The Cold Cut

Another day in London, another dirt cheap gig to go to. Two days ago, for an unbelievably cheap £5, I went to Club NME at the KOKO, a great night. The format is as follows: some great indie bands (ie New Cassettes and Glasvegas) interspersed between some DJ sets. It starts at 10, and will go on into the early hours of the morning; I only stayed for Glasvegas, but it was well worth it.

This was a band possessing a sound much bigger than the venue, using the patented 'wall of sound' technique, I'm confidently informed. For the uninitiated, this involves a simple backing setup, and vocals low in the mix. The 'wall' is the guitar/bass, which were amped up to the max, and altogether it produces quite a distinctive, impressive sound. Lead singer James Allen's voice is arguably as good as in the studio, and the backing band were all energetic. Take drummer Caroline McKay, a force of nature, who refuses to sit down, whacking her simple kit into submission, and *they* jiggle all over the place- the audience was mesmerised.

The set was short due to their unfair positioning as a support band- they played all the favourites: 'Daddy's Gone', 'Go Square Go' and latest single 'Its My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry', and I was wholly impressed by their performance. I expect to see the four piece filling major festival slots this summer.

At this point, I will point you to their new website, which is a fitting companion to the songs released thus far

Glasvegas- It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry

Image courtesy of bibabidi.com

2008 is shaping up to be a huge year for music, and these are the best of the British bands releasing new material this year.

Cajun Dance Party- These 5 London teens are still at school and yet they've already released two spectacular singles, The Next Untouchable and Amylase. Which is pretty amazing given the time constraints of A-Levels (trust me, I'm in the same boat!). Their album will be amazing.

Cajun Dance Party- The Next Untouchable
Estelle- This West London born hip-hop artist is widely respected in the music world, and not without reason. At the age of 27 she already owns a record label, Stellar Ents, which allowed her to release her own album, 'The 18th Day', 3 years ago. If you haven't heard '1980', one of her singles, download it now. Her new album, 'Shine', is out on February 12th, and whilst she has the talent, Estelle has never hit the bigtime. Signing to John Legend's label can't hurt, and neither can production by Will.i.am, Kanye West and Wyclef Jean.

Estelle- 1980
Estelle- Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)

Glasvegas- Everyone compares them to The Jesus And Mary Chain; its a fair comparison, but why not relate them to something new? Purely because no-one sounds like Glasvegas any more. Alan McGee has been gushing about them for ages, but whereas this is generally unfounded, for once he is right. Destined for great things...

Glasvegas- Daddy's Gone

Foals- These guys are going places. 'Antidotes', the first album, is out March 2008, and already things are hotting up at the Foals camp. Not content with the production, they re-mixed the entire album themselves, to their specifications. Ballsy, but will it pay off? Yannis (centre above), the mop-topped lead singer of this Oxford based five-piece, obviously thinks so.

Foals- Hummer

The Courteeners?- The question mark isn't a typo. Liam Fray (closest in the pic), lead singer of The Courteeners, is following in the footsteps British frontmen by mouthing off about how his band are going to create one of the best British albums ever. Sometimes, this is the truth: see Oasis, Stone Roses etc. Sometimes, however, it isn't: take The Twang as a recent example. Which will he be? On the evidence of 'Cavorting', the latter. But that doesn't stop me wondering 2008 will be the year when we witness his fall from grace.

The Courteeners- Acrylic

The Ting Tings- I'm not even going to attempt to explain this one, other than that they're a boy-girl duo who make fun pop music. Oh, and they wont disappointed; they've been around for a while, signing to a major label 3 years ago, but the deal fell through due to creative 'differences'. A new deal is in the works, but just let their music speak for itself.

The Ting Tings- Great DJ

Those who will be big but I don't need to write about:
Adele- Possibly the voice of 2008?