INVOLVING ME INVOLVING YOU.

We love the Body Language kids here at Neon Gold. Good people, talented musicians, not to mention one of them even owns a Goosebumps shirt... What more can you ask for? We recently asked them to have a go at a remix of Marina Diamond's "Obsessions" and the result sounds like a late night jam session with Junior Boys on electronics, Phil Collins on drums and Kate Bush doing her thing on the mic. Eclectic as fuck, but we like it that way.

MP3: "Obsessions" (Body Language Remix) - Marina & The Diamonds

Body Language headline Piano's at midnight this Saturday with amazing support coming from two of the UK's finest in Post War Years and We Have Band. Do. Not. Miss.

// NAVIS //

WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE HANDS.

Dark and vulnerable, Kurran & The Wolfnotes' songs are emotive accounts of betrayal and deception laid over sparse arrangements and sung in ominous tones that recall everyone from Jesse Lacey to Iron & Wine. Travelling songs for the wronged and the woeful, Kurran's output to date is nothing short of phenomenal and his international upbringing (New York, Switizerland, Dubai, London) lends him a unique voice in the crowded London folk scene. It's still early days for sure, but Kurran & The Wolfnotes are absolutely ones to watch in the months to come.

MP3: "Your Four Limbs" - Kurran & The Wolfnotes

BLACK + GOULDING.

Whilst in London for a spell last month we spent some time with teen pop sensation Ellie Goulding, who wasted no time passing along her latest output, a cover of Sam Sparro's #1 hit "Black & Gold" that finds her teaming up with 20 year old Frankmusik protege Starsmith on production duties. The duo has taken to calling themselves Goldsmith for the time being, and you should go ahead and start readying yourselves now for the torrent of pop brilliance these two will be unleashing on you in the months to come.

In the first installment of our hot tips for '09 feature we hinted at some as-yet-unheard amazing new material Ms. Goulding had waiting in the wings and we were referring to "Starry Eyed" (another Starsmith collab), which has since been aired for teasing purposes on YouTube here. We're not even kidding a little bit when we say it's the best song we've heard all year, so keep your eyes on this space for when we're given the go ahead to share it's perfection with the world. In the meantime, here's the duo's ice cold take on "Black & Gold" for all your bliss pop needs.

MP3: "Black & Gold" - Goldsmith

// You Don't Matter //

I'M GONNA TAKE YOU OUT TONIGHT.

We're not quite sold on Little Boots as the second coming that the British media are making her out to be, but we're not gonna front like she's not going to be all kinds of huge in 2009. Between the five massive singles (and counting) she's already got in her arsenal and the sexy math teacher video that's just begging to be made for "Mathematics", expect Ms. Hesketh to be wreaking all kinds of havoc on the charts in the months to come. The next two singles coming down the pike will be "New In Town" and "Every Little Earthquake" (both incredible), and 679 have pulled out all the stops on the remix front, enlisting the services of The Golden Filter, Fred Falke, Drop The Lime and our boys Dekker & Johan with even more mixes supposedly on the way.

MP3: "New In Town" (Fred Falke Remix) - Little Boots
MP3: "Every Little Earthquake" (Dekker & Johan Remix) - Little Boots

// Hendrik Will //

THE GOLDEN GLOW OF A DISTANT CITY.

It's no secret Chess Club have the London folk scene on lock 24/7, so it should come as no surprise to find a band like Ex Lovers sporting their badge in the vinyl section of your favorite independent record store. Wistful sentiments and acoustic meanderings underpinned by playful boy-girl harmonies are the name of the game here, and while these ingredients aren't exactly groundbreaking, we're pretty smitten with the results. The band's debut single "Just A Silhouette" isn't quite breaking news (it dropped last December), but it's the exact kind of wintry pop that felt highly appropriate on our headphones as we braved the frosty abyss and navigated the snowed in ghost town that was downtown Manhattan this morning. We still can't feel our fingers but at least the soundtrack's nice.

