With a name like The Whispertown 2000, you might think the band is an Atari-loving synth band or perhaps a Ronco product of some sort.  So you may be surprised to hear the outstanding alt-country tunes eminating from this decidely non-robotic group.

Hailing from Los Angeles, the band is led by Morgan Nagler, lead singer and songwriter for the group.  Signed to Gillian Welch's Acony Records, they've completed two full full length record, the most recent being Swim, released late last year.  Being on the same label with Welch is a reflection of the quality of their songs.

For our session, the band was relaxed and efficient, whipping through four excellent songs in the blink of an eye.  The highlight of the session was "Erase The Lines", a growling head-bobber that veers from pensive whistle-along to aggessive rant.

In our video interview with the band, you'll hear how none other than Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) pushed Nadler and multi-instrumentalist Tod Wisenbaker together to form the band (later joined by Tod's brother Casey and Vanessa Corbala), as well as their introduction to Acony founder Welch.

Brother and sister Ivan, age 15, and Ada, 13, of Tiny Masters of Today have captured the attention of the rock elite (David Bowie, Karen O, and more) and generated a lot of buzz (and airplay) since their debut a couple of years ago as the poster children (literally) of a new blend of super-charged, lo-fi electro garage rock.  Now, with their second album, Skeletons, debuting this month, the band looks to build on their past success. 

The new record sounds like nursery rhymes run through an apocalyptic boombox, full of propulsive rhythms and catchy melodies, but rubbed raw with an electronic wash that contorts and squeezes.  "Pop Chart" is insanely catchy, a perfect blend of summer rhythms that attacks pop convention while celebrating its structure, similar to Weezer's "Pork and Beans" in its knowing wink of pop music formula.  

We brought the band in for a live session last December, where they played more stripped down versions of four songs from the new record.  "Big Stick" in particular receives a straight-forward treatment many may find more compelling than the more trance-like version on the record.   It's clear that this band is not a mere novelty act, that there is a a creative bolt that should sustain a long career.    

Check out the session video and audio below.   We'll be posting our video interview with the band later this month.

"Listen boy what you gotta prove to the world at rest  / Shooting metaphors through a pistol made of words..."

One of LA's best and brightest (#2 on our recent survey of the top bands in Southern California), Red Cortez is beginning to burst onto the national scene, thanks to some high-profile tours recently with Morrissey, Little Joy, The Tallest Man on Earth, and Jason Isbell.   

The band formerly known as The Weather Underground (check out our previous session with them as that incarnation), seems to have emerged from a lineup change with a sense of purpose that is tangible not just in the logjammed tour schedule but also through more muscular, focused music.  The leader of the band, Harley Prechtel-Cortez, has a literary sensibility that infuses each song with vivid imagery and an urgent approach that brings each song to the edge. 

The fact that the band is unsigned is hard to believe, or would be if not for the current landscape of the music business, but there is no mistaking the powerful emotional resonance in every song the band produces.  They craft an exciting mix of bluesy, soulful, folk-rock, amped up like a shot of adrenaline to the heart.   

While not quite as soaring in melody, many of their songs conjur the supercharged emotional anthems of "Sunday Bloody Sunday"-era U2... and the lyrical voice of Prechtel-Cortez is also reminscent of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy; both have a gift for simple lyrical construct combined with clever wordplay that has ambition and shoots straight for the heart.

Red Cortez also seems to understand how important it is to connect with its audience.   They have been giving their fans an inside look at their life on the road via their twitter account,  homemade videos, and an active (even interesting) blog.

The band came back for another Groupee Session with us and played four songs (two from its excellent new EP, Hands on the Wall).  For the last song of the session (listed first below, however), a song called "El Barco", the band sat in a circle for a more intimate presentation.  As usual, it was a powerful performance from a band that always manages to connect.

Check out our session performances below.

Considered by many to be one of the best live acts in Los Angeles, The Henry Clay People have been building momentum and attention with their authentic brand of jagged, kinetic rock and roll.  Led by brothers Joey and Andy Siara, with recent additions Jonathan Price and Mike Hopkins, the band's songs are rooted in traditional rock rhythms, but they manage to make them sound both familiar and fresh.  Joey's voice is a teetering drawl that incites the propulsive vortex of sond like a spinning top whipping across a floor.

We first brought the band in for a session over a year ago, for our very first round of sessions.  Due to some issues with the studio we were using at the time, those sessions were lost, however.  Thus, we brought the band back again for another round, pleased to find the group as engaging, fun, and carefree as ever.  Though their lineup has changed over the past year, the spirit of the band obviously has not.  This session was recorded just before the band was to leave on its first big tour, supporting The Airborne Toxic Event.  They are now back from that tour, headlining a residency at Spaceland in Los Angeles. 

Check out their session below!

This month's Artist of the Month is Washington, DC's Vandaveer.  The band is led by Mark Charles Heidinger, who writes folk-rock songs that are both theatrical in tone and cinematic in imagery.  You'll notice the influences- Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, especially- but there is greatness in both the writing and the delivery that is impossible to deny.  When joined by talented sister Rose Guerin on backing vocals, the songs become even more enticing, lifted by the powerful combination of their voices.

