Music Snobbery

Top 10 Albums of 2012

Let's finish off this year, put a cap on it, lay to rest, what have you.

Not the strongest year in music, but when I settled on my list, I'm glad I ended up with such a diverse list. I have five rookie acts, two soul acts, three female solo acts, four UK acts and an Aussie band leading the pack.

Most importantly, its Frank Ocean, Grimes and Fiona Apple free.

10. Crocodiles, Endless Flowers -- I like to reserve the No. 10 to an album that's just a fun, rocking effort. It doesn't have to reinvent rock 'n' roll, but what it does, it does well. Crocodiles' third album roars like a super-charged vintage car down an open road with the top down. It's the sound of leather jackets, wayfarers, cuffed jeans and slicked backed hair. Props for Brandon Welchez for going hard, going soft and going weird.

9. Adrian Younge Presents Venice Dawn, Something About April -- Then, my 9th place album I like to place the best album you didn't listen to this year. It didn't get a high-profiled placement in a commercial or glossy PR campaign. Adrian Younge is a L.A. musician/composer who's best known for writing the soundtrack for the movie Black Dynamite. For this concept album, he creates a story about inter-racial love in the 60s. It's filled with deep, soul funk that would make the Wu-Tang and Sharon Jones salivate.

8. Bat for Lashes, The Haunted Man -- I have a feeling Natasha Khan will always have a place in any Top 5 or 10 list I make. She's now created three album of impeccable beauty and diversity. She's unmatched in terms of musicianship and atmosphere. The Haunted Man has an other worldly enchantment and simplicity. It's a great, sit down and listen to album where you can study its every movement.

7. Father John Misty, Fear Fun -- There's a reason Joshua Tillman left Fleet Foxes, so he make beautiful music on his own. Even though his former band is the sound of the forests in the Pacific Northwest, Father John Misty feels like a singer-songwriter album from late 1960s- early 70s Los Angeles. Check out "Well, You Can Do It Without Me". Tillman does play the part of a traveling preacher, proclaiming his world weariness. If you want to compare, he's got a stronger voice than Robin Pecknold.

6. Michael Kiwanuka, Home Again --The other retro soul album on this list, Michael Kiwanuka has a firm understanding of the genre on his debut album. He may sing of sadness, but I find it comforting and reassuring. Songs like "I'll Get Along" and "Bones" kind of put a smile on your face with its throwback sound, orchestration and production.

5. Toy, Toy -- If this band doesn't place New York in 2013, I might go mental. Whenever they do, it will be loud, I guarantee you that. Their debut album, from a band made of the remnants of Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong, is a combination of every important 90s UK  shoegazer band and every important American indie band of the 80s. The evil brainchild of Sonic Youth and Jesus & Mary Chain.

4. Django Django, Django Django -- This Scottish band puts every other eclectic electronic pop band to shame (*cough*Grimes*cough*). I love albums where you find something new to appreciate every time you listen to. It could be a buzzy electronic undertone, a snappy beat or some quirky lyrics that get your attention. With Django, the kitchen sink is just one of the many elements they bring to the party.

3. Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls -- Music snobs and mainstream media agree, Alabama Shakes is the unianmous most exciting new band in music of 2012. They are the complete package -- dymanic lead singer, top notch musicianship, depth, timeless appeal, a sense of fun and quality song after quality song. You would have thought the band was doing this for decade, but their debut album is wise well beyond its years with vibrant rock and soul.

2. Sharon Van Etten, Tramp -- Damn, SVE. Jersey gal is a superstar. The album stunned me when I first listened to it. There's honest emotion, breathtaking vocals and some truly grand songwriting. It's a wonderful achievement that will only grow better in time. I always knew she had it in her.

1. Tame Impala, Lonerism -- Yeah, me and NME have the same No. 1. When I first listened to the album, it was like getting your brain scrambled. On closer examination, it represents everything I love about listening to music. It's unrelenting, over-the-top, a sense of purpose and it takes you on a weird journey. It does seem to reinvent the rules for creating psychedelic rock -- interweaving harmony, beauty and lushness to its warped landscape.

Top 5 Annoying One-Hit Wonders of 2012

In looking back at our year in the music, I saw a pattern, more like an emergence, of the one-hit wonder. It's a symbol of the disposable nature of popular or mainstream music. Like fast food, it's made to be ingested and forgotten.

