The company you keep.

The Windy City-based group, Company of Thieves was formed by vocalist Genevieve Schatz and guitarist Marc Walloch. This indie group has a bright sound and incredible vocals. Ms. Schatz totally throws herself into the music and Walloch's heavy-duty guitar playing kicks butt. They remind me a little bit of the group Braids. Based on the youtube videos I've seen (and there are lots of them), the band must be incredible live.

Shakin' All Over

The Athens, Alabama based group Alabama Shakes was formed around singer/guitarist Brittany Howard along with Zac Cockrell, Steve Johnson, and Heath Fogg. Brittany reminds me of a young Janis Joplin. She's got an abundance of fiery soul in her voice and can really belt 'em out. The band combines a potent mix of electric blues and southern soul. Definitely one of the most refreshing groups I've heard in a while. The group has an EP out and released their first full-length cd, Boys & Girls in 2012. They beg to be heard live!

First post in ages. Sorry!

I think you'll love this guy: That's all I'll say.

Data plan

There doesn't seem to be any information about the electronica group Data Romance anywhere on the inter webs. How the heck does that happen? So I can only give a brief description of the music and let you decide for yourself if you like them or not. Their music is dreamy and lush and feature beautiful vocals. I can't think of any group that sounds like them Nice stuff.

A Ros is a Ros

I normally don't review live concerts. But I saw Sigur Ros (finally) last night and I though they were definitely worth reviewing. What an amazing concert. If you're not familiar with the group, they're an ambient-ish group from Iceland. Their music is multi-layered and features the incredible voice of Jonsi. His voice is almost angelic. The performance we saw featured a very inventive and artistic graphic display/light show that enhanced every song. The visual display was almost poetic. The group performed a bunch of hits which got the laid back, hipster crowd somewhat excited. I thought it was pretty amusing that when the group got into a cool, rocking groove, the crowd didn't even nod their heads! My overall impression was that, if there was a cover band in heaven, it would be Sigur Ros.

Head east, young man.

I went to hear the Orchid Ensemble a week ago, not knowing what to expect. And I was blown away by the group. The instrumentation consists of a 12-string zither and a one string upright Chinese violin-like instrument, both centuries old instruments. And a percussionist. The group performs an incredible range of music, from traditional and modern Chinese songs, to music from various countries along the ancient Silk Road. The musicians explain the origins of all the songs they play and their love of the music is quite apparent. If you ever get the opportunity to see them, do yourself a favor and just do it!

Lawn Job

The ambient duo Grasscut was formed in the late 2000s in Brighton, England.The group is film composer Andrew Phillips and keyboardist/classically trained double bassist Marcus O'Dair. They've been compared to everyone from Hot Chip to Eluvium. I think they could fall under the banner of "folktronica."After signing with the well-known label Ninja Tune, they released the disc 1 Inch: 1/2 Mile in 2010 and a followup recording Unearth in 2012.