January 5, 2007

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A new recording from Arcade Fire
The atmospheric Apostle of Hustle
Athens, Georgia rockers Of Montreal
Delicate new-folk from Madeline
A preview of new music by The Shins
Portland's experimental rockers Menomena

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The Arcade Fire stunned listeners with its 2003 release Funeral, a critical favorite for that year's best album. The band has been mostly silent since, but is about to release a much anticipated follow-up. This track was released early to raise money for the charity, Partners in Health.

The Arcade Fire

CD: Neon Bible
Song: "Intervention"
Label: Merge

Listen to "Intervention"

Apostle of Hustle is an experimental rock group from Canada featuring Broken Social Scene guitarist Andrew Whiteman. They describe their sound as Ry Cooder meets Yo La Tengo meets Roy Orbison.

Apostle of Hustle

CD: National Anthem of Nowhere
Song: "My Sword Hands Anger"
Label: Arts and Crafts

Listen to "My Sword Hands Anger"

Of Montreal is one of the innumerable talented bands to come from Athens, Georgia. It features musicians from the Elephant Six collective -- a group of artists who worked in some of the most memorable acts of the '90s, like Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control and The Apples in Stereo. Of Montreal makes bold, lush and multi-layered music largley under the direction of frontman Kevin Barnes.

Of Montreal

CD: Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer
Song: "We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling"
Label: Polyvinyl

Listen to "We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling"

Madeline is a young singer-songwriter also from Athens, GA. Her latest CD is a collection of gentle acoustic songs in the spirit of '60s and '70s British folk. But her earlier work was in the psychedelic pop band The Sugar Shakers.

Madeline

CD: The Slow Bang
Song: "Good Houses"
Label: Orange Twin

Listen to "Good Houses"

Fans of The Shins' first two albums -- 2001's Oh, Inverted World and 2003's Chutes Too Narrow have been anxiously awaiting new material from the band. Listeners should be pleased with The Shins' latest release, due out in late January. Wincing the Night Away picks up where the last album left off, with inspired, guitar-driven pop.

The Shins

CD: Wincing the Night Away
Song: "Phantom Limb"
Label: Sub Pop

Listen to "Phantom Limb"

Menomena (pronounced muh-NAH-muh-NUH, like the Muppets song), is a trio from Portland, Oregon that fills its songs with wonderfully quirky instrumentation built on the glockenspiel, baritone sax, drums and guitar. They say their name has no meaning but was chosen for "the way it rolls off the tongue, sexually, or something."

Menomena

CD: Friend and Foe
Song: "Evil Bee"
Label: Barsuk

Listen to "Evil Bee"

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