MP3: "Just A Silhouette" - Ex Lovers

In other news, "I Am Not A Robot" is one of the more wonderful things you'll hear all week and demands your attention at the Marina & The Diamonds myspace, uh, now. Vocoder? Check. Strings? Check. Actual fucking human heartbeat? Check. New favorite band? Check.

// i.anton //

REASONS NOT TO END IT ALL IN 2009 PT. III

We've been talking up our hot tips for '09 for a minute now, but we decided it was high time we took action and threw together a proper list. Here are some bands you're going to give a fuck about over the next 12 months.

We've said it once, we'll say it again: Clare Maguire will reign supreme in 2009. Anyone uncertain look no further than her Primary 1-produced demo of "Strangest Thing" and hear the voice that will be dropping jaws all year long.

MP3: "Strangest Thing" (Demo) - Clare Maguire

It's hard to know where to begin with Miss Marina Diamond. She's easily the loveliest person we've come across in our music industry travels, not to mention one of the most promising songwriting talents we've ever heard. Marina's beautiful, charismatic and one of the most brilliant performers we've ever had the pleasure of seeing live, and we've genuinely never met someone so driven and determined to succeed - having turned away countless management offers over the last year, she's managing herself and doing everything on her own terms. Earlier this month she dropped by Radio 1 to perform a four song live session for Huw Stephens and then followed it up with a two song solo performance for Dermot O'Leary on Radio 2 a few weeks back, in which she treated listeners to a stripped down version of "Obsessions" and a special cover of Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For". Also be sure to keep an eye out for her in this month's issues of Dazed & Confused and Arena Magazine.

2009's a bit of a crapshoot what with the sheer number of talented girl singers who've secured major label deals in the last six to ten months, but our money's on Marina to rise to the top on the strength of some of the most wonderfully unique pop songs we've ever heard. Sure we're biased, given her debut single "Obsessions" dropped on Neon Gold earlier this month (buy. that. shit.), so we'll just let the songs speak for themselves. To celebrate we're hitting you with a special double drop in the form of the best B-side you'll hear all year (that'd be "Mowgli's Road") and an unreal remix of "Obsessions" courtesy of up-and-coming electro maestro The Aspirins For My Children.

MP3: "Mowgli's Road" - Marina & The Diamonds
MP3: "Obsessions" (The Aspirins For My Children Remix) - Marina & The Diamonds

Your Twenties like the Beatles and care about backing vocals. This is all they choose to make known about themselves on their myspace page, but further digging reveals frontman Gabriel Stebbing's previous endeavors as lead guitarist and backing vocalist in Metronomy. Stebbing has since left Metronomy to focus on Your Twenties full time, and the results have been nothing short of amazing. Debut single "Caught Wheel" dropped last November and wasted no time flying off the shelves, and has just been re-pressed for those who arrived a little too late to the party. "Caught Wheel" comes off as a timeless slice of breezy indie pop fun, recalling The Shins and the Beach Boys in equal parts, and if demos like "Billionaires" and "Gold" on the myspace are any indication, it's only the tip of the iceberg for this bunch. Expect huge things this year.

MP3: "Caught Wheel" - Your Twenties

The cyclical nature of musical styles and trends is no secret in this day and age, and we're pretty sure grunge is just about due to make a comeback. Only time will tell, but Dinosaur Pile Up are doing their best to lead the resurgence, as the demo of "Love Is A Boat And We're Sinking" ably demonstrates. We could be wrong about this whole grunge renaissance, but we stocked up on plaid and stopped bathing weeks ago just in case.

MP3: "Love Is A Boat And We're Sinking" (Demo) - Dinosaur Pile Up

We've been pushing their wares since last autumn, and Little Comets have since wrangled a nice little major label deal for themselves after putting out debut single "One Night In October" with our friends at Lucky Number Music last month. Bursting at the seams with fresh-faced vitality, "October" bounces along on a buoyant rhythm section and clattering percussion, shouty Wombats vocals and sunny guitars converging to make the four-piece out to be something of limey Vampire Weekend. With the lone exception of Pete & The Pirates, UK indie had a bit off an off year in 2008, but with on-the-rise acts like Little Comets and Two Door Cinema Club leading the charge in '09, expect to hear a lot more noise from the long-haired, skinny-jeaned crowd this year.

