New Music for 2011

So it's a new year, and there is a world of new music out there to discover, but who is going to be big in the next 12 months?

BBC's sound poll always picks some great acts too look out for, but the winners rarely seem to be the most successful come December. Little Boots and The Bravery are just two examples.

However their are some great acts on this years list. The Naked & Famous, an electro pop five-piece from New Zeland have already made their mark back home and their new single 'Punching in a dream' is sure to be rocking through Indie clubs up and down England within a few weeks. Often compared to MGMT the Kiwi's are by far the stand out new band in what is becoming a very over-crowded genre.

This years 'Sound' runner up, James Blake is my second tip to make it big in 2011. Although the London producer didn't win, he is the front runner in the new post-dubstep genre which is sure to become massive in the next year. The xx brought post dub to the masses and Blakes subtle beats and beautiful voice echo a lot of what made The xx great. His current single 'Limit to your love' has already received substantial radio 1 airplay and is sure too be one of the tracks of the year.

On a more personal note, look out for Devon punk band The Computers. They've been on the edge of greatness for a few years and their new single 'Group Identity' may grab them the attention they deserve. One of my favourite bands over the last two years and definitely worth seeing live.

So who are your tips for for greatness over the next year?

Its been a while

First of all, sorry it's been such a long time since I last posted, it's been a busy term at uni.

A lot's gone on in the world of sport and music since I last posted, England's failed world cup bid, (something I'm very happy about), the continued good form of the mighty Exeter city and a huge array of new music, but today I want to talk about last nights sports personality of the year awards.

For a start, I'm a big fan of the awards, the coverage they give to so many sports is brilliant and this years nominee's all deserved their place, except for David Haye (I reckon I could have given Harrison a run for his money).

Thankfully this years award went to the correct contender, AP McCoy.

Now I'm not massively into Horse racing, I enjoy the 'odd' trip to Ladbrooks, but I wouldn't call myself an expert. The one thing I do know, is that AP is the greatest jockey of his generation, if not the greatest of all time. 15 time champion jockey, winner of the Gold Cup, the King George, the Champion Hurdle, and this years Grand National at his fifteenth attempt to top it all off.

Many may question weather it's more about the horse than the jockey, so it's a coincidence that AP has over 3000 winners? I think not. Yes he may get to ride the best horse's, but the reason why is because he is the best at what he does.

His award last night was not just for this year, but to celebrate an amazing career in one of the most demanding sports in the world, Well done AP

The Power Of Games

In my lecture today it was suggested that games could be the future of journalism. Philip Trippenbach suggested that people can learn about news issues through playing games. Personally i disagree with this, Trippenbach suggests that games involve people in the issue which means they will understand it more. I agree that being involved in the story will make you understand it more but i can't see games being the main platform for this.

For people to play games they must be interesting and entertaining, but can you make an interesting game about the financial crisis? Personally I don't think you can. Yes it will work for some subjects, and yes it will appeal to a certain audience but I disagree that it will become one of the most powerful forms of journalism.

The xx

So happy The xx won the mercury prize, just like to point out that I predicted that, which you can see a few posts down, clearly the best album of the year, still sounds brilliant after almost a year.

Now if they would please announce a new UK tour I would be very happy.

Ok I Was Wrong

When the line up for Reading and Leeds was announced I questioned whether the reformed Libertines would be there for the right reasons, if they even turned up. I'm quite happy to say I was wrong.

Ok so they did get paid an extortionate amount of money and I'm sure even Carl will admit the money had a lot to do with it, but they showed up and the stormed it. They loved it, the critics loved it and the crowd loved it, so much so that during both legs their set had to be paused to allow some over excited fans to calm down. Yes they sounded a bit rusty, but The Libertines have always been about more than sounding good.

It almost couldn't have gone any better and although crowd interaction was kept to a minimum, with tunes such as Time for Heros, Boys In The Band and Up The Bracket they didn't need to say anything.

For the first time in years Pete and Carl let their music do the talking, hopefully it will stay like that.

Mercury Prize

It's that time of year again already. This years mercury music prize nominations were announced this morning and The xx and Dizzee have already been named favourites by the bookies.

The list doesn't contain many surprises and this years winner is sure to be more well known than last years winner Speech Deblle. So who's made the cut.

2003 winner Dizzee Rascal is back in the nominations this year and a lot has changed since 'Boy in da corner' won seven years ago. The former grime prince is now king of the mainstream dance floor and 'Tongue N Cheek' has taken the pop world by storm.

The xx may be newcomers to the awards but their stunning debut topped many end of year lists and was always going to be nominated. Personally it's my favourite from the list but will it win? I hope so.

Paul Weller and Foals are the surprise nominations for me. The Modfather's 10th solo album is not his best but 'Wake Up The Nation' has earned him his first nomination since 1994. Foals 'Total Life Forever' was tipped by a few people for the list but it's nowhere near as good as their debut 'Antidotes'. They wont win!

One of Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons were always gonna be nominated, turns out they both have as folk music grows in popularity and Mumford and Son's have to be pretty confident as they spend the summer tearing up the festival circuit.

Corinne Bailey Rae, Biffy Clyro and Wild Beasts have an outside chance and despite being at 10/1 a victory for I Am Kloot wouldn't surprise me.

Villagers and this years wildcard Kit Downes will be hoping for another shock result like last year but the winner is surely to be one of the favourites, isn't?

My Prediction

1. The xx - XX

2. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

3. Corinne Baily Rae -The Sea

Festival Season

So we are well into festival season with two of the big four out the way. A heat wave at Glastonbury meant it was already the best one in years and the standard light drizzle at T In The Park couldn't stop the legions of Scottish nutter's having a great time.

So who have been the winners and losers of this summer?

Florence seems to have become a festival whore, showing up in every field with a stage this summer and at Glastonbury they couldn't seem to get rid of her as she appeared 3 times. Now I do like Flo but does she have to collaborate with everyone! I wound't be surprised to see her on stage with Axel Rose the way things are going come the end of August.

Gorillaz bottled it at Glastonbury! I'm sorry but they did, they were never good enough to headline in the first place, and despite having some great tunes they are not a headline act yet. Has anyone even heard their latest album?

Muse did their standard set at T and Glasto, Same old same old but with less laser's. A little disappointing. Although The Edge did rescue them at Worthy Farm.

Kasabian finally stepped up to the headline stage at T and didn't disappoint. LSF in front of a Scottish crowd is always gonna create a "moment" and the Leicester boys didn't disappoint.

Mummford and Sons seem like festival veterans, packing out tents across the country every weekend and making folk music the most exciting genre around at the moment. Getting thousands of drunk twenty somethings to sing along with a banjo is a good effort.

At Isle Of Wight Macca does what he does best and despite being almost a thousand years old he still knows how to delight a crowd. Possibly the best headliner on the planet?

Blondie was pretty tragic and despite still being pretty fucking cool she cant sing, shame but give it up Debbie.

So whats left to come? Florence headlines Lattitude this weekend and Dizzee and Roxy Music play Lovebox in Victoria Park. Kings of Leon will be back at V and then the return of the likely lads at Reading as Pete and Carl give it another go.

What A Summer of Music!