Independent Musicians We Enjoy

Aesop Rock
Brilliant hip-hop artist. Fast flow, great lyrics. This guy is a genius who barely gets the credit he deserves—he's far better than most of the popular hip-hop artists.
Badly Drawn Boy
This is a cool British guy who writes chilled out songs with curious lyrics.
Bright Eyes
Great, chill, mostly acoustic stuff. Nice storytelling, brilliant lyrics—good all around.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Get their first album, skip the grating introductory track, and settle down for something totally new. These guys are bold and smooth, a little dreamy, and mostly upbeat.
The Decemberists
Unreal, incredible, brilliant group. Stephen Colbert describes their music as "hyper-literate prog rock." That pretty much sums it up.
The Disco Biscuits
Tremendous jam band, great live. Phish meets Moby.
Gogol Bordello
This is a band that should be enjoyed live. The combine insane energy and bizarre stage antics with upbeat music that has to be jumped to.
Man Man
Unreal, insane, energetic, and difficult to define. Man Man plays ridiculous songs with incredible energy that is contagious and entertaining.
Paper Jones
A mellow type of fellow with an ear for the electronic and some great vocals.
The Slip
Good on CD, even better live--The Slip plays a great jammy set, and has some awesome songs.
Sleep
One of the fastest, smartest rhymers out there. Absolutely brilliant.
Spoon
Incredibly precise rock. Great arrangements, though nothing really changes in a live performance, the effect is still powerful. Unfortunately old-fashioned in their view of music distribution, the band makes up for it by writing kickass songs and playing them flawlessly.
Sufjan Stevens
Sort of a savant. Very dreamy and cool. He says, with varying degrees of sarcasm, that he intends to create a conceptual album based on each of the American states.
TV On the Radio
Really interesting band. They have a lot of variety, including a great a cappella song. A little bit electronic and a little bit rock, but very nice.