While the opinions in the reviews vary, the myspace of the band speaks for itself. Their first single Don’t Trust Me has over 72 million plays on myspace with a total number of 177 million plays for the band. Their debut album Want released in summer 2008 gave them huge fame and good place in the billboard chart, making Don’t Trust Me a song of the summer 2008. It is filled with party crashers like Richman and Chokechain. The duo that started as a weekend project is no touring the U.S. as a part of the Vans Warped Tour, gathering new fans at every show. The band also uses all the possible online services for promotion from the already traditional myspace and youtube to twitter, just to present their music (released on their own label) to the people.

They gained some attention after their song Uaaa…a! appeared in 2008 Russian movie hit Rozidgysh (Prank) and now Cheese People are smashing clubs all over the country. Their debut work Psycho Squirrel is varying from electronic pieces similar to The Prodigy to post-punk songs like Catch U. It’s a structural madness that needs a few spins before you get into it. A self-titled rerelease was also released in 2008, so basically if you are looking for some fresh and good Russian bands don’t miss this crazy team.

For those who don’t know klezmer is traditional Jewish music. It is a whole universe of arrangements and variations of traditional melodies. The genre is mostly played by Klezmer Bands all over the world but some of the representatives like Oi Va Voi take more experimental approach. In this case trip-hop.

Their best album is 2003 – Laughter Through Tears. Kicking of with Refugee sung by Kate Tunstall, her first solo breakthrough song Suddenly I See was used in the opening scene of The Devil Wears Prada movie. On this plate she was still unknown but it has no effect on the beauty of the track. The whole album is not like filled with major radio hits, it is a good klezmer-balkan vibe record with good bass lines and small programming. Definitely one of the things that you must have.

They exploded about a year ago. Within few months these English boys became an underground sensation.

A rarely successful experiment of combining some post-hardcore stuff with dance music. Early demos were a sensation and these guys quickly became Kerrang! favorites. They got the idea after an evening when they visited a Dillinger Escape Plan gig and went to a dance party as a result – songs combining complicated hardcore parts with trance keys and breakdowns. Their shows have an immense energy and rapidly change from moshing to dancing in seconds, somehow this is similar to some of the modern breakcore DJs.

Releasing their debut work “Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour” in 2007 they really broke into charts and tours. The album is very solid and is like a sci-fi opera with lots of keyboards and kind of a retro futuristic feel. It is raging from drum-and-bass interludes to some almost mathcore parts. Lot of people, including me, hope that 2008 will bring a new awesome album by this guys.

Whitley is a duo from Melbourne, Australia that plays a mix of alt-country and folkotronica. Their debut album “The Submarine” was released on September 15 and they are now playing a support tour.

The album is wonderful; I’d say it is the possible album of the year for me. A gentle mix of country, acoustic guitars, spiced wth electronica similar to Postal Service style. A minimal set of guitars and occasional banjo and fiddle produces awesome melodies and the whole work is somehow similar to the minimalists like Arvo Part. Sometimes a whole composition is divided between just two instruments.

The vocals are nice and the lyrics are wise and a bit depressive, but very honest. They give the album the final calm feeling and great melancholic mood.

A plate really worth of checking out.