MP3: "One Night In October" - Little Comets

Previously: Reasons Not To End It All In 2009 Pt. I and Pt. II

REASONS NOT TO END IT ALL IN 2009 PT. II

Much thanks to The FADER's Pete Macia, who was able to retrieve this post from his bloglines and allow us to get it back online after the DMCA eradicated it's presence on the internet due to apparent copyright infringement issues. We strive to attain permission for everything we post where possible so we're still not sure what the offending track(s) was, but we suspect it might have been the Hockey or Delphic tracks given their recent major label deals. Without further ado:

We've been talking up our hot tips for '09 for a minute now, but we decided it was high time we took action and threw together a proper list. Here are some bands you're going to give a fuck about over the next 12 months.

We're not exactly sticking our neck out here given the maelstrom of buzz that's surrounded Passion Pit to this point, but we got the album into the office last week and we'd just like to warn you of the ways in which this thing is going to rock the music-consuming public with it's brilliance this spring. There a few things left to be finalized on the LP so we're not at liberty to say much, but we can tell you it will be called Manners and it's just about everything we could have hoped for and more. Careful listeners will discern a few new tracks in the background of Fader TV's behind the scenes look at the making of the record here, and you better believe producer Chris Zane's hype-smashing proclamations about the record lest the truth dropkick you in the jaw when it drops in spring. New material is understandably on lockdown for the time being, so for now here's a next-level reworking of "Sleepyhead" courtesy of our NYC boys The Knocks.

MP3: "Sleepyhead" (The Knocks Remix) - Passion Pit

Speaking of The Knocks, dudes run HeavyRoc studios in Chinatown, where they've spent the last year readying NYC pop sensation Samuel for the big time. Having successfully produced and managed the young pop star-in-waiting to a contract with newly-revived Columbia imprint StarTime (home to Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn & John, et. al), they're currently in the studio readying his debut album. Taste the first fruits of their labor below in the form of debut single "Say Goodbye", which features saccharine backing vocals from Frances' Julia Tepper and guitar work from The Virgins' Wade Oates.

MP3: "Say Goodbye" - Samuel

Theophilus London hardly needs any introduction given the way we've been extolling him as the second coming and all, but he's here just so we can say "we told you so... and then reminded you a couple of more times" when he's selling out arenas like a week from now. "Sandcastles" was born to destroy the charts.

MP3: "Sandcastles (Black x Blue)" - Theophilus London

Switching coasts for a minute, let's talk about Portland indie phenoms Hockey, whose LCD Soundsystem meets The Rapture and Julian Casablanca sound has them primed for big things in the new year. With the headlining slot on Passion Pit's NME sponsored UK tour and a debut album, Mind Chaos, overflowing with commercially viable singles, expect British audiences to embrace Hockey as the next great American indie band of '09.

MP3: "Too Fake" - Hockey [link removed]

We were huge fans of short-lived Mancunian collective Snowfight In The City Centre and their epic debut single "No Light Left", so news of their demise in 2007 was crushing. Fortunately, from their ashes has risen Delphic, an even more promising outfit with a mechanical precision and electronic brilliance in keeping with Manchester's rich musical lineage. With massive industry attention, a full European tour supporting Bloc Party on the horizon and some massive tracks (see: "Doubt") already under their belt, look for Delphic to succesfully realize all the potential Snowfight failed to capitalize on in the months to come.

MP3: "Doubt" - Delphic [link removed]

Previously: Reasons Not To End It All In 2009 Pt. I

THIS ALREADY HAPPENED. SORRY.

So our second Neon Gold party went down at The Delancey on Friday and we kind of forgot to tell you about it. We had an absurdly busy week hence the epic fail in the promotion department, but the place was filled to max capacity and both performers killed it so it was a moot point really. Apologies to any NYC-based readers who would have been down to attend though, we won't let you down again. Our bad.

