"Tunisian techno, Xitsongan rap and Satanic doo-wop"

December 30, 2018 5:43 AM

The Guardian suggests 50 new artists and bands you might want to check out in 2019. All the names there are new to me, so I made a Spotify playlist to help me (and you) investigate them further. I'm only about a dozen tracks into it myself so far, but already I love Saweetie, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and The Manor.
posted by Paul Slade (16 comments total)

Thanks for putting together the Spotify playlist! I look forward to listening through it.
posted by Fig at 6:27 AM on December 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

You had me at Satanic doo-wop.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:31 AM on December 30, 2018 [7 favorites]

Serious kudos to the Guardian for presenting a fantastic diversity of international musicians, where so many lists can feature more white dudes than not. Also, there's a nice backlog of releases mentioned in the article to enjoy. Thanks!
posted by filthy light thief at 7:33 AM on December 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

These Guardian lists do tend to be excellent!

+1 for Chai, Charlotte de Witte and Sugar / Kulor.
posted by dowcrag at 9:09 AM on December 30, 2018

Awesome, thanks for the playlist! The only artist I knew already was Saweetie, and I look forward to listening to the others.
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2018

Even just skimming through and listening to the various Youtube links, there is some good stuff here. I really liked Sho Madjozi. Looking forward to digging in deeper and finding new favorites.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:08 AM on December 30, 2018

Adding playlist to my library this very moment.
posted by hwestiii at 1:29 PM on December 30, 2018

Thanks for this post! Keen to check out the playlist as well.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:32 PM on December 30, 2018

Lots of songs to check out, I am a bit bemused at their inclusion of the Kpop group NCT-127. On one hand, I'm glad Kpop got some recognition on the list, but on the other hand I think there were a couple other groups that seemed a better choice to me. I think a much stronger pick would have been (G)I-dle.

Their debut song "Latata" hit it out of the park. It spawned fan dance covers (aka #KpopInPublic) such as this one one by "I Love Dance" in NY. This wouldn't be unusual or noteworthy, but if (G)I-dle decided to come visit you and shoot a cover of your cover that would be a bit jaw-dropping.

But wait there's more. They followed up their initial debut song with a strong follow-up in "Hann". And as if that's not enough for a debut group, two of the members (Soyeon, vocalist and Miyeon, rapper) also worked with Jaira Burns and Madison Beer in a song that is not only international in scope, but also includes cross-over into a virtual world. Explaining the whole setup of K/DA PopStars would take a whole post on its own, the tldr is 133+ million views in less than 2 months (and still averaging 1 million views a day). Not to mention Miyeon/Akali becoming an internet sensation. Here's the two of them behind the scenes where you can get a glimpse of their personalities.

Whew, I kinda got carried away there, but yeah ... (G)I-dle rocks.

Oh to round things out the other group I thought was stronger than NCT 127 was "Momoland", basically on the strength of "Bboom Bboom"

Your favorite band rocks (and so do a lot of others)!
posted by forforf at 3:19 PM on December 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Just fell down a rabbit hole watching videos from CHAI. Tight.

I love this place.
posted by Otherwise at 7:19 PM on December 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the playlist!
posted by Sangermaine at 8:39 PM on December 30, 2018

OMG Deena Abdelwahed is one of our resident DJs! Beyond excited to see her on this list. And Peach has played at our events in the past. And I really hope we'll book Sho Madjozi in the near future. 2019 is gonna be a good one for dance music.
posted by LMGM at 3:41 AM on December 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

Good job on the playlist.
posted by lovelyzoo at 6:38 AM on December 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Still listening to the Serine Karthage track. Very catchy.
Headed to the booth right now/Gonna get a shoot in, pow/Only gonna fly when I'm loud/Only gonna do what I'm proud of
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:01 AM on January 10, 2019

Another "the year ahead" list: Slingshot: Artists To Watch In 2019 (NPR, January 17, 2019)

Packed with discoveries, our 2019 Artists To Watch list is more than just an unpredictable mix of jazz montages, complex grunge solos and unifying anthems. It's a diverse celebration of artists who've been here all along, but are only now getting to be heard.

10 more artists to watch, with embedded YouTube videos!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:58 PM on January 17, 2019

And another small batch: 5 Highly Anticipated Latinx Music Releases For Early 2019 (NPR World Cafe, January 25, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:33 AM on January 25, 2019