Gavin: A lot happened in 2008. It seems so long ago now. Like any blog worth it’s salt and peppa though, we have decided to put together our best/worst gigs and albums of the year and used our clever little thinking boxes in our heads to have a guess (/dictate?) who will be floating boats in the next twelve months or so. Have a read and put us in our place about your favourite albums and who you think will storm 09…

Albums:

Bon Iver-For Emma, forever ago

Gav: From the brooding, elegant “Flume” right through to the mellow closer of “Re: Stacks”, this is a simple but greatly effecting album of heartbreak and recovery. The choice single, “Skinny Love” highlights what is truly great about Bon Iver: it could have been written at pretty much point in time from the 1920s onwards, but it is this timelessness that strikes such a chord with so many people.

For Emma

British Sea Power-Do You Like Rock Music?

Gav: Released right at the start of 2008, this album is pretty underrated and understated. “Do You Like Rock Music?” is a glorious celebration- equally wistful and triumphant. The way it floats elegantly from storming, epic soundscapes such as “Waving Flags” and “Down on The Ground” to serene, reflective ballads like “The Great Skua” and “Open The Door” will make sure it’s etched permanantly in many music fan’s hearts.

Deerhunter-Microcastle

Lauren: It’s predecessor Cryptograms was exciting to say the least but with Microcastle Deerhunter found a more complete yet simple style which is almost impossible to fault. Their ambient psychedelic sound is executed perfectly on the album especially on tracks ‘Little Kids’ and album opener ‘Cover Me (Slowly)’ which hint a completely overwhelming live experience.

Deerhunter-Little Kids

Goldfrapp-Seventh Tree

McAsh says: If you like Goldfrapp then you should listen to Seventh Tree, as it is rather good. If you don’t like Goldfrapp then you probably won’t like this album, as it is by Goldfrapp.

Goldfrapp – Some People

Los Campesinos!-Hold On Now, Youngster.

Lauren says: An album by music geeks, about being a music geek, written for music geeks. We spend hours online debating the best Sonic Youth ablum, we hate all the bands YOU like and when we fall in love or get our hearts broken it always has perfect musical accompaniment. What Los Campesinos! have captured in this album is everything involved in being a kitsch, pretentious arsehole and put it to music that sounds like Arcade Fire having a go on a play school’s collection of musical instruments, a huge, yet totally twee sound.

Los Campesinos!-My Year In Lists

M83-Saturdays=Youth

J_S_Peach: A surprise topper of one particular music site’s album list, Anthony Gonzalez 5th album took a rather unexpected turn following it’s predecessors Digital Shades Vol. 1 and Before The Dawn Heals Us. Taking inspiration from the films of John Hughes, M83 built on their intense electro shoegaze sound by popping it up to the max. That’s not to say this album is at all for the masses. The second album really pushes the boat out in terms of really minimalist build ups and long, drawn out pieces. The album’s closer, Midnight Souls Still Remain, nods towards the Brian Eno-esque tones of Digital Shades Vol. 1 suggesting that Gonzalez still has more to offer. Sturdays=Youth is one of the most complete albums of 2008, really pushing the boundaries of accessible contemporary music.

M83-Graveyard Girl

Sigur Rós-Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Lauren says: To say this album isn’t the Icelandic four piece’s finest piece of work is far from an insult as they are so consistently brilliant that what isn’t their best is better than most bands can ever hope to ahieve. This, the band’s fifth studio release, saw the them explore new directions, most notably with the poppy, tribal wonder that is Gobbledigook which has not only fueled some unbelievable live performances this year but has also got thousands of adults at a time standing perfectly still singing ‘lalalalalalala’ in unison.

Sigur Ros-Gobbledigook

TV on the Radio-Dear, Science

Gav: TV on the Radio returned in 2008 with one of the most exciting and eclectic albums imaginable. “Dear Science,” is the sound of an uncountable set of ideas ricocheting from funk to rock, via dance and electronic music. It’s clever, ambiguous, witty, heartfelt and a million and one other things besides.

