Little distraction/ attraction until the NME Shockwaves Tour and the Camden Crawl, except maybe for HMV's new urban festival, The Next Big Thing, which will launch next February!

Hosted across six major music venues in London (Camden Barfly, Relentless Garage, ULU, Bordeline, Heaven and Jazz Café), HMV Next Big Thing will see some of the most exciting if hyped up-and-coming acts (though the likes of Hadouken! and Mystery Jets seem a bit out-of-place on this bill, really) perform between February 5th and 14th.

There will be cup of tea for everyone, from acoustic-lovers (Joshua Radin, Ian King, The Miserable Rich and Jesca Hoop); to (good and 'white') noise enthusiasts (Cosmo Jarvis, The Soft Pack, Plastiscines); phat loop-diggers (Example, Tinie Tempah); quirky chanteuse aficionados (Cate Le bon, Lissie, Paloma Faith); electro-rock heads (Hadouken!, Two Door Cinema Club) and much more.

If some or most of these names evoke nothing but a question mark, let your gut feeling do the work , and at the price of tenner a gig (no booking fee), it's worth the adventure!

Tickets for the Next Big Thing are on sale Friday 18th December at 9AM.

Solange Moffi