To recap though, Brooklyn's finest and frequent Theophilus London collaborators Body Language rocked shit with their soulful mix of party hits and babymakin' jams. An epic cover of Kraftwerk's "Computer Love" and brand new jam "Holiday" killed it, but it was set opener and live favorite "Huffy Ten Speed" that brilliantly set the tone for the whole night.

MP3: "Huffy Ten Speed" - Body Language [exclusive]

Giantess were back for another round at Neon Gold, this time as the main event and they didn't disappoint as A&Rs in attendance from both sides of the Atlantic nodded approvingly and kids up front lost their shit. There were a few sound issues, but it's still early days (this was only their sixth ever show) and there's always bound to be a few complications when a band's live set up involves more wires, electronics and computers than an IBM commercial. Future single tracks "Tuff 'n Stuff" and "You Were Young" slayed as usual, as did new standout "Endless Highway". As one commenter pointed out last week, Giantess are driving the bus to the stars and you better get a seat while you still can.

MP3: "You Were Young" - Giantess [exclusive]

Incriminating photographic evidence here courtesy of all around bad ass and official afterparty host Scott Marceau. In other news, the second installment of our hot tips for '09 series drops Wednesday. Stick around.

REASONS NOT TO END IT ALL IN 2009 PT. I

We've been talking up our hot tips for '09 for a minute now, but we decided it was high time we took action and threw together a proper list. Here are some bands you're going to give a fuck about over the next 12 months.

You can't stop Giantess, you can only hope to contain them. Say what you will about them being an electro boy band or "a less fit version of MGMT", but these dudes can fucking play. "Tuff 'n Stuff" is one of the biggest songs we've ever heard and we're over the moon to be officially dropping it on Neon Gold next month. Enjoy it now before it takes the world by storm.

MP3: "Tuff 'n Stuff" - Giantess

We don't know much about these New Villager dudes, other than that they split their time between Brooklyn and San Francisco and are crafting some of the most refreshing beats we've heard this side of 2009. Their fresh to death debut single "Rich Doors" is out this month on Two Syllable Records and is one of the most exciting things to grace our hi-fi in a minute, bursting at the seams with anthemic energy and just the right amount of good-trip psychadelia.

MP3: "Rich Doors" - New Villager

If one thing's for certain it's that 2009 is the year of the female pop star. Between Little Boots, Marina, Florence & The Machine and now La Roux, '09 is shaping up to be a legendary one for girl pop enthusiasts worldwide. We were all ready to peg La Roux as a future also-ran, but then "I'm Not Your Toy" off her sparsely-circulated sampler rolled up on 18" rims and let us know it had every intention of being one of the best pop songs we've ever heard. That future smash is being kept under wraps by the powers that be for the time being, but "Fascination" sounds like a 21st century electro touch up of "Sweet Child of Mine" and that's pretty damn okay by us.

MP3: "Fascination" - La Roux

We wrote about Two Door Cinema Club's fresh faced brand of upbeat-as-fuck indie and their self-released EP a little ways back, but it's their amazing debut single proper "Something Good Can Work" that hasn't left our speakers since coming across our radar last November. We'd previously been asked to keep the lid on things, but this shit just can't be contained. Sure to go down as one of the finest debuts of 2009.

MP3: "Something Good Can Work" - Two Door Cinema Club

Rounding out this first installment of our finest bets for the new year is Ellie Goulding, who's shaping up to be the darkhorse to outshine everyone else in the crowded race for female pop supremacy in '09. Not since Marina Diamond pirouetted out of our dreams and into our stereo have we been this excited about girls and pop music, and Ellie just might give our Neon Gold homegirl a run for her money in the months to come. If the Frankmusik-produced "Wish I Stayed" wasn't enough to get you all hot and bothered, then try "Guns + Horses" on for size and see if it doesn't rock your world a little bit. Then take a deep breath, hear us when we tell you we've heard some of the newer material coming out of the Ellie Goulding camp and that these tracks are barely the tip of the iceberg, and then start believing in Ellie as the new what's next.

MP3: "Guns + Horses" - Ellie Goulding