acts like The Drums, Nicki Minaj and Delphic as ones to watch in 2010.”
The Drums currently sit atop Shazam’s Sound of 2010 chart thanks to the success of their debut EP, ‘Summertime!’, to be shortly followed by the release of their first album in January. Shazam users have really got behind this explosive band, who mix the pop sensibilities of the Beach Boys with the post punk output of Factory Records. Acts like the Mancunian electro-influenced guitar band Delphic also made the Shazam top five with users across the globe forecasting big things for them next year. Recently signed to Polydor, Delphic produce harmony laden electro pop tunes and have already appeared on the Jools Holland show in the UK.
Music pundits across both sides of the Atlantic seem to be betting heavily on soul and rock next year. The BBC is predicting the half Jamaican soul singer Rox to take the music world by storm in 2010 and US-based Spin magazine is rating rockers like Free Energy and Final Fantasy as the next big thing. However, Shazam users have shown a little more diversity in their musical tastes and predictions, tagging breakthrough acts like Queens-based rapper Nicki Minaj and smooth crooner Chase Coy as just two of their preferred sounds of 2010. A teenage acoustic troubadour, Chase Coy has been wowing his MySpace followers with a clutch of songs already this year, whilst Nicki Minaj is the latest discovery by Lil’ Wayne’s record label Young Money Entertainment.
The pundits and the public do agree on some of the acts set to do well, with both the BBC pundits and Shazam users rating Brit Award-winning Ellie Goulding as a rising star for 2010. Born in Wales, this singer songwriter completes Shazam’s Sound of 2010. Fronting an eclectic mix of styles with her enchanting voice, Ellie Goulding has attracted a wealth of hype with her single Under the Sheets.
Kitsuné Maison has, over the past few years, established itself as an essential label for those seeking out the best new music. The label continue this trend by this month taking out two up and coming bands on a UK tour. Co headlining the dates will be Delphic and Two Door Cinema Club.
After recently camping out in the studio with Ewan Pearson, Delphic will clearly be keen to debut their new tracks live. For the uninitiated Delphic’s previous single, ‘This Momentary’, is the perfect introduction to the bands beatific electronic sound - think Friendly Fires if they were slightly more subdued.
Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club debut single ‘Something Good Can Work’, featured on the Kitsuné‘s last compilation. The joyful, addictive track recalls the likes of Phoenix and turned the heads of various tastemakers earlier this year. Kicking off in Manchester’s club Academy, the dates are a great chance to catch two new bands who we are sure to be hearing more from within the upcoming months.
