Dot To Dot Festival

This is Dot To Dot festival's 6th year and is a must for anyone wanting to see future stars in the making. Previous line ups have housed acts such as Ellie Goulding, Mystery Jets, Beach House, The XX, Laura Marling and many other prestigious and well loved artists who have gone on to great careers. Dot to Dot has received praise from NME - ‘A forest of new stars, old favourites and plenty of mischief at one of the UK’s fastest rising festivals’ which is a pretty accurate description especially in relation to this year's line up with favourites such as Hurts and We Are Scientists joining rising stars such as Trophy Wife, Braids and The Naked and Famous. If you're unsure of who you should see at this year's Dot to Dot festival, look no further.

5 Acts You Can't Afford to Miss at Dot to Dot:

1.  We Are Scientists

You'd be in the minority if you aren't already in love with California indie's finest, We Are Scientists or WAS to those who are lazy. They've been taking part in the NME Awards for the past few years by offering a funnier side to the awards and interviewing members of bands on strange questions, probably due to being drunk. They also have 3 albums worth of material and could potentially surprise with anything but I'm sure old hits 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' and 'The Great Escape' will be among their set for dedicated fans.

2.  Trophy Wife

Oxford based math rockers Trophy Wife have recently come to the music world's attention, supporting Foals and Bombay Bicycle Club on past tours. They're also part of the group of current Oxford bands - Blessing Force which includes Fixers who are also playing at Dot to Dot.  Their debut single 'Microlite', released on Moshi Moshi has got over 80,000 views on Youtube with it's confusing video which could be mistaken for an advert for cereal. Trophy Wife have a great live sound and they put all of their energy into their performance. Especially if you're a fan of Foals or Two Door Cinema Club, you should definitely check out Trophy Wife.

3.  Braids

Braids have previously received attention on music blog The Pigeon Post where I first heard the song 'Lemonade', a 6 minute dreamy track filled with wave like synth loops. Braids released their debut album 'Native Speaker' earlier this year and has since received praise from critics and music fans alike. Having watched videos of Braids performing live, the sound is incredible and they are definitely a band to watch as their popularity is slowly increasing as more people find out about them and NME's Radar section covered them not long ago.

4.  Is Tropical

Is Tropical have been around since early last year and were great at last's year's Underage Easter Special, seeming to have already built up a dedicated fan base with over 15,000 listeners on Last.fm. They could easily be compared to Egyptian Hip Hop who share the same quirkyness and mystery. If you haven't already heard of them, more reason to see them at Dot to Dot, as long as their tendency not to show their faces doesn't put you off.

5.  Cults

Overhyped for their three Bandcamp demos, Cults have already built up an expectation around them. With an album coming out later this month, you can expect to hear previews of the new songs before the album's out. Their sick and sweetly melodies and vocals place them in the ranks with Tennis and Summer Camp. Check out new single 'You Know What I Mean' which was recently released as a single for Record Store Day 2011 before heading off to see them at Dot to Dot! 

For more info/tickets: http://www.dottodotfestival.co.uk/