Photo by Claus Peuckert
The Band: Oh No Ono
The Buzz: Here’s something suitably wintry: Danish band Oh No Ono make music that sounds like falling snow and bright white lights against a blackened sky — soft and twinkling and delicate. And fear not, the name is not a dis — the group actually met Yoko at a festival in the UK and they got on famously. Eggs, the group’s second full length, will be released stateside early in the new year.
Listen If: You tend toward the arty and atmospheric, but still like your songs to be grounded in a solid melody.
Key Track: Though Oh No Ono does occasionally kick up a herky-jerky new wave ruckus, we suggest starting with the hushed, lovely “Swim,” which is 300 percent winter madrigal — the sound of stirred cider and cinnamon.
The Band: Sharon Van Etten
The Buzz: Masterful Brooklyn singer/songwriter knows the value of a good mystery. Her songs are shadowy and beguiling, powered by her intoxicating, husky voice and brittle acoustic strum.
Listen If: You’re glad Cat Power sobered up, but miss the shadows that fell across her earlier songs.
Key Track: Any of them, really, but start with the delightfully maudlin “For You,” where Van Etten’s gorgeous, ghostly wail rises and hovers like a ghost in the Appalachains at midnight.
The Band: Letting Up Despite Great Fault
The Buzz: Lovely LA band gets right the balance between tight strumming and swooping electronics, turning out light, charming songs that are long on both melody and heartache.
Listen If: You’re sick and tired of waiting for that second Postal Service record.
Key Track: The gently surging “In Steps,” which makes an astonishing case for restraint, employing murmured vocals, tiny apostrophes of guitar and lightly lapping synths.
Photo: Shearer/WireImage
Lady Gaga vs. David Bowie, “Let’s Just Dance” [Mashup]
DJ Terry Urban treats mashups like Cage treats composition, dropping just a micro-fragment of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” behind Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” — to startling effect. This also marks the first occasion for either artist where subtlety has served as an asset.
Kids in the Hall vs. Grizzly Bear, “Leisure Man” [New Track/Mashup]
Well, Grizzly Bear’s entré into hip-hop is officially complete; first Jay-Z shows up at a Brooklyn show, now Kidz in the Hall are rapping over “Two Weeks.” Be honest: did anyone see this coming? And if you did, is there any way we can solicit your insight on, say, the next 15 World Series?
Raekwon, “About Me” & “Cataline” [Live]
This is the thanks Rae gets, for putting out a record anticipated for a decade that actually lives up to the hype? He gets more-or-less ignored, relegated to live performances on an extreme sports network?
Rihanna, Full London Concert [Live Video]
The future is here, folks. You don’t even have to leave your desk now to enjoy a full Rihanna concert. And who do we have to thank for this wonderful Friday gift? You guessed it: the Russians, who appear to be hosting this video on a Russian version of YouTube called — wait for it! — RuTube.
Passion Pit, “Little Secrets” [Jack Beats Remix]
Jack Beats takes a scalpel to Passion Pit’s trump card, turning it into the kind of ADD-dance number that inspires full-body dance-floor freak-outs.
The Band: Tempo No Tempo
The Buzz: A nervy, worked-up band from San Francisco, Tempo No Tempo have been kicking around for nearly four years now, getting steadily better while remaining stubbornly under the radar. Their latest EP should change all that: blending hurtling dance rhythms with jabbing, elbowing post-punk guitars, the group takes a literal approach to the notion of “panic at the disco.”
Listen If: Dancing stresses you out a little, and you want your music to reflect that anxiety.
Key Track: The terrifically severe “Kilometer,” where the clanging guitars feel like a starting bell, setting the song’s tense quiver in motion. Vocalist Tyler McCauley coos, “I could never wait for you,” and it’s true — no sooner does are the words out of his mouth than he vanishes, leaving us dead in the middle of a guitar solo that whips around as wildly as a cut power line.
