Breaking: Jazmine Sullivan

Who: Philadelphia soul singer Jazmine Sullivan, who at the age of 21 has already gained fans like Kanye West, duetted with Stevie Wonder and released her first album Fearless.
Sounds Like: Sullivan’s voice recalls both Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill, and on the Missy Elliott-produced Fearless, Sullivan jumps from roots reggae on “Need U Bad” to the girl group sound of “One Night Stand” to the Winehouse-esque “Bust Your Windows,” a song that made Kanye West proclaim on his blog “This is my favorite song right now!!!”
Vital Stats:

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Hype Monitor: She Keeps Bees, Fredrik and Kissey Asplund

Photo:Adriana Jovanovic
Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: She Keeps Bees
The Buzz: Dark rock from Brooklyn that recalls Rid of Me-era PJ Harvey, ignited by the rich, soulful vocals of Jess Larrabee.
Listen If: You’re a teeth grinder or a fist shaker, or you like the sound of grimy, primal blues.
Key Track: “Gimmie,” where Larrabee pours her rich voice over a grizzled guitar strum.

The Band: Fredrik
The Buzz: Swedish collective disappears into the woods, writes airy songs built from thumping percussion and fluttering acoustic guitars.
Listen If: You’re looking for the perfect soundtrack for a long hike in a dark woods.
Key Track: “Black Fur,” a lonesome, loping number boasting a gently pleading vocal melody.

The Band: Kissey Asplund
The Buzz: Swedish soul singer — really! — whose eccentricities make Erykah Badu look like Roberta Flack.
Listen If: You have a hard time believing there’s such [...]

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Breaking: Deerhunter

Who: Deerhunter, a quartet of Atlanta shoegazers that follow indie acclaim and opening for Nine Inch Nails with their most accessible album to date, Microcastle.
Sounds Like: Deerhunter combine My Bloody Valentine’s atmospherics, Sonic Youth’s knack for experimentation and the girl group vibe that channels Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Microcastle features everything from billowing dream pop like “Little Kids” to twitchy dance rock on “Nothing Ever Happens.” “I listen to music every waking hour — silence makes me uncomfortable,” says singer Bradford Cox of his wide-ranging influences.
Vital Stats:

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Hype Monitor: Illa J, The Foreign Exchange and French Miami

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Illa J
The Buzz: Brother of legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla salvages some of his brother’s unused beats and uses them to build an album of relaxed R&B.
Listen If: You (rightfully!) have no fear of the phrase “late-period De La Soul.”
Key Track: “R U Listenin’?”, where rapper Guilty Simpson joins Illa for a laid-back track specifically engineered for head-bobbing.

The Band: The Foreign Exchange
The Buzz: Dutch producer Nicolay gets Little Brother’s Phonte to trade rhymes for serenades, resulting in a record of smooth, silky grooves.
Listen If: You’ve got an impatient lady in the next room and you’re sick and tired of waiting for a new D’Angelo record.
Key Track: “Daykeeper,” a dusky number lit up by powder blue piano and Phonte’s aching croon.

The Band: French Miami
The Buzz: San Fran psychopaths craft skull-collapsing post-punk, wiry (and Wire-y) guitars [...]

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Hype Monitor: Illa J, The Foreign Exchange and French Miami

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Illa J
The Buzz: Brother of legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla salvages some of his brother’s unused beats and uses them to build an album of relaxed R&B.
Listen If: You (rightfully!) have no fear of the phrase “late-period De La Soul.”
Key Track: “R U Listenin’?”, where rapper Guilty Simpson joins Illa for a laid-back track specifically engineered for head-bobbing.

The Band: The Foreign Exchange
The Buzz: Dutch producer Nicolay gets Little Brother’s Phonte to trade rhymes for serenades, resulting in a record of smooth, silky grooves.
Listen If: You’ve got an impatient lady in the next room and you’re sick and tired of waiting for a new D’Angelo record.
Key Track: “Daykeeper,” a dusky number lit up by powder blue piano and Phonte’s aching croon.

