Top 5 Tips For 2010

I did this last year and was quite pleased to find that I predicted 60% of my tips correctly. This year I would like to think that my predictions are a little more accurate still, but because I don't always stick to what I know will be popular and go for bands which I hope will gain success, I'm not holding my breath! Here they are anyway:

5. The Drums

Summery surf-pop from New York: it's almost impossible to not like at least one of the songs from their "Summertime" EP but if all that joyous smiling and happiness isn't your cup of tea then the band themselves have said that their full debut will be much darker, like a winter of discontent. Ooh err... But they do know how to put a very good pop tune together, and this one is my favourite:



4. Marina And The Diamonds

Marina doesn't actually have a band called The Diamonds, she just derived that from her surname Diamandis. She does quirky tunes in a voice that stands apart from other girls on the pop circuit and being more distinctive should give her a little advantage against some others. Still, her tunes are accessible, despite the cuckoo noises you can hear here!



3. Ellie Goulding

Well, she's won the Critics' Choice Award at the Brits already - considering what happened to Florence and the Machine last year after their win, surely Welsh songstress Ellie can't go wrong? We'll have to wait and see if she can enjoy the success of iron-lunged Florence but for now we can enjoy the light-as-air pop that's reminiscent of Imogen Heap and Frou Frou. Ellie's influences are also very folky, so we could expect an album that swingss from sparkly to sombre soon.



2. Chew Lips

Female-fronted electronic acts are seemingly everywhere nowadays - is it actually possible to tell each of them apart? Well Chew Lips are just that little bit different. They don't try too hard to be popular and they're bubbling under the surface with slow-burning songs and soulful singing. Their debut "Unicorn" is out soon but hopefully this cut will be enough to keep you interested in the meantime.



1. Delphic

It's hard not to fall in love with either one of Delphic's two faces. On the one side we have a slightly more steely, brash, in-your-face band and on the other there are tunes that are obviously dance-inspired but that seem to float away like a feather and transport you in to another world. Today they reached No. 3 of the Beeb's Sound of 2010 list but a huge chunk of me hopes they do much better than that. Underneath it all they're well-formed and lovable.