Golden Age

Youthmovies-Good Nature

Phil: With Youthmovies having been around for a good part of this decade, it’s hard to imagine that last year saw the release of their debut album. Good Nature is their most accessible work to date and Youthmovies bring their take on progressive rock into the mainstream, with one of the most poetic and stunning albums of the year.

Youthmovies – Archive it Everywhere (Live at ATP)

Why?-Alopecia

Phil: Based around songwriter Yoni Wolf, Why? manage to put some of the most vivid imagery concocted on to record; their third LP, Alopecia, is no exception. Despite not quite reaching the bar they set with Elephant Eyelash, they have returned with a more immediate album that still delivers a highly unique listening experience.

Why? – These Few Presidents

Gigs:

British Sea Power/Rescue Rooms/22.01.2008

Gav: Without this great gig, The Courteeners would have been the last band I saw for around three and a half months. Obviously not an optimal situation to be in at all. As it was, the bunch of English eccentrics that British Sea Power are blew the roof off Rescue Rooms in one of the best barn storming gigs of the year. Showcasing most of their excellent third album, “Do You Like Rock Music?” as well as a delving into the old back catalogue, this was an event of great fun and celebration between band and fans. The gig finished with a thrilling climax as guitarist Noble left the flag draped stage to climb the balcony and then drop onto the heads of the crowd as numerous musicians flooded the stage to create a fist pumping and emotional finish.

British Sea Power-No Lucifer

The Mae Shi/Dot to Dot Festival/24.05.2008

Gav: The combination of a bunch of LA punks shouting and slamming their instruments into overdrive whilst mostly positioned in the crowd as a big sheet envelops everyone made for one of the best sets of this years dot to dot. Fast and intense but also big and fun. Kind of like the Flaming Lips on crack (*insert other lazy music journalism cliche at your own disposal*).

Heartbeeps

Jay Z-Glastonbury Festival/28.06.2008

Gav: After Signor Eavis’ clever little trick of telling us something along the lines of “a New York hip hop star will headline Glastonbury…but it’s definitely not Jay Z…” *winks* and Noel Gallagher saying it just wasn’t cricket to have rap music at the festival, there was something of a buzz around this performance. Almost every band that performed on the Saturday urged their crowd to go and see Jay Z that night and it seemed it was either going to be utter shit, on the scale of the Fiddy bottling at Reading, or it would be amazing. Of course, it was amazing. The fact is, it felt like you were part of something people would talk about for years and just seeing the endless crowd of the Pyramid stage all singing along to “99 Problems” was worth the ticket price alone.

Dirt Off Your Shoulders

Interpol/Sheffield Academy/09.07.2008

Lauren: Interpol are a band who’ve never afraid to admit there are times when their live shows are for nothing but the Benjamins but this warm up show for Latitude festival this summer seemed to be all for the fans. A more than generous set, some rarely played songs and some even rarer smiles from the band all made the show one that you couldn’t help but walk out of on air rather than sticky Sheffield Academy floor.

Interpol-NYC

Sigur Rós/Latitude Festival/18.07.2008

Lauren: Just as with their albums, Sigor Ros’ live shows are consitantly brilliant but below a setting sun melting into a clear night sky surrounded by the woods of Latitude Festival they delivered a life changing performance. Dressed in the splendor of what looked like mythical woodland creatures the four piece were backed by twenty or so similarly attired backing musicians it was like witnessing a party from another world.

Sigor Ros-Festival

Dananananaykroyd/All over the country/2008

Phil: I think it’s pretty apparent that us folk at INFTC like to dip our toes into the world of Dananananaykroyd from time to time. Without trying to kiss ass, I think it is safe to say that they are the best band I saw live last year. If you have seen them you will know what I mean, if you haven’t then go see them, now.

Dananananaykroyd-Some Dresses

Worst Gigs:

These New Puritans/The Bodega Social/15.02.2008

Lauren: Just because you’re pretty and your photos been in the observer doesn’t mean you no longer have to give a shit.

