The Vaccines - Ones to Watch 2011 #4

Hype. The marketing or promotion of a product using intensive or exaggerated publicity. It’s a common word in the world of new music and is often used in the context of a band or act being over-hyped - suggesting a deception of the public, attempting to con them into thinking something is good when actually it isn’t.

The word hype has been surrounding The Vaccines considerably the last few months in the UK at least – for here is a band that had half of indie-London clamouring to get into their rammed gig at The Flowerpot in Camden back in October and appeared on Later With Jools Holland before they had released a single. The Vaccines have created a mini media storm – but the band themselves see it a different way having told Drowned In Sound “The band don't create media interest - the media do, then funnily enough the media then complain about all the media interest!” There’s probably some truth in what The Vaccines say, but the media interest wouldn’t be there unless there was something to interest them. Hype chicken or hype egg ?

So why the hype? Why The Vaccines? There’s probably a combination of factors at play here. There’s a vacancy for some new guitar heroes in both the eyes of the UK media and the industry – a space left since landfill indie started decomposing and The Vaccines offer the possibility of filling the void. Also the last few months represent the time of year when the industry traditionally starts pushing out new acts as part of campaigns to get BBC Sound of 2011 / Brit Critics choice awards in January, before the treadmill of small venue tour (or in The Vaccines case NME tour) / album release / festivals / larger tour dates) begins and The Vaccines uprising fits neatly with this calendar. Furthermore with a big record label - Columbia – involved, a degree of heavy promotion is inevitable. But most importantly, although the number of pounding Strokes versus Ramones like stomps that the band currently have in their arsenal are small, some of them are pretty decent. And this is the fundamental point - unless there's something there, something of merit, something to get the heart racing, the hype (in the context of being something worth checking out) wouldn't happen.Whilst riding the see-saw in excitement, the danger with hype is that the wave builds in a scrum like frenzy, and at some point reaches the shore of over expectation until it breaks. The Vaccines are going to have to be skilled wave riders - they seem to be going about it the right way at the moment - not losing their heads and concentrating on playing gigs. They're a decent enough live band - not yet brilliant by any means, but significantly better than your average new indie rock group. Their sound is direct, raw, familiar and immediate - straight-up rock 'n' roll thrills are what The Vaccines cure is.

Only time will tell if their sound translates creatively or commercially – but because of the music and because of the hype - they're our fourth one to watch. Only the daftly complacent would begin predicting where they'll be in a years time. Let the public decide....

Blow It Up by The Vaccines

Misty Miller - Ones to Watch 2011 #3

With an appearance in Vogue, a session with Radio 1’s Rob da Bank and a low key slot on the bandstand at Bestival 2010, 16 year old London-born ukulele genius and singer songwriter Misty Miller is doing all the right things to get noticed; but this would all be for nothing if she didn’t have good songs to back her up. Thankfully she does. For Misty performs the sweetest of folk songs coated with a melodic pop edge that have a hint of the early Kate Nash demo recordings such as Birds before she got all pop then angry. Misty started writing songs when she was only 8 or 9, and after receiving the ukulele as a gift from her father has proceeded to develop her sound using this instrument. Her debut EP Remember was released late September in 2010, and her next single is due in the new year.

There’s something very old fashioned about the structures of Misty Miller’s songs – Evergreen Love could quite easily have been performed by Elvis Presley and she cites influences including Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and rockabilly music – not quite what you’re average 16 year old X Factor obsessed teenage girl is listening to. The words of her songs are however filled with the aspirations and feelings of a typical girl of her age, but are delivered with a maturity and poignancy that shows her to be a significant talent. With an album already recorded in between revision breaks for exams at school, Misty Miller is hardly likely to be competing with the One Directions and Justin Biebers of this world – and she’s all the better for it.

James Blake - Ones to Watch 2011 #2

Whilst the dubstep genre has been bubbling and squelching along nicely for a number of years now it has yet to find a true champion to take its sound into the mainstream. Producer, remixer and musician James Blake may be just the man to do that, yet without compromising in any shape or form. Even before he’s released an album people are mumbling “Mercury prize nomination 2011,” and it’s easy to understand why. He’s come from a place in the leftfield and is slowly transferring this to a more accessible platter. We wonder how long it is before Blake is referred to as “coffee table dubstep,” in a similar way to Portishead were in respect of trip-hop and their Mercury win back in 1995.

