Wondering who’s going to rock your world in 2009? Here are some possibilities:
Land of Talk: Female-fronted, Montreal-based band has a chance at being a Big Deal in 2009, especially since Metric has taken so long to release their next record. Singer Elizabeth Powell has something special going on.
Dead Confederate: Fuzzy, spacey band managed by the same folks who fostered a little band called “Nirvana” back in the day. Not your typical Georgia band.
Franz Ferdinand: Their third record, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, will be out on the 27th. I’ve heard it and I like it a lot. The flourishes from Soviet-era synthesizers are a nice touch.
Fight Like Apes: Insanely raw group from Dublin that is about as far from U2 as you can get. The singer’s name is Maykay. She might be crazy, but I already adore her. Pre-order their debut album now.
Ludo: St. Louis post-emo group that reminds me of a young Weezer. Cheeky and clever.
U2: Hopes and wishes are that No Line on the Horizon (due March 3) will revitalize the record and concert industry during these times of economic woe. Not that they haven’t been drafted into doing that before (See Achtung Baby, Pop and All That You Can’t Leave Behind).
Guns N’ Roses: What if — and this doesn’t take too much imagination — Axl wakes up one morning and realizes the best way to channel his genius is through Slash’s guitar? And maybe Izzy Stradlin isn’t doing anything terrible important and also has a cash flow problem? If you put enough money on the table, anything’s possible.
Santogold: When I saw Santi White and her crew open for Coldplay last year, I wasn’t moved. Not a bit. Nothing. I’ve since had a change of heart. There’s a weird mix of indie rock and electronica going on her that I really like.
Ting Tings: Now that the White Stripes made two-piece bands cool, many groups — DFA 1979, Black Keys, Dresden Dolls, One Day as a Lion — have cut down on overhead and eliminated the fluffy bits. (Oddly, among these groups, drummers have yet to be downsized, laid-off or outsourced.) Of this bunch, I vote for the Ting Tings, probably because singer Katie White is so damned hot.
Coldplay: They conquered the world — again — in 2008.
Now what?
– The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on stations across Canada. Read the daily Music Geek blog at www.ongoinghistory.com
