Queens-born lyrical shapeshifter, Pharaohe Monch, has been composing so called “conscious” music since he teamed up with Prince Poetry to form Organized Konfusion in the early 90′s.

“In the end, it’s about taking the listener on a ride,” says Jason. “That speechless, awestruck thrill ride that you go on when a piece of music seems to hone in on that point in your chest and just plays right into it—you know, when you feel connected to it. When it speaks to you. That’s when it’s most fun, for us and for the listener.”

Forming less then three years ago, The Fire and Reason features Brazil’s Bella Saona and Ecuador’s Steve Narvaez who joined forces to create some of the dirtiest rock, baille-funk-electro-pop dance music blasting out of New York City.

From start to finish Magnetic is a rollercoaster of liquefied intensity. If you were to put a lump of coal inside one of Xzibit’s pimped out cars and let all 74 bone crushing minutes of this album ride in the sound system, you would end up with a diamond as big as your head.

All the photos in this gallery are of The Yoshida Brothers at Highline Ballroom, NYC in late May 2008. No pictures or material may be reproduced without written consent from the owner, all pictures and video are copyrighted. Thank you.

Although Goldfrapp’s musical style has changed over time, they are considered to be an electronic music band. Goldfrapp has explored a range of musical styles in their songs, although many songs are characterized by Alison Goldfrapp’s distinctive breathy, soft vocals and Will Gregory’s multi-layered synthesizer and string arrangements.

They say that in the worst of times, in the most dire of situations that often the most important, most miraculous people can arise from the ashes. Coming off of a year in which the art of hip-hop was accused of being deceased and done with, this Brooklyn born emcee has come to stake a claim….

There is a lot of debate over the quality of The Simpsons when compared to the incessant craziness of shows like Family Guy and South Park. Yes, the show is not as funny as it was when we were kids, but watch this clip and think to yourself, if they’re going to invest in a brand new HD format, don’t you think the writing would be worthy enough to watch on it? I do.

After a strong debut album Endangered Species, Nickodemus unleashes his second solo album, Sun People! Inspired by sunny days and good people, the album mixes positive dance music from all over the globe including Guinea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Romania, India, Turkey, United Kingdon & his hometown Brooklyn, NYC!

All signs point to a major take-off in progress for the suburban Washington, DC-based group, comprised of David Cook (vocals, piano, guitar), Will Cook (bass), Bobby Morgenthaler (drums), Pat Jenkins (guitar, vocals), as several tracks from their album make noise, attracting fans to My Favorite Highway’s outposts on the web…

One of the most iconic and influential pop acts in the world, Pet Shop Boys return with their tenth album and first for Astralwerks on April 21, 2009. In a career spanning over 2 decades, the duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have created some of the most beloved and recognizable hits in the world (West End girls, It’s a sin, New York City Boy, etc.), and sold over 30 million records.

Not only does this album reveal another dimension into Chris Cornell’s bottomless soul, it give listeners insight into how this man re-built himself mentally and emotionally from past demons.

The Ecstatic is the fourth solo album from New York MC, Mos Def. It features collaborations with Slick Rick, Talib Kweli and Georgia Anne Muldrow, as well as production by Mr. Flash and the late J Dilla.

HYDE is offering his first greatest hits self-titled album for digital download from iTunes and other online music stores. The album features 17 songs from his previous 3 albums and 7 singles including the hits HELLO, COUNTDOWN, and SEASON’S CALL and an English version of GLAMOROUS SKY (theme song for the film “Nana”).

A recent album preview by Mark Shemel of internedj.com indicated that the album was: “organic with live sounds pervasive throughout the album. There is also a sort of Hip Hop element infused in certain songs such as “Sine Language.”