Blog: New Music Nation

Note: This is the debut album from the teenage British singer/songwriter. Sound: Her rich and elegant vocals sound precocious as she guides you through lyrically dense folk/pop and folk/rock ditties...

Note: The Mighty Underdogs is a new trio of indie hip hop veterans – Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious and solo fame), Lateef the Truth Speaker (of Latryx and a solo artist) and Headnonic (a Bay area producer) Sound: An eclectic mix of underground-minded beats with flavors that include mellow/reflective, Wild West-eque/rockin', Caribbean/breezy, freaky/cosmic, old school/stripped down, dark/jazzy, chill/nostalgic, militant/anthemic and more...

Sound: The wussy, sentimental piano pop from their debut evolved into something edgier on Under the Iron Sea . Now, the piano has taken even more of a backseat as bouncy, '80s new wavy synths and grand guitar riffs play their most prominent role yet. Perfect Symmetry presents a peppier, more fun version of Keane featuring anthemic choruses and Tom Chaplin's powerful, gorgeous vocals...

Sound: Folk rock featuring the crisp, lady-like falsetto of Joel Thibodeau and a colorful instrumental palette that includes fingerpicked acoustic guitar and banjo, swirling organ, creepy piano, trumpet, and the most interesting musical weapon is the electric guitar. It usually shows up to heighten the tension or build the momentum and quickly exits...

Sound: They channel lots of vintage folk and roots rock (think Neil Young/Buffalo Springfield) and give it a poppier, more modern flavor. They also work in some glammy, arty, psychedelic and noisier styles...

Update: T.I.'s star-studded, hit-filled LP Paper Trail demonstrates an unprecedented sense of urgency for the popular Southern rapper and moves in to the top 5. TV On the Radio's latest Dear Science and Jazmine Sullivan's debut Fearless also find their way on to the list. Meanwhile, Portishead's Third , The Raconteurs' Consolers of the Lonely and The Hold Steady's Stay Positive all get nudged [...]

Sound: More like his former band Ben Fold Five than his first two solo albums. The slick production and sugary/light rock has been largely replaced with a rawer, more ragged sound with pounding piano, stomping drums, fuzzy guitars and smart-ass, bitter lyrics. He also works in several sweet-harmonied, bouncy pop tunes, sentimental piano-driven ballads and a song with a strong musical theater flavor...

Sound: Mike Skinner's anecdotal, distinctly British talk/raps are front and center as usual, but he's mellowed and matured considerably since his last album (2006's The Hardest Way To Make an Easy Living ). Instead of the rebellious and hedonistic tales he told throughout his first three releases, Everything Is Borrowed has a much more introspective, philosophical, positive and uplifting outlook...

Note: The album was written and recorded while T.I. was under house arrest for trying to buy illegal weapons. His conviction and imminent jail time factor heavily into the final product on Paper Trail . Also Note: The album's title refers to the fact that the veteran Southern rapper wrote down his lyrics on paper for the first time since his 2001 debut. Sound: A healthy dose of anthemic, synth-laced beats and smooth baller rhymes...

Sound: Poppy, piano-driven ballads; dark, alt country meditations; bluesy jams and rootsy rockers. Jenny's vocals range from pretty and airy to haunting and echoey to spirited and soulful. Unlike her debut album Rabbit Fur Coat - which featured the sweet, rich female vocals of The Watson Twins - Acid Tongue boasts a cast of predominately male vocal collaborators. Elvis Costello, Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), M. Ward and more pop in the foreground and background...

Note: Missy Elliott is a co-executive producer on this debut album from Jazmine Sullivan. Missy also co-wrote and co-produced two of the tracks on here ("Dream Big" and the first single "Need U Bad"). Sound: Empowered, confessional, sometimes vengeful and sometimes playful r&b driven by a powerful voice...

TV on the Radio's Dear Science , gets the full buzz treatment, highlighted by four schools this week. Maestro from Taj Mahal is in the top five of two music charts. Meanwhile, Beck's Modern Guilt and Jenny Lewis' Acid Tongue continue to earn some buzz...

Sound: With each album (this is their fourth) Kings of Leon have gotten progressively less Southern than they were on their stellar debut Youth and Young Manhood ( my #3 Album of 2003 ). There's still a hearty rawness to Caleb Followill's vocals, but not much twang. However, his sexy, angsty wailing is more wide-open and powerful than ever. And the music still has some rootsy elements: an occasional weepy, wistful guitar, chiming piano or cowbell...

Sound: An extremely-difficult-to-pigeonh ole hodgepodge of electro funk, funk rock and atmospheric rock. At the forefront, more than ever before, are crisp, soulful and frequently falsetto vocals that can either lead the way with precise, gripping melodies, sweetly harmonize, or swirl up into a dense labyrinth. At times, the music recalls elements of Prince, Kenna, Peter Gabriel and The Cure. But make no mistake, TV on the Radio's sound is entirely their own...

New on the College Radio Buzz scene this week: Ratatat and their new album LP3 . Meanwhile, colleges play catch-up with Beck's Modern Guilt . Conor Oberst, Calexico, Fleet Foxes and Metallica continue to get some buzz, along with first-mentions for The Pink Spiders and Jonzetta. Plus, check out Dennison University's radio bloggers' six reviews...

Sound: Nathan Willett's jagged, pained and desperate howls (which occasionally turn into creepy falsetto croons) guides you through Cold War Kids vintage-flavored, poetic indie rock – which can be stomping and bluesy, chill and psychedelic, spirited and barroom-esque, driving and urgent or sad and reflective...

Sound: Knowle West Boy jumps from one style to the next with reckless abandon. It includes rock (sleazy/bluesy, stomping/arena-friendly and frantic/electro), pop (string-driven/mystical or spacey/sweet) and electronic (which incorporates Jamaican dancehall toasting, sensual trip-hop grooves, stomping tribal rhythms, dancefloor bombast and more)...

Update: Kardinal Offishall has been a force in hip hop's underground for years, but with Not 4 Sale he has a chance to break into the mainstream. The album breaks into the Top 10 of the year (so far). Meanwhile, the buzzworthy debut from MGMT - Oracular Spectular - gets nudged out of the Top 20. 1. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges (ATO) 2. Conor Oberst Conor Oberst (Merge) 3. Vampire Weekend [...]

What music are the campuses of Princeton Review's Top 20 Best College Radio Stations in 2008 buzzing about? New Music Nation surveys radio station and newspaper Web sites for these schools every week to find out. This week, Okkervil River and Gym Class Heroes have new albums on the scene, each getting buzz from two schools. Bands that made last week's College Radio Buzz are getting some love this week: Underoath, Ra Ra Riot, Coldplay, Conor Oberst and Calexico.

Note: This is the first Metallica album produced by the legendary Rick Rubin (the guru responsible for overseeing landmark albums by a wide range of artists from Run DMC and Red Hot Chili Peppers to Johnny Cash and Dixie Chicks to Slayer). Also Note: This is the first album with Robert Trujillo (former member of Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne's band and more) playing bass. He's been an official member of Metallica since the release of 2003's St. Anger , but the band's long-time producer Bob Rock actually played the bass parts on that release. [...]