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

CUT FOR IT.

As the release of our next single for Marina & The Diamonds' "Obsessions" creeps ever closer, the first few remixes have begun trickling in and we'll be bringing them to you as they drop. First up is a slow-burning Italo-disco take from New Jersey's finest Pink Stallone, described by the guys themselves as some "empty street Sally Shapiro lonely disco shit". Cutting out the verses and stretching it out to seven-plus minutes, the duo transpose the track onto a churning bassline that takes the original into darker territory as air raid synths cascade back and forth across the mix and Marina's vocals ebb and flow ominously throughout. "Obsessions" is released worldwide this Valentine's Day and is available for preorder now from the Neon Gold Shop in the US and Puregroove in the UK.

MP3: "Obsessions" (Pink Stallone Crush) - Marina & The Diamonds

THE NEW KING OF POP.

Theophilus London is quite possibly our biggest tip for 2009. Even sure things like Passion Pit and Clare Maguire don't have the potential Theo has to really turn the music industry on its ear in '09. We used to hail him as the future as hip-hop, but even a lofty title like that might not be doing him justice. Hype much? Yeah, but if Theo's not the hottest new artist in the game by 2010 we'll close up shop and start going to Dave Matthews Band shows.

Theo's brand new mixtape dropped yesterday and it's pretty much fire. Beyond the Smiths-referencing title and brilliant Elvis Costello-referencing cover (above left), This Charming Mixtape compiles some of London's best work to date, including his amazing remix of Amadou & Mariam's "Sabali" which kicks things off as the intro track. Try it out for yourself below. Uh-oh, uh-oh.

MP3: "Sabali" (Theophilus London Remix) - Amadou & Mariam

TONIGHT JUST BECAME THIS MORNING.

I was never overly fond of Jack Penate's fresh-faced guitar sounds, but after initially hailing him as their new wonder boy, the alarming swiftness with which the UK music industry and press seemed to turn their collective back on the young troubadour was staggering to say the least. Penate could have easily put his tail between his legs and wandered off into obscurity in the aftermath, but instead he's resurfaced with one of the most impressive comeback singles we've heard in ages. Teaming up with the one and only Paul Epworth is one way to get your name back in the headlines, but it doesn't mean shit if you haven't got the goods to back it up. On "Tonight's Today" Penate's penned a classic pop song set to the dreamy backdrop of Epworth's nigh-on balearic production, the result an ethereal that takes us far away from the dreamy context of the present as our thoughts drift towards greener pastures and carefree pursuits. Perfect for watching the world wake up around you as you waltz home in the predawn twilight.

MP3: "Tonight's Today" (Extended Version) - Jack Penate

// Nacho Alegre //

ONLY YOU CAN KNOW THE WAY I'M FEELING.

Back from London and back in the swing of things. Giantess are obviously one of our biggest tips for 2009, what with the fact that everything they've touched so far has turned to gold and whatnot. A big reason for this is the sexy studio touch of Ayad Al-Adhamy, who apart from holding down the synths and samples in Passion Pit moonlights as Giantess' producer at his Bo Flex Music studio in Boston. Ayad's taken to remixes these days, sometimes teaming up with the Giantess bros (as was the case on their phenomenal "Sleepyhead" mix) or going it alone as he's done on his latest rework, this one for DC indie types US Royalty. The original's a fairly unremarkable, standard-rock affair that's not much to write home about, but the Bo Flex treatment drapes it in layers of icy synths that perfectly complement the admittedly phenomenal vocal of the original. Pure studio magic, Bo Flex's take on "Keep It Cool" is just one of the many reasons to keep an eye on Boston's rapidly up and coming pop scene in '09.

MP3: "Keep It Cool" (Bo Flex Remix) - US Royalty

// Monotonia //

HERE COMES WHAT YOU NEVER REMEMBER.

