QTheMusic.com

Europe's annual new talent showcase Eurosonic is currently in full swing in Groningen in the Netherland (9-12 January). The event allows acts from across the continent to play in front of bookers, festival promoters and more with a hope of earning slots and tours later in the year. Each year Eurosonic highlights one country's music scene, and this year a host of bands from Finland are leading away among Europe's hottest prospects. Finnish journalist Arttu Tolonen from blog Nourgam has picked out for Q the cream of the crop. You can listen to music from all of them via the playlist above

Acid Symphony Orchestra
"Paradigm busters: ten Roland TB-303 operators are conducted by producer Jori Hulkkonen and accompanied by a TR-707 drum machine. When the monophonic synths burble together, minimalist elements create something epic. Acid house pioneers wove a spell with just one 303 each; ASO is a weapon of mass hypnosis."

Satellite Stories
"Describing their music as "party-indie", Satellite Stories aren't all fun and games. These Stories have a melancholy edge. It's music for the night time city streets... lights reflected in puddles... an airplane winging it to some distant location... those last warm days of summer when you can't bear to be inside... heady stuff."

Eva & Manu
"The pair met at Berklee School of Music in Boston, decamped to France and answered the call of the road. They set up the Travel In Music video blog to document their tour around Europe and the remarkably mature jazzy folk songs they wrote ended up on their debut album on Warner Music."

French Films
"Are easily one of the most successful indie bands in Finnish history and they've established a Europe-wide reputation as a ferocious live act."

Huoratron
"Producer Aku Raski creates scary dance music capable of creating a collective ecstasy live. Scary, saturnine, violent without being arrogant... It's as intense a live experience as you're likely to have this year."

Lau Nau
"Laura Naukkarinen, her full name, creates delicate music that pulls off a balancing act between folk and avant-garde. It's dusty attics, rainy fishing villages and fir forests. It's not tied to the 21st or any other century. Finding points of comparison is nigh impossible."

LCMDF
"Having emerged in 2006 with a host of likemninded bands, LCMDF dodged the musical slagheap thanks to a strong vitality and capacity for renewal. Plus they have superb live chops and infectious pop songs, they've managed to go from strength to strength."

Pertti Kurikan nimipäivät
"A punk band consisting of four mentally handicapped musicians who met each other at a cultural workshop. The band invests its music with criticism, hate and hope. They come at it from their own starting point and perspective, but the issues are familiar to all of us, regardless of how many chromosomes we have."

Phantom
"What a back story: Two music lovers meet, start writing together and garner international attention, even though they've written a mere four songs. The duo's melancholy synth sound and excellent songs have proven irresistible."

Rubik
"Known for their ambitious music and passionate live performances, they were severely overhyped early on in their career, but managed to grow into a something truly beautiful and world-class strictly on its own terms. Rubik were the first Finnish band to play at Spain's prestigious Primavera festival. You will laugh and cry."

Sin Cos Tan
"ASO's Jori Hulkkonen again, but joined by Juho Paalasmaa, this pop duo harken back to the glory days of romantic, goth-flavored 1980s synth pop, without resorting to mere pastiche. The songs kill."

Disco Ensemble
"This band are all about the energy. They're a classic rock band in that the best environment to really understand them is when they're playing live. As a band they are in the most fascinating place a band can be; undergoing the process of maturing and growing from its punk roots into a stadium stradling stance. It's a rare and precious sight and sound to behold."

Fore more on this year's Eurosonic head to Eurosonic-noorderslag.nl.

2:17 PM | 10/01/2013