Jem

"They"
from the album Finally Woken
2004
[iTunes]

Chances are, you've heard Jem's music even if you didn't know her name.

Her songs have been prominently featured on Fox's "The O.C." and she portrayed a wedding singer performing "Maybe I'm Amazed" on last season's finale. Her "Come on Closer" was used on promos for "Desperate Housewives", and the song "24" played behind spots for "Without a Trace".

Even before her debut, Finally Woken, Madonna recorded one of Jem's songs for the CD American Life.

Hard to remember, but there was a time when placing music on television was considered unhip. Now it's a key strategy in getting artists exposure and has helped Finally Woken become a modest success.

"I wrote it to be heard," 29-year-old Jemma Griffiths explains over coffee in Times Square. She was promoting her music before going on tour as a support act to Gavin DeGraw.

As a soulful, white singer of electronic-based music from Wales, the shorthand description of Jem is that she's a peppier Dido. She resented the comparison at first.

"It bothered me because I felt like my music was very original," she said. "It's like saying you're not your own thing, that you're walking in the path of someone else."

She's learned to accept that as a necessary evil of describing her music to someone who hasn't heard it.

Jem said she knew with certainty at age 13 that she wanted to be a pop singer. That didn't stop her from going to law school and earning a degree at the urging of her lawyer dad. Now she's better able than most singers to comb through the fine print of contracts.

She's also pretty determined. Jem had a friend write a letter in braille to her hero, Stevie Wonder, and tried to interest Dr. Dre in her music, both times without getting replies. She hung out near Beatles producer George Martin's studio, trying to get some musicians to bring a note in to him.

"I didn't know how else you would get a recording contract," she said. "Nobody is going to come knocking at your door."

In four years of trying to get her career off the ground, Jem said she had only two days -- she remembers them distinctly -- when she doubted herself. But she quickly banished those questions from her head.

"I think I've got a 'never give up' gene," she said.

She displayed it during a recent appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. While jumping around during her performance, her microphone belt flew off. No Ashlee Simpson moment for Jem; she kept going.

"I can't do a jig," she said.

When she finally had some labels express interest in her, after hearing a demo that included a song written with British producer Guy Sigsworth, she was nervous. She settled on singer Dave Matthews' label, ATO Records, which became known for its patient approach with artists such as David Gray.

Her disc was released in the United States nearly a full year before being put out in Britain last month. Her management reasoned that it takes a longer time to make an impact in the larger U.S. market.

Jem was initially disappointed when producers of "The O.C." recruited her to sing "Maybe I'm Amazed" at the TV wedding. She wanted to sing one of her own songs. And -- get this -- she had never heard Paul McCartney's original.

But she grew to love it and it turned out to be a great experience, she said.

She has moved to Los Angeles and developed enough contacts to get some interesting side jobs, like being a disc jockey at a party at the Sundance Film Festival.

She craned her neck but couldn't tell if anyone famous was out there dancing to her beats. Jem usually starts with some early 1990s rave music and throws in a few old songs -- Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" is a favorite -- before moving on to newer things.

It's a pretty easy strategy.

"If you get the girls up, you get the guys up," she said.

You can watch the video for "They" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

Jemma Griffiths

Kathleen Edwards

"Back to Me"
from the album Back to Me
2005
[iTunes]

Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her blend of country, folk and pop music has made her a favorite of music critics, and a rising star on radio in 2003 with her debut album, Failer. Her sophomore release Back to Me again blends country and rock sounds and includes a guest appearance by Benmont Tench (of the Heartbreakers).

This week, "Back to Me" is the free Single of the Week download at the iTunes Music Store.

Kathleen Edwards

Jack Johnson

"Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"
from the album In Between Dreams
2005
[iTunes]

Jack Johnson, a Hawaii-born singer/songwriter, achieved a moderate level of fame in late 2001 with his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales.

The singer had been a professional surfer until an accident forced him to take some time off. He learned to play guitar at age 14, but did not seriously pursue a career in music or film until his college years studying film at UC-Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a degree in film. His music caught the ear of Ben Harper's producer/manager J.P. Plunier. Plunier pushed Johnson to record formal demos, eventually leading to the release of Brushfire Fairytales in 2001.