I usually list the top 5 worst acts of the year, but I'm changing it to singular popular songs that you'll forget about this time last year. For example, last year, the worst acts were Kreayshawn, Grouplove, Foster the People. Did you at listen to Kreayshawn at all 2012? Of course not. Thus, let's see what we'll cast off to the island of one-hit wonders.

5. Somebody That I Use To Know, Gotye featuring Kimbra -- The annoying aspect of the song is that I want him TO SPEAK UP, DUDE. Can't make out what you're saying. "You can be addicted to a certain type of sandwich"? I'm baffled that the song became so popular when it's so ordinary. I think people who gravitate towards these types of songs just hear the chorus and related to it.

As a side note, I was at Hoboken bar over the weekend, where I heard a remixed version of this. It made me want to take up smoking so I could go outside.

Another side note, The Lumineers' "Ho Hey" was a crossover hit, and I do love the song. Like Gotye's song, it's simple and direct, but it has balls and spirit.

4. "We Are Young", Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe – - "Oh, hell no" is my reaction to this song. Let me list the ways this song gives me the shits:

-- the lead singer's voice sounds like a whiny bitch

-- the lyrics tell a story with no point

-- it attends to be an epic song of passion, but really is a slow, plodding dirge of nothing. The lyrics are just fodder for the chorus

-- Janelle Monáe, talented, but wasted on this crap

3. Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen -- When I first heard about the song, not actually hearing the song, but friends talking about it and seeing parodies on YouTube, I thought it was like 2011's Friday, a song that's so bad people are elevating it to cult-like status. You know, it's so bad, it's awesome. But noooooo,  the mainstream were gushing over this. I avoided checking it out, until I was at a Whole Foods and it was being played. I said, "What the fuck is this?" Then I heard the chorus, and I wanted to crawl up in a ball in the corner and not come out until the song was over. It is specifically designed to annoy people like me who know music, while marketing towards people who don't understand a good song from something that was made by a committee of producers and executives.

Out of all the songs on this list, this one will be a true one-hit wonder and forgotten about in 2013.

Then I ask you, what's more annoying, the song or all the parody songs?

2. Gangham Style, Psy -- Yeah, I'm a hater. Suck it. It's Mambo No. 5 for Koreans. Hey, I'm happy for everyone involved. Look, he's with Madonna! Hugh Jackman! MC Hammer! What do you have next? And all you hear is silence. As somebody who was around K-Pop when I was in Asia, I can show you 20 songs that sound exactly the same that don't rip off the hook from Benny Benassi's "Satisfaction."

Then the horse dance. Well, I give you this Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode:

1. Too Close, Alex Clare -- A quick story, I joked to my crew before I left on my fall vacation that I'm leaving to get away from "Too Close". It was played between every commercial break of football, The Daily Show, Colbert Report and so on. Even the online streaming versions of shows because Microsoft used the song to push their new Windows program. When I got back, I turn on my TV and what's the first thing I hear:

AND IT FEELS LIKE I AM JUST TOO CLOSE TO LOVE YOU

Hey, asshole. That doesn't make any fucking sense. It's not even grammatically correct. It combines bullshit lyrics, with bullshit Skrillex bassdrops and Justin Timberlake bullshit white boy soul. Just stop screaming at me, dude.

Top 5 Songs You Didn't Hear This Year

Not everything has to come from a super star album or some viral clip. You won't find any of these on those popular year-end lists, but they deserve some love. Here are some tracks that might have passed under your radar this year. I make a year-end mix tape for my friends and close tastemakers out of the kindness of my snobbish heart. There's made the cut:

5. Do It Wrong, The History of Apple Pie

4. Genevieve, Stealing Sheep

3. Need Someone, Stubborn Heart

2. All That's We've Become, Society

1. Tears, HEALTH

Peace @ Pianos: Peace Be With You

Coming in from Birmingham, England is Next Big Band of the Week, Peace. This four-piece, making their U.S. debut on Wednesday with a free show at Pianos then over at Glasslands, have a couple of credentials to note. As you probably saw, they are one of the 15 finalists for BBC Sound of 2013. Then, they will head off with Django Django, Palma Violets and Miles Kane on the ever popular NME Awards Tour. So, they come in with a decent CV.

During their quick 25-30 minute set, I was going back and forth on whether I was digging their sound. I do agree with the BBC assessment, they seem to be figuring out what type of band they are, or maybe they just want to everything to everybody. That tends to happen with bands who come out of the gate roaring. The next reaction can be, "Nice, now what you got?" Their EP, Delicious, has an epic 10-minute jam called "1998" that did win me over. It's a song that Oasis wish they could have made early on.