Holiday hiatus over. 2008 was a good year for us. We got up our grassroots operation up and running, put out one of the best bands we've ever heard and laid the foundation for a big year in 2009. The first half of '09 will see us releasing records from Marina & The Diamonds, Gotye and Theophilus London, and we'll continue to work with Giantess in a managerial capacity until they've signed a billion dollar record deal and we all become rich and famous. Enough about us though, other people are going to be fucking some serious shit up in 2009 as well. Our next few features will be highlighting some of the fresh new talent that'll be coming up through the ranks next year to make some serious noise on the charts.

While Passion Pit and Marina are pretty much no brainers for big league triumphs next year, there's no safer bet for supernova success than Clare Maguire. Recent years have seen like-minded, big-voiced starlets like Winehouse, Adele, Duffy et. al ascending the charts with fluid ease, establishing their kind as the prototype for guaranteed chart success. Thus, Maguire, who's bros with Marina Diamond and produced by Primary 1, seems like the safest bet for surefire mainstream dominance in '09. A lengthy A&R struggle saw Maguire on the receiving end of one of the biggest deals we've heard about in an age, and "Strangest Thing", her brilliant white label debut, is already getting play on Radio 1 and has the future looking blindingly bright for this one.

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

And since you were wondering, below are our favorite songs of '08.

1. "Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit
There's been no shortage of praise thrown at our debut release and we don't think it's a dick move giving the top two slots of this list to Neon Gold artists, rather it just shows how blessed we feel we are to be working with such incredible talents. "Sleepyhead" sounds like nothing else before it, a completely original musical thought that's straight up one of the best songs we've ever heard. Hands down our song of the year and we hope it's yours too.

2. "Obsessions" - Marina & The Diamonds
The demo of this was our most listened to song of the year until Passion Pit strolled onto our radar, and Liam Howe's production on the recently unveiled single version just makes it even more special. Available worldwide on Valentine's Day '09, this was one of the defining tracks of the year for us and we're honored to be able to release it to the masses in February.

3. "Daylight" - Matt & Kim
Matt & Kim followed up their impressive '07 debut with two shit-hot singles in 2008. The more recent of the two, "Daylight", goes down as one of the year's most infectious tracks and hints at huge things to come on the duo's upcoming sophomore album. Twinkling keys hook you from the start, before a monumental drumbeat drops in and the song takes flight on a catchy-as-fuck vocal structure and oscillating synths. Special.

4. "Hearts A Mess" - Gotye
One of our favorite records of all time since it's initial release in 2006, Gotye's cinematic masterwork finally saw release beyond Australian borders courtesy of Lucky Number Music last spring. We're thrilled to announce our upcoming collaboration with the Australian maestro, which will come to fruition when we issue Gotye's first-ever US release this spring. Yeah, we're pretty excited.

5. "Get Over It" - Guillemots
Guillemots' "Trains To Brazil" was the best thing to happen to music in 2006 and they came damn close to topping it with "Get Over It". In the weeks leading up to its unveiling buzz around the industry was that Guillemots' had written the perfect pop song, and fuck if this isn't one of the most inspiring, euphoric tracks we've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Concise, yet effective - these were the songs that really mattered in 2008. Let's see if '09 can do any better, shall we?

// I Need Chemical //

TUCKED IN MY SWEATER NOW.

It's hard for me to endorse such a blatant appeal for credibility by a major corporation as Green Label Sound, in which Mountain Dew commissions artists to provide them with exclusive mp3s for distribution through their website, but I must say they've got some fucking great ears behind this thing. Earlier this year they brought us the amazing "Daylight" by Matt & Kim, and now they're back with another hit, this time courtesy of Flosstradamus and Chairlift's Caroline Polachek. "Big Bills" is Flosstradamus' first original production, and while Polachek's vocals seem like a curious fit at first, the incredible chorus goes down as one of the best and most infectious of the year. Follow the link below for the MP3.

LINK: "Big Bills" (ft. Caroline Polachek) - Flosstradamus

// Frosk //