After touring for almost two years, Johnson released his second album On and On to generally favorable reviews in late 2003. Many of the songs on On and On had previously been released on bootlegs but received full band treatment on the new album.

His third studio album, In Between Dreams, was released on March 1.

You can watch the video for "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

Jack Johnson

Death From Above 1979

"Romantic Rights"
from the album You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
2004
[iTunes]

Download an MP3 of "Romantic Rights" for free from Insound.com [right-click/save-as]

Depending on what day of the week you're asking, Death From Above 1979 either met at a youth concert, in prison or at a club.

"We met on a pirate ship," said singer/drummer Sebastien Grainger with a mischievous grin. "I liked the sword in his hand, and he liked the knife in my mouth."

Take two elicits a slightly less exaggerated tale: "We met on the street in Toronto on a summer day," Grainger said. "[Bassist Jesse Keeler] was wearing nice pants and his hair was combed and for the longest time I didn't think that he would grow facial hair because he was clean-shaven."

Whatever the truth may be, clean-shaven the shaggy twosome are not. And perhaps their fabrications stem from the many misconceptions and preconceived notions about the Canadian noise-rock duo. Put it this way: Everything you assume about DFA '79 is wrong.

Superficially, it's easy to peg the Toronto pair as sleazebag rockers: They sport John Holmes porn-star mustaches, have greasy hair and look like dirtbags you wouldn't want to leave your daughters with. Their musical assault -- a ferocious combination of groin-pumping sleaze and punishing metal aggression -- doesn't do much to alter this impression.

But they're just lovable Canadian boys at heart -- Keeler a former stockbroker, Grainger a children's-theater aficionado. "The thing that weirds people out is when they find out that my life goal is to be a family person," Keeler said. "To have kids and teach them how to play drums and bass and watch them run wild with an eight-track."

The duo didn't set out to rewrite any rules or to position themselves as the balls-out version of the White Stripes. It just happened that way. "We were the only two guys who were home, so we started a band," Grainger said.

"Being unemployed is good for music," Keeler added.

Christening themselves with a paratrooper motto, the guys soon found themselves receiving grief from many different sources — including veterans working at airports. " 'What's your band called?' " Keeler said, imitating a irritable war hero. " 'Death From Above, eh? I used to do that. What do two skinny guys know about jumping out of planes and killing people?' It's like, 'Umm, not enough, sir.' "

But the larger hassle was the legal one.

Originally named simply Death From Above, the band was forced to change its name when lawyers for the dance-rock producers The DFA sent a cease-and-desist letter it couldn't afford to fight.

So Death From Above added the 1979 in disgust and anger. It's still not one of their favorite topics. "I'm not giving press to anybody," Keeler said bitterly. "I refuse to name people's names."

"It's better than Death From Above Metallica," joked Grainger. "But at first we were upset because we spent three years growing into the name, and then we were asked to get rid of it."

Undeterred, the group carried on with Grainger tattooing "1979" onto his arm in a middle-finger show of defiance. "I was born that year, and it's never going to be wrong," he said petulantly.

Sonically, the pair mix metal, punk and cockfight swagger (think Lightning Bolt meets a more feral Queens of the Stone Age). But there's also an element of dancefloor beats to the sound which might seem incongruous, but makes perfect sense to Grainger.

"ZZ Top are the [biggest] dance band -- they're practically the Bee Gees," he said. "[They're] straight-ahead four-on-the-floor dance-rock music."

In fact, bands you'd think they'd love -- say, Motörhead or Black Flag -- they've barely heard, while most of their influences come from unexpected sources. "I love Queensbridge rap and French house music," said Keeler without a trace of irony. "That's where it's at. My goal is to make one track with either Nas or Mobb Deep, and then I can just retire."

Further misconceptions abound from the title of the group's debut, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, which is not, for the record, a degenerate sexual metaphor. In fact, the title is self-deprecating and reveals how their steadfast, almost robotic commitment to make music cost them their relationships.

"Music is our life," Grainger said. "We're always doing it, and we're just like machines that have this one motion. The woman is human and we're inhuman."

