Señor Coconut

ARTIST / BAND: Señor Coconut

SONG (MP3): Around the world

ALBUM: El Baile Alemán

FILE UNDER: Electro / Latin / Healing & EasyListening

LABEL: Naçional Records

INFO:Señor Coconut, the man of a thousand aliases, has struck again and amazed everyone once more. Following “El Baile Alemán” (dedicated to the German Electro pioneers Kraftwerk), “Fiesta Songs” (a joyful collection of popular songs including “Smooth Operator”, “Beat It”, “Smoke on the Water”) and “Yellow Fever” (a tribute to his Japanese fellow musicians of the Yellow Magic Orchestra) here comes his fourth trick, which the musical knight of the Order of the Coconut has worked on for almost a year in real and virtual studios.

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Late of the Pier

ARTIST / BAND: Late of the Pier

SONG (MP3): Heartbeat

FILE UNDER:Glam / Thrash

LABEL: Zarcorp

INFO: Late of the Pier are an English four-piece band from Castle Donington, currently signed to Parlophone Records. They have released five singles to date. Their album "Fantasy Black Channel" was released on 11th August.

They have garnered a large teenage fanbase from night clubs such as All Ages club, Filthy Few[2], Pat and Trevor, Death Disco, Transparent[3]. They even played the first ever Underage Festival, in August 2007.

Lead singer Samuel Eastgate also has a side-project, La Priest, often written incorrectly as LA Priest. He has numerous productions and has made several remixes, as well as having the song "Engine" being remixed by Erol Alkan and released via Erol’s Phantasy Sound label.

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Chin Chin

ARTIST / BAND: Chin Chin

SONG (MP3): Go There With You

ALBUM: Go There With You EP

FILE UNDER: jazz, funk, disco, contemporary R&B, rock, and electro

LABEL: Definitive Jux

INFO: Chin Chin formed in 2001 by Torbitt and Wilder Schwartz - joined soon after by Atlanta Georgia bred Jeremy Wilms- was originally intended to improvise back-up music for singers and MCs at a monthly party in Brooklyn. Realizing a greater potential the brothers started writing music. With songs in place they began recruiting musicians from the fertile Williamsburg scene.

Combining elements of jazz funk disco contemporary R&B rock and electro with smart lyrics powerful horn arrangements great showmanship and a taste for partying Chin Chin have synthesized the quintessential elements of such dance floor heroes as Brass Construction Ohio Players and Roger Troutman while presenting something decidedly new.

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Elizabeth Willis

ARTIST / BAND: Elizabeth Willis

SONGS (MP3): In Your Eyes / One

ALBUM: Elizabeth Willis

FILE UNDER: Alternative / Pop / Classical

LABEL: little blackbird music

INFO: Driven by her interest in composing pop music works of her own, Willis changed her entire life in order to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter. "I didn't have a life," she explains. "I didn't have a weekend off since I was 5, and I always had an interest in composition. I wrote my first song at 12." Armed with her immense skill and the knowledge she'd gained, Willis set out writing and recording what would eventually become her self-titled debut album. The 11-song disc is a powerfully emotional and musically lush outing filled with, as you might guess, elegant piano and strings underscoring her deeply moving vocals. Willis' songs have been compared to legends like Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman and Antony & the Johnsons for both their emotional depth and musical warmth.

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Mochipet

ARTIST / BAND: Mochipet

SONG (MP3): Banana Split (Fliami Vice Remix)

ALBUM: Microphonepet

FILE UNDER:Club / Emo / Grindcore

LABEL: Daly City

INFO:Beat-bender Mochipet released his wobbly, warped hip-hop album, Microphonepet, back in the spring of this year. Then he went and announced a remix companion to the album, slated for a December 2 release via his own Daly City imprint. Jahcoozi, Darko, and Boreta all hold spots on the tracklisting, as does London's Fliami Vice, who did this track. As was the case on the original cut, Oakland's E Da Boss and Bicasso (of Living Legends fame) show up for guest spots.

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The Dandy Warhols

ARTIST / BAND: The Dandy Warhols

SONG (MP3): Little Drummer Boy

ALBUM: Dandys Rule, OK?

FILE UNDER: Indie Pop

LABEL: Beat The World Records

INFO: The Dandy Warhols currently offering their version of “Little Drummer Boy” on their MySpace and Facebook sites. Longtime Warhols fans may recognize the song from around the time of their first album, Dandys Rule, OK? — but now it’s out for FREE.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

ARTIST / BAND: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

SONG (MP3): Everything With You

ALBUM: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

FILE UNDER: Indie Pop

LABEL: slumberland records

INFO: Imagine if Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine’s Pam Berry and had three four babies that formed a pop band.

Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays sweet & noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums.

Here are some bands The Pains of Being Pure at Heart really like (but maybe don’t sound quite like): The Pastels, The Exploding Hearts, Black Tambourine/Velocity Girl, The Vaselines, The Ramones, Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Rocketship, Dear Nora.

