![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Entertainment: Music | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
Tuesday, 4 December, 2001, 16:37 GMT
Strokes hit critics' top spots
![]() The Strokes have had two UK top 20 singles
An American guitar band who were unknown a year ago have impressed music critics so much that their debut album has been named album of the year in two separate polls.
The Strokes have topped end-of-year lists in alternative music magazine NME and internet retailer Amazon.co.uk, which showed a resurgence in gritty US rock.
Two other US artists who have burst onto the scene even more quickly than The Strokes - The White Stripes and Andrew WK - create a similar raw, retro sound and also figure highly.
The Strokes have since become one of the music scene's hottest properties since their first single only reached number 78 in January. From New York, their look and sound is reminiscent of the city's late-1970s punk heyday.
This ringing endorsement from music journalists appears to allay fears that they would fall out of favour once the hype had subsided. "The Strokes have got brilliant tunes, they've got a good attitude, they look really good and they've put themselves together as a package really well," NME associate editor Alex Needham told BBC News Online.
"Their musical influences haven't been mined for a while and they put them together in quite an exciting way, and that makes them sound quite a lot fresher and different." The White Stripes were similarly unheard of at the start of the year, but their Detroit blues-rock has also been embraced by those who had grown tired of more reserved UK guitar bands who emerged last year.
The NME and Amazon lists were compiled through a poll of their journalists. But whether the fans agree or not is a different matter - Amazon has also compiled a people's choice list, based on sales, in which Dido comes out top and The Strokes are at number 16. And NME is currently giving its readers the chance to vote for their favourite album of the year for the NME Awards, which will be handed out early next year. |
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Music stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Music stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Music stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |