From the High Fidelity movie…

Rob Gordon: I will now sell five copies of “The Three EPs” by The Beta Band.
Dick: Go for it.
[Rob plays the record]
Customer: Who is this?
Rob Gordon: The Beta Band.
Customer: It’s good.
Rob Gordon: I know.

This is what they were reffering to – The Beta Band – Dry the Rain:

There are two reggae songs I like and which are relatively unknown. Both of them are sang in French. I hope you like at least one of them :)

Baobab – Algerie

Raspigaous – Requiem

First Aid Kit is a band by a couple of girls, singing mostly sweedish folk music songs. It sounds quite interesting, specially as some songs – like the one in this post -, feature an intruiging mix like sad lyrics and joyfull instrumentals.

They will release their next album, The Lion’s Roar, from which two singles have already been released - The Lion’s Roar and Emmylou.

Below you can listen to Emmylou.

Listening to acoustic guitar is mostly dependant a lot on the mood you are into – in same states you love it, in also might sound too invasive. But when it does suit your mood, it can be great.

One song you can enjoy it too is Rodrigo y Gabriels – Diablo Rojo. Rodrigo and Gabriela played for quite some time in small irish pubs and then they hit the main scene, their albums reaching ofen the billboards. Diablo Rojo will be featured on their next album, but it is already well known from their live concerts and from the Puss in Boots movie.

Listen to it below.

Radio Guerrilla played some days ago American Dream by Electric Guest. Even though this is probably their best known track, I would rather recommend This Head I Hold. It is more similar to the Gnarls Barkley sound but it sounds more fresh and fluid.

Their album, Mondo, is to be released on April 24th.

After more than 10 years since their last studio album, The Cranberries, who have reunited a couple of years ago, are expected to release Roses in end of February 2012. I was never quite a big fan but it will be interesting to see if/how their sound changed since the ’90s.

Below you can hear Tomorrow – one of the first singles out from this album.

Do you remember Nada Surf, the US band who released the Popular single back in 1996? It was all over the radios back then. In the meantime, Nada Surf had some more albums and this year they reached their 7th. It’s called The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy and has been released two days ago in Europe and UK.

Below you can listen to one of the songs from this album, Waiting for Something. And you can also download it too :). Additionally, you can listen online to the entire album here (requires Spotify).

It’s not new, but I think I’ve never mentioned Tricky on this blog. Tricky is an English guy, producing a mix of Trip hop who, previously his solo career, worked together with Massive Attack. Although the music he makes is usually released under the name of Tricky, he works with various musicians on each album (instrumentalists, vocalists and so on).

His first album, Maxinquaye, was relesead in ’95 and received very positive reviews. One of the tracks I like most from this album is Black Steel. The song is actually a remake of Public Enemy’s single, keeping the same lyrics but with different instrumentals. The voice on this track belongs to Martina Topley-Bird, one of the constant colaborators on Tricky’s albums.

I’m not generally a fan of dubsteb, but I’ve heard this song some days ago and I liked it. Nero are a UK duo, they also had a concert in Romania (Bestfest). You can find out more about them here.

In the last couple of years I’ve found some really good jazz / blues singers and few of them come from France. I’ve always had a weekness for French “chansons” despite my lack of French language knowledge :).

One of the singers I really like is Zaz, who started her career about two years ago and became one of the most aknowledged new voices in France. Her style, “gypsy jazz” as she described it, falls somewhere between jazz and pop, usually having a good rhythm, with simple instrumentals and a most remarkable voice. It’s the kind of music you expect to hear in a French cafe, while sipping a latte :)

Probably one of her best known songs is Le Long De La Route, from her first album, released in 2010. You can buy the album on Amazon and below you can listen to Le Long de la Route. Looking forward to your views on Zaz!