In a book about the blog era of music that surely someone will write, there should be a case study on Purity Ring, as they essentially redefined the idea of overnight sensation. On the power of one peculiarly catchy, futuristic pop song introduced on their own tumblr with the line “we are birthed:”, this Montreal duo literally swept the Internet in a single pass. By week’s end “Ungirthed” had an impossibly well-fit fan video, and a nice, big Best New Track stamp from the almighty Pitchfork (written by the Editor-in-Chief, no less). And since they shared members with Canadian DIY legends Gobble Gobble (known now as Born Gold), this was met with an especially collective fireworks amongst the Internet community. Then the phenomenon repeated itself; not once, but twice. By Fall they were touring with Neon Indian and one of the most buzzed names during CMJ. Their LP is being readied for next year, and we’ll see which lucky label gets to put it out.
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Of course she belongs here. As we stated after her NYC debut, “the inexplicable press magnet that is Lana Del Rey pulls you in regardless of where you stand.” Her smash ballad “Video Games”, a perfectly constructed pop song, soundtracked the most fascinating is-she-or-isn’t-she-legit debate we’ve seen since…Vanilla Ice? There’s no denying her star power, and as “Born To Die” continues to climb and silence all naysayers, it’s clear that she’ll reach the top of this industry regardless of where she came from or who thinks what about her.
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Everyone loves an underdog, and Trevor Powers, a fragile 22 year old from Idaho was very much that, capturing our hearts and imaginations with his tragic yet hopeful tales from an insecure adolescence (like a pure “bedroom” antithesis to the manufactured LDR above). His debut LP The Year of Hibernation had that homemade feel, like every guitar chord and drum machine beat was obsessed on for days. The immediate acceptance of its early tracks among blogs resulted in the album bypassing original plans in favor of a release with Fat Possum. And Powers would end up leaving Boise for a life on the road, selling out cities all over the US, with plans to play internationally in 2012.