Hype.

Over the last few days I have found myself reading what could quite possibly be hundreds of articles stating who is the future of music for 2011 (two thousand and eleven/twenty eleven/ two oh one one/eleven), who the next big thing is and will shape everything we listen to this year. From Jessie J being named the Sound of 2011 by the BBC to The Vaccines gracing the cover of the NME, and to be honest I don't doubt any of them. Time after time the predictions of these people have gone on to become artists who have rapidly risen to fame in the year ahead, however it is impossible to say whether this is purely down to their January hype and clever marketing strategies rather than actual talent and progression of art.

It isn't these predictions that have annoyed me with many of these articles though because with many cases I feel that the prediction is probably right, instead it falls to two different things, the people who comment and interviews.

Let us start with interviews. It's not everyone, just some people but in interviews with these shiny new bands who we are meant to fall in love it seems really popular to bitch about everyone who came before. Obviously not the classics but the bands who were in the same position as themselves the year before, the band who released mainstream records in the previous year. In NME this week (pick on me I was reading nme) Lee Newell of Brother (nme flavour of the month) claims

                        "Honestly, we hate everything. Everything's rubbish" 

but surely a massive part of creating something new is building on the foundations of the art created by others. Nothing is truly original, you can only ever borrow from unusual places. Claiming everything is rubbish is ridiculous, a statement which may have been made in jest but still found weaving through several new artist interviews I have found this week.

Everything is rubbish is also found in the comments on anyone's predictions of who will make it big this year. It is rare that the people commenting agree because usually the person who is chosen is just 'hype' or fleeting or just plain rubbish. Does it matter if an artist is fleeting? The prediction is for artists of 2011 and as far as I can see that doesn't mean "who will be the next Rolling Stones?", some bands who are only around for a year can have one good song that becomes the soundtrack to the summer that year, or the song that is constantly played in video's reminiscing the year. These people are the sound of 2011, if they make it to several albums I am sure that would be nice, it would be even nicer if they were the people who were building blocks for the list of 2012. and by the way, I adore hype.

Predictions and Rubbish,

t xx