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Armed with little more than an acoustic guitar and her fragile alto, San Francisco folk singer/songwriter Emily Jane White offers complex tales of melancholy and isolation. Her gothic blues are starting to catch some serious attention and her debut Dark Undercoat is among 2007's strongest.
London-based electronic rock band Temposhark was formed in December 2004 by singer/songwriter Rob Diament and producer Luke Busby.
The 404 386: Where we get lost in the dream
It's Wilson's turn again to choose The 404 semiweekly audio draft sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000, so naturally we're a little skeptical (but not nearly as skeptical as we are about the moon landing), but Mr. Tang comes through again with the beautiful music of Priscilla Ahn, a young singer-songwriter with a light, ethereal voice that drifts through the layered atmosphere of her acoustic folk melodies.
The Cave Singers: "Dancing On Our Graves"
Seattle's CAVE SINGERS are a fascinatingly rural blend of homespun mystery and "folk music approached by way of punk rock, or an updated version of the Anthology of American Folk Music.
As Kelly Willis planned to go into the studio last fall, she really didn't know what to expect. She had spent the four years since co-producing her 2002 album, the lovely, laid-back Easy, on family matters: her oldest son Deral, born in 2001, got three siblings -- twins Abby and Ben born in 2004 and baby Joseph, whose birth followed in early 2006. "This time around, I had absolutely no time or energy to be involved in the producer role at all," Willis recalls. So she called a guy "who lives and breathes music," whose instincts she loved and who she felt "really comfortable around": Chuck Prophet, the edgy singer-songwriter who contributed guitar to both Easy and 1999's acclaimed What I Deserve. Together, they would create the most sonically adventurous album of Kelly Willis' seventeen-plus-year recording career, "Translated From Love."
In this sentimental tune, country singer-songwriter Chely Wright (she of the 1999 hit song "Single White Female") muses about a river that can give life and take it away.
Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Katy Perry has been wowing fans and critics alike with her big voice, sassy attitude, and feisty, confessional songs like "Ur So Gay," the title track of her new EP, which will be released by Capitol Records.
Keyshia Cole, John Ralston, Shout Out Louds
This week on Crossfade TV, the Download Music crew takes a listen to new releases from R&B powerhouse Keyshia Cole, singer-songwriter John Ralston, and Swedish indie-pop band the Shout Out Louds.
Weird and visceral singer-songwriter Scout Niblett cuts right to her emotional core and exposes the mess as is. Her fearless approach is unencumbered by musical boundaries--and to a certain extent musical ability--resulting in an awkward yet rewarding listen.
Charlie Brown, Sufjan Stevens, Merle Haggard
It's holiday week on Crossfade TV, as the crew listens to old favorites from Vince Guraldi ("A Charlie Brown Christmas"), new treats courtesy of prolific singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens ("Song for Christmas"), and a reissue of a 1973 honky-tonk holiday gem from Merle Haggard ("Hag's Christmas").
