It’s that time of year when pundits, critics and all the other ‘dits’ and ‘ics’ get on their soap boxes and declare their top pick for the year ahead. Notable amongst the long lists of new and exciting talent, is the BBC’s Sound of … list which last year crowned Haim as their queens of 2013. In a bid to create an alternative, or counter list a number of blogs have come together including ilovepie, and voted for their top picks for the next year. Although baring some similarities to the aforementioned BBC list, the UK Blog Sound of 2014 long list features a few notable differences including Sivu, Wolf Alice and Khushi. The winning act of the UK Blog Sound of 2014 will be announced on January 2.

Banks
Sultry electronic music with a hint of soul from Los Angeles – the only non-UK act on the list.

Embers
Cinematic and vast indie rock from Manchester

George Ezra
Singer songwriter with a bluesy voice

Hella Better Dancer
Dark and fiery indie rock band

Hockeysmith
Genre hopping sister duo from Cornwall

Honeyblood
Raw d-i-y indie rock two piece from Glasgow

Iyes
Edgy sweetly melodic pop duo from Brighton

Khushi
Endearing East London singer who sits somewhere between pop, indie and folk

Lyla Foy
Previously known as Wall, creator of delicate, brooding, intimate pop

Marika Hackman
Singer songwriter with haunting folk references

MT Wolf
Dreamy sounding band that combine electronics, acoustic music and ambient atmospherics with near operatic vocals.

Royal Blood
Brighton duo that play gritty lo-fi rock with attitude

Rhodes
Stripped back acoustic singer songwriter

Sivu
Idiosyncratic singer songwriter

Sophie Jamieson
Calm, atmospheric folk musician

Wolf Alice
Edgy rock band who take references from grunge and indie.

The music blogs that took part in the voting were

17 Seconds, A Pocket Full Of Seeds, All Noise, Alphabet Bands, Beat Surrender, Both Bars On, Brapscallions,Breaking More Waves, Brighton Music Blog, Cat From Japan, Daisy Digital, Details Of My Life, Don’t Watch Me Dancing, Dots and Dashes, Drunken Werewolf, Eaten By Monsters, Echoes and Dust, Electronic Rumours, Faded Glamour, God Is In The TV, Gold Flake Paint, Hearty Vibes, I Love Pie, In Love Not Limbo, Just Music That I Like,Killing Moon, Like 1999, Little Indie Blogs, Love Music : Love Life, Music Broke My Bones, Music Liberation,Music Like Dirt, My Band’s Better Than Your Band, My Day By Day Music, Not Many Experts, Peenko, Pop Dodger, Repeat Button, Scientists Of Sound, Scottish Fiction, Skeletory, Sleep In Music, Some Of It Is True,Sound Influx, Sounds Good To Me, Sounds Of Now Music, Sweeping The Nation, The Blue Walrus, The Devil Has The Best Tuna, The Electricity Club, The Evening’s Empire, The Mad Mackerel, The Metaphorical Boat, The Sound Of Confusion, The Underclassed, The VPME, This Must Be Pop, Thoughts On Music, When The Gramophone Rings