Re: NBC: New Artists?

Matt R wrote:
Any new or "under the radar" artists out there worth listening to? Have had
my Ipod now for a couple of months and Im running out of ideas. I just
discovered Gavin Degraw. A little more poppy than I usually care for. I
normally lean more towrds the rock side but he sounds like a promising
talent nonetheless. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Lot of people seem to really be digging the Arctic Monkeys, though I
have to say, they don't really do it for me.

If Gavin DeGraw is about where your radar is, I'd say all of the
following are probably under it. Most of these folks have been
discussed around here quite a bit already, but they're all really
wonderful:

~Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
~Arcade Fire
~Sufjan Stevens
~Iron & Wine
~Kanye West

Some names on my list that I need to investigate further (actually, I'm
checking out all their websites as I type this):

~Tapes 'n Tapes. New rock band from Minneapolis. The mp3s on their
website sound really great. They're not serving up anything "new"
(though they certainly seem to be fusing a lot of influences) but the
songs are damn catchy, and the lyrics are entertainingly opaque.
"Insistor" is especially rollicking. Good times. Nice drum work, too.
~Gregor Samsa. Well, they certainly don't rock. This is some very
low-key, slow-moving stuff, but it's strangely beautiful. Especially
"What Can I Manage." Everybody needs a little dirge time sometimes,
right?
~Band of Horses. The Shins + Bonnie 'Prince' Billy? This is good stuff.
They'll be all over Zach Braff's next movie, I'm sure. "I Lost My
Dingle On The Red Line" is a hilarious ballad, but it doesn't seem to
be on their album, alas.
~Loose Fur. This is Jeff Tweedy, Jim O'Rourke and Glenn Kotche's side
project. Only one song on the website (with a wacky manic video that
doesn't seem to really fit...), but it's pretty good. Like a
stripped-down, more straightforwardly rocking Wilco.
~The Rogers Sisters. Eh. This kind of stripped-down dance-punk type
stuff doesn't really do it for me.
~Editors. Well, they've certainly got the 80s experimental pop/rock
aesthetic down. This isn't bad stuff, it might even be good stuff, but
I feel like I've heard it all before.
~Ghostface Killah. Formerly of the muthafuckin' Wu-Tang Clan. This is
kind of kicking my ass. Beautiful beats on the two tracks on the Def
Jam website, and some classic rhymes.
~Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid. Hebden is better known as the electronica
artist Four Tet. Reid started out as a Motown drummer back in the 60s
before moving into experimental jazz. Nothing from their album together
is online right now, but I'm really excited to hear it.
~Panic Division. Hmm. On the one hand, this sounds like a lot of crappy
rock bands I don't like. (Think Staind and their ilk crossed with crap
like My Chemical Romance.) On the other hand, these guys seem to be
doing it a lot better than any of those bands. The music is
surprisingly good for this kind of band, meaning the lyrics are the
deal breaker. And they sound a bit too much like all that other
derivative emo crap. Sorry, guys. I don't care that your girlfriends
left you. There's potential here, though...
~Cibelle. All these other names I had written down because of reviews I
read on either PitchforkMedia or PopMatters, but I've got absolutely no
idea where I heard about this woman. She's a Brazilian singer. Nice
voice, but I don't think I'll be buying this.

That's all I got! My list has been exhausted! Go forth and be down with
the new music!

-Jyqm

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