Dallas, TX
RIYL: Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Me'Shell Ndegéocello and Betty Davis
"N'dambi may be a protege of the celebrated neo-soul artist Erykah Badu, but don't think she resides musically in the shadow of her mentor. This Dallas native is a classic soul singer who arguably has more in common musically with the Jacksons, Smokey Robinson and Isaac Hayes... On her major label debut, Pink Elephant, N'dambi takes the lessons from traditional R&B and soul and mixes in just enough urban grit and sensuality to make the sound contemporary... This is one Pink Elephant fans of classic R&B and soul won't want to miss." - The Washington Post
"N'dambi asserts her own identity with forthright lyrics and a sultry draw... Only a preacher's daughter could sound this righteous singing such sexy, secular songs." 7/10 - Spin
"Pink Elephant... (is) a shimmering collection of liquid soul, suave funk, and jazz-kissed R&B." - The Boston Globe
"In her sultry, jazzy deliver and Afro-era R&B (N'dambi) imbues Pink Elephant with plenty of funk and flair." 3/4 - People
"N'dambi may be a protege of the celebrated neo-soul artist Erykah Badu, but don't think she resides musically in the shadow of her mentor. This Dallas native is a classic soul singer who arguably has more in common musically with the Jacksons, Smokey Robinson and Isaac Hayes."
- The Washington PostWith a voice that embodies pure passion and soul, Theresa Payne is definitely a rising star to watch for. With her style dubbed "Inspirational Soul", Theresa hopes to encourage, inspire, all while entertainingly arousing the music lover's ear with angelic harmonies and melodic arrangements.
Rising star Tiffany Elle is a singer and songwriter who was born with a song in her heart and a microphone in her hand. She is quickly becoming known as one to watch.
Together they are N.E.O. Soul Sistas!
RIYL: Giant Sand, Serge Gainsbourg and Meat Puppets
Local Band!
"...Amor's Soundtracks, Volume II. This record is really a synthesis of everything that's been cool for the past fifty years." - Mundane Sounds
"This atmospheric collection of jazz-inflected anti-arias conjures up numerous cinematic scenarios in the listener's mind.... Released on Howe Gelb's Ow Om imprint, Soundtracks Vol. II features a wide slew of local talent. Notables include Calexico's John Convertino and Noah Thomas, whose haunting trumpet lends an overall air of mystery to the proceedings. In fact, Soundtracks Vol. II not only features some of Tucson's finest performers; it's dedicated to them." - Tucson Weekly
"if justice prevails, this won't be the last we'll be hearing from the very talented Naim Amor, because Soundtracks Vol. II is a seriously inspirational masterstroke that we'd all be fools to miss out on." - Delusions of Adequacy
"There's no daylight between Naim Amor's expression and his intention. Passionate and fluid, the French singer/guitarist/composer dominates the stage whether alone or accompanied by a top-shelf roster of respected colleagues such as Thomas Belhom and Giant Sand. Amor and his avant-garde approach to pop came to Tucson in 1997." - Tucson Underground
Local Band!
"Namoli Brennet's self-styled 'gender-variant indie-pop' is far broader than the moniker may suggest. These songs sit comfortably somewhere between The Smiths and Jeff Buckley with some smooth soul and a little electronic music a la Erasure thrown in for good measure. It's straightforward and intelligent pop executed with disarming honesty." - Performing Songwriter
RIYL: Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole and Norah Jones
Local Band!
The Nancy J Wilson Trio performs classic and lesser-known jazz standards, including swing from the 30's & 40's, bop of the 50's and bossa novas from the 60's.
Local Band!
Nancy McCallion is best known as the songwriter and vocalist for original Celtic-Norteno band The Mollys. Now performing as a duo/trio with guitars, slide guitar, bass and pennywhistle, McCallion continues to showcase her world-class Celtic-influenced songwriting.
"(Nancy McCallion) rivals Lucinda Williams and Iris DeMent as one of the finest Americana songwriters of the 90's and she deserves a comparable reputation." - The Washington Post
"(McCallion's) tough-hearted tales of women struggling to strike a balance between intimacy and independence are as good as any being written today." - Nashville Scene
Local Band!
