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Rolling Stone: Breaking

The Rolling Stone new music blog

Hype Monitor: Black Kids, Ida Maria and Sic Alps Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. The Band: Black Kids The Buzz: The backlash is on: formerly adored Florida band netted buzz this week for amassing blogosphere bile. Listen If: You want to hear what every pasty 20something is arguing about on their LiveJournal. Key Track: "Hit the Heartbreaks," which is all polished pout and pretty chorus. The Band: Ida Maria The Buzz: Norwegian vocalist Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen powers through brash power-punk with snide, sneering panache. Listen If: You've spend the last year wishing someone would show those Scandinavian buzz bands where the volume knob was. Key Track: One of the hands-down best singles of 2008 (never mind that it technically came out in late '07), "Oh My God" starts like PJ Harvey and explodes into full-on neurotic chaos. Check the video for the full freakout. The Band: Sic Alps The Buzz: Take in the trash! Deliciously scuzzy San Fran duo got no time for fancy production. Listen If: You've got a soft spot for the No-Fi Outta Tune Roughed Up Blues. Key Track: The blown-out garage number "Message From the Law," which does acid-washed *Nuggets* rock on a 25-cent budget. Breaking Artist: Love As Laughter Who: Indie rock vets Love as Laughter, who are finally ready to quit their day jobs with their first proper studio album Holy. Sounds Like: The rougher side of the Seattle music scene with elements of Pavement and Neil Young thrown in the mix. After 14 years, more than 20 band members and five DIY albums under his belt, LAL frontman Sam Jayne entered the studio with the Clash producer Joe Blaney to create an album full of songs Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock calls "amazing," with tracks like the Talking Heads-ish "All Parts of Me" and the romantic rocker "Konny and Jim." Vital Stats: Hype Monitor: The War on Drugs, Abe Vigoda and Nomo Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from some buzzworthy acts on the Hype Machine. The Band: The War on Drugs The Buzz: Trio from Philly do a cockeyed take on FM country-rock. Listen If: You find yourself spending a lot of time defending Neil Young's Trans. Key Track: "Arms Like Boulders," where Adam Grandciel's Petty-esque moan yawns across fields of gleaming guitars. The Band: Abe Vigoda The Buzz: L.A. experimentalists center instrumental free-falls with sturdy, earnest melodies. Listen If: The thing that bugs you about free jazz is the tunelessness. Key Track: "Bear Face," where a barrage of 16th notes suddenly kick out into a motorik jam that would do Neu! proud. The Band: Nomo The Buzz: Michigan collective do computerized take on Afrobeat. Listen If: You ever tried to replicate Fela Kuti cuts with your Commodore 64. Key Track: "Brainwave," where a single electronic squelch kicks and pitches over rolling percussion. [*Photo: Courtesy Secretly Canadian*] Breaking Artist: My Brightest Diamond Who: Classically trained singer/songwriter Shara Worden, who mixed her love of strings with her downtown New York aesthetic for her second album A Thousand Shark's Teeth. Sounds Like: Bjork gone minimalist, with a bit of American chamber pop sheen thrown in for good measure. "I listen to probably 98% pop music," explains Worden. "I think that whatever you put in your body is probably what?s going to come out more. So for me, my songs are just tunes. The way I see them relating to classical music is that I wanted songs that were drawing more from Debussy and Ravel, songs where there?s something that?s very impressionistic and about mood and color rather than 'Here comes the chorus!'" Vital Stats: Hype Monitor: Vivian Girls, Kudu and Blu & Exile Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from some buzzworthy acts on the Hype Machine. The Band: Vivian Girls The Buzz: New York Trio flashes back to 1986, throwing girl group harmonies over roaring guitars. Listen If: You often find yourself wishing the Ronnettes had bigger amps ? or if you know "C86" isn't a sci-fi movie. Key Track: "Wild Eyes," which speeds by in a blur of stuttering snare, growling guitars and ethereal vocals. The Band: Kudu The Buzz: Brooklyn group builds bleak electropop, haunting and sublime. Listen If: You think life is better with the lights out. Key Track: "Neon Graveyard (Drop the Lime Remix)," where the band's usually dour demeanor gets shaken up by clattering drums. The Band: Blu & Exile The Buzz: Nimble LA rapper turns out songs full of smarts and soul. Listen If: You're starting to get tired of all this Lil Wayne hubbub, too. Key Track: "Blu Collar Worker," where Blu gets blue over what it takes to pay the bills while chipmunk soul chatters in the background.