Their sound leans towards the early jangly BritPop sound of the Stone Roses and Ride. You can catch that wacka-ja-wacka-ja guitar riff in some songs. They have a spot on guitarist, who reminded of the early days of Editors, those high-pitched, wailing riffs. I have a feeling that whatever they do in the future, it will be greared towards the loud and over-the-top.

In all, not bad, I see why the NME loves them for their brashness in excess. I'm not 100% sold on them, so I do need see them with some more potent songs then just huge jams.

Bastille Seta March 4th for Debut Albums

I'm drunk (again) and tired so I'm going to make this short.

I wrote about Bastille in June 2011. It's the one-man band name of Londoner Dan Smith, who has turned his solo/bedroom project into a full-fledge band.

SInce that time, he's signed to Virgin Records and has been working on his debut album.

Bad Blood will be the name of the album, with a release date of March 4th in the UK.

Flaws was the band's first single, a glittery pop single. Now, the title track shows Smith's pop prowess and skill with slight electronic beats.

Take a gander at Bad Blood:

 

New Music from The Revival Hour, Debut Album Entitled Scorpio Little Devil

Checking in on a band I mentioned in 2011, The Revivial Hour consists of D.M. Stith (of Sufjan Stevens touring band) and John Mark Lapham (of The Earlies). They makes shifty, kaleidoscopic pop music with plenty of interesting elements. Buffalo-native Stith describes it as "pulp horror, comic drama, a dark cosmic pageant of chase sequences, monsters, spirits and explosions of blood." From the songs they have offered up, there's some serious musicianship going down. Love the strings and theatrical, emotional pop-soul on Hold Back.

The duo's debut album, Scorpio Little Devil, with be out next month in the UK.

Here's a couple on songs for your listening, pleasure, starting with Pyre:

 

The other song to sample is Pyre, which also its share of complexity:

 

Top 5 Best New Acts of 2012

Time to recap the year of 2012. Overall, this was a weak year in turns of quality of albums. We received a lot of disappointing efforts from established artists, even from bands I don't care for to begin with (Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective).

On the plus side, it was a strong year for new bands and singers. The depth of the Honorable Mentions is a testament of the creative forces that emerged this year. What I like is the sonic diversity that emerged this year. You have soul singers, folky singer-songwriters, shoe gazer, garage punk, mellow electro-dance and experimental popsters.

As always, my definition of a new act is if they released a debut album this year. Thus, acts like Palma Violets, MS MR, Willy Moon and Savages will wait until next year.

5. Poliça -- Trip hop might seem like a dated term -- an artifact left over from the 90s when Massive Attack and Portishead reigned supreme. WIth that said, Channy Leanagh and her band created a mood that many term as dreamy and haunting, but I find it completely beautiful. That aura they created on their debut, Give You The Ghost, stays with you.

4. Michael Kiwanuka -- You and I don't give a shit about the Grammys. So when the Best Artist category was announced, I was a little bit annoyed when Michael Kiwanuka wasn't among the five nominees. I figure his voice and classic style would be right in tune with the out of touch Grammy voices. I guess if one of his songs was used in a car commercial or movie trailer, he would be included. In any event, I think he's best new solo artist from the year. Even the BBC Sound of 2012 was correct for once. His debut album, Home Again, is a throwback to early 70s soul. You can name a dozen artists from that era that he draws and I would agree with that he sounds like him. Bill Withers is the first name that comes to mind. I'm also kicking myself for not seeing him live. I forgot that he was opening for Laura Marling at Prospect Park over the summer. This is what happens when you're disorganized like me.

3. Toy -- This ia band that speaks to my anglophile musical tastes. They have been many bands that draw inspiration from Jesus & Mary Chain, Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine, and Toy doesn't hold back on that aspect of their sound. I think what makes the band and their self-titled debut album a winner is their groovy hooks and willingness to go all out. Their early single, "Left Myself Behind", clocked in at almost eight minutes.

2. Django Django -- For while I thought they would take the top spot, but ultimately, I gave to the Shakes for the strength of their debut album. That doesn't mean that Django Django didn't make a huge achievement this year. After three years of singles and knocking around the UK music scene, the wait was well worth it. For me, this is what Beta Band could have been if they held the band together. The comparison is just since drummer and producer is David Maclean, brother of John from the Beta Band. You got love a band that creates a fun, unusual sound that defines categorization. That's when you have to use the term, "experimental".