Bowling Green, KY
RIYL: OutKast, Brother Ali, Mos Def, Goodie Mob, Atmosphere and Cee-Lo
"Nappy Roots haven’t retained the mainstream relevancy they first realized with 2002’s Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz and the 'Awnaw' and 'Po’ Folks' singles it spawned in the near decade since. In that time, though, the five-man Kentucky-based group has continued to churn out solid soul-drenched countrified offerings and again do so with their latest opus, Nappy Dot Org... the crew supplies plenty of impassioned and relatable raps that reaffirm that past talents still connect today." 4/5 - XXL
"Nappy Dot Org, the group’s 5th studio release, proves that Nappy Roots still has no problems going against the grain... In true Nappy form, the album is a refreshing break from the swag-centric current state of hip-hop." - This Beat Goes
"Nappy Dot Org is another fine chapter in the Nappy Roots story that leaves you wishing a little more of the commercial southern shine could be directed the underrated group's way." 4/5 - HipHop DX
"Nappy Dot Org is another essential listen from one of rap's most distinct and charismatic groups." - Rap Reviews
"By far one of the most underrated Hip-Hop acts to have emerged over the past few years, (Nappy Roots) accomplishments and the milestones they’ve reached are the stuff of often-referenced Hip-Hop legacies. But theirs remains a legacy that isn’t celebrated nearly as much as it should be… at least not by the 'industry.' " - Hot Zone
Atlanta, GA
"Nashville Pussy...a mixture of hairy guitars, classic metal, Rob Zombie-like vocals, and frenzied, foul lyrics... What do they sound like? What do they sound like? Sure. They sound like Motorhead, like AC/DC, like Skynyrd with a broom handle shoved up its ass... Damn, man. It's just rock 'n' roll." - Pop Matters
"Nashville Pussy is southern discomfort at its finest. Throat-searing vocals mixed with havoc-wrecking music makes for one hell of a ride. The speed and merciless assault of punk rock is given an extra helping of surliness thanks to this band's monster attitude. Deep-fried punk rock." - NYRock
"Nashville Pussy don't care if you're God, the Devil, or a rattlesnake. They'll drink you under the table, tie you to a chair, and steal your car, then leave the number to where they'll be so you can join the party." - All Music Guide
Austin, TX
RIYL: Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, James McMurtry, Joe Ely, Robert Earl Keen Jr. and Dave Alvin
"With the eye of a short-story writer, Abilene-born, Austin-based Nathan Hamilton pens songs sharp with detail and rich in imagery. Like fellow Texas troubadours James McMurtry and Robert Earl Keen, Jr., as well as the California bard Dave Alvin, Hamilton has the ability to transform his literate story songs into rugged slices of Americana." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"Hamilton makes a glorious racket, a sort of indie-folk with guitars careening around like a six-string mosh-pit... What is great about these songs is that whilst you hear echoes of other bands (Jason & the Scorchers, Buzzcocks, Pixies, Richard Buckner) the dominant personality is all Hamilton's." - Americana UK
"In a word, damn. Austin's Nathan Hamilton was always 'good' - good in the way you would hope any singer-songwriter with a Kerrville New Folk win to their name would be. But who knew he could be great ? That's not meant as a backhanded compliment; it's just a real (and welcome) kick in the butt when an artist you think you've got all sized up throws you off guard by quietly releasing a record that rocks on the level of Six Black Birds." - Texas Music Magazine
Denver, CO
RIYL: Josh Ritter, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, Bon Iver and The Avett Brothers
"Nathaniel Rateliff’s newest LP In Memory of Loss rings with the ease, tenderness and lightness of heart that often mark a new romance." - Paste
"Rateliff conjures the ghosts of Nick Drake and Gram Parsons.” - Time Out New York
"In Memory of Loss is a remarkable debut album - it has the weary heart of something made by a man 20 or 30 years older than Nathaniel Rateliff, and is worthy of its place against albums that were." - Penny Black Music
"Nathaniel Rateliff, whose debut In Memory Of Loss... (is) a really solid record that makes 2 p.m. feel like a bloodshot and whiskey-drunk 2 a.m... This is an evocative, haunting collection of mournfully gritty songs that cut a little deeper each time you hear them." - AV Club
"In Memory Of Loss is a stunning, heartbreaking sonic document chronicling the life of Denver-by-way-of-Missouri songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff. Both fresh and classic, it is imbued with a melancholy and rough candor... he delivers words with a chilling raw emotion with a low rasp that’s part Neil Diamond, part Nick Cave." - Delusions of Adequacy
"Nathaniel Rateliff has indeed created something that will hold listeners for far longer than most records of its type. Those listeners that find it and play it through will be curious to know what the singer might have in store next; In Memory Of Loss is a relentlessly personal record, and listeners will be left wondering and hoping if this is the sort of album that he can make twice." - Ground Control
"Folksy singer-songwriters could learn a lesson from Nathaniel Rateliff. They could learn a few... This is really, really good stuff." 5/5 - Music-Critic
Philadelphia, PA
The experimental outfit National Eye is a kind-of late '60s inspired post-rock meets lo-fi indie band. Compared to everything from Syd-era Pink Floyd to Grandaddy to Buffalo Springfield, this band if very cool.
