Lana Del Rey
2011 was a good year for music, we saw many news acts hit the headlines and make waves across the industry. But 2012 will be even better, check out these little gems.
Spector
This gentlemanly bunch of London lads are really quite good. That’s just been proven as they’ve made the longlist for BBCs Sound of 2012 and performed on Later… With Jools Holland in November.
Paul Lester of the Guardian described them as “somewhere between Roxy Music and the Strokes, the Killers and Kanye West, Pulp and R&B and Frank Sinatra” which is a long list, but when you hear them play you’ll see how it works. They have a refreshing energy about them whilst managing to be reminiscent of old school music.
They’ve just confirmed their own tour which will be happening in February and are also supporting Florence and The Machine on their March tour.
Azealia Banks
There is only one word for this girl. Fierce. She’s from Harlem, NYC and cooks up a mean sound. She made NME’s Cool List this year and has just made BBCs Sound of 2012 longlist.
Her song 212 appeared on NPR Music’s 100 Favourite Songs of 2011 and was Record of The Week on BBCs Nick Grimshaw’s show in September.
Beware, this girl doesn’t mince her words, her music mixes her blunt rapping with singing and heavy beats, and she’ll be bringing all that to the UK when she records her album at the beginning of next year in London.
Clams Casino
Traditional, Clams Casino is a clam "on the halfshell" dish with breadcrumbs and baconthat originated from American. But not this time, oh no, this time it’s the name of a beat-making soon to be superstar.
So far he’s produced for Lil B, Soulja Boy and A$AP Rocky and has created a buzz in the last year. 2012 will be the year for his dreamy synths and intelligent beats.
He’s already sampled vocals from Imogen Heep and Adele, and Pitchfork gave his self released Instrumental Mixtape 8.2/10.
We can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.
Lana Del Rey
The American singer/songwriter is set to be huge in 2012. She’s already won the Next Big Thing award at the Q Awards and her first single Video Games reached the top of the charts in Germany and peaked at number nine in the UK.
Critics have compared her vocally to Nancy Sinatra but she claims her influences to be Kurt Cobain and this can definitely be heard when she sings live and on her new record Born To Die. Her songs mix classic sounds with bass-like beats and her voice switches between deep and raspy to clear and high-pitched.
Her album Born To Die is due to be released at the end of January 2012, so keep an eye out!
Frank Ocean
This guy has been creating pretty big waves over the last year. He’s already written songs for Brandy, John Legend and Beyonce with NPRs Andrew Noz saying his song writing is “smart and subtle… setting him apart from the pack”.
The 24-year-old hit the big time when he was asked to feature in hip hop legends Jay-Z and Kanye West’s new album Watch The Throne. He wrote and featured in two songs on the album.
His mixtape was re-released on record label Def Jam and has seen major success, contributing to him making the BBCs Sound of 2012 longlist. Watch out, this guys going to be massive.
Cara Mason
FemaleFirst
Tagged in Frank Ocean Lana Del Ray