Dirrty rap fans everywhere, a bit fatigued from getting crunk, have a new option. It even rhymes: getting Unk. Similarly slurry to Lil' Jon's stuff, Unk proves a bit cleaner on the beats, agreeing with hyphy that sterilized synths have massive dance appeal.

Filed in: Dirty South

With his band The Comas on hiatus, Andy Herod's self-produced new project, Electric Owls embarks on an exploration of musical experimentation whilst dwelling on the distinctly dark and cryptic with the release of the Magic Show EP. Less heavy songs also appear on the release, such as the unusually jaunty and whimsical title track, evoking surrealistic images and a dreamy musical style equal parts nocturnal and charged?perhaps better identifiable as an electric owl.

Filed in: Emo

They're not the first to combine punk and reggae, yet with bands like Sublime long gone, it's refreshing to hear this hybrid sound again. Their latest single, "Dead to Me," takes its listener on a roller coaster of moods from chill to aggressive.

Filed in: Post-Punk

It's not often you see Soulja Boy and !!! in the same sentence--usually that means someone has a gummy keyboard. But the mash of skunky hip-hop and funky synth-rock is intentional in the Telepathe project. Choppy beats prove surprisingly compatible with tart vocal texturing.

Filed in: Electronica

By all accounts, even the French name, ARS should be a Scandinavian band: American groups don't offer vocals this fragile or synths this icy. Then again, Brooklyners are clever. The ladies of Simone present as femmes fatales or river nymphs, aiding their mystery with an eerie, ambient jangle-pop.

Filed in: Synth Pop