Glasvegas/Dot to Dot Festival/25.05.2008

Phil: After people were queuing out the door for Santagold, it was hard to believe that a half empty rescue rooms were waiting “the most important band” of this generation and the “best band out of Scotland for 20 years“. Glasvegas played for only 20 minutes but this was enough for a significant amount of people to leave. That really all that needs to be said; they were just poor.

Remixes: We wont write so you wont read, lets both just dance!

Friendly Fires-Paris (Aeroplane Remix Feat. Au Revoir Simone)

M.I.A.-Paper Planes (DFA Remix)

Metronomy-A Thing For Me (Breakbots B-live Miami Mix)

Dizzee Rascal-Sirens (Wargames Remix)

Bloc Party- mercury (herve_is_in_disarray_remix)

Tips For 2009:

Calories-Myspace

Phil: What more could you want from a band? Huge pop hooks, noisy riffs and more energy then three people should ever have. Last year they played shows with the likes of Tubelord and Johnny Foreigner, this year they have a debut album out in March. Expect to see the name Calories a lot this year.

Calories – Adventuring

CFCF-Myspace

J_S_Peach: Mike Silver, better known as CFCF, spent a lot of ’08 remixing for artists such as HEALTH, Crystal Castles and Genghis Tron but 2009 sees the release of his first EP-Panesian Nights. Having already recieved positive reviews in his native Canada it can only be a matter of time until you find yourself dancing to his beats at a club near you.

Bathtub Clash (CFCF Remix)-CFCF

Dananananaykroyd-Myspace

Gav: I’m jealous of anyone yet to see this band live becuase they will be instantly, repeatedly and joyously blown away. This six piece are charismatic yet refreshingly unpretintious, combining great wit and ridiculously exciting crowd participation. Most of all though, they have tunes which tear you apart, put you back together again, give you a little cuddle, push you around a bit then leave you sweaty, deaf and grinning like a tit. I’m pretty sure for some of their more Shoreditch oriented fans, their gigs are probably the first time they’ve had genuine fun in a long time. Details: Album, “Hey Everyone!” out in April, lots more tour dates (including supporting Kaiser Chiefs at the likes of the o2 Arena, mental etc) and hopefully some insane festival appearences.

The Greater Than Symbol and the Hash

Dolby Anol-Myspace

Lauren: Take one sixth of Dananananaykroyd (we quite like them if you hadn’t already guessed), a lovely man names Graham Peel and a shit load of wires and you’ll find yourself listening and throwing yourself about to the bizarre electro of Dolby Anol.  They’ve remixed everyone from The Futureheads to Beyonce and like their Danana friends their performances result rooms full of sweaty chaos. Definitely to dance outfit to look out for in 2009.

Dolby Anol – Dolby & Gabbana (Cuz we are Dolby Anol)

Passion Pit-Myspace

Gav: From the beautifully ambient, same-cooking-pot-as-Postal-service “I’ve Got Your Number”, to Holy Fuck bumping uglies with Prince to create “Better Things”, Passion Pit are a genuinly great little five piece of nerds from Massachusettes. “Sleepyhead”, meanwhile, is just biding it’s time before it becomes a globally accepted classic and a must for any indie disco DJ to put on at the end of the night for everyone to dance/slip around in beer to while hugging each other and crying slightly.

Passion Pit-Sleepyhead

Pulled Apart By Horses-Myspace

Gav: Riffs/melodies/riffs/shouting/FUCKING RIFFS. Ignore the fact that the singer can sometimes, ever so slightly sound like Jimmy from South Park having a screaming fit, Pulled Apart By Horses are a rough, raw slaying machine combining metal with something slightly more fun and accessible. And RIFFS, obviously.

