A panel of musicians, DJs and others in the know pick their favourite new success stories and next big things. Stephen Dalton reports Mirror mirror, on the wall, who will be the biggest band of all? With so many new artists releasing music across all genres, sifting through the chaff to find the wheat can be a time-consuming and tiresome business. Which is why The National asked a panel of musicians, DJs and industry experts to tell us their hot tips for stardom across the spectrum of rock, pop, dance and world music. From the latest overnight sensations to future superstars in the making, here are their recommendations...
?The award-winning British soul diva Beverley Knight recommends The Noisettes, whose lively fusion of pop, jazz and dance music is earning rave reviews in the UK. "I had heard of The Noisettes a couple of years back but l hadn't heard any music," Knight recalls. "That was until the infectious Don't Upset the Rhythm. I have loved them ever since, especially Shingai Shoniwa, the lead singer. She is probably the coolest woman in music right now. Her look is completely fabulous and her voice is so distinctive."
?The writer and rock critic Anna Britten, author of Working in the Music Industry, recommends Speech Debelle, the young London rapper who won Britain's annual Mercury Music Prize this month. "She's really come out of left field and surprised the whole nation," Britten says. "Her style is very original. She raps over live instruments in a smart and sophisticated way. She's funny and self-deprecating, too. It's impossible not be charmed by her."
?, Paul Smith singer with the British indie stars Maximo Park, recommends the young all-female New York guitar trio Vivian Girls, who have just released their second album, Everything Goes Wrong. "It's power-pop with a lo-fi edge," Smith says, "the latest in the pop tradition of female beat groups. There's so much inventiveness in their music, and a youthful energy I find infectious." ?The singer and BBC Radio presenter Cerys Matthews, on the eve of releasing her latest album, Don't Look Down, recommends the rising British folk-pop star Mary Epworth. "She's an incredible singer and outspoken woman with amazingly original songs," Matthews says. "It's so rare to find an artist these days who is not trying to sound like someone else. There is a tinge of old-world Englishness to her music, but not too much that it overpowers it."
?Suggs, singer with the ska-pop veterans Madness, recommends the oddball Birmingham trio The Voluntary Butler Scheme: "They are great," Suggs says. "It's basically quirky pop, a little bit XTC and a little Talking Heads, but they have strong songs that resonate immediately. They are a three piece but with a touch of The Jackson Five. There's a good bit of funk in there."
? Ronnie Vannucci, drummer with The Killers, recommends the windswept guitar anthems of Howling Bells, a young Australian quartet based in Britain. "We did a couple of tours with them," Vannucci says. "They just released a record and I wish them well. I'd describe the Howling Bells like an antique train - they have a lot of steam left in them and they leave a big smoke trail when they go past." ? Charlie Simpson, singer and guitarist with the UK alt-rockers Fightstar, recommends the ghostly Scottish indie-folk quartet Frightened Rabbit. "One of the best records I have heard this year is The Midnight Organ Fight by a band called Frightened Rabbit. From start to finish it is absolutely amazing. The lyrical content on the record is superb. It's one of those records you like more and more each time you listen to it."
? Tim Burgess, singer with the long-surviving rock icons The Charlatans, recommends the lo-fi indie-pop sounds of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. "The Pains of Being Pure At Heart from Brooklyn put out my favourite record of the year so far. I met them in Spaceland in Los Angeles quite a long time ago. They made the album of the year, or at least the debut of the year, and they're really great people as well."
? Scott Rowley, editor of the UK-based music monthly Classic Rock, recommends the sprawling collective Urban Voodoo Machine. "You know how in The Dirty Dozen, Lee Marvin puts together an elite squad from a bunch of crooks and degenerates?" Rowley says. "Well, The Urban Voodoo Machine are the rock 'n' roll equivalent. All of the band's nine members have dark histories in underachieving punk and rockabilly bands. The result is a hell-raising gumbo of blues, punk rock, eastern folk, swing, sea shanties and rock 'n' roll, with hilariously dark lyrics. The natural successors to The Pogues."
?The filmmaker Tom Dicillo, director of When You're Strange, a new documentary on The Doors, recommends the brooding Brooklyn-based rockers The National. "It's different, it's unexpected, they are trying to find their own distinctive voice and instrumentation," he says. "It's alt-rock if you want to give it a name, but it's clearly music that they are thinking about. It's rare to have your own voice when there are millions of bands out there."
? James Hetfield of the thrash megastars Metallica recommends the Danish band Volbeat, who released their third album, Guitar, Gangsters & Cadillac Blood last year. "Imagine Elvis meets The Misfits meets Social Distortion, but heavy," Hetfield says. "Hopefully we'll take them out on the road at some point. It's one of those albums you live with. I like stuff that's got a strong melody, a good hook, a great riff - and Volbeat meet those criteria."
? Barney Ribiero of Dubai's leading thrash metal band Nervecell recommends Arizona's Job for a Cowboy: "Blending stunning musicianship and cutting-edge riffs, not to mention also winning the award for Best Underground Band at the 2009 Metal Hammer Golden God awards, these guys are truly leading the way to making extreme music a norm in a genre that has long been underrated," says Ribiero. "I recommend any musician out there to check out their latest album, Ruination, out now on Metal Blade Records."
?The Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recommends the melodic US metal band Lamb of God. "They have been doing a bunch of shows with us and it's been a real treat for me to watch them, hang out with them and talk music and guitars. Lamb of God's new album is fantastic. They have an intensity about their music, they're great musicians, they write great songs, and they're very tight. It's the whole package."
? Geoff Barrowof Portishead and the new experimental trio Beak recommends the Californian heavy rockers Om. "It's uncommercial, heavy drone metal," Barrow says. "It was music that I never thought I'd get into. When we were making the last Portishead album we all went to see bands like Om and I started having the same kind of experience as when I first heard Public Enemy. It was just relentless heaviness, and I thought: yes! this is what it's about!"
?The Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recommends the Texas doom metal quartet The Sword. "They're a great band from Austin who have toured with us over the last year," says Ulrich. "They're hard, bluesy rock. I've been talking them up a storm in every interview I've done, so I'm sick of hearing myself talk about them."
? Paul Hartnoll of the techno icons Orbital, who are back together playing live shows and promoting a new greatest hits album, recommends the London-based left-field dance trio The Invisible. "I saw them at the Big Chill festival and they were really incredible. Just three guys making so much noise but really melodic. It was varied, but at the time it was like proper 1970s disco, a bit Talking Heads, a bit Radiohead. It had that kind of arty prog-rock vibe, but with real tunes and real musicality going on." ? The acclaimed DJ, remixer, composer and producer Matthew Herbert recommends Micachu, a hotly tipped young Londoner who mixes electronic sounds with left-field pop, noise and beats. "She's the real deal," Herbert says. "One of those people you come across that you realise will be making music in 30 years' time regardless of what happens in the next 12 months. She has the rare and engaging quality of clarity of vision, coupled with original ideas."
?After a roller-coaster rise to fame himself, the Glaswegian singer James Allan of Glasvegas recommends the funky dance-pop quartet and fellow Mercury Music Prize nominees Friendly Fires. "We toured with Friendly Fires earlier this year and I was so surprised by them," he says. "They have an aura about their live shows that is like a natural high. You get dragged into it."
? Bill Brewster, club DJ and co-author of the dance music history Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, recommends the European disco prankster and performance artist Hardton. "My most exciting new artist lately is Hardton, a huge singer-producer from Italy who's a cross between Grace Jones and Leigh Bowery. Check out his MySpace for hilarious over-the-top live performances." ? The German-Turkish DJ and filmmaker Fateh Akin, director of the award-winning culture-clash drama Head On and the music documentary Crossing the Bridge, recommends the Athens-based ska-rockers Locomondo. "They are a Greek band who mix a fusion of traditional Greek rembetiko music with ska and reggae and dub and punk music," Akin says. "It's very inspiring."
