The National

What can I say? I have been into a lot of great Indie acts lately. It has really fueled 2007 for me so far. This act has only cemented it's influence on me. Their album Alligatorwas voted one of the top 50 albums of 2005. They have a new album called Boxer coming out in May. Look for it, I have heard some leaked tracks off the album and it sounds great.

The National is an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, founded in 1999 by friends (including two pairs of brothers) from Cincinnati, Ohio. Their first self-titled album was released in 2001 on Brassland, a label founded by two of those brothers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and their friend, writer Alec Hanley Bemis. The band had played few shows before the release of the album.

Influences range from Tom Waits to U2. The band's morose, self-deprecating lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The band is rounded out by Scott & Bryan Devendorf. Padma Newsome, from sister band, Clogs, often contributes strings, keyboards, and other arrangements and instrumental flourishes.

The band's early gimmick was that the members had all given up good jobs to work on the project, however, this seems to have been dropped.

Their latest album, Alligator, was #2 in Planet Sound's Top 50 albums of 2005, losing out to Bright Eyes, but beating the likes of The Magic Numbers, The Wrens, Elbow, Rilo Kiley, Malcolm Middleton, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket and HARD-Fi. It also charted high in "Album of the Year" charts in the LA Times, Insound, Uncut, and many other publications. One of their most well-known songs is "Mr. November."

On their last tour the band played a handful of new songs. Their next album, called "Boxer", will be released on May 22, 2007.

Mika

This dude is over the top. And it is delicious fun! "Grace Kelly" starts off the album with a rancous mix of Broadway antics and all the showmanship of Queen. I dont normally gravitate toward such flamboyant singers. But this album is hard to resist. Each song keeps you plugged in and wide eyed. The songs range from fun of "Grace Kelly" to the sad loneliness of "My Interpretation" and all the way to the sugary pop of "Lollipop". Life in Cartoon Motion, is an album that you will put in, and then won't take it out until it is over. That is a personal guarantee!

Mica Penniman (born 18 August 1983, Mica Penniman), known by his stage name Mika (IPA [ˈmiːkə]), is a London-based singer who has a contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music.

Mika was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a Lebanese mother and an American father. He is the middle child of the five children born to his parents. When he was a child, his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon, and they moved to Paris. They moved to London when he was nine years old, where he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, from which he later dropped out to record his first album.

He was trained by a Russian opera professional and his public performances and jobs have varied from classical performances in the Royal Opera House, writing in-flight music for British Airways and creating an Orbit Chewing Gum jingle.

His band consists of Martin Waugh (guitars, backing vocals), Michael Choi (bass, backing vocals), Cherisse Osei (drums) and Luke Juby (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals).