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JIM PITT
Music booker for Late Night With Conan O'Brien recommends...
ADELE ''She's a London singer-songwriter with a soulful voice. Critics will focus on how much she sounds like Amy Winehouse, but she should be judged on her own merits, which are considerable.'' (myspace.com/adelelondon)
FLEET FOXES ''If My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, and Gillian Welch are on your iPod, you'll like this Seattle band's lush, ethereal sound.'' (myspace.com/fleetfoxes)
THE VIRGINS ''They've drawn comparisons to Gang of Four and the Strokes, but they have their own distinct sound: garage and a bit of funk.'' (myspace.com/thevirginsnyc)
WILD SWEET ORANGE ''Is America ready for Sensitive Southern Rock? This Birmingham, Alabama, quartet evokes Bright Eyes meets The Old 97s. And somehow it works.'' (myspace.com/wildsweetorange)
YEASAYER ''They manage to fuse a kitchen sink of musical styles (rock, pop, Middle Eastern, folk, dance) without it feeling like a train wreck. They've been compared to David Byrne and Brian Eno, but don't let that scare you.'' (myspace.com/yeasayer)
CHRIS DOURIDAS
Music supervisor for American Beauty, October's The Women
BROADCAST 2000 ''They're from London. I love this EP. Every track on it is a winner. It's six tracks of jangly acoustic pop, very much inspired by the Penguin Café Orchestra.'' (myspace.com/broadcast2000)
THE KOOKS ''From Brighton. I love them. They've got a new album coming in April. Their debut is so refreshing and engaging, I'm anxious to hear what they do.'' (myspace.com/thekooks)
SUNNY LEVINE ''He's the grandson of Quincy Jones. Love Rhino [out March 4] is his solo debut. Very vibe-y, dub-flavored reggae-tinged pop.'' (myspace.com/sunnylevine)
LUCY SCHWARTZ ''An unsigned singer-songwriter who's 18. Her dad was jogging by my house [in Pacific Palisades, Calif.] and handed me her demo. Her songs have the confidence of a woman twice her age.'' (myspace.com/lucysong)
SIA ''She's just so ready to break. You're not going to be able to go into Starbucks without seeing her record (some people have REAL problems) these days, so that makes her the most visible of everyone we're mentioning. This album proves all of the expectations that everyone had of her to be correct.'' (myspace.com/siamusic)
MEGHAN SMITH ''From the land of Sarah McLachlan comes a brassy, forward-thinking singer-songwriter. She's unsigned, from Nova Scotia. Live, big-band arrangements. Her demos are ready to release, they're that good.'' (myspace.com/meghansmithmusic)
SUNNY DAY SETS FIRE ''They are from London but have members from all around the globe. It's pop infused with unexpected surprises.'' (myspace.com/officialsunnydaysetsfire)
LIZA RICHARDSON
Music supervisor for Friday Night Lights recommends...
THE BUMBLEBEEZ ''This, to me, is going to be the party record. I just got them in a movie I'm working on. They're completely fun music — how CSS was last year.'' (myspace.com/thebumblebeez)
MGMT ''Definitely a band for this year. The song 'Electric Feel' could cross over into different formats. They've got the same producer as the Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann, but then they've got a little bit of a dance feel.'' (myspace.com/mgmt)
SANTOGOLD ''Next up in the Mark Ronson family of fresh talent. Sounds like M.I.A. meets the B-52s, very fun and unique.'' (myspace.com/santogold)
SEA WOLF ''I've used them on all my TV shows so far this year. In some ways I think they've already popped. [Alex Brown Church is a] pretty straight-ahead singer-songwriter with some clever melodies and clever arrangements.'' (myspace.com/seawolf)
WALE ''High-quality, intelligent hip-hop. I like his single 'Nike Boots.''' (myspace.com/wale202)
THE WHIGS ''I'm loving their new record [Mission Control]. It's straight-up rock, really sincere, but it's not trendy or ironic or anything like that. There's nothing about it that I'm not buying.'' (myspace.com/thewhigs)
WHITE WILLIAMS ''He's incorporating elements of Beck, Jim Noir, Roxy Music, T. Rex. Some of the songs are really catchy and fun and stick in your head, and some of it's out there and weird.'' (myspace.com/whitewilliams)
YEASAYER ''If you're an Animal Collective or Caribou fan, they fit into that vein. They'll be big in the art camp. And there's a big audience for that.'' (myspace.com/yeasayer)
YOAV ''He's from South Africa. His record is very on the quiet, cool tip. It's got a Pro Tools sensibility — it's acoustic, but it's looped.'' (myspace.com/yoavmusic)
NEXT PAGE: Picks from music supervisors for Good Luck Chuck and MTV, plus an introduction to Vampire Weekend, a band several of these music supervisors had on their short lists
