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It was quite a few years ago I first heard Art Brut. I do believe I was not overly impressed with what I heard. For starters the lead singer (Mr Eddie Argos) couldn't even sing in tune... well actually, it wasn't even singing, was it? Talking, i'd call it. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll 1 comment Anyway... Art Brut Vs Satan was released in April this year (2009, in case you had forgotten). It's the third album released by these guys. Produced by Frank Black in the space of twelve days, I believe that Art Brut Vs Satan is at least seven times better than Bang Bang Rock and Roll (the first album released in 2005).

Suburban Noize Records, also known as Subnoize is an independent record label based in Burbank, California, in the United States. Formed in 1995 by Kottonmouth Kings' frontman Brad "Daddy X" and their manager, Kevin Zinger, the label has since expanded to include numerous other artists. The label has been creating a brand based around underground hip hop, marketing and distributing numerous artists including the Kottonmouth Kings, Hed PE, Big B , and the hip hop group X-Clan.

Speaking of solo album, Peter Morén (you know him as Peter from Peter, Bjorn and John) will also be releasing a solo album through Quarterstick Records. Apparently the album was "several years in the making". I suppose, because PB&J exploded last year and they were constantly touring and promoting Writer's Block that it's no wonder his solo album was set on the backburner until now.

Fleet Foxes are a five-piece Seattle-based band signed to Sub Pop and Bella Union. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP, Sun Giant, and their debut full length album Fleet Foxes. Both Sun Giant and their eponymous debut album received much critical praise and reviewers often noted their use of refined lyrics and vocal harmonies. The quintet describes its music as "baroque harmonic pop jams".

Har Mar Mall - I mean Superstar - is back, after five years of absent since 2004's The Handler... Which did extremely well in the UK (check out the free track, "DUI", from The Handler album). Even though he's been gone, he's actually been doing behind the scene sort of thing by writing music for other people: The Cheetah Girls, Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Osbourne, and Ben Adams. When one of his song, "Tall Boy" was rejected by Britney Spears' management, he decided record and release it under his own album.

Look at these guys, awww.... everything appearance-wise about The Grates oozes cuteness and fun (feel free to look at their website for further evidence), but don't be fooled too easily. There's a definite rawness to The Grates, guitar-rich pop songs, complimented by the voice of Miss Patience Hodgson, which can sway from sugary sweet to rock vixen-esque in a matter of seconds within the same song.

What I like about jazz is how multi-dimensional it can be. From Dixieland, Big Band to a small trio playing in a hotel lounge, jazz can stir a swell of emotions from wooing a lover to putting a spring in your step. It can even make you want to kick back after a long day and relax.

Putumayo World Music was established to introduce people to the music of the world's cultures. The label grew out of Putumayo clothing company, founded by Dan Storper in 1975 and sold in 1997. Co-founder Michael Kraus joined Storper to help launch Putumayo World Music in 1993. In the past fifteen years, the label has become known primarily for its upbeat and melodic compilations of great international music characterized by the company's motto: “guaranteed to make you feel good!”

Tori Amos is a pianist and singer-songwriter. She is married to English sound engineer Mark Hawley, with whom she has one child, Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, born on September 5, 2000. Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. She is known for her emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, religion and personal tragedy. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", and "A Sorta Fairytale," her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.[1] As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million records worldwide.[2] Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly idiosyncratic. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, and sexuality.

I've always been fond of this music genre, which started in the early 90s through music and fanzines. The origin of the name seems to have come from Jen Smith (Bratmobile) writing a letter to Allison Wolfe about how the Summer of 1991 was going "to be a girl riot." Soon afterwards, Wolfe, Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail were inspired to create a fanzine called Riot Grrrl.

There's no additions to the original album, the first disc is relatively short, being barely 40 minutes long. The second disc made up for it, with fan-favorites such as "Mykel and Carli", a song about two of their biggest fan (who died while driving to a Weezer concert), "Jamie" (a song about their attorney, originally appearing on DGC Rarities, Vol. 1), and "Susanne".