Grainger notes that they're more sensitive than you'd imagine. "We had this kind of men's therapy thing going on in the studio," he said. "We would have these primal-scream [sessions] in the woods, talking about [our] feelings."

So how does this explain the almost-phallic album cover, which features the duo with elephant trunks in place of noses? It's the perfect metaphor, apparently.

"We want the band to be like an elephant in your living room," Keeler said. "If there was an elephant here right now, it would totally destroy, and whatever we wanted to talk about would just wait until the elephant had left. And I kind of wanted to be that band."

Being perceived as macho rockers, the band has received flak for befriending one of its biggest fans, Kelly Osbourne. "She's a rad chick, she's fun to hang around and she's just a really sweet person," Grainger said.

Whatever you might think about Death From Above 1979, it's clear the band would rather you didn't feel the least ambivalent about its music. "For better or for worse, I would rather be either really hated or really loved. I don't want anybody to feel halfway about our band." -- Rodrigo Perez, MTV

Death From Above 1979

22-20s

"Shoot Your Gun"
from the album 22-20s
2005
[iTunes]

I hadn't heard of 22-20s until I happened to catch the last half of their performance of "Shoot Your Gun" on Last Call with Carson Daly early last week. Yes, Carson Daly. And I still don't know too much about them, so this will be a relatively short write-up. Their debut album comes out in April and the few critics' reviews that I've see are complimentary. Here are a few comments...

"22-20s take as much from the Rolling Stones as they do from Elmore James ... and for a youthful band as this, their concoction of garage junk blues is bubbling with pleasure."

"22-20s deliver a sonic blast of guitar-drenched blues and thunderous rock n’ roll, all with a focus on songwriting rarely seen from such a young, raw talent."

22-20s

Garbage

"Why Do You Love Me?"
from the album Bleed Like Me
2005
[iTunes]

It's been awhile since we've heard from Garbage, but don't worry, they didn't break up. Or maybe they did.

"It depends on which one of us you ask," bassist/guitarist Steve Marker said during a recent visit from their Madison home base to Los Angeles. "I think we took a break, but some of us think that we broke up, so we haven't even resolved that yet. We should probably talk about that. It got pretty weird between the four of us, and the music wasn't really happening, so we took a break. There were times when it felt like we should break up, I suppose, but it didn't quite happen, obviously."

During those times, the band struggled with agreeing on a direction for the new tunes, but in time Garbage regrouped, agreed on a sound and recorded Bleed Like Me, due April 12.

"It sounds to us now like it was done quicker than our other records, but it did take us almost two years," drummer Butch Vig said. "There's less layering, less electronic things. It's basically just a really loud guitar record."

The album's first single, "Why Do You Love Me?," officially hit airwaves last month, with a Sophie Muller-directed video to follow.

"It's a very melodic ... Phil Spector girl-group sped-up-fast kind of song," Marker said. "It's one of my favorite cuts on the record. It's gonna be a challenge to play live, especially for our drummer. It's very fast."

"It also has one of the most metal riffs we've ever done," added guitarist/bassist Duke Erikson.

On the track, singer Shirley Manson questions her appeal to a lover and then questions his motivations and eventually his loyalty. "I'm not as pretty as those girls in magazines," she sings in the first verse.

"It's a weird, weird song that kind of deals with three different things in my life going on at one time," Manson explained. "I can't actually articulate it very easily without sounding like a turd. ... I always feel like I have this duty to explain the lyrics, and I always feel like such a turd doing it, so I just decided on this record I'm not gonna do it."

At the start of recording Bleed Like Me, Garbage attempted to work with an outside producer for the first time, John King of the Dust Brothers, but the sessions proved unproductive.

"It made us realize that we do what we do in our own bizarre little way, and nobody else can really help us do that," Erikson said. "In that way it was good; it kicked us in the butt and made us go back and kind of reevaluate where we were at and realize that what we do is really important to us, and we are the only ones who are really gonna get it done. It was kind of seductive to think that maybe someone else was gonna come in and solve all of our problems, but in the end you gotta do it yourself."

Garbage did, however, bring in a guest musician for a track called "Bad Boyfriend," which Manson described as a "filthy, lusty rock song."