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MIKE BONES

ARTIST / BAND: MIKE BONES

SONG (MP3): What I Have Left

ALBUM: A FOOL FOR EVERYONE

FILE UNDER: Indie Pop

LABEL: THE SOCIAL REGISTRY

INFO: All these songs were written after June 2007, except "Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me" which is quite an old song. I wrote one on the beach in Spain, the rest at my desk in New York City. Other songs were written in that time and in those places. Those aren't on A Fool For Everyone. Most songs exist because of beautiful women and existential despair, but that's no surprise.

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Keak Da Sneak and San Quinn

ARTIST / BAND: Keak Da Sneak and San Quinn

SONG (MP3): Welcome To Scokland

ALBUM: Welcome To Scokland

FILE UNDER:mainstream hip-hop

LABEL: ehustl

INFO:This year represents the official return of the Bay Area as the vibrant epicenter of an ever-changing, multi-layered West Coast sound. In the middle of this re-birth is the Bay Area record label E-HUSTL Entertainment and the release of their latest project, Welcome to Scokland, from Bay Area legends Keak Da Sneak and San Quinn. Possessing the ability to join together the musical and lyrical subtleties of San Francisco (the "Sco") and Oakland, San Quinn and Keak Da Sneak have produced an album that highlights the distinctive sound of the next generation of Bay Area emcees. Welcome to Scokland is available now online and in stores everywhere via E-HUSTL Entertainment.

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Kicksville

ARTIST / BAND: Kicksville

SONG (MP3): Surrende

ALBUM: Buy Me

FILE UNDER: Experimental

LABEL: Ropeadope

INFO:This song has a lot of unique things behind it. One, it's one of the few times where we've consciously started writing a song with a specific goal (most of the time we just start writing, and whatever happens, happens). We deliberately went into this wanting something that sounded happy and silly, but was really about something bleak and miserable. It marks the first visit to Kicksville by Anna Purnell and Dave Park, as well as Andy Ewen, who has since become one of our most prolific Citizens. It's also the only song I play drum kit on, and it's one of the very few songs the Mayor doesn't actually play on at all.

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The Phantom Band

ARTIST / BAND: The Phantom Band

SONG (MP3): Folk Song Oblivion

ALBUM: Checkmate Savage

FILE UNDER: Indie

LABEL: Chemikal Underground

INFO:The debut album by The Phantom Band has finally been completed and it emphatically surpasses every conceivable expectation we may have harboured after signing them. A nine track, nearly one hour long mash up of krautrock, swamp-rock and Beefheart-oddness, Checkmate Savage will be one of our key releases of 2009 and it's out in January. The tracklisting is as follows:

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TEAM GENIUS

ARTIST / BAND: TEAM GENIUS

SONG (MP3): TAKE ME HOME / MEANDERINGS & MUSINGS /WHILE WE'RE ASLEEP

FILE UNDER: Indie / Pop / Other

INFO:Those personalities are quirky, indeed. It was a boring winter when Drew enlisted his brother Chad Hermiller and their friend and drummer Scott Dyer (a 150-pound wonder - sometimes shirtless, sometimes suited) to form the trio that ultimately became Team Genius. The boys later welcomed Chris Hudik on bass and then added a much needed feminine element to the team when Erin Griffith and Emma Firth both joined in 2007. Team Genius released the Hooray EP to critical acclaim in early 2008.

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We Landed On The Moon!

ARTIST / BAND: We Landed On The Moon!

SONG (MP3): Re: Your Letter

ALBUM: These Little Wars

FILE UNDER:Indie / Rock / Pop

INFO:In 2006, they made their first album, We Landed on the Moon! and then, by dumb luck or perhaps because of the tasty astronaut ice cream they gave with each record, radio stations across the country played it. People clapped and cheered and whistled at their Baton Rouge shows (those who could whistle)- enough that they decided to go play shows for far away people in a van that ran out of freon every hundred miles or so.

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Gramercy Arms

ARTIST / BAND: Gramercy Arms

SONG (MP3): Automatic

ALBUM: Gramercy Arms

FILE UNDER: Powerpop / Rock

LABEL: Cheap Lullaby Records

INFO: of Guided By Voices, Luna, Joan as Police Woman, The Dambuilders, Fuzzy and Too Much Joy. Their self-titled debut album features guest performances by Sarah Silverman, Lloyd Cole, Chris Brokaw as well as present and former members of Nada Surf, The Pernice Brothers, Dead Air, Fan Modine, Diesel, Elk City, Space Needle, Reservoir, Mascott, Shudder to Think, Scarce, Eve’s Plum and others. the record was recorded in Winter of 2008, produced by Dave Derby with additional production by Nathan Larson in New York, Thom Monahan in Los Angeles and Tom Rose in the UK. The record was mixed by Thom Monahan and mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering in Ventura, California. Gramercy Arms will be released on Reveal Records this summer

