Hype Monitor: The Hours, Zomby and Land of Talk

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

The Band: The Hours
The Buzz: Grand, emotive, pleading pop music from — you guessed it — Britain.
Listen If: You’d like Coldplay if only they were a bit smaller in scale.
Key Track: “The Lights,” which shifts from meditative piano to gleaming filigrees of guitar in the space of seven glorious minutes.

The Band: Zomby
The Buzz: London producer revisits the glory days of rave with surprisingly energizing results.
Listen If: You catch yourself sighing wistfully when you spot a baby sucking on a pacifier.
Key Track: “Daft Punk Rave,” which cuts up DP’s “Technologic” and scatters it across blinking-light keyboards.

The Band: Land Of Talk
The Buzz: Montreal band proves there are bands up north that don’t have 900 members or a penchant for high drama.
Listen If: All you need is a cluster of nervous guitar chords and a smartass [...]

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Download Franz Nicolay’s “World/Inferno Vs The End of the Evening”

The Hold Steady keyboardist Franz Nicolay is best known for his classic boogie piano lines, jubilant backing vocals and sharply curving mustache, but his new solo album Major General looks to catapult him to star status. Click below for an exclusive download of the excellent “World/Inferno Vs The End of Evening.”
• “World/Inferno Vs the End of Evening”
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Breaking: The Knux

Who: The Knux, a pair of brothers from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward who show their band geek chops on their debut Remind Me in Three Days….
Sounds Like: With influences as far ranging as Led Zeppelin and the Cash Money crew, the Knux mix experimental Native Tongues rap with live instruments and the sample savviness of Portishead to form supercatchy tunes with densely referential lyrics. “I can’t listen to new hip-hop — it’s too fucking clean,” Alvin “Rah Almillio” Lindsey says. “We want to be extra-grimy, extra-raw. That’s why we compare ourselves to the Strokes.”
Vital Stats:

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Download Goldfrapp’s Live “Clowns” From the “Seventh Tree” Special Edition

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Hype Monitor: Kooley High, Iran and Fire on Fire

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

The Band: Kooley High
The Buzz: Stunning North Carolina hip-hop group makes grand, thumping tracks from sliced-up soul and shards of R&B. It’s like every song should be released on 45.
Listen If: You don’t care how cold it is outside — to you, it’s always summertime. And 1993.
Key Track: “Too Late,” the kind of sizzling all-crew scorcher that would have done Arrested Development proud.

The Band: Iran
The Buzz: TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone flexes his pure pop impulses, writing songs with grand, gliding melodies and strange, sinuous choruses.
Listen If: You wish Bowie sounded a bit more like the bands he palled around with.
Key Track: “Airport ‘79,” Iran’s “Five Years” rewrite that scrapes up bright acoustic strumming with scabrous swipes of synth.

The Band: Fire on Fire
The Buzz: Maine collective plays sprawling, haunted Appalachian folk, stacking grainy [...]

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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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