New bands of 2006: An Investigation (part 1)

I found a pile of old magazines in my room the other day and plucked from it a copy of The Fly [link], a rather good free publication that I suggest you seek out. This issue happened to have a feature on new bands, "2006. The New Breed" and considering I did a feature on 2007 new bands, I thought I would do a bit of appraisal of The Fly's choices. My choices haven't done great by the way (apart from Jack Penate), although I did mention the likes of Jamie T, Klaxons and Kate Nash as being too obvious choices! At least none of my choices have split up, a disappointing number from this 2006 list have - Les Incompetents, Roland Shanks and Ciccone to name but a few.

Anyways, the following bands will be marked on the "2006 Libertines/Babyshambles/Dirty Pretty Things/Yeti scale", where the Libertines = famous, Babyshambles = almost famous, Dirty Pretty Things = slightly less famous, Yeti = very obscure. Obviously, now that would be very different with Pete Doherty's tabloid exploits making Babyshambles far more famous than The Libertines were. Anyways, I'm going to give points per band, so Yeti = 1 point, DPT = 2 etc and the hit rating is how many acts have become (at least moderately) successful. It should also be noted that some of the choices were obvious (i.e Arctic Monkeys!) or were established artists (Arcade Fire) so will be ignored. Now onto the choices...

Steve Lamacq (Radio 1 DJ, journo and general legend!)
¡Forward, Russia! - The Libs; Two Gallants - Babyshambles; The Early Years - Yeti; Celebration - Yeti; The Sunshine Underground - The Libs

Hit rating - 2/5. Points per band = 2.6 (13/4) I'm being generous here but both bands have had plenty of media coverage and acclaim, as well as minor chart success.

The Sunshine Underground - Commercial Breakdown [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link]//[MySpace]
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Alan McGee (bloke who discovered Oasis)
Clay Machine Gun - Yeti; The Hedrons - Yeti; Client - Babyshambles; Emily Mann - Yeti; King Biscuit Time - DPT; Jose Gonzalez - The Libs

Hit rating - 1/5. Points = 2.4 (12/5) McGee does about as well as expected although to be fair, Jose Gonzalez was a great choice.
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Alex Kapranos (bloke out of some band called Franz Ferdinand)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Libs; Animal Collective - Babyshambles; Bricolage - DPT; 1990s - The Libs; Kapow! - Yeti

Hit rating - 2/5. Points = 2.8 (14/5) Good choices from Mr Kapranos, deserves a pat on the back.
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James Sandom (manager of Kaiser Chiefs)
Envelopes - DPT; Help She Can't Swim - Babyshambles; The Feeling - The Libs; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Libs; Guillemots - The Libs; Semifinalists - DPT; Giant Drag - Babyshambles; Wolf & Cub - DPT; The Cribs - The Libs; Jim Noir - Babyshambles; Two Gallants - DPT

Hit rating - 4/11. Points = 3.0 (33/11) Some currently massive acts mentioned here, well done!

Envelopes - Mixtape [right click, save as]//[MySpace]
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Johnny Cooke (bloke from 'indie' band Dogs)
Larrikin Love - Babyshambles; Dustin's Bar Mitzvah - DPT; Komakino - DPT; Action Plan - DPT; Dogs - DPT; The Cribs - The Libs

Hit rating - 1/6. Points = 2.33 (14/6) Johnny did pick the criminally underrated Komakino but then cancelled that great choice out by picking his own band!

Komakino - Redstar UFO [right click, save as]//[Sendspace]//[MySpace]
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Nadia Dahlawi (co-founder of Young&Lost Club)
Good Shoes - Babyshambles; Jamie T - The Libs; The Horrors - The Libs; Dustin's Bar Mitzvah - DPT; The Creepy Morons - Yeti; The Beat Up - DPT; Les Incompetents - DPT; Roland Shanks - DPT

Hit rating - 2/8. Points = 2.5 (20/8) I actually worked for Nadia once upon a time, she was lovely. At least three of her choices have now split up however!

Roland Shanks - Anniversary [right click, save as]//[Sendspace]//[MySpace]
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Eddie Argos (Art Brut frontman)
The Chalets - DPT; Ciccone - Yeti; The Indelicates - DPT

Hit rating - 0/3. Points = 1.67 (5/3) Although it looks bad for Eddie, he did choose the Arctics as well. And I can hardly fault trying to give his mates some much deserved exposure.

Ciccone - Look At You Now [right click, save as]//[Sendspace]//[MySpace]
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Ben James (A&R at Nude Records)
O Fracas - Yeti; The Harrisons - DPT; The Goodbye Plot - Yeti; Duels - Babyshambles; The Maccabees - The Libs; Guillemots - The Libs; Fields - DPT; Jose Gonzalez - The Libs; Dungen - DPT; Laakso - DPT; Wolf Parade - Babyshambles; Black Mountain - DPT; Priestess - Yeti; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Libs; Favourite Sons - Yeti; The Spinto Band - Babyshambles

Hit rating - 4/16. Points = 2.44 (39/16). Hadn't really heard of half of these bands but some of them have done really well, I guess that's life as A&R really - a bit hit and miss.

The Maccabees - First Love (Orlando Acoustic Version) [right click, save as]//[Sendspace]//[MySpace]
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So, at the halfway point, Kaiser Chiefs manager James Sandom is the music prediction world's Tiger Woods, with a points average of 3 and picking 4 acts that are pretty darn big now. I met him once in 2004 I think, nice bloke. And I imagine quite rich now. Part two will be coming shortly, in the meantime gorge yourselves on the mp3s provided.