The Five Bands to Watch from your city

THE UNICORNS
Fucked up pop songs, the Microphones gone electro.

THE DISKETTES
Montreal-Victoria duo, boasts simple, airy-as-spring pop songs with acoustic guitar and boy-girl harmonies.

LES ANGLES MORTS
Post-rock movie soundtracks - their drummer turns things apocalyptically good.

LEDERHOSEN LUCIL
Teenpop with just enough irony and synths for the indie kids to go batshit crazy. I don't really like her, but I heard she'll be touring with Kid Koala, and I expect she'll explode.

THE DEARS
Not sure whether people have heard of them yet, outside of Canadian indie circles. The new record is -miraculous-. Spit-crooned vocals over extreme horn/string bombast and bristling, heavy electric guitars.

also:
THE ARCADE FIRE (they'd top this list except that they might have broken up...)
GODSPEED! YOU BLACK EMPEROR (play great 2-minute pop tunes)

;)

ENDLESS BOOGIE - best fucking rock band in town, no question.

uh, can't think of anything else, sorry.

black ox orkestar
we are molecules
frankie sparo
les georges leningrad
hanged up

Curtain Society - shoegaze

Halden, Norway:

Ahhh.. We have a band called The Camaros who got fairly popular in Norway recently. Basically garagerock inspired guys (they've been into it for ages, so I guess they were at the right place at the right time when this sudden revival suddenly hit)

Basement Brats:
Defunct, so maybe not-so-much to watch anymore. Powerpop/pop punk. Ramones with Norwegian accents.

Crap, only other bands that come to mind now are ooold. There's a fair share of other bands here, but nothing I really feel comfortable subjecting anyone in the outside world to.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

ha ha

And Chameleons freaks too, a good thing.

Youngblood Brass Band - I've been talking about them, great mix of New Orleans brass band and hip-hop on Ozone records, with a sousaphone player who is just off the hook. Check the mp3s here.

Mama Digdown's Brass Band - the New Orleans brass band I play in, we play the classic street shit.

Vox - post-rock side project of some guys from Youngblood and friends...bass, drums, two guitars, trombone, great tunes if they ever come out with a record.

Tomato Box - Avant garde jazz group of drummer Michael Brenneis. Lots of free improv but all within interesting charts (with names like 'Your Dog Was Just Here').

Call Me Lightning - rock band featuring one of my friends who used to be in Akarso (like you know who that is). I haven't heard them yet actually but I'm sure they're the best rock band in Madison.

The Reigning Sound- former Oblivian (who you should also check out), Compulsive Gambler, and sometimes Deadly Snake Greg Cartwright's new outfit. Rock-and-fucking-roll!!!!!!!!!!!

Lucero- Sloppy punk rock kids have gone country. Vocals a tad affected, but it works. Great live shows. Drummer Kills.

Cory Brannan- hmmmm. Somewhere between Ryan Adams and John Prine. Played Letterman... Next.

Snowglobe- Elephant 6-ish. Good record. Questionable live shows. Vocals can grate.

Lost Sounds- New wave destruction. Makes YOUR "rock" band sound like Pat Boone. Or 8 year old girls.

Viva l'American Deathray Music- Mashing together all things Velvet and Stooge-ish. Strippers on stage. Boys in high heels. Sure it's all been done before, but it's FUN.

Damn, my sister was just telling me about these guys, apparently they just played in Norway or something?!
Oblivians was really good stuff... For some reason I thought Greg had gone on to completely different types of music.
Jack O's solostuff doesn't do much for me though.

* THE CRIPPLES.. excellent noisy synth-rock-pop band that has a really dirty sound but writes extremely catchy tunes, and avoids robot costume party schtich a la Man Or Astroman.

* THE A-FRAMES.. somewhere between Wire, The Fall, the Gories, and early Factory. Vocals are roboticly demure Sci-Fi.

* TEEN CHTHULU.. Halloween/Troma style banshee-esque dark hardcore/metal.

* THE LAST WALTZ... for those of you who like mid 80s Italian hardcore, this three piece will please.

* THE WHIP... KARP with Joe Preston on bass, essentially.

(not that i think they will go anywhere)

I agree with pretty much every single thing the other Memphis post says, to which I'll add:

The Reigning Sound is the best band on the planet you've never heard.

I like Lost Sounds record from a couple o years back -- Black-Wave -- better than the most recent one.

Also Memphix -- DJ team responsible for Chains + Black Exhaust comp. and bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart, who I like better in classic-rock mode.

aaaaaah, fuck it.

Anyone remember The Clash?