The Band: French Miami
The Buzz: San Fran psychopaths craft skull-collapsing post-punk, wiry (and Wire-y) guitars [...]

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Hype Monitor: Illa J, The Foreign Exchange and French Miami

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Illa J
The Buzz: Brother of legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla salvages some of his brother’s unused beats and uses them to build an album of relaxed R&B.
Listen If: You (rightfully!) have no fear of the phrase “late-period De La Soul.”
Key Track: “R U Listenin’?”, where rapper Guilty Simpson joins Illa for a laid-back track specifically engineered for head-bobbing.

The Band: The Foreign Exchange
The Buzz: Dutch producer Nicolay gets Little Brother’s Phonte to trade rhymes for serenades, resulting in a record of smooth, silky grooves.
Listen If: You’ve got an impatient lady in the next room and you’re sick and tired of waiting for a new D’Angelo record.
Key Track: “Daykeeper,” a dusky number lit up by powder blue piano and Phonte’s aching croon.

The Band: French Miami
The Buzz: San Fran psychopaths craft skull-collapsing post-punk, wiry (and Wire-y) guitars [...]

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Breaking: The Uglysuit

Who: Six-piece Oklahoma City indie pop band the Uglysuit, who went from opening for the All-American Rejects and the Roots to headlining their own packed CMJ showcase.
Sounds Like: Bound by no genre, the sextet jump from from Brit-pop-style ballads like “Happy Yellow Rainbow” to atmospheric, jazz-tinged explorations on “Brownblue’s Passing” to gorgeous piano-powered anthems like “Chicago” on their self-titled debut album.
Vital Stats:

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Sklars Make Baseball Hilarious Again With “Back on Topps”

Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar don’t have a problem standing out in a crowd — they are, after all, identical twins. But the Sklars have carved out a niche for themselves, one that goes beyond their at-times-frighteningly omni-minded delivery: turning the wide world of sports into comedy gold. The brothers first gained notoriety with Cheap Seats, the late night ESPN Classic show that found them ripping into spelling bees and bass-fishing competitions with a steady stream of awesome one-liners. Their new project, the fantastically funny web series Back On Topps, tackles another aspect of sports fandom: baseball cards. As Layland and Leif Topps, heirs to the Topps fortune, the Sklars are charged with saving their jobs after their uncle sells them out and new management takes over. Think The Office meets Will Ferrell’s “Funny or Die,” and you’ve got a good picture of Back on Topps.
“I think we have, [...]

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Hear Ex-Page France Singer’s New Psych-Pop Concoction: “Gotta Cheer Up”

The first tune to drop off Michael Nau’s (who was once known as Page France and is now making music under the moniker Cotton Jones) January 27, 2009 LP *Paranoid Cocoon* (Suicide Squeeze) is a Doors-esque Sixties groove with a recession-ready title. Check it out right here:
“Gotta Cheer Up”

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Hype Monitor: Passion Pit, FM Belfast and the High Wire

Photograph by Arion Doerr for RollingStone.Com

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Passion Pit
The Buzz: Squirrely electropop where speedy beats carry high, girlish vocals across bands of synthesizer.
Listen If: You wonder what Built to Spill might sound like if someone stole all of Doug Martsch’s guitars.
Key Track: “Cuddle Fuddle,” which uses a plinking piano loop to singlehandedly invent 25th century ragtime.

The Band: FM Belfast
The Buzz: It’s electric! Stern, keyboard-driven robopop — the sound of a zillion traffic lights blinking above empty streets.
Listen If: You find the Knife a bit too cheerful, or think big beats are better for brooding than grooving.
Key Track: “Lotus,” which flash-freezes Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” in shivery synths.

The Band: The High Wire
The Buzz: Spacious, somber indie rock that shrouds broad guitar strumming and long, languid keyboard lines in warm, gentle mist.
Listen If: [...]

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