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Faunts

ARTIST / BAND: Faunts

SONG (MP3): Feel.Love.Thinking.Of

ALBUM: Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

FILE UNDER: Indie / Rock / Other

LABEL: Friendly Fire

INFO: Write what you know. It is the most common advice offered to young songwriters, and its probably the best. But in the case of Faunts’ approach to songwriting, such advice would be misguided and reductive at best. This is a group of musicians that write what they can imagine. At once symphonic and sprawling; ambient, yet driving, Faunts’ latest articulation, the full-length Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. (out February 17th, 2009 on Friendly Fire Recordings) is the culmination of a year of touring, recording, and meticulous exploration of this transcendent imagination. With its effervescent guitars, mathematic loops and synthesizers, surging drums, and seemingly nomadic bass lines, Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. is a fluidic expression of Faunts‘ painstaking attention to instrumentation and arrangement which allows the buoyantly defiant mood of the record to transverse any one song in particular. This is a band of perfectionists - every movement agonized over, every melody deconstructed and explored, all of which results in an expansive, layered, textured, and sublime collaboration. Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. perfectly encompasses the band's ambitious, imaginative devotion to sculpting not only a musical moment, but an entire atmosphere which accompanies that moment.

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Metermaids

ARTIST / BAND: Metermaids

SONG (MP3): Feel Alive

ALBUM: Metermaids Nightlife

FILE UNDER: Hip Hop / Alternative

LABEL: 27sound

INFO: Metermaids is two New York emcees, Swell and Sentence, and DJ Space Caboose (aka Tom Kennedy). Backed by the guitar playing, beat making, production prowess of 27 Sound founder Matt Stine, the package is complete. Metermaids came to be in the winter of 2004 as the brainchild of Sean McGaughan (pka Swell). His first album was "New Jersey and California," a gritty mash-up of rock and roll samples, breakbeats, and heartfelt lyrics. Sentence is an emcee/producer living in New York City. Before joining Metermaids, he made a name for himself by performing constantly across the US. Some of the hip hop giants Sentence has performed with include KRS One, Aceyalone, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Lyrics Born, Black Sheep, Beat Junkies, Raekwon of Wu Tang Clan, Jungle Brothers, Blackalicious, Del The Funkee Homosapien, and many more. After a hugely successful debut as a duo at Sin-e, New York's legendary lower east side club, Sentence officially joined Metermaids- and the results have been electric.

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Lex Land

ARTIST / BAND: Lex Land

SONG (MP3): As Much As You Lead

ALBUM: Orange Days On Lemon Street

FILE UNDER: Acoustic / Rock / Folk Rock

LABEL: Intelligent Noise

INFO: Lex began her life in a somewhat nomadic manner, traversing the High Sierra and sparkling coast of Southern California. In her pre-teen years, she resided amongst the beach towns of Orange County where she developed aspirations to one day become a full lyric soprano. Meanwhile, Lex discovered the guitar and started writing songs, incorporating a unique style of finger picking and rhythm. Although her disciplined study of voice and concert music was an excellent catalyst to her innate talent, the rigid confines of classical study was soon to become a hard-edged dream in her past.

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Salme Dahlstrom

ARTIST / BAND: Salme Dahlstrom

SONGS (MP3): Superstar Car Crash / C’mon Y’All / Hello California

ALBUM: The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade

FILE UNDER: Electronica / Powerpop / Rock

LABEL: kontainer music

INFO: Waist deep in potential singles, the album is 100% a one-woman show. Self-written and self-produced, Salme wrote and recorded the entire album in her studio in New York City. A hands-on producer, Salme does all her own programming, editing and mixing. While she invited a couple of friends to perform on a few of the tracks she played most of the instruments herself as well.

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Setting Sun

ARTIST / BAND: Setting Sun

SONG (MP3): They’re Calling

ALBUM: Children of The Remix

FILE UNDER: Experimental / Indie / Pop

LABEL: Young Love Records

INFO: Setting Sun is the name by which Gary Levitt expresses his current musical vision. Levitt has served a lifetime in music. Since putting his hands on a guitar, Levitt has pursued his subsistence by music alone-no easy task. Traveling and living back and forth on both sides of the country, Levitt has gained a musical education.

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Quitzow

ARTIST / BAND: Quitzow

SONG (MP3): What Time Is It?

ALBUM: Animal Nature

FILE UNDER: Experimental / Live Electronics / Pop

LABEL: Young Love Records

INFO:The songs were inspired and influenced by the live performances and is thus an extension of the project. The songs were brought home as skeletons of samples and drum loops, each originally named after the state in which it was created.  Erica added the Quitzow touch, creating a collection of pop tunes and dreamy sounds capes; its dancey digital elements warmed up with an organic analog feel provided by cello, violin, acoustic guitar, live percussion and Moog.

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