Raw. It’s the best word we have to describe Dirty Beaches. We had the chance to catch Alex Zhang perform his abstract take on songwriting and rock and roll back in August poolside at the Mondrian in LA. We were awed by the soul and the delivery. A talent to keep an eye on.
Dirty Beaches – Stye EyeDirty Beaches 
(Bandcamp)
Rating 8.4
UNKLE goes to town on “Lord Let The Light Shine On Me” from Noel’s forthcoming solo debut. The UK outfit serve up a nice balance of Noel’rific writing (of the LP’s more Oasis-like tunes) and outside the box type elements that we can come to expect from High Flying Birds. Is that a gospel singer Noel? Get the album November 8th.
Noel Gallagher 
(Official)
UNKLE (Official)
Rating 8
Common, No I.D. and more equally awesome forces make up Cocaine 80s. “Six” is a testament to how good something like this should sound.
Cocaine 80s & Common – Six ft OverCocaine 80s 
(Blog)
Rating 8.6
“You make me wanna me wanna throw my pager out the window. Tell MCI to cut the phone cords. I’m gonna put your number on the call block. Have AOL make my email stop.” Love how DC always kept it current. ….And helllll naw, Kelly Rowland was NOT about to overpay for long distance, get your AT&T high price phone bill bullshit out of here. Our man Drunk & Hungry is dude out of Pittsburgh that also records indie pop under the name Good Sport. Get familiar. (AV)
Drunk & Hungry – Bug a Boo (Destiny’s Child)Drunk & Hungry 
(Bandcamp) (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Yes please. The enigmatic Welsh post-dubstepper takes a turn at Emeli Sande’s UK chart hit.
Emeli Sande – Daddy (Ifan Dafydd Remix)Ifan Dafydd 
(Twitter) (Facebook)
Rating 8.6
Neatly tipped soul-sampling beats all the way from Australia. Katalyst’s Deep Impressions LP is available now.
Katalyst – Dreaming Of You
We love New Look. “Everything” is off the Canadian duo’s (finally) released s/t debut. In the same lane as artists/bands like Quadron, Kimbra, and The Peach Kings, New Look is that grown female-voiced neo-neo-soul. There are bits of current indie and electronic music there (which definitely help make this style more palatable/relevant to the “mainstream indie” bloggerazi) but the backbone of New Look’s sound and the other aforementioned bands is a real (and you can really feel it) emotional communication with the listener that you can only find in the best R&B. New Look’s LP is definitely something you will want to check out.
New Look – EverythingRating 8.1
If you listen to hip hop radio pretty much anywhere right now, Drake is absolutely dominating. Eyebrows is everywhere. Listen to that 8-10 song Hot 10_ banger block and prob 4-5 of those songs are Drake tracks or have a Drake feature on them. “The Real Her” probably isn’t hip hop radio material but it’s still a smooth sample of that R&B Drizzy. Yo man, Drake’s got problems too.
Drake – The Real Her (Feat. Lil’ Wayne)Rating 8.1
“The Conqueror” is the debut single by way of German three piece Fuck Art, Let’s Dance! Just check that chorus and watch dance floors everywhere celebrate!
Fuck Art, Let’s Dance! – The ConquerorFuck Art, Let’s Dance! 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
So Wild Vibes are a new band out of NYC. “Don’t Stop” is a really cool mix of classic guitar rock, more modern electronic music, and great melody writing. The hook on “Don’t Stop”s chorus is as good any in indie rock 2011. Rock.
Wild Vibes – Don’t StopWild Vibes 
(Soundcloud) (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Belfast producer Sina’s new “From Love to Dust” is a unique (and awesome) marriage of nu-garage, and melodic dubstep. Track goes DEEP.
Sina – From Love to DustSina 
(Soundcloud) (Facebook
Rating 8.2
Mayer Hawthorne released his major label debut LP last week, How Do You Do. “Stick Around” is our choice track from the album and although the refs to The Tempts and The Miracles are there, the track almost sounds like early Chicago (“Saturday in the Park”). There’s definitely a bit more of an overall 70’s influence on How Do You Do vs. the much more straight up ’60’s-style of A Strange Arrangement. “Stick Around” isn’t a groundbreaker but its an awesome piece of pop songwriting. Get into it.
Mayer Hawthorne – Stick AroundMayer Hawthorne 
(Official) (Facebook)
Rating 8.1
