Joanna Newsom - easy

Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.
Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California. As a child, Newsom was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio because she was raised by doctors who were "kind of idealists when it came to hoping they could protect us from bad influences, like violent movies, or stupid stuff". She was exposed to music from a young age. Her father played the guitar and her mother was a classically trained pianist who played the hammered dulcimer, the autoharp and conga drums. She attended a Waldorf school where she studied theater and learned to memorize and recite long poems. This skill helps her to remember lyrics while on tour.
Newsom's earlier work was strongly influenced by polyrhythms. Her harp teacher, Diana Stork, taught her the basic pattern of four beats against three which creates an interlocking, shifting pattern that can be heard on Ys, particularly in the middle section of "Sawdust & Diamonds." After Ys, Newsom said she had lost interest in polyrhythms. They "stopped being fascinating to me and started feeling wanky."

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Sufjan Stevens - Enchanting Ghost

Sufjan Stevens (pronounced /ˈsuːfjɑːn/ soof-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came. He is best known for his 2005 album, Illinois, which hit number one in the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the song "Chicago".
Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of Enjoy Your Rabbit and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. Stevens makes use of a variety of instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording, and writes music in various time signatures. He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica and aesthetically compared to the minimalism of Steve Reich. Though he has repeatedly stated an intent to separate his beliefs from his music, Stevens also freely draws from the Bible and other spiritual traditions, incorporating mystical elements into his music often.

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Chromeo - Momma's Boy

Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004. The group is in rotation on CBC Radio 3.
Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel, born in Lebanon b. c. 1979) on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 (real name David Macklovitch, b. June 7, 1978) on guitar and lead vocals. The two childhood friends jokingly describe themselves as "the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture." Patrick Gemayel was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada at the age of 8. Their second album Fancy Footwork is their mainstream breakthrough.
At the beginning of March 2011, Chromeo sent out notice that it had recorded the "world's smallest album," entitled Drive Time, which consists of 55 songs in only 183 seconds.

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

The Young Gods - Once Again

The Young Gods (TYG) are a Swiss post-industrial band. The band's lineup has generally consisted of a vocalist, a sampler operator and a drummer. Their instrumentation often includes sampled electric guitars, drums, keyboards, and other samples. The lyrics are depicted in English, French and German.
Their name is taken from an early EP by the no wave/noise rock band Swans. Artists influenced by The Young Gods include Mike Patton, Sepultura, The Edge (as stated in U2 by U2), Devin Townsend, Econoline Crush and David Bowie; asked in 1995 if his album Outside was influenced by Nine Inch Nails, Bowie answered: "The band that I was actually quite taken with was three guys from Switzerland call The Young Gods... I’d been aware of them previous to knowing about Nine Inch Nails."

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

The National - Wake Up Your Saints

The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Padma Newsome, from sister band Clogs, often contributes strings, keyboards, and other arrangements and instrumental flourishes.

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mogwai - Hound of Winter

Mogwai are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), John Cummings (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drum kit). The band typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.
Their style has been influenced by bands including MC5, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and post-rock pioneers Slint.[18] During 2004, the band supported tours by two major influences, Pixies and The Cure. Mogwai's style has easily identifiable connections to genres like shoegazing, math rock, art rock and occasionally instrumental metal. Debut album Mogwai Young Team was described as "stunningly dynamic...[shifting] seamlessly from tranquil, bleakly beautiful soundscapes to brain scrambling white noise and sledgehammer riffing". Douglas Wolk, writing for SPIN in 1999 said of the band: "Their compositions have gotten increasingly drawn-out and austere over time, sometimes barely more than a single arpeggiated chord or two evolving for ten minutes or more, whisperingly brutal in a way that recalls Slint more than any other band".

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Lanterns On The Lake ~ You're Almost There

Lanterns On The Lake are a six-piece indie rock band from Newcastle-upon-tyne, United Kingdom.
Lanterns On The Lake formed in 2007. The band is composed of Hazel Wilde, Paul Gregory, Sarah Kemp, Oliver Ketteringham and brothers Adam and Brendan Sykes.
They self-released two EPs and a single before signing to the Bella Union record label in December 2010. Soon after the band provided a track for Bella Union's Christmas 10" EP along with new label mates Peter Broderick and Phil Selway.
The band released their debut album Gracious Tide, Take Me Home on September 19, 2011 . The album was recorded by the band and produced by Paul Gregory.

info: http://en.wikipedia.org/