"I ran into Dave Grohl at a Christmas party, and after drinking a couple of beers with him, a little light bulb popped up, and I was like, 'Dave, you've got to play drums on one of the new Garbage songs,' " recalled Vig, who knew Grohl from producing Nirvana's Nevermind. "He was like, 'OK, dude, just give me a call.' And we did and we didn't hear anything for two months, and all of a sudden we get a call saying, 'Dave can be in the studio tomorrow.' He came in and did three takes on it, and by the third take he nailed it."

Garbage

Kings of Leon

"The Bucket"
from the album Aha Shake Heartbreak
2004/2005
[iTunes]

The Kings of Leon are a Southern rock band comprised of three brothers and a cousin, all from Memphis, Tennessee. Their name is derived from the brothers' father, a Pentecostal evangelist. Thus their musical roots stem from playing in churches and their influences range the musical and social spectrum. They got their start with their debut LP Youth & Young Manhood and rose in exposure by being chosen by the popular rock band The Strokes to tour with them. Standout tracks include the erotic "Molly's Chambers" and soulful "California Waiting."

Their second album Aha Shake Heartbreak was released in the UK in October 2004 to widespread acclaim. The album is beautifully produced with a mix of fast rocking guitar and wonderful bass riffs, with "The Bucket" and "Four Kicks" released as singles thus far. Aha Shake Heartbreak was released on February 22, 2005 in the USA, and the band starts Monday on a two-month stint opening for U2.

You can watch the videos for "Molly's Chambers" and "The Bucket" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

Kings of Leon

Gillian Welch

"Look at Miss Ohio"
from the album Soul Journey
2003
[iTunes]

Gillian Welch [GILL-ee-an] first appeared on the folk scene as a young singer/songwriter armed with a voice and sensibility far beyond her years, earning widespread acclaim for her deft, evocative resurrection of the musical styles most commonly associated with rural Appalachia of the early 20th century. Welch was born in 1967 in Manhattan and grew up in West Los Angeles, where her parents wrote material for the comedy program "The Carol Burnett Show". It was as a child that she became fascinated by bluegrass and early country music, in particular the work of the Stanley Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, and the Carter Family.

In the early '90s, Welch attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she began performing her own material, as well as traditional country and bluegrass songs, as part of a duo with fellow student David Rawlings. After honing their skills in local open mike showcases, the duo began performing regularly throughout the country. While opening for Peter Rowan in Nashville, they were spotted by musician and producer T-Bone Burnett, who helped Welch and Rawlings land a record deal. With Burnett producing, they cut 1996's starkly beautiful Revival, an album split between bare-bones duo performances -- some even recorded in mono to capture a bygone sound -- and more full-bodied cuts featuring legendary session men like guitarist James Burton, upright bassist Roy Huskey Jr., and drummers Buddy Harmon and Jim Keltner.

Her sophomore album, Hell Among the Yearlings, followed in 1998. The years following her second release found Welch involved in several soundtracks (such as O Brother, Where Art Thou?), tribute albums, and guest spots on other artists' albums (including Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker). Following the success of O Brother, Welch and Rawlings found themselves in the center of a traditional American folk revival and released their third album, Time (The Revelator), in mid-2001. Steady touring, guest appearances, and the release of a DVD ("The Revelator Collection") kept the pair busy, but in 2003 they found time to record Soul Journey, their second release on their own Acony Records label. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Gillian Welch

The Walkmen

"The Rat"
from the album Bows + Arrows
2004
[iTunes]

You can download a free MP3 of "The Rat" from TheCrutch.net [right-click/save-as...]

Although lumped in with the New York garage-rock scene, The Walkmen stand out by incorporating a wider range of influences and instrumentation. Plus, they own their own New York recording studio, which puts them about as far from an actual garage as you can get. This is the band's second LP, which follows their acclaimed 2002 debut Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone (which contains "We've Been Had," a song you might recognize from a car commerical from a couple of years back).

The Walkmen, sitting.

Tegan and Sara

"Speak Slow"
from the album So Jealous
2004
[iTunes]

Tegan and Sara Quin are identical twin sisters, born in Calgary, Alberta in 1980. They got their start by winning a local music competition, Calgary's "Garage Warz."

