Forward Thinking

Before we get into end of the year lists, i want to cast half an eye into the future and think a little bit about what's coming in 2009 and a couple of acts i'm pretty excited about hearing more from.
Up first is Empire of the Sun, one half Sleepy Jackson and one half PNAU this is sheer genius in an electro-Fleetwood Mac way. Combine that with great costumes (see below) and the promise of "theatrical extravaganza" live shows and it's pretty exciting. Bound to invite lots of MGMT comparisons but in our book that's a good thing.

Empire of the Sun - We Are The People

The next is Alessi's Ark, the newest addition to the London nu-folk scene. She plays psychadelic, rustic songs with an innocent, child-like wonder and with rich, expansive production from Bright Eyes producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis. Think, Alela Diane, Joanna Newsom and Conor Oberst but with a very English slant.

Alessi's Ark - Magic Weather

Alessi's Ark Myspace

The last is South East London band The Invisible. They play intricate songs that feel both raw and complex, somewhere between TV On The Radio, Battles and Plantlife. This is a band that has sprung out of the experimental jazz scene but brought to their skills a punk-funk sound that creates delights like 'London Girl' below. Watch this sub-genre-bending space.

The Invisible - London Girl

Oui oui

Ah Paris. Don't get me started on Paris. Simply, the best place on the planet. But this isn't a travel blog so I'll stop before I launch into a nostalgia marathon about the best time of my life blah blah blah. What stirred my emotions about this amazing city was hearing this remix of Friendly Fires' song Paris by Belgian duo Aeroplane. Now, the original is good enough to send me into a full-on Gallic daydream but this version, which replaces the punk-funk jaggedness with cascading synths and a beautiful female vocal (from Au Revoir Simone), makes me feel like I'm knocking back Leffes with Emmanuelle Béart on the Eurostar - tearing through the French countryside. At night. In the snow. With the lights of the city slowly emerging on the horizon. And then the Sacré Coeur comes into view and... Christ, I think that's enough don't you?

Download: Paris (Aeroplane remix) - Friendly Fires

Buy Friendly Fires by Friendly Fires here.
Ally

Headless Heroes

You might think that it being monday morning, combined with it being windy, grey and rainy and there being just too much hangover still left in my head would get a person down but actually it's set me up to be in the right mood to discover Headless Heroes. Jesus and the Mary Chain's 'Just Like Honey' (aka 'the one from the end of Lost In Translation') covered by Alela Diane with beautiful plaintive, dreamy production, all echoey and the-world-is-not-a-bad-place inducing. I'm picking up the album from Rough Trade on the way home; it's a covers album featuring reworkings of tracks by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Daniel Johnson and Vashti Bunyan among others.

Headless Heroes - Just Like Honey

Buy album from Rough Trade here