Egyptian Hip Hop, who finished 8th in our 10 for 2010 poll, have announced a string of 2010 UK tour dates.

The first 20 punters through the doors at each show will receive a strictly limited tour CD containing rare tracks from both bands and fold-out poster of the tour.

Tickets are on sale now for all dates.

Thursday 28th January 2010 – Bristol Start The Bus
Friday 29th January 2010 – Manchester Soundcontrol
Saturday 30th january 2010 – Nottingham Stealth vs Rescued
Thursday 4th February 2010 – London Stag’s Head
Friday 5th February 2010 – Manchester Kraak Gallery
Saturday 6th February 2010 – Leeds A Nation of Shopkeepers
Sunday 7th February 2010 – Glasgow Captains Rest
Friday 19th February 2010 – Sheffield Bungalow & Bears
Saturday 20th February 2010 – Liverpool Evol @ Korova

A couple of weeks back, we asked you to vote for your top 10 artists for 2010. We had almost 600 votes, and we’re now going to countdown the top 10 over the next 10 days, finishing with our number 1 on 10th December at midday. Today, at number 8, are Manchester’s very own Egyptian Hip Hop

It seems that just about every cool band of the moment comes out of Manchester. Today it’s the turn of Egyptian Hip Hop to have the spotlight shone at them, and nope, they’re not hip-hop stars, contrary to what the name implies. Granted, I’ve only heard two tracks – those on their Myspace – but they sound pretty rhythmical and funky, about as far from four white guys pretending to be Jay-Z or LL Cool J as you can get.

Similar in some ways to Kyte, the tracks are full of multi-layered, bleeps and bips but with a strong sense of melody. Think a more chilled out Hot Chip, or The Postal Service if they weren’t so keen on melancholy and had got out a bit more. At just 17 years old, this foursome look likely to be onto good things if this is just their first foray into music. I mean, what were you doing at 17 – Probably not something as productive or successful as these guys.

The Guardian named them a new band of the day back in October, a sure sign of a rising profile from any band. Apart from that, if I’m honest I don’t know that much about Egyptian Hip Hop – take a listen on their MySpace, and watch out for them in mid 2010 as hopefully big things will be coming.

Following on from the amazing lineups of the past two years, the Mencap Little Noise sessions are back again this November to raise more money for the mental disability charity.

The lineup is almost complete, with a string of pretty amazing performances scheduled. Personally, I’m most excited about Editors day, along with the pop-tastic Alexandra Burke, Mika and Newton Faulkner days – all of the shows have great talent and with the promise of special guests, I say you should hop on down to Union Chapel to check out some great music. Head on over to the Little Noise Sessions website for more answers to your questions.

The artists so far announced include:

Monday 16th November
Editors
The Maccabees
Bombay Bicycle Club
Everything Everything

Tuesday 17th November
Alexandra Burke
Alphabeat
Marina and the Diamonds
VV Brown

Wednesday 18th November
Mika
Paloma Faith
Alex Gardner
Daisy Dares You

Thursday 19th November
Richard Hawley
I Blame Coco

Friday 20th November
Lostprophets
The Blackout
Egyptian Hip Hop

Saturday 21st November
Taio Cruz
Tinchy Stryder
Chipmunk

Sunday 22nd November
Florence and the Machine
Golden Silvers
Erik Hassle
Ellie Goulding

Monday 23rd November
David Gray
The Low Anthem
Lisa Mitchell

Tuesday 24th November
Newton Faulkner
Scouting for Girls
Little Comets
Stornoway