Since then, Tegan and Sara have shared stage with many artists, including Neil Young (they're signed to his Vapor Records), Rufus Wainwright, Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, and The Pretenders; this spring they are on tour with The Killers.

Matt Sharp of Weezer and The Rentals guests on their latest album, So Jealous, their fourth record. "Speak Slow" is the second single to be lifted from the LP, following "Walking With a Ghost."

Tegan and Sara will be guests tomorrow (Wednesday) night on Jimmy Kimmel live on ABC. That show's Live title should be renamed, as it's recorded now.

You can watch the video for "Speak Slow" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

Tegan and Sara

Muse

"Hysteria"
from the album Absolution
2003
[iTunes]

Muse is a British rock band whose sound is often compared to pre-Kid A Radiohead, most notably because Muse singer Matt Bellamy sounds very similar to Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Absolution is Muse's third studio album but the first to make it "big" stateside. It has charted a couple of popular modern-rock songs, including "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria".

You can watch the video for "Hysteria" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

There are two -- the second being much less interesting -- versions of the video.

One version involves a guy in a hotel room trying to remember what happened the night before. He takes his camcorder and watches some tapes. You can see a girl...presumably a prostitute. Probably he has fallen in love with her and can't stand the idea he's not the only one. The song is about wanting something really hard, but you can't have it at all. The guy is in the same situation. He phoned her all the time, but she didn't pick up; he goes crazy and destroys his hotelroom.

Meanwhile, the version on iTunes is just the band playing with some visual effects...kinda boring compared to the above story. Maybe the first was deemed too risqué, even though you don't ever see anything naughty. I don't know.

Muse

The Go Find

"Over the Edge"
from the album Miami
2004
[iTunes]

Belgium's Dieter Sermeus makes thoughtful electronic indie pop under the moniker the Go Find. The sound has been compared to The Postal Service, Styrofoam, and The Notwist.

The melancholy "Over the Edge" is kinda like New Order and speaks mournfully of "the love I stole from your lips." My first exposure to the Go Find was the video for this song.

You can watch the video for "Over the Edge" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

The Mars Volta

"The Widow"
from the album Frances the Mute
2005
[iTunes]

I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Madison in May 2003, and the two opening acts were Queens of the Stone Age and before them The Mars Volta. Man, did the Mars Volta suck. Among all my friends who attended, none of us liked their performance. We couldn't understand a single word that was sung.

Thus, I was surprised a few months later when I read some good reviews for their debut album, which was released in June 2003. So I gave a few tracks a listen and I liked what I heard. I still wasn't sure what many of the lyrics meant, but at least now I could understand what the words themselves were.

They're now back with a second disc, this one quite unique. Five continous tracks totalling around 70 minutes, with a few of these songs having various sub-sections. "The Widow" is the first single and is garnering attention right now on the modern rock charts. For a history on the band, check out their entry at the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

You can watch the video for "The Widow" for free at the iTunes Music Store.

The Mars Volta

Bloc Party

"Banquet"
from the album Silent Alarm
2005
[iTunes]

You can download a free MP3 of "Banquet" from InSound.com [right-click/save-as]

Bloc Party are going to be big. I devoted a couple of posts last month to The Bravery and Kaiser Chiefs, naming them as contenders for a break-out in '05. But they might be the underdogs to Bloc Party, whose debut album Silent Alarm will be released in the USA next week.

"Banquet" will be the first single and another favorite of mine is "Helicopter." They claim they're not a political band, but some parts of the album sure seem like it, especially tracks like "Helicopter" (is it about George W. Bush?), "Like Eating Glass" (is it about religious decay?), and "Price of Gas" (is it about well, uhh, the price of gas?).

Bloc Party

The Thrills

"The Irish Keep Gate-Crashing"
from the album Let's Bottle Bohemia
2004
[iTunes]

Today is St. Patrick's Day, so I figure I need to spend today on an Irish band. U2? Nah. The Thrills. They don't really have the sound you'd expect from Dubliners, though. Instead, think So-Cal.

I saw The Thrills in Madison last April 17....eleven months ago today, as a matter of fact. They're touring this spring with Maroon 5, including a show next month in Milwaukee, but I'm probably not going to that one.

