"I Want You Back" - Discovery

When members from 2 separate bands previously profiled on this site collaborate to put out some new material, the law of transitivity basically deems that this new venture be profiled as well. Meet Discovery, a new band comprising Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij. Their debut album under the Discovery moniker--LP-- is full of light and poppy synth-filled tunes that could effortlessly float through your next summer cocktail party. As is the trend in music these days, a handful of the songs rely on auto-tune to assist with the vocals. Despite increasing backlash to its growing use, I personally don't mind it in this case and think that it actually complements rather than detracts from the musical arrangements found on this album. Of its 10 tracks, I felt it was only appropriate given recent events to feature their take on the Jackson 5 classic.

"Wild One" - Those Darlins

At some point during my years at UVA, every single girl I knew (and a handful of dudes) -- mostly from suburbs near or above the Mason Dixon line -- seemed to instantly become a loyal country music fan. Out of nowhere artists such as Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and Brad Paisley became household names. Despite the increased exposure, I never really jumped on the bandwagon, save for a few of the cross-over hits which became my guilty pleasures (e.g. Tim McGraw's 'I Like It, I Love It'). A few years after graduation, I found myself stationed in Nashville, TN on a long term project for work, basically the epicenter of the country music scene. One weekend I decided to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, and being able to sample many recordings there, realized how good a lot of the early country music artists were (think Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, et al). The sound of these artists contrasted so sharply with what passed off as modern day country music. Listening to Those Darlins, a female trio from Murfreesboro TN, one can't help but think they are listening to a band from another era, but that has just enough attitude to sound thoroughly modern at the same time. This band has been getting a lot of buzz throughout the musical blogosphere, and fortunately for us, will be playing a show at Arlington's very own Iota next Tuesday. Catch them now before they move on to bigger venues.

Wild One - Those Darlins

"Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit

Generally I'm not a huge fan of most straight up electronica acts because I insist my music has lyricis. However, I've never had any problems with bands that can combine great electronic-driven instrumentals with even a semblance of a verse-chorus-verse structure. Passion Pit comes to us from Cambridge, MA, and released their first full length album, Manners, this past May. This is without a doubt the standout track off of the album, and I found myself listening to it over and over again this weekend while traveling through the Deep South. Combining what sounds like Chinese opera, hand claps, and a pulsating back beat -- the song is all over the radar, but great nevertheless.

"Hey Shorty" - E603

Not content to let Girl Talk hog the mash-up artist spotlight, meet the newest northeast based/skinny/Caucasian/male/hipster/who can work wonders with a MacBook and some sound editing software. Coming from Nashua, NH (a city put on the map by being the home of a Dunder Mifflin branch), E-603 (born Ethan Ward), displays a similar knack for putting a bunch of artists in a blender and creating something that exceeds the sum of its parts. Like other mash-up collaborations, all of his recordings are available to download for free under the creative commons license. E-603 currently has one album under his belt, 2008's 'Something for Everyone', while his newest album entitled 'Torn Up', is slated to be released this Friday. Both albums can be legally downloaded by visiting his site. The above track comes from the new album, and starts off strong with a great sample of Modest Mouse's timeless track, Float On. I'll take full responsibility for the sub-par audio quality.

"You're a Cad" - The Bird and the Bee

First off, let me quickly apologize for my hiatus from updating the site the past couple weeks. A west coast vacation combined with an emergency work-related trip to the magic kingdom prevented me from getting a post in last week. Fear not, for the time off gave me a chance to discover a little band by the name of The Bird and The Bee. This Los Angeles based duo plays the sort of breezy, jazzy pop that wouldn't be out of place in a Miami lounge circa 1971. Back in January they released their second full length album with the retro future title of "Ray Guns are not Just the Future." I listened to the album quite a bit while logging some serious hours in an uninspiring conference room over the weekend, and I kept coming back to this song. It might be the up tempo dixieland inspired melody, or I just like the notion of calling someone a 'cad'.

You're A Cad - the bird and th...