For Taking Back Sunday, the past few years have been as non-stop as the music on their latest album, Louder Now. The New York-based melodic hardcore quintet’s album was released on April 25, 2006 and skyrocketed to Number Two on Billboard’s Top 200 chart a week later, scanning more than 157,000 copies. Now gold-certified, Louder Now has led to multiple sold out U.S. headlining arena tours. Indeed, Kerrang! crowned Louder Now as the critics pick for Album Of The Year!

Ky-mani is a fitting name for a charismatic artist whose East African name means Adventurous Traveler. The only child of table tennis champion Anita Belnavis and reggae icon Bob Marley, Ky-mani Marley is now working on his third album showcasing his growth as an individual and illustrating the duality of his personality: Ky-mani and Maestro. The result is an urban sound deeply rooted in the reggae and hip hop cultures.

www.myspace.com/kymanimarley
www.last.fm/music/Ky-Mani+Marley

Fishbone is a long-lived, influential band, self-described as jazzy ska-gospel-punk-raggae. Fishbone first gained attention with their unique live concerts, earning a reputation as one of the most original bands in the alternative genre. Their unique stew of different styles mixed with hectic energy and pounding rhythms were a huge influence on the funk/rock/metal/rap genre that would become popular in the 1990s.

www.fishbone.net

http://www.last.fm/music/Fishbone

www.sarahmelson.com

http://www.last.fm/music/Sara+Melson

The 20-year-plus career — and personal life — of the country artist Shelby Lynne has been a famously tumultuous one. As a child, she and her sister, country singer Alison Moorer, lost their parents to a murder/suicide. Lynne married once, briefly, at 18, though no discussion of that or any other romance has made it into the public sphere since then. As a teen, she was groomed to be a Nashville country-pop belle, though after a few albums she rebelled and released the critically acclaimed I am Shelby Lynne, the work that saw her signature rough-edged combination of confrontation and confession fully blossom.

Though a critic and fan favorite — and an artist who’s certainly stood the test of time — Lynne never managed, after multiple stops, starts and label switches, to land the hit record that seemed to dangle just out of reach. Now, she’s made the choice to take the rockier road again, recording an album of covers taken from the iconic 1969 Dusty Springfield LP Dusty in Memphis, an album most listeners would agree bears no messing with. “I’ve never done a cover record,” she says. “So I thought I might as well do an important one.”

She chose a difficult artist to take on — an artist whose own painful personal life is well known, and whose songs deal with the same topic. Although she’s no stranger to difficulty, Lynne’s reticent about sharing any personal details, saying only: “You have to pull the emotions out from somewhere. I don’t sing songs I don’t believe.”

Her unapologetic, boldly personal manner of expression has nonetheless registered a sizable impact with an ever-growing audience. Although she is aware of skeptics who consider “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” nothing more than a one-off novelty hit and who speculate about whether they’ll ever hear from her again, Cole, of course, holds no such doubts. “Hopefully good art will appeal to many different people, and people will realize I’m not just about ‘Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?,’” she told Request magazine. “There’s a lasting artist here. In a decade, I think that will be pretty.”

www.paulacole.com

www.last.fm/music/Paula+Cole

Just Jinjer’s story began in 1996 when the band was formed and it quickly gained a reputation as an amazing live act. Their live chemistry translated well in the studio, which was captured on their debut album called All Comes Round. All Comes Round flew off the shelves, becoming the biggest selling rock album in South African history, with over 100,000 units sold, and the band experienced unheard of chart success. They suddenly found themselves drawing huge audiences, some in excess of 10,000 people.

The band entered the studio to record their second album titled Something For Now, which went gold in 3 weeks in South Africa, providing numerous chart topping radio singles. Just Jinjer focused their efforts on touring extensively within their home country and abroad (Germany, Australia, Canada, New York and the UK) with acts such as U2, Crash Test Dummies, Toto, Elvis Costello and co-headlined with Hootie and the Blowfish, Skunk Anansie, Stevie Wonder, Spice Girls, Chaka Khan and many more.

The most recognized face and sound in American drum & bass belong to Dieselboy. An icon for American d&b for over a decade, he has become an international symbol of this volatile underground dance music movement. America’s best-selling d&b artist by far, Dieselboy was the first American to be voted into the UK-based Drum & Bass Arena Top 10 DJs 2004 online poll.

As a DJ, Dieselboy, born Damian Higgins, was an original pioneer in the early ‘90s spreading d&b in North America, first in Pittsburgh, then from Philadelphia, growing in popularity until he was criss-crossing the continent virtually nonstop. His popular mix-tapes and mix-CDs have been the gateway for countless fans to the high energy, futuristic, science fiction sound of d&b. Dieselboy’s style is characterized by flawless execution, meticulous pulse-quickening programming that not only excels at showcasing individual tracks but also creates an intense and epic cinematic atmosphere.

Based now in Brooklyn, Dieselboy is the most in-demand American d&b DJ on the international club, rave and festival circuits including the United Kingdom (home of d&b), Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South Americas. Beyond the scene, Dieselboy, sponsored by DC Shoes, has played rock festivals and X-treme sports exhibitions. Few d&b artists can claim as hardcore a global cult following as Dieselboy’s.

The SF Music Award-winning ALBINO! is a 12-piece Afrobeat ensemble that honors the fiery legacy of Nigerian musical revolutionary Fela Kuti. ALBINO’s high-energy grooves and explosive stage show thick with hypnotic percussion, a heavy horn section, African dance, outrageous costumes, and infectious group choreography have established the band as the West Coast’s premier Afrobeat act.