1. Alabama Shakes -- Well, this band did get a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. So I was wrong in January when I said Lana del Rey would be nominated. She got zilch. Anywho, this a band that doesn't reinvent the southern soul rock sound, just perfects it. They own their sound, wear it on their sleeves and belt it out with reckless abandon. It's brash and subtle within the same song ("Heartbreaker"). More than anything, here's band that sound have a vibrant career ahead of them. That's the reason they are ahead of the pack.

Honorable Mentions:

-- Metz -- The top, doesn't quite make the top 5, goes to Canadian trio Metz. The rest of the world can suck up to Japandoids, I'll stick to Metz with their loud, out-on-control intensity.

-- Lucy Rose -- My British buddy did well for herself this year, and became sort of a big deal in her native country with her honest songwriting and soothing voice.

-- Melody's Echo Chamber -- She's makes dark, sexy music for the tortured lover inside of you. It's even got a beat, so you can bug out to it

-- Kindness -- Adam Bainbridge made an album that Air has refused to make since Moon Safari. 70s european disco chic at its finest

-- The Lumineers -- Another Grammy nominee, who probably landed on the list for the liberal use of "Ho Hey" in commercial media. You have to admit, it's one of the great songs of the year.

-- Trailer Trash Traceys -- I'm surprised they didn't catch on in the UK, or here. In any event, the shoegazers/dream poppers layered in plenty of depth and musicianship on their debut from January, Ester.

Christmas Music from Cornershop, Dog Is Dead, Dan Croll and More

It may not be John Travolta and Olivia Newton John in the creepiest Christmas video since the Heidi Klum one from years back, but there's a new Christmas songs and performances to get you into the holiday spirit.

Let the War on Chrismas continue:

Cornershop has a 70s groove funk Christmas single called Every Year So Different:

Last year, Dog Is Dead covered one of my favorite modern Christmas songs, The Waitesses' Christmas Wrapping. This year, they tackle Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime, complete with bad sweater and Instagram haziness

Singer-songwriter Dan Croll spins a lovely rendition of a recent Xmas song from the band Low, Just Like Christmas. You gotta dig the marching drums. I see a trend here with the fonts.

For those of you are feeling down this season, Dragonette has a curse-laden track called "Merry Xmas (Says Your Text Message)"

Live Blogging the 121212 Concert for Sandy Relief

Hey, now. It's time to raise a heck of a lot of money for the Robin Hood Relief Fund. 1-855-465-4357 or 121212concert.org. Today's fun today should be remembered for something special, rather than lame social media observations.

I'll keep the pithy comments to a minimum, until McCartney shows up with Grohl and Novoselic.

7:00 -- I take NJ Transit home everyday, thus when there's a concert, basketball or something called "hockey", there's the usual mass chaos. You get masses of people waiting for other people to arrive, chicks handing out flyer for gentleman's club events and scalpers. Well, as I've said before, if you're re-selling tickets for a charity event and pocketing the profits, you're an ass.

8:22 -- Just turned into the PBS live broadcast to see The Boss give his sermon on Asbury Park. It's seems that he plays "My City in Ruin" for every charity event. If you remember, he became part of his fabric during the 9-11 telethon, which perfectly captured our mood at the time

8:24 -- You get to see a shot of crowd in the front row. That's a lot of white people.

8:27 -- Jon Bon Jovi joins the gang for Born to Run. I would like to know where one buys a leather dress shirt. Does he look in the mirror and determine how far down the zipper goes?

8:30 -- If Bruce does Living of a Prayer, this will be one short live blog.

8:33 -- "You can feel the electricity in the building, that means Long Island Power is not involved." -- Billy Crystal.

8:34 -- "How's Homeland going to end?" Zing, Crystal still thinks he's hosting the Oscars.

8:36 -- Christie is there to see his BFF.

8:40 -- You can pre-order the music on iTunes

8:41 -- Jersey girl Susan Sarandon lived in Edison, NJ. Look at those celebs behind her, umm, there's that guy, the chick from Girls and the president from 24 who's in the Allstate Commerical.

8:42 -- Roger Waters time.

8:48 -- Nice, a youth dance squad for The Wall. I'm sure they are all big Pink Flloyd fans.