Though not identical in approach or song-craft, Heidinger is somewhat reminiscent of Glen Hansard (The Swell Season and The Frames), in that you can imagine both as mesmerizing buskers, guys that can enthrall passers-by in the street with their literate, passionate songs. 

The group released its first album, Grace & Speed, in 2007.  The Washington Post declared that the music on that record has a "directness and immediacy that evokes pre-electric Bob Dylan."  Now the band has a new record, Divide & Conquer, that will be released in France, Belgium & Switzerland on April 6th, 2009 via Alter. K Records / Discograph.

You can catch them on tour, as well, in the southeastern US and France over the next two months:

03/09 Washington, DC - The Black Cat
03/10 Roanoke, VA - The Water Heater
03/11 Charlottesville, VA - Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
03/12 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
03/13 Athens, GA - Flicker Theater & Bar
03/14 Nashville, TN - The Basement
03/15 Lexington, KY - The Dame
03/16 Louisville, KY - The Green Building
04/11 Rouen, France - L'Emporium Galorium
04/15 Feyzin (Lyon), France - Epicerie Moderne Club
04/16 Orleans, France - L'Atelier
04/18 Paris, France - Le Divan Du Monde
04/19 Laval, France - Le 6 Par 4
04/20 Toulouse, France - Le Saint Des Seins
04/21 Bordeaux, France - Saint Ex
04/22 Tours, France - Donald's Pub
04/23 Tulle, France -  Les Lendemains Qui Chantent
04/24 Reims, France - L'Appart Cafe
04/29 Nantes, France - Sputnik Bar
04/30 Le Havre, France - Be Pop Cafe

We brought the band in for a live session in Brooklyn this past December.   Check out the outstanding acoustic performances below!

Brooklyn band, Nouvellas, have one single on iTunes (the song "Satisfied"), but based on the strength of their live session with us, they are a band to watch closely.   While the band's sound is retro, rooted in Motown-era soul, they could appeal to the same (growing) audience currently clamoring for Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings, as well as Eli "Paperboy" Reed.  

All four songs that the band performed for our session were impressive, leaving goosebumps for many of us watching the performance live (see the session videos below).  While the soulful delivery of co-lead singers Jaime and Leah is the group's hallmark, the outstanding guitar work of bandmate Dennis is equally impressive.  Throw in a solid rhythm section and you have a group capable of pumping some soul back into a stressed world.

Our January 2009 Artist of the Month is the The Union Line, a band that hails from Orange County, but whose sound is not breezy surf music.  The band's tunes seems more rooted in the fertile landscape of the south or old west, perhaps spilled from a bottle of bourbon in a honky tonk bar.    In fact, there is a definite antebellum vibe to this band (hey, the name is The Union Line, after all), with music that seems to echo from a past filled with heartache and stained with blood, stumbling out of some godforsaken saloon.   So cinematic is this mood, you'd probably feel disappointed if you saw one of the band members sipping on a latte in Starbucks or playing a videogame on a computer. 

A remarkably new band (they formed just last year), they already have one self-released, self-titled record under their their belts and are on a national tour this month.   They seem to be coalescing into a musical force with great potential for the future.   We brought the band in for a live session last fall.  As you can see from the session videos below, they have a definite presence.    Look for our interview with the band at a later date.

As we reach the end of the year, it's good to reflect on how the music industry is evolving.  A little over a year ago, in October 2007, two events shook the music business.  First, Radiohead offered fans a chance to set their own price for the digital download of its new record, In Rainbows.  That same month, LiveNation paid Madonna a record amount to take a stake in all aspects of her musical endeavors.  On the one hand, an established band was embracing the concept of the social mob and on the other a music business was trying to reshape the corporate business model of music.

In both cases, the moves did not really impact the average band. After all, Radiohead already had a huge established fan base. They could afford to roll the dice on an open pricing model.  And the LiveNation-Madonna deal was a huge windfall for Madonna, but all it really signified was that labels would have to start focusing on getting a piece of the touring revenue for artists.

This year-end artist of the month, The Donnas, are in some ways the perfect band to represent the bridge between the old business model of music and the new.  The band has been around for over a decade now and had a deal with a major label well before the wheels came off for the industry.  Last year, however, they went off on their own, releasing their album, Bitchin', on their own label.   This is also a band that works very hard to earn attention (and dollars) form its fans.  Aside from an official site, they also have a site reserved for "Donnaholics", where hardcore fans get exclusive content and inside info.  They also hold occasional special concerts for their fans where the fans pick the set list.

This band clearly knows how to cultivate a fan base.  And they are managing to record, tour, and promote without the benefit of big-label dollars.

Musically, the band is perceived by some as a novelty act, with lyrics that celebrate dumb fun in a way that is unexpected from a female perspective.  While the range of the band is certainly narrow, if a band like The Ramones can be revered, it is unfair to dismiss The Donnas for following a similar course.  Sometimes we give too much credit to bands who constantly experiment (most artists are not talented enough to master multiple stylistic approaches) and overlook the ones who know what they are and go for it.    And certainly, aside from the catchy music they create, how can you not respect a group that has taken total control of its career and is thriving. 

