Checking in on our Good Bets for 2013

We’re two thirds of the way done 2013. Last fall, we made some predictions about which artists we thought would be good bets for breakout artists in 2013. Hopefully you found time to place some big bets, as we didn’t do too poorly with our predictions. Let’s quickly review.

1. Kendrick Lamar – he just threw down what people are calling the greatest rap verse of the year. He was also noted as being the busiest artist in festival season. I think this was a good bet.

2. XV – After a whack of mixtapes and releases in 2012, he did…nothing in 2013 that we can see. We bet when XV had momentum, but he’s letting things ride out in 2013. A bad bet for 2013, but keep an eye out in upcoming years.

3. Clockwork – Clockwork released the Surge EP in February 2013. Despite decent reviews, the songs never hit the mainstream in the way we were betting.

4. Jake Bugg – His self-titled album was critically acclaimed. His album debuted at number 1 in the UK (granted it was released in the UK before we wrote the article). However, it hit number 75 in the Billboard charts, and let to many festival slots across North America and Europe. Another solid bet.

5. Kodaline – The Irish band nearly pipped Kanye West to a number one album spot in the UK. They ended up settling for number 3 in the UK, but landed at number 1 in Ireland. The band also landed a prestigious spot on the BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll. I hope you backed these lads, too.

6. Swim Deep – The Birmingham group just released their debut album, Where The Heaven Are We, in August. After riding along in the top 10 midweek during their first week of sales, the band ultimately landed the 20th position in the weekly album charts in the UK. The album landed a 4 star review in Q, amongst other generally good reviews. Not a bad bet.

7. Strange Talk – The Aussie synthpop band wowed us with a few tracks, landing a spot on our prediction list. Their debut album came out in February, and slotted it at number 56 on the Australian Album Charts. Billboard notes that the band are readying a North American release, and might make some waves once the album is released. They hardly lit the world on fire – yet, so don’t count this as our best prediction ever.

8. Azealia Banks – In terms of getting press, she’s been a lock. In terms of actually releasing an album and not offending various minorities, she’s been a disaster. Her album has yet to be released, but it’s due out this fall – apparently. Don’t cash out just yet.

9. China Rats – After getting noticed at Benicassim last year, and after a few solid singles, we expected big things. The band released a few more solid singles, played SXSW, and play the big Leeds and Reading festivals at the end of August. With a new EP out at the end of September, we recommend not to fold your cards just yet.

10. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – TEED has been quiet on the release front this year. A few solid remixes of Disclosure and Foals, some production work with talented (and good bet for 2014) artist Banks, and that’s about it. A small return on your investment, but hardly a breakout artist of 2013.

So those were our 10 picks and our analysis. Were we too kind on ourselves, or are we just decent gamblers? Tweet us your thoughts @PeteHatesMusic.