Unicorn Kid - Ones To Watch 2010 #4

Unicorn Kid is Oli Sabin. At eighteen years old he has only just reached the age where he can legally enter a club that might play his music, which is an insane blend of pumping pulsing eight bit chip tune that brings to the ears delirious fanfares last heard on your Nintendo DS. We first blogged about him in August here. His bleepy arpeggiation is the kind of music that should you be considering jumping off a cliff will either push you over the edge or make you turn round and run wild to the local youth club rave, frothing, babbling and incoherent - but with a massive smile on your face.

The Scottish wonder from Leith has been through a variety of musical phases and arrived at the dance party a couple of years back. He is now a genuine internet phenomenon with over one million hits on his Myspace page. His music sits, or should we say bounces in the fourteen to nineteen year old demographic, his gigs not fuelled by alcohol but sheer natural youthful adrenalin.

Unicorn Kid has talked about manoeuvring his casiomental sound to a more commercial place and there are even rumours of guest vocalists. Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters is known to be a fan. With an appearance at next years South by South West booked and an album tentatively scheduled for release next autumn, Unicorn Kid is riding on a starship.

To the uneducated ears of an over twenty five year old or a solemn indie rock purist, the sounds of Unicorn Kid will just be considered bad music, but for his growing army of fans his electronic urgency is simply something that makes you happy. Enjoy it whilst it lasts because Oli has already intimated that he doesn’t intend to be doing this for the rest of his life and when the fun is over wants to go to college to study his other passion of art.

We suspect that in 2010 lion hats are going to be one of the must have fashion items. Roar to the Unicorn Kid.

Beth Jeans Houghton - Ones To Watch 2010 #3

Beth Jeans Houghton is our next choice of one to watch for 2010 and probably the most likely successor to the princess of alt folk pop crown currently held in the UK by Laura Marling (who will release her second album in 2010) Mind you Houghton recently told the NME “I did an interview once where they asked me if I thought me and Laura Marling had anything in common. I said, ‘No, unless you want to hear about my vagina.’”

So let’s forget about even what sex Houghton is and talk about what makes her special.

Houghton very much has her own vision, musically and visually. She may only be 19 but she is making sounds that could have come from one hundred years ago. Delicate, echoing, folkish chamber pop, the stuff of flotation tanks and strange dreams. In September she released her Hot Toast Volume One EP and has been working with Ben Hillier ( Blur and Doves ) for her debut album. Houghton claims that she was “born in Transylvania to a pack of albino werewolves,” but alas the reality is somewhat more ordinary, having spent her formative years in a terraced house in a Newcastle suburb. However, the exaggerated claims of her birth are part of the humorous package that Houghton brings, with her afro wigs and unique style - she’s the only girl around that is playing folk in hot pants and mini dresses.

Quite where Beth Jeans Houghton will fit in 2010 we’re not exactly sure, but she has the voice and the songs to ensure that she can carve out her own space.

Hurts - Ones To Watch 2010 #2

Hurts are the first of two acts on our ones to watch list for 2010 that threaten to bring an ostentatious, stern, eastern European look back into fashion for bands. There was a time before brit pop and grunge when many a group that marched out of art school brought obscure literary references, intense synth darkness and an aloof composure to the stage that has been all but forgotten these days. Certainly visually Hurts are likely contenders to bring it back. They are also the only band on our list who are not afraid to drop a saxophone solo into the middle of one of their songs.

With such a tasteful visual aesthetic that includes perfectly formed haircuts and smart suits - we're thinking young Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet here - together with a Myspace blog that posts excerpts of Larry Cuba’s 1980’s film Calculated Movements with its animated computer programmed grey white geometric trajectories - what is surprising about Hurts is how accessible, radio friendly and commercial their music sounds. It's modern, (and by modern we mean modern production values with a hint of 1987/88 to it) lush synth pop that more than justifies its existence, whatever the bands image. Rumours abound of songs that hint at Violator era Depeche Mode, or Ultravox when they were good, but for the moment the bands label are keeping many of these songs very much locked away.

Hailing from Manchester Hurts are Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson. They have a past history with the two of them previously having been in the band Daggers. They are currently putting the finishing touches to their album in Sweden and are due to play a handful of special shows in February, including a church and a hidden crumbling old London theatre. We will be watching for them with interest in 2010 to see if the public push them chart bound. We suspect there is a chance. A pretty good chance.

Ellie Goulding - Ones To Watch 2010 #1

Ellie Goulding may not be the most surprising choice of our ones to watch for 2010 , but it is exactly for this reason that we are putting her first on the list. From when we originally featured her as an unsigned artist way back in February here she has followed what is now becoming the music industry norm for breaking a new act that wants a little more credibility than a mainstream pop artist. The artist signs up for a debut release on a tiny, hyped up ‘cool’ indie label such as Neon Gold, Moshi Moshi or Kitsune (and this is not a criticism of any of these labels as we are in most cases a fan of all three) usually sometime between September and November. The release is a quirky, less obvious limited edition single, generating significant blog and hip press buzz that translates into some radio play, a small fan base, possible TV appearance (in this case Later With Jools) and positioning on lists such as the BBC Sound Of List - and we'll see if she is on that list in a few days time. Then once the tastemakers have done their job, the artist is pushed out to the mainstream via a major label, the development of the act being seen as more organic, the drip feed slowly saturating the media. It happened this year with Little Boots and La Roux, and next year we suspect it may also occur with Marina and the Diamonds (not featured on this list as she was on last years - see our explanation of criteria blog yesterday and the video for Marina's new single Hollywood) and Ellie Goulding.

Ellie Goulding has followed this model to the letter and we have blogged previously here about being cautious with her and not over hyping, as this could lead to expectations which are not realistic. How many new developing bands or artists are there that swagger along fully formed, complete and absolutely perfect ? Very few, and this is the danger of the hype machine. It can chew up and spit out out fast.

With her quivering girlish vocal, an acoustic guitar, neat lyrical phrasing and stuttering laptop electro beats, Goulding could deliver commercially - but nagging away in the back of our brain is a thought that the songs we have heard probably don’t have enough variety to endear long term. Only time will tell if she is what the public wants.

For these reasons Ellie Goulding has to be one to watch. Will the cool pop indie / blog buzz model work for Ellie or will it be a case of hype over content and a commercial failure ? There is talent there - you only have to listen to the acoustic cover of Robyn's Be Mine she did recently with Erik Hassel to hear what a distinctive sweet voice she has. There's also the songs - Starry Eyed, The Writer and Guns and Horses are all favourites of ours - but is that enough? We will be watching with interest.