The Beat Goes On

The countdown is underway for the BBC's 'Sound of 2010', their annual attempt at second-guessing the 'next big things' in the music industry over the next twelve months.

Fifteen acts were announced in November's longlist but, throughout this week, the BBC will rank the 5 acts most likely to 'make it big' this year. In at no. 5 are The Drums, a New York band whose brand of 50's-flavoured pop-rock has already won them a considerable following.

Their jaunty pop anthem 'Let's Go Surfing' justifiably had bloggers in a tizzy last summer and The Drums can back back this up with other excellent tracks like the sunny 'Submarine' and despondent 'I Felt Stupid'.

The four-piece claim to be on a mission to bring back 'the song', which they say has been sidelined as a result of too much focus on production. They also identify with 'generation me' and believe this helps them to produce music that they themselves enjoy, rather than being concerned with other people's expectations.

The Drums strike me as a band very much 'in development', so let's hope the inevitable attention they receive as a result of being 'tips for 2010' isn't too premature.

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing

New Year's Revolution

'SWAP as Soon as You Hear' is the first of a series of club nights with a twist being organised by Liana, Eimear and yours truly as part of Come As Soon As You Hear.

Liftoff is scheduled for next Saturday, the 9th of January at 10pm in The Mezz @ Twisted Pepper.

The idea is pretty simple:

1. Come.

2. Dance to the funky, funky beat.

3. When the klaxon sounds, swap an item of clothing with the person nearest you.

4. Repeat steps 2 - 3 until you...

5. Come.

6. Exeunt.

If you're reluctant to part with your threads, fret not. We'll have BAGS FULL of clothes you can throw on for swapping purposes.

Music on the night will be provided by the wonderful Alan Taylor of C U Next Tuesday, the masterful Killian Coyle and Come As Soon As You Hear DJs (probably me, Liana and Eimear).

I'll be posting up a flyer in the next couple of days that will get you in for a mere €5.

Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more details.

G'wan.

Get The Memo

Honeythieves is a new musical project that comes courtesy of Cuban-born, Miami-based singer Liset Alea, French producer Alexkid and German producer Olivier Matteu.

The Transatlantic trio claim to be "less a regular band than a musical meeting of minds", working on new material seperately in their respective homeplaces before pooling their individual contributions and seeing what comes out in the wash.

This may all sound a bit gimicky but, if new single 'The Reminder' is anything to go by, they might be on to a good thing.

Liset's smoky vocal combined with jaunty synths that the Eurythmics are probably expecting returned any day now make for a slinky slice of electro-soul:



The RAC remix of the track is also worth a spin. Maybe two.