This is a really good cover by Shonen Knife. If you don't know the song, it's by the Monkees (who didn't write, or play, their own songs). I love the broken Engrish accents, and they are too adorable. Shonen Knife is no stranger to covers, here's some that I can think of: the Batman Theme (??), Top of the World (Carpenters), the Luck of the Irish (John Lennon), Rain (Beatles), and Faith Healers (The Embarrassment).

This is my remix of Mr.Hudsons "supernova" (TO LISTEN CLICK ON THE ICON TO THE RIGHT OF THIS PICTURE) Iv always liked the song, so i thought id Parsharize it, i tried to send it to Mr.Hudson on twitter. Me and my friend Deepak thought we'd spam the shit out of his tweets because so many people reply...

Melanie Valera is Tender Forever, currently based out Olympia, Washington .... and Bordeaux, France? I've only heard a few songs from her debut album, The Soft And The Hardcore (you can download one of the song on krecs.com), so I already knew what to expect with her latest album, Wider (released last December).

Peter Gabriel saw something in Joseph Arthur, because he signed Arthur on his record label, Real World. Although he's no longer on Real World, he's releasing a ton of material on his own record label, Lonely Astronaught. Already this year alone these are the EPs that's already released: Could We Survive (Mar 2008), Crazy Rain (Apr 2008), Vagabond Skies (Jun 2008), and Foreign Girls (July 2008). At the rate he's going, he'll probably have three or four EPs released before his album, Temporary People comes out September 16th, 2008.

DJ duo, Rob & Eric, of Thievery Corporation are doing an amazing job on their latest release of Radio Retaliation from ESL Record. This record came out of nowhere for me, even though I will acknowledge that I did read the press release in early August. They were even in the news for announcing ways to connect to their fans via the iLike application for Facebook. While it's nothing new, regarding social music, it's still worth noting.

Shoegaze is on the rise these days; from bands like The Autumns and Stella Luna sticking to the original shoegaze mechanics (a la Ride's "Vapour Trail"), to veteran rockers trading in their noise for a wall of sound, it's hard to accept that the gazer movement is long gone. Enter Asobi Seksu, whose name translates from Japanese into something like "playful sex," or "casual sex." Their 2006 sophomore album Citrus was pure aural magic. Every bit of this CD screamed nostalgia -- not only nostalgia for the heady heydays of bands like My Morning Jacket, The Church, and Sonic Youth, but nostalgia for things like summer drives with the windows rolled down, and other flower, happy things like that. And that's the magic of Citrus; every obscure, whispered lyric, every sneaky little guitar riff is well played. It's pop brilliance, and a return to a genre that, quite frankly, needed a returning-to.

Rhino Records, in association with Reprise/Sire, released all of Depeche Mode's albums in a deluxe format, similar to all the Cure and R.E.M. re-issues that you may have seen in stores. I've only got Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion on these deluxe package, and both DVDs have a retrospective documentry on the respective albums plus 5.1 and Stereo mix of the album's songs plus extra b-sides and oddities. Extra details for the audio nerds: DTS 5.1 (24bit/96k)/Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (24bit/48k)/PCM Stereo.

Anyroad, between all the songs I've downloaded from her record company, www.hybrism.com (check out this delight tune, God Knows), I've decided "Party" is a good song to describe her style of music. This song appeared on her first ever CD-R EP, "Baby I've Been in a Bad Place". It is also available on her self-titled debut album and Look! It's el Perro del Mar! (a compilation of her first three EPs)

School of Seven Bells (aka SVIIB) got their name from some PBS program about some "mythical South American pick-pocket academy", as mentioned on their their interview/music session on KCRW (incidentally, check out KCRW's vox page). Although Alejandra have admitted to not being able to verify the name, I can tell you that the so-called school is from the Andes Mountains outside Bogota, Colombia. I am assuming that the Andes Mountain shown in the PBS program might have inspired the naming of their debut album, Alpinisms (the term refers to the European mountain range, often called the Alps). Strangely, however, the cover artwork by Bryan Collins, well, it looks like it was pulled from a picture of Yosemite National Park's famous Half Dome.