The public has spoken and we are finally able to offer our congratulations and adulations to the winner of the amazingtunes.com Sound08 competition, Spokes! As I’ve made mention to in the past the standard of the final 20 was superb and should offer all the finalists a great sense of pride to have stood amongst such talented competition, and I look forward to seeing all of them progress within an industry that they are quite clearly helping to make the future of. The competition itself has been a warming experience for all involved, with a great amount of interest from papers, websites and magazines and some wonderful pieces of promotion from the bands themselves – with bed-sheets hanging out windows and off bridges being a seemingly popular tactic. Special mentions must go to The Rebel Ching who went to the lengths of placing an ad in the NME and The Secret History who, in return for a free gig, got a sixth form college backing them. And on top of this was the voting turn-out itself, which was superb. All great stuff if you ask me.
You can check out the winning tune here and there’s an interview with the band, as well as some funky pictures, here
The Last Republic came in a close second with a commendable effort that I would liken to the rock-pop of Muse or Keane.
Spokes aren’t the only musical group to find success this week. Universal execs have been on the search for an album of Gregorian chanting, attributed to the popularity of the computer game Halo, which used this form of chanting for atmos. Cue the boys of the Monastery of Sound, the Austrian monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, who have blown away the competition and, after missing last year’s opportunity to record an album due to a visit from the pope, now get the chance to wreck hotel rooms and sink cars in swimming pools all across the world. Rock ‘n’ Roll…