What makes Blake stand out from typical dubstep artists is the soulfulness to the music he creates, with warm vocals and a sense of space permeating throughout the music. Despite coming from a scene, Blake’s sound is fresh and exciting. A fitting description would be evocatively minimalistic, emotional and stunningly beautiful. His cover version of Feist’s Limit to Your Love is constructed from nothing more from simple piano, sub-bass and pattering beats and is gorgeously breath taking.

With an album to follow in 2011 there was never any question of James Blake not featuring on our Ones To Watch 2011 list. Check out his music below as well as his remix of Mount Kimbie, a duo he has citied as an inspiration.

HEK 004 B James Blake - Sparing the Horses by Hemlockrecordings

HFRMX006-01-Maybes-James Blake Remix by mountkimbie

James Blake - Limit To Your Love by UniversalMusicPublishing

Clare Maguire - Ones to Watch 2011 #1

Our first artist on our Ones to Watch 2011 list will come as no surprise to regular readers of Breaking More Waves, as we’ve given Clare Maguire regular coverage since January 2009 (here). We’ve even had to bend the rules a little to get her on this list having originally selected her at number 6 on last year's list. That was in hindsight a little too early; with her debut single Ain’t Nobody finally seeing the light of day in October of this year. A single low key festival slot at Latitude 2010 (reviewed here) has been followed by well received support slots with Hurts (reviewed here) and Plan B, as well as her own debut headlining show in London in November. Next year Clare already has gigs lined up supporting Hurts again and a gig in London’s Bush Hall as part of the ‘New to Q’ sessions. Then finally an album - Light After Dark will be released in the early part of the year. We have high hopes for it being in our end of year best of list for 2011.

Maguire has been signed to a major label (Polydor) and there is already significant work being done to get her music heard. You've probably already read the stories about her drinking with Jay-Z a hundred times or more, and as cool as that is, it has more to do with celebrity culture than the music, so we'll go no further with that tale here. We're not OK magazine. Read about it here if you must, as that publication seems interested in that kind of journalism. These days though, such stories are required to get your name out there - Google ' Jay-Z and Clare Maguire' and you will see the number of sites that have repeated the story. It's our guess that in interviews Clare will run out of fingers and toes to count the number of times she's asked about going drinking with Jay-Z.

The major label deal and possible mainstream potential that Maguire possesses could lead to certain sectors delivering the inevitable backlash at some point, rather like in 2010 there was a critical backlash against Ellie Goulding (for being too 'pop' in the critics eyes - we disagree) and Hurts (for being too 'pretentious' /' pop' and not delivering on initial promise - we however are really pleased with the way Hurts turned out - but you can't please everyone - ever ) before they both found their true audience. Those who became familiar with Maguire through the dark, spacious and thrilling Breakage remix of Ain’t Nobody may be disappointed to discover that this is not what Maguire’s material sounds like – and should she crop up on the BBC Sound of 2011 list, of which we suspect there is a reasonably strong possibility, further critics will probably wade in with the “what do the tastemakers know,” negativity that occurs but is quickly forgotten every year.

But let’s forget the marketing, forget the critics and focus solely on the music. From the material we’ve heard and the live performances we've witnessed we can confirm that we are 100% in love with Clare Maguire. No make that 200%. Her big epic songs have received comparisons to Florence and the Machine and whilst this is not fully accurate, we can understand them. Maguire has mammoth emotive songs such as Last Dance, I Surrender and Shield and Sword that are delivered with an incredible voice that is huge thunderous and gutsily powerful – fully designed to grab hold of you and smother you firmly. When she performs you can see this emotion in her face, as she forces out every note as if it means everything to her.

Clare Maguire is undoubtedly our number 1 choice in our Ones to Watch list for 2011 – and we really hope the public agree. One to Watch 100, 200, 1000%.



Strangest Thing by claremaguire