Pulled Apart By Horses-I Punched A Lion In The Throat

Tubelord-Myspace

Lauren: A band we’ve never been afraid of showing love for in the past, Tubelord are a trio of oddballs who, through what we can only assume was a bizzare sequence of events, got themselves into a band to play to the world their own brand of pop-punk as loud as anyone will let them. 2009 will hopefully see the release of an album so pretty soon you can play it as loud as you parents/neighbors will let you.

Tubelord-I Am Azerrad (Huw Stephens Session)

Youves (Formerly Mirror!Mirror!)-Myspace

J_S_Peach: Following successful performances at events such as Dot to Dot and shows with the likes of INFTC favourites such as Dananananaykroyd in 2008, Nuneaton punk-funkers Youves have put in the groundwork for an exciting 2009. With a name change and new EP Cardio-Vascular on the way through Holy Roar Records in May these boys are a hot tip.

White Lies- m’space

Just like how porn keeps sex pests, miserable old men and horny teens happy in a legal and safe way, stadium/pop rock should serve to keep little cretins off our music. White Lies will be big. Probably huge. This is fine.

Women-Myspace

Lauren: Despite their self-titled debut being released last year INFTC predict 2009 will see the rise of Canadian four piece Women. The band create lo-fi dreams that float out of your speakers somewhere in between Black Lips and Deerhunter, the latter they were set to support if it weren’t for illness.  You can still catch them with Wavves around the country in March and, in what is fast becoming my favourite London venue, The Lexington on the 3rd.

Women-Black Rice

Ok, so we’ve waved goodbye to 2007 and blogs all over the UK are getting rapidly updated due to the procrastination of students everywhere and INFTC is damned if it’s going to miss out on the action. We’ve all had our Christmas break and now we’re back with a new member and a round-up of the best, and worst, music we experienced in 2007; and anyone who even thinks of uttering the word ‘late’ gets a kick in the teeth!

Gigs of 2007 (chronological order)

Metronomy, Shy Child/Stealth/date unknown

Princess says:Just an absolutely filthy gig, as shows in Stealth often are. Between us, the blog members saw Metronomy put on a sterling performance numerous times in 2007 but this was the night everything fell into place. Fake facial hair, an audience going nuts and a shout out to our very own John.

Los Campesinos!, Sky Larkin, Johnny Foreigner/The Social/01.03.2007

G Town says: Surely one of the best tour line ups in years- this gig highlighted three sparkling new talents for the year. With raucous but gorgeous melodies the main thing shared in common by the bands, it was an excellent night.

Sky Larkin-One Of Two

The Maccabees, Jack Penate/Rescue Rooms/24.04.2007 Review

G Town says: This was just before The Maccabees released their debut album-Colour It In, yet the majority of the crowd sang every song back to the band in a triumphant call to arms. Rescue Rooms was absolutely packed and The Maccabees turned anyone who wasn’t already into a life long fan.

The Maccabees-About Your Dress

Maximo Park, Art Brut/Rock City/25.04.2007 Review

Princess says: ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ may have barely compared to the band’s 2005 debut ‘A Certain Trigger’, but this year Maximo Park’s live shows went from strength to strength, starting with their headline tour in April. Supported by the forever underrated Art Brut, Paul Smith and Co treated their primed audience to an emotive show and generous set list. It was the kind of set you’d expect from a festival, but with the atmosphere crammed into a small venue and the energy and enthusiasm shared between just over a thousand people.

Late of The Pier/Rescue Rooms (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007 Review, Another Review

G Town says: Just a fucking beautiful mess. Personally the (joint) best gig of the year. The memories will most probably make me weak in the knees for many years to come.

Late Of The Pier-Space And The Woods

Bonde Do Role/Stealth (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007

Princess says: After dry humping with glow sticks down their pants, Bonde Do Role’s stage was swamped with a swarm of ecstatic fans. While their recordings do little to impress, the spontaneity and chaos made them an essential band to see in 2007. With the loss of their female vocalist, Marina, it’ll be a miracle if they stay together, never mind perform like that again.

