Nov 7th, 2008 · Real Blasty, the sophomore full-length release from Chicago-born Kyle Andrews, is an upbeat album for sad people who just want to dance. A lesser artist could get weighed down by the broody lyrics covering unrequited love, insecurities and general enui. But Andrews pulls it off by pairing his angst with bright electro-pop rhythms and irresistible hooks.
Sep 10th, 2008 · Predictable music is usually the most forgettable. Fortunately for electro-funk artist Benji Hughes, his debut double CD, A Love Extreme, struts with enough ear candy and lyrical surprises to make it one of the year's most memorable releases.
Sep 5th, 2008 · The Ting Tings' debut album, We Started Nothing, has propelled the British duo to worldwide fame on the strength of some of the catchiest pop songs in recent memory. The British duo layers together synths, powerful drum beats and catchy melodies in a session from WXPN.
Aug 26th, 2008 · On his debut solo release, Neighbor Singing, Brad Laner mixes lush harmonies with gentle melodies and a subtle but densely layered pastiche of electronics. Based in Granada Hills, Calif., Laner's music could be called electro-psychedelic-folk. But he likes to keep listeners guessing as each track morphs seamlessly into new forms, taking unexpected sonic directions that don't fit neatly into any standard category. Laner's is a blissful world rooted as much in '60s psychedelia as in 21st century pop.
Aug 5th, 2008 · The sounds of Azeda Booth are full and lush, exploratory and eclectic, and perfect for listening on headphones. In Flesh Tones, the Canadian band's first full-length album, is a beautiful foray into dreamy, hypnotic electro-rock, full of vast atmospheric soundscapes and introverted laptop music.
Jul 7th, 2008 · Self-produced by The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead attests to a four-year maturation. With a seamless track sequence, the band creates a euphoric mixture of Dylan-inspired indie-rock and electro power-ballads. It's a surreal dream of musical experimentation that proves that less can be more.
Jun 4th, 2008 · Argentina probably isn't the first place you think of for groundbreaking electro-pop music, but for the past several years it's been turning out a number of stunning recordings from some of the genre's most inventive artists. The brother-sister duo Isol and Zypce (that's ee-SOLE and ZIP-see) is about to release one of the year's more curious CDs: a spectacular headphone album, with a richly layered world of blips and clicks, called Sima.
Jun 2nd, 2008 · King of Spain is the experimental music project of Tampa, FL multi-instrumentalist Matt Slate. His debut album, Entropy is an artful collection of intricately crafted electro-folk songs, built with pulsating guitars, strange ambient sounds and looped vocal parts that showcase Slate's distinctively raspy voice. It's a refreshingly rich and unpredictable mix drenched in reverb and spacious effects. Slate plays all the instruments and wrote and recorded the album at his home.