Late in 2004, they released Let's Bottle Bohemia, a follow-up to their debut LP So Much For The City (2003).

The Thrills

Interpol

"Slow Hands"
from the album Antics
2004
[iTunes]

Download a free MP3 of "Slow Hands" from TheCrutch.net [right-click/save-as...]

It's popular to characterize Interpol's sophomore album, Antics, as more optimistic than the brooding, textured songs on its 2002 debut, Turn on the Bright Lights.

Guitarist Daniel Kessler, the lead architect of Interpol's hypnotic rock sound, doesn't buy it.

"Maybe the songs have more of an upbeat feel, but not more than Bright Lights," he says, answering questions in a rapid pace by phone before a recent show in upstate New York. "We never said we were a band within certain boundaries, so the second record was an opportunity to expand where we wanted to go."

The destination yielded a broader sonic palette, which Kessler says is the natural progression for a band that doesn't want to repeat itself.

"The new album is a product of that," he says. "On the first record, there was a production element that is consistent throughout. All the songs are stripped down and bare. It's the same treatments, more like slow, emotional-sounding songs."

If Turn on the Bright Lights was the launching point for the band's success outside its native New York, it also was the beginning of a million comparisons to the atmospheric style already identified with such 1980s bands as Joy Division and the Cure.

Although Interpol fueled the comparisons by touring with the Cure on the Curiosa tour, Kessler, bassist Carlos D., singer Paul Banks and drummer Samuel Fogarino reject convenient reference points.

"For this new record, most people didn't ask us about those references," Kessler says. "To me, that was victory in a sense. We knew that once people had the opportunity to hear more sides of us, they might realize that the first instincts might not have been the correct ones.

Besides, Interpol doesn't analyze its music at the broad level that produces generalizations.

"We don't even think of albums. We think of it song-by-song: writing one song and then saying 'What do you want to do for the next song?' There's a different mood and atmosphere when you're touring because there's not as much focus on our writing.

"When we got back to it, we had the same work ethic. What do we want to do?"

For Antics, the band returned to the same studio (Tarquin Studios in Connecticut) and the same producer, Peter Katis, that worked so well on "Bright Lights. Yet the result was an album that seems to have a more energetic approach on songs such as "Evil," "Take You on a Cruise" and "Slow Hands."

"With this record, we could have worked with several different people, but I think it was more of a comfort thing," Kessler says of returning to familiar faces and places. Still, the process was different after the unexpected success of the first album.

"We had all of our songs finished, except for the lyrics. Paul works on them in the studio and at this point it's a matter of getting things out of our heads on to the tape."

Kessler says that Katis knows the band well enough to communicate better than a newcomer.

"He understood what we were saying, and with other people, you don't know," Kessler says. "There's a risk you may not have the same chemistry or speak the same language."

Still, Kessler calls recording sessions "a nerve-racking process," where a producer ultimately bows to the will of a performer.

"Some people think of the producer as someone who is the captain, but we don't need a captain," he says. "A captain would just be frustrated because we'd always be contradicting him."

Kessler also looks for chemistry when it comes to absorbing influences. Rather than imitating the technical prowess of assorted rock guitarists, he finds more inspiration in emotionally charged music in other genres.

Recently, he has been obsessed by the mystic qualities of "Ole," by jazz icon John Coltrane. He also has been listening to "World of Echo," a 1986 obscurity by Arthur Russell, a product of Manhattan's 1970s downtown performance scene known for collaborations with Allen Ginsberg and Philip Glass.

"It's a really weird sort of experimental record, quite emotional with a pretty strong sense of melody. He died in 1992, and no one really listened to this."

Kessler doesn't make direct connections from such diversions but finds that they influence his playing in less obvious ways.

"My mind doesn't work that way at all," he says of imitating things. "It's just whatever happens that sort of piques my interest.

"I like things with a bit of emotion behind them. It doesn't really matter if it's electronic music. Like with 'Ole,' there's a strong sense of emotion in that, but it's night and day from what we do. I just like things that have something compelling."

In concert, Interpol accents its compelling music with an evolving light show that heightens the sounds. It was an element that was conspicuously absent from the band's afternoon amphitheater sets on Curiosa, but it's an important part of the current tour.

