ONE NIGHT ONLY: Just For Tonight The North Yorkshire band are in danger of becoming household names this year – certainly if they carry on like this with excitable, energetic, classy rock pop that could soon start to fill stadiums. They’re still teenagers, but writing well beyond their years.
DAVE GAHAN: Saw Something/Deeper And Deeper Saw Something is slow, sinister and slightly frightening while Deeper And Deeper is cutting edge electronica that slices through the haze with a see-saw synth shuffle.
TURIN BRAKES: Something In My Eye A homage to the awe and wonder of parenthood – they must have had it easy. The sound goes bang and crash in the middle – that’ll be the toddler years.
ONE MORE GRAIN: Having A Ball This band has fans ranging from Radio One’s DJ Zane Lowe through to Scottish crime novelist Ian Rankin. Both must love a ramshackle ramble telling the dark tale of nervous breakdown and confusion on the road to nowhere. Half spoken, half sung and too different for the charts
JACK JOHNSON: If I Had Eyes If someone told you this Hawaiian songsmith was based in Britain rather than surfing in the deep blue seas you’d have to believe them. There’s something charmingly English about his open-hearted, open-minded style.
THE LITTLE ONES: Ordinary Song OK, while not extraordinary this Beach Boys beamer is above the ordinary – but then again they do hail from California. Classic West Coast pop with a slight tweak.
GRACE SOLERO: New Moon Led by alternative rock lover Grace Solero and draws in musicians from New Zealand to Mexico. Despite the noise and arty pop pugilism, you can’t help reckoning she feels more at home in ballad land. One of those albums that’s hard to remember once it’s finished.
ALO: Roses And Clover One for those who hanker after the mid road American bands from the 70s and 80s. The Californians travel down that highway, fuelled by country, blues and honky-tonk. You can never predict what’s coming next with them – there’s some soaring guitar solos – and it’d be wrong to say every track is a gem. But when they get it right, they get it very right, especially on the ballads and songs that explore their world music and cheeky funk sides.
VARIOUS: Songbird 2008 You’ll certainly not be dancing yourself dizzy to the likes of Eva Cassidy, Katie Melua, Amy Winehouse – although she often looks dizzy – KD Lang, Alison Moyet, Marianne Faithful, Dusty Springfield, Suzanne Vega, Joan Armatrading, Alisha’s Attic and Nina Simone. And you’re probably suspicious that even though 2008 is in the title, some of the tracks date back 40 years.
