Francis and The Lights

Francis and The Lights might be the next big thing. On paper, combining the nervousness of late-80’s Peter Gabriel and the hyper-sexy falsetto delivery of Prince sounds like your worst nightmare. But upon listening to their twitchy, soulful, funky assault, you might just change your mind. Crafting a slick, unique sound around charismatic frontman Francis Starlite (who cuts a striking figure, looking like Christopher Walken in King of New York, but sounding more like Terrence Trent D’Arby ) Francis and The Lights are shockingly good and about to blow up. And yes, they’re from New York. Of course.

James Thomson’s Curated Links:
Videos and Free Downloads from the official Francis and the Lights site

Azeda Booth – Tubtrek

Avant-garde trio Azeda Booth dive into deeper space with their new EP, Tubtrek. This latest release from the Canadian art-rockers is a dreamy, spastic collage of inventive rhythms and stirring melodies which combines the atmospheric haze of ambient rock, the lush, primitive spirit of freak folk, and the modern urgency of glitch-hop. Now on a North American tour, check these genre-bending gents at SXSW or at your local bleeding-edge indie venue.

James Thomson’s Curated Links:
Download Tubtrek *free!* from Azeda Booth’s website.
Azeda Booth on MySpace
Artist’s Page on Absolutely Kosher Records

Women – “Black Rice” (live)

Here’s an incredibly amateur video I shot this past weekend of my pals from Women playing to their hometown crowd. (Dig Chad VanGaalen hittin’ switches and singing backup!) Catch these fine fellows on their second European tour beginning in February.

James Thomson’s Curated Links:
Women on MySpace
Artist page on Flemish Eye Records
Artist page on Jagjaguwar Records

Sleeping States

Call it lo-fi, call it neo-folk, but don’t call it uninformed. The music of Sleeping States (the nom de plume of wunderkind Markland Starkie) is a confection of breathy harmonies and placid tones emerging from a toybox of 90’s dreampop, ambient electro, and the punk DIY ethic. Smart, experimental, fiercely independent, and — well, British.

James Thomson’s Curated Links:
Sleeping States’ Myspace Page
Sleeping States’ Official Website
Please download “Rivers.mp3”

Max Roach

Widely considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, Bebop pioneer Max Roach continues to inspire.

View the bio and more videos at Drummerworld

French Kicks

A criminally overlooked band from New York, this stylish quartet has been showing quality songwriting since 1999. Fantastic drums.

Frenchkicks.com