Dolby Anol/Stealth (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007 review

Flip says: This gig was what Dot to Dot was about. Stumbling into Stealth to see a guy crowd surfing and another standing in front of two apple laptops going crazy. And the crowd are going just as mental. Playing through their set of energetic electronic music, Dolby Anol got everyone dancing. Dolby Anol are great live band and are well worth seeing.

Chromeo-Needy Girl (Dolby Anol French Mistake)

Patrick Wolf /John Peel Stage (Glastonbury Festivals)/23.06.2007

Captain Lovebead says: Having never heard of the guy, I wasn’t sure how I ended up in the tent for new and upcoming talent. But when Patrick began to sing Tristan from halfway up the lighting rig, I knew that fate had been on my side.

LCD Soundsystem/NME Tent (Leeds Festival)/24.08.2007

Princess says: When ‘dance’ acts play with a live band it can go one of two ways. Either their sound is totally lost or it gets a new and wonderful dimension added to it and LCD Soundsytem gets just that. James Murphy’s live voice is outstanding and, even though he claims to hate touring, his performance was energetic and, at times, really heartfelt. The set was perfectly split between both albums and ‘All Your Friends’ was just a very special moment.

Chemical Brothers/Main Stage (Bestival)/07.09.2007 Review

Princess says: An incredible back catalogue coupled perfectly with an awesome light show. The heroes of British dance music pulled off this headline show flawlessly.

Chemical Brothers-Galvanise(Live)

Does It Offend You, Yeah?/Stealth/29.09.2007 Review

G Town: Possibly the best thing about this gig is that nobody really expected anything great. The result was, however, very different. It was wild, shambolic and dirty- great electro played in the place for great dirty electro to be played.

Bloc Party-The Prayer (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix)

Late Of The Pier/The Bodega Social (Opening Party)/30.09.2007 Review

Princess says: Yet another riot incited by the band. People shouting, amps falling and t-shirts disappearing. Long live the Bodega!

Lethal Bizzle/Stealth/04.12.2007 Review

G Town: One of the success stories of 2007 did a lap of honour at the end of the year to a great reception. Despite various hiccups with the sound, Bizzle whipped the assorted rude boys, indie kids and trendies into a violent, but joyous, storm.

Lethal Bizzle-Babylons Burning The Ghetto(Spank Rock Mix)

Justice/Rock City/08.12.2007 Review

Princess says: An awesome mix of one of the year’s best dance albums with some complete tunes. An absolutely awesome crowd aswell and just enough room for some serious R.A.V.E.I.N.G. Just glad we managed to escape before CSS came and ruined it for everyone.

Klaxons-As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)

Rubbish Gigs of 2007 (Chronological Order)

The Long Blondes/Rock City/24.02.2007

Princess says: Don’t get me wrong, Kate Jackson is both an amazing singer and performer and the two male Long Blondes are talented and enthusiastic musicians and probably don’t really deserve to be in this category. However, with remaining members Reenie Hollis and Emma Chaplin looking like they were being forced to play to an audience of blind and deaf pensioners, the gig was just impossible to enjoy. Poor form ladies.

Captain Lovebead says: Ignore what Princess says, Reenie Hollis is fit. And that is all that matters.

The Rakes/Rock City/19.03.2007

G Town says: After releasing their fantastic, frantically paced debut album, the Rakes went off for a bit and came back with “Ten New Messages”. The general feeling in the press and music world was that the album was a little…crap. This gig at Rock City, therefore, was a bad combination of the half full, half arsed crowd shouting for 22 grand job throughout the set, the band making bad jokes about Freddie Flintoff and only about a third of the set being any good. They seemed more interested in getting people to come to the Social after “to take lots of drugs!” rather than playing a great set.