I'm depressed that I can't think of one band from Austin, Texas that I'd strongly recommend. I feel like a traitor or something.

there are plenty of others.

As for my town , Hull, England, I'll nominate four fine collectives
Salako
Fila Brazillia
Edible 5 ft Smiths
Fonda 500

most of these aren't really that new but they've all put stuff out recently that seems like their best yet:

Kardinal Ofishall - the neptunes-produced bellydancer single is finally gonna drop

Hidden Cameras - "gay church folk music" you've probably heard about by now

Deadly Snakes - gospel/garage/punk/r&b - light on schtick, sincere without lapsing into po-faced earnestness
- good new record

Tangiers - the snakes' strokesy little brother band

Pony Da Look - all-girl all-keyboard electro-prog cabaret

(1) Firewater - They rock. They roll. They rule.

(2) Skeleton Key - Second album criminally undersung. Seek it out.

(3) Gogol Bordello - Crazed gypsy cutthroat party animals. Best live show in NYC.

(4) Hammel on Trial - A one-man hybrid of Jim Carroll & Martin Scorcese. Storyteller. Troubadour. Loudmouth. Cantankerous asshole. Genius.

(5) Unisex - Featuring members of Skeleton Key and Firewater (naturally), playing shambolic, fist-meets-front-teeth rock'n'roll. Currently in search of a drummer. Might It Be You?

Vincebus Eruptum
It's A Fucking Trap
Haunted House
The Chinese Stars
Daughters

Poppier 5:
Film School
Loquat
Dealership
The Invisible Cities
Rogue Wave

Rockier 5:
Communique
The Pleased
Replicator
From Monument to Masses
Caesura

This is why I'm leaving this city. This whole list makes me say, "ew." 'Cept for Spoon, who makes me say, "blah."

1) Mean Red Spiders:
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm shoegaze and box of pedals!
2) Rheostatics
He, if Fritz named Kardinal Ofishall I can name the long standing Rheostatics based on last weekend's show. So so so good.
3) Creeping Nobodies
Just keep getting better and better. And besides, one day Canada will learn to love The Fall like Derek.
4) White Star Line
I have this bad habit of enjoying myself at their shows.
5) A Northern Chorus
Ok ok, I shouldn't be laying claim to Hamilton's best band since Teenage Head but Im really digging their second album (availble from those jerks@ Sonic Unyon)

How is Hanged Up's 2nd album? I loved the cover of New Order on the previous on.

LEDERHOSEN LUCIL
Wonderfully kitch. You have to get up close to appriciate her facial expressions though. Wish I had gotten one of her trading cards when I had the chance.

the futurians
the snares
the renderers
hay man
prepill love.

bay area attempt #1:

deerhoof
casiotone for the painfully alone (?)
hansgrusel's krankencabinet
paradise island
xbxrx

bay area attempt #2:

amps for christ
hella
mono pause
bottled og
xiu xiu

bay area attempt #2: (for the kids)

numbers
crack: we are rock
lowdown
coachwhips
tussle

bay area attempt #4: (can i get some beats?)

lesser
sagan
matmos
restiform bodies
bleccccdom

bay area attempt #5: (rawk)

the fucking champs
nigel peppercock (jeez, performing on the street near 16th st BART is rock and roll...plain and simple)
comets on fire
subarachnoid space

m.

What! No International Telepaths on that list! I protest. :-)

Japanese Karaoke Afterlife Experiment (on tour now!)
Olneyville Sound System
Prurient
The White Mice
The Barnacled

I'm bending the rules a tad. Four of the bands can be traced to London, Ontario, which would be my city, while the fourth is close by and produced by someone who belongs.

yay!

A I forgot to add one more band to the Seattle list..

AKIMBO... tremendous hardcore metally three-piece

east side suicides
manikin
the bad apples
dakota smith
i love you but i've chosen darkness (to be honest mainly for the fun band name)

will they get famous? i don't know. you said watch, they are fun to watch, and i never in a million years would have predicted the success of trail of dead... whenever i saw them they had no songs and just fucked shit up.

Sammo Hung (they shriek and pilfer)

Mclusky (they ROCK)

The Cull (they get in drunken brawls)

Mountain Men Anonymous (they break things!)

Nameless (they veer between excellence and ugliness)

From Oxford, UK bands that are really exciting right now
1) Dive Dive (used to be called Dustball and have been around for years)
2) The Modern (ridiculously young and very talented post rock instrumental band, I'm very jealous of them)
3) Psychid (music on a grand scale)
4) Trademark (really funny, and geeky band, sings about square waves and gives lectures in the middle of sets)
5) Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies (not from Oxford but High Wycombe but are a very exciting live band)

Eisley - three sisters, a brother and a neighbor playing pop, kinda dream-popish, decent live (their new EP is better, but the PA at the club where I saw them was pretty bad), already signed to a WB subsidiary, alleged to be a Next Big Thing.

