Music
Snoop Dogg
Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus is a rare exception in the turbulent world of Hip-Hop. In a genre where big names come and go just as fast as hit records, Snoop Dogg has managed to stay tremendously relevant throughout his 16-plus years in the game. From music to movies, video games to clothing lines and now his own hit TV show (E!’s reality series Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood), Snoop Dogg is an all-out pop culture icon and household name.
Melvin Seals & JGB
Melvin Seals has been a powerful Presence in the music industry for over 30 years with a long-established reputation as a performer,Recording Artist and Producer . Melvin is most revered for his powerful, high-spirited, Hammond B-3 organ, and Keyboards in the Jerry Garcia Band. Adding his rock-gospel-soul-rhythm and blues touch with his funky style of playing, no wonder Jerry nicknamed him “Master of the Universe”. Melvin continues to treat music lovers to his unique brand of melodic flavor.
Ozomatli
Among a certain group of in-the- know fans, the name Ozomatli alone conjures up the feeling of sweaty bodies pulsating and dancing and rocking out. The band has made its name on live shows that are as interactive as it gets. Crowds are always invited to sing along, but what really solidifies the band-fan connection is the samba line that breaks out at the end of each Ozomatli show. The band used to start shows with a samba line of drums and horns and chants, but now it’s a closing tradition.
Raine Maida
Raine Maida, full name Michael Anthony Maida, is a Canadian singer, best known as the front man of the rock band Our Lady Peace. He has stated that he “added Raine to his birth name as a personal statement on his pursuit of the arts”. He has always written all of his band’s lyrics and attributes his influences, including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and U2’s Bono. Maida’s voice has been infamously described as a mix between Geoff Tate and Billy Corgan.
Superdrag
Though many have dubbed Superdrag a punk-pop or power pop band, their music has shown itself to be atop of the aforementioned genres. Taking as much influence from the British Invasion-style pop of the Beatles and the Zombies as My Bloody Valentine and Hüsker Dü, their songs have always combined melodicism and noise in fully distinct fashion. With throaty vocals, often cynical lyrics, and major-minor chord progressions Superdrag is a band’s band that has often gone misunderstood.
Hot Buttered Rum
Hot Buttered Rum, one of the hardest-working and fastest-rising stars in the musical firmament, has become a group that is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. Often described as a rock band playing bluegrass instruments, the band melds blues, folks, bluegrass, jazz, and rock. The widespread appeal of HBR’s music stems not only from the band’s musical versatility and prolific songwriting, but also from the magnetic chemistry the group creates onstage together.
Tea Leaf Green
Tea Leaf Green is a band of youthful gypsies with an abundance of both rock & soul. Conjuring the spirit of ‘70s Bob Dylan, The Faces, and early Elton John, Tea Leaf Green takes classic sounds and remind us exactly why we lifted our lighters in the air in the first place. They show us the wellspring of hope waiting inside the examined life. Smart and dynamic, it’s a compelling combination that speaks to a bright future for this heart-strong quartet.
Moonalice
The Crystal Method (DJ Set)
Ever since they started making their first singles in the mid 90’s out of the Bomb Shelter–their congested home studio in Los Angeles, California–Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland of The Crystal Method have held strong as forerunners of the electronic music revolution in America. A Grammy nomination; a slot on Linkin Park’s recent monster benefit for their Music For Relief fund; catwalk DJ’s for Rock ‘N Republic’s Fall 2004 Los Angeles Fashion Week show; and “Community Service,” their popular Friday night weekly radio show on Indie 103.1 FM–these are all small parts of what makes up The Crystal Method’s overall recent presence.
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is a concept band - the concept is “the ongoing saga of an alternate intergalactic netherworld, its main characters being an archetypal husband and wife named Coheed and Cambria”. They also have the distinction of being a tough band to categorize. Part metal, part hardcore, and enough Rush like progressive rock similarities to get tagged as a Geek Rock band. Think piercing screams tempered with twisted metal and you get the point. Coheed and Cambria are inventive, though provoking, and absolutely original.
www.coheedandcambria.com
Listen to Coheed and Cambria on Last.fm
Slightly Stoopid
With more than a decade of making music together, the members of Slightly Stoopid have perfected one of the rarest—and most valuable—skills a band can develop: the art of the stealth groove, that knack for quietly—almost innocently—sliding into a song and utterly lassoing anyone within earshot by mid-song. That’s where the band has come to reside, musically: deep in the pocket, that ever-elusive, funky trench where a band can entrance an audience, hypnotize it and hold on to it until the set or CD is finished.