Klaxons- Leeds Festival 28/08/2007

G Town says: Although touted as the gig of the weekend by the NME, this was actually the point, for many, in which New Rave was put into perspective. LCD Soundsystem had just finished their beautiful, experimental, heart wrenchingly strong set on the same stage. Then Klaxons came on dressed in sparkling red capes and chain mail dresses. They seemed tired- their voices shot to pieces- as they duly pulled out the same set they’ve been playing for well over a year. This seemed more prog rock than new rave and although many lapped it up, it was a real disappointment for most after the genius of LCD Soundsystem.

The Teenagers/The Bodega Social (opening party)/30.09.2007 Review

Princess says:Boring boring boring, one OK song, boring boring boring.

CSS/Rock City/08.12.2007 Review

G Town: Justice=euphoric wizardry that brought the house down. CSS=Naff and tacky, relying far too much on gimmicks.

Albums of 2007 (Chronological Order)

Arcade Fire-Neon Bible-05.03.2007 Review

G Town: Epic, vital, touching and powerful. This album has created waves and is yet to grew old or repetitive.

Arcade Fire-Intervention

LCD Soundsystem-Sound of Silver-12.03.2007

G Town: The king of Indie-dance, James Murphy, returned in 2007 with Sound of Silver- an album which was complex yet simple, obvious yet subtle and fun but emotional and heart wrenching. “All My Friends” and “Someone Great” are both easily big contenders for song of the year and the album as a whole just worked. Fantastically.

LCD Soundsystem-All My Friends

Kings Of Leon-Because Of The Times-02.04.2007 Review

G Town says: Because of The Times was the album in which Kings of Leon went from being a good American garage band with hair a plenty to being a great band. Anthems galore, some ballsy stadium rock and the whole thing played with gritty Southern blues running through its veins.

Arctic Monkeys-Favourite Worst Nightmare-23.04.2007

Flip says: With a best selling debut album to live up to, Arctic Monkeys had their work cut out. However they managed to do it, putting out a second album which has more variety, more depth and overall a lot better album.

The Maccabees-Colour It In-14.05.2007

G Town says: The Maccabees were the word of mouth success story of the 2007. Avoiding hype, the band created a great following due to their live shows and singles. It was their album, however, that really proved their worth. Glorious melodies, punchy art rock, heartbreaking anthems, songs about swimming pools and one of the most distinctive voices in guitar based music, Colour It In was, and still is, fantastic in almost every way.

Dizzee Rascal-Maths+English-04.06.2007

Flip says: Three years since the release of his second album Showtime comes Dizzee Rascal’s best album yet. From the Bugsy Malone sample in Wanna be to Alex Turner’s appearance on Temptation to the almost N.W.A like Sirens. That ability, to use anything from all genres and create a great track, is what has given Dizzee Rascal his wide spread appeal.

Dizzee Rascal-Felx (DJ Q Remix)

Interpol-Our Love To Admire-09.07.2007

Princess says: Ok, so ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’ sounds alot like ‘Slow Hands’ and the artwork is very similar to that of another band. Get over it. This album is still on of the best I’ve heard this year. It ranges from catchy, clever guitar-pop to the epic, emotive materpieces that have become a trademark of the New York based four piece. On top of that, there’s yet to be a singer this decade with a voice as powerful and haunting as Paul Banks’.

Interpol-The Heinrich Maneuver

M.I.A-Kala-21.08.2007

G Town says: Flicking between different musical genres of the world as if it were nothing, MIA seemed to explore so much with “Kala”. Whether she was floating down a river in the Australian outback playing didgeridoo with a gang of aboriginals or dancing to a bonkers, bollywood-with-glowsticks anthem, the whole album was undeniably fresh. A complete original, a true visionary and without doubt one of the best albums of the year.

Beirut-The Flying Club Cup-08.10.2007

Princess says:An almost flawless follow-up to his 2006 debut ‘Gulag Orkestar’, ‘The Flying Club Cup’ is a beautiful exploration of european styles. Every song is rich and a glorious use of both unfamiliar styles and instruments for 22 year old Zach Condon. The album features luscious and fabulously indulgent string arrangements from Owen Pallet (of Final Fantasy) and these help to give the album the ‘over the top, dramatic feel’ Condon aimed for when recording.

