Music Monday 8#: Sound of 2012

It’s the return of Music Monday after the Christmas holidays. And we are going to start with something a little different. Every year the BBC create a list called Sound of “INSERT YEAR” which suggest artists which might do very well in the coming year. Last week they unveiled the top five for 2012 and so I shall share them with you along with one of each artist’s biggest songs to date.

5) Niki and the Dove

Niki and the Dove are a Scandinavian electro-pop dup. That sentence probably tells you all you need to know about them. This track is called The Drummer and I’m not a fan. It’s a bit odd and I find it uninspiring. You might like it though.

4) Skrillex

Skrillex is a dubstep producer. Oh God, dubstep. This feature seemed like a good idea and now I’m going to have to listen to a whole dubstep song. *LISTENS* For a dubstep track this is OK. Compared to any other genre it’s pretty awful. Still, dubstep might be your thing though I would imagine you already know about this guy if it is. Either way, here’s Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.

3) Azealia Banks

The second difficult to spell artist on the list, Azealia Banks is classed as a “rapper/singer” and her work is compared to that of Nicki Minaj, which gives me little confidence for how I much I’ll like her. This track is the randomly titled 212. Don’t listen to it if swearing offends you, it’s full of filth. The singing bit shows promise but unfortunately that’s a tiny bit of the track which is otherwise just awful. I hate it. Here it is for you to listen to.

2) Frank Ocean

At least this guy has a normal name. And as far as I can make out that’s all he got, no talent anywhere. This is a song about drugs called Novacane. Clever video but the song itself is pretty dull.

1) Michael Kiwanuka

Topping this year’s list and therefore supposedly being an equivalent to the likes of Adele and Jessie J, Kiwanuka is a soul singer. This gives me a bit more promise than the other artists on the list. His current single is Home Again and rather pleasingly I quite like it. In fact I love it. It’s a beautiful track and quite Jack Johnson-esque, which is no bad thing. Here it is for you to listen to:

This year’s list is rather disappointing but I do love Kiwanuka so he deserves to be top of the list. It must be pointed out that these artists are predicted to do well this year and therefore may well produce a new piece of music which is fantastic. I dobut Skrillex is ever going to release anything I will like but the others all have potential, even if I think their best song to date is complete rubbish. I guess we shall have to wait and see what the music world throws at us. I shall be back with a more traditional Music Monday next week so stay tuned for some great tracks!