Producer Derek Smith of Pretty Lights

Calling all Sound Tribe fans…

Check out DJ and drummer duo Pretty Lights. Based out of Fort Collins, Colorado, Pretty Lights bring beats that will get both jam band addicts and electro freaks to their feet.

If you’re expecting to see them at your local club, make sure you get tix ahead of time. Their shows usually sell out, regardless of location.

Hot Chip is an electropop band from the London area. Founding members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard started the band in 2000, originally composing songs on acoustic guitar, but soon started experimenting with a more electronic sound, true to the band’s style today.

their first full album was released in 2003, and they are close to releasing their fourth full length album.

Their song ‘Over and Over’ is particularly well known, but ‘And I Was a Boy from School’ is my personal favorite. Listen above.

Young Love, a New York City alt dance band, will get you up and at ‘em in no time.

Dan Keyes is the main man behind the project, singing lead vocals, and handling most of the music production. He formerly fronted a post-hardcore band based out of Austin called Recover.

Young Love is a quite a departure…

This song was also featured in the 2007 Fifa Soccer soundtrack.

The Black Kids are an indie pop band from Jacksonville, Florida. Like MGMT and The Scissor Sisters, they have considerably more of a following in the UK than in the US.

They are powered by the brother-sister combination, Reggie and Ali Youngblood.

Though initially performing mostly in and around Jacksonville (is there a music scene there ?! ) , they then started getting serious global attention after their performances at the Athens Popfest Festival in the summer of 2007.

They’re currently touring the world, but will be in San Francisco on 4/20 and 4/21, playing at the Independent.

The 70′s called. They want their mustache back.

In all seriousness, these guys are good. They do tons of remixes too. For proof, check out this remix of the Klaxons.

Van She is another Australian band signed to Modular Recordings. They have been described as ‘fresher than Flavor Flav’ , ‘Fresh like Coriander’ , and ‘Fresher than the Fresh Prince.’

I’m going to go out on a limb here and call them ‘Fresher than Fruit by the Foot.’

Similar Jams:

Presets – Girl and the Sea
Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire

Self described as “Like a Robot Making Love to a Tree,” Ghostland Observatory makes sweet love out of layered electronic sounds and distorted power chords. They recorded two albums in a matter of weeks while living in Austin, Texas, and the result was two discs that can be listened to on repeat by any electro or rock fanatic.

Coming off of what is usually considered the second of those two albums Paparazzi Lighting, Stranger Lover is the ultimate motivation song.

Ghostland Observatory is the conception of two personalities – Aaron Behrens on guitar and tight white pants, and Thomas Tucker on keys and vampire suits (he wears these during every show) Don’t let these images get in the way of this tune. If you like this track, try out Digialism’s song Pogo as well.

Get your dance on. No, really, get your dance on. These people have…

Poni Hoax, from Paris, France, integrate post punk rock riffs and sound bytes into their electro songs, similar to bands such as The Black Ghosts or Digitalism.

They met while studying at Conservatoire Nationale de Musique in Paris, then continued to experiment with electro and rock beats after graduation, and while working as stand-in studio and tour musicians for other bands.

Started as a project by frontman Dan Whitford in 2001, Cut Copy has emerged as one of the world’s most loved Melbourne-based bands, touring worldwide with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Daft Punk, Mylo, and Bloc Party, and playing shows in front of 50K+ people back home in Australia.

This track, off their 2008 release, In Ghost Colours, stays consistent with the general themes of love and hearts, referred to regularly from start to finish on the album.

Before starting Cut Copy, Whitford was a graphic designer, which may explain why Cut Copy is one of the few bands to have a nice looking blog as well as a nice looking widget. I went forward and made my own Cut Copy widget too if anyone is interested.

Two nights ago, I saw them at the Mezzanine in SF, and of the 10+ shows I’ve seen there, Cut Copy got the crowd moving the most. Sure, The Presets warmed up the crowd nicely, but Whitford and co. worked the crowd like seasoned musical vets – performing simple dance moves and urging everyone to get more into it. What I like most about this is that they did it in a tasteful fashion that was neither corny nor cliched.

The lighting was spot on as well. Its no wonder that their top single off this album is titled Lights and Music.

Cut Copy offers both, and converts indie rockers and post punkers into fans of electro and new wave music in the process.

If you like this jam, checkout their music video for Saturday, off their first album.

As mentioned in a previous post, Calvin Harris gets all the girls. After weeks of digging, I think its because he brings the disco heat.

This is the kind of song that makes you think that you’re walking around an Urban Outfitters.

For a gentler sound, check out Cut Copy – Saturdays

Datarock seems to be one of those bands that is better recognized by the mashups and remixes of their songs rather than by the songs themselves. That may explain why the biggest DJs in the world are sampling their songs, yet they’re a band that still can’t fill a major venue in San Francisco.

I Used to Dance with My Daddy isn’t as well-known as their jam Fa-Fa-Fa, which is featured in a Coca Cola commercial as well as in the video games Fifa ’08, NHL ’08, and NBA Live ’08, though its equally as catchy and emblematic of their electro rock sound, kind of a Cut Copy without synthesizers.

Datarock is a Norwegian band, but all of their songs are in English. One of my favorite parts about the band is that they play all of their shows in matching red jumpsuits.

I actually prefer the original version of this jam over the many remixes, but I’ve included a remix by Comet below.