"Blending influences from '60s psychedelia, indie rock, and country-rock, Philly natives National Eye construct an album that's full of first-album innocence. What's most likely one of the most honest rock & roll records of 2003" 4 stars - All Music Guide
"National Eye's debut album, The Meter Glows, shatters the 'post-rock' concept with a cinematic element and a consistent stream of psychedelic exploration that makes the Philadelphian quintet stand out from the indie-rock crowd." - Delusions of Adequacy
"National Eye may wholeheartedly embrace post-rock moodiness, but they stubbornly (and nobly) avoid soaking everything in a dulling puddle of drone. On the contrary, the instrumentation here is distinct. The band wields their arsenal of noise carefully, and with high regard to traditional songcraft; consequently, many of these songs are as memorable as they are abstract." 7.3/10 - Pitchfork Media
"on The Meter Glows... Sheepish vocals that reek of Neil Young are splayed over a bed of undulating rhythms and instrumental disarray on this, the quietest of masterpieces." 4/5 - Alternative Press
Nashville, TN
RIYL: Black Mountain, Black Lips, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Royal Trux and The Stooges
"Natural Child... play shambly, garagey party rock. I don't mean just that they're fun (and they are), but also that all of their songs are about some aspect of partying." - Brooklyn Vegan
RIYL: Junior Boys, Stars, Metric, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and Stereolab
Née is the brainchild of charismatic front-woman Kristin Dennis. Combined with drummer Mic Boshans, synther Lex Herbert and multi-instrumentalist David Beeman, the band blends pop hooks with dusty church organs, hand-claps with heartbreaks while spinning tales of whisky nights and mornings after with a deft and compelling lyricism.
"It's been 30 years since New Order proved that you could create soul music with sequencers and drum machines, and in that time indie rock has had an on-again/off-again relationship with synthetic instruments and their beautiful limitations. The Zeitgeist-forming power of the Postal Service signaled a sea change for younger bands and spawned no shortage of glitchy, stutter-step drum-machine beats and arcade-bred blip and beeps, but a few artists use that distinct and limited palette beyond mere set dressing. Kristin Dennis is the force behind Née, a one-woman electronic dance band that mixes lyrical themes of melancholy and malaise with sprightly, ping-ponging arrangements. Née's first release, the five-song The Hands of Thieves EP, plants its feet with pulsing electro-light grooves and varied, impassioned vocal performances." - Riverfront Times
Pasadena, CA
"Guitarist Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romano formed Nebula in 1997 after breaking away from desert rock pioneers Fu Manchu, eventually recruiting bassist Mark Abshire. This power trio specializes in feedback-drenched heavy rock, incorporating liberal doses of Black Sabbath riffery, psychedelia, and space rock....Nebula wears its myriad of influences on its dusty, tattered sleeve — early Monster Magnet, Mudhoney, the MC5, Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Blue Cheer..." - All Music Guide
"Reigning royalty of stoner rock, Nebula collapses a long lineage of heaviosity in its gravitational pull: Blue Cheer, the MC5, the Stooges, early Sabbath, mid-Seventies hard rock, sludge-era Black Flag, and mentors Mudhoney. - Revolver
"Nebula - stoner's muso intelligentsia - have thrown off the long-winded soloing shackles that so often bind their kind, and cracked it....sputtering punk motor of the Stooges to stoner's traditional mix of Sabbath and psychedelia... It's the sound of gasoline fumes, of guitars so furry they could be shot and mounted... - NME
"Nebula's Atomic Ritual (their latest) is the best album yet..." Village Voice
Oakland, CA
"Effortlessly beautiful and instantly tattooed on the insides of my ears, Nedelle's third record (Kill Rock Stars) is something you would expect to hear from one of the lads from the Sea and Cake or remastered from a vintage jazz classic... Other indie rock collectors of Belle and Sebastian style twee and Chicago style new indie jazz (Sea and the Cake, Rebecca Gates, etc) should already have a copy of this album on their shelves. But also fans of more commercially released materials, like Norah Jones could get into these songs if they gave them a chance." - Indieworkshop.com
"Nedelle is great. She's so cool, I think she deserves her own genre. Let's call it Calinova - a style of music that shamelessly incorporates every soft, groovy sound on earth into a seductive, lazy style that only comes from California. To give you some idea of what Calinova sounds like: Bart Davenport, Call and Response, and The Moore Brothers are all local practitioners. Rufus Wainwright is also a contender." - Bay Area Buzz
Local Band!
RIYL: 30 Seconds to Mars, Incubus and Foo Fighters
Local Band!
Albuquerque, NM
"Nels Andrews... Sparsly arranged slyly intelligent country-folk stuffed with juniper winds, Juarez jails, and long women in short dresses, delivered with all the gruff urgency of Tom Waits over lap steel and ruptured guitar." 4 stars - Uncut
"I was warned that this was a good album, what I wasn't told was just how good. Quite simply Sunday Shoes (Nels' newest) is the meanest, moodiest and darkest album you're likely to come across this year. It's also a dead cert for the top ten album list for 2004 of anyone lucky enough to hear it... Andrews lifts up the rock on which Ryan Adams and Jesse Malin are sitting and has a look at what's crawling underneath." - Net Rythyms UK
"Nels Andrews...his beautiful, desolate folk-rock songs...shows definitely one of the most promising new voice of alt-country." - Roots Highway
"Nels Andrews proves that he deserves a spot in the ranks of today's Americana heroes." - American Songwriter
Nels Andrews will strik a chord with fans of 16 Horsepower, Richmond Fontaine, Magnolia Electric Co./Songs: Ohia, Iron & Wine, Will Oldham, and the darker side of Uncle Tupelo.
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