8:51 -- The singer to left of Waters like he went to Scott Stapp School of Fashion and Hair Design

9:05 -- Eddie comes to save the day. Awesomeness will now precede.

9:07 -- Wormtongue on guitar, ladies and gentleman.

9:12 -- Vedder nails it.

9:14 -- I'm switching over to the live broadcast on MSG TV because I don't think I take a song from Adam Sandler. So instead, I get to see a bunch of middle aged white dudes singing and fist-pumping to Living on a Prayer. Lesser of two evils.

9:18 -- Jon Bon Jovi pulled that sweater from the back of his closet. Long live Structure.

9:21 -- Shalom, Jon Stewart.

9:26 -- Clapton looks well, going low-key for his set with a cover of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out".

9:31 -- Clapton chooses Got to Get Better in a Little While for his second song.

9:38 -- Whoever Clapton's drummer is, he's solid. I guess Grohl was too busy debating whether he should let McCartney sit in.

9:41 -- Is Chelsea Clinton auditioning for a remake of Fargo? Dontcha know.

9:45 -- Jimmy Fallon took time off from screaming "Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God!" behind McCartney, Eddie and Bruce to talk about Coney Island.

9:49 -- I've yet to hear a funny Rolling Stones is so old joke, make it stop twitter and late night comedians. They're weren't funny 20 years ago, still not today.

9:53 -- Ha, Mick got zome zingers in. "If it rains in London, you gotta help us out." Indeed, a bunch of old British guys helping out the east coast. Speaking of which, where's Sting?

10:01 -- Whatup, Colbert? We use to hang at the Y, but now you are too famous.

10:02 -- I can't wait for Kanye to shout, "Barack Obama doesn't care about black people."

10:06 -- Alicia Keys time.

10:16 -- Hey, Alicia, Can I put my lighter in the air, old school style? Have to save my battery time.

10:21 -- All those Sopranos actors are fielding calls about the last episode of the show.

10:31 -- Continuing the parade of over the hill rock bands, it's the Who. After them, Oasis!

10:32 -- Awesome that they got hologram Pete Townsend.

10:34 -- While we are it, hologram Kurt Cobain?

10:35 -- Hologram, Keith Moon for Bell Boy. There we go.

10:37 -- The Who performance is freaking out Keith Richards, "Oye, when the bloody hell did they get Keith Moon back on drums?"

10:43 -- When did Roger Daltrey start looking like mama from Mama's Family?

10:32pm -- Oh dear, lord. Rog. You're suppose raise money, put your shirt back on.

11:01pm -- What did he say? Have a frocking ear?

11:11pm -- It's about time somebody gave a shout out to the Wu and Shaolin.

11:12pm -- Kanye time. Clique censored, very hardcore.

11:13pm -- TURN DOWN THE BASS!!!

11;14pm -- Expect douche bags from across the five boroughs to run out and buy leather kilts. It would go great with all those shudder shades they still wear.

11:20pm -- Ha ha, all those white people look like they enjoy Kanye yelling "GO GO GO GO GO"

11:21pm -- That leather kilt works well for him. Very straight, very heterosexual. Nothing gay about it at all.

11:26pm -- Yes, Kanye, because it's all about you.

11:27pm -- I was like ohhhhhh, snap. Jamie Foxx! Then Jamie Foxx didn't come out. It's an outrage!

11:30pm -- You know what Kanye's set needs? Gene Gene the Dancing Machine!

11:32pm -- I was like ohhhhhh, snap. Daft Punk! Then Daft Punk didn't come out. It's an outrage!

11:33pm - white people and #kanye are trending. Success!

11:37pm -- This concert has bypassed "jumping the shark" into "hiding in the refrigerator after a nuclear explosion" territory.

11:40 -- Is that Jake Gyllenhaal or every asshole I see on Bedford Ave on Saturday night?

11:45pm -- Gotta admit, Billy Joel sounds good.

11:49pm -- I'll give again if Joel does "We Didn't Start the Fire" without a teleprompter.

11:54pm -- I'm hoping for an Attila reunion.

12:04am -- These people are more excited for Billy Joel than they were for Kanye. Backstage, Kanye might be firing his managers.

12:14am -- Blake Lively, like, oh my gawd, really.

12:15am -- Oh Chris Martin. He's finally using his real name, and not the Coldplay moniker.

12:17am -- Heyyyyy, Michael Stipe!

