Oh, Crystal Ball...

The BBC's 'Sound Of 2010' longlist has been published and it makes for some interesting reading.

The annual attempt at second-guessing what we'll all be listening to over the next twelve months generally throws up an eclectic mix and this year is no different. The good news is that a number of my favourite new acts (Marina & The Diamonds, Ellie Goulding, Hurts, Everything Everything) have all been earmarked for big things.

I've heard good stuff from quite a few of the others (Stornoway, The Drums, Two Door Cinema Club, Delphic) but, as ever, there's also a few I know absolutely nothing about (Rox, Giggs, Devlin.)

The list in full:

Daisy Dares You, Delphic, Devlin, The Drums, Everything Everything, Giggs, Gold Panda, Ellie Goulding, Hurts, Joy Orbison, Marina and the Diamonds, Owl City, Rox, Stornoway, Two Door Cinema Club

The top 10 will be announced in January. Here's a reminder of how things panned out last year:

1. Little Boots
2. White Lies
3. Florence and the Machine
4. Empire of the Sun
5. La Roux
6. Lady Gaga
7. VV Brown
8. Passion Pit
9. Kid Cudi
10. Dan Black

As you can see, a few predictions were wide of the mark but some were spookily accurate. I'll be investigating the 2010 contenders over the next few days and trying to distinguish the Lady Gagas from the VV Browns. If you fancy doing likewise, check out Persona Sauna's post that features an MP3 by each artist.

At this time of year, there's a dearth of bloggers making lists in the vein of 'Sound of 2010'. The best I've come across is Neon Gold's, which contains some hefty overlap with the BBC list but also includes the brilliant Erik Hassle, Sky Ferreira, Penguin Prison and Starsmith.