Friends of Lizzy - they're sort of a power pop thing. Ben Folds-ish, but rockin'er. they're starting to get radio play on a commercial station or two (in addition to college radio play) and have had their video put in regular rotation on AMN.

1. Black Eyes
2. The Shakedowns
3. Juniper Lane

All for completely different reasons and all in completely different scenes. To round it off I'll add

4. whatever Helltime Producto is doing
5. whatever I'm doing (I don't even know)

TORONTO
Sick Lipstick - YYYs/Numbers type post punk. Ep out on Sound Verite and lp on Tigerstyle

Diplomats(peterborough local!) - Garage-y oblivians type stuff

DJ Crime

& my friend who makes Jandek inspired experimental acoustic music with atmospheric vocals. I love her.

1) Astrobotnia (aka Ovuca)
2) Vladislav Delay (aka Kari Uusitalo/Luomo)
3) Op:l Bastards
4) Mr. Velcro Fastener
5) Jörg Mager

submarine songs
libraness
7zark7
eXtreme Elvis
nigel peppercock

someone please send cex back to wherever he came from, contadina has longer shelf-life

Baltimore, MD:
1. Long Live Death - Sepulchural psychedelic gospel-folk. Has featured all three Oxes at one time or another. Accordians, musical saws, whole-room singalongs at house parties. They play in the dark surrounded by candles! They rule ass!
2. Double Dagger - Extremely jittery all-bass dance-punk. Most of their songs are about graphic design.
3. DJ Kenny K and everyone else who makes Baltimore Breaks - Incredibly catchy, extremely bottom-heavy indigenous black club music. This is what techno would sound like if white people hadn't ruined it. You big dummy! Seriously, there is no better party music than this stuff.
4. Lungfish - obviously.
5. The Big Huge - The best thing that Baltimore's now-thriving folk-music loft party scene has yet produced. Fragile, wounded, gorgeously slight acoustic dude.

1) The Wedding's Off -- I'm not sure why people haven't picked up on this excellent, eclectic group. Within one song they go from sounding like an old Russian folk group to sounding like the Contortions. They should be on Troubleman Unlimited. I think their CD is on a label called Ebola Music, and it's very recommended.

2) Silversun Pickups -- gorgeous shoegazer-y indie rock that sounds like lost tracks from an early '90s "Gish" or "Loveless" session.

3) The Movies -- eerie, pretty, sad pop songs... someone told me they signed to Gern Blandsten.

4) Midnight Movies -- Often confused with The Movies, but a whole different animal. Singer sounds like Nico. Band sounds like vintage Sonic Youth/Blonde Redhead.

5) The Long Lost -- Daedelus (a Plug Research DJ) in a more traditional indie-pop mode. Really pretty songs and a super lo-fi Postal Service kind of vibe.

1. numbers (on the cover of next month's xlr8r so maybe you don't have to watch for them any more)
2. charles atlas
3. rogue wave
4. kelley stoltz
5. tussle

Were you at the Black Eyes show last night? That shit was terrific! both drum kits on the floor! I wish we could have stayed longer.

Regrettably I go to far too few shows to gauge B'more's music community at all, though I think I saw Long Live Death open for Deerhoof at the Talking Head a few months back. I can't wait until Deerhoof and Grand Buffet get it on at the Ottobar in mid-August.

I don't know, go check your local paper.

Just got home from seeing them. Fuck! Eugene put it best when he yelled "THIS IS A GOOD FUCKIN' SHOW, HUH?!!"

skeletons
falcon
others
harry gassel
lesbian mom knife fight

Nomo— Big afrobeat meets '60s ensemble jazz combo. Like an Antibalas without the hippy.

The Avatars— Powerpop in Detroit 442 style.

Great Lakes Myth Society— Midwest Decemberists.

Marie & Francis— Former Pas/Cal and Saturday Looks Good To Me folks do '60s-ish pop. Sounds like they'd fit the K Records stable.

The Hard Lessons— Lucinda Williams meets Italian Nuggets. Fucking monster drummer.

El Satelite Jameson
Mercromina
Chucho
Surfin' Bichos
Gonzo
Alpino

El Satelite Jameson
Mercromina
Chucho
Surfin' Bichos
Gonzo
Alpino
Zipi Zape