Check out the videos (and audio) of our exclusive live session with The Donnas below.  We'll post our interview with the band at a later date, as well.

Los Angeles-based Honeyhoney is led by Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe, and the twosome is certainly an engaging pair.  They have a new record, First Rodeo, out today, that is a stellar mix of folk, soul, country, bluegrass, rock, and pop.  While they do record and tour with a complete band, they stopped by for our Groupee Session with no other players, showcasing the purity of the songs (all from the new record).  (Note: Wendy Wang of The Sweet Hurt did join them on backing vocals for one song.)

The video for their first single, "Little Toy Gun", was directed by Kiefer Sutherland and was a featured video on MySpace recently.    The video takes place in the old West and the band's music certainly evokes lonesome prairies and tumbleweed dustups. 

Santo and Jaffe share songwriting duties in the band.  Santo's voice, which has soul and country shadings to it, is the star of many songs, but this is a true partnership, with the two playing off of each other on and off stage.   We'll post our interview with the band at a later date... you'll see just how much fun they are in that video.

Session videos below.

Marry the elliptical, dark, stream-of-consciousness energy of The Pixies with the loopy fun of The B-52's and you approximate the sound of our artist of the month, The Happy Hollows.  This is a band that marches to the beat of its own drummer in creating a sound that confounds easy classification but is uniquely theirs.

Everything starts with lead singer and primary songwriter Sarah Negahdari, whose unique guitar work and spooky/ethereal voice sets the tone for most most songs.  This is jagged, upbeat rock that never takes itself seriously, content to pound out fun tunes while exploring unique rhythms.

The band came together through a Craig's List ad, when basssist Charlie and drummer Chris were on the lookout for a lead singer, after moving to Los Angeles from the Washington DC area. Sarah, a San Francisco transplant, who'd been playing some solo shows in LA, luckily answered the ad and the group was formed.  For a band that knew no one in LA, they've steadily grown to become one of the most established indie acts in the area.

The threesome performed four songs for us as part of a Groupee Session and also sat down with us for an interview (see videos below).  They have a new record called Imaginary EP, due out this month (October 21st).

The Shys’ new album is titled You’ll Never Understand This Band The Way That I Do.  It alludes to the passion and unique connection that you have when you discover a band that has meaning for you.  You build up your own interpretations of the band and its songs, looking for clues and meanings that bridge the gap between an artistic work and your own life.

The title also no doubt references the band’s own severance from Sire, the label that released its first record.  Signing to a smaller label and taking complete control over its career, the band has released a sophomore record that is laden with passion and almost cinematic in tone and approach.  Whereas their first album, Astoria, had some obvious nods to British rock, this one is thoroughly American, a bluesy, soul-infused romp that wears its heart on its sleeve.

The record features absolutely huge choruses and hooks, all fashioned around a classic bar room blues sound.   The band is blessed with two very fine vocalists- primary lead singer Kyle Krone amazes with his passionate delivery and the other vocalist, Alex Kweskin, also has an incredibly soulful voice.  This band is not trying to create a new sound.   You’ve heard this kind of music before, but do they ever execute.  Definitely one of the finest releases this year.

We brought The Shys in for a Groupee Session in June (videos and audio below).   The energy and skill of the band was impressive as they tore through the songs.  It was also obvious, after talking with them, that they are excited about charting their own course.  Going back to the title of the new record again, this is a band whose passionate delivery will no doubt generate just as many passionate fans.

If a band like The White Stripes can find commercial success with retro, classic blues guitar rock, then I think there is hope for a band like The Shys, as well.

Trying to classify Dios (Malos) is difficult.  Their music runs the gamut from Beatle-esque pop to country twang, but every song is clearly carefully crafted.   Unlike some bands who cover faint melodies with clever production, Dios (Malos) is the rare band that takes songs with strong melodies and makes them even more interesting by honing each section of a song to a shiny pop perfection.

We met with the band twice in the past eight months- the first time at their rehearsal space and the second time at a recording studio for some sessions we were producing.   When we met them at their practice space, three of the guys sat down for a (hilarious) interview in the lobby of the facility and then afterwards we went back into the dark practice room for a solo performance by singer/songwriter Joel Morales.  You can see the interview and two performance on video below.

We need more bands like Dios (Malos), bands that truly care about the quality of the music.  Of course, it always helps if you have a great songwriter in the band, too, and, in Joel Morales, Dios has one of the very best in the country.  He has a great gift for melody, as well as an interesting lyrical mix of sly, slacker humor and emotional honesty.

The band has released two full-length records thus far and looking to wrap up their third record soon.  They are currently recording a song for an upcoming Gael Garcia Bernal film, Rudo y Cursi, and are about to begin a 5-week residency at the Spaceland club in Los Angeles.

(We’ll have more from the Dios (Malos) recording session we produced at a later time.)