The Band: Dragonette
The Buzz: Dragonette began as a duo called the Fuzz, consisting of guitarist Dan Kurtz and vocalist Martina Sorbara. Fortunately, that name didn’t last — after a few rounds of reinvention, the group turned into a day-glo dance-pop wonder. Their tastes are voracious — they may skew electronic, but the thumping “Gone Too Far” is built around a banjo loop, and Sorbara cites Rickie Lee Jones and Joan Armantrading as inspirations.
Listen If: Your favorite artists of the last few years were Lykke Li and Ladyhawke, and you’re looking to complete your holy trilogy of perfectly pouty pop.
Key Track: “Pick Up the Phone,” the kind of bright, charming pop song Cyndi Lauper would have killed for in the 80s. Few artists get the concept of the “bridge” right anymore, but the build to the chorus is tense and heavenly, so that when arrives, it’s as liberating as a great gospel song.
The Band: Sleigh Bells
The Buzz: Brooklyn duo of Derek Miller (ex-Poison the Well) and Alexis Krauss make awesomely impolite dance music, raising a stiff middle finger to fidelity and instead choosing to run all of their tracks in the red — overdriven, overamped, over distorted. In other words: perfect.
Listen If: You want your music to come with its own busted subwoofer.
Key Track: The irresistible “Crown on the Ground,” where Krauss coos out a clipped melody in jump rope cadence over blown-out blasts of synths that whallop like a bag of bricks. One things for sure, when Krauss says “Set, set that crown on the ground,” you’d better listen.
Photo: Boyd/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
Snoop Dogg feat. Alicia Keys, “Snoop State of Mind” [Jay-Z Cover/Rework]
If someone had suggested, 15 or so years ago, the possibility of Snoop singing a song extolling the virtues of the East Coast, that individual would have been either ridiculed or pummeled. It would be like suggesting the possibility of ODB recording an anti-drug PSA.
ODB, “Say No” [Unreleased]
Oh, snap.
JJ, “Baby” [Lorentz & M. Sakarias Cover]
What happens when an ethereal Swedish pop band gets a hold of an unctuous Swedish rap song? They cut out the rapping entirely, salvage the hook and turn the whole thing into something soothing and sublime. Can JJ pull this trick with other obnoxious rappers? If so, we’ve got a case of Asher Roth albums and enough postage to cover the air mail.
Phoenix, “Rome” [Neighbors & Devendra Banhart Remix]
We’ll confess, the phrase “Devendra Banhart Remix” didn’t make us especially optimistic. But this reworking of Phoenix’s “Rome” is gentle enough to suggest Banhart may have a few more tricks in his beard. Along with that tire iron, ham sandwich and small family of field mice.
Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul Revue, “Devestator” [Live]
First off, if you’re not familiar with the Numero Group, you need to change that situation immediately. A consistently inspiring label dedicated mostly to reissuing lost R&B classics, it recently launched the Eccentric Soul Revue — thrilling spectacles showcasing shoulda-been superstars. The tour wraps up tonight in New York, and this sizzling live track gives a good glimpse of the punch it will pack.
The Band: Bang Bang Eche
The Buzz: New Zealand outfit fronted by one T’Nealle Worsley makes raw, riotous, ice-cold synth rock sharp enough to cut stale bread.
Listen If: You’re a DJ at a German nightclub looking for new tracks to power a long night.
Key Track: The raucous “4 to the Floor,” which is whipped around by a hyperactive guitar and Worsley’s stern vocal recitation.
The Band: Pants Yell
The Buzz: Boston art school grads apply their acumen to indie pop, writing shy, retiring songs laced up with grizzled guitar — the kind of compositions the quiet kid in 4th grade was scribbling in his notebook as he sat forlorn at the back of the class.
Listen If: You were that kid.
Key Track: The buoyant “Magenta and Green,” where a bounding guitar line tugs the precious melody forward, making it the kind of heartwarming kindergarten sing-along that brightens any cloudy day.
The Band: Liturgy
The Buzz: Mighty Brooklyn black metallers conjure the devil as well as any of their Scandinavian counterparts, using hammering riffs to split the earth and unleash the demons.
Listen If: You love telling the story of how and why Varg killed Euronymous.
Key Track: The blinding “Pagan Dawn,” an unholy smear of guitars and wrenching, unearthly vocals.