12:27am -- Almost time for Macca and Grohl & Novoselic.

12:28am -- True fact, Katie Holmes use to be in my Top 5 hottest chicks. She's hasn't been for a while. You can see why. Sedakis is a hotter chick than her.

12:33am -- Jamie Foxx is there! He didn't join Kanye, dissed.

12:37pm -- Time to restart the Who is Paul McCartney? twitter feed.

12:40pm -- I know it's McCartney, but he needs a lot of help from his back-up band and that huge light show behind him to make him sound better. Is that guitar even plugged in?

12:48am: Paul looks like he's going to go sailing.

12:51am: The sign language behind them now reminds me. One of the comedians should have gotten Bloomberg's sign language interpreters to sign behind them.

12:52am: We've been kidnapped by the lite FM.

12:54am: If Ringo Starr was alive, he would be jealous of Paul's drummer.

12:59am: Lordy, they found Pat Smear for this jam.

1:01am: I don't know what to make of this. It looks like a Levitra commerical.

1:03am: Novoselic's shirt is going to keep me up tonight.

1:04am: If you squint your eyes real hard and just listen, it still doesn't sound like Nirvana.

1:05am: Well, that was quick, back to the rent-a-backup-band

1:07am: Novoselic looked like the original Francis Dolarhyde from Michael Mann's Manhunter

1:10am: The fireworks are giving Paul's nerves a shot.

1:12am: And that's it. Give and Let Die.

Palma Violets, Chvrches, Savages Make BBC's Sound of 2013

Ah, yes -- the coveted Sound of Insert Year list compiled for the BBC by British tastemakers. This is the group of acts that anyone who is anyone will be listening to for the next year. You are not allowed to listen to anybody else in 2012, just these 15 bands or singers. Face it, without this list we will be lost. We'll just put in our headphone and listen to nothing.

Before we get to the 2013 list of "yeah, we know them", "too obvious" and "who the fuck are they?", let's see how 2012 shaped up for the Sound of listers:

• A$AP Rocky -- he got to feel up Lana del Rey's ass in that National Anthem. Let a playah play.
• Azealia Banks -- Is it me or is her debut album suppose to come out three years ago. What's the hold. I've listen to 212, 212 times
• Dot Rotten -- who?
• Dry The River -- Not exactly the next Mumford & Sons as the BBC hoped they would be, but their debut album had some good moments
• Flux Pavilion -- who?
• Frank Ocean -- your winner for the Best New Artist grammar. It might be distain for popular music, but I just don't why his music is so special. It's instantly forgettable
• Friends -- Pfft. Wake me when they break up.
• Jamie N Commons -- who?
• Lianne La Havas -- Performed during the Olympics
• Michael Kiwanuka -- Impressive debut album
• Niki & The Dove -- Played plenty of times around these parts, as headliners and support act for Miike Snow
• Ren Harvieu -- She's actually pretty good. Wouldn't mind seeing her.
• Skrillex -- Go away, douche bag
• Spector -- Still in limbo, as the release of the debut was pushed back, as well as their live dates.
• Stooshe -- who?

As you can see, the list was mostly misses. They didn't notice Django Django, Alabama Shakes or Lumineers early last year.

Moving onto this year's list, the obvious choices were Palma Violets, Savages and R&B singer The Weeknd. Yes, The Weeknd, the guy who looks like he's going to fall asleep to his own music while he's performing it.

The list will hopefully give a decent push for electro-pop revivalists Chvrches (who I wrote about in October) and Irish youngsters Little Green Cars, who played a handful of CMJ shows. They're on the Glassnote label with their empowering, Arcade Fire-like brash pop. Large harmonies and driving rhythms are part of their sound on The John Wayne. Listen/watch it below:

The list, some of these are like the bastard step child of other, more established artists :

• AlunaGeorge -- a less appealing Ms Dynamite
• A*M*E -- R&B, dance pop that should avoided
• Angel Haze -- weaker version of Banks
• Arlissa -- another is long line of Adele wannabes
• Chvrches
• Haim --these girls have been the next big thing for two years, come on, do something!
• King Krule -- creepy looking teenager with the shakey voice
• Kodaline -- for those who think Bon Iver is too wild
• Laura Mvula -- gospel-fueled pop
• Little Green Cars
• Palma Violets
• Peace -- touring with Palma Violets
• Savages
• The Weeknd
• Tom Odell -- for those who think James Blake is topp uptempo.