NME Radar Tour 2010

The NME Radar tour, each year we have a renewed sense of optimism with regard to new music and this has been displayed through many ceremonies celebrated in the early months of this year (Phillip Hall Radar, Sound of 2010 and if it counts the Brits/labels critics choice), so on the back of this comes tours hence this blog looking at the upcoming NME Radar Tour that was announced this week.

The bands in question are HURTS, Everything Everything and Darwin Deez. A slice of renaissance Manchester mixed in with some New York hippy chic. I must say I feel this selection of bands merits a unusual hats off to the NME, a tour that given its name REALLY salutes new music.

First up we have HURTS formed by Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson late last year, looking at them they look more at home on the front cover of Harpers Bizzare or a French romantic 60's film directed by a very young Anton Corbjin, but the look they have crafted shouldnt put you off the music. As previously mentioned in the Sound of blog think Pet Shop Boys meets Joy Division especially with Arthur Bakers great remix of their first single 'Wonderful Life' and the original song itself adding further claims to this comparison. Having only played their first ever gig a couple of weeks back in London it will be interesting to see what Mr Hutchcraft and Mr Anderson show us on this very opportunistic tour but judging by the moody electro pop sounds, the cheap (their first video only cost £20) yet moving music videos (helps having an Edie Sedgewick character dancing around) and the styled out italian look, this is a group that could be a big influence in the year 2010.

Next up on the Manchester scene is Everything Everything, another pick in the BBC's sound of 2010 (wonder if that'll become more viable IF 6 Music goes and were left with Fearne Cotton pluggin these bands, makes me shiverrrrr), having released limited edition single My Keys Your Boyfriend, I can't help the feeling this band although producing some catchy hook ridden songs are not the right choice to pick up the indie scene where at the moment its as stale as the job market here in the UK. It will be interesting to see them live and with a New Orderesque sound maybe I could get caught hopping, but I'm guessing that I wont be.

When Creaky Boards got on Chris Martin and co's back regarding a song they did which quite honestly resembled Viva La Vida, who would have thought that a part-time member of the band would go on to have medium of early success but thats exactly what your looking at with Darwin Deez. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York I actually dont know if thats the band name or his name but I do know that he waits tables in restaurants while working with the aforementioned band. Catchy first single Constellations was probably the first song of this year which caught my interest, lo-fi guitar/keyboard sounds, Casablancas vocals and an all round happy tune which although has the first line "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are", carries on to have a broad sense of literature. I can probably confirm this band like all bands on the tour will not a mass a grand following but especially with Deez I can sense a more cult following, he is after all got the strangest hair I've ever seen and if you look at his clique you feel they look they raided C&A before its demise and just got their clothes in a particular fashionable mess. This band along with HURTS are the 2 out of the 3 I'm most looking forward to seeing, I feel maybe Mr Deez should give Gordon Raphael a ring have a notepad and pen ready and start taking tips.

The tour kicks off in Glasgow on April 26th and calls at :-

Preston 53 Degrees (27th)

Manchester Academy (28th)

Stoke Sugarmill (30th)

Middlesbrough Uni (May 2nd)

Oxford Academy 2 (4th)

Bristol Thelka (5th)

Wrexham Central Station (6th)

York Duchess (8th)

Portsmouth Wedgewood (9th)

London KOKO (10th)

Norwich Waterfront (11th)

Northampton Roadmender (12th)