With the year winding down, we at The Most Radicalist wanted to take this opportunity to look back on the wonderful year of music we’ve just had with a ‘Best Of’ list. We asked our writers to pick out their top emerging artists of the last 12 months and needless to say we were presented with both an exceptional and deliciously eclectic group of artists.

And with this final instalment of our ‘Top 20 of 2018’ list we’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Catch you on the other side! x

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WOOZE



Eccentric art-rock duo Wooze are quickly becoming one of our favourite new bands here at TMR. Having created a bold image from day one through a shared love of South Korean culture and seemingly the colour yellow, this talented twosome are anything but afraid to stand out from the crowd. Proven by their charismatic cameo appearance in Channel 4’s hit series Made In Chelsea, as well as a stonking set at The Great Escape’s buzzy FIRST FIFTY showcase, Wooze are definitely not a case of style over substance. With a hat trick of astonishing singles and an equally impressive set of highly conceptualised music videos sitting firmly under their belts, not forgetting their brilliant video game version of ‘Ladies Who Lunch With Me’, Wooze are living proof that hard work really does pay off. -Holly Mullineaux



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TIMOTHY HELLER



Los Angeles artist Timothy Heller has given us one of those tracks that you want to shout at the top of your lungs – ‘See Ya!’. It’s a defiantly bold slacker-pop anthem that you can play in the background while saying “fuck you” to an ex. Formerly the singer/songwriter of the Seattle indie-pop duo Dresses, Timothy Heller showed early promise as a solo artist with dreamy yet off-kilter number ‘Sleep’, but it was when Heller accused singer Melanie Martinez of sexual assault that she was catapulted into a brighter limelight. Using the anger of that experience, the result was ‘See Ya!’ and it’s an empowering testament to reclaiming your identity following sexual abuse. We hope to hear from self-assured DIY hits from Timothy Heller in the new year. -Hannah Thacker



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SPORTS TEAM



If it’s not plainly clear, this year we’ve been thoroughly enjoying both the tunes and the tomfoolery of rising Harlesden six-piece Sports Team. We caught up with them in February to discuss the Sports Team journey so far; we set them loose on playlist duty with our ‘Listed’ feature; and following the release of their joyous, sharp-witted Winter Nets EP, we even invited them to come down and play our stage at the Alt. Escape in Brighton (catch some of the action here). 2018 also saw the affable North London newcomers furnish us with their ode to everyone’s favourite MTV star ‘Kutcher’, their infectious summer sing-a-long ‘Margate’ and hilariously even saw them consider booking Wembley Stadium for a modest show in 2021. Lewis Duffin of fellow up-and-comers Hotel Lux might’ve put it best, that Sports Team could well be “the last true bastion of the Wind-up Merchant”. With anthems and amusements of this quality, they can crack on as far as we’re concerned. -Karl Jawara



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GRAACE

 

Ending 2017 by co-writing and featuring on the platinum selling ‘Numb’ with Hayden James, GRAACE soon got herself signed to Sony Records  and dropped her debut ‘Kissing Boys’ in 2018. Her emotional storytelling is what attracts audiences to her unique style, and, just accompanied by herself on the piano, her latest release ‘SOS’ did even more of the same (take a look here). Her Self Sabotage EP has recently dropped, and the live bookings are flooding in around her native Sydney - things are looking even brighter for GRAACE in 2019. -Dan Peeke



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Catch you next year for more new music!