"There's a lot more lighting and it's very important to us," Kessler says. "It just makes a lot of sense, and it feels really good even when you're on stage playing the songs. You can feel it when the lights turn at certain peak moments of the song and it gets you more into the moment. The lights and the music work together." ~ Jim Abbott, The Orlando Sentinel

Interpol

Aqueduct

"Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights"
from the album I Sold Gold
2005
[iTunes]

Originally from Oklahoma, Aqueduct is the musical brainchild of David Terry; this debut LP recording consists merely of him and the instruments/computers in his bedroom. The live band has received high praise and shared the stage with several influential artists, including fellow Oklahomans the Flaming Lips as well as Modest Mouse, The Shins, and members of Death Cab for Cutie.

"Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights" satirically depicts the secretive stance of a tough-guy. After a steady keys intro and some heavy drums, Terry sings, "Don't ever ask me where I go / Last man who asked me had to go," and later threatens to "pull this heat [he's] packing." The music of Aqueduct has been described as smart, wry, bedroom pop, built from an arsenal of keyboards, pianos, drum machines and a great sense of humor.

Oh, and Conan had them on his show last month.

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

"Another Morning Stoner"
from the album Source Tags & Codes
2002
[iTunes]

I've had computer issues today -- continue to, actually -- so this one is getting posted pretty late and it'll be pretty short.

Source Tags & Codes was the major-label debut of this lengthy-named indie band from Austin, Texas. I first saw ...Trail of Dead on Late Night with Conan O'Brien a few years ago. I think I've mentioned Conan once or twice already in this blog. His show has always seem to do well with its musical guest bookings.

They have since released a second album, this year's Worlds Apart.



In other news, today's entry marks the one-month anniversary of the first post on this blog. And they said it wouldn't last. I would like to thank you, my half-a-dozen visitors, for continuing to stop by and I hope you've at least heard a new noise or two to your liking.

...Trail of Dead

Arcade Fire

"Rebellion (Lies)"
from the album Funeral
2004
[iTunes]

Download a free MP3 of "Rebellion (Lies)" from Merge Records (right-click/save-as...)

Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and William Butler formed the Arcade Fire in summer 2003. The experimental indie rock quintet, who hail from Montreal, initially began when the elder Butler spotted Chassagne singing jazz standards at a local art exhibit at Concordia University in their hometown. From there, two became inseparable, both professionally and personally.

In 2003 the band signed with Merge Records and prepped for their first studio album after releasing an EP. During its recording, the Arcade Fire dealt with several tragedies, with a grandfather, a grandmother, and an aunt each passing away within a few months of each other. It was not all heartache for the band, though, as Win and Regine married in early 2004.

The highly-anticipated debut album Funeral arrived in September 2004 to high acclaim.

The Arcade Fire

Tara Jane O'Neil

"The Poisoned Mine"
from the album You Sound, Reflect
2004
[iTunes]

Download a free MP3 of "The Poisoned Mine" from the Touch & Go/Quarterstick Records website [right-click/save-as...]

Louisville-based indie rock stalwart Tara Jane O'Neil first surfaced in 1991 as a member of the short-lived but much-acclaimed Rodan. Concurrent stints in Retsin and The Sonora Pine followed before she made her solo debut in early 2000 with Peregrine. You might recall her name mentioned here on Wednesday.

The Von Bondies

"C'mon C'mon"
from the album Pawne Shoppe Heart
2004
[iTunes]

Download a free MP3 of "C'mon C'mon" from TheCrutch.net [right-click/save-as...]

You may recognize this song from a couple recent television commercials. The first was some car commercial...I forget what. Chevrolet something, maybe. The latest is an Apple/Pepsi commercial that premiered during the Super Bowl. For a few seconds, there's a group of guys in a garage lip-syncing to "C'mon C'mon."

The Von Bondies are four-piece garage rock band from Detroit. Besides this "hit" song, their biggest claim-to-fame to date is probably a fight their lead singer Jason Stollsteimer had with The White Stripes' Jack White, after which White was charged with aggravated assault.

Check out the Smoking Gun to learn more.

