LONDON
London's music scene is omnivorous. Some of the acts we associate with the capital were born there (the Kinks, three-quarters of the Clash), but many more arrived there as students (Blur, Coldplay), ambitious northerners (Bryan Ferry, Pet Shop Boys) or suburbanites (the Jam, Suede). Blessed equally with grit and glamour, it is the perfect arena for reinvention: few of Britpop's leading lights were born in or around Camden, for example, but that was where the often incestuous scene congregated. In addition to London's unrivalled network of venues and labels, there is a more formal star-making infrastructure. Two artists on this year's Mercury Music Prize shortlist, James Blake and Katy B, went to Goldsmiths College, while Katy B also attended the Brit School in Croydon, alma mater of Adele, Jessie J, the Kooks and the late Amy Winehouse. And the multicultural population has provided fertile ground for numerous genres, most recently grime, dubstep and UK hip-hop, with such stars as Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah. You're spoilt for choice when it comes to venues, from the tiniest bar to the elephantine O2. In Camden practically every up-and-coming band passes through the Barfly at some point, while the revamped Roundhouse hosts many memorable shows. XOYO and the Shacklewell Arms are two exciting additions, and the club FWD>> remains the home of dubstep.
SHEFFIELD
In the 70s and 80s, Sheffield was famous for both its steel industry and a proud tradition of left-wing politics, which earned it the nickname the People's Republic of South Yorkshire. So it makes sense that big machines and big ideas underpinned the pioneering synth-pop of the Human League, Heaven 17 and Cabaret Voltaire, and the cutting-edge techno of the Warp label, while Def Leppard took the Steel City's connection with heavy metal literally. A parallel pop lineage thrives on wry observations, a certain romance and a keen sense of place. Just look at the recently united Pulp, whose 1992 B-side Sheffield: Sex City generated improbably erotic heat from the names of neighbourhoods like Hackenthorpe and Pitsmoor. Or singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, who has named each of his albums after locations in the city: Coles Corner, Lady's Bridge, Truelove's Gutter. Or the Arctic Monkeys, whose multi-platinum debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not turned a sardonic but sympathetic eye on a typical Sheffield night out, from the bars to the taxi ranks. In the spirit of solidarity, Hawley, the Human League, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and the Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner all chipped in on an album by local crooner Tony Christie called Made in Sheffield. See new bands at the Boardwalk and the Harley Hotel, and more established ones at the Leadmill, which opened in 1980 when synth-pop was king.
