Blog Posts by Craig Rosen

I was all set to start researching and write about Cage The Elephant, which I've been meaning to do for since I first Shazamed "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" back in early March. Then I stumbled upon a new video by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based duo Matt & Kim that's creating a stir on the Internet. I figure Cage The Elephant can wait a few more days, because this clip is heating up the web now. Rather than fill your head with preconceived notions, take a look at the video below.

Now that you've seen it, what do you think? Some other bloggers have called the duo's decision to strip off their clothes in a music video a cheap publicity stunt to drum up interest in their music. I suppose, if that was their intent, they've succeeded. Stripping down in a video to garner some buzz is certainly nothing new, but Matt & Kim--along with the clip's directors Taylor Cohen and Otto Arsenault, cinematograper Ben Wolf and visual effects artist Steve Ilou--have delivered an interesting take.

The opening

Discovering new music is one of the most exciting aspects of music fandom. Sure, everyone has old favorites that you've listened to million times and can probably hum in your sleep, but nothing turns you on more than something fresh and new that's yet to be discovered by the great unwashed masses.

Yahoo! Music has a long tradition of turning music fans onto new artists. It's a tradition that's so old, it dates back to the days of LAUNCH, the multimedia company acquired by Yahoo! that evolved into the Yahoo! Music you know and love today. At one point, LAUNCH--which began life as a CD-ROM magazine before it moved to the web--used the very tagline "Discover New Music." It's with that spirit that we bring you Yahoo! Music's brand-spanking-new emerging artist spotlight The New Now.

In this space, we'll feature exclusive live performances and video interviews on a regular basis, blog about the hottest new acts every weekday, feature free MP3s by some exciting new talents on a regular basis.

Many times young bands will cite their influences as a tip of the hat to the musicians that shaped their sound and musical tastes. Yet it's not every day that a veteran band goes out of its way to give props to some young bucks new to the scene. That was the case when Yahoo! Music Managing Editor/Reality Rocks blogger Lyndsey Parker recently sat down for an interview with the men from Depeche Mode, whose 12th studio effort, Sounds Of The Universe, was just released. During the interview, D. Mode main man Dave Gahan went out of his way to give effusive praise to MGMT, which in turn left Ms. Parker very excited and me writing about it in this very blog. Check out Gahan testifying about MGMT below.

While MGMT's best-known tracks "Kids," "Electric Feel," and "Time To Pretend" feature the undeniable influence of electronic acts such as Depeche Mode, the band is more than just some blokes fiddling around with keyboards and computers. I

Since Yahoo! Music first showcased Lady Gaga in its emerging artists program last year, the Lady has taken over the world. That may be a slight overstatement, but it's safe to say she's had a huge impact on the pop charts. Her debut single, "Just Dance," hit No. 1 on the pop charts and was followed by another chart-topper, "Poker Face," while her album, The Fame, has climbed to the upper regions of the album chart.

We were lucky enough to snare the Lady for an exclusive performance of "Just Dance" and "Love Game," the latter which we're premiering for you now. It's the brilliant track in which the Lady sings the immortal words, "Let's have some fun / This beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick." Check it out below.

As you saw and heard by watching that clip, Lady Gaga has once again delivered all the elements for pure pop perfection. "Love Game" passes the old dance-club test with flying colors. It's got a good beat and you can dance to it,

Nina Persson is no newcomer. Beginning in the early '90s, the sweet-voice Swedish beauty fronted the Cardigans, a band probably best known for its 1996 hit "Lovefool," as well as for its drowsy take of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." At the height of the Cardigans' success, Persson took a break from the band and launched A Camp, a band that lends itself to numerous "Who's on first"-type jokes, but I'll spare you from those. A Camp released its self-titled debut in 2001, but then disappeared. Now, I'm happy to report the band has resurfaced with a new album due on April 28.

Originally, Persson started A Camp with Niclas Frisk and called upon Sparklehorse mastermind Mark Linkous to produce its self-titled effort. That album included such gems as "I Can Buy You," as well as the band's cover of the Replacements' "Rock 'N' Roll Ghost." Check out the video for the former track below.

With its debut album, A Camp also created a dilemma for anal record collectors worldwide--should the band's

There I was sitting in my TV room watching the cinematic masterpiece known as Baby Mamawhen I heard a song that caught my ear. I quickly sprung into action,grabbed my iPhone and used my handy-dandy Shazam app to identify thesong and the artist. Turns out the song in question was "Be Gently WithMe" by a band called The Boy Least Likely To. Check out the video below, which features Rashida Jones, the actress daughter of Quincy Jones, who stars alongside Amy Poehler in the new NBC sitcom Parks & Recreation. That's the same Amy Poehler that was in Baby Mama. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Strangely enough, days after hearing that song in the movie I discovered that The Boy Least Likely To had a new album, The Law Of The Playground, which has since been released. Here's the clip for "A Balloon On A Broken String," a fine track from the new album.

Formedin 2002, The Boy Least Likely To is a British duo comprisingsinger/lyricist Jof Owen and multi-instrumentalist/composer Pete Hobbs.In order to

Agreat philosopher once said that life is for the living. With that inmind, I ventured out with a friend to see hot Brit buzz band White Lies, previously tippedin this space, perform live Tuesday (April 14) night at the HollywoodForever Cemetery. It's a graveyard of some note to the music world.Both Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone rest there, as does, I believe, my own grandmother, although she wasn't much of a musician.

It'salso been the site of previous music industry events. In the early'90s, I witnessed Rick Rubin ceremoniously bury the name DefAmerican--after the word "def" turned up in the dictionary--at a mockfuneral officiated by the Reverend Al Sharpton.

Considering the fact White Lies debut album is called To Lose My Life,the first cut is titled "Death," and its members have a penchant forwearing nothing but black, the ghostly setting made some sense, but italso reeked of shtick. Whatever the case, I was happy to attend theprivate event to see this promising young act live and up

At this point, Peter Doherty--as he calls himself these days--is probably better known for drug busts, run-ins with the law, and his on-again-off-again relationship with supermodel Kate Moss than he is for his music. That's too bad, because the British singer/guitarist, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, has too much talent to simply waste.

After first gaining notice as a member of the Libertines, Doherty resurfaced with Babyshambles. Recently, he released his first solo effort, Grace/Wasteland. Some might find it hard to feel sympathy for Doherty. After all, he was seemingly living the dream--he was a bona fide rock star in his native England, dating a supermodel and living the high-life before he started to piss it all away with a series of ill-advised decisions and a bad drug habit. In an interview last fall with the Mail On Sunday, he told Piers Hernu he suffers from extreme stage fright, which may have contributed to his substance abuse problems.

"I'm always nervous before