Best of What's Next 2009: Those Darlins [Musicians]

By Reed Fischer at 9:00 AM on August 14, 2009

Hometown: Murfreesboro, Tenn. Album: Those Darlins Band Members: Jessi Darlin (vocals, guitar), Kelley Darlin (vocals, bass), Nikki Darlin (vocals, baritone uke) For Fans Of: Freakwater, Jenny Lewis, Loretta Lynn"Country” is a loose label for this tattooed trio, whose debut is loaded with nods to The Rolling Stones, old-time bluegrass and garage rock—but the music is in their blood. Kelley, Nikki and Jessi Darlin met as teenagers and reassembled years later on the back porch of Nikki and Jessi’s tin-roofed house to play for fun. “We just started swapping songs,” Kelley says. “Like, ‘Do you know this Hank Williams song or...  read more

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Best of What's Next 2009: Rye Rye [Musician]

By Nick Marino at 9:00 AM on August 14, 2009

Hometown: BaltimoreAlbum: Title TBDFor Fans Of: M.I.A., Missy Elliott, DiploHigh school can be so lame. All those tests. Homework. Plus the other kids teasing you about your red-hot music career. “It was kinda annoying,” says 18-year-old Baltimore club queen Rye Rye, “’cause I would be walking the hall and there would be a group of people in a stairwell, and they would all break out singing my song.”  ...  read more

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Best of What's Next 2009

By Paste Staff at 8:00 AM on August 14, 2009

At Paste, we try to avoid simply hyping the latest flavor of the month...  read more

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Best of What's Next 2009: Passion Pit [Musicians]

By Josh Jackson at 8:00 AM on August 14, 2009

As Michael Angelakos emerges from Passion Pit’s standard-issue white touring van, he’s the living embodiment of his band’s song “Sleepyhead.” Groggy and wearing a rumpled white T-shirt, he rouses himself after the nine-hour drive from Baton Rouge to Atlanta, where he and his band load their gear into a tiny Midtown club. The Drunken Unicorn is less than half the size of most venues Passion Pit will play on this tour, and five hours before the band takes the stage, hipsters are already milling about outside in hopes of scoring tickets to the sold-out show. One of them has diamond-shaped...  read more

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Best of What's Next 2009: Southeast Engine [Musicians]

By Kate Kiefer at 8:00 AM on August 14, 2009

Hometown: Athens, Ohio Album: From the Forest to the Sea Members: Leo DeLuca (drums), Billy Matheny (keyboards), Adam Remnant (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jesse Remnant (bass vocals) For Fans Of: Wilco, Bright Eyes, Creedence Clearwater RevivalOhio quartet Southeast Engine’s latest album tells the story of a sea-bottom cartographer who helps the government find the best spots to drill for oil. “This character has potentially bought into the standard American dreams and ideals, in a hollow, shallow sense,” says lead singer Adam Remnant, taking a break from tiling a bathroom, one of his day jobs....  read more

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Best of What's Next 2009: Gentleman Jesse [Musician]

By Austin L. Ray at 8:00 AM on August 14, 2009

Hometown: Atlanta Album: Introducing Gentlemen Jesse For Fans Of: Elvis Costello, The Nerves, Exploding HeartsAfter countless live shows and releases with myriad other bands over the last 15 years, Jesse Smith has finally found an act that resonates with the people. Just don’t tell his father Gentleman Jesse is that act. “My dad was a drummer, so he still holds on to Some Soviet Station as being the best band I’ve ever been in. Our drummer kicked ass, and I think [my dad] only paid attention to the drummer,” Smith says, laughing. “I’m like, ‘Dad, don’t you notice I’m lifting...  read more

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Mugison announces fall U.S. tour

By Jeremy Medina at 11:14 AM on September 5, 2008

Mugison, the Icelandic rocker with the eccentric sense of humor, just announced nearly a dozen dates for his fall U.S. trek, his first true American tour after the occasional stray show here and there. Born Örn Elías Guðmundsson, Mugison is touring to support his third studio album, Mugiboogie, which was released in his native Iceland last year (where it quickly became a commercial and critical success) but finally made it stateside back in July. With songs like "Jesus is a Good Name to Moan" and "Two Thumb Sucking Son of a Boyo," Mugison's music definitely has an endearing oddness to...  read more

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Liam Finn heads back stateside with more tour dates

By Jeffrey Bloomer at 9:00 AM on September 2, 2008

Liam Finn has had a long year. Newly minted as among the Best of What’s Next in the September issue of Paste, he put out his solo debut, I’ll Be Lightning, in January, and proceeded with an intense tour of trans-continental dates that took him to the U.S., U.K. and back to his native New Zealand....  read more

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The Best of What's Next

By Paste Staff at 1:20 PM on August 19, 2008

Lists like this often end up being only superficially about the artist's work. The focus shifts instead toward triangulating which act is going to be the next to blow up (as if being the best were somehow a prerequisite for achieving blown-upness)...  read more

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22 up-and-coming artists you ignore at your own peril!

By Paste Staff at 4:53 PM on August 9, 2008

[Above: White Rabbits]MugisonHometown: Ísafjörður, Iceland Album: Mugiboogie Why He's Worth Watching: Mugison likely embodies the person Led Zeppelin envisioned when writing “Immigrant Song.” One moment, this man from the land of the ice and snow is sounding the hammer of the gods, alternating between an infernal howl (much like Robert Plant’s) and a guttural heavy-metal groan, the next, he’s crooning to twanging guitar over eerie strings. He’s a shape-shifter and a funnyman, and Mugiboogie builds on his four previous genre-transcending works.  For Fans Of: Tom Waits, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Led Zeppelin Acceptance Speech: “When I was 14 years old, I...  read more

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