Shinobi Ninja
The kids haven’t had the chance to see em yet which is why they feel like a guarded secret. Once they do see em and once they get on Itunes, the Shinobi’s mix of metal and hip hop will explode. There is always a “luck” quota to this stuff so let’s hope they find themselves in the right place at the right time but if and when? This is a potential huge band.
Princeton
I don’t write enough about these guys. Named after the street where they lived and not the University, there is something very smart, very collegiate about em. They are a West Coast Vampire Weekend: deeply musical, deeply felt, smartly arranged. Itunes reference 10,000 Maniacs and Magnetic Fields -well, yes to one and no to the other, it has an edge of folk rock but steadies itself and ends up being very smart pop music. I would say they’ve heard the dB’s and Alex Chilton as well. How I missed this in my best of 2009 I have no idea. I would put it in the top twenty.
Love Via Dance Machine
These guys need to get their songs on Itunes. Enough dicking about already. Assuming they do, and assuming they get on a big tour, Love Via Dance Machine are well on their way to crossing into the wild world of Z100 and Justin Berbir type fandom.
Saint Motel
They need to record more material and they need to get off the West Coast and that is all this great art-rock band needs. A sharp, shiny, brilliant band. The sort that suddenly finds themselves at the head of a musical movement.
Gudda Gudda
Okay, this is a bit obvious. A Lil Wayne protege (though I don’t think he is part of the Young Money crew) but he has a big time fucking flow and is a potential big time MC. “Getting To The Money” is waiting somewhere. MTV dubbed him best new rapper… why doubt it? Guddaville, his mix tape, is excellent.