The Band: Joy Orbison
The Buzz: Worked-up and jubilant dance music, U.K. producer Orbison (not his real name, we’re guessing) cannily recalls the sound of mid-’90s London club music, pairing big, booming beats with yearning soul vocals, the classic sound of techno and house still sounds vital today.
Listen If: Your favorite Moby record is “Everything Is Wrong,” or you own more than one album by Underworld.
Key Track: “Hyph Mango,” which starts slow and spooky and builds slowly and assuredly, a single female vocal snatch circling a glittering tower of synths.
The Band: Wild Beasts
The Buzz: Wild is right! Vocalist Hayden Thorpe combines a wild-eyed Antony yelp with a low and brooding Morrissey croon, slamming his singular voice against songs that pulse and jangle — restless music for restless times.
Listen If: You wish Animal Collective owned more Smiths records.
Key Track: “All the King’s Men,” where Thorpe’s manic trill flutters across a tangle of guitars and throbbing, insistent percussion.
The Band: The Grand Prize Winners from Last Year
The Buzz: Think full-band OutKast: these fellow ATLiens blend Dre and Big Boi’s knack for nimble rhymes with weirdo spaced-out funk and rock, making snarling songs that swivel and pounce. All of the members work as producers in Athens, which may explain their keen ear for hooks.
Listen If: You’re looking for a willfully unpolished band that makes up in spirit what they may lack in production value.
Key Track: The charmingly underproduced “Number One Fan” which, with a bigger budget and a few slick tricks, could own the summer of 2010. If only they knew where to find a producer.
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily