News Mon Aug 18 2008

"The Best of What's Next..."

Paste Magazine just announced that their September issue will feature their "The Best of What's Next - 26 Artists You Can't Miss". They will highlight 26 artist that they feel will make an impact in the year ahead. Paste claims to be among the first US press to spotlight Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, Josh Ritter, Sufjan Stevens, Jamie Cullum, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Damien Rice, Brandi Carlile, and many more. This years list has many names that the music fan will recognize, and even a few names that have been blog favorites for the last couple of years (Los Campesinos!, Islands, Bon Iver, etc). Yet, the most disappointing part of this list is that, with all of the excitement and activity in both Chicago's hip hop and avant-rock music scenes, there is not one Chicago name on the list. No Cool Kids, No Chandeliers, No Icy Demons, No Hollywood Holt, No Ezra Furman, nothing. A complete oversight, I will let you be the judge. However, if there was one name that I would say I was happy to see included it would be Dent May. The small town boy from Mississippi deserves some major attention. Take a look and tell us what you think.

Bon Iver - Eau Claire, WI
Islands - Montreal, Canada
Janelle Monáe - Atlanta, GA
Johnny Flynn - London, England
The Bridges - Oxford, AL
Ben Sollee - Louisville, KY
Jamie Lidell - Berlin, Germany
Wild Sweet Orange - Birmingham, AL
Mugison - Ísafjörõur, Iceland
Right Away, Great Captain! - Atlanta, GA
Katie Herzig - Nashville, TN
Brooke Waggoner - Nashville, TN
The Dodos - San Francisco, CA
The Everybodyfields - Knoxville, TN
Amy Macdonald - Glasgow, Scotland
Los Campesinos! - Cardiff, Wales
Slow Runner - Charleston, SC
Black Kids - Jacksonville, FL
White Rabbits - New York (via St. Louis)
Samantha Crain - Shawnee, OK
Langhorne Slim - Langhorne, PA
Joshua James - Provo, UT (via Lincoln, NE)
Liam Finn - Auckland, New Zealand
Wale - Washington, DC
Alela Diane - Portland, OR (via Nevada City, CA)
Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele - Taylor, MS

— Jason Behrends / Comments (2)