Beirut-Forks and Knives (La Fete)

Soulwax-Most Of The Remixes-22.10.2007 review

Flip says: Soulwax. Legends of the remix. This is a collection of some of Soulwax’s best remixes that they have done over the years. From the Klaxons to Robbie Williams to DJ Shadow to Hot Chip this collection shows why Soulwax are some of the best producers at the moment. And if that wasn’t enough, the second CD sees fellow DJ’s 2manyDJ’s make a mix tape using the Soulwax remixes from disc 1. This album gets you dancing in your room to an abundance of quality tracks.

Hot Chip-Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)

Bands Of 2008

Vampire Weekend Myspace

Princess Says: This delightful New York foursome have a wonderfully luscious Shins-esque sound and the big string section in track ‘Boston’ really is amazing. So far, they only have one UK date planned but you can bet your bottom dollar that there are more on the way! Their self-titled debut album is out on 28h January in the UK.

Vampire Weekend-Boston

Johnny Foreigner Myspace

Princess says: Last year this band released one one hell of an E.P./mini album (it has 7 tracks so take your pick). ‘Arcs Across The City’ is not only a fusion of guitar and pop music with lyrics that lodge themselves in your head for days on end, it is also home to a pop-up sleave and therefore what is arguably 2007′s greatest artwork. They’re not dissimilar to Los Campesinos! but where LC! have the big sound of a seven piece, J’Fo make a more stripped down racket. The band are starting 2008 in the same way as 2007, by touring with team Campesinos, catch them before they both get huge!

Johnny Foreigner-Our Bi-Polar Friends

Late Of The Pier Myspace

G Town says: Late of the Pier pretty much damn well defined last year for many- and all the signs point towards more of the same this year. Having built up a following through wild gigs, a string of online demos and a couple of great singles- the band waited to get the right record deal which has now meant they are recording their debut in their house somewhere. With a headline tour and said album lined up for 2008, Late of the Pier look set to continue the weird and wonderful journey, penetrating us with their twisted minds.

Late Of The Pier-The Bears Are Coming

Metronomy Myspace

Princess says: It’s no secret that INFTC are well into Metronomy. Unlike the rest of our picks for 2008 they have already released a debut album, and an awesome one at that. However, more recent material has shown a change in style for the Brighton trio. Their weird and wonderful electronica has progressed into fabulous disco music with lyrics for us to sing along to. This, and the fact they toured with EVERYONE last year, will mean 2008 will likely be the year Metronomy go from quirky cult band to full blown heroes of dance music.

Metronomy-Radio Ladio

The Answering Machine Myspace

G Town: The Answering Machine are a quartet of charming, guitar bashing young folk who, by all rights, should see 2008 be their year. With their fast, scuzzy indie taking influence from the likes of The Strokes and The Libertines, they manage to carve out their own little take on the artrock sound. These guys are a real gem of a band, find them now before they’re everyone else’s gem as well.

The Answering Machine-Silent Hotels

Kissy Sell Out Myspace

Flip says: Not really a band, but Kissy Sell Out is starting to get a lot of attention from everyone everywhere. Being known for his trademark air horn and his energetic DJ sets Kissy Sell Out is now recognised as one of the best DJs in the country. With his killer sets and the air time from people like Annie Mac we are going to here a lot from Kissy Sell Out in 2008.

Gwen Stefani-Wind It Up (Kissy Sell Out Remix)

Friendly Fires Myspace

Princess says: Their current single ‘Paris’ may have chart success written all over it but that’s no reason to get on your high horse just yet. Ok, so it’ll probably end up on the playlist for every chain pub in the country, but so what? I’d like to see you find a better song to accompany your beer and burger or, for that matter, a chorus you’d rather chant while off your tits in a middle of a field this summer. Stylish, sexy and undeniably catchy, Friendly Fires have a real shot at breaking into the indie mainstream this year.

Friendly Fires-Paris