The Faint

"I Disappear"
from the album Wet From Birth
2004
[iTunes]

Download a free MP3 of "I Disappear" at Amazon.com.

The Faint hail from Omaha, Nebraska and have gone through countless changes in their relatively short career. Today is well-muscled, heavily mascara'd dance music, but the band's early years in the mid-90s were a mix of lo-fi pop and easy listening. Or so I've read.

Along with a prepubescent Bright Eyes and a recently-formed Cursive, the band was one of the seeds that spawned the explosive Omaha scene as well as a flagship act for the highly regarded Saddle Creek Records.

Saturday Looks Good to Me

"Meet Me By The Water"
from the album All Your Summer Songs
2003
[iTunes]

Download an MP3 of "Meet Me By The Water" from Polyvinyl Records (right-click/save-as...)

Saturday Looks Good to Me is a Detroit pop outlet led by songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas, once or present member of a number of indie bands. SLGTM's songs bring to mind the lo-fi yet jam-packed production styles of yesteryear such as Phil Specter, Brian Wilson, and Sixties girl groups. The music is brand new and eerily familiar at the same time.

A huge cast of friends and musicians lent their talents to the making of this album -- 11 singers and 17 instrumentalists -- including guests like Ted Leo (previously featured on this blog) and Tara Jane O'Neil (will be soon).

Saturday Looks Good to Me Six of them, anyway

The Kills

"The Good Ones"
from the album No Wow
2005
[iTunes]

Not to be confused with The Killers, the bluesy punk duo The Kills consists of vocalist/guitarist VV (aka Alison Mosshart) and drummer/guitarist/vocalist Hotel (aka Jamie Hince). After her Florida punk band Discount ended in 2000, VV began exchanging tapes with the London-based Hotel through the mail, but both of them felt hindered by this method, so VV crossed the Atlantic so the duo could write faster.

In spring of 2001, they issued a self-released demo that showcased their gritty, sexy sound and earned favorable reviews. A debut EP arrived in summer 2002 as The Kills toured Europe and for eight weeks in the U.S. before returning to London to finish their first full-length album, 2003's Keep on Your Mean Side.

Their second album, No Wow, arrives today and is an even dirtier, leaner collection of songs. The first single is "The Good Ones." Click on the album cover above to watch the video at the band's site.

The Kills

Howie Day

"Ghost"
from the album Australia
2000 (2002)
[iTunes]

Howie Day is a singer-songwriter born in 1981 in Bangor, Maine. I saw him in May 2002 in Madison, and I would definitely recommend catching a live show because nothing compares to Howie in concert.

He used special effects pedals and looped sections of guitar play and singing, repeating them. So, by the end of each song there seemed to be a choir of acoustic guitars, and it was probably one of the coolest things I've seen on stage in my not many years.

Recently, though, he's been touring with a band which gives his shows a different feel. Nothing compares to Howie's solo efforts, but he does pretty well with a band too, as demonstrated with his second record, 2003's Stop All The World Now.

Australia was originally released independently in 2000, before Howie signed on with Sony Records (who re-released it in 2002). Considering this was recorded when he was only in his late teens, it will definitely be fun to hear how his talents progress as he ages.

Howie Day

LCD Soundsystem

"Tribulations"
from the album LCD Soundsystem
2005
[iTunes]

LCD Soundsystem is fronted by James Murphy and play danceable punk funk. Murphy is one-half of the popular indie rock producer duo DFA, and this album is his full-length debut as an artist.

James Murphy

Badly Drawn Boy

"Once Around the Block"
from the album The Hour of Bewilderbeast
2000
[iTunes]

Free MP3 from Epitonic.com ----> Right-click/Save-as...

"Once Around the Block," with its jazzy percussion and scatted chorus, is bound to stick in your head for days. The track is on the debut full-lengthy of Damon Gough (who records under the name Badly Drawn Boy), a disc that earned Britain's Mercury Prize for Best Album in 2000.

He also composed the soundtrack to the movie "About A Boy". His third album, Have You Fed The Fish?, was released in 2002, and a fourth album One Plus One Is One was released in 2004.

Badly Drawn Boy (AKA Damon Gough)